PeachBlossomGoddess

Yes it started during Song dynasty and by Qing dynasty was estimated to be at about 40-50pct of the women. It was more prevalent during late Ming dynasty, which lasted 276 years. This is set in early Ming dynasty.

I think the fact that he got the emperor to make her his legitimate wife went a long way towards comforting her. That is the first thing she pointed out to console her parents. He could well have asked the emperor to bestow her as his concubine instead, which would have saved him a spanking, but he didn't. Given their vast difference in social standing, she knows what a monumental gesture that is from him.

My grand-aunt had bound feet - though hers were unbound halfway through bc times changed and not deformed. Her feet were maybe 4 inches long but she said they were "big". I still am traumatized at the memory.

I think Tan Songyun is very cute and sometimes she looks very pretty - they did try their best to make her look lovely in this drama. Her acting and her lines are very good but she does have a very mature aura at this point in time, though it is not mismatched as she and Liu Xueyi are the same age. I do think there are other actresses that could have slayed this role -but if they cast say Zhou Ye (she just comes to mind bc she is in Spring of Blade and I think she is doing a good job there), people would complain about the age gap. She does look a helluva lot younger than Liu Xueyi. There are only a handful of actresses that can deliver their own lines well - most of the "more charismatic" actors can't do their own lines. To me and most native speakers, the difference is night and day. For example I was never able to warm up to the FL in Road to Splendor bc her voice actor's voice did not suit her.

That old servant looked like he was whacking him with all his arm strength but... he is a very old dude after all...

Well we could use a few good male villains to balance things out here. But the dude just doesn't have a good villain face - he is boring no matter which way you cut it. I have had enough of him and his opera. I am more interested in Prince Yan.

Well I think Yuhan is happy for them. And so are two Jiugao and Nanke. Probably 3rd Lady Lin and Marquis Yuan as well. I could also see his siblings and cousins all absolutely adore him. So I am not worried about them either.

I do think had she not moved in next to Scholar Han, he meant to woo her. But the deadbeat scholar was there popping up like the energizer rabbit and corralling her into ear piercing suitor repelling duets every time he went by there. That said, given their history, I think had he not forced the issue, she'd never have agreed. Imagine the survivor guilt - she accepts a marriage that lets her go on to live the life she was originally meant to live after all her family died so terribly. In this current situation, she has no choice, she doesn't have to struggle with a moral dilemma like that.

Feet binding was only very widespread during Qing dynasty. This is Ming. And even during Qing the high nobility including royal princesses didn't do it. It was only widespread among the Han Chinese elite that wanted to marry their daughters up.

Zhu Gaochi pardoned everyone his father Zhu Di executed and did free the women who survived from the Imperial Music Academy. So I think they will make Jinqi have something to do with this decision and it will happen very soon since he only reigned for 1 year.

That was a good scene. They all really love him.

Useless spineless womanizer. The only time he smiled at Jinqi was at his wedding. He is finally happy with his over achiever son bc he finally disgraced himself.

The night she got drunk with the other maids after the pesticide arc. They had a moment.

It was his most heroic moment - battering a woman to save another woman.

I think she basically hinted enough to tell him bc she meant for him to know.

Well... his dad is a pest. Maybe less is more.

Both men coerced her in their own way. Its just that Scholar Han had less juice than LJQ. Is it fair? Nope. Is it life. Yups.

Per my post above, she never explicitly agreed, she just never opposed and was just going along with it...but until its done, she can always still back out. We will never know if Jinqi had not butted in whether she would have gone through with it so at this point its just academic.

Scholar Han pretty much admitted he coerced her. And in something like this, its not over till the she says I do and the fat lady sings. So no, she did not agree yet.

If I have to criticise Lanxiang, she never decided for herself. She just went along/did not oppose. But she is no Xiuwan - she was raised to be cooperative. Bc her parents know best.