Umm so previous comment still stand, they did a very poor job with the pacing of the romance between the leads…
Both Tian Ben Chang and his father were taken to the capital and beheaded, no? Only the mother and younger brother were pardoned after 3 years of exile. They did forget about the dead guard, but the Wu family had fallen so likely no one cared.
Pardon my shallow understanding. So Liu He Mo need human blood to be successfully formulated? Is it only 1 piece…
Yes, the blood was both a literal ingredient and a metaphor for personal sacrifice. Presumably they would have found an animal substitute for production, so only the first piece would contain human blood. I believe that was the piece that Li Zhen cut up and distributed to all the contributing families.
Blatantly framing his own brother is a bold move. I have the feeling TBC is going to be taken down by his own family. Also suspect Wu Wei Shi was never going to hook him up with a real official post, so in a way TBC's fate is already sealed. Let's hope he doesn't take too many good people down with him.
Same, I think she avoided Li Zhen because she hasn't reckoned with the possibility of hurting her friend in order…
It's so baffling to expect women in female empowerment dramas to be one-dimensional angels or witches. Maybe that's baggage from bad tropes, or a sign that people can no longer afford to give attention to stories that evoke layered emotions.
Okay I don’t completely understand the ML pushing the FL away is it because the path of revenge he’s on could…
I think he wants to keep her safe. If his identity ever gets out she could be guilty of harbouring a fugitive, which is a crime that could ruin her and her family. Not to mention the hurt and trauma of having her lover executed. He is a convict living on borrowed time and she is a brilliant craftsman with a bright future.
am i the only one who doesn't think ronghua is evil? when she won her family the tribute ink the way i see it…
Same, I think she avoided Li Zhen because she hasn't reckoned with the possibility of hurting her friend in order to survive. I hoped that she would break completely from her terrible family but that's probably my modern bias. The social pressure would have made it impossible.
Did she close down her ink shop or if it's still open, who's managing it?
Good question... I guess it runs itself? She offered the 3 merchants the profit from her shop as collateral, so looks like it is still making and selling medicinal ink.
Uncle JingDong is such a madman lol it's great to see him start using his chaotic power for good.The tribute ink…
It's frustrating for sure. If they're like a Marquis's family or something with a small army of their own they can lock her up in the wood shack. Hopefully she slips up and leaves some damning evidence because I dislike her sneering tone so much...
Never, in a million years, i would have believed someone if they told me Li JingDong would be FL s best ally in…
Uncle JingDong is such a madman lol it's great to see him start using his chaotic power for good.
The tribute ink fire almost destroyed the Li family completely from top to bottom. Like, every branch executed or exiled level of bad. The drama didn't show it, but the past 10 years would have been crushing under the punitive taxes. The foundational wealth and reputation built over generations declined to almost nothing. That's why Li Zhen needed to save the main Li family so many times from life support.
Upper middle class women back in the Ming dynasty were not expected to contribute to business. Their jobs were to raise children and care for the elders. Once the 4th uncle died without a child, the aunt basically had no "purpose" and no future. She's not portrayed very sympathetically, but the character is really quite tragic. They tolerated her antics partly out of pity, and partly out of desire to keep the peace. It would take a severe crime or another extinction event to expel her from the family.
Wait that old lady in todays eps. She looks so familiar. Isn’t she the lady who luo wensong was with in the…
Pretty sure it's the same lady and that mark on her face could be from the fire. That means she may have dropped hints to Li Zhen about using pine resin. She was supposed to be a brilliant ink maker when she was young.
Ugh, why did they leave that young, naive young man with that shifty old general?!
The uncle (Sun Taizhen's brother) wanted to use the old general's merchant and spy network to bolster the young prince's influence so he can successfully inherit the throne. That kind of power grab had to be done in secret.
The man faced down the entire Khitan army at the gates without blinking an eye, but wept over Guo Wei's visit to the Confucian temple. Really showed what he was all about.
The tribute ink fire almost destroyed the Li family completely from top to bottom. Like, every branch executed or exiled level of bad. The drama didn't show it, but the past 10 years would have been crushing under the punitive taxes. The foundational wealth and reputation built over generations declined to almost nothing. That's why Li Zhen needed to save the main Li family so many times from life support.
Upper middle class women back in the Ming dynasty were not expected to contribute to business. Their jobs were to raise children and care for the elders. Once the 4th uncle died without a child, the aunt basically had no "purpose" and no future. She's not portrayed very sympathetically, but the character is really quite tragic. They tolerated her antics partly out of pity, and partly out of desire to keep the peace. It would take a severe crime or another extinction event to expel her from the family.