rayabend

I will repeat this for you too.
Do you really think Shen grandfather, who was the Grand Secretariat of the Empire at that time, had no idea what was going on? Really? Shen Jianlang’s father was also holding a very high position within the court, so both of them were already in positions where they would have known what was brewing.

Lin grandfather was actually in a lower position compared to Shen grandfather, yet even he received the news. So why on earth would we assume that the Grand Secretariat himself had no idea what was coming? And if he genuinely didn’t know, then honestly, he didn’t deserve to hold such a high position in the first place. Politics and the imperial court are all about information and knowing what is happening around you.

Lin grandfather knew that Shen grandfather was aware of the situation, and he also knew that Shen grandfather would choose his honour over everything else. So there was really no point in arguing with him or trying to convince him otherwise.

Lin grandfather made the decision he had to make to protect his family, while Shen grandfather made his own choice. And we all know what happened after that.

No one is calling Lin's as saint or the nicest human beings on this earth cuz they are not but they are also not responsible for what happened to Shen's, it's simple as that.

Do you really think Shen grandfather, who was the Grand Secretariat of the Empire at that time, had no idea what was going on? Really? Shen Jianlang’s father was also holding a very high position within the court, so both of them were already in positions where they would have known what was brewing.

Lin grandfather was actually in a lower position compared to Shen grandfather, yet even he received the news. So why on earth would we assume that the Grand Secretariat himself had no idea what was coming? And if he genuinely didn’t know, then honestly, he didn’t deserve to hold such a high position in the first place. Politics and the imperial court are all about information and knowing what is happening around you.

Lin grandfather knew that Shen grandfather was aware of the situation, and he also knew that Shen grandfather would choose his honour over everything else. So there was really no point in arguing with him or trying to convince him otherwise.

Lin grandfather made the decision he had to make to protect his family, while Shen grandfather made his own choice. And we all know what happened after that.

Why do people on this page keep forgetting that the Shen family’s downfall was never because of the Lin family, but because of their own patriarch?

The reason Lin grandfather broke off the marriage was simply because he had to save his own family. If the Lin family had continued their association with the Shen family, they would not have been able to save any of the Lin children we see today. On the other hand, Shen grandfather chose his honour over the survival of his family. Technically, the Lin family had no power to save the Shen family.

One family’s patriarch was smart enough to bend his knees and put his so-called honour aside to save his entire family, while the other simply chose not to. It really is that simple.

And this is something even Lanxiang understands. She isn’t exactly fond of the Lin family, but that doesn’t mean she hates or blames them for what happened. She is a smart girl; she understands that those circumstances were simply not in their hands. She knows the Lin family was trying to survive, just as she knows what happened to her own family was a consequence of the choices made at the time.

So, I saw a comment saying that Jinqi should grovel and beg Lanxiang over the “Shen case,” and honestly, that is simply unreasonable. Jinqi had absolutely no reason to beg or grovel because he himself had done nothing wrong, and neither had his family when it came to the royal decree against the Shen family. They were simply trying to survive. Any sane person would make the same choice if their entire family’s survival were at stake. There is no simple “right” or “wrong” here—it was a matter of circumstances and fate.

I also have huge respect for Jinqi, and it says a lot about him as what kind of a nice person he is - he chose to bury the remains of the Shen family, even though he was never obligated to do so. He barely knew them. To him, they were simply the family of the girl his grandfather had once betrothed him to—a girl he had never even met or seen. Yet he still remembered that their families had once shared a past and chose to give them the last bit of dignity he could.

So neither Jinqi and the Lin family nor Lanxiang and the Shen family owed each other anything. They were all caught in circumstances that were ultimately beyond their control. One family was fortunate enough to survive, while the other was unfortunate enough to be destroyed.

But again, **Jinqi is not to be blamed for that past.** He did not make those decisions, he did not cause the Shen family’s downfall, and he had absolutely no hand in what happened. The past may be painful, and healing from it may take time for Lanxiang, but blaming Jinqi for circumstances that were never within his control is simply unfair.

The only things this dude needs to sincerely apologise for are "forcing the marriage on Lanxiang and pulling that sleeping-pill stunt." And from what we’ve seen in the episodes, he is clearly trying to make amends for those particular actions. Hopefully, one day, Lanxiang will be able to forgive him for those mistakes.

Kindly go and watch those episodes again, because I think you're mixing up the sequence of events. Yes, Jinqi did meet Jier, but he met her once. That doesn't mean he was obligated to remember her forever simply because she was a maid in his household.

More importantly, Jier was not beaten because Jinqi gave her money or because of the account books. She never even managed to give those books to him. Before she could take them to Jinqi—while still believing they were a Taoist book—Jier decided to take her sweet time getting dressed before going to meet Jinqi. And in that very moment, Zhao came to Lanxiang and Jier's room and took the account books away from them, completely believing that they didn't know anything about them—which was true for Jier, but obviously not for Lanxiang. And that's where the account-book sequence ended. Kindly go back and revisit that episode.

The reason Jier was ultimately beaten was because Zhao was angry with her mother-in-law for selling her beloved maid, Qing Xiang , and wanted to retaliate. So she decided to give away the maid her mother-in-law had chosen for her and used the stolen gold to frame Jier. And Jier wasn't chosen randomly either. She had already made herself noticeable in the Lin household by openly showing her lust and greed and making it pretty obvious what she was trying to achieve. It wasn't just Zhao who knew what she was after—all the other maids knew that Jier was interested in Jinqi and was hoping to become a concubine of the Lin family. So when Zhao needed someone to use in her revenge against her mother-in-law, Jier naturally stood out as the easiest target.

So how exactly does any of that become Jinqi's responsibility or fault? None of this happened because of something he did. Zhao was acting out of her own anger and resentment, and Jinqi had absolutely no idea what she was plotting. If Jier hadn't drawn that kind of attention to herself, perhaps Zhao would have chosen another maid as her target. But that still wouldn't make Jinqi responsible for what happened to her.

And honestly, poor Jinqi had his own things going on. He was busy with his military affairs while also trying to uncover his wife's affair. He wasn't sitting around knowing every little thing happening between Zhao and his mother. Jier's entire ordeal was the result of Zhao's schemes and her revenge against her mother-in-law. Jinqi wasn't responsible for the shenanigans his wife was carrying out behind his back, and it's completely unreasonable to hold him accountable for something he neither knew about nor caused.

He technically never even met Jier, so how the hell was he supposed to remember her? And he was not obligated to remember her simply because she happened to be a maid in his household. Jier was the one having dreams about him in her own head; he was never responsible for what happened to her. What happened to Jier was the doing of his crazy ex-wife. It was essentially an internal dispute between his wife and his mother, so there was really no reason for him to get involved in something that had nothing to do with him.

And as for Lanxiang, she caught his attention because of her intelligence and all the smart-ass things she did in his household despite being just a maid. Of course those things were going to catch his eye. Honestly, anyone with half a brain would have noticed Lanxiang—not just Jinqi. If they didn't, then they're literally dumbos.

He never treated those brother and sister any lesser and that too for status. I think you may have missed this part of the episodes, because Jinqi explicitly told that backstabbing sister that she was the one underestimating herself, not him. He never wanted her to become his concubine in the first place, and that had nothing to do with him thinking less of her because of her status. He simply didn't believe she should be “wasted” that way or have to settle for being someone's concubine. And he would never have made her his wife simply because he wasn't in love with her. She chose the position of concubine herself because she already knew that, under the social system of that time, no one would allow a woman of her status to become the legal wife of someone like Jinqi. That was the reality of the society they lived in, not Jinqi's personal judgment of her.

And this is exactly why I think it's important to understand the system they were living under before placing every limitation on Jinqi personally. Even the emperor himself didn't have the power to simply overturn those deeply entrenched social rules, let alone Jinqi. That's precisely why Jinqi had to go to such lengths to obtain an imperial decree that would allow Lanxiang to become his legal wife—without that decree, their marriage simply would not have been possible within the existing system.

As for finding a suitable marriage for that sister, that was never Jinqi's responsibility in the first place. Marriage arrangements were traditionally handled by elders and matchmakers, which is why Jinqi asked his mother to take care of it. And realistically, under that same rigid social hierarchy, what elite family would have willingly accepted a woman of her status as a daughter-in-law? That's also why Jinqi never approached Lanxiang's parents or his own parents through the conventional route when he wanted to marry her—he knew that simply asking them wasn't going to make the marriage possible. So why take a limitation imposed by the entire social structure and turn it into evidence that Jinqi personally didn't value these people?

And when it comes to Lanxiang, Jinqi has consistently treated her as his equal. Otherwise, why would he never let his parents bow to him and why would he sit down and eat in that humble home with her parents? For a man of his position, those were very deliberate gestures of respect. He was willing to enter their world, share their table and treat both Lanxiang and her parents with the same dignity regardless of what his family or society thought of them.

And honestly, why does Jinqi even need to “become worthy” of Lanxiang? He is already a worthy person, just a flawed one—and that's how humans are, we have damn flaws, except for Lanxiang🙃. Of course he needs to take responsibility for the things he did wrong, understand the harm he caused and grow from them. But isn't that exactly what we've been watching him do from the very beginning of their marriage? He has acknowledged his mistakes, apologized, changed the way he approaches her and continued to demonstrate through his actions that his love for her is genuine. At this point, it's up to Lanxiang how long she needs to process everything and whether and when she is ready to accept his apology and his love. He cannot—and should not—force that part. But there is absolutely no question that he is fully devoted to her.

I think we’re actually using the word “flaws” in two different ways here. I wouldn’t consider Lanxiang not responding to the elders during morning greetings, not immediately behaving like the expected wife, or her trauma itself to be character flaws. Those are either choices, circumstances, or things that can be perceived negatively depending on the perspective of the people around her. And her strong principles are certainly a defining part of her character, but having strong principles isn’t automatically a flaw either.

When I said I wanted Lanxiang to have flaws, I meant something more in the sense of what we see with Jinqi—actual character imperfections, contradictions, questionable choices, or morally grey aspects that make us understand that she is a complicated human being rather than someone who is almost always in the right. Basically, I’m talking about layers, not about whether something she does can be considered a “flaw” by someone who disagrees with her.

And this really has nothing to do with whose side we’re on or who we’re fans of. I love Lanxiang, but I can still want her character to be more layered. In fact, I think giving her some genuine flaws would make me appreciate her even more because we would get to see more of the person behind all those principles. Jinqi is interesting to me for exactly that reason—he has good qualities, questionable qualities, contradictions and insecurities all existing at the same time. That’s the kind of character complexity I’m talking about.

As of now, I’m actually okay with Lanxiang being a bit guarded with him. A marriage without her parents’ consent was simply never something she had in mind, so I think keeping some distance for now is understandable and probably necessary for both of them to slowly open up to each other and work through their differences step by step. I just hope she doesn’t judge him solely based on what he did, but also takes the time to see his good sides and understand the person he is beyond those actions.

My main problem is that Lanxiang is almost always portrayed as being right and perfect. I wish the writer had shown more of her flaws instead of presenting her as this perfect model of a woman who could never really do anything wrong. Why can’t she have flaws and make mistakes? Why does being the female lead mean she has to be written as perfect, when Jinqi is also a main lead and is allowed to have flaws, make mistakes and be morally complicated?

So for me, Jinqi is simply more fun to watch as a character because there’s more complexity and contradiction to him. I absolutely love my girl Lanxiang, but as a character, she feels a little one-note to me, and that’s purely a writing issue. It has nothing to do with the actors, because I think they’re both doing a great job with what they’ve been given.

The way people are turning Jinqi into some massive red flag is honestly hilarious. He’s a grey flag, at most. And personally, I actually like seeing a male character with genuine flaws and contradictions, because that is what actual human beings are like. I’m not defending what he did, but not every morally questionable action automatically makes someone manipulative or evil. Jinqi is clearly insecure when it comes to Lanxiang, and that doesn’t necessarily make him a bad person, but it does lead him to make choices that make you question his actions. The fact that he genuinely apologised to her for what he did also tells me that he is capable of recognising his mistakes and taking responsibility for them.

My issue is actually with the writer, because while she has allowed Jinqi to have flaws, she seems almost unwilling to do the same with Lanxiang. Sometimes Lanxiang feels less like a human character and more like the writer’s perfectly constructed image of an ideal woman who simply cannot do wrong. I want to see her demons too. I want her to make mistakes, have selfish moments, make questionable choices and occasionally be wrong. Because no human being is completely flawless. Giving Lanxiang some real imperfections wouldn’t diminish her character; it would make her feel like an actual person.

All love babe🫶

Yeah, that has been bothering me too. They better have a good explanation waiting for us in the upcoming episodes, because if not, I'm definitely going to be annoyed. 😂🤔

In her mind, she's over 300 years older than everyone in the present day, so it makes sense that it naturally comes across that way. She even talks to Seori's grandma like she's the elder in the conversation because, from her perspective, they're all younger than her—which, technically, they are. 🤔

Kindly let that lady be a grandma; that's part of the charm of her character. 🫶😁

So happy for MRN. ❤️😁

Lim Ji-yeon is such a phenomenal actress, and it's always a pleasure to watch performers like her who truly pour their heart and soul into their craft, where talent and dedication matter more than superficial factors. She is a star. 🫶😍

I'm especially happy for Nam Jun as well because he genuinely deserves all the praise he's receiving. The amount of work he put into every breath, expression, and mannerism of Cha Se-gye and Lee Hyeon is remarkable. His acting has been nothing short of outstanding. I really hope he continues to rise, both commercially and as an actor👍❤️

We need a new generation of performers who can genuinely act and justify the title of "actor/actresses" through their work, not simply through popularity or hype. I hope we continue to get more actors and actresses like them.🙏

Same to you, as always 😂🤣. Every time you comment, you somehow prove my point better than I ever could. 🤭🤪

What's actually dumb is you posting something completely unrelated that has nothing to do with this drama in the first place.

Nobody on this drama page cares about IU or what Heo Nam-jun thinks about her. This is an MRN page, not an IU fan discussion page. If the video had actually been related to the Saegye–Seori pairing or MRN itself, posting it here would have at least made some sense.

But no, people like you always have to bring unnecessary nonsense into every discussion and ruin the vibe for everyone else.

Peak clown behavior.

Oh, I'll wholeheartedly keep enjoying MRN because it has everything I look for in a rom-com ❤️😁

Fair enough, that's your opinion. I hope you find a drama that gives you all the things you feel are lacking in this one. Happy watching that one 👍

18% is just an unrealistic number. Not that they can't reach it, but in the current landscape where a large portion of the audience watches content through OTT platforms, it's definitely much tougher. MRN also doesn't have the kind of widely recognized Korean faces with nearly two decades of mainstream popularity that can single-handedly pull in viewers. And before anyone misunderstands me, I'm not saying Lim Ji-yeon isn't famous—she absolutely is. But she's still not as well-known among the general aunties and uncles who make up a huge chunk of the TV-watching audience these days. That's why I think a peak rating of around 14–15% is a much more realistic expectation, especially since those kinds of numbers are usually achieved in the final few episodes of dramas that build strong word-of-mouth despite not having insanely famous celebrities, massive budgets, or huge marketing campaigns behind them.

So the verdict is that the drama is doing great if you look at it logically and keep all above factors in mind. The ratings are strong, it's topping charts on Netflix, and the actors, directors, writers, and the entire production team are receiving immense praise and love from audiences around the world for delivering such a quality drama.

I love Segye and Seori, but honestly no one can convince me that Segye and his secretary Mr. Son don’t have the best chemistry of the year. Their banters are on a completely different level. Every scene between them is pure comedy gold 😂🤣

At this point, I genuinely need the “Segye–Son” couple to get nominated for Best Couple at the SBS Drama Awards and hopefully win too, lol😉🤣

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about him getting typecast at all, especially when his next role, "Haesu" from "The Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid" is literally the kind of role most actors would dream of getting.
Actors usually get boxed when they become more committed to protecting their “perfect image” than actually challenging themselves as performers.

Nam Jun doesn’t really give that vibe to me. I’ve seen his previous works, and he’s never seemed scared of looking messy, raw, unfiltered, or even unattractive on screen if that’s what the character needs. And usually those are the actors who end up lasting the longest because they care more about fully living the role than looking aesthetically pleasing in every frame. They care more about the craft than maintaining some artificial image.

He’s already shown potential through the different genres and roles he’s done before, and I honestly think he’ll keep exploring even more range in the future instead of staying in one safe lane. Though yes, I still need him to keep giving us rom-coms in between, which I know he will 😁👍.