zhazhaver

Thanks for sharing this & LXY's posts ❤️ It gives me closure, answering all the unresolved feelings and questions I had about LX.

This is so funny! 😂 Lol Thanks for this. Totally wished the writers didn't leave so much of JQ & LX romance to our imagination! 😂 Oh well, I've made peace with the underwhelming emotional payoff, which was tough for me after such a great build up. I'm still in the 'feeling sorry for JQ' camp!

Just finished! I have somewhat mixed feelings about the last third of AtC but loved it overall 💖. Eps 1-38 were amazing, I was so addicted! I can never forget how the story started, I was shocked & in tears. The cinematography, beautiful details, all the characters, plot & pacing, the cultural & historical references - I was completely immersed in the story. The 1st 2/3 was really impressive, with all of its twists & turns, definitely beyond 10/10. I just wish there was a better emotional payoff for JQ (& me! ) after LX found out that he was the kind soul that buried her Shen family remains in ep 38. Considering how their story and relationship were set up & developed so well beforehand, I was expecting my heart to be moved...but them getting together (after 4 years of marriage!) felt underwhelming & frustrating. I was glad to see towards the end though LX genuinely loving JQ and showing this in her own restrained way. Although the final third arc felt tonally different (with crazy time skips!), I appreciated how it ended with LX living a long, full & fullfilling life, a paragon for women during those times. The most memorable & moving ending scene for me was when she was remembering her friends as they disappeared one by one. So much to praise about this drama! 💫 9/10

I'm not surprised that JQ fainted seeing his wife give birth, even if he is used to the battlefield. I'm more surprised seeing this scene of a husband next to his wife during labor & delivery in Ming dynasty China! For me, JQ now feels like a different character, which I suppose can be explained by character development.

Thanks for this. I figured he knew but thought he would get some kind of confirmation from LX. It was a good thing for him to burn the evidence questioning her true identity to protect her.

Oh I see...the reveal of her identity is indeed very subtle and anticlimactic. I wasn't sure.

Does JQ know LX's true identity as Shen Jian Lan?
Does LX know he knows? Or does she find out he knows later on, like at his deathbed?

Ep 42 questions -

While waiting for AtC eps to drop, I'm watching Filter, written by Tong Hua, the same screenwriter as this one. It is hilarious! 🤣🤣🤣 I have to thank fellow MDLer @JJJ for the recommendation. There are some familiar AtC faces - like the actresses playing 1st Lin sister, 3rd Lin sister Xiuru, Zheng Man Yi, Qing Xiang, and young Lan Xiang.

Like what?

Thanks! I have been reading others interpretations of this scene and it does seem like a symbolic way to show events of the 2years for JQ at court and then him moving back to Jinling. What an artistic way to show what happened!

It's too bad that eveything went by too fast!

I think it's his mannerisms, it's too much out of character when you compare with the first half of the drama.

JQ & LX getting together was not done well, I was disappointed. This part of their story is completely different from how other characters' / couples' stories went, with a lot of care and thought put into them. Theirs felt like an afterthought. I wish it was done better so that we feel something more! I was even unsatisfied with how she reacted after he burned all those mementos he kept from her before they married. Even now, it's still not clear to me if he knows her identity, or if she knows he knows, lol! So much unsaid in these last few episodes.

Sadly, I feel the same as you. I LOVE AtC overall, but I am not a fan of how JQ & LX characters are shaping up & how little is shown of their relationship becoming closer after ep 38's big reveal at the burial site. While LX hasn't really changed, JQ character has changed too much.

I've said before that I feel sorry for JQ because his love has been so one-sided all this time after marriage. Now after watching ep 42, I see affection from LX but still their love is so lopsided. When LX admitted to 1st Lin sister's kids that what she lives for are her parents, her daughter, and appreciating the present moment / nature (JQ was NOT part of her list!), I pitied JQ even more. It left me feeling cold. He really loves her, yet she is so detached. It's like she's resigned to her role as his wife...and that's about it.

For sure, LX is an inspiring and brilliant character, good to everyone around her, like a living Boddhisattva, and her situation in a higher social class has mde her a catalyst for social change and inspiration to women regardless of standing, but she still doesn't reciprocate JQ's feelings at this point in the story - which to me feels so unsatisfying.

Some thoughts about ep 39,

• I expected something different from LX's play. I thought she would give JQ hints on her true identity and how the last emperor was responsible for the demise of her family. Instead the play sharply criticized the emperor and the imperial system, taking a lesson from history about a loyal & accomplished general (like JQ) who was later punished and killed for surpassing the emperor's merits. She didn't just warn JQ of the dangers being close to the emperor but also revealed her opposition to the socio-politics of the times, which was deeply rooted in Confucianism (she was saying how she didn't believe the subject should submit to the emperor, son to the father, wife to the husband...) This is an extreme stance that could have gotten her killed if known to the emperor! So, understandable seeing JQ's shock because I was shocked myself. Her thinking is radically different compared to others (maybe shared only by Lu the scholar).

Later after 2nd Lin brother passes away, when JQ brings up with LX that it is not enough to have 'disbelief' for the current system, and that one has to believe in something, LX talked about how she believes in the way of heaven, that it favors no one but sides with the good and that compassion & wisdom are 2 sides of the same thing. Hearing this made me realize that she does have a belief system, which is the Buddhist path.

So after this episode, I think I"m starting to understand better LX's views. Initially I thought the difference between her & JQ's ways had to do with their families & values (do you abandon your conscience & principles for the sake of survival?). But it was more than that, having to do with how to achieve an ideal social system.

• Watching the first 15 minutes, I felt sorry for JQ, waiting so long to gain LX affection. It's like his whole world view had to crumble and align with hers before LX finally accepted him as her husband. She is really a strong woman who sticks to her principles! He OTOH is completely whipped.

• Like others I also felt like this episode moved abruptly with all the time leaps so we lost out on the key moments showing how the relationship developed between our main couple. I felt let down with this part 😔. I also didn't understand what happened during those 2 years when JQ was in the capital and LX I guess moved back to Jinling. Were those fighting scenes flashbacks? Did JQ really leave his position? Was the scene with them drinking out of the nuptual cups wearing white outfits a flashback too?

yes ha ha thanks 😅

Interesting! I didn't think that about that. It's true, he wanted her to know he defied the emperor by secretly burying the Shen family & maintaining their grave all these years. He also knows that she knows how he saved the deposed crown prince - another act of treason. JQ is really just doing whatever he wants! (well, within reason, lol) So he has shared his dark secret with her to help her understand his heart more 🩷

Ikr, I don't think there'll be any redemption for JQ dad, lol.

For sure, Shen grandfather was resigned to his fate and didn`t want to compromise on his principles, condemning his family. There was nothing the Lin grandfather could do to dissuade him. Regardless, JQ felt that his family played a part or could have done more. He certainly wanted to do something for them since he asked his grandfather if they should warn the Shens. As close family friends, I think JQ reaction was the most natural and decent thing to do, but to save the Lin family grandpa had no choice but to cut ties.

I`m sure LX understands this, yet she must still feel resentment against the Lin family. They are not responsible for her family`s demise, but they didn`t act according to principle, unlike her family. I remember Lu scholar, after meeting JQ told him that they 'walk different paths' so have nothing to say to each other. It's the same with LX - she feels they walk different paths based on what happened in the past. It's a matter of principle. Understandably, she will always think that what happened between their 2 families (and the difference in principles) makes it impossible for her to accept her marriage into the Lin family.

But at the burial site, JQ revealed to LX all that he went through & did for the Shen family to make amends (at great personal & family risk) - even admitting that after all these years, he had never let it go and that he had a troubled conscience over what happened. This made LX realize that JQ is also a principled man that knows right from wrong, and willing to go 'against the current', and that maybe they can walk the same 'way'.