Touching portrait of newlyweds supporting each other

Gu Tingye and Sheng Minglan go back to visit the Shengs, part 2 – Minglan has to deal with conflict from her aunt Wang and her father. Chemistry between GTY and Minglan is off-the-charts here when on the way back, he notices she's upset and they talk things through – he makes suggestions and is outraged for her, but she counters with her own ideas and he comes round to them too. The way they're handling issues together like a team is one of the most realistic (and positive) portraits I've seen of a long-term relationship in a Chinese drama. On top of that, Minglan handling the servants/spies stuffed into her manor by the other Gus was brilliant – the girl is doing real WERK. I thought the series would become less satisfying after they got together, but I'm glad I'm being proven wrong!

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Thoughts on the scene of Tingye being accused…

Thoughts on the scene of Tingye being accused of not paying his debt at Thousand Spring Pavilion: This series is masterful at throwing you into ambiguous situations. A constant motif that runs through most scenes (so far) is "the truth", which is always a fragile, malleable thing, of which most of the characters involved can never be completely certain. Many scenes turn into extemporaneous trials, where the audience is frequently left in doubt and feels as tense as any of the characters involved – and it takes superb and subtle direction and acting skills on the part of the entire cast to pull this off! I love (and hate) that the "villains" are so convincing and so vehement in their pleas, who truly know the art of emotional manipulation when in front of their target audience – truly formidable antagonists, instead of the blatantly wicked opponents we see in most Asian dramas.

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Prostitutes are all despicable in this show

Early in this episode, Ming Lan's cousin Shulan gets an "amicable separation" from her brutish xiucai husband who has immpregnated a prostitute and wants to take her in as a concubine. Everyone agrees that that would be an unforgivable insult to main wife Shulan, as she is from a "good family" 良家. At this point, it's the third or fourth time that prostitutes have been universally denigrated in this show (previous times include families looking down on Manniang's status). While this is probably consistent with prevailing beliefs at the time (like Anna Karenina's status as a "fallen woman" leading to her ostracism from gentle society), I can totally see how the theme of 《A Dream of Splendour》 (that the distinction between 良贱 virtuous / debased is false, and members of the courtesan / entertainer / slave class in the Northern Song should be treated as human beings as well) might have been inspired as a 21st-century reaction to this show.

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The Repetition (of Baby Assassinations, Military Coups, Evil Concubines) is getting a lil ridiculous

Ok listen, Gu Tingye and Minglan's baby is just over a month old and there have been 3 assassination attempts on him already. The assassins have been three women – Minglan's aunt, then two of Gu Tingye's concubines. I'm all for drama, but I mean this is getting ridiculous. And as for the broader political plot, 依样画葫芦 indeed – again with a rebellion to overthrow the emperor (in the historical Northern Song dynasty as far as I know there weren't any attempted military revolts, but we're seeing two in the span of a few years here – both for the sole purpose of making our leads suffer and allowing Gu Tingye to rescue the emperor to achieve merit again). And of course, one of the perpetrators of the coup is the Emperor's concubine – as we know from this show, almost all concubines are evil and can't possibly love their men, right? (I mean ok to be fair I know the mastermind is the Empress Dowager, but I think my statement still stands.) Not one of the strongest episodes for me, and it's about time for this show to come to an end.

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