#The Story of Minglan

[murderousthighs]

Helping a capable yet unhinged lady seek revenge, I like that in a man.

[nemainofthewater]

Best Character surnamed : Qi

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgot anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[carlyleandco]

okay my fellow Cdrama fanatics, I’m in need of some recs as someone who is still fairly new to the scene…

Historical Cdramas I’ve enjoyed

Story of Minglan ~ this show is my Roman Empire…like I don’t go more than a couple of days without thinking about it. Love how much depth there was to the characters and their relationships. I got so much satisfaction from watching Minglan run circles around every one else using her intelligence and wits. Every time Gu Tingye popped up in the background as her backup support I lost it! Talk about power couple.

Love Like the Galaxy ~ first historical Cdrama I have watched and apart from Minglan, I think it has ruined the rest for me. This drama has so many layers. Niao Niao is an intelligent, and opportunistic female lead. She is unabashedly herself, and the story is not afraid to depict her as unlikeable at first instance. I deeply appreciated the focus on female relationships and family. And Ling Buyi has ruined all other antiheroes for me lmao

Destined ~ I thought this one would be on par with Minglan at first, but it did lose its way in the latter half. I felt the female lead was relegated to the background, which was frustrating as they built her up to be this shrewd businesswoman and then we never get to see her in action. I did appreciate how wholesome and untoxic Jiu Si was as a romantic lead. I thought her relationship with the SML could have been drawn out more, however.

Romance of Tiger and Rose ~ I don’t think this drama is anywhere on par with the above three, but I still enjoyed it. Definitely a fun and unserious romp. Zhou Lu Si is just so likeable in all her roles.

Xianxia I’ve enjoyed:

Love and Redemption ~ I literally fell down a hole with this drama. I could not stop watching. Even though the female leads starts with that token immaturity Cdramas are known for, it’s explained in-world and she goes through a noticeable growth/stepping into adulthood arc. I also LOVED how powerful she was and how often she got to use her powers. Also the romance? Sifeng?!!? Yeah I was a mess. However, one thing that irritated me was the lack of agency Xuan Ji had toward the end of the show.

Eternal Love ~ it’s a classic for a reason. I loved Bai Qian’s resolve, steadfastness, and maturity. Her relationship with Ye Hau blossomed naturally, and they had different obstacles to face as a couple as opposed to what I have seen so far.

Love Between Fairy and Devil ~ speaks for itself, and I love enemies to lovers.

Extra: points if the female lead is powerful, or is on a journey to realising her power. Whether that’s through her intelligence, empathy, or in the case of xianxia, actual mystical power. Bonus points if she’s a character like Xuan Ji who can go supernova and destroy everyone lol

Historical dramas I have not enjoyed:

The Sword and the Brocade ~ I didn’t even finish this one. My overall impression was, having already finished Minglan prior, eating cardboard after having been to a 5 star Michelin restaurant. Everything was so bland and dull, even down to the cinematography.

Princess Silver ~ I dragged myself to the finish line with this one. The plot just became so utterly ludicrous and relied on the audience being invested in the main leads without actually letting them spend screen time together. I also hated that we had glimpses of the female leads power but that she never got to fully realise this. Just overly contrived and trite.

Xianxia I did not enjoy

Ashes of Love ~ this was the first xianxia I ever watched some years back. Given I was new to the genre, I think I found some of the characteristic features a bit jarring and I stopped watching Cdramas as a result. If I watched it again I may be able to make it through. Ultimately, I just could not stomach how naive the main female character. I understand this is typical, but it was another level of nauseating that I have not found an equal to since.

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

Super hopeful we're now getting to the part where we finally get rid of Manniang 🙄 I am tired of her nonsense. She isn't even smart and her schemes are so vulgar and basic.

Tingye, please listen to Nanny!

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Mmm... doubt that, but OK.

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LOL, she seems unhappy at the prospect of doing manual labour for a living 🤣🤣

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OH FUCK ALL THE WAY OFF 🤬🤬

This is rich, coming from a man who has never once made a decision in his life without consulting his dick first 🙄

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LMAOOOOOOO, he couldn't sneak if his life depended on it 🤣🤣

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Aww, Minglan, cutie, reaching out to make up with Gu Tingye 😢

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Oh? 👀

Why not? They couldn't swing it after all?

***

I find it fascinating that all these high-born women were still expected to cook.

I can't imagine a European duchess or queen cooking anything ever unless it was a special hobby or something. When I think back on other harems in c-dramas I've seen, all the consorts/wives cooked. For example, in Nirvana in Fire we see Consort Jing being especially good at it.

Even in 2ha, Taxian-jun, who was a whole emperor at the time and had countless servants to prepare his food, insisted that Chu Wanning cook for him, even though he was terrible at it. He personally taught him to make that rice porridge and he ate it no matter what slop Chu Wannning ended up concocting. Of course, cooking and eating is Mo Ran's love language, so it made sense that he insisted on Chu Wanning doing this for him, because he desperately needed to feel loved by him, but it still seems like cooking was the norm rather than an exception among all high-level wives.

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SHE WAS SELLING HIS MOTHER'S STUFF?

LMAO, oh, Manniang, you are so done! 🤣🤣

***

Honestly, Manniang is so embarrasing.

There she was, thinking she was fit to play on the big chessboard with the likes of Madam Qin and the rest of the nobles, but she got caught out like a rat by Nanny Chang through some elementary-level trickery. Truly pathetic.

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How is he penniless when he has farmlands and shops in his possession?

Also, how is it even possible for some rando to sell land registered to another person without their consent?

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Wait, who's alive?

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How does anyone ever fall for this bullshit?

Why should he be the one to kill your treacherous ass and then carry you around on his conscience?

Fuck off and go die on your own terms, if you're so eager.

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LMAO, classic DARVO.

Just boot her out already! I swear, men will stick their dicks into anything that comes attached to a pretty face.

She's not even a competent liar, Tingye! Please find some self-respect.

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I mean, good, I am beyond sick and tired of her whiny, fake baby voice, but I'm worried she'll try to harm the kids.

Storywise, it makes sense, because we can't have competition for Minglan's legitimate offspring 🙄

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With a mother like you, who needs enemies?

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God, if she whines, "Erlaaaaaaaaang," once more in that slimy soft voice, I will break something, it grates on my nerves so badly.

I went down an ASMR rabbit hole sometime back and there were these women using this fake baby voice to narrate their shitty videos. It unnerved me so much. I can't even pinpoint the reason, it's just that all the alarm bells I have in my brain start blaring when I hear it.

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LOL, of course she does.

[lyselkatzfandomluvs]

Wáng HèRùn 王鶴潤

Wb update 2024.03.12 (1/2)

[guesst]

this is so funny to me help

[medievalandfantasymelee]

THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE

FIRST ROUND: 45th Tilt

Gu Tingye, The Story of Minglan (2018) VS. Sir Henry “Hotspur” Percy, The Hollow Crown (2012-2016)

Propaganda

Gu Tingye, The Story of Minglan (2018) Portrayed by: Feng Shaofeng Defeated Opponents: - Gündoğdu Bey [Kaan Taşaner], Resurrection: Ertuğrul {Diriliş: Ertuğrul} (2014-2019)

“Clever, kind, and loyal. Smart-ass of THE CENTURY. He puts up with no shit, plays a mean game of polo, kicks ass in war, and loves his wife only *slightly* less than he loves his children. He is sharp and sassy and sexy as hell--like a kind of Chinese James Spader. Hot Husband with a double capital "H".

Sir Henry “Hotspur” Percy, The Hollow Crown (2012-2016) Portrayed by: Joe Armstrong Defeated Opponents: - Prince Humperdink [Chris Sarandon], The Princess Bride (1987)

“This guy is so hot. A man of the people, no respect for authority, and hilarious to boot. He’s a little unhinged but in a totally compelling way. And incredibly sexually charged, especially Joe Armstrong’s version. That man is the number one wife guy. They have their little spats but it’s part of an insanely passionate romance and it’s very hot how much he clearly adores her and doesn’t care who knows it. I’ve seen a fair few productions of Henry IV Part I in my time and I love Hotspur regardless, but Joe Armstrong is the best to ever do it.”

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Additional Propaganda

For Gu Tingye:

For Hotspur:

I cannot believe that more of Tumblr is not out here advocating for this man. He is a Wife Guy! He is a small and angry man! He fantasizes about training a bird to annoy the king into doing what he wants! He is full of ill-advised snark! He is also... kind of a mess. He's an insomniac. His idea of an inspirational speech is to say "Die all! Die merrily!" (????) He has an intense and intensely homoerotic* rivalry with Prince Hal. *I'm making this argument because he dies with the prince finishing his sentence, which I feel is a very lovers-coded thing to happen in Shakespeare. Also, if memory serves, Hotspur comments on on Hal's close male friends (ahem) in a way that doesn't convince me he isn't jealous. I digress! But anyway! Hotspur, Weird Wife Guy of Shakespeare, everyone!

[xiaolanhua]

I also love it when you’re so domineering and wanting to tear other people’s face.

The Story of Ming Lan (2018) Episode 50

[roseunspindle]

C-dramas I've seen at least part of and am working my way through.

Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace I rewatch this sooo much. I love it.

The Story of Minglan - adore. Haven't gotten all the way to the end but soon!

Curse of the Royal Harem - I'm only about 2 episodes in but man they already tried to entomb our main girl, Yee-lan alive.

Royal Feast - got a ways in but adhd struck. I plan to get back to it. Always made me so hungry...

The Legend of Yunxi - this one has a few more comedic moments to balance the serious. I'm enjoying.

The Sword and The Brocade - my current obsession. She's only just married in but ah! (Also nearly boiling her new husband alive.. 🤣)

Love between fairy and devil - I can only watch on YouTube so... I've only seen the first two episodes but I want more!

Consort Meng Arrives - this show is hilarious and I love it. Sadly at a certain point... ep 6 maybe? The subtitles get slow to where I just couldn't watch it 😭

Ashes of Love - 2 eps in I think...need to continue (and not just rewatch ruyi again...)

The Untamed - I actually own this on dvd. Wangxian forever ^_^

New Life Begins - just a few episodes left! So wholesome! I adore it so much.

Empresses in the Palace - enoying mostly just really confused why the put everyone's title in french which makes it harder to figure out who is being referred to.

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty - I love it (kinda ship Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng)

Story of Yanxi Palace - I just can't attach to this one... uncertain as to why.

[wenella]

EN subbed vid (Feb 13): Newly released BTS of Zhu Yilong & Zhao Liying on the set of The Story of Minglan (2018). Zhu Yilong plays Qi Heng (Yuanruo) in the show.

[deokmis]

@userdramas event 08 heat 🔥 hot warriors - gu tingye [the story of minglan] - zisheng [love like the galaxy] - lee bang won [my country: the new age]

[nemainofthewater]

It's really fun pointing at the screen and going 'hey it's that actor!'

(Or at least it is if you can tell the actors apart when they have a different hairstyle, which i can't. In that case a trusted friend helps)

But have you ever considered.

What if the two characters changed places?

[dangermousie]

Some musings on Minglan families

I don’t know why this came to mind but I guess I am always ready to talk about the Story of Minglan. I was just thinking about how the (differing but believable) awfulness of the families of the three main characters - Minglan, Gu Tingye, Qi Heng - has shaped them and the whole damage can be overcome but it permanently affects who you and there is never a clear moment of catharsis that would be narratively satisfying but unlikely in real life.

Out of the three, Gu Tingye’s family is definitely the most textbook abusive. I still remember the scene where the Dowager Empress is angry at something and orders Tingye beaten and he removes his shirt and the old lady, tough as nails and not a fan of Tingye, freaks at the sight of his horrifically scarred back and withdraws her punishment. The thing that really strikes me about that whole set up is how realistic it is that the old Marquis has spent his whole life angry that he was cowardly/greedy and put aside the wife he liked to marry Tingye’s rich but socially inferior mother and unable to cope with what this makes him has instead chosen to displace all his rage on the visible product of that union. The thing that is so maddening watching the scenes early on is not the beatings; it’s the constant gaslighting of Tingye - a supremely competent and functional and decent person that he deserves to be constantly abused that he is constantly in the wrong; anything he does however normal and even praiseworthy is somehow twisted as deserving punishment. The sheer frustration of no rational argument being possible is suffocating. The golden child (with Tingye’s half brother) versus scapegoat (with Tingye himself) dynamic is a little too on the nose - the scene where the old man solicitously fusses over his oldest son as Tingye is getting beaten in the background is something else. 

And there is never any “I am sorry I was wrong” moment from the old man. Tingye wants understanding and some hint, however small, that the old man actually cares and he never gets it. The old man dies, everything unresolved and his family drives him out. But in a way, that is his liberation - with his father dead and the rest of the family making clear how they loathe him and always will - he is free to make his own way and he does. Even when he comes back years later and has to put up with the clan for appearances’ sake, emotionally he is utterly free from them. His emotional investment died with the old man, and he is too powerful for them to torment him now. Oh, they try to sneakily cause trouble, but he is in clearsighted position of power so they can’t do much. And significantly, Tingye’s happy ending is almost utterly bereft of his birth family - a large chunk of them are dead or exiled. The amazing symbolism when his horrific stepmother (herself in so many ways a victim of that shark pit) sets that House of Horrors on fire and Tingye’s ancestral hall burns down to the ground is stark. They rebuild but now it’s free of all the shadows of past abuse; it’s rebuilt by Tingye who now has the family he chose himself - Minglan, their baby, Tingye’s daughter, his one normal half-brother and his niece. I love so much there is no grand familial reconciliation as there is nothing to salvage. 

It’s actually a mirror to Minglan’s happy ending, isn’t it? Because for Minglan, the happy ending is similar. Her happiness is found in the family she’s made with Tingye and in a relationship with her grandma and decent siblings - Changbai and Rulan. You see her chummy with her father (about who more below) and you realize that the reason she can be like this with him because she has not only ceased to expect anything from him (she ceased long ago) but also because she has filled the lack of love from him by love she has made in her new family. The Shens are not textbook abusive the way Gus were but in a way they damaged Minglan even more than his house of horrors damaged Tingye. (side note - they are based on novels by the same author; but in terms of adaptations I much prefer how Minglan handled abusive families than LLTG did where with the mom they wanted to have their cake and eat it too.) Papa Shen never used Minglan as a scapegoat and her “official” mother while not fond of her, didn’t particularly hunt her. But Minglan is so scarred because she grew up realizing that the whole world as far as she is concerned (because as a woman, the household is her whole world) is controlled by a man who can never be relied on, who puts his own comfort above anything, who can never truly love or protect. In the first episode, we see her mother dying in childbirth and the only person who tries to help is Tingye, who is not only himself a child at the time, but a stranger. Papa Shen is so realistic - all he wants is his comfort, he is incapable of love (monster Marquis Gu loved his oldest son at least, I do not think Papa Shen can love anyone at all.) Look how he has his supposed beloved concubine beaten and taken out and not for anything but making him be humiliated and because he realized she never cared for him. (The reason he has an excellent relationship with Minglan at the end is because this is exactly the kind of relationship he craves - his daughter is successfully married to the emperor’s favorite and does not ask anything from him to boot. He does not even realize there can be anything more.) What it does to a child, especially a girl child in that society, to grow up with this as a parent is so apparent in Minglan.

She is incredibly self-sufficient, incredibly good at masking and acting the way her companions want to, and her emotions are so completely locked up. In a way, their different reactions to trauma have to do with gender - Tingye reacts to the appalling lack of love from those who should love him by going out in the wide world and looking desperately for someone, anyone to love him. That is why he gets involved with Manniang after all - he wants a family to replace the one he does not in any meaningful way have. But Minglan is a woman, she cannot do that. She cannot go looking for love or to leave home and make her own to her liking or anything. She is like a plant - stuck where she is, incapable of moving by herself. Since she cannot go looking for love (the one time she sort of tried, with Qi Heng, we saw how it ended), all she can do is make herself believe and feel she does not need love. 

Gu Tingye tries so hard and so long to win her love and her trust and she fights him so hard but the reason he feels free to do so, to throw his heart at her feet is not just his own reaction to his trauma versus her reaction to hers - it’s because he’s a man, he’s also socially higher. He can do so. He can do so and choose wrongly and survive (see Manniang.) She cannot, this is her very life. One of the things I love so much is that the more she is with Tingye, the more she feels free to show her sharp edges because it means she feels not just loved/love (that is cheap in her world), but safe and accepted. She does not have to be a perfect patterncard, a living doll, making others’ comfort her number one priority. When at the end, she reunites with Tingye and she is cursing him, spitting at him, hugging him, and kissing him all at once, that is the freest she’s ever been and it’s the biggest testament to how much he’s earned not just her love but her true self. 

But OK, where does Qi Heng come in all of this? He’s a man, he’s the only son of a Duke, he’s pampered. What is wrong with his family, you may ask. Some. His mother (his father does whatever his mother wants) is the one who murders his servant (his close confidant), who has set out a path for Qi Heng to follow. It’s not abuse, not really, but it’s not really seeing him as a person either, is it? But the thing that really strikes him about him is not his birth family. It’s his first marriage family. Because with Qi Heng, The Story of Minglan touches on something that is rarely seen in dramas or other period narratives, how class trumps gender. Qi Heng is placed in a position we almost never see male characters placed in, the role beautiful women are usually placed. A powerful prince’s daughter sees him and wants him. Qi Heng is a man and an aristocrat and a scholar. But he has no power in this situation - he’s a pretty toy a spoiled woman wants and a spoiled woman gets because in that society, what matters is power. He is placed exactly in a situation we see beautiful women placed in these stories - he does not want to marry her, he refuses, but he has no choice. He threatens suicide (once again, a female-coded action) but cannot even be allowed that as his family is threatened. So he’s taken in marriage against his volition and under threat solely for his looks and treated as a thing to play with and to be humiliated by his position and by his wife who looks down on him and controls him. I find it so interesting and telling that in a lengthy 73 episode drama we get not a single shot of his reaction to the fact that his wife and his in-laws get massacred in a coup. None. In fact, we never ever get a single reference by him to that marriage EVER for the whole subsequent runtime, he just stuffs it in a corner in his mind and that’s that. Which is actually in itself a trauma response. But the thing that is noteworthy that he is a character who started with essays that lack strength of character, a person who loses Minglan because he cannot steel himself to do outrageous things the way Tingye can, but he ends the story a man who will face down the emperor for Tingye, a man he doesn’t even like by then (see Minglan situation.) Trauma made him grow up because as with Minglan and Tingye, if it will not break you, it will make you willing to fight because you’ve already faced down horrors and survived. (And that is why I am happy he gets his own happy ending with his own wife - this drama is ultimately very kind.)

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

I have to study. It's so late and I am so tired. I must pass these fucking exams and I know nothing. But I must also know. WHAT. HAPPENED. WITH. THE. PIRATES. 😭😭

Just a few minutes. Please.

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I wanted to yell "PRIORITIES!!" at her when she grasped this doll as she was drowning, but.

I remembered that I too have dolls I would totally jump into the river for. However, mine are too delicate and there would probably be no saving them if they got soaked.

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GU TINGYE??

LMAO, of course 🤣🤣 He's been saving the Sheng siblings from pirates from the moment they met!

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Ugh, cutie baby 🤗

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LMAO, what is up with that beard??

I am not a fan.

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WAIT, WHY DOESN'T SHE RECOGNIZE HIM?

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LOL, what is this nonsense?

It's literally been days since they last saw each other, a few weeks at best.

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What a joke, smh. I hate it when writers pretend we are imbeciles and think that they can get away with nonsensical rubbish like this.

The beard is ugly, BUT COME ON! You saw this man literally days ago, he still looks the same and sounds the same. Why was this necessary? This is honestly insulting.

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I'm still fascinated that Sheng Hong put an old woman, a fifteen-year-old and a bunch of useless maids on a boat and just let them sail across half of China, bandits be damned!

Why were there no men, no guards?

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I also want to know.

Other than fanservicy coincidence, of course.

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Seriously?? 🙄🙄

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Eh... from everything I've seen so far, I am not convinced that she is not better off being the daughter of a water pirate 🤔

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MTE.

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Minglan and Tingye, minding their own business:

IRL footage of me:

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LMAO, I love Shitou 🤣🤣

MTE, where did this come from?

I mean, an army is a great place to build a career if you have no other choices but you have to survive it first! How will it do your illegitimate daughter any good if you were to die?

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Aww, happy old people make my heart melt 🤗

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Yeah, because two dead maids are nothing to think about. It's not like they were actual people or anything 🙄

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Why do all the girls have the same last syllable? Hualan, Molan, Rulan, Minglan, Shulan, Pinglan, etc. But the boys share the first syllable. At first, I thought it was a gender thing, but the Yu sisters, Yanran and Yanhong, also share the first syllable. Also, I thought it was customary in ancient China to give all kids from the same generation a name that started with the same first syllable?

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LMAO, are the grannies back to matchmaking?

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Wait, is this the guy he saved in the forest?

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Ooooh, imperial relatives, you say??

Imperial relatives that Gu Tingye saved and are now his friends that owe him a debt of gratitude? 🤔🤔

My plot senses are tingling!

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Oh my god. Bandits? Again?? 😑

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Are you kidding me?

I am not a fan of this Pinglan. She seems like a reckless idiot, in addition to being a boundary-stomping, attention-seeking know-it-all.

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OK, I am not keeping up.

I don't know anything about Chinese history. Are these characters based on actual real people?

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LMAO, the blank expressions on everyone's faces 🤣🤣

Sometimes, parents can be so embarrassing.

[smittenskitten]

Wait wait. Minglan is a transmigration novel?

I was checking out the book summary on NU and it's tagged with transmigration 🤯🤯🤯🤯

[mydaylight]

The thing that I appreciate the most about Story of Minglan is how pro-active its female characters are. It’s not just a show meant to highlight the exploitation and vulnerability of women in the context of the Song Dynasty society (although we certainly get to witness that); but one that lets their fierceness and determination and agency shine. It’s so remarkable that the majority of the plots in the show are centred around women and resolved by women. Even when it comes to the case of antagonists like Lin Qinshuang, Xiao Qin-shi, Old Madam Wang, the empress dowager etc, they are imposing figures with complex motivations that contribute to all the important developments. When little Minglan gets orphaned, it’s Hualan’s advice to Wang Ruofu that appeases the Wei family and Old Madam Sheng who steps up to take Minglan under her wing when her own father wouldn’t. When Molan has an affair, it’s up to Wang Ruofu and Old Madam Sheng to take the initiative to speak to the Liang family about a possible marriage. When Gu Tingye proposes marriage to Yu Yanhong, it’s her mother the one who needs to give the final approval and in the end cuts him off. When Qi Heng gets threatened, again it’s Princess Consort Yong pulling the strings. Consort Rong decides to murder the Yong Family (the family of the prince about to inherit the nation, mind you) to get revenge for the rape and death of her younger sister. Shulan’s divorce is negotiated by her own mother and grandmother, and not her father. When Auntie Kang is killed, it’s Old Madam Wang the one going to imperial palace to scheme against Tingye. Minglan gives up on ever expecting her father to give her justice so she steps up and takes extreme measures to get revenge for her mother’s death, and her contribution is what helps Yanran, Shulan, Kang Zhao’er, Zhang Guifen, and finally Old Madam when she gets poisoned. Even Concubine Wei, who always insisted on keeping a low profile, was ready to go to the Kaifeng Court to prove Xiao Die's innocence (so you see where Minglan gets it from). And Lady Bai was ready to divorce her husband and walk away with her children after finding out how she was used. Even that small moment of Mingyue asking to have her family’s slave contracts returned to them so she can escape being forced to become a concubine to a man she doesn’t like is so satisfying to see. It’s just so great to get a show like that that’s not just trying to make a point about the suffering of women, but actually lets its female characters be active participants in their own stories and take control of their lives instead of being subservient to male character, or reducing them to the role of the love interest or a passive sufferer.