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Yes! As it is, it is already 'stressful' because the director is quite adept at creating suspense-filled scenes - like in the library where wife no 1 is caught in a tryst with her lover. In the novel, however, she was caught in a temple – how sacrilegious is that! And worse, she was with another man disguised as a monk. I think the censorship board would have conniptions if the directors had followed the book to a T. Anyway, enjoy the show! :)

Towards the end of the novel. At 357 chapters long, it took awhile to get there. But the book is different, in that XLX was 'reborn'. She told him that in her past life she was XLX. The drama does not have this reborn thread; so, we'll have to watch when that happens. But I must stay, the drama adaptation is really enjoyable with such stellar acting.

In romance novel parlance, he bedded her and she became a kept woman. She didn't want the status of legit concubine, and was always on a lookout for ways to leave the household. She wanted her freedom and if anything, she would rather stay single and earn a living as a painter-poet. . She was the epitome of passive aggressive, quietly resisting his overtures, if you can call that a strategy. And there was no marriage, only towards the end. I'm waiting to see how the drama plays this marriage out. I enjoyed the book, even though many were unhappy with the male protagonist and his philandering ways. Hope that helps.

I am waiting for your review of this drama!

I don't know if there are pdf version, but check this link out [I am using Safari]: https://mydramanovel.com/novels/ Look for Pursuit of Jade. There are lotsa other novels here. Sometimes, you might need to close two eyes to the translation as they could be riddled with errors. And don't read the novels like they are exactly as per tv dramas as the directors might pick the best parts for visual storytelling only. Enjoy!

I too like the plots, but might be quite difficult to follow closely. It would be quite a task. Whatever artistic licence they take, as long as it's thoughtfully executed, I'm all for it. :) so far visuals and vids kindly shared by folks here all looked good! cheers

Good that you have started the book. They changed the name of the ML for the drama. Enjoy!! :)

you are most welcome! :)

Yes, that's in the book. Not sure how the drama will play out. In the book, the FL and ML's family were friends, and there was talk of marriage between the two leads, but ML was much younger. So FL got married, and when the family was embroiled in a political struggle, she died and reincarnated as a maid in the ML's household. If I'm not wrong the chinese phrase, "3 wives; 4 concubines" was the definition of a rich man's household, which essentially is where the FL is placed. There's lots of machinations on the part of the concubines and interested parties to get into the hot sea of primary wife...but the FL just wanted to live her own life. So again, the drama probably distilled lots of stuff from the book; otherwise, it would be something like 80 episodes, and I would be hitting the fast-forward key. Reading is different. :) Peace

The synopsis reads more like an adaptation of the book. No where did the ML abandon the FL in the book. She was removed [sold] by the first [primary] wife to a brothel, and was rescued. The first wife was kicked out when she was caught in one of her numerous affairs. The FL later returned to the ML's household when he saved her father, and to repay the debt, she became his mistress. She refused to be his concubine because she wanted only her freedom, which she figured she would get when the ML finds himself a new primary wife. Because she was born a maid, the ML's family would never let her become the primary wife. So if the script follows the trajectory of the book, this should be how she went from a lowly maid to primary wife. The book is quite long, so hopefully they pick the juiciest parts; and fingers crossed the director do justice to the book and use these two stellar leads well.

Yes, Polygyny—one wife, many concubines, mistresses—was a cultural norm in the old days. Maybe the author borrowed the idea from Victorian novels about how a reformed rake makes a devoted and loving husband once he meets the right woman. :)

That's ok; we can always agree to disagree; and fingers crossed the drama is well directed and well scripted. cheers

thank you for the link. Finished reading it; enjoyed it very much. just hope the script does justice to these two very good actors.

Hi, I read the translated book, and I must say, it's pretty good. The plot line is that of a journey of love and redemption. The ML lead appears to be a reprobate, and an ill-tempered womaniser, but he is not a lost cause. The arcs in each sections are rather riveting; and may not all be included in the drama cos they are rather long. While I zipped through the chapters, I'm going to re-read cos I thoroughly enjoyed the story telling [caveat: the names in the book are quite messy as they have not been carefully subedited]. I just hope the drama does not disappoint especially since I read the book with Tan Sonyun and Liu Xueyi in mind, playing their roles well. I disliked the drama Kill Me Love Me cos it was tedious and badly told. No offence to all fans of the drama. cheers!

I so agree with you @Frost_edelweiss. Not sure what people are watching or going on about. I'm quite amazed at the trash people levelled at the actress. She's just doing her job and she did well. The drama is totally way better than Kill Me, Love Me, which was mediocre at best, and it got an 8 rating. Boggles the mind. Peace!

ep 23: Dang! My vote for star of the episode: The Horse! 😍

So he asked, "If I use the 'forgiveness card', will you forgive. me" She said, "I have already forgiven you. So you don't need to use it." In the extra episode, she said, "If you die before me, I won't forgive you." There's a little scene at the end where she is grasping his hand, which is holding onto the forgiveness card. He got to use the card after all. Simple. Poignant.

🤞🤞🤞

I agree! I will be on tenterhooks! But more than that, I hope they do justice to the wait and not muck it up for us! It is a hard act to follow!

haha. good vid!. Thanks for sharing! The contrast is stark...one a buffoon - dishevelled and disorganised, like his hold on his kingdom; the other, a classy but crafty monarch - moving against him might just take the sail out of Fan Xian {Zhang Ruo Yun].