noor1234

Of course, they SHOULD be - military commanders don't get married to maids! It doesn't matter whether she's a commoner, she's basically a nobody, daughter of a shop keeper & street seller. She herself was a servant at his house. Any one else wouldn't have bothered beyond an affair or concubine status. This society will laugh at him for making a maid his wife (or primary wife), someone who has no connections or wealth & doesn't make him strong in court. In fact, technically such a marriage would make him weak & be bad for his career too.

FL will win the household over, but these kind of marriages face a lot of pressure & are unhappy. The only reason why it'll work is because FL is lead actress & ML is lead actor & this is not a tragedy. In any other setup, she'd be poisoned in no time!

ML's action is 'against the current' too.

I'm posting a comment on a drama - which I happened to take time out for & didn't like.

Ep. 20: Just an observation: when the rather-obese crown prince said on navy cmndr wedding invitation that 'I wouldn't miss the wedding feast,' I was like, of course, it doesn't look like you've missed ANY feasts! I've never seen a young 'heir to the throne / crown prince' in Asian dramas be this large in the middle section.....

Yup.

Actually no. Du was wrong, even for that time period. It was irritating to hear faux feminist speech from yet another privileged woman in this drama lamenting her 'lack of privilege'. First one was ML's first wife who had more privilege than most men. Now it's Du. Third is that ML's cousin-sister who was getting it on in cave with a trooper! In this drama all privileged women are crying over lack of equality! Get off the high horse first! Du, who was educated, was living in a grand house with 'assit. cmndr' family - because of her brother btw, she could've had an easy life as a 'farming' family's wife! This is a woman who had no land, no money, no name! And she was looking down upon a landed proposal. She wanted wealth. And most people in that time period got wealthy either through inheritance, marriage or king's favor. Men AND women. When Du was 1st introduced, we were told she could've ended up working under the court's registrar. That wouldn't have made her a Marquis but honest living, and she'd have a better chance of free will marriage than an arranged, forced 'farmer family'. And easily, as a court clerk, could've chosen to NOT get married too. But she wanted money & stress-free status. And NOBODY - certainly no lord or marquis or even a twice-betrothed assistant cmndr - would've married her, because all men (& their families) want beneficial status-lifting marriages. 10 minutes were wasted on her speech & FL's counter-speech. It was beyond ridiculous. The drama would do well to focus on women who work hard, than on women who sit and do nothing all day long, just quarreling with other women, living off their dad or husband or brother's titles & cryyyyyyying over lack of opportunity & free will. That is this drama's weakest point. Everything else is great.

That's what I think so too. I think they sought revenge.

Ep.1-4: This has got to be the most boring drama this year. The leads are good looking but wooden & my god, zero plot, rather OTT contrived, cliched, tropey stuff. Really badly written characters. Did I mention zero plot? Dropped.

Yes, she had and still has more privilege than most men. I don't feel sorry for her at all, other than for the fact that her childhood lover betrayed her in an instant while she stayed true to him even through her marriage!

Qin - with the yellow sabled horse - was too late to save his benefactor. And even though he'd said 'stop the blade', Shen was still beheaded unjustly, Qin unable to save him. On the face of it, it was a tale for navy soldiers. But this is obviously a reference to what will happen between ML & FL too - when their pasts get revealed to each other, as Lin & Shen betrothed couple, & Lins extracting themselves just in time - without informing / warning Shens that they are in trouble - which led to Shens getting wiped out.

Just like Qin is left with the head of his benefactor Shen, some Lin - either Lin grandpa or ML - has regretted not informing Shens all that time ago. And FL will get to see that regret.

For the naval soldiers, it was a reminder that not all of their efforts bear fruit, sometimes good officers die unrewarded or unjustly and some good people are unable to save others. That's essentially a soldier's life. That's why the camp guys were crying.

But I doubt this story is not going to have a hidden meaning / be relevant for ML & FL later on. Because Qin built a shrine for Shen and his wife, and ML must have gotten Lin family's remains to give them proper burial. That is how this camp story will tie in with ML & FL.

'Its poetic Chinese title, "Lan Xiang Ru Gu", translates beautifully to "The Orchid Fragrance Remains as Before"—signifies that Shen Jialan's core virtue and purity cannot be washed away by tragedy'

I'll just disagree & comment on this portion: because I doubt FL would've been THIS person that we see in drama IF she didn't have poverty-stricken slave adoptive parents. If she had lived as a noblewoman, she would've never interacted not understood the plight of maids & staff the way she does now. She also would've taken her privilege & money for granted. In fact, who knows how many maids / families got into trouble working for Shen household. I believe FL is MORE EMPATHETIC, more understanding and TOUGHER because of new circumstances. Goodness is not innate, it's a choice. It's easier to be 'good' when you are rich, tougher when you cannot eat meat, live in a leaky roof, don't have warm clothes & live in a stinky place. FL assimilated. She is more virtuous than she ever would've been as a Shen noblewoman or Lin wife 6 years ago. She carries the lessons of her elders, but she is a different woman.

Yeah, me too. Other C-dramas released at 3pm & 9pm slots where I live - for this drama, it's 5pm & 11pm.

It's a 47 episode drama. Even in a 26 ep. drama, it takes 10 episodes for ML & FL to get together. So math says ML will become interested in her romantically by Ep.18-20, think up about marriage by Ep.25, get married by Ep.30, differences with FL by Ep. 32, FL preggers by Ep.40. By Ep.42, time jump. After that, I hope they show actual 50-60+yo actors to show everyone in middle-to-old age. Though, I'm not an expert at this....

By the looks of it, Du siblings want revenge for something. Nobody knows their real background. They are setting traps for ML & that cousin-sister. I hope their arc shows Lins repenting about some past action.

K-drama Red Sleeve Cuff is a classic, and is mostly from the POV of maids who work within palace walls.

Me neither. But it also shows how these 16 yo girls were conditioned to think a guy is be all and end all of life, & that their life doesn't begin until they get married in a 'well-matched' household. This tantrum-throwing girl is shown as a seamstress/clothes shop owner kind of person later on - in trailer - so my guess is after some scandal with Zheng (when their true colors are revealed), she will move on to doing something useful with her life than crying over a man or misfortune. For Ep.15 trailer, it's obvious that a match has come for her, & she thinks the 'Marquis' is old - because she already is pining for Zheng now - & the other cousin-sister (the quiet, observant one) will take that offer of marriage, IMV.

My guess right now is that the 2 siblings want revenge from Lin family for some past wrong. First Zheng 'saved' ML, earned merit, took advantage of kindness to install his scheming 'brainy' sister. These 2 aren't looking for 'good marriages' - they want to ruin ML & his immature sister & bring disrepute to Lin family. IMO.

It's NOT the same thing - ML is still 'eligible' even though he has had 2 betrothals, a marriage & divorce in SIX short years. He can still get 'untouched' women! He may be jobless / suspended but his mother still wants an advantageous marriage for him a year after dust settles on Zhao divorce & doesn't want him to end up with a low-status concubine (Du) who doesn't benefit THEM! Girls have it bad. FL's family would've found it hard to explain why Lins broke off the engagement before any kingly trouble. And same is the case with Lin girls. They are just 16 yo, but their ENTIRE future is being decided by things beyond their control, talent and beauty at such a young age that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Women's 'character' is the yardstick by which family's get embarrassed, not men's.

👍 but let's see where it goes.

True. The BGM in this drama, the strings & the drums, is so menacing & unsettling. I expect danger even when people are shown gardening or eating!

Oh, I didn't think of that! Great point!