Platinum Fox

Having your entire family, friends, relatives, and entire village killed for no reason isn't consequence enough?

MilicaB, it is in episode 16. around the middle of the episode. Yeo Ri and In Seon are talking about Yeo Ri's second ring. Yeo Ri tells In Seon that her and Gang Cheol are getting married and Yeo Ri gave In Seon a talisman to find a handsome husband. In Seon doesn't care about love, just that her man has to be handsome.

I don't think the child was a literal baby (like just born). The child to me looked to be a small child (around 9-12 months). By that time children have a full head of hair. Also, I have seen babies 4-9 months have full heads of hair.

Don't know where you are in the drama, but keep going.

My husband said the same thing about the girl in pink and I have to agree as well.

I agree with you. The drama was saying that children should be able to develop their talents and not be pigeonholed into gender roles.

It is interesting that you bring up the prank on the noble girls. You do remember that mom was not going to punish Niao Niao for that incident. It was dad's idea to punish NN. He even made up the plan to where he would be the bad guy, and mom stepped in and said, "If you do this she will hate you, do you want that?" Dad then allowed mom to do the paddling. Mom even gave NN a way out, but NN doesn't take it. Even NN realizes that mom has been right all along, she must learn to accept responsibility for her actions, no matter what the reasons for doing them. Was it funny what NN did to the noble girls, yes! Did the noble girls deserve it, yes! However, someone could have gotten seriously hurt in that incident. Because no one did, the noble families did not pursue the matter. If they had, the Wan's and Cheng's could have been kicked out of the capital because of what Niao Niao did. So, for me, when corporal punishment was part of disciplining a child, the paddling was deserved. We later learn that "the beating" didn't even break the skin. Niao Niao just couldn't sit for three days. They even gave her ointment to put on her bruises.

After that incident, you will notice that Niao Niao is no longer angry at her mother and doesn't try to defy her. She does think that she is being sent to go live with her aunt because of military discipline, but mom is smarter than that. She understands that Niao Niao's dream is to see the world, and she also needs to understand why mom and dad left her home all those years ago.

As for Consort Yue and the empress, we do know how they raised their children. Consort Yue hit, kicked, called her children stupid, and belittled them as well. The empress was so kindhearted that she didn't even discipline her daughter, so her daughter felt that she was entitled to do anything she wanted, just because she was a princess. When Consort Yue slaps her, that is the first time the princess has been physically disciplined, and she still talks back to the parental figures. Even right up to the point of going into her house, she still says mom and dad will back down after awhile. It is only when she goes into the house and sees her dead harem that she realizes that mom and dad are serious this time. But had she been disciplined before this, they wouldn't have had to go to such extremes.

Finally, repeatedly you have talked about humiliation. The biggest point of contention about this is the marriage proposal. But let's analyze those scenes. To do that we need to start before that when all the girls are sitting in a room and NN is the last in the row. All the girls are commenting and describing her as being unruly, illiterate, and a commoner. Notice Niao Niao gets out of there as soon as possible by claiming she needs to go the bathroom. She is humiliated because what the girls are saying is true. Now, fast forward to when Ling Bu Yi springs the marriage proposal on the family. The emperor, who is so wrapped up in LBY getting married, backs the family into a corner by saying just try to go against my will. Remember that the emperor and empress have only heard about Niao Niao through LBY and he is biased. When mom describes her daughter, she is only repeating NN's reputation in the capital. What mom is saying is true. Her daughter is unruly, illiterate, and lower in status than LBY. Was mom supposed to lie to the emperor about her daughter? You are talking about the royal family. Reputation is everything and what mom said was NN's reputation.

From the very beginning Niao Niao is different than the other girls. Mom tries to get her to fit in, but NN resists. If all the girls had been able to develop their talents and use them to help the world, there would have been far less bullying.

You may not care whether mom loved her daughter or not, but mom did take action to change Niao Niao. Did she make a lot of mistakes, yes. Did she use several different ways of disciplining her, yes. But in the end, Niao Niao and HBY were able to finish what the parents started.

Thank you for the discussion. I do understand where you are coming from, but I understand why mom did what she did.

Yes, Zhao Lu Si normally plays her own teenage character, but she couldn't in this one.

I see that you are new to MDL, welcome and happy drama watching.

The girl who plays the 14 year old Sang Zhi was indeed 11 when she filmed this. They needed the actress for her height to show how much Sang Zhi grew in height during the three year temporal node.

Fun fact: the same actress plays the child version of Zhao Lu Si's character in Who Rules the World and The Story of Pearl Girl.

Don't worry, you are not the first one to feel "icky" about those opening scenes, but it is intentional by the writers. Happy drama watching.

For me, the plot was simple, but carries a very powerful message. One that all leaders in the world should do.

For me, the drama had three main points about parenting. Number one, you are showing love to your children when you discipline them. No two children are alike and disciplining them will require using different methods. Parents must figure out which disciplinary actions will work best for each child. For examples, to discipline Yang Yang all you had to do was look at her in an intimidating way. However, to make Niao Niao understand, mom had to take a different approach. Two, parenting should be done at any age, especially if it will harm the family. This is why Qi Qi's grandmother whipped her son after he refused to give Ling Bu Yi the Shu map. Three, it doesn't matter if you are commoner, noble, or royalty, discipline is a must. Discipline is what makes us become better human beings. In order for the 5th princess to become a decent human being, the emperor had to kill her entire harem.

Is Niao Niao's mother a perfect mother, no. Did she make mistakes in disciplining Niao Niao, yes, but you can tell that she loved her daughter very much and wanted the best for her, and this is what the original poster was asking. Did the mother love her daughter? I say yes because mom was willing to take on the responsibility of teaching her child the difference between right and wrong even at such a late age. She wanted to make sure that Niao Niao would become a productive member of society.

From your response about Consort Yue and the empress, I can see that you had some very different take a ways from this drama and that is okay. We also have very different definitions of abuse both physical and mental.

I love this drama just for these reasons. There is so much to discuss. Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

You're welcome and totally agree. I do believe that viewers will be very surprised at the way this will end.

Nonsuch, I work in a field where I see the results of parents who do and do not discipline their children. Mom doesn't want to use corporal punishment on Niao Niao. It hurt mom more than it hurt Niao Niao, Notice she only used it twice. I am not advocating for parents to go out and spank their children. It should be the last resort. Which in this case it was and the father agreed to it as well.

I am curious. What did you think of Consort Yue and the empress as mothers?

In episode 1 Gang Cheol meditates for a 1000 years in a pool. On the night of his ascension, he is spotted by a child who is being saved by a palace guard. Because the child spotted him, Gang Cheol falls back to earth as a spirit who must find a suitable vessel to help him ascend. Because Gang Cheol failed to ascend, he is filled with anger, rage, and hate towards humans.

Flash forward to when the Colossal Shadow (the collection of the spirits of all the people who died in that massacre) had him by neck, tells Gang Cheol he was the one who saw him ascend. However, he shouldn't blame it on him. The child who saw him should have been home and sleeping soundly in bed. However, because the present king's great-great grandfather made the decision to sacrifice the village of Yongdam for his own safety, the Colossal Shadow says the blame should be placed on the royal family, not the common people who were affected as well.

The Colossal Shadow would like Gang Cheol to join them in their revenge against the royal family as Gang Cheol was also a victim of the great-great grandfather's decision.

The drama stresses that the decisions we make today have a ripple effect on future generations. What happened 100 years ago is still reeking havoc and is still haunting the present day king, a direct descendant of the past king.

I hope this helps. This is really a well done drama. It is light and comedic, but carries a heavy message. Happy drama watching.

Nonsuch, thank you for your interpretation of the mother's actions towards Niao Niao (NN). While I understand where you are coming from, I respectfully disagree. Let's look at how the mother treats NN and NN's response to it.

In the first episodes we learn that mom and dad have been away fighting a war for 15 years. They left NN behind to stave off a calamity that the grandmother was going to face. The mother demonstrating filial piety allows (grudgingly) NN to be left behind while taking her twin brother with them. We learn from the great uncle that to get back at NN's mother for leaving the girl instead of the boy, the grandmother and Aunt Ge (both favoring boys over the girls) pledged to not discipline NN or make her do anything. Hence, NN learns through imitation to plot and scheme and seek revenge on every little thing. Also, everyone around her teases her about her parents abandoning her. NN doesn't trust adults and rightly so. She has been sent to reflect on her behavior to a village with barely enough to eat or keep herself warm. Again, she has been abandon by the very people who were to care for her. Mother knows that NN is faking everything, but doesn't do anything about it as she has a bigger plan. NN thinks mother isn't doing enough to get rid of the people who bullied her.

The fact that she has a strong will comes directly from her mother. Who went through a divorce herself and is now a talented general in her own right. So you have two strong willed people fighting each other. Like mother, like daughter. Why should NN trust her parents, whom she has never met and doesn't know? They don't know her either. Mother and daughter are trying to figure each other out and get to know each other. But the mother still needs to maintain parental guidance.

Niao Niao is stubborn, talented, but extremely illiterate, and unruly. She gets revenge for every little thing someone does to her. At this time, girls are suppose to be learned in the classics, music, something else, and literature. Niao Niao has none of this knowledge. Niao Niao thinks she is okay the way she is and because no one ever really made her study and learn to read, she resists when mom makes her do it. Mom's fighting against 15 years of learned behavior, so it is going to look like she is controlling.

One of the first things mom disciplines NN for is eavesdropping. Mom let's it slide two times, but the third time she smacks NN's hand with a ruler (once). Notice NN doesn't eavesdrop again. She learned quickly that there are consequences to her behavior. Mom didn't like having to discipline her that way, but it needed to be done. Mom originally went up to measure NN for new clothes.

Niao Niao plays on the mom's guilt a lot to get out of a lot of things, like studying. Mom tries to discipline her without spanking her (mom doesn't like corporal punishment). Taking away snacks when Niao Niao is supposed to be studying. Not allowing her to go places until she does something. Mom only hits NN twice (with a ruler and with the military paddle). Both times NN deserved it.

For me, viewers want a villain in dramas and in this one, the viewers have made mom the villain. Is she a perfect mother, no, but she is better than some of the other mothers and grandmothers in this drama. jmo

Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

Gang Cheol was also a victim of the massacre that happened in episode 1. The Celestial General tells Gang Cheol that the blame for him not ascending is on the royal family. We will not know why until episode 13.

Are you saying the blind shaman is a member of the royal family and is using the Celestial General and the Colossal Shadow to get back at the royal family? When does he say he is a member of the royal family?

I understood what the poster was saying. What I am asking is what is the Celestial General actually winning? Look at what the Celestial General has done. He possessed the crown prince and the king. He didn't kill them, just possessed them. Why? He killed the prince who raped the girl. Why? He could have strangled Gang Cheol and killed him, but didn't. Why? Also, he killed the grandfather who was planning a rebellion. Why? The Celestial General killed Bibi because he was full of jealousy and hate for Gang Cheol. He took Bibi's moonlit pearl, why? It knows that there is something stronger than it that it will need to take care of. What is It? Do you see the pattern? Why is it sad?

As I wrote to you before, we don't know the entire story from 100 years ago, just that the king's great-great grandfather was a coward and sacrificed an entire village to make his get away, but why is he running away from the palace? Why are the barbarians invading? How did the barbarians know the king was going to Yongdam in the first place?

As for him attacking the queen, the rock did its job. It kept the Celestial General far enough way that the sword didn't kill the queen. We don't know if it hurt the baby. If the Celestial General had wanted to kill the king, he could have done it with no problems as the king no longer had the stone. It is testing the king to see if the king will run away and protect himself or protect his family and the people around him.

So let me ask you what is the Celestial General winning? He doesn't get the crown prince because the crown prince has Yeo Ri's rock. Is he trying to get the crown prince or is he trying to protect the crown prince?

In this drama you need to look at patterns. Why can every spirit jump in and out of live people, but Gang Cheol can't escape from a dead human body even though he has tried multiple times?

What you are looking at is the average score of everyone who has rated the drama. This includes people who have rated multiple times using different accounts. What you should be looking at is the verified rating which tries to screen out all multiple ratings by a single person. That rating is 9.01. This is the first time that I have seen a verified rating be higher than the average rating.

You can find the verified rating by hovering over the orange rating box.

Thank, yes, I wrote that before I watched episode 14.

It is very fitting that the blind shaman used the body of a palace guard to harm the queen as this is the exact opposite of what happened 100 years ago. A 100 years ago a mother and son were harmed because of a decision the king made. Now the Celestial General has a chance to harm a mother and son of the royal family. He does, but it seems like it is only a flesh wound, and he can gauge the response of the king. Will the king help his queen or let his guards persuade him to run away. If the king is smart, he will attack the Celestial General, but not try to kill him. As this will be enough to let the Celestial General know that the king loves his family and will also fight for his people.

We still have lots of questions left to answer.
Who is the blind shaman? Why does he have a grudge against the royal family? It seems to be what happened 13 years ago.
What happened 13 years ago to the present king's mother and father? We know the king's father was possessed by the Celestial General and Yeo Ri's grandmother tried to exorcise it out of him. Thus, why the father was killed. But we need to know why the king's father was attacked by the Celestial General?
Why did the barbarians suddenly attack the great-great grandfather and why was running away from the palace in the first place.
Was the palace guard able to save his family and was his child the one who saw Gang Cheol? It doesn't really matter who saw Gang Cheol as it was because of the king's decision that the baby wasn't in bed sleeping peacefully.
What does the Colossal Shadow look like? Will we see Yeo Ri's grandmother?

Yes, but the blind shaman says at the beginning that he also has a grudge against the royal family. With the "mastermind" dead, why is the blind shaman still calling up the Celestial General and the Colossal Shadow? He also had a chance at redemption after he was put in prison, but didn't confess. There is more to the blind shaman than just him being someone's peon.