noor1234

I personally think both ML & FL are wooden, ML more than FL. But I'm enjoying the drama because of the story & yes, despite the lack of histrionic talent, am enjoying both the lead actors too! This is the first time in a long time that a prince/general is not the hero & girl is not aspiring to be married to a prince/general & opening a shop or training for martial arts, & stakes are not 'kingdom / life of a prince or princess' but rather just having a good, warm life & rising through the ranks without political /courtier intrigue. Breath of fresh air story & side characters.

lust.

I don't feel sorry for her at all - she had a new second chance at life - she could've even married - but she decided to be side piece of a powerful administrator, teach girls 'virtue' & nothing else, & came after a girl who was nearly killed by the same grandma who ruined Zuo's first half of life......I'm not even sure whether she truly hanged herself, because with these kinds of malevolent people, you never know. Maybe she hanged her maid & ran away! (she killed another maid too before)

In closeup were, most def.

No. ML is dep. cmndr. Gen. Mo is now cmndr.

Yup.

Ep. 13-14: I didn't think ML would kill him but I'm so glad he did - it was a very good scene too. It's ironical that the dep. cmndr had treated those civilians like dog (the ones he killed on outskirts) & then he got attacked by dogs & got put down like an animal too. Everyone acted really well in that scene, it was tense & shocking. I can see a change in ML - or rather this is the first time we've seen him ANGRY. Even FL contrived a bloody scheme to thwart dep. cmndr.

I also liked the scene of Gen. Mo with his wife & kids, & wife being snippy at the table & in the bedroom but crying later on.

And the fact that they shot on location in an actual desert / mountain is also good - recent dramas have all had CGI of desert etc. (Royal Betrothal, Ashes to Crown, etc.)

Usually dramas lose their mojo around this time, but this drama is only getting interesting. Bring it on SML! & eat dirt!

FL should've started a family register with a fictitious name to have no attachments & to be independent & to safeguard her eventual property/wealth etc..... in fact the way that scene with prince played out I thought she had asked for a register under a totally new name.

But in that way, can't the maternal clan collect all of FL's eventual land & wealth in their own name - if they are also as nasty as paternal ones (one of the things salt permit lady told FL was that without a man her property could always be collected by her relatives)?

After what was done to Royal Betrothal, I'm not holding my breath for any adaptation anymore - that too contradicted the theme of the novel AND drama by turning the refugee/orphan FL into a princess in the last leg of the show - and then she drops everything - including the king she's married to - to become a teacher!!!!!! I mean, Gawd!

But I hope ML stays a commoner who doesn't have so-called high-end family & has a checkered / criminal past who rises the ranks by working hard (& because he had good advice from FL), like they have shown till now.

And women enabled it. There was no reason for grandma to get those 4 arches to get higher status. But once you have those arches, you use them to secure the lives of your clan - grandma did nothing, none of the women worked, none of the men worked - one guy had a shop, that's it. They got a high ranking tutor to teach the girls, but the girls are used as ladders for more power. Men did not create this system - grandma did. These women didn't need those arches but wanted the arches to not do anything in their life. So I'd blame the women too. It's very easy to blame men but women are a big part of this kind of life.

Yup, especially since he is technically a relative of Gen. Mo - his sister is a concubine - but he still has time & energy to go after a newbie who isn't even a properly trained army officer! It is a cheap plot device, but it also shows that people will try to bury you if you aren't strong, for no other reason than to just enjoy seeing your downfall. Some people like being nasty just because they can get away with it.

ML is close to Sen, the kid, who is like a brother/son to him. And they have these kinds of scenes together where ML tells him his thoughts. I guess it's to put a scene of them together as well as get someone else to know what ML is thinking because ML doesn't really share any of his own needs verbally, he just has done everything for other people. Even taking over the identity of that famous salt smuggler was a way to survive with his gang of bros.

FL's advice & reasoning is always right, logical, but does she think of ML as a man? I don't think so, she thinks of him as a nice loyal kind guy who hasn't taken advantage of her & takes care of many people, so it's in their mutual interest to band and stand together as a 'couple' - she thinks of marriage as a chore, without womanly affection - she cares for him like she cares for everyone else around - that is what ML was hinting at, when he tells her 'I still feel there is space between us' because they aren't connected in heart / feeling. Now that he has to think of marriage, he wants a marriage built on love for HIM, not a design, plan or chore for mutual advancement.

Do you remember where FL got the name Xie from? Was it the fake identity FL+ML had to nab the salt permit couple? Or is it the clan name of her mom's?

I like the fact that ML & FL are ordinary vulnerable people who have no one to fall back on - not some long lost prince hiding his identity, or some secret heiress who will get her money back!

The drama IMO is about struggle of 2 people - one commoner smuggler, another fallen noble woman - both of low status because both were banished by their families - who rise to status & wealth through hard work & good nature. And she accepts his loyal guy friends as her family. So no one in this household is dependent on lineage, heritage, favors. They'll make a name for themselves without being from the privileged class. That's the story. There are subtle romantic scenes in it, and I hope once they open up more to each other & relationship progresses, that there are more direct intimate scenes, but of course it doesn't have a drooling ML (like the poor crown prince in Blossoms of Power) or aggressive FL. I think it's refreshing.

How do you know what will happen in future episodes?

Why would he get a concubine? Isn't he ML - hero? And in the webnovel, he was affected by what had happened to his mom. Plus, in the drama ML is shown to be fair, kind & loyal to everyone. Concubine stuff wouldn't be fair or kind or loyal.....

I really thought the horse was going to get shot / put down after that injury.....

They 'consummated' their attraction/relationship half-way in the webnovel, around his coronation, then he married her, then he gave her wedding ceremony & half the kingdom. They are shown to be 2 equal rulers of 2 parts of kingdom & because she has a mind of her own, there's balance of power. She's not just his wife or lover, she's Empress in 2 ways - as his wife & as the leader of a part of kingdom totally under her control. Plus they had a kid. The end. How difficult is that to adapt for screen?!!!