Brennnndda

Yeah, out of all the things that lacked logic, that was what pissed me off the most. She lied yet he's the one apologizing to her? Huh?? He had EVERY right to be angry but he wasn't, instead she was going around like she held the moral high ground.

Those "bonus" scenes definitely should've been kept in the drama. They really did add to the relationship building, especially the dock scene which precluded her falling into the water.

You are the absolute best for sharing this with us!!!! 😘

Their looks definitely work for this story. He has a commanding, mature image that it makes Chen Yan Yun very compelling to watch. Considering his position of power in both the court and as her family's boss, it actually wouldn't make sense for him to look younger.

Where are you reading the novel?

The romance is very subtle. He falls by episode 10, the courtship starts around 18, and they marry in 28/29. But, there's a lot of cute moments in between. Definitely a slowburn.

Chinese dramas REALLY need to work on those abrupt endings 😡
Badly edited endings have destroyed so many good dramas.

Parents/elders ultimately decided marriage matches. It wouldn't have mattered if he disagreed since he wouldn't have had an excuse to refuse marrying his first wife. Even when he was pursuing Jin Zhao, he couldn't outwardly refuse when his master set him up with Xue Qing Lan.

He could only argue for his marriage to Jin Zhao afterwards because the setup fell through and he had a good enough argument and she finally agreed to his proposal.

There seemed to be so many cut scenes so I hope we get something!

I loved the jealousy arc! They literally don't fight about anything so it was fun to see him lose his composure for once.

In a time where it was expected that a man had multiple wives/concubines, I thought it was pretty much negligible that he was previously married. Plus it can be guessed that it was arranged and not a love match considering multiple family members have said he's never shown affection for anyone the way he did for Jin Zhao so it wouldn't have mattered if they did discuss it.

I didn't get the feeling he mourned her deeply because he was in love, but probably just used it as an excuse to keep match makers off his back while he focused on his work. He is probably a good 10 years older than Jin Zhao so it would be weirder if an eligible bachelor like himself remained single all that time when it was expected that marriage matches were made between 15-19 years of age.

Chen Yan Yun getting upset with her fleeting romance with his nephew was understandable (to me). For someone so in control at all times, such an event flew completely under his radar and blindsided him. Granted, I don't blame her for not telling him since it literally didn't get the chance to become something more than a crush. If it had been like Ming Lan and Qi Heng (Story of Ming Lan), then I would understand him being upset with not being told. I do think the drama did a good job at emphasizing that he wasn't mad AT her, just the situation.

I would say since you've seen The Story of Ming Lan, A Splendid Match is like a watered down version. But, the male lead here is a lot more likable from the get-go than the male lead in Story of Ming Lan was (ie: he's very stead-fast, goal-oriented and has a calm/commanding demeanor). He doesn't fool around and is always in control of himself and his environment.
Ep 1-17 is more family dynamics with a sprinkle of cute moments but 18 onward is more romance heavy with a splash of politics. Even the major female lead family characters in the first half become negligible in the second half.

I didn't get the sense that he liked her that early on. If anything, she was just someone he constantly interacted with. In the beginning, it was her seeking him out for help. The defining shift in his feelings is clear once this dynamic changes and he becomes the one who seeks her out.

Honestly, even at 40 episodes, Chinese dramas have been rarely done correctly from beginning to the end lately. I've watched more dramas than I can count where the beginning and middle are spectacular only for the drama to crash in the last 8-10 episodes. I pretty much expect it now 😆

Same! I loved the conflict. For a man who's always been in control to lose that control, it's not surprising he reacted the way he did to the situation.

I love how they are constantly touching each other and hugging and kissing.

I think he's perfectly casted. He has a mature aura about him that helps him embody Chen Yan Yun's character.

He disappeared for quite a bit of time. I actually started to miss his tantrums 😆

I actually enjoyed how the conflict played out. They were both wrong in different ways but until now, they've never had any arguments or disagreements at all. It's not surprising that neither knew how to solve it. She was definitely wrong for not telling him the truth but he was also wrong for shutting her out. But, it is also uncharted territory for both of them so the way each reacted was true to their characters. He's very much "I'll handle this quietly in my way with my methods" while she's more "we need to confront this head-on."
This was their one and only fight as a couple and it pretty much played out as bad as it could have gone before they were able to make up again.

I thought the way they fell for each other was very subtle. We can see that she always intrigued him but the first time I thought he started to fall was when he solved her abacus riddle. (The way his gaze lingered on her when he was leaving 😘). He started thinking of her more and more and while he was painting later on, he realized he was painting her.
The scene in 11 where she returns his cape to him was done so beautifully and by then he'd completely fallen but for her, that was when feelings started to click for her. I don't think it was until he proposed that she actually put a label to her feelings.