Platinum Fox

ZSY became the adopted son of PDF three years ago when he inherited the mansion he lives in now. This is stated when the entire family and the 10 other men's families are held hostage in the hall. Even if he became the adopted son at the time the grandfather was killed, he obviously still had all his reproductive organs as ZHY would have been conceived nine months before that. Since he passed inspection, they either just removed his testicles or didn't do it at all for the purpose that you mentioned.

So yes, I agree with you, there was no castration done. This tall tale was told to create the image that PDF was very powerful even more powerful than the emperor. It was why he needed to be taken out as he was planning a rebellion. This is all said before episode 17.

Yes, XH dying at the end would have made sense for the way I interpreted The Double. However, I made it work with the ending they gave.

My interpretation is that XH had to die as the whole drama is the opposite of LLtG. With the ending they gave, it was a punishment for XFF going far above what she needed to for her revenge. So it works both ways.

Lee Hae Ah, I agree with you, the color of clothing that each of the people are wearing is significant. The mother and Han Yan are wearing white. The concubine and her daughter, and the little girl are wearing red. The dead people are wearing blue. However, blue can also mean healing, so for him to wear blue is appropriate because he is healing from the poison. But we also know that he could die at any time. One poster wrote that he is living on borrowed time.

Notice there are two people missing on the dead side, the grandpa and the first daughter. On the living side, only the grandmother is missing. You have to ask why are they missing from the picture.

You also might enjoy The Tale of Arang. It is not about vampires, but ghosts. There do not seem to be many historical vampire stories, but quite a few modern ones. Tales of the Tang Dynasty might interest you as well.

Thank you for the name lesson. Yes, I think you're right about Pei Da Fu (PDR) and his "family". For me, the tale of PDF making his loyal members eunuchs seems to be for comic relief. I found it quite hilarious and ludicrous. The image this creates suggests that PDF was saying that he was equal and even more powerful than the emperor as he could get men to willing castrate themselves for him. Whereas the emperor needs to rely on slaves and criminals for his eunuchs. jmo

On a side note: castration does not necessarily mean the removal of all the male reproductive genitalia. Most of the time it means the removal of a man's testicles. No man (not even the eunuchs themselves) would willing submit to the removal of all their genitalia. This is why the punishment for serious crimes resulted in men becoming eunuchs.

Thank you for the discussion.

Watch Lost You Forever (Chinese) if you want vampires in royalty. Also, watch The Scholar Who Walks at Night (Korean)

I'm glad that you enjoyed both dramas. I couldn't get into The First Frost. I watched the first four episodes to get some answers that I had from Hidden Love. Modern dramas and I don't mix. I only watched this one because of Zhao Lu Si. At first I wrote it off as a fluffy simple love story, but then I realized so much more was going on in the drama.

I only read eight chapters and I can say I now understand some of the "negative" comments that are on here.

That's okay, she is not everyone's favorite. Don't force yourself.

Fairhelen, I haven't read the entire novel and do not even know if the novel has only 85 chapters. I have seen some that have over 300. So, this is just to get you started. I am sure there are others out there, but this one happen to be in the discussion post.

Bai Ying Hua, it seems that you missed some of the drama. Yu Wen Chang had the 11 gentlemen who were suspects of being Pei Da Fu's adopted son checked. They all past inspection.

Also, I think you don't understand what being a eunuch or castration means.

Thanks for this explanation. It makes sense in context of the drama. I felt like half the story was missing and it had to do with her identity. For she is not the daughter of Zhuang Shi Yang, but the mother's lover (for the drama's sake).

You're right LLtG is very much the lighter of the two dramas when it comes to the ending. In the end, the cast members all standing in a long line there is no division. You have 10 people (mom, dad, SS, HBY, her two brothers, YY, QQ, mom's sworn sister, and Yuan. His family and the empress are all represented by the stars which they are commenting about. Notice the mom and SS are together

Yes, the ending is quite open ended, and I can see where you're going with the argument of the cure for the poison. You are not suppose to differentiate as the living and the dead are celebrating together love and justice. Regina de Sa has a great analysis of the ending in the discussion.

Yes, for me, I felt like half the story was missing. A mother would not willing send away her child just because someone called her a "Barefoot Ghost". The mother hated Zhuang Shi Yang so much that any child of his would have been easy to kill off for mysterious reasons. I felt there was a whole arc that wasn't played out when it came to her identity. Thus, the secret at the end.

They put him on the left side for balance. If you notice there are six people on each side. It makes sense for him to be on that side as he is the one who will probably die before all the other ones on the right. Notice he was the last in line. They are also lined up according to family. Her family is the first in line. The Zhuang family is next and finally the Fu family is last. He is the one who will die first in that family.

You can interpret it any way you want to. It also was a homage to Love Like the Galaxy as their ending was much the same way. The family all stood in a line commenting about the stars. The whole drama for me was a reflection of Love Like the Galaxy. jmo

For me, I don't think she was Zhuang's daughter. I think she was actually the mother's lover's daughter. jmo

General Song says at the end that he fell in love with her on her wedding night when he had to deliver the message that the general had to leave immediately because of a rebellion somewhere in the country (I think in the plains). When her husband left her without consummating the marriage first, this made General Song mad as he watched her cry.

Also, he never warmed up to the girl (the female lead's maid) even though she loved General Song, Because the girl was the female lead's maid every time he came around it just seemed like he was there for the maid even though he wasn't.

There are a number of reasons. First, she wanted to marry the third brother and not the first brother. She convinced the emperor (her grandfather), to let her marry the third brother, but then she ended up marrying the general because of her dad. Secondly, she really wanted to have child, but couldn't after she had miscarriage. She was able to have one after going through a great deal of acupuncture treatments. Third, she insisted in getting involved with palace affairs which was not allowed for woman at the time. Finally, she fought off many suitors, one after she was married.

My other one, but not really a part of the show, rebellion against age. The main female lead was 39 when she filmed this and played a 15 year old for quite awhile.

Thank you and your very welcome. I hope you are enjoying the drama. If you would like to see a different point of view about the very same topic, Zhao Lu Si (the female lead) is in a historical drama called A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College. It's a very funny drama.

Sorry, Zhao Lu Si could not have played the 14 year old Sang Zhi (even though she has played one numerous times). One of the reasons given at the beginning of the drama as to why the 14 year old Sang Zhi should not be with DJX is because she would look like DJX's daughter. This is shown very clearly when he bends down to dust her off when she has fallen.

The actress who played Sang Zhi at 14 was actually 11. They needed her height to show how much Sang Zhi had grown during the three year temporal node. If Zhao Lu Si had played the part, she could not have "grown up" in height when she is 17, so the use of the little girl was intentional along with you getting that creepy feeling about it.

Hidden Love is a social commentary on the age of consent in China which is 14. The writer and director wanted viewers to think about this pairing. The drama says a 14 year old and a 19 year old are drastically different in height and maturity. This should not be legal, but it is in China.

Good, then the drama did it's job. You were meant to feel that cringe as Hidden Love is a social commentary on the age of consent in China. The age of consent is 14. The writers wanted you think about this pairing. In the novel Sang Zhi is 13 and he is 20/21.

This drama is a social commentary on the subject of responsibility. In ancient times and even the present, Chinese culture has held the belief that if the father does something wrong, the rest of the family will be implicated as well. The mother promised JY's mother that DJX would take care of JY for the rest of his life. The implication is that he would marry her. Arranged marriages still happen in China, but it is becoming more prevalent to marry for love.

Sang Zhi gives DJX a way out as he doesn't love JY and as MIkaM explains so beautifully JY doesn't love him either. She is just really insecure and lashes out really at everyone as she can't get over the death of her father. This is why Sang Zhi says to JY's friend take her to counseling. Help her get over the death of her father. DJX is not responsible for what his father did, but he is the one who loses the most as both of his parents die due to this one incident.

Thank MikaM! Happy drama watching.