Erqing was never ever a good wife because the very day of her wedding, after telling Fuheng she understands his feelings towards Yinglou she literally stopped him from helping her in the snow storm, she’s evil and i have no sympathy for her ever. I also really hate the way she’s walking now😂
Knowing what you know now about Erqing's personality, it changes all of her earlier scenes where she was still a maid and trying to "calm" Mingyu. Erqing's every comment to Mingyu was about how Yingluo is better and more beloved and how Mingyu could never compare, which only made Mingyu even angrier at Yingluo and be that much more of a brat. Erqing did that on purpose, playing the the kind and complimenting maid while smiling as she wound up Mingyu and set her off to attack and belittle Yingluo.
YES! I wasn't sure when I should bring that up because I don't remember when Mingyu says that. But she admits later on her initial anger at YL was egged on by Erqing. Which also helps explain why she was so quick to forgive YL once she realized how cool she was. She was just like 14 and struggling with alot of emotions
I feel like after the EQ reveal, everything she did before is now supposed to be painted in a different light. I do get that, but honestly I just don't see it when I watch the scenes. EQ really truly seemed genuine to me. The things she was saying to MY were never pushing MY to take YL down, but rather pushing MY to better herself. And she never seemed happy seeing MY attack YL, she rather seemed disappointed in how low MY was sinking. But I suppose that's just different people reading characters differently 🤷
Can I just say how much I love Li Yu and the faces he makes when he catches the Emperor being conflicted towards Yinglou. He has the best expressions in the whole series 😅
Yinglou saying she was willing to be the empress cane forever 🥹😢 I cry every time.. yea I wasnt loving ErQing monologue about suddenly having all this love for the snow when she just saw Yinglou kneeling in the snow and Yinglou has to cause she’s still a servant and ErQing isn’t.. that slap was so deserved ErQing forgot who she was talking to and who she was dealing with. Yinglou’s inner monologue while kneeling always breaks my heart because she truly loved Fuheng 😢
For me the scene with the emperor forcing himself onto Yinglou is him trying to prove himself right about her, the moment she acts interested he was so put off, I think at this point he still doesn’t want to admit to himself that he likes her because he’s programmed his mind that she’s scheming and he’s dead set on trying to prove himself right to Empress and Fuheng, also Li Yu probably thought the maid inside the side room was Yinglou and didn’t want to eavesdrop, i don’t think for a moment the emperor was sleeping with maids on a regular in secret when he can simply make any of them a concubine if he wants, the empress would never try to stop that and if he really wanted he could ask the empress for Yinglou and it would’ve been a done deal from the get go.
3:32 seeing some of the (very split!) comments from yesterday, I all the more feel like this is true. Some people seem to feel very strongly that the emperor is 100% incapable of hurting YL (i.e. his threat of killing her was completely unserious) while some feel just as strongly that he meant what he said and is more than capable of killing to appease his ego and soothe his jealousy.
I could not love someone who was capable of killing me with impunity if I displeased him. You can do everything correctly and still get a slap, a demotion, a multi-generational annihilation because the emperor had a bad day. I'd stay far away from the court.
yeah the flip flopping when it comes to the emperor gives me so much whiplash... at first i wondered if it was like commentary about how they all have to be at least a little delusional to stay sane, but now i think its just inconsistent tone in the writing
but canon wise i 100 percent think hes shown us that hes capable of doing evil on a whim, and yingluo is no exception. sure, he has funny and even kind moments, but everything in the emperors world depends on what the emperor thinks, and he can change his mind whenever he wants. just like in every other harem drama, the women who fall for his good moments are kidding themselves if they think he loves them unconditionally
But see like, Fuheng is of a high standing, he absolutely could have had a few concubines, and he knows the ladies want him. So once he realized Erqing was legitimately off her rocker and he's not going to marry Yingluo later down the line, he should have said to Erqing "You wanna be my main wife? Now you get the full experience." He should have found himself a lady from a high standing family (a family who would be okay with their daughter being a secondary wife if it meant being in-laws with the literal Empress' favorite sibling) who could give Erqing a run for her money. I get he didn't want to make the maid a concubine and expose her to even more of Erqing's fury, but you're telling me Yingluo's the only woman in the whole country with the gall to slap Erqing? You can't find anyone else who can look Erqing in the eye and say "I bet I can be a better Madam Fuca than you can"? Somebody else write this fanfic, I wanna read it not write it.
YES!!! Exactly this! I'm not for ye old 三妻六妾 practice of multiple wives and concubines but it was a legit practice. Fuheng's family Fuca was powerful. And certainly, he wouldn't have been expected to have only one wife. I was like golly, when is he going to have another wife who is also very likely from an influential family too. This part was so unrealistic and another thing about this series that annoys me, though not as much as Chun's story and something else i can't say as it would be a spoiler
I guess the problem is that Chinese men could only have one wife , so all concubines were considered inferior to the wife, as they didn't go through a full wedding ceremony. Of course ,in reality the power balance would be dictated by number of children and the man's preference, but what noble family would stand their daughter being technically lower to a former servant?
@@Vajrasattvam True, but that's also what's annoying about Erqing--how on earth did she get to be the main wife of the Empress' brother, the main wife of the Emperor's brother-in-law? If her family is that influential then why was she just a maid to the Empress? I don't know much about political standing, and sure maids could become the Emperor's concubines and rise in station, but Erqing's leap seems a little too high, too fast.
@@AmandaLeigh1004 It's actually that originally noble Hitara clan fell to the Baoyi ("bondservant") status because of Erqing's father's incompetence (this was discussed earlier with Mingyu in the servants' quarters) and Cinderella-Erqing had to go to be a palace maid like all Baoyi clan girls of certain age. Yingluo wasn't originally in the palace because her big sister took the role, she volunteered after her sister's death for her revenge, and it was believable because it is also a good "career" for girls who don't immediately have a fiance to marry. Even if they are old-maid-range (25) when they normally get out they get such good wages in the palace and a generous last pay that they usually find a husband.
@@AmandaLeigh1004 Erqing's grandfather is an extremely powerful figure who is in charge of the construction and home affairs of the whole country (basically the Home Secretary). However, the Qing dynasty had a social division called the Eight Banners, which put people of different clans in various places of the hierarchy. The upper 3 banners are more respected than the lower 5 banners. Within the same banner, people are again categorised into "masters" and "servants". Erqing's family is from the upper banner but belongs to the servant category. This automatically makes her a servant to respected families, although her family is politically influential. When Erqing entered the palace, she could only be selected as a servant, while girls of the "masters" category could be selected as partners to emperors or princes. Nevertheless, her family still has as much political power as the Fuca clan, if not more. Being in a high-standing clan does not equal being influential. If you have watched the Legend of Zhenhuan and Ruyi, you might recall that there are several empresses who belong to the Nara clan. Nara clan is masters of upper banners. However, they don't have actual political power and rely heavily on women in their clan to marry royals so they can keep their prestige.
it makes me cry every time I see it 😭 the way the trio are hugging and crying at the end of it...the real love story in this show was between Yingluo, Mingyu, and the Empress
Notes: -Chun mentions that the embroidery on her fan is of the Western Lake in Hangzhou (her hometown), which is the same place I talked about with the four seasons painting the Empress gifted to the Emperor awhile back. She also quotes the Tang poet Bai Juyi's 'Remembering Jiangnan' (the province where Hangzhou is located): "looking for osmanthus in the moonlight in the mountain temple/watching the tides from the pillow in the country pavilion". Later, the Emperor gifts her the 平復帖/Pingfu Tie, 'consoling letter', a piece of calligraphy written by the famous author and poet Lu Ji, and the oldest extant work of Chinese calligraphy. -Erqing's wedding outfit is very interesting, particularly the headpiece. It's a 钿子/dianzi, a type of hairpiece made from wires or wood, which was covered with cloth and jewels and usually worn during important occasions. A common one worn by women in harem dramas is the 凤钿/feng dian, 'phoenix hairpiece', which has phoenix ornaments and dangling strings of pearls (the Empress wears one alllll the way back in Ep. 1). Erqing's headdress here is a 挑杆钿/tiaogan dian, 'pole dian', which refers to the two tassels on either side. It's a bit of an anachronism, because the tiaogan didn't appear until the Guangxu era, in the 1800s, while this is 1746. It became popular during the mid-late Qing dynasty, to the point where it replaced the traditional Han wedding ornament of the 凤冠/fengguan, 'phoenix crown', which you see in a lot of Ming-era dramas. -Fuheng and Erqing each take a bite out of a dumpling during the wedding. Erqing says it's raw, to which the maids react with excitement. I think I covered this during my RRLitP recaps, but in case you missed it: this is an old wedding custom, and saying it's raw is a good thing because the character for raw (生/sheng) also means 'to give birth', so the bride will hopefully have many children. IRL, Fuheng didn't marry anyone from the Hitara clan (Erqing's family), but had a main wife from the Yehe-Nara and two concubines from the Sugiya and Li clans. -Someone pointed this out in the comments on one of the English subs of ep 36, but the snow sequence actually features the three main men in Yingluo's life, in chronological order: first Fuheng, who means well but has to abandon her due to outside circumstances, then Chunwang, who stubbornly stays the course but is jealous and clingy, and finally the Emperor, who comes through in the end despite his (extremely) tsundere tendencies. -.....and then ruins my goodwill by being handsy. Hongli you absolute idiot. She's already killed a taifei, gotten several maids and eunuchs banished/killed, humiliated your younger brother, had Prince YI dragged off to court, swatted away countless palace schemes, and you think forcing yourself on her is in the same *universe* as a good idea?! (Also Dad blaming Yingluo for....being born I guess and just yeeting her into a river is another level of trashy.) -Erqing is a full nightmare. Like someone else said, she walks different now. Sis you literally just got married and all of a sudden everyone's beneath you. All those years of being a cool big sister to the other maids? Gone. Barely even know them. Old Erqing's dead she's 'Madam Fuca' now. She also has this monologue about liking the snow so much now that she no longer has to sweep it off the front steps....knowing full well poor Yingluo is out there freezing, and then she won't even let Fuheng help her. You're so grateful to no longer be a servant but now you turn around and start treating them like crap, smh. Grow a class consciousness. (Also she's now wearing predominantly green, the color of jealousy HMMMMMMM) -People haaaaaaated Erqing when these two episodes dropped. Two fan nicknames for her were riffs on her name, 喜塔腊·尔晴/Hitara Erqing. One was 稀巴烂尔晴/Xibalan Erqing'; the phrase '稀巴烂' means 'smashed into a pulp'--so 'smashed Erqing'. Another was just '杀千刀的/sha qian dao de', 'death by a thousand cuts'. Brutal. Even Mingyu was never this hated. The slappening also (of course) became a meme. -Erqing runs into Fuheng's brother Fuqian and reads the poem he has written out; it's the Song poet Wang Pang's 'Bewitching Eyes, the Wind Gently Fiddles with the Fine Willow Branches'. It's about the impermanence of life; Wang was very sickly and died in his 20s, so it makes sense. "The wind gently ruffles the fine willow branches/Smoke wisps weave into sorrow/It hasn't rained on the begonia/but the pear flowers have blossomed like snow/Too bad half of spring has already passed." -Yingluo might actually rival Rongpei in the slapping department. That 'thwack' and Erqing's incredulous expression gives me life. You have no power here anymore! Annnnnd then she goes and guilts the Empress about how 'the Empress Dowager and Emperor and Fuca Clan and everyone is so disappointed in you for not having kids so take this totally-not-sketchy-pill :)'. The one maid still on Erqing's side is Hupo.....keep an eye on that one. (Apparently Erqing's actress, who was quite the trooper, did actually get slapped for that scene, hard enough that one of her earrings fell off and she fell over! If you look closely, you can see one of the earrings missing.) -Chun (IRL) had a kid before this---the 3rd prince, Yongzhang, born in 1735. He's AWOL in this drama. Also, the sixth prince Yongrong was born in 1744, while in the drama it's 1746. However, the Empress' kid was born on the right day. (You aren't crazy, Yongrong should be two). -Deleted scene time! Erqing and the Emperor never actually did the deed! She was shown watching him the next morning, then hurriedly messing up her hair and clothes after he began to wake up, fake cries and tries to commit. How does it feel to almost be taken advantage of in a vulerable state, Emps? Pretty bad right?! (I'm sorry but I have little pity for any of these men rn) -This drama (and every harem drama) genuinely makes me question whether or not I'm ace. Like none of this seems worth it, at all. I'd rather take up painting or calligraphy or sewing or playing an instrument or something that isn't petty infighting. Seriously people like Erqing actually have it pretty good, all things considered. Just drink tea and watch operas or something. Jeez.
Yingluo’s slap sequence was hands down the most satisfying slap of the ENTIRE drama! The fact that she just took hers like a champ and then doubled it and gave it back was soooo *chef’s kiss*
More context on the Erqing & Fuheng drama on this episode: his sister just talked to him about basically moving on and being a good husband, looks like he had made his resolve... then finds her being a jealous, cruel monster that's also a meddling wife that's more interested in being a high society woman, irony that the emperor married him to a woman who is exacly the type he "said" he wanted to save him from *cough* Yingluo *Cough*
Idk what makes me tear up me more 🥹the emperor confessing to the empress that Yonglian was his favorite and he misses him too and asking her to ask their unborn baby to give him another chance or the empress’s happy tears afterward remembering his words it’s such a bonding moment between the two of them and I never tire of it
*Warning... This comment ha spoilers. Do not read if you don't want spoilers. Ok... the scene with Yingluo cofessing to the Empress and offering to be her crutch... I cried. I cried so hard. Yingluo really does care about her. And it's obvious how much the empress loves Yingluo. I literally RESUSE to rewatch when she passes. REEEE-FUUUUSE! Er Qing... Again... F*ck you. You got to marry him! This is what you wanted! You knew he didn't love you! What did you expect? A total and complete change? And did you not forget that YOU were in that position before your marriage? Hypocrisy at it's finest. And that was cruel and unessicary torture! No wonder he hates you! What did you think would happen?! And that B*tch slap. OMG. Yingluo has such a hand it knocked her down. And sleeping with the emperor... God that was a horrible but briliant move.
This reminds me something that Yinglou said earlier in the series about being willing to suffer only to get back to reach her goals. She has clearly shown she would do just that to be with the empress. I also love that she does not forgive nor forget. Any other drama, the FL losing her man to another woman would be a depressed mess. Yinglou?? Furious, and she washes her hands of him. For the rest of the episodes, any time there could be a chance for a romantic interlude, Yinglou firmly rejects him and I love that.
For me Erquing fits the next trope we can see in a lot of Chinese dramas : a woman married to a man who does not love her and clearly loves someone else and because of that neglects his wife , all of that , make her crazy and do evil things to make sure that we as an audience we do not have sympathy for her . Moreover the weird thing in all of this mess is that , these women can somewhat force a man to marry her , in a period of time, they did not have a say in that matter , but cannot force them to consummate that same marriage . The palace guard of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace who is in love with Ruyi is forced to get married to someone he does not know and is clearly unhappy about that and clearly he won't make an effort , we are supposed to have pity for this wife who despite being forced to get marry will do her part BUT NO let show that she is mean and bad since the beginning . .
Erqing actually had a change to be in Fuheng good side if she's just be patient and keep being nice to his family. Fuheng is not that heartless to abandon his wife even though he didn't want it in the first place, he's a man with word :" but she decided to gone full evil :"))
Erqing abusing that random maid is the hardest part for me to watch. I didn't mind watching YL get abused because she's a strong main character, and I understand from the vibe of the story that she has plot armor. But that maid was just a random maid, whose torture is not only unjustified, but also not protected from plot armor. (Jixiang was off-screened, while we have to watch every second of this maid's abuse becoming worse and worse) I still rewatch this drama a lot, but I always skip through the parts with Erqing as Fuca Furen. Every second is unbearable. I know YL has faced lots of jealous, petty villains so far, but Erqing is just on another level of yuck🤢🤮 I think it's because we've all watched her be the more mature, calm, rational and humble maid that we feel betrayed when she turned out like this.
That whole "you get to be a consort!" moment was so super creepy and gross. He had a lot of work to do to redeem himself. Chun definitely does NOT care about the Empress. Erqing was hiding that evil the whole time, IMO, this wasn't much of a surprise for me. And he's got a bit of a point, she shouldn't have gone bonkers on the maid, it's totally normal for him to have concubines and if he wants the maid, that's fine. And, yeah, she may be sad, and she may feel neglected, but there's a lot more she could do. She admits she's been trying to scheme, which she knows he hates. Why not engage in activities he likes, I'd be he'd be head over heels if she'd gone and started doing charity work, helping the poor, etc. Instead she's hosting parties trying to form alliances. Yeah, that's a toddler, babies at 6 months are, maybe, crawling. My son didn't crawl much, he more swam on the floor until he stood up and started walking at like 9 months. Then he went back and figured out crawling!
I cannot express just how much I love her drama recap! Mandarin isn’t my first language so there so much things goes untranslated and I get so confused at times but these drama recaps help me to understand Chinese history and culture. Thank you so much for your recap!✨🤍
Tbh, even though he has the reason, emperor's choice to Yingluo to kneel every 3 steps and do it for 12 hours is just a big no. And said to distance herself from Fuheng because she's greedy is just.. ugh, no redemption arc for him
You just know that in modern day Erqing would be a Karen. Always causing problems and making herself the victim. She was told many times by Fuheng that he could never love her but instead she decided to force his hand and wonder why he refuses to give you the time of day.
That's the worst part! Fuheng truly intended to try and move on with Erqing if she would just give him time! And we see he was buying gifts for her and the like before she went insane. So she literally made her own bed.
@@imogencrusader6306 ikr when she went crazy it was just a year into her material if she gave it time she would have actually had a fulfilling or at least decent marriage and spoiler warning wouldn’t have cheated with her BIL to have her son causing Fuheng to once again write her off. Like the due when to war because it would be better than being at home with her.
Tbf, yeah, everyone is supposed to smile and be happy when the emperor does something for them. We see this in every harem drama xD Also, to defend the Emperor, it is so clear that he's horrified she actually went through with the dramatic choice. The entire idea behind it was to make her break Fuhengs heart, and it forces him to accept her devotion must be genuine, leading to the change of heart we see. And yeah, it cracks me up, Erqing couldn't even keep that promise for a year of marriage. Like dang xD Also, idk why they chose the comedy music for when Yingluo wakes up either, I *guess* because it aways plays when Yingluo pranks the emperor? But yeah, no, even as someone who genuinely enjoys them as a romantic pairing this scene was terrifying. I also don't know if the Emperor *actually* saw through this act or genuinely just snapped back to YL being a gold digger. It's never elaborated on xD Also, I assume YL's father was always cold to her even after her sister brought her back, and so she probably told YL so she didn't keep getting her heart broken 🥲 Also, while it's not clear in the series at the time, I can say with 100% certainty that YL stopped hoping for Fuheng the day he agreed to marry Erqing. It's cold as ice, as I would expect from YL, but she also never does stop loving him. She just won't even entertain the idea of being his concubine and so it's over for them. Also that reveal that Fuheng clearly intended to try and be good to his wife before she went insane ;-; I love him so much. Still can't believe Erqing tried to come back and boss Yinluo of all people around. Like, I know she resents Yingluo, but she has also seen her in action *several* times. She really has gone braindead from jealousy. Also you left out the emperor drunkenly playing with Yingluo, and I understand why, but I loved that scene. He's a drunken mess xD
"Thank you for your grace, your majesty" >:( Honestly? I don't think anything is clear with the emperor, everyone seems to be reading him completely differently! Not saying you're wrong, I just mean some people believe it's just as clear that he doesn't feel any regret for what he did. Personally, I think his thoughts in that moment (after she made her choice and she did all that walking in the snow) were not "I'm horrified she did this so I will make her a concubine as an apology" but " I love that she did this, she's so dedicated and strong I must have her as my concubine". But who knows, like I said this drama has people all over the board when it comes to character motivations! *Sigh* ErQing.... There's another example of what I was saying earlier! I thought it was obvious that he saw through her act so he let up, but you're actually with the majority in thinking that he only stopped because he thought she was being sincere and got turned off. But that's CRAZY to me though 🧐 it makes him even worse than I thought because it means he stopped because he lost his boner and not because he realized she would never come around... Gross :( That could be the case 100% agree He did say he would "slowly" forget YL, it's just they have different definitions of slow 😂 Maybe a concussion will help remind her for next time That scene was very cute :)
@@dramarecaps4217 No definitely not the way you’re seeing it with the Emperors initial intention. Firstly if the emperor truly wanted Yinglou he would’ve asked the empress for her as he’s actually allowed to do so and that is why Erqing even mentioned it saying it’s a great privilege. He also never made anymore inappropriate moves on her after the snow situation. He truly believed that she was trying to scheme her way to the top and when she pretended to like him he actually thought he was right about her all along and that’s why he was so turned off by her as he thought he was right about her being like the rest otherwise he would’ve easily went for giving her a low rank title after getting what you think he wanted. The emperor doesn’t like to be wrong and he really thought he was right but like I’ve said he honestly didn’t even consciously know that he likes her and the same exact thing is happening to Yinglou right now , because she’s scheming him she doesn’t even realise that she’s falling for him, it’s Al subconsciously happening to her as it happened to him earlier, he now is in acceptance that he likes her but he’s still trying to be careful and that’s why he’s quick to believe hearsay about her.
Yes finally it's here ...I literally used to check almost everyday since September for your recap ...Because I had seen Ruyi first , I could never bring myself to watch yanxi ...but I love to kitten to you
Wow Erqing is just cruel. That poor maid is traumatized for life over what... a man? And yeah, if I were in her shoes, I'd just have fun and do my own thing. Maybe Fuheng would come around and see my good qualities if I just be a good wife and mind my business. She's not very smart, though she is a jealous viper
She not smart at all...all that money his family gets not only from him being an imperial solder, but also being the brother of the empress...if I was her, I'd be like..I'm fine, he ain't gotta love me!
AAAAAAND…ErQing…. NOPE! She didn’t just do this for her infatuation with FuHeng, she did it to elevate her position in life and improve her clan’s connections. She got all that, but him not fawning over her is not an equal reaction to the things she’s doing. Guys, she gets worse. Just keep watching!
I have to admit I honestly took the assault plot as the emperor actually being convinced by Yin Luo’s acting and is now turned off by how scheming she is.
You might be right, it's definitely up for interpretation. In my opinion, that would make the upbeat music even worse though as it means the only thing that saved her from being assaulted was the emperor losing interest, not (as I thought) the emperor accepting that she would never come around
Yup, this scene...I wasn't on board before but after his attempt at bedding her, I just could never approve of YL/Emperor. At least the other emperors always had 1 scene with "I Don't Force Women" blah blah blah, but apparently this show did not have enough SA and non-consensual relations...
This scene was one of those that told me he was social-emotionally stunted. Must be from growing up surrounded by synchophants who conducted even the smallest daily routine for him and giving him what he wants, so that he could concentrate on his studies and archery and horse riding and martial skills.
At the beginning of this show, I thought the Emperor was finally a good man. He’s like Qianlong doing crazy thing to force a woman to love him. He’s just as bad as the rest. And regarding ErQing sleeping with the Emperor, maybe she wants to get pregnant and make her husband love her? Although if they never sleep together, that plan won’t work 😅
The Emperor is the top dog on the food chain….you cannot be emperor if you’re nice in your heart :))) real life Qianlong was a 100% certified narcissist with a love for beautiful objects more than his actual wives
See, Erqing faked sleeping with the Emperor (cut scenes show they never did the deed, he was drunk enough to not remember and she made him believe it happened) BECAUSE Fuheng never slept with her. She knew she needed a child to stabilize her position in the family, because childless wives and concubines could be thrown out as 'defective' in those days, and un-consumated marriages could be annulled. Plus, we all know mother-in-laws always crave baaaaabies and breathe down their son's wives' necks to pressure them into getting pregnant asap, and a son would raise her rank within the family and make her in-laws object to any potential mistreatment from Fuheng. And that includes Fuheng simply ignoring her (which we will later see her cry to her mother-in-law about, and the MIL then chastising Fuheng to stop ignoring his wife). Erqing had manipulated Fuheng's younger brother into sleeping with her in order to get pregnant, and knew that once she announced her pregnancy Fuheng would--naturally--have her and the child killed and/or thrown out as cheating was against the law (for women). Except... if he believed the child was actually the Emperor's, he could not do that. You cannot harm an imperial heir, under any circumstances, and we know how rule-bound Fuheng is. Erqing USED the Emperor as protection, ensuring that her child would be born safely and also that the Emperor (or rather the Emperor's guillty conscience) would never allow for her to be killed or thrown out. He is her get-out-of-jail-free card while she continues to get her physical intimacy needs taken care of by Fuheng's brother, and forces Fuheng himself to acknowledge & raise a child he knows is not his. Truly evil. Absolutely despicable. Worst of the worst.
You got the "earring slapped off" shot!!!! Now, I don't know if they actually removed this one for the slap, but I do love a flying earring. In the other one I saw (different series), you could actually see the earring flying off the screen.
i think the scene between yingluo and the emperor is played off as silly not because he is uwu harmless and has a crush on her and would never hurt her, but because this is the first big scale showcase of the way YL is able to read him like an open book and then play him like a fiddle. she knows he is attracted to her, and knows exactly why, and then instead of weaponising it the way every single woman in his life would she leans into the polar opposite to drive him away. by that time he is still sticking to his initial idea of proving (lmao) to the empress that she is too generous with yingluo and that yingluo is using her to gain power through some elaborate scheme he vows to uncover and expose, and he is barely able to admit even to himself that he indeed finds her attractive. once she pretends to be indeed interested in both him and the power he can give her, he is not only immediately turned off (because her disinterest is exactly what intrigues him), he also decides that he has his proof now and he has won the whole argument, and sends yingluo away to be a servant again feeling like a winner who has put this plotting little brat in her place, only to realise five minutes later that he gave her exactly what she wanted. that's their whole dynamic for the rest of the show, he is constantly shown to be a very smart and somewhat (a lot more than average, not so much for a whole emperor) cynical man who always knows exactly what people want from him, but yingluo is always one step ahead of him, and when he realises she played him it's too late to backtrack if he wants to save face.
I see your point, it's less about who he is as a person and more about showing their dynamic. And while I do agree with your points about how easily YL is able to trick the emperor, I just can't help but feel it's all a facade. At the end of the day, she has zero power in this relationship. And I mean literally zero. When they present scenes of her being able to fenagle her way around his punishments or trick him into doing what she wants, at the end of the day it still relies on him finding that cute and 'going along with it' in a sense. Today he might find her shenanigans cute and fall for her tricks, but what about the next time? Her safety is reliant on being able to outhink him every step of the way, which she does manage to do, but is that constant stress really conducive to a relationship? Can you really foster love when you're looking over your shoulder every moment waiting for the next 'attack'? I don't know, I have a hard time getting by the way they've painted this relationship as if they're "equals" because YL is so smart and is able to read him so well. I have a hard time laughing along because I guess I'm just not as confident as YL is that she has him in the palm of her hand.
I actually agree with you on the inconsistent writing with the Emperor, especially when it comes to the whole scene with him almost attacking Yingluo. Him being immature and wanting Yingluo but also being conflicted because she’s not like any other woman he’s been in contact with, plus the fact she is more than willing to challenge him, is one thing. Tormenting her like this and also trying to force her to be a concubine is a level that I was really surprised by. I think it must have been the writers trying something because otherwise it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. And I think the same can be said for Erqing. She was so sweet and kind and gentle to begin with, and now she’s just a monster. I really don’t like the “She must have always been like this,” route because I feel like we would have had hints before. Sure, being unhappily married would change a person to some extent, but this is the girl who wiped tears of frustration off Mingyu’s face and wept with the Empress when she realized her son had been named Crown Prince as an infant. She was so empathetic and steadfast and loyal, and they made her into a psycho. I can only pin it to lazy or rushed writing because otherwise it just doesn’t make any sense to me.
You're definitely in the minority when it comes to ErQing's earlier story but I'm right there with you! That's why I was so surprised when YL was so immediately aggressive after she started to turn bad- it was one mistake and she genuinely did not seem like a bad person before this. It would be incredibly difficult to fake that level of compassion day after day, year after year, with not a single slip-up but I guess that's what they're going for
@@dramarecaps4217That’s what I think- the mask would have had to slip before now, right?? When the Empress was sobbing after finding out her son had been named Crown Prince and Erqing wept with her, I have such a hard time seeing her as being the villain she becomes. I genuinely think the writers had to have altered her character after beginning the story because it just makes so little sense to me otherwise.
I get so many Huanbi flashbacks with Erqing 😅. You are marrying the man you say you love, you raised your entire family standings, but you decide that’s not enough. Girl bye. He could easily get 5 concubines to ruin your life, but you want to tear out a maids nails? Fuheng deserves better. Spoiler, but there’s a scene where he just sips tea as she’s acting delulu and that’s my mood too. That slap was so deserved. Yuan is such an interesting character because in another life I could see him and Yinglou together. I feel if he had a parent who loved him he would have ended up more chaotic good like Yinglou is. She has 3 men who are love interests basically like some dating sims game except this is ancient China so we are stuck with the emperor as the main storyline. For real if this was an otome dating game I’d run for the hills.
Yes yes with the HuanBi parallels, they really are so similar! You forced this marriage to happen though you know he doesn't love you, so don't be shocked when things turn out like this 💀 I know exactly what scene you're talking about and I love it too 😂 I do prefer them as platonic because YL just never gave vibes that she was attracted to him? Who knows though, since this is a dating sim I guess he wouldn't be a eunuch and then might have had a chance? 🤔😂 Definitely agree in the chaotic good thing though, they're so similar but they have grown under really different circumstances
Cut scenes reveal she didn't - she only made the Emperor believe it happened to ensure her baby would be safe - she's cucking Fuheng with his younger brother
I responded to this comment and a few hours later my reply is gone. I think it's cause I didn't censor a certain word that got picked up by youtube's bad-word bots or whatever. Let this be a reminder to always censor your questionable words :/
It's tough because as a drama watcher, you're going off the story that's presented to you. I think it's totally fair to judge the characters based on what we know, and not what deleted scene XYZ says and that sucks because it's a completely different story then!
I think she got a child mentality, one of the basic psychological features that separates those who are emotionally immature from emotionally mature adults.
my gripe with this drama is that it doesn't commit to making the emperor ready to kill YL. He's a guy who spent his whole life being told his life is worth more than his servants', you can't make me believe he wouldn't end up believing that!
But I think what's holding him back here is not that he doesn't want to kill a servant, but that he doesn't want to kill someone he desperately wants in his bed. Which would then track for someone used to putting their wants first haha
1:43 I bet 3:39 I always feel like they try to make drama realistic but at the same time they don't want yingluo look bad for ending up with him that's one of the reasons why writing doesn't make sense sometimes
I hate the Emperor and Ying Lou ship. I have a feeling the reason they left the scene was that light when its literal sexual assault, is because it would have never gotten past the censors. Also YingLou understands that the only thing to turn the Emperor off is reverse psychology. Tell him exactly what he needs to hear or thinks I'm his entitled brain but will never say and he immediately gets angry. He's a child who likes mind games. Erqing going crazy was insane. I understand her jealousy. That maid spent more time with her husband in an entire YEAR than she has. I'd go a little crazy from love too but not ripping off someones nails. But she's rich, id sit, enjoy living in luxury and make some connections. Maybe put my siblings in the palace as a support for myself. Her giving birth to the Emperor’s child gives her protection from the Emperor and Fuheng wont be able to do anything no matter how crazy she goes. She also has the Empress support with the pregnancy stunt. Erqing is a dangerous schemer. I believe if she was a little remorseful about her actions, Fuheng would take her back. The problem with Erqing is that she's perpetuating the SAME abuse to her maids out of jealousy that she was fearful would befall her in the palace. As a former maid, her extra layer of hypocrisy disgusts Fuheng. I don't blame him. Mingyu’s childish attitude is still the same and outlandish. I'm still entertained. Chun will remember her rudeness. I'm glad YingLou still a sister (Empress) and has Brother Yuan in her corner. Their relationship was the main thing that had me addicted to this series. It was sweet to see platonic relationships for once not motivated by romance or lust. It makes me cry whenever she's on-screen with any of them.
@@kandicefranky3253 Right? Homegirl is daaaaangerously clever when it comes to hurting other people! She literally sat down and workshopped how she could get a child under the guise of it being Fuheng's, thus forcing him to acknowledge & raise a kid that isn't his, while also protecting herself from any kind of punishment for cheating. And she had the balls to use the damn Emperor as a pawn in her scheme, AND IT WORKED!! Like, I have to applaud the sheer audacity of this woman. I hate her guts, but I gotta stand up and clap for the craftiness of her scheme. she. is. good.
I deeply despise characters like Erqing like she reaped what she sowed and then doubles down. I really hope her “exit” is satisfactory for the audience lmao.
FuHeng actor guy is super handsome and stuff but I can't tell if his acting is kinda... not really that good? Like, is he just here because he's hot? He doesn't emote very much and just has the same kinda face haha
@@its99pm Yeh its pretty classic. It appeals to the "I can fix him" mentality, and its an easy way to create intrigue and mystery if a guy doesn't show much emotion or say much - without having to create an actual character. it keeps people watching/reading haha Its not very realistic, but it is a well-used narrative device.
@@satyasyasatyasya5746 As long as they put in the work to eventually show his personality when the female lead gets to know him better, I'm all for it! But I feel like behind Fuheng's stoic face there was very little.
Yeah I was so confused with why they decided to make it so the emperor was forcing his way with YL AND to add a “comedic” effect to the scene?! I was honestly hoping it was one of those things where it didn’t translate well in english but nope it’s just plain ol’ SA 😫 MAYBE a missing scene where the emperor is testing YL’s loyalty for the last time and seeing if she also wants him? Hmmm… I have come to the conclusion MY was only accepted into the empresses palace because she makes michelin star desserts Happy fathers day YL’s dad you get a gold star for being the worst
This is why I hate good/bad guys more than bad guys. Because now I have to either make excuses and stories in my head for why what they did is ok, or spend the rest of the drama hating a main character I'm supposed to like 😂 Omg the mystery of MY finally solved! THANK you! 😭 That man needs to be thrown into a lake
Erqing is the most disgusting, unbearable villain in this drama. Give her an award for the acting.. For Gao, Xian, Chun.. I still adore them for some reasons. But Erqing??? No redemption And talking about acting... I'm actually not a fan of YingLuo's acting. Compare to Ruyi and ZhenHuan, this Yingluo acting is the weakest
I'm not much into YL's acting either. I don't find it bad and i enjoyed it initially but it got old quite fast. Esp when she was up against Xian later on.
Honestly, this is where I don't find Wei Yinluo's character very realistic... As a Chinese woman of that time, your thinking is like that of the empress, bringing children is the priority, not your integrity... Maybe that's why we love Wei Yinlou, it's literally our reaction if we traveled to that time! our avatar!! But even so, I am picky and the question arises: how, despite the culture of that time, did Wei Yinluo reach those ideals? it's so weird..
@@dramarecaps4217 Your Welcome!♥️😂😂😂 Your probably wondering who is this person that has been commenting under every.single.video.every.single.day😭. I just love your work so much.🥰😂 Well I guess you can say more like obsessed. 🤣🤣🤣
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