PeachBlossomGoddess

I am on the fence wrt the ML for now. I don't think he has revealed enough of himself yet. And I expect him to be ruthless - he has to survive a very treacherous court.

Yes, a newcomer and climber in the court circles. He rose so fast bc the emperor wanted to eliminate supporters of his predecessor and purged them. He also had the advantage of not being part of the deposed emperor's court. You could be right, Grandpa Shen may have offended him somehow. He may have saved the Lins bc his scandalous daughter needed a husband and he more or less blackmailed Lin Jinqi to marry her.

Yups - her arc ends at ep 8.

I suspect Old Zhao is the one who whispered in the emperor's ear to get the Shens killed - after all those years! He tipped off the Lins and also taught Grandpa Lin how to write the memorial to sidestep blame. He also probably warned him not to ty save the Shens bc he could only bail one of them out, not both. So he is probably the main villain. For whatever reason, he had some reason to go after the Shen family.

It could be due to subtitles - sometimes subbing to English and then local languages (Thai, Indonesian etc) takes longer. I have consistently gotten it at 9:30pm every single day.

Yeah they are passed down as family heirlooms.

The official schedule is 9:30pm China time. This is licensed to and broadcasts on CCTV at the same time so its not up to WeTV to randomly drop it whenever. They have to abide by the license terms with CCTV, which CCTV paid them for.

There are lots of Youtube videos and online resources on how to do it:
https://chazhidao.org/en/second-circle/brewing-chinese-tea-weigh-and-temperature
I have a clay teapot I I have had for a vey long time. It has infused so many tea leaves over the years that when you pour just hot water in it, the water has a hint of color and smells faintly of tea. For people who drink everyday out of the clay teapots, they don't even need to put leaves in, they can get something that tastes like tea.

That's the thing - she did not agree but she also did not not agree. He could have interpreted her comment whichever way he liked. And in the end, she was not in on his scheme to entrap Xingtang.

I have had some amazing brewed tea - it is excellent and you can taste the vast difference in leaves with respect to texture and fragrance. But I must be a peasant bc to me, its just tea anyway I can't be bothered to make such a big fuss about it. I do keep some very old aged and collectible teas to entertain my friends who are really into it but I let them take the lead on how to brew it. I recently tried the Japanese cool brewed Gyokuro tea and I really loved it but the process of getting the temperature just right is too much effort for me.

I believe they may be sisters or cousins.

Old Zhao is competing with Xie for the task of compiling literature. Its a very prestigious appointment. Obviously the opinion of respected scholars will matter a lot to the emperor in weighing the decision. But considering the marriage relationship between the Lins and the Zhaos, the Lins must appear to be impartial in this matter and by rights should not be advocating for Zhao - that is what grandpa was alluding to initially. When Jinqi told his grandfather he wants to support Zhao, he is telling him he wants to end the marriage. And that is why grandpa immediately asked if his marriage is really unbearable. The Lin's support is a quid pro quo or an olive branch so to speak to the Zhao family for agreeing to end the marriage. And of course once the marriage is ended, the Lins can support the Zhaos and still appear impartial. In fact, their support has even greater credibility bc of this. If Old Zhao succeeds, it will make the Zhaos owe them and make the matter of the ending of the marriage as amicable as can be.

She is a safe bet - her acting is solid, her lines are good enough that she can dub herself competently and she does have a large fan base, a large number of whom are not idol watchers. I do think she has taken too many similar roles although I don't think there is much fault to find with her acting. I find Li Meng much more interesting in this story so far and wonder how well the show is going to hold up after her arc. I am not interested in Ms Du. She seems like a boring feminist bluestocking kind of character. Actress is also meh. Hopefully her arc is short enough that it doesn't tank the ratings irreparably.

It was the height of decadence. Bc if you ever study the art of Chinese tea brewing, the temperature has to be perfect and the brew had to be just right. No reusing or over brewing tea leaves.

She did not agree or not agree to be his spy. She was just going to sit back and see who won and stay out of harm's way. I posted on this earlier on:
https://mydramalist.com/754367-the-story-of-xiang-lan#comment-27485292

For sure Xingtang is a pitiful character but she is the architect of her own downfall. She could have made him fall in love with her and lived a good life with him, adopting other concubines babies as her own. Was done all the time during those times by childless noblewomen whose family's position in society protected their marital positions regardless.

see below

see below

There isn't much to elaborate. She didn't say yes or no - she remained strategically ambiguous by just saying this servant is here to serve their master. She didn't drink the tea bc it is not right that the master serves tea to the servant. She is showing him she is not susceptible to blackmail or bribery - i.e., she does not have ambitions to exceed her role. She is not aiming for his bed or to have his babies!😅

Idk about the novel but in the drama, they had never met in the past.