Lovely

We share one mind <3

yeeess, and would you defend him if he wasn't the ML? if maybe the scholar had been her love interest, and we knew that she'd come to like him with time?
The narrative is that this is a romance drama, so of course she'll fall in love with Jinqi and everything doesn't seem as bad and hopeless to the VIEWER, but for Lan Xiang??

Ep30: I swear this is sooooo cruel. To bring her back into her family home? This poor woman.

omg I said the exact same thing a few days ago, and though people didn't necessarily argued with me, they still agreed more with someone who said that for the relationship to work someone had to cross the boundary and I was just .... ?? what kind of excuse it that?

I really have no words left for ml. Fl was not angry enough

yes, but usually they also marry within their class, so
I mean, I guess he asked them to join in ep29, but I understand that they woulnd't want to drop their newly life to follow and bother their rich in-laws.

ep28: if he's taking almost his whole family to the capital, can't he take her parents, too?

Historically accurate that the wife (and even the husband) is unhappy - yes. That the families (who usually decided a marriage for their own gain without reconsidering their children) are unhappy - probably not so often.

I just can't bring myself to like ML because of this.
Some comments say that ML prepared himself for the consequences, but did he? It felt like he didn't even consider how unhappy this marriage could make her. He disregarded any feelings she has and may had, and put himself above her. He'd also had to know how difficult it would be for her to now be the wife of the household she worked for. How the older generation of his family would potentially never accept her. How she'd be forever looked down upon. How she'll have to fight for her dignity every single day now. How difficult it also would be for her family to view her as equal. How she'd be the talk of every social gathering from now on.
I just pity our FL so much. She's been through so much and she was working so hard to have a free and happy life in the proximity to her parents. Now all of it was taken from her.
I'm eager to see how she'll eventually fall for him, I'm hoping it's good enough, that even I can turn a blind eye (doubt it though), and how she'll convince everyone of her worth. I just hope, that his family starts to accept her before the truth about her background comes out.

First wedding I've see where everyone but one person was unhappy about it

Well yes, of course it was.
This is a romance drama, if it was truly realistic it wouldn't be romantic anymore.

I agree, but I'm hoping that with her marrying into his family as The Wife, the plot is moving back to household politics.

Yeah, it seems fine because we know this is a romance. But he wouldn't know if she would ever come to like him, or if she isn't already in love with the scholar.
The entire theme of this drama so far has been the lack of autonomy of women. And because ML has been very unproblematic so far, even cute in his unrequited love, it is a bit disappointing that he values her independence enough to fall in love, but not enough to ask of her opinion first.
If you think about it, there is no difference between his ex wife and her. Both just forced to marry him, regardless of what they want and feel, and it is just expected of them to be happy with the match, because he's of higher standing.
But since we know she'll fall for him and that he'll likely treat her right, it doesn't feel as threatening as it actually is.
That said, despite my disappointment, I'm very excited to see how this plays out and how FL handles this new situation. I'm also glad the plot is most likely moving back to household politics, because that's been the most interesting part for me. And I wonder what the dynamics between FL and her friends will be, now that they would work for her.

While it depicts real womens' struggle, let's not act like anything so far had been realistic.

Her getting kidnapped twice because of one of his marriage prospects, then the entirety of ep24 is kind of laughable because some questionable choices were made.
I do still like it though, but the first 20 eps felt really thought through and believable, I loved how centred on womens' struggle it was, but ever since she became a commoner the plot changed course a bit.

Oh how nice, she has no say in her marriage – again. Wow.
It's hard to root for ML right now. Just because he likes her, doesn't mean FL likes him – or that I do.
And here I was wondering what accomplishes and titles she'd achieve that would allow her to marry him (out of love). But mind you, baby girl doesn't even suspect that he could potentially like her.

The plot right now is getting a bit ridiculous, isn't it?

not yet but it's on my tbr
I'm currently re-reading The Love Hypothesis bc of the movie on Wednesday

why? do you have a recommendation?

I love this drama but with this now being the second woman to have become a villain under the patriarchal system? This feels a bit like propaganda to not resist the system and do your best to succeed but without really trying to change something haha.
On the other hand, I do like to see nuanced female characters, and I especially like it if they have clear understandable goals and ambitions, even if it might make them the bad guys. I also thought, that Zheng He Hui Zi really did a phenomenal job. She's such a good actress and very versatile. I'd love to see her in more leading roles, though sometimes I think supporting roles are often more interesting to play because their characters can be more diverse.
As much as I love our female lead, for now she's really too perfect. She's smarter, prettier, mild-tempered, and has more virtue than the majority of women – she needs to have at least one flaw.