[Mainland Chinese Drama 2020] Serenade of Peaceful Joy 清平乐

[caranita]

2 hours ago, tendrilsofwind said:

I am also hoping that they focus more on the politics. All the machinations and power grabs are very nuanced so far. It's a nice change of pace from all the shows where everything is laid out blatantly for the audience because they think we have zero deductive reasoning. 

 

My sentiment exactly. 

 

I'm liking the episodes I've seen so far (6), and the pacing too. (Didn't find it slow, nor dull). 

 

 

[liddi]

There are two versions that I have seen thus far - Tencent and Hunan network's (referred to as the TV version). While both versions have released 16 episodes, the pacing is different. Tencent's episodes are around 45mins each, while Hunan's varies between 45mins to an hour in length. As such, the narrative in Hunan TV's broadcast is about an episode worth ahead of Tencent's. In view of this, I am really unsure if the 49 episodes refer to Hunan TV, or Tencent.

 

Thus far, the narrative remains at a slow, measured pace. The politics are not as easy to grasp for me and I will probably have to revisit earlier episodes (was not really paying attention all the time). The inexperience of the cast portraying the younger characters is glaring, which made the first two episodes a bit of a drag to sit through, but still the premise, narrative and not the least, the fact that it is a Daylight production, which gave us Nirvana in Fire I and II, kept me going. It improved markedly for me once we transition to the older, far more experienced cast. Wang Kai's assured delivery is pretty much a given - breathing life to Zhao Zhen who first chaffs under the thumb of the Empress Dowager, then gradually learns to come into his own as a monarch without the strength and wisdom of the Empress Dowager who was there beside him in matters of court during the early years of his reign. Jiang Shuying had me concerned at first since in the first few episodes, she was meant to be this wilful young girl who successfully manipulated her way out of a marriage she clearly did not want, but the youthfulness is not quite convincing. However, she absolutely nails it in the latter episodes, as the lonely empress who holds herself rigidly to propriety and protocol, never a step out of place - particularly her moving performance in Ep14, uncharacteristically revealing the hurt she had held inside all this while to the compassionate Zhang Maoze. Ye Zuxin is the greatest surprise for me. Having seen him in predominantly cheerful, carefree roles such as BBJX's 10th prince, he truly brought Zhang Maoze's restraint and propriety to life, a crucial, calming presence in the lives of Zhao Zhen and his empress.

 

For now, I will continue to watch, and see where it takes me. It has all the makings of being a strong drama, and I hope that it does not lose me somewhere along the way.

[skibbies]

10 hours ago, liddi said:

There are two versions that I have seen thus far - Tencent and Hunan network's (referred to as the TV version). While both versions have released 16 episodes, the pacing is different. Tencent's episodes are around 45mins each, while Hunan's varies between 45mins to an hour in length. As such, the narrative in Hunan TV's broadcast is about an episode worth ahead of Tencent's. In view of this, I am really unsure if the 49 episodes refer to Hunan TV, or Tencent.

That's standard for Hunan TV, they do cuts themselves, and will extend the drama if it's doing well in ratings (Minglan) or cut drama if it's doing terribly (tRoP). Their friday and saturday episodes are shorter iirc, which is how they make up the difference in earlier episodes. I didn't see the 49 episode thing, only 55 which was the initial episode cut. The current ep count for DVD ver/Tencent ver should be 69. IDK if I'm imagining it but Tencent's seem to transition little less aburptly (there's only a line more here and there iirc).

[liddi]

@skibbies You're right - I got mixed up along the way with the episode count for 鬓边不是海棠红 Winter Begonia, which is 49. Baidu does specify that 清平乐 has 69 episodes so that leaves us with at least another 51 eps to go. I have not compared Tencent and Hunan's dialogue word for word so I am not sure if there are additional lines in Tencent's version. Nonetheless, while it is a little frustrating for someone as impatient as me to follow Tencent when the narrative is at least 1 episode behind Hunan's, I should stop trying to watch both, and just pace myself with the former. 

 

Are you all caught up with the drama thus far? Do you still find it draggy in subsequent episodes?  I need to sit down properly and revisit earlier episodes to untangle the politics in my mind. Nonetheless, can I just say just as the scenes between Zhao Zhen and the empress leave me oft-frustrated, I love every scene with Zhang Maoze and the empress even if it fills me with dread that such a bond might not augur well for them. Fingers crossed what I fear will not come to pass down the road.

[arcchidus]

Does anyone find this show's pacing as slow as Rise of the Phoenixes? I am struggling with getting into it.

[tendrilsofwind]

My favorite thing about this show is how they've captured the atmosphere of the confucian scholar. The circumstances surrounding Fan Zhongyan's numerous banishments helped me understand why the Tang Dynasty poets liked to write incessantly about sending off their friends and then welcoming them back lol. Yan Shu's actor does a particularly wonderful job capturing the elegance and bearing expected of literati of that time period. That scene where the emperor visits as he is singing and playing the zither was really stunning, as was his performance in today's episode. 

Spoiler

I do agree that parts of the romantic portions are falling flat. I wish they cut out some of the bickering between the dancers and that scene with Maoze and the Empress sword fighting was glaringly out of place.

 

10 hours ago, liddi said:

@skibbies You're right - I got mixed up along the way with the episode count for 鬓边不是海棠红 Winter Begonia, which is 49. Baidu does specify that 清平乐 has 69 episodes so that leaves us with at least another 51 eps to go. I have not compared Tencent and Hunan's dialogue word for word so I am not sure if there are additional lines in Tencent's version. Nonetheless, while it is a little frustrating for someone as impatient as me to follow Tencent when the narrative is at least 1 episode behind Hunan's, I should stop trying to watch both, and just pace myself with the former. 

 

Are you all caught up with the drama thus far? Do you still find it draggy in subsequent episodes?  I need to sit down properly and revisit earlier episodes to untangle the politics in my mind. Nonetheless, can I just say just as the scenes between Zhao Zhen and the empress leave me oft-frustrated, I love every scene with Zhang Maoze and the empress even if it fills me with dread that such a bond might not augur well for them. Fingers crossed what I fear will not come to pass down the road.

 

Did you find the Tencent version to flow better? I am watching the Hunan version and I found some cuts to be jarring. So far, I would say that the court/cabinet scenes have gotten more exciting, especially now that war is looming over the horizon. The romance, however, is draggy at times. I have mitigated my disappointment by focusing more on the happy relationships like the Empress+Consort Miao and the court official boys. I don't mind the minor flaws though because the actors are doing a wonderful job. Wang Kai manages to keep the Emperor charming and sympathetic through it all. 

 

The Empress and Maoze have relatively happy endings (in my opinion) historically speaking. He was actually her eunuch instead of the Emperor's. I hope that doesn't count as a spoiler! 

 

[skibbies]

11 hours ago, liddi said:

@skibbies You're right - I got mixed up along the way with the episode count for 鬓边不是海棠红 Winter Begonia, which is 49. Baidu does specify that 清平乐 has 69 episodes so that leaves us with at least another 51 eps to go. I have not compared Tencent and Hunan's dialogue word for word so I am not sure if there are additional lines in Tencent's version. Nonetheless, while it is a little frustrating for someone as impatient as me to follow Tencent when the narrative is at least 1 episode behind Hunan's, I should stop trying to watch both, and just pace myself with the former. 

 

Are you all caught up with the drama thus far? Do you still find it draggy in subsequent episodes?  I need to sit down properly and revisit earlier episodes to untangle the politics in my mind. Nonetheless, can I just say just as the scenes between Zhao Zhen and the empress leave me oft-frustrated, I love every scene with Zhang Maoze and the empress even if it fills me with dread that such a bond might not augur well for them. Fingers crossed what I fear will not come to pass down the road.

Winter Begonia should be closed to finish I think? So could just stick with that and come back to this later.

 

I'm on ep...15? The pacing is bit better, but I still find it flat tension-wise. The politics are kind of interesting sometimes, but sometimes it's just cos I find the notable figures themselves interesting. I'm actually a little bored by the Emperor, but I love the Empress, which definitely made the last few episodes trying. I appreciate that she can help him with politics and managing the harem but I hate the very one sided affection here. I knew the harem would be a thing but the various romance rubs me the wrong way, it's not even the polygamy thing, just how it's handled.

 

3 hours ago, arcchidus said:

Does anyone find this show's pacing as slow as Rise of the Phoenixes? I am struggling with getting into it.

You aren't alone, a lot of chinese netizens have been comparing the two due to low ratings + slow pacing + high production value. I personally loved the Rise of Phoenixes despite its many many flaws, and found it pretty engaging from the get go. But found this fairly hard to get into, and even when I got used to the pacing, I'm still not jumping to next episode. Give it few more episodes, and if you can't, there's always more engaging dramas for you out there to be honest.

[caranita]

1 hour ago, skibbies said:

You aren't alone, a lot of chinese netizens have been comparing the two due to low ratings + slow pacing + high production value.

 

Wait, low rating? Last time I checked, it's been leading the TV CSM 59 since airing (and always above 2%). Also, Douban rating isn't too shabby. It indeed went down from 8 something in the beginning to the current 7.9, but still very decent IMO.

[skibbies]

8 hours ago, caranita said:

 

Wait, low rating? Last time I checked, it's been leading the TV CSM 59 since airing (and always above 2%). Also, Douban rating isn't too shabby. It indeed went down from 8 something in the beginning to the current 7.9, but still very decent IMO.

CSM 59 has been untrustworthy since second half of last year because they got bought up by either station or production companies and all the ratings are inflated to various degrees. This has always happened but it was limited in scope before, and now it's gotten incredibly outrageous. Note that all five first tier station are 2%+ right now, that's not possible these days, and wasn't even possible 5 years ago, maybe 10 years ago? but it was completely different climate back then.

 

There's other ratings done by different companies, and ones that's not official but doesn't use incredibly limited sample size like CSM 59. A popular one is Kuyun EYE, which you can check live on top of average rating for that show after it's done airing for the day. It's about 0.7 ~ 0.8 and I think 0.6ish on either Friday or Saturday. For comparison, tRoP's first week was 0.9 to 0.7, with one day where it didn't air at all due to news overrunning, second week was 0.85 to 0.7, with a Saturday 0.6 & Friday 0.4 (the day with lowest CSM 59, think it was 0.154? which by the way is lower than expected, since you can generally estimate CSM 59 by Kuyun EYE x 0.6 ~ 0.8 and it's lower than that). It stablised around 0.6 ~ 0.7 third week with a few 0.4/0.5 here and there, and started getting major cuts (14 episodes).

 

National Radio & TV Administration also started releasing its own ratings since end of last year, it's only for first 10 show in the prime time slot though and does it once a week (Saturday ~ Friday) and published on Tuesday. It also adds two station ratings together if they are airing the same show so you can't tell if one is doing better than the other. Plus it includes CCTV shows, which has much wider audience reach and lot of rural areas will default to them. This pushes out shows if CCTV starts airing new shows, although first tier stations have mostly been safe iirc, second tier sneaks in every now and then near the bottom of the list. Serenade's first 7 episode's rating by its count is 0.519. 

 

Douban wise, Daylight usually don't have dramas below 7, I think the only two exceptions were Love Me if You Dare (first attempt at web drama, Zhang Kaizhou's solo directorial debut, newbie scriptwriter Hai Yan's script that headed to a trainwreck in last third) and Ode to Joy 2 (I didn't watch it so idk how they bombed it). I don't think its rating is going to drop too much (below 7.5) unless they seriously screw it up. 7+ is definitely decent for cdramas on douban.

[tendrilsofwind]

15 hours ago, skibbies said:

I'm on ep...15? The pacing is bit better, but I still find it flat tension-wise. The politics are kind of interesting sometimes, but sometimes it's just cos I find the notable figures themselves interesting. I'm actually a little bored by the Emperor, but I love the Empress, which definitely made the last few episodes trying. I appreciate that she can help him with politics and managing the harem but I hate the very one sided affection here. I knew the harem would be a thing but the various romance rubs me the wrong way, it's not even the polygamy thing, just how it's handled.

 

I also love the Empress. It makes me feel better that historically she wasn't that into him and lived out a long life highly respected by the following emperors. There is just such a huge difference in quality between the political scenes and the harem scenes, especially as the drama continues. Even so, Serenade of Peaceful Joy, along with Joy of Life, ranks amongst my favorite Chinese dramas this year. 

 

I feel like what separates this show from a true historical drama is its need to maintain Emperor Renzong as an object of desire for the audience. As such, the writers and directors are limited in the depth of character development and realism they can portray. The discussion and buzz surrounding Serenade of Peaceful Joy are accordingly influenced. 

[skibbies]

1 hour ago, tendrilsofwind said:

 

I also love the Empress. It makes me feel better that historically she wasn't that into him and lived out a long life highly respected by the following emperors. There is just such a huge difference in quality between the political scenes and the harem scenes, especially as the drama continues. Even so, Serenade of Peaceful Joy, along with Joy of Life, ranks amongst my favorite Chinese dramas this year. 

 

I feel like what separates this show from a true historical drama is its need to maintain Emperor Renzong as an object of desire for the audience. As such, the writers and directors are limited in the depth of character development and realism they can portray. The discussion and buzz surrounding Serenade of Peaceful Joy are accordingly influenced. 

I wish we followed her life instead, you know. How she grew up learning to ride and study under Fan Zhongyan but also arrange flowers and make delicious food. We saw glimpse of it and it's fun. I don't want a harem drama where they cat fight, I want to see her manage a respectable but not loving relationship with the Emperor, manage the harem and befriend everyone (female friendship > romance!) and find solace in whatever she could. Hell, I wouldn't feel too terrible if she angst more about her situation, but I suppose that's not her style, it would just have been better if she wasn't head over heels in love with him like in history. Although I suppose then we wouldn't see the politics scenes as much. ....you know what I could just watch the old hk drama War & Beauty lol.

 

I think the presentation is just not up to par. I actually like an Emperor who cares about his people, but he can screw up because of naivety/inexperience (accidentally cause someone's death) I do like that he struggled between duty and respecting his adopted mother and feelings, and trying to wrestle power from Empress Dowager. But it's all done kind of sleepily, I'm guessing they were going for subdue, but all I got from first 6 episodes was bored half the time. Everything is just reeeeally slice of life, and it's pretty difficult to make that appealing to everyone. He hasn't really done major decisions lately in terms of politics recently, just romance/harem related, oh wait I guess there's getting people he likes into court? I think I just have very different expectation from his politics.

 

As for object of desire, mhmm I actually feel like they are trying to make me like him but it's not working? I mentioned the politics above, for romance, it's just he weaves through woman seamlessly. He'll go see this woman, then next woman straight after, and he say he adores them all the same, I suppose that's just how Emperors are but it sure feels off putting. They should have different relationship, but apart from the Empress, I feel like they are all the same and replaceable? He tells me that he treats Consort Miao/He er like family, but I don't quite feel it I guess? Oh, can I just mention, it was also really weird/abrupt to see him sleeping with her while mourning for his mum? I like Chen Xichun that he let go, shame she didn't get to stick around, I feel like he just like her for her face LOL. I don't really like Consort Zhang at the moment, playing up the brazen way too much, and it's entirely mysterious why he's fallen for her, but I guess we'll see. (ep 17) Honestly if I can ship like everyone in a group in a different drama, I should have no problem shipping this since everyone's dynamic should be unique but I'm just not feeling it.

 

I guess because I like the Empress, I'm a little resentful that he treats her like that. It's not quite his fault, he never wanted to marry her, it's just his duty and she'd be respectable Empress. I think he resents all the respectfulness, she feels uptight and proper and unfun to him, she reminds him of Empress Dowager, who controlled him for much of his life, and he could be bit bitter that she stole him away from his birth mother, but none of that isn't Danshu's fault. I think he wants her to be weaker? softer? and that makes me mad. He's a man of his time, and how he grew up means all this make sense but I still don't like it. They also never really communicate and they seem to miss each other in terms of thoughts/pacing even though they would understand each other if they'd just say so! I suppose Danshu being upset and roundaboutly avoid communicating doesn't help, she can be bit tsun and headstrong as well because she's convinced he doesn't like her. ahh this pairing.

 

Oh I really like the sets and costumes and cinematography, some of the shots are so gorgeous, this director has never disappointed me in how pretty the shots are. Why do I always ramble? (:

 

Oh oh also Joy of Life!! YES!!! I loved it so much, the setting is so my thing <3 Have you seen Young Blood? Try it if you have time, it has JoL's scriptwriter but it's his own original story expanded by various scriptwriters and an adorable & fun cast! It's also set during Song Renzong's time, but it's set in later period (I looked it up, about 6 years later? in 1044ish thereabout) they changed the names of historical figures a bit but it matches up to history pretty easily. The main cast are all fictional though and it's one of those lighthearted adventure story, so don't mind the terrible costumes and filter XD

[tulip06]

I used a vpn changer and got up through episode 19 on WeTV app.

 

Spoiler

5 years, and he never once sleeps with the empress. What a jerk. Meanwhile, a nasty little richard simmons is sniffing around him, and it looks like from the cast list, she will rise through the ranks like the others won’t. richard simmons me off.

 Just saw 20 and 

Spoiler

The rotten witch is being horrid! Why the emperor can’t see she is a spoilt psychopath, I don’t know. She needs to fall into a bottomless pit and be eaten by pigs.

 

[beasima]

23 hours ago, tulip06 said:

I used a vpn changer and got up through episode 19 on WeTV app.

 

  Hide contents

5 years, and he never once sleeps with the empress. What a jerk. Meanwhile, a nasty little richard simmons is sniffing around him, and it looks like from the cast list, she will rise through the ranks like the others won’t. richard simmons me off.

 Just saw 20 and 

  Hide contents

The rotten witch is being horrid! Why the emperor can’t see she is a spoilt psychopath, I don’t know. She needs to fall into a bottomless pit and be eaten by pigs.

 

Ahh.. - sigh- I think I'm going to skip those episodes then. 

[tulip06]

@beasima Start with the dancers, then.  But you will be skipping a lot because that girl is clearly the villain. Frankly, she sickens me so much, I might start skipping when she becomes a concubine or consort (not a spoiler, it’s on MDL). 

[insertusernamehere]

I'm still on ep 11 or so, but have been watching previews of other eps. Like many here, I'm a big fan of the Empress, but why do I feel like there's no hope for her relationship with the Emperor? Are they even sleeping together? Now there's this talk of the Zhang concubine and her being the villain? Can someone who's up to date enlighten us if there's any payoff for our great Empress at all?

[tendrilsofwind]

3 hours ago, insertusernamehere said:

I'm still on ep 11 or so, but have been watching previews of other eps. Like many here, I'm a big fan of the Empress, but why do I feel like there's no hope for her relationship with the Emperor? Are they even sleeping together? Now there's this talk of the Zhang concubine and her being the villain? Can someone who's up to date enlighten us if there's any payoff for our great Empress at all?

 

Spoiler

They are still not sleeping together. Consort Zhang dies when she is 30, but apparently that won't be until episode 50 lol 

Things will definitely get worse between the Emperor and Empress. One major event that will most likely be in the upcoming episodes is one where the Emperor becomes extremely ill and accuses the Empress and Maoze of plotting to overthrow him. However, the actors have all said that his one true love is the Empress so...I don't know how it will all play out. 

 

On 4/17/2020 at 7:06 PM, skibbies said:

I think he resents all the respectfulness, she feels uptight and proper and unfun to him, she reminds him of Empress Dowager, who controlled him for much of his life, and he could be bit bitter that she stole him away from his birth mother, but none of that isn't Danshu's fault. I think he wants her to be weaker? softer? and that makes me mad. He's a man of his time, and how he grew up means all this make sense but I still don't like it. They also never really communicate and they seem to miss each other in terms of thoughts/pacing even though they would understand each other if they'd just say so! I suppose Danshu being upset and roundaboutly avoid communicating doesn't help, she can be bit tsun and headstrong as well because she's convinced he doesn't like her. ahh this pairing.

 

 

Oh oh also Joy of Life!! YES!!! I loved it so much, the setting is so my thing <3 Have you seen Young Blood? Try it if you have time, it has JoL's scriptwriter but it's his own original story expanded by various scriptwriters and an adorable & fun cast! It's also set during Song Renzong's time, but it's set in later period (I looked it up, about 6 years later? in 1044ish thereabout) they changed the names of historical figures a bit but it matches up to history pretty easily. The main cast are all fictional though and it's one of those lighthearted adventure story, so don't mind the terrible costumes and filter XD

I will check that out since I feel like we have similar tastes in shows!

I agree that he associates her with the Dowager Empress and projects some of that resentment onto her. That's why he is so drawn to Consort Zhang, who has no regard for decorum and knows nothing of the lofty ideals that everyone else around him so heavily emphasizes. I think he has felt helpless for most of his life and she makes him feel completely in charge. When he converses with the Empress, he can not always gain the upper hand because she is also highly intelligent and well educated. Consort Zhang probably can't even read. However, in reality, he has benefited from the strong women in his life...I do think he is starting to realize that though. There was a scene where he begins to understand the burdens the Dowager Empress shielded him from.

 

I look forward to when all the court officials start to hand in their 50 page essays criticizing Consort Zhang. It makes me feel better knowing everyone else also disliked her. 

 

[beasima]

11 hours ago, insertusernamehere said:

I'm still on ep 11 or so, but have been watching previews of other eps. Like many here, I'm a big fan of the Empress, but why do I feel like there's no hope for her relationship with the Emperor? Are they even sleeping together? Now there's this talk of the Zhang concubine and her being the villain? Can someone who's up to date enlighten us if there's any payoff for our great Empress at all?

High five! If the drama won't make it works between the emperor and the empress, then why the writer made the empress to fell in love with the emperor. Why they don't follow the history, since historically the empress not so much into the emperor right? 

[caranita]

On 4/18/2020 at 11:06 AM, skibbies said:

I wish we followed her life instead, you know. How she grew up learning to ride and study under Fan Zhongyan but also arrange flowers and make delicious food. We saw glimpse of it and it's fun. I don't want a harem drama where they cat fight, I want to see her manage a respectable but not loving relationship with the Emperor, manage the harem and befriend everyone (female friendship > romance!) and find solace in whatever she could. Hell, I wouldn't feel too terrible if she angst more about her situation, but I suppose that's not her style, it would just have been better if she wasn't head over heels in love with him like in history. Although I suppose then we wouldn't see the politics scenes as much. ....you know what I could just watch the old hk drama War & Beauty lol.

 

18 minutes ago, beasima said:

High five! If the drama won't make it works between the emperor and the empress, then why the writer made the empress to fell in love with the emperor. Why they don't follow the history, since historically the empress not so much into the emperor right?

 

I'm with most of you, in the sense that I would prefer that the Empress and the Emperor were written as in a mutual respectful relationship, not necessarily loving. I consider it lazy writing, since it feels like a dime a dozen in a Chinese palace drama already: a highly intelligent, educated, and rather carefree noble lady, entering the palace. She's lovestruck by the Emperor, and is hurt by him (or his actions) all the time . 

 

I'm not sure if I adore the Empress as much as you guys here. I see her as prideful and at times passive-aggressive. She's known for her leadership capability -- yet the drama so far hasn't demonstrated that aspect. (The earthquake scene probably shows she's quite a quick thinker, but there's that). But I've only seen up to ep 16, so perhaps in the later episodes we will see it. On the contrary, I can tell Empress Dowager Liu is a seasoned politician and at the same time she still comes across human and quite sympathetic. Maybe this is why my personal pick for likeable characters are her and Miao Xinhe. 

 

Trivia:

it was only until several episodes in that I realized this is the same Emperor with the one in Oh My General! Poor Wang Churan pretty much plays similar characters in both dramas: a young woman who's attracted to other people's spouses. But TBH I prefer the Emperor Renzhong in Oh My General to the one here, although that might be historically inaccurate .

[skibbies]

On 4/20/2020 at 6:32 PM, caranita said:

I'm with most of you, in the sense that I would prefer that the Empress and the Emperor were written as in a mutual respectful relationship, not necessarily loving. I consider it lazy writing, since it feels like a dime a dozen in a Chinese palace drama already: a highly intelligent, educated, and rather carefree noble lady, entering the palace. She's lovestruck by the Emperor, and is hurt by him (or his actions) all the time . 

 

I'm not sure if I adore the Empress as much as you guys here. I see her as prideful and at times passive-aggressive. She's known for her leadership capability -- yet the drama so far hasn't demonstrated that aspect. (The earthquake scene probably shows she's quite a quick thinker, but there's that). But I've only seen up to ep 16, so perhaps in the later episodes we will see it. On the contrary, I can tell Empress Dowager Liu is a seasoned politician and at the same time she still comes across human and quite sympathetic. Maybe this is why my personal pick for likeable characters are her and Miao Xinhe. 

 

Trivia:

it was only until several episodes in that I realized this is the same Emperor with the one in Oh My General! Poor Wang Churan pretty much plays similar characters in both dramas: a young woman who's attracted to other people's spouses. But TBH I prefer the Emperor Renzhong in Oh My General to the one here, although that might be historically inaccurate .

Mhmm I guess it's a cliche because it's perfect as a tragedy. I think she handled the previous Empress situation reasonably well, that's not an easy position to be in and there's not many examples to follow. Tell me what you think once you see the latter episodes. I do agree she's prideful and passive aggressive, when she's angry, she doesn't cry or yell because that's not proper I guess, she also tends to mention what an emperor SHOULD do, which is the last thing the Emperor wants to hear sometimes. The Empress Dowager might have been an interesting protagonist too to be honest. Consort Miao appears too little for me, I do like her, but she's just not my usual type for favourites.

 

LOL. How was Oh My General? I considered watching it, then I saw the episode count and I backed off, I should remember to read the novel or something.     

[tulip06]

I wish I could upload the screenshot. Emperor and Empress got drunk, they’re in bed, but she is fully dressed. So, they didn’t do anything! 
 

she is just putting him to bed like a child. So aggravating.