Tsubaki

I have a feeling that this will be sinilar to Royal Nirvana. Loads and loads of tragedy. Also, the author's previous works aren't helping either. They're pretty depressing too.

Concubine Qiao is her niece. The mother thinks they wronged Qiao by making her a concubine instead of the main wife. Also, Concubine Qiao pretends to be kind and innocent.

As of ep 14 the ML does go against his mother, but the mother always has the last say. I think she's a classic/overdone evil mother-in-law. (But I understand some of her logic and bias toward Concubine Qiao).

I kept wondering why Madam Luo (Fang Xiao Li) looked familiar. Turns out she played the Empress in NiF. They're both ruthless, scheming, and intelligent characters.

Omg. Wen Ke Xing literally turned Zhang Zi Shu into a cut sleeve.

Definitely a great disguise! So many dramas are reluctant to really disguise the leads and instead just stick an extra prop on their face or change their hairstyle. Claiming that they look like an entirely different person.

Thanks for you comment, I'll continue to watch the drama.

To be honest the recent two episodes let me down.

I agree. Thinking back to episode 10, she can't understand why the ML rejects her and thus shifts the blame to Shiyiniang.

Not really. 2nd sister and 5th sister both get married, but their husbands don't appear much. I think they are just mentioned so the audience has a comparison to the ML.

It recently passed censorship, so March is possible.

I like how every character is intelligent, but makes mistakes due to their character and goals in life.

Depending on your region you can watch the drama on the WeTV or IQiyi websites/apps. I haven't seen it uploaded anywhere else yet.

I like the drama so far. Especially the dialogue, scenery and costumes. Also, many of the side characters are played by familiar faces from Yanxi Palace and Hao Lan. (The 2nd sister's overacting omg)

The wife is always higher ranked than the concubines. However... FL is his second wife, which complicates things. Her authority can be threatened because: 1) She is younger compared to the concubines who have been with the ML for years (less seniority) 2) the FL might not be favored 3) She is just a 2nd wife/stepmom and is thus lower ranked than the original wife (and all the rules the wife has set before her death) 4) She was born a concubine's daughter and isn't backed by a powerful maternal family. If I remember correctly the ML has 2 sons (1 previous wife and 1 concubine) and 1 daughter.

Thank you for your reply. In this case they might just use the Ming dynasty as a general backdrop and not address any actual historical figures. Looking forward to today's first episodes!

I've been wondering if the novel/drama is set during a specific time during the Ming dynasty. My guess is during the Yongle Emperor's reign, because his wife was Empress Xu. (Same surname as ML).

Ok, if the drama has a happy ending I'm definitely going to watch it.

This is definitely going to exaust my patience, especially if the screenwriter adds a ton of unnecessary drama. I just hope the FL is able to either fight back or at least remain cool and not let everything affect her.

Knowing the screenwriter I'm really worried about a tragic ending/melodramatic plot. I don't want another Promise of Chang'an or Princess Weiyoung.