Nothing the way I imagined it to be... They had to go sooooooooo much and they had to make difficult choices just…
"Wall" is the right word. The drama writers / director didn't know how to create 'distance / disillusionment & sadness' between ML & FL over court intrigues while also showing that they digged each other as a married couple - handsy and all. Even in that 'jail poison' scene, I would've thought if you are meeting someone for the very last time, you'd hug the spouse tightly, if not kiss, but no, they just said some lines - ML more sincere than the FL - & down went the cup!
The ending scene of their family of 3 is actually some years later from the time of Zhao ling's Capital Post resign.…
Of course they went to Yu - there was even a scene where Yu lady went to the storehouse of Yan lady & got everything there & her cargo carriage to capital crossed FL's cargo carriage as she was leaving for Ganlin.
Ep. 33-36: My favorite scene from all the last 4 episodes is the scene between ML & Shameless/SML where ML gives him money for his kid & pats him on the arm to boost his confidence.
Frankly, I forwarded most of the salt mumbo jumbo & the 'funeral' stuff. Yus falling over a weight was poetic justice but unrealistic to show a full court suddenly testifying against him!
I also did not understand how Gen. Wang would still marry his daughter to a nobody Sen (what did he do? Other than being the brother of '4th rank imperial favor ML') after ML's 'demise' - I think the marriage would've been off because Sen was nothing on his own - & to marry a border's general's daughter is a big thing.
Most of all, I fail to understand the WISDOM of writers / director to place SFL living & working in the same place as FL. Was it really necessary to put her in that town? This also means her social circle will be the same as FL. And chance of SML with grown up kid showing up over there is also evergreen, who knows? I know we are supposed to think everyone has separate lives, but do they really?
If you want the leads to be surrounded with 'their people' / friends, etc. that's fine, throw them in deadbeat town Ganlin - even though they could've started a life in Yongning too, and kept in touch with Ganlin crowd from afar, but what kind of a start of new life is it when the terrible baggage from yesteryears also moves to town? Why are we expected to accept SFL around this couple? We knew it would be a HE, but HE has to be HE without hiccup or speed-breaker (which SFL is).
I also did not like FL getting rich (I've mentioned this before) through her mom's 'property' - if she had this property, there was no need to go through any of the last 7 years (14 by the last scene?), OR put the poor ML on track for military career, she could've just gone to capital & call ALL shopkeepers - like she did in Ep.35 I think & make rules as a married-to-ML woman! ML could've opened up a legitimate salt shop too, they could've been 2 merchants in capital - there was no need for this drama - this 'u-turn road to splendor'. This 'richness' was created only because FL didn't really accomplish much on her own. And since they are back to square one - ML's salary isn't going to be much - so affluence is because of FL, not ML. FL's character arc was topsy turvy, I thought she was a rockstar till they gave her a 'property' (inherited wealth) & a bad attitude.
Pet peeve: FL never called ML by his name 'Ling' after wedding night!
The drama shortchanged the main couple's ending to give everyone else the best ending / outcome. At least the poor ML is happy by the end!
I got very attached to the leads & their story. I'll miss this drama. It was good.
Lol! I see a lot of complaints about Zhao Ling not being romantic. Just tell us you're upset because you haven't…
ML is very romantic. It's the FL who is the problem. Extremely cold & unsupportive in capital - house became an icy jail just because she's unhappy with ML's career & constantly nagged him - but enjoyed all the perks & titles & power that his career provided her.
And there have been no kiss scenes or hug scenes or even touchy feely scenes as a married couple. Zero intimacy - because of FL.
Only one idea that I find hard to grasp is why bearded Ding Yuxi
Yes. Doesn't suit him plus mourning period ended & if they were going to show a goatee ML, they should've shown passage of 5-10 years, the entire story arc in the capital is of a few months or a year at the most!
Ep. 32: SFL will definitely live out / survive the fall of Yus but I still think the chance of Shameless /SML to make it alive is about zero (because he got a guy killed & got ML nearly killed).
ML had told FL to not leave house because there may be trouble (after Mo's death), but she pranced around to meet Wu concubine with her loyal maid only to get kidnapped! Ridiculous plotline btw. This FL is there for EVERYONE except ML. She only decided to give the poor man a chance when she found out that Yus had killed her mother - so now it's personal for her! Now she wants revenge! Now she'll help him - BUT this guy has been up against the Yus since he came to the capital & only NOW she decides to join him in action. Heartless woman.
There hasn't been a proper hug or kiss between this couple since forever.
Ep.32 - I've waited the entire day for it, but it's not on any site (let alone the entire express which usually shows up on kisskh etc. on release). Where are you guys watching the new episodes?
Gosh, people are so insufferable. Like clockwork, every single time a FL in a drama has a mind of her own and…
He has to do what the king tells him to do. Can she say no to the king? Can she go to the king & throw the new title he has given her to his face? ML cannot say no because his boss is the king. It's a concept the FL has failed to grasp in 20+ episodes. Her 'agency' is going behind his back to undermine him & his position not to support him or find a way out of this quagmire of kingly position - all that she achieved in life were 3 mentions in county register - that's it! But she was talking about ML's future as a Marquis or Gen. commander or Chancellor - she wants to have her cake and eat it too without paying any price for it. Well, he's paying the price for all of the orders he has to follow. She doesn't. She just sits in the mansion on a moral pedestal.
I also think she has fundamentally failed to understand the personality of the guy she waited 5 years for. He has taken care of her, in sickness & in health (even in last episodes when she was crying over her evil dad & in bed, he was making soup for her!!!) & protected her. She frankly has done nothing for him. When it's her turn to show nurturing or some care, there is nothing but brickbats. He is dead tired, full of stress, basically a dead man walking under the weight of all that king requires of him & what Yu plans, & she has never once asked him whether he's okay. And she doesn't help him. She is the one who stopped being the team player - esp. in Ep.29-31.
Ep. 31: Just finished it. ML, Gen. Mo & king performed really well. I don't think even king had a choice frankly.
I seriously have lost hope in FL at this point. I don't even recognize her anymore.
I dare FL to 'sit and have dinner' with Mo like ML was made to. When he came back home, sitting outside the entrance, she neither asked him what happened, nor smiled, & in fact later on scolded him when she found out Mo had been bumped off, & when he explained why king made the order, simply lectured ML & left. Such a cold cold cold woman! I mean save a little bit of sympathy! You had plenty for your deadbeat dad (that you took a slap from & who killed your mom) - she was depressed over him, ill & weak!!!! - she had sympathy for concubine Wu & Mo's wife! But the guy who has given everything to her, she has nothing but spite!
I think FL's character is supposed to be a morally above-board virtuous center for the show & for ML to 'guide' him to the right path, BUT it's very easy to spout virtuous lines when you are just sitting pretty in a mansion & not facing any danger, any order, any king, any court, any Yu directly. He has to face everything alone. She actually expects things to move at her pace between court, king & ML!!!!("don't do anything for the next few days, I have evidence"!) Would she have been able to convince the king that Mo should not be killed? She does nothing but get angry & disappointed at ML & show magnanimity to women below in rank to her, who were once superior. ML is the one who has to take orders & tough actions & live with them. The burden is on him, & it's a very heavy burden, esp. after Mo, he isn't well. She can see it, the toll it's taking, but she is soooooooo cold! It's unbelievable.
She is right about one thing: even I could see 10 episodes ago that this couple are on their way to becoming cold heartless machiavellian soulless corrupt Yus. And FL said it today. The banquet at the end was devastating to watch because the entire event was full of sycophants and ML+FL were technically 'celebrating' their own promotions on the grave of an unjust execution & at the cost of alienating their only friends / colleagues. Even Wei lady didn't show up!
But constructive criticism is beyond FL & so is a viable plan of action or a hug.
Very good episode (forwarded Mo wife's screaming / whining).
She said let's end the marriage to zhao ling and that creepy ass is holding unconscious fl . I am done with this…
Yeah, I absolutely cringed when I saw an unconscious FL in the arms of Shameless / SML in Ep. preview. This was an unnecessary trope. There was no reason to show FL in the presence of this evil family - UNLESS SHE'S PRETENDING TO BE UNCONSCIOUS!
Agree with you. I have doubts about the emperor & thought that either Mo Yi or ZL, they’re just pawns or…
Because king only wanted a tool that gave him the quickest results in less time, he is not grooming a candidate for the long haul. People like ML are removed / executed once they outlive their purpose (usually by the king).
She has no problem with him forming factions as long as they are factions SHE thinks makes sense - i.e, the Northwest.
Yup. That's what I think so too - she told cmndr Wang's wife a couple ep. & promotions ago that ML will 'take care of North army's interests' behind his back!!! That's a conflict of interest too. AND she promised Mo's wife in Ep. 30 that they'll FIND A WAY to get Mo out of prison!!!! A woman of her intelligence would already know that since Mo & his wife were the ONLY witnesses to Wu transaction, there was no way to prove Wu was setting them up. Mo's wife wanted her to plead to dowager! I mean, WTH?! This is only because FL has created this impression of rising power in front of these military wives who were above her rank in Ganlin & she was at their mercy over there.
ML's only loyalty can be to the king & no one else because he was an inexperienced semi-literate junior officer, former salt smuggler, given 4th rank by this king, to stand in court with all these well-educated experienced senior nobility guys, to do whatever the hell king wants him to do - there's no getting out of it, especially now, unless king lets him go - dead or alive. I don't know why it's so hard for FL to get that!
thanks I was waiting for it to end to watch but here we go another simp with another fl that don't see she's cold…
FL & ML are not simps. She's actually a good solid enterprising woman but she 'formed a faction' herself a couple episodes ago by telling cmndr Wang's wife that ML will take care of north army (!!!!) and went behind ML's back to say that! So I cannot believe she has a problem with ML trying to form a faction - he is at least doing it in front of her!
Frankly, I forwarded most of the salt mumbo jumbo & the 'funeral' stuff. Yus falling over a weight was poetic justice but unrealistic to show a full court suddenly testifying against him!
I also did not understand how Gen. Wang would still marry his daughter to a nobody Sen (what did he do? Other than being the brother of '4th rank imperial favor ML') after ML's 'demise' - I think the marriage would've been off because Sen was nothing on his own - & to marry a border's general's daughter is a big thing.
Most of all, I fail to understand the WISDOM of writers / director to place SFL living & working in the same place as FL. Was it really necessary to put her in that town? This also means her social circle will be the same as FL. And chance of SML with grown up kid showing up over there is also evergreen, who knows? I know we are supposed to think everyone has separate lives, but do they really?
If you want the leads to be surrounded with 'their people' / friends, etc. that's fine, throw them in deadbeat town Ganlin - even though they could've started a life in Yongning too, and kept in touch with Ganlin crowd from afar, but what kind of a start of new life is it when the terrible baggage from yesteryears also moves to town? Why are we expected to accept SFL around this couple? We knew it would be a HE, but HE has to be HE without hiccup or speed-breaker (which SFL is).
I also did not like FL getting rich (I've mentioned this before) through her mom's 'property' - if she had this property, there was no need to go through any of the last 7 years (14 by the last scene?), OR put the poor ML on track for military career, she could've just gone to capital & call ALL shopkeepers - like she did in Ep.35 I think & make rules as a married-to-ML woman! ML could've opened up a legitimate salt shop too, they could've been 2 merchants in capital - there was no need for this drama - this 'u-turn road to splendor'. This 'richness' was created only because FL didn't really accomplish much on her own. And since they are back to square one - ML's salary isn't going to be much - so affluence is because of FL, not ML. FL's character arc was topsy turvy, I thought she was a rockstar till they gave her a 'property' (inherited wealth) & a bad attitude.
Pet peeve: FL never called ML by his name 'Ling' after wedding night!
The drama shortchanged the main couple's ending to give everyone else the best ending / outcome. At least the poor ML is happy by the end!
I got very attached to the leads & their story. I'll miss this drama. It was good.
See you all on some other drama's page!
And there have been no kiss scenes or hug scenes or even touchy feely scenes as a married couple. Zero intimacy - because of FL.
ML had told FL to not leave house because there may be trouble (after Mo's death), but she pranced around to meet Wu concubine with her loyal maid only to get kidnapped! Ridiculous plotline btw. This FL is there for EVERYONE except ML. She only decided to give the poor man a chance when she found out that Yus had killed her mother - so now it's personal for her! Now she wants revenge! Now she'll help him - BUT this guy has been up against the Yus since he came to the capital & only NOW she decides to join him in action. Heartless woman.
There hasn't been a proper hug or kiss between this couple since forever.
Well, whatever makes this ML happy.....
I also think she has fundamentally failed to understand the personality of the guy she waited 5 years for. He has taken care of her, in sickness & in health (even in last episodes when she was crying over her evil dad & in bed, he was making soup for her!!!) & protected her. She frankly has done nothing for him. When it's her turn to show nurturing or some care, there is nothing but brickbats. He is dead tired, full of stress, basically a dead man walking under the weight of all that king requires of him & what Yu plans, & she has never once asked him whether he's okay. And she doesn't help him. She is the one who stopped being the team player - esp. in Ep.29-31.
I seriously have lost hope in FL at this point. I don't even recognize her anymore.
I dare FL to 'sit and have dinner' with Mo like ML was made to. When he came back home, sitting outside the entrance, she neither asked him what happened, nor smiled, & in fact later on scolded him when she found out Mo had been bumped off, & when he explained why king made the order, simply lectured ML & left. Such a cold cold cold woman! I mean save a little bit of sympathy! You had plenty for your deadbeat dad (that you took a slap from & who killed your mom) - she was depressed over him, ill & weak!!!! - she had sympathy for concubine Wu & Mo's wife! But the guy who has given everything to her, she has nothing but spite!
I think FL's character is supposed to be a morally above-board virtuous center for the show & for ML to 'guide' him to the right path, BUT it's very easy to spout virtuous lines when you are just sitting pretty in a mansion & not facing any danger, any order, any king, any court, any Yu directly. He has to face everything alone. She actually expects things to move at her pace between court, king & ML!!!!("don't do anything for the next few days, I have evidence"!) Would she have been able to convince the king that Mo should not be killed? She does nothing but get angry & disappointed at ML & show magnanimity to women below in rank to her, who were once superior. ML is the one who has to take orders & tough actions & live with them. The burden is on him, & it's a very heavy burden, esp. after Mo, he isn't well. She can see it, the toll it's taking, but she is soooooooo cold! It's unbelievable.
She is right about one thing: even I could see 10 episodes ago that this couple are on their way to becoming cold heartless machiavellian soulless corrupt Yus. And FL said it today. The banquet at the end was devastating to watch because the entire event was full of sycophants and ML+FL were technically 'celebrating' their own promotions on the grave of an unjust execution & at the cost of alienating their only friends / colleagues. Even Wei lady didn't show up!
But constructive criticism is beyond FL & so is a viable plan of action or a hug.
Very good episode (forwarded Mo wife's screaming / whining).
ML's only loyalty can be to the king & no one else because he was an inexperienced semi-literate junior officer, former salt smuggler, given 4th rank by this king, to stand in court with all these well-educated experienced senior nobility guys, to do whatever the hell king wants him to do - there's no getting out of it, especially now, unless king lets him go - dead or alive. I don't know why it's so hard for FL to get that!