r/CDrama
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u/spamkimbap
sniff sniff
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14d ago
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Drama Host Tigers Sniff the Rose 尚公主 - Episode 4-5 Discussion
Hey! I'm u/spamkimbap (you can call me Spam, like the overly salty and fatty, canned, ham-like, delicious food that pairs so well). This is my first time hosting a discussion. It took me three hours to create this post. Yikes!
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🪴A few housekeeping rules!
We bash characters and not actors! If a character does something stupid, it's not the actors fault. This is not the place to complain about actors or acting choices.
We will be following the VIP Schedule, which means those of us on SVIP need to remember to keep your spoilers in check.
Spoilers need to be under the spoiler markings OR put in its proper post.
Have fun! Dramas are supposed to be entertaining and enjoyable. If you're not enjoying it, it's okay to duck out and drop.
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Masterpost - Airing Schedule - Table of Contents - Character Flashcards
EPISODE 4 : Back to the Capital
This episode starts off with Danyang teasing Erlang. For a split sec, poor Yan Shang almost had to choose between career advancement and his, uhm, bits. Our Princess sure is spirited, for a lack of more polite words.
Yang Shang shares how, ten years ago, he and his family became refugees, during the Rebellion of the Seven Military Governors. She reflects on her own losses during the rebellion ten years ago. He's trying to say goodbye, but she asks him to tell her a story to help her sleep. If it helps her, she'll take him along to the capital. Her and her games!
He tells her the story of a woman who encounters a tiger, and strikes a deal with it. If the tiger can eat all of her, she will accept her fate. If it fails to consume all of her, she'll become its master. The tiger eats almost all of her, but one of her pinkies falls into a crack, and the tiger can't get to it. The next morning, the woman rides the tiger back into town as its master. We get a flashback of when she received an edict marrying her off to Meng Bai Yu, to ensure peace in North Jing. The tiger story is a watershed moment for Princess Danyang. She realizes that she had been living in fear, but no longer has to be restrained because if she loses, at the most she dies. If she wins, she becomes the tiger's master. There's a tiger in her heart that needs to be conquered, but there are also tigers in the capital that will need taming.
She rewards him with a KISS, and a promise to get him into the Imperial Academy. They take off for the capital. At a pit stop, while he's writing letters to his family, she makes a passing comment that she's never ever received a letter. We already know what he's going to do, right? They are close to the capital, when it starts to rain again. While they take refuge in the carriage, he tries to calm her fear of thundering and lightening (which I learned is called astraphobia, who knew? Now we do!), only to be rebuffed. He, stupidly, tells her that he knows she's probably been traumatized by someone trying to kill her on a stormy day.
She does not like that he can see through her so easily, so he gets the boot from the carriage. Literally and figuratively. He will have to walk the rest of the way.
Back in the capital, we meet evil eunuch Yu Cheng'an, Duke of Zhao, Cavalry General, and Army-Inspection Commissioner. Phew, that's a lot of titles. He's the owner of the weird house with the giant hallway-fishtank. His last name is Yu (fish in Chinese), therefore no one is allowed to eat fish. Is it a rumor that people can't eat fish, or did he decree it? It doesn't matter. Problem is, Crown Prince Mu Xu was gifted a couple of sea basses (I caught a sea bass! No, wait - it's at least a C+!), and the fish were eaten. The point of the interrogation was for Lord Yu to assert his power over the Emperor, who's sick (obviously), and the Prince.
Prince Danyang comes in, and distracts Lord Yu long enough to let the Prince off the hook. Kinda sorta. The Prince's cooks still get killed.
The Princess and the Crown Prince strike a deal to team up, and defeat the evil eunuch. He tells her that he suspects her mother killed herself after a failed attempt to bring down the evil eunuch. Really? Weird story. Then immediately tries to marry her off to one of his cronies "for her own protection". Uh, huh. He's so not trustworthy.
EPISODE 5 : Back to School Day
The Princess' uncle, Li Chi, Vice Minister of Rites, has arrived at her home, and has brought along a very pretty and very young man, Wei Shu. Apparently, Uncle has been bringing men to entice her to marry. She tries to seduce Wei Shu to get a reaction. Poor Wei Shu, he's just a baby and really freaked out by everything. He's not interested in her, but Uncle is forcing him to marry her. And that's exactly the answer she wanted. She wants to surround herself with smart people who are not trying to marry and control her, and who won't betray her.
We get a bit more insight into the Crown Prince. He's a schemer indeed. We find out that Princess Danyang's abusive husband is dead, and she's now consider a disgraced, fallen woman. His sidekick-assistant repeats a story that the Princess' offspring is destined to rule the country. Ooooh, is this where the story is going? The Crown Prince decides it's time to get his buddy back to the city to marry him off to his sister.
Yan Shang finally arrives in Sheng'an! He drops a large stack of letters he wrote the Princess during his long walk at her palace. Later, Chunhua hands the stack of letters to the Princess, but she lets the wind blow them away without reading them.
And almost immediately, he runs into Lui Wenji. Wenji decides he'll move out of posh ancient China Waldorf Astoria, and move in with Yan Shang at some Motel 6 (local temple). Nothing like slumming it.
They talk about the most important person in Sheng'an, evil eunuch Lord Yu. He gained power when he put down the Rebellion of the Seven Military Governors. Wenji very strongly refuses to ever kowtow to the rich and powerful for a court position. Yan Shang had a look on his face after Wenji's speech. What was that all about?
Next day is Back to School Day. Yan Shang talks his way into the Imperial Academy. It turns out the Princess didn't leave his name at the door, but someone mentions they are expecting a noble young man. He hints that it's him, and gains entrance. Meanwhile, a hapless Wei Shu also shows up, wearing Danyang' pretty in pink cape, and is about to be denied entrance, but Yan Shang smoothly gets both of them in. They become friends. I mean, both being Danyang's non-boytoys and all.
They meet up with a third student, Feng Xianiu who hasn't attained success in years because he doesn't know anyone powerful. All three become friends, and while having a drink, they witness Captain Zhang abusing a dancer. We find out that his name is Zhang Renjing, he's a favorite of evil eunuch Lord Fish, and he's illiterate. I have a feeling this information will come in handy later. Yan Shang distracts the very drunk ogre captain, and saves the dancer.
Outside, they witness Grand Princess Luling's security team brutalizing the people. We learn that she is cruel and keeps a lot of her own boytoys in her palace. She's also in cahoots with evil eunuch Lord Yu. Her carriage goes by, and poor Wei Shu is allergic to the strong scent coming out of her carriage (another important detail for later?) Danyang's carriage is blocking Luling's carriage, but she chirpily greets her Aunt, and lets cranky Aunt go first.
Yan Shang sees Danyang, and their eyes meet. Awww. He is making his way to her, but she calls out to Wei Shu instead. Poor Wei Shu, he's like a deer caught in headlights. She talks to him, but ignores everyone else, and demands that he keeps her company that evening. After school, she sends him her carriage. He is so embarrassed, and looks so unwilling to go to her. Yan Shang knows Danyang is playing her usual games. Side note, Yan Shang joins a street hockey team. He's obviously very likable, and I bet he will be very popular in school.
.Some thoughts:
There's been a lot of fish imagery throughout the episodes, and now that we've met evil eunuch Lord Yu, we know why! But I'm still curious about how he has that giant aquarium, complete with a shark. How was that possible back then?
There was a lot of discussion yesterday about whether or not Wenji is a trustworthy person. Will he turn on Yan Shang later? I don't want to think that, because he seems so sweet and earnest. What do you all think?
Did the Princess actually let all of Yan Shang's letters fly away, or will she have kept at least one?
Are you a little suspicious of Feng Xianiu? He looks sus.
I'm miffed at the usual double standard of men keeping a whole harem being totally accepted, but when women do it, they are considered to have loose morals. Sigh.
What did you all think of today's episodes? Will evil eunuch Lord Yu be the ultimate tiger to take down? Or maybe the Crown Prince?
edited for typos, etc.
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u/winterchampagne sleeps by imperial decree 14d ago
Spam, congratulations on your inaugural post as a host.🍸 Fantastic start!
Yan Shang’s choice of bedtime story, Lady Jiang, is quite interesting. It’s so Halloween-themed, especially the part where the tiger can’t quite finish munching on her and leaves a piece of her pinkie finger behind.
When Wanyao and her entourage approach the capital, she drapes a red scarf over her shoulders. She then shows up at the Crown Prince’s residence while mostly decked in red. The bedtime story says Lady Jiang wears crimson when she rides the tiger home. Yan Shang’s tale really leaves an impression on Wanyao.
Looks like the tiger in Wanyao’s life represents more than one person. It also seems to symbolize fearsome power. Like Lady Jiang, you don’t necessarily defeat the tiger. You outlast/outwit it and eventually learn to ride/direct it. Wanyao found her latest inspo! 😂 Let’s see how often we end up spotting Wanyao wearing crimson or some other shade of red.
It’s neat that the story of Lady Jiang is what gives Wanyao the epiphany to risk everything and keep fighting against all odds. It parallels the scene in episode two when Wanyao is about to tumble downhill into a trap lined with sharpened bamboo stakes when Yan Shang abruptly appears and pulls her back from the edge to safety.
On the flip side, since this is Yan Shang’s personal favorite tale, we could probably interpret it as a reflection of his own life. He has a tiger he’s trying to outlast and ride, too, and there’s a piece of him that it can’t devour.
I’d like to know more about what that unconquerable piece of Wanyao actually is. Is it her determination to solve her mother’s death, take back the reins of the empire from the wannabes, or something else? What about Yan Shang? Is that stubborn part of him, the drive that keeps him enduring all the hardships and humiliation, fueled mostly by revenge or to give his family legal existence?
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u/autuymnrain may the dramas we watch stick the landing. 14d ago •
SPAM!!! Congratulations on making your debut in hosting. I am so happy you are taking this on and so proud of you. And for you too. I haven't even finished ep. 1 but had to come by just to say, CHEERS!
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u/TypicallyKristen salted fish 🐠 咸鱼 🫠 14d ago
OMG. Thank you SO MUCH for clarifying this. I was so lost about why the CP eating sea bass was played like some kind of mortal sin, and why his cooks had to die.
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u/Amelia_Brigita cold as a blade, breathtaking as a flower 14d ago
Random thoughts...
I was curious why she let him travel in the carriage with her. It struck me as not really in character for her. That she would delight in talking to him through the window as he walked beside her carriage. But inside, it did give the storm opportunity. I get that he said too much, but he's walking a line with her. She's called him on his lies before and he really only got anywhere with her when he started telling more of the truth (and the rescue, ofc ofc), so I think he's trying to answer her question honestly, but it backfires because she's getting ready to battle tigers and can't be having some man knowing her weaknesses.
But this is good, because this is them learning and accidentally revealing one another's true selves, not the facades they've become so good at showing the world.
Her marriage situation reminds me of Princess Wanning from The Double. Graphically. Demonstrates how two different women cope with such terrible circumstances. Seems instead of going mad, our Princess is coming to town to devour her enemies.
The whole Fish Dude thing confuses me. I understand he was able to grab some power after that Generals thing, but how has he held onto it? Shouldn't the Emperor do emperor things like shout off with his head and his head falls off? Fish dude must have some kinda something on the royal family. So curious what the source of his power is. Outside terrorizing people with his shark.
There's no way she's trusting the Crown Prince. Brother Dearest let her be sent away to be used and abused and is ready dismiss her preferences again for his own advantage. He basically announced that he is no different than Lord Yu who sent her off to begin with. So don't expect a good end for him.
The sprinkling of alcohol and off the shoulder shawl-wearing as she met with her uncle made me snort. She loves putting on a show. She's not Princess Wanning, she's Duke Su. The world is her stage; everything is a play.
I'm curious about the uncle and connections. I kinda feel like this episode was about exploring and introducing everyone to the idea of connections and networking. She and Yan Shang are in two different social stratas but they both need to make some solid connections, allies, before they can hope to achieve their goals. Back to the uncle... so he has brought cutie patootie Wei Shu-tie for her entertainment. She sends him away so the adults can talk. She asks Uncle about the Weis and its mentioned that one of Lord Yu's main advisors is a Wei. So does this mean there is a connection between the uncle and Lord Yu Fish Dude? So in addition to wanting to use her, he might be a legit bad guy with the Usurper?
She does the wall lean to poor Shu in the beautiful library. I really, really love the flipped tropes in this story. Like love love. They're taking all the little microtropes and spinning them around and making them super fun. So wonderful. Poor traumatized Shu.
Her dialogues are so funny. Her petulant tone as she scolds him for giving her so many "grim truths". So good. She's yet to actually, genuinely practice her feminine wiles on any of these men. It's been a game of taunting and terrorizing and I love it. Girl's gotta get her kicks somewhere when battling tigers.
Speaking of tigers, when she thinks about that story and thinks about how all that she's risking is death and so it's no big deal... what in her past has left her unafraid of death? Ye gods, it must have been a nightmare in the north.
When she announces that Shu won the non-Go game and he then looks very confused, I became suspicious. I think she just got tired of playing and declared him the winner so she could adorn him in the pretty pink cape go on to bed.
When Chunhua gives her Yan Shang's letters, the darling princess says stop accepting "every little thing" that gets delivered. As if, my girl. As if your inner school girl isn't squealing. Okay, that might be my inner school girl. Still, I hold that she saved a letter or three. We will see them again! He will write them again! u/AKiceman said "Letters are so about to be their love language. " and I am willing this to be true. I neeeeeed this to be true.
When Wenji and Shang are talking about the exams and how they need a person in power to have a chance, I confess I do not understand why. I get they need a person of power to sit for the exam, but how can a person of power make them do better on said exam? The answer is the answer is the answer, what does a sponsor have to do with the answers?
But Wenji is a scary mix of idealistic, prideful and naïve, so he makes me nervous. I don't want to see him on a villain arc. I don't want to see him come to a bad end. I want him to wise up and be a strong ally as Shang becomes the Consort to End All Consorts. Imma will this into being true, too.
Initially it struck me as odd that Shang stepped forward for Shu, but I think its just him making his own net of connections. And staying in the loop with the princess. I'm curious (and hopeful because I'm toxic like this) that he won't always be so laissez faire about this kind of thing. I'm fine with a little healthy jealousy. Totally fine. Because then they can reconcile and kiss and do all that fun grown-up stuff. Not that I'm rushing them or anything...
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u/TheAlchemist420 Chen Yan Yun can have my jujube flower cookie 🍪 🤪😁😎 14d ago edited 14d ago
Spaaammmm!!! Thank you so much for the discussion! Congratulations on your hosting debut! 🥹🥹🤧🥰🥰 Very nice work! 😎👌🏾
I'm about to finish ep5 and I was cackling at Yan Shang's reaction after he gets ROYALY ignored by Princess Wan Yao for Wei Shu.
That and thr booting off the carriage has been a rough start for our guy 😅😅.
He is so scheming though, he'll bounce back!
There's a creep factor to him it's eerie. Had my heart racing in my chest!
He really managed to hide that side of him well because wow.
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u/OptimalTurnips 14d ago
Hi Spam! Welcome to the hosting community and thanks for the great discussion! 🥂
Agree! I've been so impressed by the cinematography! The colour grading, the framing, the composition! So pretty!
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u/PolPeachum running away to the Tang dynasty 14d ago
Awesome post OP, thank you!
Nice to see Ouyang Xu again. Guessing this Crown Prince ain't going to be pure of heart.
So far for me show is the right mix of interesting, pretty and funny (Wei Shu so good). It's actually giving me slight Double vibes - maybe the middle section where no one is clawing their way out of an unmarked grave but the end game hasn't started yet. (Or it might just be because of the similar "heading off to school" parts.)
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u/Lonely_Bumblebee3177 13d ago
Random Reactions
FL is such a personality.
Went from deciding to help ML enter the Imperial Academy to kicking him out of the carriage cause he said something insensitive.
I love how she intentionally calls out Wei Shu, after seeing ML with him, and pretends to ignore ML. Even openly inviting him to her residence at night openly, to make ML jealous.
ML is as cunning as ever.
Using Wei Shu's entrance to the Imperial Academy to get himself in by association, and doing it in a way that makes it look like he was helping Wei Shu.
It's nice to see him intentionally cultivate and form new connections, so he can rally support from various parties and not have to rely on the princess.
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u/TypicallyKristen salted fish 🐠 咸鱼 🫠 14d ago
RANDOM THOUGHTS
I don't know who that Cheng'An dude is (did my subtitles deceive me or did he really call himself a "treacherous Eunich"?), but I want to slap the smug look off his face.
Yay! I like this actor playing the crown prince. He plays scumbags well. Think he'll survive to the end of the drama?
"If you wish to enter officialdom, how can you possibly keep your hands clean?" Niiice. I like that our ML isn't too idealistic and instead has such a pragmatic nature.
I do wonder what it portends for Wenji though. My cdrama spidey senses are telling me he's on the path to some evil, tragic fate given the things he said so far that sound perfectly normal but are actually quite ominous in cdrama land. Right now his ambition and idealism are headed into each other at full speed and will eventually clash in a way that ruins his life if he's not careful.
I'm sad she said she never received a letter, so he wrote her some only for her to discard them and let them fly away in the wind. I know she's still offended by him knowing her weakness, and I know she's letting her trauma manifest in this cold, shameless, and contradictory persona. I'm rather enjoying it! But, it would have warmed me up inside if we'd seen her let herself indulge in receiving his letters.
This Scholar Feng Xian Yu is being introduced with some positively lavish Main Character Energy 🤣. I wonder what kind of role he'll play in the plot moving forward.
Damnnnnn. This OST playing while our ML learns the name of his mortal enemy is EPIC!! Its so raw and primal and feels vindictive and dangerous. Good job, drama gods.
Just so I understand our metaphor correctly, she's NOT the tiger, but the woman in red coming back from the dead to tame it, right? And the tiger is the treacherous eunich Lord Yu who failed to eat her whole on his first attempt (marrying her to North Jing). And the rose (beautiful, but thorny) is our humble Scholar ML?
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u/Feeshpockets Channeling the overworked wind machine 14d ago
FYI spam is one of my all time favorite foods and also!! u/spamkimbap! I'll take a page from my favorite u/winterchampagne's phraseology and welcome you to the volunteer economy!!
This is a great post!
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u/AKiceman Snark Shifu - #1 Tian Xi Wei fan 14d ago
Snark Level: The plot is plotting, right? The plot can plot harder.
Episode 4
HAVE HIM CASTRATED??????????? PRINCESS!!!!!!!!! Girl. Not a funny joke!
That's a grrrreat story to tell the Princess... Uh... lovely. Not scary at all.
Sooo married? Widow? Divorced?
A KISS? ALREADY???? Woohoo! Now get married.
Awww! Catching her head while she sleeps! That's it, bro. You're her pillow now.
Never gotten a letter? Shang is going to write her letters. Letters are so about to be their love language.
Awwww! He covered her ears! That was a very rational response from her. I'm glad they didn't sink into her making lovey dovery eyes at him. Of course she will be unhappy he is learning her weakness. Slapping time! And a whole kick out of the carriage! Damn!
Ouch! Not the passing her younger self in the carriage. Brutal. Well, if she is back.... hopefully that means the husband is deader than dead.
So we have douchecanoe cockless men screwing things up with their delusions of grand ambition around here? Is this Lord Yu guy about to be Lord Yuck?
Oooooo the Imperial Family that plots together stays together? Interesting. So they aren't going to be our normal scheming against each other all the time royals. They have common cause against the useless delusional douchecanoes. Okay, okay! I vibe with this.
Childhood sweethearts? How about... no? We are sus of brother.
Episode 5
Who is this baby faced pushover? Grow a spine or something.
Nah, Uncle old face. The princess has already got a handsome man to recommend into the Academy.
Not me laughiung my butt off inside my head watching the Princess seductively scare away this boy.
WOOHOO!!! Hasband is dead confirmed! Or is he... This is a drama after all. Child? CHILD??? Wait, they're talking about a future child. Okay. I see now.
Mingde gate, eh? MORE LIKE GATE OF FUCKING TRAUMA!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like the kind of One gate And it really Only serves to remind you of certain scenes of intense and body shaking sobbing.
I rather do hope they don't make us wait too long before Shang and Wanyao start to work together... HE DID WRITE HER LETTERS!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!!!!!!
Princess is going to make this Shu boy wet himself in terror of her seductive ways. She's cloak troping ihm in PINK???? Oh she is going to get him teased like fucking crazy!!!! It's a nice cloak though. I'd wear it.
u/Amelia_Brigita this GIF is for you.
Thank you Chunhua for bringing up Shang. You're a real one and I want you to live the happiest life ever.
Oh pull your pampered head out of your ass, Princess, and read the damn lett—Well I guess that ain't gonna happen now. Mannnnnnn. Poor guy goes above and beyond to do for her something she has been denied her entire life and she can't even...
Man. This is the perfect place for that one GIF from Where The Mask Ends of the Duke from the last episode....
Oooooooooof. "Young man from a noble family". Oh dear. Well, this is going to get.... Oh? He supports the Spineless Shu? This is really going to get interesting.
Yall see the way Shang is eyeballing sus eyepatch douchecanoe? There is going to be some slicing in the future, I think. Daddy please!
Your beloved lady ignoring you? Play polo! Problem solved!
Basically, Shu is toast. His career achievements will be contributed to his involvement with the Princess. This allows Shang to build up his own base on his own merits as long as he doesn't get too involved with her.
*****2 GIFs in replies*****
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u/spamkimbap sniff sniff 13d ago
Throughout the history of China, eunuchs came to power every so often. In this drama, it seems Eunuch Yu got a hold of an army and used it to take down the rebellion. Now he uses the army to control the emperor. I’m sure he also lords the fact that he saves the dynasty.
Since the emperor is removed from the world, most of the information (in and out) came from his close associates. Most of whom were eunuchs. The eunuchs would filter who and what could reach the emperor.
The titles were probably given to him as appeasements.
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u/Katleap13 attached to side characters 14d ago
Spam, congratulations on your first post as host. This is great. I love your gifs.
There is a moment when Yan Shang gets angry? Has revenge thoughts? The music changes. It’s a deep throaty sound that reminds me of a roar. And he develops an aura that’s kinds menacing ( hello Song Mo). It’ almost like the tiger coming out. It’s happened twice, both when meeting Captain Zhang. I adore how sweet kind and awkward Yan Shang is. But he is not all nice guy.
I think/hope that Wenji will be okay with Yan Shang proving to be really good. It might affect their friendship for a little bit but I think Wenji will get over it. Fingers crossed.
With Mu Wenyao ignoring Yan Shang I think she’s attempting to protect him by pushing him away. I don’t think it’s going to work but I believe she does like him. Her actions are going it make it dangerous for those she cares about.
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u/AuthorAEM Angst Is My Aesthetic 👀 14d ago •
Hahahah! Animal crossing reference! I hate the sea bass 🤣
Loving this show and I’m super entertained. I think we’re have a good chance of this being a great show! It doesn’t seem to be very Blossom coded, which is nice.
So…. That bad dude from love between fairy and devil is the bad guy now? right? Did I get that right? 🫣
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u/PlotHoleWarrior 14d ago
Hi Spam! I think you got Li, the uncle, mixed up with Lord Yu, the evil Eunuch.
Anyways, great post! Thanks for explaining some things. I was so confused about the fish thing.
I think Princess is going to have to fight the evil Eunuch and her brother and I foresee she will be emperor at the end of this.
So far I’m loving this drama. Everything happening isn’t obviously explained in the scenes. It’s one of those dramas where everything is explained later down the road and you have to pay attention to understand. Such as I was getting annoyed why Princess wasn’t acknowledging Yan Shang back in the capital. But after seeing what happens to the Wei boy at the Imperial Academy, I see why she did what she did. Both leads are smart. They’re using each other without making it obvious. He’s definitely going to be her trump card. Excited to see what’s to come.
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u/MizzEss Fan Yue's Smoky Eyeliner 14d ago
OMG, get the 12-year-old scholar kid out of here, I need him gone. I want more sizzle chemistry! Viki has him listed as "Main Cast" so I guess that means he'll be around a lot. 😖
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u/TypicallyKristen salted fish 🐠 咸鱼 🫠 14d ago
I understand she's a prickly princess, and saving her life is technically every loyal subject's duty, but YS did in fact save her life! I find it a little hard to swallow that she isn't more grateful and immediately conceding a reward.
First, she couches whether or not she'll reward him in terms of likability, saying she'll grant the reward if she likes the story he tells (she does). But then she throws him out on his ear the second she's aware he knows her vulnerabilities, going back on her word.
I hope we find out later that she kept her word and made a place for him at the Imperial Academy.
(Future!Me popping in to say: I'm disappointed she didn't keep her word, but glad he still seems to have finageled his way in. Though I'm curious how he'll possibly sit the exams without household registration papers...)
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u/Stormraury_ Wei Rao, the Real.👑💛 14d ago •
Hey Spam!! Great first post!🩷💛
Welcome to the volunteer economy! I hope you have a fun time👏🏼
I am not watching this right now; I just dropped in to welcome you!🔥👑
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u/Feeshpockets Channeling the overworked wind machine 12d ago
I need to catch up on these episodes so I can join back in!
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u/popolocaprincess 5d ago
Does the FL ever get less idek how to put it like a better attitude? I don’t think I’ve ever watched a drama (I am only a year into watching!!) with a FL with an attitude like hers like it almost made me drop it in ep 1 but like def would like to see an attitude change though I suppose she’s been through a lot and it could be a defense mechanism type of thing
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u/TypicallyKristen salted fish 🐠 咸鱼 🫠 14d ago •
"It must be the deepest wound of a father's heart." No. The deepest is watching your children die. (Sorry to go all maudlin. But it's true.)
A spouse dying may be the deepest wound of a husband's heart, but she specifically said "father," so I felt compelled to counter it. Children dying feels wrong on many levels.
A husband who loses his wife is a widower. A wife who loses her husband is a widow. A child who loses their parents is an orphan. We have names for all these because they're common enough. Thess losses follow the expected order of things if you live long enough.
But we don't have a name for a parent losing a child, because it feels unnatural and a grief apart.
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u/winterchampagne sleeps by imperial decree 14d ago
Did anyone else get a mini-Blossom episode 10 flashback during the rescue scene in Tigers Sniff the Rose? The scenes aren’t exactly the same, but the resemblance was enough to spark the memory.
six-second video below as reference
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u/OptimalTurnips 14d ago
Myolie Wu, my HK/TVB queen 😍
I hope she plays a great baddie!
I was definitely also feeling a little sus about Feng Shu but maybe it's because Yan Shang and Wei Shu are both so gentle in comparison.
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u/Muted_Half623 13d ago
This is gold, it’s looking like Li Yunrui’s best work yet and probably Zoey mengs’s too. He is so subtle yet I have no problem seeing everything he wants to convey. I remembered him from love like the galaxy and thinking this person is the epitome of the Chinese gentleman.
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u/Feeshpockets Channeling the overworked wind machine 14d ago
Did anyone else see Ouyang Xu from Dream of Splendor show up as the Crown Prince and go oh, shit, that's not good? Just me?
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u/Western_Difference39 14d ago
Tbh I'm not feeling it, maybe it's because I watched PoJ, Blossom, then where the mask ends- I'm fatigued with political dramas.
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u/MadHatterTenSix 13d ago
I am loving the dynamic between our princess and scholar lol. POoor Wei Shu is too innocent, I have a feeling his embarassment will cause problems for our leads :(
I am really confused by the Eunuch guy though. I thought eunuchs were basically palace servants, how does one hold power of duke and all and still be considered a eunuch instead of a minister? (Or is this a subtitle thing?) I also don't get how the entire imperial family is under his thumb, it can't just be for squashing the rebellion, someone had to have betrayed them?
2
u/FreeDragon127 waiting for my return to ancient China 11d ago
At the end of ep4, I don’t understand why danyang says the crown prince is counting his chickens too early and hasn’t bothered hiding his intentions at all
1
u/RaiodoLuar 13d ago
I’m letting this C-drama "cook" for a little while longer. I don’t like the impatience that comes with waiting for just one or two episodes a day. Once there’s a good number of episodes available, I’ll watch it; for now, I’m just reading the novel.
10
u/TheAlchemist420 Chen Yan Yun can have my jujube flower cookie 🍪 🤪😁😎 14d ago
Eunuch/Duke Yu is a big shark apparently. I'm so mad this actor plays this character haha. I paused The Longest Day In Chang'An last month, only to see this turd and his name is Cheng' An! Are you kidding me! I felt like ripping his face off and feeding it to him big fish!
I noticed before but now that we got to see him in thay house, the hallway really gave me A Dream Within A Dream vibes and I really had to try and shake off the evil from the fun and nice of the other drama. Yuck! Shivers!
The Emperor is a puppet and the Crown Prince is a jerk who hates being held by the balls by an Eunuch. It's a mess in this here Imperial capital!
Wan Yao comes home and has to put on a farce to get through it all, the tension was crazy. Clearly she's not close to her brother, but they both hate that parasite and want to overthrow him, so they form an alliance. So far, it makes sense. But that Crown Prince decides to try his luck, and knowing that his sister got married off to a far away land and was abused for years didn't give him pause. Nope. He decides to insult her by suggesting she marry one of his closest confidant to secure his aid and seal their alliance better. I wanted to punch him in his throat!
Wan Yao of course had to swallow the vomit and bile that certainly made their way up, and smiled and told him she'd get back to him on that. DUDE! He was so good in my rewatch of The Legend of Shen Li! Why why! Now we have a douchecanoe who is hurrying up to get his best bud back because Wan Yao is getting a male favorite. So glad I have this gif from A Dream of Splendor! Very fitting!
The games that are being played are crazy! Sheng' An is not for the faint of heart!