swish vanilla

As someone who liked the montages of this drama prior, they weren't the best way for the ending. Montages are best in doses, not as 75% of the episode.

Wassup flower fam! We made it to this day~

Just doing a mental health check for everyone because all things considered, this drama has been pretty good 🤣 Hope y'all slept well and will sleep well once your day ends!

Those not on #TeamExpress will pretty much appreciate not being spoiled so for those who are #TeamExpress, please do specify what episode you're spoiling in the comments??? If it's not too much to ask.

Bai Shu absolutely killing it as emperor though. I thought I'd typecast him forever as a funny guy (thanks to Love & Redemption and Youthful Glory) as I was not a fan of his portrayal in The Blood of Youth, but in this one I can definitely see the vision for his casting here!!!

Yes, I see where you’re coming from, but as for me, I just want Zhao Ling to sock Minister Yu in the face 👊　Everytime the camera pans to his clenched fist I know mans ready to do it 🤣😅

Ep 31 absolutely heartbreaking. I can find myself rewatching scenes from all episodes of this show except this one 🤣🤣🤣

On to the next episodes tomorrow! 🏳️🏳️🏳️

now this is the proper disclaimer 🤣 all good bro, happy watching!

they were very much a real thing. here's a writeup of them: https://dangermousie.tumblr.com/post/825612894949523456 (ctto)

if you guys don't want major spoilers DO NOT OPEN THIS DUDE'S COMMENT ffs i can't believe i have to put disclaimers on spoilers now

If I were the scriptwriter, I'd concede with your points 1&2. The saving grace of the Madame Wu issue is that at least it was foreshadowed when Madame Wu handed over the documents to Concubine Wu.

Point 3 is debatable. The modern rules of trial and evidence (whatever they are in China; I can only speak for my jurisdiction) do not immediately apply in whatever historical setting this drama was set in. I've seen plenty of cdramas where they present evidence in court, the emperor glances at said evidence for a few seconds, then makes his decision, and apparently that's enough (lol). It was also very easy for a few ministers to muddy the issue, which is exactly what was happening in this episode. So taking that standard into account, the emperor dismissing court is not tantamount to him not looking at the evidence at all - it's just that the court has gotten so out of order that there should be an adjournment.

Point 4 is debatable. Zhao Ling never pressed countercharges against his father-in-law. As mentioned, the Li servant was the one who filed the case against ZL and FTY, and she rightfully died for her false charges. The judge can determine the nature of the case and he half correctly ruled that it was a family case (because he wouldn't have known that it was political in nature as well, spurned on by the Yus, there wasn't enough evidence for him to rule that way).

That was cracking me up, too. Slapstick in doses never fails 😂

And nicely worded assessment on the Yus! Not complex but capable.

"and your solution was to make her lose her father too?" 💯💯　zhao ling has a messianic complex which i like that the story is addressing

guy's really touched in the head 🤣

Unpopular opinion but the only villain I've enjoyed watching is Fu Tingyun's dad,
like I don't find myself wanting to count the seconds of his scenes compared to the other villains. He's just so comically inept. The humour just adds a little fun.

Yu Jingxiu has been reduced to a blubbering mess and I don't really find Minister and Madame Yu as complex as they're claimed to be. Not that their performance is lacking, of course.

The only thing about the comments section (whether bullet comments or random responses) that does not pass the vibe check is the tendency of some viewers to make it a competition between Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun as to who is right, who sacrifices more blablabla. Like chill people! They're husband and wife, they're on the same team. We as viewers get to see both sides and yet our natural biases show up in order to defend a character lol

She mentions in ep 27 5:45 “back then, I urged you to accept 16th master’s letter of introduction, believing it was a rare opportunity…”

And proceeds to help him the rest of the episode. If that ain’t enough for you to not blame her for how she’s reacting to him I ain’t arguing further.

I liked it, too. Finally she realises that Tingyun’s words to her will come true, unless she decides that the Yu family ain’t worth it and she gotta jump ship. I know how she ends up in the novel but I am interested to find out if the drama will do something different.

She acknowledged that though?

Fu Tingyun tells her her marriage is loveless and she responds by scheming to have Mama Fu murdered, goodness gracious 😅

If you look up the definition of DOUBLING DOWN in the dictionary, you will see Madame Yu’s portrait right up there 🤣

As someone who did not watch Pursuit of Jade I had to google “sexy uncle pursuit of jade” 🤣🤣🤣

Not a bad comparison!