Mailyn

Yes.

皇上 [ huángshang,] - 1. the emperor; 2. Your Majesty; His Majesty (when directed to an emperor) (Sounds like hwungsha) You will not hear the 'ng' pronounced very often as Mandarin 'n' and 'ng' are nasal - almost like 'enfant' (child) pronounced onfo (short vowel as in not) in French. The word which sounds like 'ho' if used with 'ye' could be 侯爷 [hóuye] Lord Marquis or His Lordship the Marquis. Another 'ho' sound you'll hear is 太后 [tàihòu] - empress dowager.
P.S. There are many words for emperor but one does not hear them as often. For example, in Song Dynasty dramas one might hear 官家 [guānjiā] - The Imperial Household / The Master of the State where 'guan' means official and 'jia' means house / family.

Okay. Thanks.

He has another drama coming up soon doesn't he?

I understand what you are saying (and I would not have written the ending this way) but it was his choice. That was the whole point of this drama.

The one good outcome is that the sisters have started to pull away from their grandmother to do what they want to do. As the FL takes over (and the grandmother's power wanes) she can change some of the rules for the better.

They could have at least shown snippets of the Duke’s family drama at intervals throughout the series as teasers leading up to the final arc, which would have made it feel more integrated rather than disconnected from the main narrative.

Male lead was not spineless - nor was the scholar. And some of the other suitors definitely were not submissive - unless they were pretending to be. The cousin though - Ugh! Was he even a man?

Before I even started to learn to read Mandarin I knew what 'wángyé' meant. It does not mean 'prince' as such but is the title for a prince or lord (Your Excellency, etc.) It's right up there with 陛下 'bìxià' [Your Majesty] and 杀了他们！'Shā le tā(men)！[Kill him (them!)] in frequency in historical dramas. Often, when you hear 'wangye', it is being said rather coquettishly by one or two concubines / courtesans clutching the lord's arms.

Legally, she is a minor but the age of consent is only fourteen in China. (A scripted kiss comes under this, apparently.) So, do you disagree with it because of her age (moral outrage) or just because she is a minor (rule of law)? (Just curious. I ask because in some countries the age of majority (not the age of consent) is not reached until the age of 21.)

Yes, I had read about the way Zhao Lusi had been treated in the past. But did not realise that it was so prevalent in China. Thank you.

In China, it is quite possible that she has never kissed a boy. Now, if it were the UK, I would be skeptical.

"A scripted kiss is not considered sexual activity under Chinese criminal law, and both actors are above the age of consent (14 in China). There is no “abuse of authority” because they are co‑workers."

Chinese acting contracts typically include clauses like:
“The actor agrees to perform all scenes in the script unless they violate law or public order.”
“The actor acknowledges that the script may be revised during production.”
“The actor must cooperate with the director’s reasonable artistic requirements.”

I am not so sure about the truth of this one but, "Most contracts do not say “you must kiss a minor,” because productions avoid stating anything that could appear legally or ethically questionable."

So legality is not the issue — contractual obligation is. Now, answer this, why is Neo getting all these hate comments when it is not his fault. Grow up, people!

"...no problem with a romance storyline involving minors." I thought the issue was that she was a minor in real life. But this sounds like she is a minor in the storyline. I know that in the Rise of Ning the FL character was 16 at the beginning of the drama but the actress who played the part was 24. This is usually the case with many dramas (because of the modern-day ick factor) but in some dynasties, many women were married before they were fifteen. I have watched many dramas where the FL is supposed to be 15-16 - a fact that many viewers choose to ignore.

If you are seeing 'hate' for him rather than just grumpy comments (too many people on here use the word 'hate' so often and so loosely, that it has lost its meaning) it just shows how unintelligent and narrow-minded the posters are. How can somebody hate an actor who agrees to a role which contains a kiss scene with a minor before even being told the age of the FL?

As an aside, how do you know that 1. he can't pull out if he wanted or 2. refuse to do a kissing scene on the grounds that she is a minor? If he signed before being told that she was a minor, he should, at least, be able to refuse to do the kissing scene. I am not a 'fan' as such (just a drama watcher) so do not follow their real lives.

Well said. I assume that her parents agreed?

'Punchable' - I like that.

I know, I know!

Well. I could be wrong, but I think that this drama has dropped the odd red herring here and there just to confuse us. For instance, they said that the younger Yang brother was sent to a temple so I assumed that 'fake monk' was that son/brother and that he killed Madam Wang so that she could not identify him. It never occurred top me that he was a Wei.