Rosalia Scarlet

"tigers sniff the rose" is originally based on Siegfried Sassoon's poet which describes "a powerful individual who also possesses a delicate side".
The poet is translated to Chinese as "there is a fierce tiger in my heart carefully sniffing a rose" which symbolizes having both power and gentleness within one's nature.

She wants power. Why would she treat a country bumpkin kindly? He has no power or money he can give to her. Country bumpkin can't even read. Which was why she was surprised he can write and read.

Meanwhile he wants to rise in ranks. Therefore he needs to treat her good, make her feel indebted to him so she would help him enter officialdom. It is VERY common in that era and it will be explained in the next episodes how some people lick the boots of the nobles to pass the exams.
It is HIM who needs her.

Oh I forgot.

Her mother comes from Li family, a very powerful noble family.

The crown prince wants the noble families to triumph and he needs the Li family to be on his side. Therefore he needs Mu Wanyao to marry Yang Si.

Meanwhile, the emperor wants the humble ones to get a chance.

Does that mean the emperor is a good emperor?
Does the emperor love Mu Wanyao?
You have to wait for it.

It's only 4 eps and some people said it is very slow paced.
What do you expect from cdrama? Cdrama is famous for their long episodes, detailed storylines, and slow pacing.
That is the beauty of cdrama.
Don't expect every drama to have it's main plot to be spread open on the first 4 eps.
There is this term called "world building".

Just enjoy it.
If you can't wait and want to know more, read the novel.
If you feel this isn't your taste, drop it. Don't waste your time.

The novel is very good, one of my fav.
Everything is very detailed.
The FL and ML's character growths are great.
The supporting characters also get their own pov/stories. So we can understand what they actually feel.

Even in the novel, the ML finds out about her past in chapter 100-ish out of 180 chapters. She doesn't want him to know about her past.
Also, their story spans for 10 years. They go through ups and downs like any real life couples.

Quan Yilun.

So what if she isn't pure? She is a normal woman and this isn't a reborn drama. She was 15 and sent for political marriage.

If you want a virgin FL, then this drama isn't for you bcos the story and how the relationship progress depends on this plot.

It's more than that 😅

In the novel, it was her older brother, the previous crown prince, who gave her the name. Her parents initially reluctant, but he convinced them.

She is indeed vulnerable! She is fragile and lonely.

She isn't a cold FL who seeks revenge.
What she wants is power, but she also wants love.

She hates when someone pokes on her past bcos for her those times were her darkest and most painful times.

And also, Yan Shang indeed fell in love at first sight at her 😁 who can blame this virgin when he meets such a vibrant beauty?

Mu Wanyao is NOT a bully. She is an arrogant princess with bad temper. Bad temper means one minute she is good, the next minute she is upset, the next day she forgets.
Yan Shang is kind, gentle, polite, obedient and good tempered.
Their different personalities actually attract each other.

Yan Shang is dull. He is a geek, nerd, virgin. He never gets in contact with women.
Then suddenly a beautiful vibrant peony called Mu Wanyao appeared in front of him. She changed his dull grey world.

Meanwhile, Yan Shang's kindness is what Mu Wanyao hopes to get. No one has ever treated her kindly like he does. His patience and kindness heals her trauma and wounded heart.

Fyi, Meng Ziyi has what you call "snow white skin", just like Ju Jingyi, Kong Xueer, Bai Lu.
Li Yunrui also has pale skin.
You can see how white their skin is in variety shows.
Another info, the actual makeup during Tang dynasty is VERY white. You can check Flourished Peony for other example.

If you are FINE with spoilers:

Mu Wanyao was sent to political marriage before she turned 15 to a barbarian king, the Wuman tribe.
She spent 2 years there and it was more than nightmares. Only several of her servants survived with her.
She developed trauma and it changed everything, especially her personality and it affects her relationships with Yan Shang.

This is why she is greedy for power: to protect herself and her people.
She doesn't seek revenge, only power.

She doesn't trust anyone and has no allies, but she has to endure it at first by serving under the crown prince for the time being.

Mu Wanyao is empress born princess. Her elder brother was the crown prince, but he was murdered. The current crown prince is concubine born prince, the 1st son.
He only uses Mu Wanyao as his pawn. He wants her and Yang Si to get married bcos Yang Si is his bestie (more like his son bcos of the age gap and how the crown prince spoiled him).

There will be a livestream on weibo at 5 PM (chinese time) 😁
The cast, excluding Quan Yilun and Tang Xiaotian (and the veterans) will be there.

Try using block or words muting on Twitter. Mute words starting from the title and the character names.

Don't watch it on the first week.
Watch other drama until they finish first, then you can catch up to this one.
Also stay away from any spoiler clips/comments online.

In the novel that disgusting and useless prince became the emperor after the crown prince (killed by Liu Wenji) and the 4th prince gone.

The new emperor is pathetic and a loser who can't govern. Basically Liu Wenji has him as his puppet.

During war, Wei Shu, the only one left in the capital, successfully made this new emperor ran away from the city and the soldiers coldly killed him, claiming that he is a spy 😂 they hate him so much so they don't care if they just killed the emperor.

In the end, the next emperor is the son of the useless emperor.

Chunhua and Liu Wenji died together.

Even when the same cp is paired for the second/third time, as long as the characters they play are different, the outcome will be different as well.
Just like how it was with Meng Ziyi with He Yu or Xu Zhengxi.

The fact that it is NOT a reborn story makes Mu Wanyao's life even more tragic.

At least in those reborn stories the FL return to purity and able to change their future. Allowing them a second chance.

Wanyao? She can only swallow and hide her trauma and scars.