PeachBlossomGoddess

Indeed there are many societal and other obstacles between her and Jinqi as endgame. The drama hasn't even made the case for why him. But we are only halfway, let's see what happens.

Its the same dynasty. The current emperor (Zhu Di) deposed his nephew (Zhu Yunwen). According to official history, Zhu Yunwen and his two sons died in the palace fire. But wild history is that they survived. We will never know the truth.

True, but you could argue Lanxiang shores up Jinqi in similar ways. And I don't think Scholar Han is that dumb - he already saw Jinqi's intentions and he rebuffed him wrt Scholar Shouyi bc he wasn't willing to be bought by him. Not on team Scholar Han but I think we need to understand that Lanxiang may not wish to reclaim her place in society. What good did being Lady Shen ever do her? Does she want her children to one day be subject to the whim or an emperor like she was? So far the drama narrative hasn't made the case for why Jinqi? And how do her parents fit in?

The SML is perfect for her. Too perfect.

Ah... and now all wild history rears its head... Till this day there are rumours that the Jianwen emperor survived the palace fire that burned his corpse beyond recognition. Yongle emperor himself fanned the flames of historical speculation, spending decades sending Admiral Zheng He far and wide, securing trade routes on surface but in reality in search of Jianwen emperor and his descendents. There were persistent rumours they escaped to exotic locations to the point that French soccer star Remy is one of his descendents as well as rumours they settled in some far from the capital Chinese province. It is one of the greatest mysteries in Chinese history. Can't wait to see how this drama deals with it.

He is the ultimate magnet for looney toons.

I think he would make a fantastic match for her - he checks every box in a way that will send her to an early grave out of sheer boredom.

No I haven't but I can tell you that throughout my career, I have observed that the worst enemy of women were other women.

That's the problem with these darned empowerment dramas. Women oppressing other women.

Obviously I am not referring to them - just Jinqi's bride candidates. Surely all the eligible noblewomen out there can't be wicked biatches behind their fake smiles. I hate this trope - then it becomes it wasn't that the FL was that great, it was just everyone else was so awful. Give her a real competitor.

I watched NLB. I didn't like Tian Xi Wei in it but it was a good drama.

Han is a good man. Yawn.

I just need one nice noble lady. One. I had high hopes for Ms Zheng only to be crushed almost immediately. I like real love rivals. Someone that gives the ML/FL a run for their money. Not someone who is an obvious hell no.

Maybe this is unintended but why are all the high ranked noblewomen in this drama so nasty? Surely the message women is not that women in high places are all nasty creatures.

Ms Zheng puts all our young Ms Lins to shame.
Me: Low bar. Clearly you never met the young Ms Shens...

It seems to me that the crown prince will ascend soon and is building his power base. Marquis Yuan is one of his supporters but he is being targeted by another princely rival of the crown prince? The Dus must have thrown their lot in with this rival faction and/or the Wo pirates. I think Du decided to do this after the Lins firmly rebuffed her and closed the door to her being a concubine. So she had given up on Jinqi and was plotting a different path. One that involved keeping Jinqi at the Lin mansion (poisoning him) while on the outside, her bro conspired with the Wo pirates to kill Marquis Yuan. Had they succeeded, both siblings would have completely abandoned the Lins.

I think there is more to that plot that has not yet been fully revealed.

He is a bit unlucky - he had a support role in the super high budget 2017 Fengshen as Yin Jiao, which is a great role even though its not a lead role. That thing has been shelved for over 10 years but its something that would have gotten him noticed earlier on.

Should be 12.

Actually from Lanxiang's perspective, Scholar Han is the better match - he is educated like her and not a common peasant. Yet they are of the same social position and their families are neighbours and friends. Its a natural evolution for them to come together as a family and she will still see her parents every day and they will be able to see her kids grow up in the same courtyard. Jinqi can only make her a concubine at best and his snooty family is unlikely to allow her parents to move in with them. Jinqi knows this that is why he has panic written all over his face.