absurd

Ok, finished this at last. Got a bit draggy around episode 25, as always. I have to say I am liking this trend of more adult kind of romances in latest c-dramas, all those 15-20 year old ditzy FL's get very annoying after some time. I liked the story as a whole and the message about strong independent women in particular. It was a bit fairytaly there in the end with the emperor, but not every story needs to be completely realistic to be good. Liu Yifei's acting is amazing, Pan'er is strong, but still so soft and vulnerable. And Chen Xiao is great as well, I now want to see something else with him as ML.
All in all, this was interesting to watch, skipped a lot of typical c-drama clichés and still managed to give me some of that fairytale romance feeling, that c-dramas have. Not 10 out of 10, but definitely recommend.

And also the fact that she was repeatedly told that no one would want to marry a girl like her

But LY is such a baby, he has the cutest baby-face, but I can't take him seriously as her marriage prospect. And you're right, every time I see him, I expect him so go all "sister in law!" LOL
Ok, so, at last I'm not alone in this, I thought maybe everyone else knows something that I don't. I mean LBY was very nice and courteous to her, also very much a dashing hero, so enough that she would get a crash on him. But, and it's not even declaration, he literally never was anything more but polite and kind. She can't assume that every guy, who's kind to her is a marriage prospect.

Did I miss something? They had like 5 interactions total, give or take. I mean he saved her and her family, but then left almost immediately both times and also gave no indication of being interested, outside of general courtesy and being a gentleman. When did he give her any signals?

And all it would take is someone actually talking to FL respectfully and making her think, instead of insulting her intelligence and treating her like dirt. If mom can't act like a decent human being she should remove herself from the situation and try to interfere through other people, maybe she'll do some good for once

You're kind of putting words in my mouth, even thought I never said anything of the sort. I specifically said "her mom has no right", not no one. She has a big family and her mother literally hoisted her of on her in laws.
All of that being said, this seems like a pointless argument, so I'm out.

It's not even abandonment, if she at last made an effort to get to know and understand her after returning, but nope she's just cruel and nasty, because this is not the daughter she dreamed of

I know that it's not modern. I understand that overbearing parents and corporeal punishment were the norm at the time. I also don't disagree with you that FL did not think this through and that she is a child. That does not make her mom any kind of good person or gives her any moral right to interfere. She lost that one when she decided to treat her daughter hatefully after abandoning her for 15 years. She is not "just" overbearing, she's outright cruel and abusive. So what if she's right? Even broken clock is right twice a day.

And again, say Ling Buyi got there first and proposed, cause he's in love, it's obvious and they also barely know each other. Wanna bet mom would still object? For multiple reasons. Would you still say she's right?

I am of two minds here. On one hand, I obviously don't want CSS to marry LY, he feels more like a brother to her, rather than a future husband. On the other, I almost want them to marry just to spite The Mom. God, that woman is a monster. She is probably the only character (aside from Dolores Ambidge) in any book, drama or movie, that I actively would like to be killed off as fast as possible. The level of emotional abuse is skyrocketing and literally no one dares to slap her in the face, no matter how nasty she is.
I really hope CSS and LY's marriage will break up for some external reasons and not because they give out to mom's manipulations.

On a happier note, I love the Emperor. He is the most positive, happy go lucky guy in the whole drama, while still being smart. Finally a good, competent parent. Give him a throne to sit on, oh wait... LOL

I actually thought that everyone, including CSS is to soft with mom. I would have been way harsher, if I had a chance. She really needs a wake up slap in the face, that lady. Still it felt good that CSS actually told her how she feels, instead of just taking it.

I got the impression that it's less about getting out of mom's hands (didn't she already when she left with aunt and uncle?) and more that she doesn't really care about finding love, as much as she wants someone who won't stifle her and will appreciate her for what she is. Those are not exactly the right reasons, but they are not as bad as everyone paints them to be. She didn't really have a lot of people in her life who shown her love, so maybe she thinks that companionship is enough. Yes, she is a child and she did not actually think this through, but a marriage based only on common goals in life has as much of a chance to fall apart as the one based on passion. It also has higher chances of survival, than the latter.
Also with her mom, well meaning literally never comes through, at this point. Even when she's not wrong, it does not look like it comes from any good place.

LY is kinda boring and they are a bit hasty, but will anyone feel the same if she was hasty with ML? LOL Don't think so... :))

You know, while I agree that mom does have a point about being hasty about marriage, I don't think she has any right to scold her daughter about not asking for mothers approval. What does she know about what Shaoshang does or does not understand about love and marriage? Did she take any time to get to know her? What would you say if it was Ling Buyi Shaoshang was trying to marry? Will you still say mom's right? We all want the engagement to break, because it's not with ML, but mom Cheng is still a b**ch who has no ground to stand on when it comes to Shaoshang's life.

I had the same problem, It started out really good, very dynamic, but still haven't watched past episode 25. For me it was repetitive politics, that did it in. Time and time again someone (mostly the same someone) tries to get ML in trouble and he gets out of it at the last moment, and then again... and again. I might go back to it, when I'm bored, but so far I've tried 3 times and can't even get through one episode without skipping most of it.

I feel like she doesn't even try, she just put her in the box of the "dumb troublemaker" and can't see anything but negative.

I feel that in this drama they take "respecting your elders" a little too far. Like I said, it's everywhere in c-dramas, but not quite to that extent. Here it feels like mom actually hates her, she just also hates herself for it.

That's incredibly sad (((

Yeah, mom makes me furious. Like there are some parents in dramas that are annoying and overbearing, but still lovable. This one, I feel no sympathy towards. Whatever her reasons, she can rot in hell.

They did turn mom's abusive behavior into "she cares in her own way". WTF China? I get the whole "respect your elders thing", but there's gotta be a limit. Xiao Yuan is abusive both emotionally, and as it turns, out physically too. I wanted to bash my head on the table when third aunt said "she wasn't actively trying to maim her, so it's ok". Em... No? It's not ok. You don't wait until someone is crippled before you can call it abuse. We can argue that corporeal punishment was a norm back then, but it's literally the first thing she resorts to. And I'm not even talking about all the insults and emotional abuse. I've seen a lot of c-dramas justifying parents behavior as "though love" and usually I'm fine with it, but this is just over the top bad. I can't believe they are still trying to make mom Xiao into some kind of martyr. I will probably puke if they make up by the end.

That's not a family, it's a travelling circus, honestly.

I finished all that are available now, but when I commented it was 3. Yes, I know there are good female characters, I only meant "older generation" ones, cause even though there's maybe one or two now, that I can say that I like, most of them are still horrible. Younger girls are mostly ok, with few exceptions.
Mom thing still bugs me, though. They did actually turn it into "she cares for her in her own way". And I was like "no, dude, this woman is abusive, both emotionally and physically".