TianQi

Adding to #2: Being told she was literally just a vessel for a man's offspring.

I think it's most likely that Queen Yoon got the title of a noblewoman. I don't think the nephew will be reinstated. I think by saying "I'll protect your kingdom" that means, "I'll rule well on your behalf." Indeed royalty can't come and go as they please. Remember when she (Grand Prince Hwan) was about to go, the little brother asked her: "Why don't you just go and come back once a year?" and she just looked at him and half-smiled, but didn't respond. I think this was meant to make it clear that she was leaving the palace to never return.

Yes

Yeah, I noticed that too, but I guess his "exit" so to speak, was when he made the announcement about the truth of Prince Taemin's death.

I don't think anything happened to him...?

I think this might need to be tagged as a spoiler. Totally feel you about the CP being his nephew's umbrella though. ♥️

There's scheming and conspiracies in every episode, but there's so much other stuff going on (comedy, camaraderie, romance etc.) that the overall tone doesn't feel so angsty. On an angst level of 1 to 10, I'd personally give it a 6.5

You may as well go find your blood pressure medicine because this is only the beginning. 😬

I appreciated this show on so many levels. It really showcased the and the difficulty motherhood in so many different ways and reminded me that good moms are truly the queens in our lives and they deserve to be treated like that. I did well throughout the entire show to not cry through the dramatic moments, but I was a blubbering mess by the end of the last episode. 😭 This show was beautiful and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves their mom. 👸🏻☔️

This has all the sweetness and fantasy of a quintessential BL, but there are some really deep aspects about it that ring true in real romance as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The last time I had this warm and fuzzy feeling after watching a Japanese BL was Cherry Magic.

This is gonna be messy, but I'm 100% gonna watch it.

It's what Salsa Mia said, but I just want to add that the comedy is very well-timed. This drama pulls at your heartstrings, but it's not trying to have you depressed the whole way through.

In East Asian cultures, traditionally, you're supposed to be at least married at 27 and have a kid on the way if you don't already have one. So, once you move into the householder stage, that's considered 'middle aged' (about 27-47ish). 47-65 you're like an elder, but not "old" in the western sense. After 65, you're just old.
I hope I explained that right. lol "Old" in East Asia isn't related to how close you are to the average life expectancy (which is highest in Japan btw), it's more related to whether you're old enough to be a grandparent. lol

" it could have been better if there was more questioning/wariness from the other characters"

I think there wasn't more questioning/wariness from the other characters because of the circumstances of those characters themselves. The only people who 100% knew the nature of Minato and Shin's relationship were Shin's sister and Asuka. Shin's sister knows Shin better than anyone and Minato's a familiar person that they've all known for years. Yes, the age gap is there, but if there's any old dude she'd be ok dating her brother, it's Minato. Then there's Asuka. He's a happy-go-lucky high school senior who has a crush on a (albeit younger) teacher himself. He's not likely to judge so hard. He's also Shin's best friend and has known Minato since he was a kid himself (at the beginning Asuka knew Minato a lot better than Shin did), so he knows both of them well enough to know they'd be good for each other.

Shu might have known, but didn't care enough to mention anything about it until literally the last two minutes of the last episode. LOL

Minato's teacher probably caught on too, but if you listen to his talk with Minato in the last episode, I don't think he actually condones their relationship. He just says they should both be happy. I can't imagine he does condone it either.

It goes in circles just a teeny bit, but it's a nice and easy watch. The views of the beach were great. Asuka brought lots of great energy and Inaba Yu is such a beautiful man...even if he never once smiles.

Choco is the goodest of the good boys.

The most horrible thing about the draggy Chinese dramas is that by the time you get all the way to the end, one (or more!) of three things has happened: your favorite character has died halfway through, the protagonists end up worse off than they started, or the evil antagonists don't get proper justice.
I love Chinese history, so I've put myself through a lot of these dramas and....yeah, 'torturous' is an excellent word.

I agree. 25 episodes would be enough if they're going to go into a romance with the Crown Prince. Personally, I like it how it is now, but I'd prefer more drama attached to the main stories we have going on like the whole treason plot which forms entire foundation of the show and is given too little screen time imo. The romance of the CP really isn't needed at all. This show is about the Queen and how she keeps everything from falling apart. No one really can really care about anything else.

For real! She's worried about who's gonna be the next king and I'm just like: It's the 16th century, what makes you think you'll live long enough to see that? lol

For real! She's worried about who's gonna be the next king and I'm just like: It's the 16th century, what makes you think you'll live long enough to see that? lol