whimsybee

The Wei matriarch explained in an earlier episode, I don't recall which one so didn't go back to rewatch - so might have a few details wrong. Essentially Wei Rao's father married Zhao Fu (now Consort Li) against his family's wishes.She was of lower birth as the Zhao matriarch is only powerful now because she was the current Emperor's wet nurse and helped to raise him, but rest of her family are merchants. And I think Zhao Fu was a dancer (not 100% sure, I think it was mentioned by one of the characters).

Because of his wife's lower birth, Wei Rao's father joined the army in an attempt to gain military glory and rank, but died instead. Wei matriarch blamed Zhao Fu for her son's death, and hated her even more when Zhao Fu decided to enter the palace to become Emperor's consort as oppose to remain a widow in the Wei family which is the cultural expectation of the time. The mother was not allowed to bring her daughter from her previous marriage into the imperial harem, so Wei Rao was raised by the Wei family. Wei matriarch kept Wei Rao away from her mother, who was also not allowed to leave the palace, so the mother was not involved in most of her life prior to this. Rest of the Wei family also never mentioned the consort because how much the matriarch hated her.

Both mothers are awful here

I don't think it ever will. The Shen family was condemned and sentenced by the previous Emperor. As LanXiang said in earlier episodes, the Emperor's words are law and never "wrong." If her real identity is found out, then she would be guilty of treason for deceiving the Emperor. At best, she will be sent to the Music Bureau as the women of the Shen family were originally sentenced to do so. At worst, she, her Xu parents and entire Lin family will face the same fate as the Shen family for hiding her (even if unknowingly).

Yes, there is a glimmer of hope that the current Emperor will revoke the previous' Emperor's decision because of Lin Jin Qi's achievements. But that opera scene that Lan Xiang wrote for Jin Qi clearly demonstrated that the fickleness of an Emperor's favoritism, and how quickly that favoritism can become deadly. If found out, Jin Qi would be doubly guilty of hiding her and for deceiving the Emperor in asking for the marriage decree.

Maybe in a different cdrama, there would be an epic reveal of her identity and everyone will be shocked and feel shamed by their treatment of her. But this drama has been incredibly grounded and unflinching in depicting the reality of that era, so I feel like to do such a reveal will be uncharacteristic and undermine main themes of this series. Really, the best outcome of the show is what they depicted - an unsaid understanding from Jin Qi who now knows who she really is, even if they can't ever speak of it and living out their lives in peace together.

I wish we had 10 more episodes so we can have more Xiao Lian and Nan Ke interactions, and more of Jiu Gao 's antics to woo Yu Chan and scare away his mother's matchmaking attempts.

As much as I enjoy seeing the characters stories over the years, I just want more time and more depth. The last few episodes after the culling of the rebellions just feels so rushed.

Backstory of Lin and Shen family told by the Lin grandfather

https://x.com/TawArtsSU35/status/2104391834822955156?s=20

Most of the show pages are created when a project is greenlight. So the genres are slighted based of the original source material since no one on this website has insights into the actual script. I’m not sure if it can be edited after the show starts airing. But that’s probably why it says fantasy still

Prince Yan? Or do you mean Prince Han?

I think we had many male villains now, but they aren't prominent because we are watching LX's story and her experience. Because of her status as a maid and later as a commoner, she's more exposed to the dangerous schemes of the ladies as oppose the various male villains operating in the background against the LJQ. Prince Han, Duke Zheng (or whatever his title was), and I think even the Zhao father and son duo were all plotting to kill the current crown prince. Du Zheng in the previous arc was a villain in how he manipulated LJQ's sister and ultimately trying to kill the LJQ. There was the guy behind the attempt to frame LJQ for the winter coats incident.

It would be interesting to see the drama from more of LJQ's perspective, we would have experienced a completely different story of the larger political conflict and machinations between the various male officials.

That said, I was also struck by Grand Father Lin's reaction when he found out about what happened between the second Lin sister and Du Zheng. He calmly said that she had to die to protect the Lin family's reputations. A chilling statement echoing a previous conversation between LJQ and Zhao Xing Tang's father when they discovered her affair. They discussed her "sudden illness" and death with her kneeling beside them listening. Her father's objection to this suggestion wasn't to save her but to save face because it would look suspicious if she wasn't allowed to be buried within the Lin family tomb. So while we haven't had prominent male villains per se, I am interested in how the misogyny stemming from that era/society's gender roles impact the female characters of the story and almost feel like a separate villain manipulating all the characters' actions and decisions.

No, not yet. I suspect they may never reveal it. Between his and the opera singer's backstory, the show is highlighting how unexpectedly commonplace FL's background is - how many official or military families were destroyed when the late Emperor took power. How many survivors like her are out there quietly living their lives in the aftermath of the regime change, silently grieving with no hope of justice, just survival

It echos what FL's mother had said that she repeated to Jier earlier - when Gods fight, mortals suffer.

Hahah, we all watch too many melodramatic cdramas. I hope this show continues the great writing and defy all the tropes! I believe in Scholar Han.

I agree with most of that, except the last point. I think he didn't confess or propose to her beforehand because of your previous point that he didn't think someone of her station would say no. That and maybe there is still a part of him, despite his admiration of her intelligence and capabilities, still sees her as beneath him whether because of that society's view of women as a whole, or his previous relationship with her as master and servant. I think all of those factor combined meant that he simply didn't consider her thoughts to any of this. In focusing only on his desires and schemes to bypass his family's objections - he made her into an object for him to posses.

There's misogyny, classism and hubris behind his actions. I'm not saying this in a critical way, or judging him as an awful person because of that. I'm just admiring how nuance the character building has been in this show.

Lots of tears watching eps 26 today

I think the original novel was a rebirth story that they cut out for the drama

the "we helped too" was also because 3rd sister warned FL to beware of CuiQue and told FL about the suspicious interaction between Clique's maid and the maids carrying bathwater. That's how FL realized that CaiQue was poisoning people

yeah, who was behind all the expensive gifts? Did she con it from another wealthy family before? Or was it gifted to her by someone who wanted the Lin family dead?

Nanke was standing behind the ML when they met outside. So by that time Nanke had already told the ML about FL's suspicions and they must have already handed off the sample of poisoned water for the physicians to evaluate. So ML knew by then that DZ's sister was poisoning his family and that meeting outside where the he had guys grab DZ was a test to see how DZ would react.

I think the point of the story is that it's impossible to be free in this society as a woman, regardless of social status. When she was Shen JiaLian, she was of a noble family well respected for their integrity and high in social stature, but met their demise overnight.

Zhao Xing Tang is another example, she's the daughter of a powerful family but her family refused to educate her and forced her into a loveless marriage where she felt caged and grew bitter overtime. When her father and the ML discovered her adultery, one of the options they discussed was her "sudden death" - her father rejected that idea not because he cared about her but because it would look suspicious if she wasn't allowed to be buried in the ancestral halls of the Lin family. She had no choice but to sit that there in silence while they coldly negotiated over her fate and possible death.

Ultimately, regardless her place in society - any sense of security and freedom are all facades that could be rip away in flash. Instead, what is real and comforting are the bonds that are being forged between her and the other maids, with her Xu parents and their neighbors.

Novel readers - when and how will the ML find out her real identity?

Please mark as spoiler!

She could have died afterwards from her injury. No one would have bothered to treat an indentured servant accused of stealing.

it has a muted earthy tone. I'm really enjoying the cinematography, it feels grounded and real as oppose to the overly bright and filter feel that are so common with idol dramas. Very fitting to the story.

How was he responsible? It sounded like both Lin and Shen family angered the Emperor. While his family didn't warn the Shen family and choose to live by giving up their principles, the Shen family already knew about the danger and decided stand behind their principles and integrity, which ultimately led to their demise.