WingedBean

Now, to get the least important bits out of the way,

1. I started this because I could not believe that a show with such a prominent cast has such a bad rating.
2. The sex scenes didn't bother me. While they are certainly unusual for East Asian dramas (I hear the movies are different, but I'm more of a series watcher myself), I don't think they deserve the pitchforks-and-torches reaction I have seen. At the end of the day, Koreans aren't sexless people, so...meh. Am I asking for all K-dramas to be this explicit? No. But it doesn't scandalize
3. I have not read the book, seen the French movie, or watched the Korean movie that this is apparently based on

Now as for the plot itself, I feel largely confused. Like I don't quite grasp what they were trying to tell us. But let's start with what worked

What I liked

Cultural Relevance: Woven into this confusing story is a wealth of information about how suffocating societal rules were in Joseon.
→Class Disparity ←
We see Cho Won happily galloping on his horse back to the capital as his servant runs behind him on foot carrying all the bags. Cho Won doesn't quite care, and you can see Chil Seong mumbling about it. But Cho Won is a better master than most, so he's happy nonetheless

→ Then the social climbing←
» Bun-hui sends her daughter to seduce a man who could be her father because he's a noble and she wants that life. She cannot get it herself, so she uses her daughter.

»Cho Yun is a noble woman, beautiful, educated, and respected, but she has to bow to the Left State Councilor's wife because of class hierarchy. From my understanding, associating with the Left State Councilor's wife and sitting among women who openly gossip about her helps with the business, her standing, as well as a job for her husband

→ Treatment of Women←
» Cho Yun - Educated and a talented writer, but the world can never know that. Even her father cries, lamenting it. Because she's a woman, she can never be more than that. Amount to anything. And she hates it. She and her husband are also childless. The earlier episodes tell you in not so many words that it's the husband's fault. But it can never be his fault. So, when he desires someone else - A TEENAGER, I MIGHT ADD (EW🤮)- Cho Yun has to accept this other woman (child) into her home and smile about it. Give her a place to stay, feed her, groom her, and teach her how to be a proper woman for this household. For her husband.

»Hui Yeon - Hers is the saddest story of all. A virgin wife (who, according to my understanding, never even met her husband but has to die for him and his family. It's never for her sake.
I first learnt of the practice of widow chastity back in 2024 through the drama 'Knight Flower'. In that, our main lead, Yeo Hwa, was disliked by her in-laws because she didn't kill herself as was desired for widows. To show dedication to their husbands. I believe in that drama too; Yeo Hwa had never met the said husband, yet she was expected to mourn and wail for him, and eventually kill herself for honour.
I recommend you watch the Cdrama 'The Road to Splendor' to better learn just how barbaric that practice truly was

»Bun Hui - A sexually liberated female merchant—three terrible things to be in Joseon. It’s telling how Cho Won speaks of her later. They were enthusiastic, mutual partners, yet to endear himself to Hui Yeon, he paints Bun Hui as a predatory seductress. A loose woman, both in words and conduct, who couldn't let him go. Joseon might be over, but that double standard hasn't changed.

→The servants - Chil Seong and Eun Sil. I loved that they got their happy ending. Found love, better jobs, and stopped being servants to those nobles.

The Confusing Parts

» Cho Yun «
Her motivations regarding her cousin are baffling. She loved him when they were young and resented being stifled as a woman, but why call him back? Initially, I thought she wanted his child as a keepsake, or wanted to sleep with him as a "fuck you" to her husband. But as the story progressed, her love looked like a cruel ego trip. She just had to win, outsmart everyone in Bokchon, and block his chances.

Even when he won the bet, she withheld sex, dangling the cookie to push him into lying to the King and driving Hui Yeon to suicide for her own selfish desires. Even her back-hug lacked love; she just needed him to deliver her writings to the King and report back. It screams ego, not romance. She needs Cho Won in her corner witnessing her brilliance, at her beck and call, all for the promise of sex. The ending is poetic: she receives high-quality paper but has no one left to write to. No one remains to appreciate how smart she is

» Cho Won «
Part of me wants to feel sad for his ending but the other slightly louder part of me is screaming 'good riddance.' Despite how hurt he was by his cousin and how his brilliance pales in comparison to hers, it does not erase that he too was cruel and reckless. How he plays with and pushes Hui Yeon into a corner in his pursuit of her left a bad taste in my mouth.

Even when they got together, and he developed some genuine feeling for her, I couldn't forget how he put her in harm's way multiple times. He was so uncaring and reckless where she was concerned that any empathy I might have had for him for being his cousin's plaything was wiped away. I think Hui Yeon's genuine terror whenever he approached her, risking her being discovered and I get mad all over again

» Hui Yeon «
I love that she got to live and leave, but I hate that her love for him remained. He didn't deserve it. The incestuous Cho cousins may have done all that due to selfishness but it inadvertently allowed her to finally choose herself. From the 1st time we met her, I never believed that she wanted to die. She tried what seemed like multiple times but couldn't do it. I think subconsciously she wanted to live but didn't dare claim this desire. Her society had ingrained in her that she needed to die. However, the games of the Cho cousins allowed her to not only see more of the world but finally claim this desire.

What I found unfortunate about her was that we never got to learn what went on in her head. We see her constantly scared, hunched, and scuttling away to get away from him, and we never know what goes on in her head. She is sad and quiet. I wish we at least got some internal monologues where she was concerned. I especially would've loved to hear what was going on in her head whenever she met him and read his letters - rather than have us get a glimpse of her final love feeling through the letter that he read

» The Palace Plot «
What was that even about? I don't understand why we wasted time on the King, his ministers, and construction scenes (honestly, I don't even know what they were constructing). Part of me assumes the King was included to show how Yun’s words helped Won move up in life, but they easily could have told us that without all those extra scenes.

» The Pacing: I agree that it is slow. Had the pace been faster and the episodes shorter, the psychological thriller elements of this drama could have truly shone.

Final Thoughts
This makes an okay-ish, one-time watch. Not because of the nudity or erotic art, but because the story left me completely lost. I feel like I understood it, but also didn't. Whether that fault lies with me or the writing itself, I couldn't tell you.