The Xie mansion has of course, Master Xie and his fierce mother, old madam (grandmother of the household). Master…
in the novel, they used so many different terms in the translation I got so confused, like Old Master Xie, the Marquis, or they interchangeably used consort and madam, they called the grandmother old mistress and sometimes the old madam
Wait this family is so big, there's like 5 madams/concubines? And who is whose child ๐ญ๐ญ can anyone explain
The Xie mansion has of course, Master Xie and his fierce mother, old madam (grandmother of the household). Master Xie of course has an official wife, Hu. Hu has son#1 (zhengze) in the novel, but I think they don't have him in the drama so forget him. Hu has daughter #2 (qingru) and adopted daughter #3 (qingrong) adopted because her mother (Xia) died. Master Xie of course has concubines, consort Lian has daughter #1 (qinghe) and consort Mei has sons zhenglun and zhengjun (in novel they would be son #2 and #3 respectively but if there is no zhengze from the novel, then they are son #1 and #2 in the drama. Then we have daughter # 4 or the Fourth Miss as the novel calls it, that would be FL, she's the youngest, prettiest, and smartest one of them all. At the start of the story, Master Xie was left with a wife (Hu) and two concubines (Lian and Mei) since FL mother (Jin) was kicked out of mansion and qingrong's mother (Xia) had also died. Daughter #2 qingru is legitimate daughter because her mother is the official wife, and slightly less pretty than FL, spoiled, jealous type, and extremely bad temperament, Shen Run will teach her a lesson in the novel.
In every cdrama, if someone kills your mother, you naturally take revenge. It was the same as in Story of Yanxi Palace, they only showed flashbacks and never spent even 70 ep drama on her past family life. They immediately went straight into the palace revenge story. They did start out by showing how her sister was in coffin and she was crying and vowing revenge but she's already a young lady so we can see her emotional state; but in this drama, the FL was only a baby when her mother died. In the novel, the mother died of illness, but FL wanted to uncover the truth behind who in the Xie mansion framed her mother. In the drama, the mother was murdered as someone set fire, hence the revenge.
I read the novel and I think the changes so far have worked because it honestly would have been boring on screen…
ok so from the novel the mother was a concubine who got framed for poisoning someone else, she was already pregnant when they kicked her out of the mansion, then some old couple took her in, she had the baby (FL) and died not long after. FL grew up with those adoptive grandparents till she was like 14 then the xie family dragged her back for that feng shui้ๅฎ thing. ,in a 30 ep drama there is really no point spending the first few episodes showing her quiet life with the adoptive parents. that part is just background in the book, the real story is when she goes back to the mansion, the revenge, the power struggle and the stuff with the ML. if they dragged out the childhood part it would just slow everything down for no good reason. compressing it makes sense for the episode count.
I think Thursday noon release of 6 episodes will be slower heat than Friday release when they can binge over the weekend, it takes time for people to catch up. Also, dual platform, the heat will be split. And the drama is starting off with rich world-building instead of shock. Right out of the gate, you already see negativity trying to kill its potential momentum. The first 12 hours after a premiere are the most vulnerable for any series, and it's only been half a day since it premiered, yet you already have forces trying to slow its potential momentum. Without paid marketing to shield it during this critical window, the drama is left completely unprotected. Without a paid marketing push of your own, you're left completely defenseless against paid marketing designed to pull you down. This is what happened to Eight Hundred as it was rising toward 24k, suddenly negative articles were published about it. For a drama that has no hype, no visibility, only word of mouth, potential viewers are easily turned off when they hear and read the negativity.
I feel bad for Xing Tang (honestly, how can anyone be this helpless) because even though I donโt agree with her bad choices, the writer presents her as so vulnerable and easy to take advantage of that itโs hard not to feel sympathy. Then they have to give her a really stupid maid to replace the smart and capable one. The two are so stupid unlike the FL. No wonder she can never win. And the FL is written with such strong capability and clarity that her success feels naturally assured โ I still root for her, but it feels more like Iโm following the storyโs momentum than wondering whether sheโll make it.
iQIYi changed the synopsis. they removed "blade and scabbard" from it. Now they only write, "intertwine." What does that mean?
"The Thousand-Faced Scheming Man" Shen Run and the "Clear-headed Black Lotus" Xie Qingyuan intertwine, joining forces for revenge through reason and emotion, struggling openly and secretly within the wealthy family, stirring up storms in the court and officialdom. In the end, they emerged from the depths of the undercurrents and pursued a brilliant rebirth.
Was excited about this show being revenge and Zhou Ye is in it, but after 2eps I am alittle exhausted with their…
From my view, the story isnโt about her mom, and with only 30 episodes there isnโt room to linger on that. Showing that she was framed and murdered is enough to establish the motive, and the plot needs to move on. If they started with her childhood or her life with her mom, the pacing would slow down. Chinese dramas usually bring those moments back later through flashbacks anyway. In Cโdramas, revenge is basically guaranteed when a family member or friend is killed. And their banter is pretty much the same dynamic they have in the novel. That part is actually meant to be one of the highlights.
On Douban, right off the bat, you got haters already, trying to create negative narratives. Why am I not surprised. When you get 7 out of 7 really negative comments in a row right off the bat, that means haters are coming for this. I'm so used to Xu Kai dramas always getting this treatment, it's become so amusing. It won't be long MDL page here will be too, negative influencers.
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Daughter #2 qingru is legitimate daughter because her mother is the official wife, and slightly less pretty than FL, spoiled, jealous type, and extremely bad temperament, Shen Run will teach her a lesson in the novel.
"The Thousand-Faced Scheming Man" Shen Run and the "Clear-headed Black Lotus" Xie Qingyuan intertwine, joining forces for revenge through reason and emotion, struggling openly and secretly within the wealthy family, stirring up storms in the court and officialdom. In the end, they emerged from the depths of the undercurrents and pursued a brilliant rebirth.
MDL always puts up a low early score for Xu Kai dramas. Let's see how long it takes them.