gmat6594

I had to re[watch to clarify some points. And I realize I made some mistakes. Look at ep. 1 at 39:00. The Central Plains has five states. Wei State, Yanzhou, Bianzhou and Liangya. The Qiao clan are part of the Yanzhou and the Grandfather was Governor of Yanzhou. He and the Wei Grandfather of the Wei state made a promise to help each other. The Wei Grandfather said that it would include in times of war. 14 years ago Bianzhou state sent Li Su to attack the Wei city of Xiandu to seize it and also to break the alliance between Wei and Yanzhou. At the time of the attack, Qiao Grandfather dithered as he was reluctant to enter a war with Bianzhou. Xiandu fell and the Wei royal males were caught in the city. 14 years later, Linggya state proposed a marriage with Qiao Manman (FL) by sending a weasel instead of a more valuable lynx, the Liangya leader? (intended groom's Uncle) showed that they looked down on Yanzhou. The groom and Manman were childhood friends but she distrusts his ambitions. Manman's older sister Fan was supposed to wed Wei Shao, but Manman realized that she was not intelligent enough to survive and navigate the daunting steps to allay Wei Shou's thirst for revenge and thread an alliance between Wei and Yanzhou.
So I was wrong, there is no Qiao state.
Took a bit of time searching for the ep. 1 bit on the Central Plains States.

I suspect that Yu has more allies backing him than Rui does so if the Emperor were to take away Yu's status, it would merely advance a coup d'etat. The Court may mostly be supporting Yu and the General with the mask might actually control the army.

Two leaders of states in the Wei and Qiao kingdoms made a pledge to help each other if another state attacked them. 14 years ago, Li Su was sent by another Qiao state to take over the ML's Wei state. The governer of the Wei state decided not to risk war and did not send aid. So Li S u was able to take the city of Xindu. He executed the governor of the city along with his male heirs, (grandfather,, father and brother) but the youngest son, the ML was able to escape. Like Herod at Bethlehem, Li Su ordered all males killed in Xindu over three days. The ML has now recaptured the city , the first step to conquering the Qiao FL's state and then the Qiao nation and beyond. Along the way he seeks to make the FL's family pay for the betrayal. So that's the revenge, but as the drama unfolds, the goals may differ.

Title should be The Prisoner of Beauty and Brains. That is how she gets him.

There are a number of factors that contribute to alcoholism and I suspect that the drama will show how those factors combined to make her an alcoholic. We have already seen a number of factors like her father, socializing with the guys (also being a woman in a male dominated career) and either depression, after discovering her fiance was cheating on her or after her break up with the ML. Considering her reaction to the ML, the latter might be under trauma.

I guess that as as the FL winds through the various factors that contributed to her being an alcoholic, whatever caused her breakup with the ML and her coping with that might what set her on the road but it will be the last one addressed.

Possibly there is a plan B. Maybe some disaster that can be pinned on Prince Rui and Lu Chang. He does have allies that are opposed to the reforms proposed by Rui and Chang. Resistance or coup d'etat?

I understand that the ending showed Luo Shu's journey to control her destiny. But I wish that they showed that Menglin's ban would be lifted in the future and that he would be able to journey with her. They make a good pair.

Thank you.

Not bad.

Had the ML and the writers been more clever, either would dangle professional work experience as part of the job offer.

Good points. Perhaps Prince Yu has a plan B that involves the sudden death of the Emperor or for those around the Emperor to be taken out together. He expects to be safe on the sidelines.His slight smile when he was admonished points to him being happy to be sidelined or that this was part of his long term plan.

Forgot the starch. Brings back memories of my childhood. Wash and wear was truly liberating when it happened.

Some things to consider. She knows that she has been told that they were siblings, but has no memory of their past together. She has grown to trust Lu Chang and his Mom. Her gut feeling is that she can/could let down her guard around him.
And for better or worse, the story demands that we start from this premise. They hope that the taboo of sibling romance might be interesting, It could be worse. A spring and fall romance.

The examinations are annual so less than a year until then and a bit more after that.

The last few episodes had some moving scenes. One of those dramas that I will re-watch every time the memories resurface. Thank you.

Looking forward to that.


The next few episodes might be a bit of a roller coaster. Who will be attacked in the ceremony? Mingshu should recovers her memories. But that shouldn't permanent damage their love and their dance should end well. But it's too soon for the end game to appear. Tangli's real path may end suddenly. Will we see Song finding love or sacrifice? Thank you.


Protect My King. The author/FL watches the two ML's doomed attack to save the 2FL. She stand rooted holding her sword. And has decided not to interfere. At the end we see the two pairs joined. As you know their fates, it is indeed bittersweet.

18 episode 7 minutes each.
Web novelist finds herself entering her novel as the FL. But changes had been made to the novel. She spends the drama trying to get the two main couples on track for a HE. The last three episodes have some very poignant scenes. Only 12 comments, but certain scenes call me back. I thought that your opinions about the drama,would be interesting to read. Take care.

Have you watched Protect My King (2024)?

Possibly this;
During the Sòng 宋 dynasty chàngchóu 唱酬 ("exchange of poems") appears, a practice in which one of the participants composes a poem, and the other responds with another, following the same metric and rhyme. This practice reached great popularity during the Qīng 清 dynasty.
From Poetry Contests in Ancient China
https://gwongzaukungfu.com/en/poetry-contests-in-ancient-china/