Alysha Johnson

Yes I felt the same way. It felt out of character for him but it is an event that happened in the book, and LBY in the book is a more domineering person and slightly more manipulative.
The drama make it look like CSS has no interest in LBY, but in the novel, CSS always admired LBY's looks and talents. She didn't crush on him but even she know what a great catch he is, so much that LBY notice the way she look at him. So LBY assume that CSS like him somewhat as well. CSS is a little sweeter/ more polite when she talk to LBY in the novel too. LBY actually assume that CSS has feeling for him when she helped him take out the arrow. So the proposal make sense for LBY in his perspective. He wanted her, her reputation was somewhat ruined, and he didn't want to lose her again so he went for it. He don't have "parents". He don't view his dad as dad, so the only people who can propose for him is the emperor. In that time period, your parents need to be the one making proposal for you - it's the proper way. In the novel, only after they got engaged that LBY realize how much CSS don't care for him.. And he was kind of hurt by it.

The first 5 episodes are set up. The FL and ML will have their first official meeting starting ep 6 if you want to skip.

No one could have guesss that the parents would refused, and in the novel they didn’t. I’m glad they changed that because it more align to CSS character of wanting her freedom to choose, and LBY has been respecting of her in that respect so far. The setup is the only thing out of character but I’m glad they remedy that by having that epic confession and CSS get to say “ I made this decision
for myself”. Not because she has no choice like in the novel but in the drama she had somewhat of a choice and she chose to give LBY a chance to get into her heart

what debate? the author can change whatever she want. if she make the changes, she will say it. there a couple obvious ones: like the mother being a female warriors with female soldiers, how the young characters can mingle together freely, how the female characters are more outspoken than we are used to, how the younger ones are also more outspoken as well. that's the author's setting. but for the part that left "unsaid", then we can draw inspiration from the dynasty she used as the setting. it make more sense than using inspiration from OTHER dynasty to fill in the blank. the OP was using Story of Minglan as an example, but it's a different dynasty so it's not a good baseline to go off on what feel "appropriate"

Author have to say it’s fictional. But we can guess which “setting” she take it from.

Yes while I’m glad LBY for proposing but him proposing in front of everyone like that was bad. Why? He never got CSS opinion, so was she coerced into accepting? I would felt if icky that was the case.

As bad as the mother was, at least we got an epic confession from LBY. And I believe that this is the first time CSS was forced to confront with the feelings of this man who love her so much. She had been trying to avoid him for so long. But this time she got to listen just how truly he treasure her. And I’m glad LBY got to say it in front of everyone so it’s not empty promise trying to swoon a young girl off her feet. He literally said “I won’t marry anyone but her!” This is a declaration in front of the emperor and everyone so he MUST follow what he said. It not something you can take lightly. He literally told her that she is the only one for him in this life or he will stay single forever. With everyone as
witness, at the time, a man can’t take back his words.

I’m also glad that LBY got a chance to let CSS know how he truly see her. So when CSS accept, I felt she did it willingly. Yes she was in a tough situation but in that instance, it was the first time she began to “accept him”. She finally gave him a chance. I’m so glad she got the chance to make her own decision. It’s so fitting for our CSS and her character. And for LBY as well. That they get the chance to chose each other. Its the only consolation I got from that painful scene that took me 3 tries to finish.

Episode 23 got me rolling on my bed laughing. Episode 24 got me throwing my phone on the bed and scream!!!! Everyone already said all I wanted about the mom so I’m just going to say what a great scene that was for LBY and CSS. It was perfectly executed.

You brought up a couple good points. I like to address some of them.
1. When LBY interrupts the mom, she is not his “elder”. At that time, social ranking is higher than elder seniority. By professional, he rank higher than her. He’s one of the top general, she part of the military. By social status, he also rank higher than her. She was out of line for interrupting him. In modern day everyone is the same rank so we go by the elder etiquette but that doesn’t apply here.
2. LBY’s parent aren’t embarrassed he disrespect elder, they embarrassed he doesn’t respect “them”.
3. I can’t quite recall others that was rude to elders except for Lady Wan when she met Niao Niao grandma. She is entitled to act so, it’s a bit impolite but not out of line. Niao Niao grandma has no rank. The fifth princess is depicted as the “favorite” and her mom seem to have a nice personality so she speak out of line. This is especially highlight to emphasis how much she was spoiled.
4. It’s a big whiplash on the parents relationship. The mother was really out of line here - reading the comments I believe she was not as bad in the novel. I think this was changed for TV. It won’t affect the brothers marriage that much. They are smaller/ lower ranked family and being a military family, people have lower standards on etiquette for them. The time period also shown they brought daughters to war, like Wan Qiqi, so there’s some leeway. The brother marriage prospect will most likely depend on their own accomplishment, whether they become officials or military, and not their family. And it’s normal for them to go for same rank family anyway.
5. This take place during early Han dynasty - the country was still new, ruled and etiquette are more lax. Compare to Ming dynasty when etiquette is a lot stricter. A lot of it was retaliation for how the Tang Dynasty (right before Ming) has a more relax etiquette and women enjoyed more freedom. Ming Dynasty blamed the fall of Tang for that so their women rights are a lot of worse than other dynasties.

Wrtw was fantasy so they have more creative freedom with the fashion. This is based in early Han dynasty when there was still a lot of war and people were generally poorer so you can see that their clothes ware simpler with way less embroidery and no “shiny” thread because that is very expensive material and wouldn’t come by til later. The hair also model that period too.

She sexist which is typical of the time but grandma is also from poor background so she was uneducated. Women without title of wealth at the time often taught their only value is to have sons. It’s the same with wealthier women but not as severe because they have their own family background and honor to rely but not people like grandma, which also explain her inappropriate behavior toward her sons. She simple minded and was easily influenced by the aunt.

I binge watched this in 3 days. I usually don't like these kind of slow-brewed drama but I must say this is really good. It's kind of like Japanese ramen soup, the type that brew for 10 hours to get this deep, rich but also clean taste. That's what this drama is like for me. The plot is not too complicated but enough to keep it engaging. They are slow built and every character is fleshed out with realistic motivations and actually resemble real human being.

I've been on a drama drought for 3 months and decided to watch this because it was highly ranked although the synopsis bored me. Oh great~ another rag to riches poor Cinderella-esque type of drama set in a period setting. But the synopsis is the biggest fail of this drama.

I must say it is not the usual fast-paced, heart-pounding, glamorous drama I like to watch like Eternal Love, Ashes of love, Journey of Flower or Princess Agents. This drama is similar to ZLY's previous drama "Legend of Lu Zhen", but is much better directed and acted.

For me, the focus and enjoyment of this drama come from the dialogue. Yes the two main leads are super cute, but the dialogue and settings are what really make this drama shine. There is a lot of savage dialogues spoken in a round-a-bout super polite way. Idk why but being rude while being polite get a kick out of me. I must admit sometime there are jokes that goes right over my head because it's so round a bout, but I suggest paying attention to the instruments playing in the scene, you will know whether it's serious or a jab.

Another thing is the clothing and setting. Unless it's politically heavy and geared toward the older generation, rarely I see a drama did so well in terms of clothing, etiquette, and set, especially the Song dynasty.

If you want a glimpse into the past of the Song Dynasty but in an easier to digest manner, I suggest watching this. There is not a lot of actions but the banters are what made it fun.

I'm on episode 12 and I don't know how I feel about this. This series let Xiao Tan become so passive, might as well say future Liancheng is the protagonist. There is also way more politics involved this time, and to be honest, I don't care for. It's not that I don't enjoy politics, but the writing doesn't make me care for it.
Beside, what make me sad is how little screen time Tan'er maid has. I know there's a scene where they supposed to be BFF in this season, but there's hardly any scenes where we can see that relationship build. Their friendship in Season 1 is what melts my heart.

P.S Is it just me or LianCheng face is a bit more bloated this season. And the styling for the 1st Prince actually is much better that he look more attractive than LianCheng, imo.

I caved in and watched this while waiting for Ashes of Love final episodes. This series really live up to the hype. The first 30 episodes were so addictive.

Even though the main girl action can seem over the line sometime, theres a feel good element about her outsmarting her opponent. The premise is the same as other Palace setting series, but the writing for the main lead is so refreshing to watch. The plot isn't predictable either. I have to give them props to able to come up with unpredictable solutions.

Like the other commenters said, I really appreciate the underlying girl power message in the series, and the glimpse of mentorship, and sisterhood portrayed between the Empress and the Main girl. We rarely ever get to see that in palace power struggle series.

O.M.G
WTH???
And here I thought the drama is making RY better by providing him backstory and make him half-death to half-pay for what he did. BUT this? Is the scriptwriter drunk when they wrote this scene? How can they mess it up so bad?
I like RY as much as XF from the book and they messed up both character so bad.

Omg Yang Zi~ she did better than I can ever imagine reading the novel. I thought the dialogue was too long but she nailed it so well.
Funny enough that scene is where Night and Yang Zi had the best chemistry from the entire series. The Night actor is a pretty good actor but that scene she elevated him too. No wonder Deng Lun can't stop praising Yang Zi. She is really the best for this role.

Is it just me or the demon princess arc is getting on my nerve. All that episodes for them and they barely contribute much to the main arc. We only have a few episodes left, i seriously don't care about any development with her love life. Just stop it I'm so annoyed.

XF ah XF. I'm so mad at him. I'm still holding on to the hope that he does know everything like in the book. But if he does know everything then his actions in the last 2 episodes are even more maddening. If he knew that JM revived him and that SH is possibly the killer, then confessing to SH and using JM flower petal just make him extremely cruel and callous. If he doesn't know then he just plain stupid and petty. Either way they kinda killed his character already.
I dont even think he deserve JM after she come back from death. 5000 years is too easy for him. JM better off going to someone else. Either brothers deserve her. JM is clueless and got manipulated but she does everything to correct her wrong. However the two brothers just like to think themselves as the victim and lash out at the world, hurting everyone in the process, stubbornly insisted on what they want. In many ways they are indeed the offspring of that evil Emperor.
/rant end/

I have to disagree about JM. JM in the drama is a lot smarter than in the book. In the book JM never ask questions. She believed XF killed her father because of one passing comment made by Night. And she never figure out the truth until she caught Night and SH. At least the JM in the drama is proactive and has reasons. In the book we also never know why JM is so obsessed with ling li except that she want it.

Since everyone see it differently, I'll give you my two cents.
XF still in love with JM, he's only doing this to hurt JM. He's being petty, or you can't say it's petty because she did kill him, stab him in the heart. So yeah, he's getting back at her.
I dont think XF feel a thing for SH. He doesn't want to even hold her hand, only when JM around that he pretend to act nice. He isn't even mad when she got molested by the crazy princes. Imagine if someone even touch JM, he's a pretty jealous and possessive bird.
I am sure he know who save him from the very beginning, but he don't allow himself to admit it. He know that he still in love with JM and he hate himself for loving her, that's why he doing these things to convinced himself that he can get over her. In a way you can say he's not only doing this for JM, he's doing it for himself.

Same. But in a way with how much JM already suffering, that will be a much harder blow I dont think the viewers can take it.

JM confront SH if she's her father's killer. SH didn't deny. She said she knew JM is the one that revived XF but XF don't know and think it's SH. JM attacked and XF stopped her. XF said to JM, "if you touch even a feather on SH, I will incinerated your soul to ashes." The others tell JM to tell XF about SH, but JM don't think XF will believe her anymore. JM confronted XF about SH, XF said, "Liar!". XF said SH is the one who save him, and stay with him when everyone else is gone. JM said SH is not what you think. XF said that thanks to JM he realize how good SH is. Then flashback show SH tell XF she worries that JM might create misunderstanding between them. XF told SH since JM lied to him there's no way he can believe her anymore. He then told SH they should get marry soon.