mochachen

ooh I didn't know MIL stood for mother in law. I thought it was male lead

It's shown in recent preview of ep 25 and 26. Qiao starts to act pompous, she even slapped Wen concubine. She ordered assassins to kill shiyi. Ml comes to the rescue.

For those who think the ml is too stoic or wooden. In ep 20, his family members and his two trusted men tells him that he's changed. He's more understanding and I guess displays more emotions. That got ml rattled up bc he didn't notice these changes in himself. He said he couldn't become emotion bound as that'll cause him to be more reckless. He said he needs to be logical and level headed or else bad things will happen again. He's trying to prevent the tragedy that happened years ago to Xu family, where both his dad and older bro died. So there ya go guys. It's not the actor, Wallace, that's "bad" at acting, it's the character he's portraying and he's doing a good job. The character has a valid reason for being solemn and stoic and its bc of fl that he slowly changes. Again, that's character development.

She stayed. Most chinese time travelling novels have the fl or ml died in modern world so their soul is transported in ancient times.

I think she's only been married about 6months. With regards to the boy, he's been taken under the wing of his grandma, her mother-in law. You have to understand the situation she's in. She's new in the family, with no powerful backings bc she's firstly born from a concubine. She can't just force her way and say she wants to take care of the kid. She has to tread carefully and not anger or mislead anyone in the family. Her mother in law already has a prejudice opinion of her, if Shiyi insisted on taking care of the boy, she would receive disapproval and dislike from the mother in law. Her opinions don't matter as much in the family yet. If you watch, you can see the mother in-law always look toward 2nd Mrs. (ml's older sister in law ) for a 2nd opinion. She somewhat dismisses Shiyi's suggestions sometimes. Also, if you watch in later eps she does take care of the boy.

Also, this is a slow burn, love after marriage. There are some scenes where Shiyi realized ml isn't that bad of a character. Moreover, given how shiyi handled the rice situation, and how she was accommodating to the illegitimate boy being taken under ml's wing, ml got to know more about shiyi. You just have to analyze and understand the actions he takes or says. Ml observes the actions shiyi does. Besides, actions speaks louder than words. He deduced what kind of a character shiyi is by how she handled the situations. This drama isn't about verbally and openly talking about things. What's beautiful about well done period dramas is the art of using subliminal hints and words. They use indirect words to hint everything, and if one is smart they will understand the meaning. They don't use direct words bc they don't want to point fingers, they let the other person realize it instead. I love those types of drama. It's basically psychological play.

Technically, ml accepted her helping refugees. It's his mother that kicked her out and wsnted her son to divorce her. He went with the flow bc he wanted to get rid of Qiao.

In the end of ep 19 fengxi was decided to be taken care of under shiyi but he would be placed as this dead concubine's son. So he won't be a legitimate son. Especially since shiyi hasn't even given birth her own kid. That was the novel. But in ep 20, 2nd madam decided to take fengsi as her kid, so he'll be a legitimate son and under 2nd master. That wasn't in the book

They do show ML starting to have faith and trust between the Fl. It's just that you have to understand his character and his actions in order to see it. This isn't like the typical idol period drama where the ML or FL purposely speak out their actions. Like" I trust her to blablabla". For example, when ML told FL about Luo family saving Xu family and them being in debt to Luo family. That's ML putting grrat trust in FL's character. Believing she wont use this new knowledge as knowledge to hold it against him or Xu Family. Bc Yuanniang knew about it, hence why she could threaten and scheme against ML without worries or qualms

Ok nvm. Kinda disappointed they changed it last min from the book.

I'm very glad the story line of FengQing follows the novel.

2 main wives (yunniang and shiyi) and 4 concubines

I'm sure tmr's eps will be a breath of fresh air. Also, the big boss hasn't even been revealed (I know who it is but I won't spoil it)

I think it's bc he never had to chase or court a lady before so he's out of touch. All the ladies flaunt to him bc of his status, but fl doesn't. Instead, she tries to avoid him at all possible cost. He finds this new and intriguing. Also, he's never fallen in love, so it'll be amusing as well. I think it was in ep 16 that he tried to stay overnight, but fl didn't let him. He is too thin skinned to be thick skin and insist on staying overnight.

Also, by marrying all these women, it showed he is responsible man and repays kindness or favours back. None of the wives he has is what he wanted.
1) Yuanniang, The Luo family was Xu family's saviour at the time of Xu family's lowest point. Yuanniang's grandpa pleaded to the king to give ml a chance to redeem Xu family by going to war, bc of this opportunity the Xu family was able to survive and be powerful today. So, ml lead married Yuanniang as a sign of being grateful.

2) Wen Concubine. Her family sponsored or funded ml's campaign during war. So that helped him, thus he married her. Wen's family are merchants, yes they are wealthy but they need connections to continue their prosperity. Wealth can't match a family with official court titles as merchants are still just civilians.

3) Qiao Concubine. Basically, he had to marry her bc he saw her undress. So, morally he has to take responsibilities, even though he knew he was schemed in

Exactly! He knows he's a piece of meat that all these women wants to chow on. HE knows they are just using him, which is why, I think, it's one of the reasons he won't and can't get close to the concubines. As for Qiao concubine, he sees her under that horrible fake facade. He hates scheming and she does it too often. He tolerated Yuanniang bc Luo family helped Xu family when they were at their lowest. Also, bc they are legal main couple so I guess he did have some sort of feelings, no matter how small,

I saw the pic too! did Zhunge married in the novel? In the novel, Shiyi gave birth to a boy before a girl. So since there's only a girl, I'm assuming the adaptation changed to her having a miscarriage. There has been rumours that she had a miscarriage in the drama, but not enirely sure.

That scene where he visited all his wives showed a lot between his relationships with the Concubines and his character. It shows he's a fair and just man. Reason being when he visited one wife, he visited all, and when he doesn't visit one then he won't visit any others. So he doesn't play favouritism. Although, we will see later when he falls for fl, he'll naturally favor and dote on her more. Another, is that his visits showed all the wives weren't compatible with him! That was the main thing as well. He's a man that cares about the poor and the citizens of the country. So when there was a flood in some village that caused a lot of refugees and Wen Concubine spending $20 (of that time) for just one bowl of soup, he was angry. He didn't like how shallow and recklessly wasteful she was, it's the opposite of his ideals. With Qin Concubine, bc she was a maid previously, she had no proper education in arts or anything. So their intellects weren't compatible. When he saw the painting, he was admiring the work, the strokes, the colours etc. When he asked her the author or w.e of the painting, she said she didn't know and that she put it there bc she found it pretty. Even she found herself embarrassed at that moment. It's also bc of her previous low status that she's so self-deprecating. She's quite and doesn't start any quarrels with anyone bc she has no family back up.

I read someone's comment that only the ml's character was the same as the novel, which was a relief for him/her. I agreed with the previous comments that he does carry a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders which makes him more solemn. He can't let his emotions show bc that'll give it away to others about what he's thinking or feeling, which can be problematic since Xu family does have enemies. He's one of the king's trusted official, few have a king's trust and favor. So, that alone shows ml has good foresight, and an intelligent and calculative mind as he can read what the king thinks.

That's great that you feel like she's from modern world bc she is. She was a divorced lawyer in 21st century before timetraveling. Which is why she's so calm and logical.

It'll still be sweet at least until ep 24 so far since there's no other trailers after that. So rest assured to at least watch until there haha