JJJ

She is great at playing these types of inward melancholy characters. 🙂‍↕️

Selfish lady in many ways but love that for her! She really said screw everyone but my daughter!

Pu Tao who plays the first sister also plays an abused wife in "Filter" (same scriptwriter as this drama and she like reusing the same cast). 😅

Kind of rare to see someone like Second Madam who favors the daughter more way than her sons in this kind of period setting. Makes sense though since it is likely she raised Xiuwan directly while the grandparents raised her sons (3rd and 4th brother) as part of their education. She probably also knows the sons will be mostly fine in marriages. But her daughter might end up like her and marry someone who can cause a lot of worry and stress.

Yes, and it does bring up the scenario too that if him and Zhao Xingtang consummated that day (and potentially had a good/decent marriage), he probably would have followed the plan. He did look forward to the marriage.

So it seems he rebelled to get away from the Zhao family in part because Zhao Xingtang hates him and he was miserable in the marriage. It was also mentioned he spoke to Marquis Yuan before which helped him decide to go into the military route instead.

Yes, he didn't understand that Zhao Xingtang didn't want a divorce because it just means she will be married off to someone else again. And it became a reality when she got married off to the Dai family after the divorce.

He did meet Ji-er in person. When Jiugao in the early arc told them the Young Master needed hot water, it was Jinqi's order to have either her or Lanxiang go with the hot water to see him. He found out about the account book and wanted to ask them questions (and to set a trap for ZXT). Ji-er was "rewarded" with money from Jinqi in return. He knew doing that would reach ZXT's ears and it led to Ji-er being beaten. Baogai also warned Lanxiang at the time that if Jinqi really wanted hot water, Jiugao would had just taken it with him, not insisted a maid to go with him (they could have done it under wraps such as Jiugao just taking Ji-er with him without anyone noticing quickly to get the questions answered). It was to let Lanxiang know even a request like this from the Lin household is not out of some goodness of their hearts.

💯 The prime example was with Ji-er. He used her yet did not remember her. She is a servant but wasn't one of the servants that caught his attention nor he considered part of his circle like Jiugao and Yuchan. His goodness with these servants were conditional and the current plot has been pushing him to confront that.

I think another character we didn't talk much about going through current character development is Yuchan.

When Yuchan first showed up and gave the speech to the girls about servants working hard/showing their strength to the masters (and gaining the masters' favors), I mentioned it was inspiring to the girls. Now I look back and can finally explain why I also thought that speech was a bit uncomfortable.

In a period setting, these elites can decide to beat a servant or kill them off in secret whenever they want. No matter how much/hard servants work for the masters, their outcomes in life will always depend on the masters' mood and agenda. Just because a servant is a "good servant", it doesn't mean they will have a good outcome. Servants can't depend on the masters' favors (nor borrow their power) to ensure they will have a good life. Even in a modern setting working at a company, just because an employee works hard, it doesn't mean they won't be fired.

Yuchan saw using the power/resources of Jinqi as a given because Jinqi has the "forceful power" of the elites to get things done that people like her don't have. But Lanxiang showed her it was possible to rely on oneself and the kindness of others (gathering all those taels) to solve a problem.

I think Lanxiang showed Yuchan another means to "gain power" such as having a community of support of their own and not just having to rely on their masters potentially being a decent enough person to save the day. That probably expanded her worldview too with not limiting her thoughts to just being a "good servant".

I also think Grandpa Lin was even more upset because Jinqi had witnessed that himself already back with the Shen family yet he didn't truly "get the lesson". There is no guaranteed that the emperor who favors him now will favor him in 5 years especially if he keeps on being involved in the military and gain merits. We have seen all these other period C-dramas of military men being send far away to protect the border and/or their children held hostage in the palace because their army and reputation among other warriors have gotten too positive/huge and now a threat to the emperor. 🙂‍↔️

I was thinking how the scriptwriters can turn it around after the imperial decree/drugs but it seems like they are heading into the direction of Lin Jinqi being forced to confront his current worldview. The upcoming arc with his sister might also play into that. Though whether the end of his character arc will be satisfying remains to be seen. I have seen people really upset over what he had done (valid) and have to see whether these development can truly convince the audience he "changed".

Yes, for the marriage alliance, he actually married /in/ to their household so he was supposed to follow their plans such as becoming an official. He went back on that and went to the military route instead. And regardless of what happened later with the embezzlement and cheating, this marriage was not meant to end in a divorce. Lin family managed to survive by tying themselves to the Zhao family and the Lin family thus was supposed to keep the end of their deal by helping them become even closer to the imperial family/be their supporter in court. It is why Grandpa Lin was so upset because he understood it was meant to be an "exchange" but the Lin family didn't complete their end of the deal.

Jinqi offered Zhao Xingtang a mutual divorce as they hated each other and he wanted to separate from the Zhao. But he didn't understand that the divorce wasn't fully what Zhao Xingtang needed in her position. She herself needed way to separate from the Zhao too and not get divorced then get married off again.

I enjoy seeing Jinqi's worldview getting rocked. 😂 He is a very typical man for his time. With both the negative qualities of being an elite who might never fully understand the struggles of the poor and women but also the positive qualities when it comes to his relationship with his siblings and responsibilities to his military men.

The drama has made it obvious his one-sided decisions regarding multiple things with Lanxiang have been wrong and he himself needs to change and adapt his views if he wants to have a good relationship with Lanxiang but also his own future as the head of the Lin household. Though he claimed he was in love with Lanxiang, he didn't truly understand her at all and was perhaps "in love" with a false image of her. He was in his delusion that a woman that was an ex-servant would be happy "marrying up" and in time, she will be in love with him just because he can provide her with anything.

The past episodes have different characters like Grandpa Lin warning Jinqi that he had used others' power to get what he wanted but power can swing from one side to another. The emperor might be happy with him today and reward him with the imperial decree he wanted, but what is stopping the emperor from issuing another imperial decree to destroy his entire family in a couple of years? Jinqi is used to using "favors" from those in power like him (and even pulling back from his end of the deal when it doesn't benefit him anymore) and he has to stop using that as his primary negotiation tactic as these favors can easily become entrapment.

Lanxiang has shown him that there were ways to negotiate with others and get what both side wants /without/ using force or giving the other no alternative options. Lanxiang's exchange with Zhao Xingtang is a good example. Jinqi though married to Zhao Xingtang, never truly understood her during their marriage nor the position she was in. But Lanxiang understood Zhao Xingtang and was able to offer her a solution in return for what she wanted too.

Agreed! Episode 31 was especially well-done with the pacing and giving time to even the more background female characters and their effects on each other.

The best storylines of this drama really have been Lanxiang with all the different female characters. The scenes with Zhao Xingtang, Ji-er, and the other women were truly women understanding each other and helping each other with their own methods. 🥹

Yup!!! But thankfully it wasn't that bad. C-platforms also loves Su Cheng Cheng. It was one of the few dramas I watched with overwhelmingly majority of the C-viewers understanding FL's/Su Cheng Cheng's perspective a lot. It helped that the drama/writing established Su Cheng Cheng as a character so early on that viewers fell for her first before they ever fell for Tang Qi. 😂 Especially since the writing also made sure they provided scenes of Tang Qi reflecting how he had a hand in the mess too.

He is doing great in this role!

Yes, and it doesn't step back from showing the viewers that what he had done was terrible. Even though they did put some romantic OSTs for some of the other questionable scenes with him in his delusions while Lanxiang looked miserable. 😬

Zhao Xingtang remains a hater even after all the mess she went through, I am impressed. 😂

It is really because female leads are not allowed to make too many "mistakes". Look at how many female leads get dragged even in MDL comments for simply "rejecting" male leads or "hurting" male leads which are often a response to male leads' actions. 😐 Male leads are allowed more wriggle room to be all types of colored flags with people defending them/giving context to their actions but female leads are limited in really just accepting male leads' feelings for them and not allowed to stay mad at male leads for long since viewers want the romance to "start". So female leads refusing to "give in" often "ruin the vibe".

Well, let's hope Jinqi is going through his character development right now. In episode 30 when he was leaning towards Lanxiang, it was actually pretty scary to me because my mind did go to /that/. Though I know this drama will not push it there as it essentially means there is 0 chance to support the FL's and ML's relationship development and there did be no return for ML as a character.

But it does show much Jinqi has abused his power against Lanxiang and it is a slippery slope from the imperial decree, the drugs, etc. for me to even have felt that there was a chance that posture of his was a legit threat. Especially given the context of that time period too and his constant verbal confirmation that Lanxiang is his lawfully wedded wife now (so he can do anything and she is not allowed to think about anyone else).