koreanbosuji

VERRRY well put and reasoned.
I agree with you ..
But since we are a modern audience watching it would be nice to not see an 'easy lovey dovey resolution" with no real payback and tribulation ..

So many dramas completely degenerate into nonsense after a great start .. unconvincingly meshing the Leads together JUST with LIGHTING, SOFT MUSIC, MUSHY NONSENSE, and sexy close-up angles .. Ufff ..

(I'll end up starting a WAR here maybe .. But The Early Spring had me BARF - that's like the BENCH MARK for how to be OK with dysfunctional Drama Scripting)

And she is good at making the best of resources that come her way .. her agile sharp mind can see the dangers and the opportunities at one go :

~ get the cotton merchant out as well as grab the needle and if I succeed its a punt well played ..
~ break the flower vase and direct attention to self while giving hints to friend
~ create chaos at Jinxu Shop and be punished but be saved

So this 'marriage prison' also I hope the writers have written as a place she will finally be able be free herself from ..
She is NOT mean and selfish and devoid of pity .. Until now we have not seen her tragedy turn her vengeful or vindictive or resentful .. she has retained her humanity and we have seen her feel pity for the plight of the women who have harmed her till date even as she gave them their just and measured desserts right back!!

So I think she will be able to see LJQ in a fair light and 'forgiveness' will come eventually .. And Hope Drama gives LJQ his own just desserts too ..

yup

this is exactly what lifted this drama up above the usual tropey tales

If this Drama turns "cute dimpled smiles" and 'sweet nothings" and a few 'silver fox pelts on pink satin" cloaks plus "I'll keep you safe from my family by packing you in mothballs away from their reach" to melt and turn Lan Xiang around into putty .. then this show will turn watery and lose it's tart and taut and wit and intelligence as well as the viewer's respect ...

Lan Xiang's colossal loss and tragedy will not allow her to shed her grief and loss of dignity, living all those years in fear of losing her life clinging to the warm memories of her old life as sustenance ..

I hope we don't get cheated out of an equal measure of heartbreak and loss that LJQ needs to bear before being TRULY ABLE to appreciate WHO SHE IS ... To win her trust love loyalty respect and affection ..
He has to either truly walk a path of thorns to feel what she went through .. or let her free if he fails to gain her favour and she wants out ...

I THINK the fact that he found a resting place for her entire family will play a HUGE role in closing their gap .. (here I am assuming he is the one) .. BUT that should not be the ONLY turning point .. There's got to be more ..

GIVE IT to us Beautiful Starry Drama ;-D

EP 28


QQ : Why didn't JLQ just woo her and ask for her hand in marriage?

AA : (IMO) She would have declined politely - stiffly ,, and that would be the end of it ..

If THEN in spite of a concrete refusal he went on to marry her by force of Imperial Decree .. He would then be forever rendered an indefensible creep in her eyes .. and he would NEVER have been able to get on her right side ..

He smartly swiped all that away and now has the imperial decree as subterfuge, taking shelter under the guise of "I was wrong not to follow protocol" ... But I'll woo you now ..

His "you can ONLY be MY WIFE in this life" kind of dialogue MIGHT bite him in the ass too ..
It is ALSO HUBRIS .. I'd love to see how the writers worked around that statement of his .. It was kind of the 'old chilling' ruthlessness of JLQ (and I hope he is brought to his senses by the end of drama .. Karma Bites .. need to be divided fairly and carefully)

She would have declined politely - stiffly ,, and that would be the end of it ..

If THEN in spite of a concrete refusal he went on to marry her by force of Imperial Decree .. He would then be forever rendered an indefensible creep in her eyes .. and he would NEVER have been able to get on her right side ..

He smartly swiped all that away and now has the imperial decree as subterfuge, taking shelter under the guise of "I was wrong not to follow protocol" ... But I'll woo you now ..

His "you can ONLY be my wife in this life" kind of dialogue MIGHT bite him in the ass too .. IT IS ALSO HUBRIS .. I'd love to see how the writers worked around that statement of his .. It was kind of the 'old chilling' ruthlessness of JLQ (and I hope he is brought to his senses by the end of drama .. Karma Bite)

agree

she'll give one more slap on his hands and pull her sleeves away LOL

I am on board with your analysis - well made

correct

and what a loss for foolish XuWan - a ditsy one who considers herself above others with a smart-assy, sassy attitude; needed her karma to come back and bite her.

LJQ seems to have a soft corner for her - maybe seeing her sense of loyalty as her biggest asset IMO - and so I will take her current attitude after a year of scripture copying isolation as having wrought some real growth .. Teenagers DO evolve especially if they have been whacked hard by fate and hubris.

Yes Yuan is a quiet low-key HOTTIE .. A kind of Mr Rochester Hottie .. The once-married man-with-child trope - there are some true blue Dramas on that - TOP NOTCH (imo) being
~ One Spring Night
~ Hospital Playlist

I will drop the drama if it speedily resolves the complex situation that it took 25-26 episodes to build up - and SO convincingly - it should take another 20 eps at the least to smoothly land this story on SOLID ground.

That resolving part is what will actually showcase the control and skill of the Drama Team and maybe lead to a 8.9 Rating Finale

Yes really loved her role and the way she’s playing it

Hmmm!!
Interesting!!

Very!!

Fresh take indeed.

Slightly unsteady directing and not that great a scripting or acting. The Cracker Factory and office scene looked so fabricated and out of place - that office gal scene so artificially inserted!!!
Just not moving organically!!
But maybe it’s too early ..

It’s loading at a snail pace - will wait the few months it’ll take to wrap 😂😂

Yes.
Usually these mom characters are so uninteresting and one dimensional

Oh yes!!
It's spoilt SO many dramas that started stellar at a 9/10 for me ..

I'll not drag those cribs here LOL
We are all having too much fun

Love LJQ mother .. dignified and controlled and able to handle her own disappointment without dumping on others.

Love the 2 moms scene discussing their wayward sons what Jiugao mom was saying might as well be applicable to JLQ mom-son

YUP

That's why his getting an imperial decree for marriage is SO SO LJQ written In Character ..
As is his expression on being slapped, on being stopped by the scholar procession, in smartly getting the Crown Prince back to the capital.

He is as good at manoeuvring his circumstances as is Lan Xiang; at reading the room, basically getting people overall ..

GOOD OBSERVATION LOL