timystic

I feel like she loved and cared for Han Yan so much and in the end was just abandoned. There was so much potential for a beautiful trusting friendship but instead she's discarded by Han Yan repeatedly.

I see Han Yan is upset by her leaving, but she just never acknowledges Chai Jing's love and willingness to do anything for her. She treats Chai Jing like her underling, and it's so painful to watch as she slowly discards someone who's been abandoned too.

I think I just really need some sweet loving good quality GL in my life. Such a shame that's so hard to find (even in censored form) as BL is favoured.

Is anyone else really upset about Chai Jing? (more in spoiler tags in replies)

Another question - is Dan Xin really allowing herself to be manipulated by Yi Ping then or is she doing it intentionally?

Because it's Dan Xin's personality that I'm finding really hard to stomach because she is being perceived as weak because she'd just turn on her friend so easily. Because it's one thing to fall out with a friend over a secret, and a whole other to want to KILL said friend AND follow some random man who was very clearly involved in the horror she experienced. Dan Xin seems way too smart and awesome to fall for that.

Ah ok, thank you!

I liked AJTL way more because of the script, character depth, production and acting. I never judge shows by physical appearance. So I think it's incredibly unfair to make that statement. It's also got one of my favourite OSTs.Also MDL's comment section hardly represents all of the opinions about actors and the shows. In China there was a paid SNS campaign to defame Liu Yuning as ugly before AJTL came out (in English, Avenue X does a great summary of this on YouTube). So, again, I don't think your statement is fair.

I can't really cope with Dan Xin and Ping An's break up and Dan Xin acting like a fool to the actual people who harmed her. Is this actually just part of a broader scheme / plot and/or is this break up resolved quickly? Because it makes the whole women empowerment theme feel weak when they can be split apart and manipulated so easily.

I'm really struggling to get past episode 20 for reasons described in the spoiler comment below. Could someone answer the question? Thanks in advance!

So the comments about needing tissues every episode are actually no exaggeration at all. What a beautiful and powerful drama.

7.3? How? The plotholes were so large it was nonsensical; the premise of a couple marrying without having met is the largest of them and central to the story. The only strength it had was that it was steamy. So many better mini dramas far far better than this.

I am seriously confused. Why is she so upset at the end of the season when she is exactly the same? In the sense that she is not Leng Li and hasn't even told him that?

Agreed. Some of their Japanese selection and a lot of their BL selection is 18+. it's not quite Fishbowl Wives, but close.

I'm not saying it's justified. I guess I just know a lot of Indians like the people you described in your Mumbai experience below. I really relate to and connect to the story you shared as it is very similar to my experience.

I grew up in East Africa and the behaviour of Indians there are not very different to how the Chinese behave today, especially the Indians who have moved there recently. There are literally flat complexes which only allow for Indians of specific castes and schools which actively discriminate against Black African students. These are the same people who complain about racism they've experienced from white people.

I guess my point is that I want to tackle all forms of discrimination, but I also think we need to work on our own as well.

I mean - as a South Asian - the caste system isn't dissimilar to the way you say South Koreans treat Indians. I know on my last trip to India, I was shocked that people use different utensils for Dalits and Adivasis, and the hate for Muslims is horrific.

Is everyone just ok with the casual anti-black racism at the beginning of the show?

I'm not a fan of the way it's more of a soap opera than a historical drama, and will be dropping it most likely because of that. I also think it doesn't really do justice to how powerful and cunning Empress Gi actually was.

BUT I don't get why you're complaining about the FL "cheating" when the emperor in all these shows has multiple wives / concubines? And that includes the MLs of this show and many others. Are men allowed to sleep with lots of women but not the other way round in your moral compass?

Also "simp" is a horrible word which is largely meaningless imho. I hate shows where the FL has to give up her whole life for a ML because of so-called love. Because that's not love - that's codependency.

I mean, obviously it's heavily dramatised and fictionalised. But she was an incredibly powerful woman who held her place in a very patriarchal society. The love triangle is not based in reality - you're right - but she certainly wasn't a "nice" person. She was pretty much hated by Goryeo and the Ming dynasty too (who defeated the Yuan Empire). She was also a concubine of low status who managed to climb her way to Empress despite everything being against her.

This is an interesting read: https://chinachannel.lareviewofbooks.org/2018/06/15/redeeming-empress-gi/

Ok, but that's not the story here? She's trying to survive in a world which would easily kill her. If you actually read about her real life you'd understand. Oh and also read about how harems work. For a non-Moghul in the Yuan dynasty she achieved remarkable things. Obviously - like all empires - it's covered in blood, deceit and betrayal. Because that's life.

I'm guessing history isn't your forte? It's based on a true story...

I'm guessing you didn't follow the smear campaign against Liu Yuning when AJTL came out? Because that specifically targeted him for not being attractive... Though how, in either case, makes no sense to me.

I'm on the second episode and so confused. Who is which prince? What logic or reasoning does the FL have to justify blaming the Crown Prince? I know he's pretending, but how can the ML be a Crown Prince if he is seen as disabled? And who is the third prince? And if the FL's family were killed why is she talking to her father? Shouldn't he be dead too?

I know minis don't make sense, but this is more ridiculous than most.