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[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] The Story of Ming Lan 庶女明兰传 / 知否?知否?应是绿肥红瘦


Lynne

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Just got done watching the most recent ep subbed in viki. Before i say my unpopular opinion i just want to state that i love minglan, of course. Her and gty is such a cute couple, of course. But minglan telling gty to spend the night with MN without having issue with it is just so turn off to me. Ok i get it and i know why shes like this but shes really hurting the people ( in this case mainly or only gty ) around her. How can she just toss gty to mn like that. I wish someone would yell at ml and wake her up that its okay to love someone esp her husband and gty has always been treating ml so well too. And that love with husband and wife does not need to be repay , you love them because you love them. Im just getting disappointed everytime at ml when she does something like this to gty. At this point i just wish the grandma posion thing to happen ( i love ml's granny btw ) or whatever that will happen to make minglan not blind. I wish i could explain what i have in mind more but sadly i am not a A+ essay writer and sadly im so bad at expressing thoughts god damn. I dont expect people to agree with me but i hope they understand or have an idea what im trying to say.

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9 minutes ago, bulubulu said:

Just got done watching the most recent ep subbed in viki. Before i say my unpopular opinion i just want to state that i love minglan, of course. Her and gty is such a cute couple, of course. But minglan telling gty to spend the night with MN without having issue with it is just so turn off to me. Ok i get it and i know why shes like this but shes really hurting the people ( in this case mainly or only gty ) around her. How can she just toss gty to mn like that. I wish someone would yell at ml and wake her up that its okay to love someone esp her husband and gty has always been treating ml so well too. And that love with husband and wife does not need to be repay , you love them because you love them. Im just getting disappointed everytime at ml when she does something like this to gty.

 i feel the same way too. My heart hurt seeing GTY during that scene :( 

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21 minutes ago, mingerling said:

 i feel the same way too. My heart hurt seeing GTY during that scene :( 

So true! I feel so sorry for GTY. The acting is done really well. He has small micro-movements where you see his gaze shift or his smile go stale. It is very subtle in some scenes and then very visible in others where you can see how disappointed he is and how much he longs for her to return his feelings. Come on, ML! 

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35 minutes ago, bulubulu said:

Just got done watching the most recent ep subbed in viki. Before i say my unpopular opinion i just want to state that i love minglan, of course. Her and gty is such a cute couple, of course. But minglan telling gty to spend the night with MN without having issue with it is just so turn off to me. Ok i get it and i know why shes like this but shes really hurting the people ( in this case mainly or only gty ) around her. How can she just toss gty to mn like that. I wish someone would yell at ml and wake her up that its okay to love someone esp her husband and gty has always been treating ml so well too. And that love with husband and wife does not need to be repay , you love them because you love them. Im just getting disappointed everytime at ml when she does something like this to gty. At this point i just wish the grandma posion thing to happen ( i love ml's granny btw ) or whatever that will happen to make minglan not blind. I wish i could explain what i have in mind more but sadly i am not a A+ essay writer and sadly im so bad at expressing thoughts god damn. I dont expect people to agree with me but i hope they understand or have an idea what im trying to say.

 

I’ve been feeling that way since the first time she said it was ok for gty to have concubines. What alarming to me was the conversation she had with  her maids, when her maids praised gty, but ml just brushed it off and then her maid danju said something along “arent you describing SH instead?”.  ML projects her father as a husband toward gty. That’s not fair and sad. Right now I want ml to suffer a little for gty sake, but knowing the drama, whatever suffering ML will have, poor gty will suffer twice hard :wacko: the dude cant catch a break

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Just viewed 49 and GTY and ML are now the Marquis and Marchioness of Ningyi. The mother of GTY was also given a posthumous title as the wife of the late Marquis and was entered into the book of ancestors. But the bold and brazen GTY placed the emperor in a difficult position. He is so used to fighting with his family for what he wants and used to being a warrior using war tactics including some scheming. ML schemes too but only when necessary and does it stealthily. The only one who has an inkling of what she has done is her grandma. GTY is a derring do and inured to what others think of him that he comes out as uncaring. He can also charm his way out of a difficulty if discovered just like he did with the Dowager Empress who could not beat him when she saw his scarred back. However, Yuan Ruo was right when he said that what GTY did has alerted the Dowager Empress of a weakness of the emperor and that weakness is GTY. But this is GTY we are talking about and he may have had that covered too. When he petitioned for his brothers infront of all the attending ministers, the emperor had to grant his petition then stalked out angrily and as everyone was leaving he slowly stood up from his kneeling position and looked up at the Empress Dowager behind the screen. I was thinking what is he doing? Maybe that meant nothing but we shall see. 

 

Maniac Maniang is back. She stabbed GTY and says her son is dead. I don't believe her. She can't be trusted. 

 

 

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3 hours ago, m0us3y said:

@linhlinh111 I won't quote your post since it's quite long. 

If lawful or not is the only parameter used to judge, you would be right. But we also live by ethics and moral code.

 

SH favouring CL, and Molan is not illegal, but it's unfair. 

SH turning a blind eye to ML's mom's death is legal, but unjust. 

GTY's mom, all her despicable actions, her acting, aren't illegal. 

Princess PingNing beating BuWei to death is also legal, since he's a servant. 

QH giving ML false hope, break it, ruining her reputation are all legal

QH giving his wife a cold shoulder isn't illegal

QH's wife telling the aunt unnecessary info about ML also legal. 

Gu Family marrying GTY's mom for money and ignoring/ looking down on her afterwards are all legal. 

GTY using deception to marry ML, also legal. 

 

If we are judging only a person on legality of it, the actions are all justified. 

But rights and wrongs go beyond that, because we live by moral codes and ethical conduct. 

And that's why those actions are wrong.

Because while some actions are deceptive and mean, others are downright cruel. 

But everyone's to his/her own, on where we draw the line of what's acceptable, and what's not. 

Well said and commented.

 

I noticed that Qi Heng almost "beg" Ming Lan to hate him as it would seemed she had some feelings for him even if it is hate. Ming Lan just said she does not hate him hence she retain no feelings for him. Her motto "Never look back".

 

Back to Xiaotao telling him that he is the one who wanted Ming Lan first then also the one who abandoned her.

 

Even his own wife mentioned that if he wanted to marry Ming Lan he could have done it once he became a widower. He thought Ming Lan that would be waiting in an ivory tower for him?

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One of my favourite aspects of this is a drama is the complexity of the characters. For example, I neither dislike or like GTY’s older brother. It is heavily suggested that he was brainwashed to believe that GTY’s mother was the reason for the death of his own mother and it is understandable why he has animosity. However, I do not condone his unfair treatment of GTY through sabotaging GTY at times because GTY wasn’t even born when this particular situation occurred. I remember ML mentioned in an episode that children shouldn’t have to bear the sins of their parents (even though it does happen) and I have to agree. I’m not sure of the exact lines/episode but feel free to rectify it  :)

 

Likewise, with QH’s wife, I don’t dislike/like her character. I understand why she is unhappy and jealous that QH has someone else in his heart since she was raised with parents who loved each other a lot. Thus, she subconsciously had high and unrealistic expectations with QH. Through investigating the identity of ML and her past with QH, I personally think she made it harder on herself. Also, it appeared that she was about to move on until she found the dolls. But even before that, she gave unnecessary information to the 5th aunt which she understood could be used against ML.

 

Thus, there is nothing wrong with having emotions such as jealousy, anger etc. since it is their emotional reaction. However, there is a difference between having the emotions and actually acting upon it with ill-intentions toward innocent people. I guess this is what makes them interesting and human -_-

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2 hours ago, m0us3y said:

@linhlinh111 I won't quote your post since it's quite long. 

If lawful or not is the only parameter used to judge, you would be right. But we also live by ethics and moral code.

 

SH favouring CL, and Molan is not illegal, but it's unfair. 

SH turning a blind eye to ML's mom's death is legal, but unjust. 

GTY's mom, all her despicable actions, her acting, aren't illegal. 

Princess PingNing beating BuWei to death is also legal, since he's a servant. 

QH giving ML false hope, break it, ruining her reputation are all legal

QH giving his wife a cold shoulder isn't illegal

QH's wife telling the aunt unnecessary info about ML also legal. 

Gu Family marrying GTY's mom for money and ignoring/ looking down on her afterwards are all legal. 

GTY using deception to marry ML, also legal. 

 

If we are judging only a person on legality of it, the actions are all justified. 

But rights and wrongs go beyond that, because we live by moral codes and ethical conduct. 

And that's why those actions are wrong.

Because while some actions are deceptive and mean, others are downright cruel. 

But everyone's to his/her own, on where we draw the line of what's acceptable, and what's not. 

Powerful post and thank you. May I add to this that we need to consider how the characters see the scene and what they feel about it, see it from the characters' point of view. For example when Rulan said during a fight with Molan because Molan belittled her or Molan starts crying "I am the legal daughter and you are the concubine's daughter" it sounds so off putting and arrogant but when considering Rulan's POV, who has seen his father unfairly favor his concubine and concubine's daughter what Rulan is actually saying is "I matter and am important to my father because I am the legal daughter" it is a psychological self care. It may not seem reasonable for the viewer but for the character it does. Even at those times of strict patriarchal society, and reputation was of utmost importance people were still people with emotions and feelings. What is legal also changes with time. What we viewers interpret as legal maybe illegal in those times and what we interpret as illegal could be legal in those times. Anyway good point. 

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Episode 48-49 shows us the difference between GTY and QH. 

 

GTY treats ML as equal. In fact, he respects her, and has always listened to her, even called her his strategy advisor. 

In all their family meetings, we can see she sits with GTY, as an equal while all other wives stand behind their husbands. 

It's quite cute when GTY openly tell ML that she' the only one who can keep him under control as even the Emperor can't. 

 

QH has always treated his wife as a woman of that generation- second class, to listen and submit.

That women should not meddle in men's business. 

And he walks in front of her.

Arguably, he may not have been like that with ML...maybe. But he clearly subscribes to the ideology of neo-confucianism a lil bit more. 

That everyone has their own place and they should follow that....

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43 minutes ago, nichiwoohee said:

 

I’ve been feeling that way since the first time she said it was ok for gty to have concubines. What alarming to me was the conversation she had with  her maids, when her maids praised gty, but ml just brushed it off and then her maid danju said something along “arent you describing SH instead?”.  ML projects her father as a husband toward gty. That’s not fair and sad. Right now I want ml to suffer a little for gty sake, but knowing the drama, whatever suffering ML will have, poor gty will suffer twice hard :wacko: the dude cant catch a break

I agree with you! I want ml to realized how much gty means to her.  Seems like she'll realize and learn how special gty is to her the hard way. Too heartbreaking :heartbreak:

 

Sometimes i want to feel happy after watching some eps of this drama i think to myself why does it matters its only a drama, they already married in real life hahaha but that thinking dont last long cus i always go back feeling super sad about this situation.

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1 hour ago, cherubstomato said:

@ForgottenSoulx FFs fast forwards

 

@m0us3y lmao I’m still only at episode 45. I’m just reading all the spoilers and trailers on here but at same time I don’t want to because I don’t want to formulate an opinion or anticipate what not without watching the episodes yet. But, I fear if I don’t keep up with this thread I come back and I’m already 30pgs behind like last time. It’s fun reading all the debates/ different POV of everyone and basically just talk about the episodes. Lol 

Tell me about it. The last time I decided to stay away from spoilers, I came to 15 pages or so to catch up. Lol. 

And then I got sucked in and can't stay away from all the spoilers and previews that @leeza77 kept posting! :sweatingbullets:

But more interestingly is this forum gives us different perspectives from us different viewers. :)

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@bulubulu @mingerling @Arieslazarel

I do feel for GTY when ML asked him to spend the night with MN too. 

My heart broke with GTY and part of me was like "nooooooooo"...

 

But if I take a step back and think about it a bit more, I may give her the benefit of doubt. Rationally. 

In the past few episodes, she has mentioned, more than once, that women and children should never be implicated with the wrongdoings of their husbands and father.

She would treat Rong'er well even if she's not hers, and she would treat GTY's bro's wife and girl well. Because the fault was not theirs. 

She would protect them because she never received that protection that she so yearned for in her younger days. 

Hence, I could see she wants to find and protect Chang'er too. And she knows how much Chang'er means to GTY. 

And technically, GTY as a male has absolutely nothing to lose by spending the night with MN. 

 

Emotionally, OUCH. :tears:

 

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21 minutes ago, m0us3y said:

@bulubulu @mingerling @Arieslazarel

I do feel for GTY when ML asked him to spend the night with MN too. 

My heart broke with GTY and part of me was like "nooooooooo"...

 

But if I take a step back and think about it a bit more, I may give her the benefit of doubt. Rationally. 

In the past few episodes, she has mentioned, more than once, that women and children should never be implicated with the wrongdoings of their husbands and father.

She would treat Rong'er well even if she's not hers, and she would treat GTY's bro's wife and girl well. Because the fault was not theirs. 

She would protect them because she never received that protection that she so yearned for in her younger days. 

Hence, I could see she wants to find and protect Chang'er too. And she knows how much Chang'er means to GTY. 

And technically, GTY as a male has absolutely nothing to lose by spending the night with MN. 

 

Emotionally, OUCH. :tears:

 

yes i agree with you too and i understand what you're saying but i still feel and find that ML's actions and wordings to GTY upsetting. It's wonderful that ML would protect what's not originally hers and i adore her for that, very kind. Even tho GTY has nothing to lose by spending the night with MN, that's not what he wanted anyways. Can't ML at least be sad that her husband will be in a room with another woman arg. Yes ML knows how much Chang'er means to GTY but do she not know how much ML herself also mean so much to him so her words to him really hurted him. I think this is the first time he actually yells at Minglan ( not directly at her but you know what i mean ) cus he was really hurt at what she said. Anyways for me no matter how kind ML is and how good of a wife she is or tried to be for GTY, it won't change how that i feel that its such a turn off to me everytime GTY is sad because of ML, it does not feel like she did it out of love to him, more like to repay and to be a good wife. To me, GTY has always tried to be happy and playful with ML but sometimes she just kill the mood. Well..thats just me. 

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She is finally able to be herself I think its hard to turn it off she only sees plans and actions now not thinking how GTY would feel about it.

 

She 100% not doing it on purpose it  just the way she grew up I think she will come to realize that she can actually trust him and actually be happy but still scheme  with him of course!

 

She does not realize how much she laughs or  smiles with him or how concern she is over him at times.

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5 minutes ago, dramaninja said:

She is finally able to be herself I think its hard to turn it off she only sees plans and actions now not thinking how GTY would feel about it.

 

She 100% not doing it on purpose t  just the way she grew up I think she will come to realize that she can actually trust him and actually be happy but still scheme  with him of course!

Agree :). Can't wait till that actually happens. pls happen fasterrrr huuuuuu

Agree with you, the last sentence too! I cannot highlight that since u edited after i quoted you but i like what you said there.

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ML is listening to her head and not her heart.  She hasn't given GTY her heart yet, in fear of disappointment and being let down like her mom.  She's fulfilling her duty as his wife but hasn't let herself be emotionally attached yet. GTY simply wants ML's heart and for her to be herself around him. That's why he's so freaking happy when she's mad or scolding him. 

 

Sidenote, I cannot express how much I hate his Gu Family! URGH! 

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The sucker within me can't take the cliffhanger with GTY spending the night with MN. Went on to watch the TV episode without subs. 

 

Spoiler

ML actually shed tears when she saw GTY's wound. 

The concern she showed him is beyond that of duty and responsibility. 

And then she actually was awake the whole night thinking about the possible whereabouts of Chang'er and how to move forward. And kept XiaoTao and Danju awake with her. 

Considering how much she loves her sleep, it says a lot. 

I could be way optimistic, but I do believe she cares and loves GTY in a way, whether she realises it or not. 

 

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4 hours ago, m0us3y said:

@linhlinh111 I won't quote your post since it's quite long. 

If lawful or not is the only parameter used to judge, you would be right. But we also live by ethics and moral code.

 

SH favouring CL, and Molan is not illegal, but it's unfair. 

SH turning a blind eye to ML's mom's death is legal, but unjust. 

GTY's mom, all her despicable actions, her acting, aren't illegal. 

Princess PingNing beating BuWei to death is also legal, since he's a servant. 

QH giving ML false hope, break it, ruining her reputation are all legal

QH giving his wife a cold shoulder isn't illegal

QH's wife telling the aunt unnecessary info about ML also legal. 

Gu Family marrying GTY's mom for money and ignoring/ looking down on her afterwards are all legal. 

GTY using deception to marry ML, also legal. 

 

If we are judging only a person on legality of it, the actions are all justified. 

But rights and wrongs go beyond that, because we live by moral codes and ethical conduct. 

And that's why those actions are wrong.

Because while some actions are deceptive and mean, others are downright cruel. 

But everyone's to his/her own, on where we draw the line of what's acceptable, and what's not. 

 

You basically said what i wanted to say but much simpler and better :3

2 hours ago, cherubstomato said:

@ForgottenSoulx FFs fast forwards

 

@m0us3y lmao I’m still only at episode 45. I’m just reading all the spoilers and trailers on here but at same time I don’t want to because I don’t want to formulate an opinion or anticipate what not without watching the episodes yet. But, I fear if I don’t keep up with this thread I come back and I’m already 30pgs behind like last time. It’s fun reading all the debates/ different POV of everyone and basically just talk about the episodes. Lol 

 

Yeah i know how that feels when i was follow Ever Night and Ashes of Love threads.. wake up to like 10 page's.. 

 

2 hours ago, Arieslazarel said:

So true! I feel so sorry for GTY. The acting is done really well. He has small micro-movements where you see his gaze shift or his smile go stale. It is very subtle in some scenes and then very visible in others where you can see how disappointed he is and how much he longs for her to return his feelings. Come on, ML! 

 

 

23 minutes ago, bulubulu said:

yes i agree with you too and i understand what you're saying but i still feel and find that ML's actions and wordings to GTY upsetting. It's wonderful that ML would protect what's not originally hers and i adore her for that, very kind. Even tho GTY has nothing to lose by spending the night with MN, that's not what he wanted anyways. Can't ML at least be sad that her husband will be in a room with another woman arg. Yes ML knows how much Chang'er means to GTY but do she not know how much ML herself also mean so much to him so her words to him really hurted him. I think this is the first time he actually yells at Minglan ( not directly at her but you know what i mean ) cus he was really hurt at what she said. Anyways for me no matter how kind ML is and how good of a wife she is or tried to be for GTY, it won't change how that i feel that its such a turn off to me everytime GTY is sad because of ML, it does not feel like she did it out of love to him, more like to repay and to be a good wife. To me, GTY has always tried to be happy and playful with ML but sometimes she just kill the mood. Well..thats just me. 

2 hours ago, bulubulu said:

Just got done watching the most recent ep subbed in viki. Before i say my unpopular opinion i just want to state that i love minglan, of course. Her and gty is such a cute couple, of course. But minglan telling gty to spend the night with MN without having issue with it is just so turn off to me. Ok i get it and i know why shes like this but shes really hurting the people ( in this case mainly or only gty ) around her. How can she just toss gty to mn like that. I wish someone would yell at ml and wake her up that its okay to love someone esp her husband and gty has always been treating ml so well too. And that love with husband and wife does not need to be repay , you love them because you love them. Im just getting disappointed everytime at ml when she does something like this to gty. At this point i just wish the grandma posion thing to happen ( i love ml's granny btw ) or whatever that will happen to make minglan not blind. I wish i could explain what i have in mind more but sadly i am not a A+ essay writer and sadly im so bad at expressing thoughts god damn. I dont expect people to agree with me but i hope they understand or have an idea what im trying to say.

 

I think this is how we are supposed to feel so i dont think anything you said was wrong , if we did not feel sorry for GTY and did not resent ML a bit for what shes doing then we would not have feeling's. Shes not doing it on purpose though and the one to wake up her will be GTY him self so im looking forward to that. She did not marry him for love but she was been falling in love i can see that quite obviously but she will never fully admit it and let self go in fear of being rejected later on in life. She will love GTY openly later on after the fight but it wont be fully she will still hold back somewhat because back in those time's if you did not think ahead if something does happen you just get left to the dirt. 

 

I dont think anyone really understand's what i say most of the time i post it anyways so just say what you feel no-one is going to hate you or anything. 

 

She clearly care's for him and worry's about him and still would go all out to save him so i think she is actually in love but not showing or knowing what exactly is going on with her. We saw that when he had blood on him and i bet she was sad inside about the MN situation. 

 

9 minutes ago, SunStar said:

ML is listening to her head and not her heart.  She hasn't given GTY her heart yet, in fear of disappointment and being let down like her mom.  She's fulfilling her duty as his wife but hasn't let herself be emotionally attached yet. GTY simply wants ML's heart and for her to be herself around him. That's why he's so freaking happy when she's mad or scolding him. 

 

Sidenote, I cannot express how much I hate his Gu Family! URGH! 

 

Exactly shes following her head which is the smart thing to do currently. 

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7 minutes ago, m0us3y said:

The sucker within me can't take the cliffhanger with GTY spending the night with MN. Went on to watch the TV episode without subs. 

 

  Hide contents

ML actually shed tears when she saw GTY's wound. 

The concern she showed him is beyond that of duty and responsibility. 

And then she actually was awake the whole night thinking about the possible whereabouts of Chang'er and how to move forward. And kept XiaoTao and Danju awake with her. 

Considering how much she loves her sleep, it says a lot. 

I could be way optimistic, but I do believe she cares and loves GTY in a way, whether she realises it or not. 

 

 

Oh she totally does care for him and she said she would give her life for him and i think she would , she care's for him and most likely loves him she just does not realise it yet or its fully at the back of her heart sealed up but starting to crack (ashes of love). 

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@ForgottenSoulx hahahaha. You're funny. I do get you most of the time tho. :)

 

Spoiler
28 minutes ago, ForgottenSoulx said:

 

Oh she totally does care for him and she said she would give her life for him and i think she would , she care's for him and most likely loves him she just does not realise it yet or its fully at the back of her heart sealed up but starting to crack (ashes of love). 

That's my feeling. In fact, she berated herself for being so muddled and let him get hurt. 

 

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