peongre

Weak in almost every aspect

This project had nice opportunities and didn't use any of them; it started promising but lost its way in the middle and ended in an absurdly weak note.

I could say that the failure is the main couple's fault and call it a day, but surprisingly, they weren't the culprits. Although I'm yet to be blown away by any of Xu Kai's work, his portrait was one of the highlights here: crazy eyes, questionable actions, and a lot of lust for the FL. He and Zhou Ye had a lot of chemistry, and with a better script, they could've challenged other good couples we had this year.

Zhou Ye is the main character here, but she can't do much beyond the first episodes; she delivers naivety in a sweet way, and it's surprising how cunning she can be, but after a while the revenge doesn't land well enough, and it feels like QingYuan is beating a dead horse until the last episode.

There are some buzzy scenes, and they can fool you into thinking this will go somewhere; it doesn't. The FL run laps around 'her family' with an accidental mistake here and there for all 30 episodes, but the ending is very "what the hell, sure" for both the revenge and the romance, so it's double meh.

In the end, there are lots of other shows with the same premise and better execution.

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It's complicated

By far one of the most gut-wrenching and promising storylines I've ever seen, but I'm not sure if it delivers as much as it implies.

It's not a secret that Chinese dramas only see the possibility of a woman-centric narrative if the male counterparts are diminished to a bunch of fools. Don't get me wrong; men are mostly evil and self-centered even when they are not trying, and it's very easy for them to be terrible in this show's time period, but if you are going to dabble into romance, you should at least save the ML from it.
I appreciate the reality of what a powerful man's obsession can do; the ML wants Lan Xiang more than anything and forces her into marriage with the highest power he can reach. It hits even harder when he's the man you're supposed to like and root for. But it has its consequences: they become the worst part of the show.

Lan Xiang can't leave him; she eventually has to lie down and bear his children. She endures being away from her parents and has to take care of his household until the day she dies. It's suffocating even when the story tries to say she eventually started to like Jin Qi, because of course she didn't.
She couldn't forgive him for taking away the life she suffered so much to get, and it's made worse by the choice of making Jin Qi mushy enough so she can force herself to accept and merge into the role of the heir's wife.

I find interesting how she was always an object, even with loving parents. When Han Liang started talking about proposing, it was never shown he was taking her into consideration, even as a free woman with free and caring parents; that aspect of her life was still going to be decided by them. It's even more evident when she writes the play for Jin Qi and tells him how she sees things: all those rules and filial duties mean nothing but a job to be done.

Lan Xiang appeared very unbothered by love the entire show, and she would've been unhappy with either Jin Qi or Han Liang.

Also, the plot in itself is very absurd and makes Lan Xiang this almost sentient being; in the beginning it makes sense since she has the noble education but had to live a difficult life as a slave, and she sees and understands a lot because she has been there before. But after the wedding, it's ludicrous how she almost senses things and gets into absurd conclusions (that are always right) from scraps when Jin Qi, who's a skilled and trained official, takes more time and effort to reach her.

It's the same problem I had with Pursuit of Jade: how can a woman accomplish so much in such an unknown, harsh, and imbalanced world when her man, the one said world was build for, can't?
That's not feminism or ideal; it's just lazy writing. Women should be given stories that are well written and in tune with the rest of the world, not plot armor and words of effect.

I find the other ladies storyline infinitely more realistic and satisfying; even Xiu Wan was able to find her way back into love without insane expectations or limitations from both sides. He has been married before, and she has seen the worst side of it from her sisters's experiences, and now they both can live together in peace.

When this show is good, it's great. Lots of impactful scenes, good conversations, important realizations, and the always-present necessity of protecting and uplifting women, but when it comes to the main leads, it loses steam very quickly, and all I could think about was any other development other than them.

It was possible to live a somewhat fulfilling life even in hard times; Lan Xiang should've been able to find this balance as well.

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