It's 11:30 here in Vienna. I normally start work at 9am on the dot (I work for myself). It's now 11:28, I've watched…
In Vienna too :) I watch my first episode at 6am, then make breakfast for the family and send them off to school/work, then watch another episode at 8am, and then off to work myself :) whatever shall I do with extra two hours in the morning when the show is over?! There’s nothing like this anymore :(
I think I’m a bit mixed about how the conflict unfolded and about how it was resolved. I JUST finished it and…
To be honest, I’ll give them a moment or two to get their bearings… Neither on them have ever been in love (I mean proper mature deep and consuming kind) so neither of them know how to process these feelings. CYY was always this confident strategist who knew every move around him two steps ahead which gave him a lot of security… So for him to feel insecure (‘you pursued a man and it wasn’t me’), to realize he’d miss something so fundamental and his beloved was wronged because of this, to realize he spent so much of his life protecting a boy who’d harassed his wife… that’s tough for him. He’s never been in this headspace before and he admits he doesn’t know how to process this - so to be safe he just chooses to take his time and distance until he figures it out. GJZ was not wrong in her childhood crush and she was not wrong to dismiss it from her memory as inconsequential for her relationship with CYY. However, once that nephew started making waves, semi-confessing his feelings and pushing her, she chose to handle it herself. Partially, that’s due to her independence trait but also her underplaying the level of threat - I think she genuinely believed she’ll resolve it quickly and no one would have to be bothered by this little family drama. Also partially, she was maybe concerned that having another family member being punished because of her so soon after the Forth Uncle (and CYY would absolutely punish the nephew even after the first attempts for his wife!) would damage the family and, especially, mother. Either way, she made a choice to hide it from her husband and the situation went way out of hand to the point of all those ridiculous accusations/confessions the nephew threw at them. GJZ is also very young, in her first real serious relationship and is very inexperienced in love matters. She never registered YX’s feelings for her, it took her a hot moment to figure out her own feelings for CYY - goes to figure she may not realize that her ever so confident all-powerful husband may be very humanly… jealous! In her mind, she chose him, he never had any competition whatsoever - what is this fuss about? It doesn’t cross her mind that this experienced adult who shoulders the weight of the nation on his shoulders wants to be pampered and adored and taken care of every once in a while =) ah, man and their fragile egos! In the end, they both tried to process this new emotional situation separately from each other in their own heads… hopefully, it will be a teachable moment that they are stronger together and communication is the key! Also, my personal headcanon is that one day someone would tell CYY how GJZ threatened the life of half of the city and bit the heads off the other half for slighting him and he will preen like Cheshire cat =) I just want one 10-seconds scene where he would know that she absolutely chooses him over anything and everything! Is it too much to ask?
Honestly, after all the 💩that just happened with his brother, CYY is probably just 💯over his younger, psychopathic…
Three is the perfect number of sons that family should have had. No forth son who kills the fifth son, so that the family has to adopt a ‘nephew’ to continue the fifth son’s family line… who then turns out to be a killer too. Three is just right!
yes am with you on that! why is it even necessary to make that kind of declaration when it hasn’t even happened.…
For two reasons it was necessary: 1) to reassure GJZ of her independence and her agency; 2) to give granny peace of mind and get her blessing - she did say she was against this marriage because of all the problems it could cause GJZ until she saw that divorce paper and understood that GJZ would have a way out should she need it. While I agree that this divorce paper may still come to play in a negative or sacrificial way, but even as is it was a beautiful and very thoughtful gesture that shows how much CYY understands his beloved, how much he respects her and how much he wants to protect her. Peak romance, no notes!
that fuckass divorce papers will then get discovered, used against them and bite them back NOOOOOOOO i mean it's…
Alternatively, if he’s ever under threat because of being associated with her, she’ll divorce him so that her blame won’t fall on him. We’ve seen scenario like this in The Sword and the Brocade.
I feel so sorry for him because his heart is set only on Gun Jin Zhao. Oh well, I hope he eventually considers…
I’m only concerned that he may be reluctant to be tied to her due to her relation to that old shifty guy Fu. Or, alternatively, will marry her to use her against him. Overall, he hates that guy and is trying to scheme against his with all he’s got.
scout the location a few times😂😂😂😆I was like what?!😂
I very much appreciate that she has committed to ‘few time’ for that type of ‘scouting’. I hope the trial period is not too long, I need a their relationship to go into -extra-super-exclusive-VIP mode :)
Reallyy?? In the novel he's a quite passionate hubby but didn't expect it'd be this fast 🤣
Kissing is scandalous enough for her servant to expect marriage. They haven’t slept together because no way she’d kept that updo during any kind of frisky activity :) but in all seriousness, if GJZ is still not feeling strongly enough to agree to marriage (and CYY did say he’s ready to propose!) then I doubt GJZ would just jump in the hay with him.
I love that fl's maternal family is so wealthy, like modern day billionaire type. Gu family look down on Ji family…
Oh, money question! Financial degree I can finally use! So, 20 000 silver taels would be about 800 kg of silver (Ming Dynasty) — in today prices it would translate to about USD 2M - it’s a lot, right? But wait! If we use ‘rice standard’ (which is a recalculation approach for pre-modern Chinese currency), then 1 tael would buy you about 75-80 kg of rice so in today’s prices you’ll get about USD 2,6M. Now, cross-reference it to the fact that Grade 1 court official would be making around 1000 taels a year — now it’s about 20-year base salary. Granted, court officials would regularly get financial commendation from a ruler (what we today would call bonuses and benefits) and their family had a range of businesses (supported by political will) to get substantive extra income, but 20 000 silver taels was not something to scoff off. That’s why it’s also a good sum for dowry — wives couldn’t make their own income unless they invest in the business with their own money, so families tried to give them some head start and chance in financial sustainability. See, the fact that Ji family hasn’t noticed how much money was loaned means that money probably came right out of mom’s dowry so it was much more significant to begin with. And the fact that Gu family says the Ji family can dismiss this sum easily for ‘familial peace’ tells a lot about how rich the Ji family really is!
Another scene I really enjoyed in this episode was when Madam Chen started discussing Chen’s potential marriage…
I agree he was calculating but he wasn’t panicking. He has too many ideas and enough time to both bring his girl to him and divert other potential suitors and manage his household and manage his career and navigate around whatever his mentor is throwing at him. His mother who was shows to be loving and understanding towards him is the least of his concerns :) Also, his worried face is when GJZ is trying to rein in the horse — he’s pretty much livid there!
Right!,in the book it was only a year so it made sense but 3 years?! In an era where being 19 and unmarried is…
As of episode 18, GJZ is about 18-19 so I little late into a marriage game but her mourning has just ended so no one was supposed to pressure her into marriage during that period. The only people who can pressure her now are her father (and he won’t as she’d gotten his written consent to back off) or her grandmother (and she would bite a head off of anybody who wishes to pressure her precious GJZ into anything). So when and if GJZ decides to get married, that would her decision and hers alone :) Love me some girl with agency!
Can I just say that, this time, I actually have to agree with all the anti-ML comments saying he’s manipulative.…
I both agree and disagree. Yes, CYY is manipulative but we’ve already established that in that time and space and court he’s not going to become the Prime Minister by being direct and open. He has saved and helped GJZ and YX and many other people exactly by being manipulative. Alternatively, if he were to do all the saving and problem-solving directly, he’d just overexpose himself and rob other people of their agency and a chance to shine (and develop). But no, I don’t think that CYY being manipulative is anti-ML opinion to agree with. Him being manipulative is not a negative trait, it’s an adult trait, a strategist’s trait, a politician’s trait. He’s exactly what it says on a tin — the future highest political figure. P.S. I’ll be just here in the corner, swooning over the fact that he’d conditioned one of his best horses to recognize her scent :) that’s some high quality manipulation!
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CYY was always this confident strategist who knew every move around him two steps ahead which gave him a lot of security… So for him to feel insecure (‘you pursued a man and it wasn’t me’), to realize he’d miss something so fundamental and his beloved was wronged because of this, to realize he spent so much of his life protecting a boy who’d harassed his wife… that’s tough for him. He’s never been in this headspace before and he admits he doesn’t know how to process this - so to be safe he just chooses to take his time and distance until he figures it out.
GJZ was not wrong in her childhood crush and she was not wrong to dismiss it from her memory as inconsequential for her relationship with CYY. However, once that nephew started making waves, semi-confessing his feelings and pushing her, she chose to handle it herself. Partially, that’s due to her independence trait but also her underplaying the level of threat - I think she genuinely believed she’ll resolve it quickly and no one would have to be bothered by this little family drama. Also partially, she was maybe concerned that having another family member being punished because of her so soon after the Forth Uncle (and CYY would absolutely punish the nephew even after the first attempts for his wife!) would damage the family and, especially, mother. Either way, she made a choice to hide it from her husband and the situation went way out of hand to the point of all those ridiculous accusations/confessions the nephew threw at them.
GJZ is also very young, in her first real serious relationship and is very inexperienced in love matters. She never registered YX’s feelings for her, it took her a hot moment to figure out her own feelings for CYY - goes to figure she may not realize that her ever so confident all-powerful husband may be very humanly… jealous! In her mind, she chose him, he never had any competition whatsoever - what is this fuss about? It doesn’t cross her mind that this experienced adult who shoulders the weight of the nation on his shoulders wants to be pampered and adored and taken care of every once in a while =) ah, man and their fragile egos!
In the end, they both tried to process this new emotional situation separately from each other in their own heads… hopefully, it will be a teachable moment that they are stronger together and communication is the key!
Also, my personal headcanon is that one day someone would tell CYY how GJZ threatened the life of half of the city and bit the heads off the other half for slighting him and he will preen like Cheshire cat =) I just want one 10-seconds scene where he would know that she absolutely chooses him over anything and everything! Is it too much to ask?
So, 20 000 silver taels would be about 800 kg of silver (Ming Dynasty) — in today prices it would translate to about USD 2M - it’s a lot, right? But wait! If we use ‘rice standard’ (which is a recalculation approach for pre-modern Chinese currency), then 1 tael would buy you about 75-80 kg of rice so in today’s prices you’ll get about USD 2,6M.
Now, cross-reference it to the fact that Grade 1 court official would be making around 1000 taels a year — now it’s about 20-year base salary. Granted, court officials would regularly get financial commendation from a ruler (what we today would call bonuses and benefits) and their family had a range of businesses (supported by political will) to get substantive extra income, but 20 000 silver taels was not something to scoff off. That’s why it’s also a good sum for dowry — wives couldn’t make their own income unless they invest in the business with their own money, so families tried to give them some head start and chance in financial sustainability.
See, the fact that Ji family hasn’t noticed how much money was loaned means that money probably came right out of mom’s dowry so it was much more significant to begin with. And the fact that Gu family says the Ji family can dismiss this sum easily for ‘familial peace’ tells a lot about how rich the Ji family really is!
Also, his worried face is when GJZ is trying to rein in the horse — he’s pretty much livid there!
Yes, CYY is manipulative but we’ve already established that in that time and space and court he’s not going to become the Prime Minister by being direct and open. He has saved and helped GJZ and YX and many other people exactly by being manipulative. Alternatively, if he were to do all the saving and problem-solving directly, he’d just overexpose himself and rob other people of their agency and a chance to shine (and develop).
But no, I don’t think that CYY being manipulative is anti-ML opinion to agree with. Him being manipulative is not a negative trait, it’s an adult trait, a strategist’s trait, a politician’s trait. He’s exactly what it says on a tin — the future highest political figure.
P.S. I’ll be just here in the corner, swooning over the fact that he’d conditioned one of his best horses to recognize her scent :) that’s some high quality manipulation!