EtoileNoire

This show sent me down a rabbit hole looking up information about widowhood and societal norms. For the ignorant like me, this thread (& comments) might be a good starting point: https://www.reddit.com/r/korea/comments/wzqxuu/womens_oppression_in_joseon_era/
The OP also listed their sources.

I found this on Google:

"In the Joseon era, widows who preserved their chastity were honored with chastity gates. The 1962 South Korean film The Memorial Gate for Virtuous Women, also known as Bound by Chastity Rules, is about these gates."

Further searches led to Chastity Arches - they were stone memorials built by local governments to honor the most chaste and honorable widows in neo-Confucianist China. Apparently it was done in Joseon too. Here's one in China: https://kinmen.travel/en/travel/attraction/280

If the DIL had come from a rich family that was still alive, there's no way MIL would treat her so badly.

He wrote "The Devotion of Suspect X". I saw the Chinese series on Amazon Prime and found it to be compelling, well-acted, & beautifully written (although one can guess the outcome, that's not too important).

Other random questions that come to mind after viewing episodes 1-4:
- I know Lady Cho said she's waiting for her brother but seriously? She could leave word with Lady Jang regarding her whereabouts and live as a merry widow or spinster in another region.
- Does Minister Seok realize that the king and Secretary Park are playing him for a fool? I'd be surprised that their subterfuge is actually working on him.
- Minister Seok keeps mentioning that Lady Cho is a poor nobody without family. Did he choose her as his son's bride to gain leverage over Lady Cho's brother? Otherwise why not form an alliance with another rich & powerful family and further cement his power?
- Who killed Seok's son?
- Who would kill the finance minister (besides his wife who seems to know what the petals are for)?
- How big is this town that the Capital Defense can't find a warehouse large enough to hold the missing children? Also, does the CD have spies and undercover operatives?
- As thin as the walls & doors are, why does everyone talk so loudly?
- Note that the kingdom has a Minister of Punishment, not a Minister of Justice. (Or maybe an MoJ will turn up later.)
- There have been hints that the ML is much more important than he is presented to be. Now I'm wondering about what or who he really is.

Thanks! I'm starting to connect the dots in this series now.
Minister Seok removed a petal from the king's shoulder in episode 1 or 2!!! I thought it was only a bit of a power play, but now that gesture takes on a more sinister meaning.

It's funny in the first episode how Kariya is so caught up by being "polite" when her interviewee and go-between are too desperate to care about manners, especially the meaningless one about waiting until the interview is over to start eating. Dude said, "I'm hungry," and started chowing down.

What's the meaning of the petal confetti in the crossbar?

It's probably more likely that he married" his son to Lady Cho in order to have a hostage and keep her brother in check. We shall see.

Probably not, but he's so shady and SJS does look at CYH in "that way".

It could be that KSJ the actor is attracted to LHN and can't manage to keep it from leaking into his performance. *shrug*

dramanice has episode 3 with subs

Patience, Grasshopper.

Minister Seok is so suspect, I'm surprised he hasn't bumped off his wife and married his daughter-in-law. He's only had 15 years to do so.

This series was dragged out for too long. The whole story could have been told in 10 episodes.

I'm still shocked and saddened by his death. I just can't...

I was referring to "sins" in a figurative sense. I'm not sure why you took it literally, but go off I guess.

Park Sung Woong as a boxer stretches credulity a bit.

"Severe" sex?

That's dumb. The son has nothing to do with the sins of the father.

Am I the only one who found it obvious that Gen was:
- not a virgin
- really into Rinko
I know he played his cards close to his chest so Rinko missed the signs, but as a third party observer, it's clear as day.