#ji shuran

[rapha-reads]

Ji Shuran: *plots "evil" (read: stupid and cruel) plan after "evil" plan to get rid of Xue Li*

Xue Li *laughing her head off*: aww, so cute. Thank you for the entertainment, "Mother". You're keeping my mind sharp.

Nothing hotter than a woman constantly accused of being a bad one and who always gets back up on top. Love you, A'Li.

Shuran is playing checkers, Wanning chess, and meanwhile Xue Li and Xiao Heng are playing simultaneously 4D-chess and the most elaborate game of Go. It's so pleasing to watch. Now if only Wicked Stepmother could leave Ruyao alone, poor girl needs therapy and a sabbatical far away from her scheming mother, weak father and useless grandmother.

[coquelicoq]

this relationship between the emperor and his favorite concubine is something else. because apparently she was his DAD'S concubine and she reminds him of his mom...he's like you're the only connection i have to my mother (presumably because she was friends with his mom, because they were concubines of the same guy, and because after his mom died she used to take care of him and make him the food his mom used to make him because she "loves children") and i'm sitting there like 😬 ok where are we going with this. then i get to the end of the show and discover they weren't going anywhere with it in particular. they were just like, we want this guy to have a mommy complex and we want you to know about it. okay. thanks i guess...

[jellyfitzjelly]

DRAG HIM CONSORT LI

[trendingdrama]

Ji Shuran doesn't want me to get close to the Jiang family. And she doesn't want the public to see me. If I let her hide me in the dark, it'll be pointless for me to return to the Jiang family. And I'll always be the Second Lady Jiang that's surrounded by hateful rumors. So, I have to attend this coming-of-age ceremony. I want to let everyone in the capital city know that Jiang Li is the daughter of the madam of the Jiang family.

The Double 墨雨云间 (2024) : EPISODE 3

[da-man-si]

“The courage to unlearn all of the hatred”

Now that she’s free from Ji Shuran, I hope she goes on her study trip and lives a life on her own terms.

[tomorrowsdrama]

I really don’t understand evil stepmother characters like Ji Shuran from a practical standpoint. She really didn’t have to go out of her way to frame Jiang Li and make her life difficult. Jiang Li wouldn’t have been any real threat to her if she just treated her decently or at worst, was indifferent to her. It’s clear that her husband dotes on her and is more easily swayed than palm trees in a typhoon. He was never going to put Jiang Li above her or her kids, let’s be real here. Side note, the only thing I dislike more than a negligent bad dad is a self righteous negligent bad dad who thinks he’s actually being a good father. He’s worse than the stepmom since Jiang Li is his actual daughter.

Anyway, Ji Shuran gave the Jiang family a son so her position was more than secure. Plus, as a daughter, Jiang Li was never going to inherit the family title/fortune. Like, all she had to do was wait until she was of age and marry her off to some mediocre noble’s son and never see her again. And as we know already, Jiang Li’s dad really takes the concept of “out of sight out of mind” to a whole other level. So there really was no need for her to try to get rid of Jiang Li to maintain her top position in the household.

[renewedmotionforjudgment]

I want Ji Shuran to actually be better at being evil. Like how is she so single-handedly determined to bring down Jiang Li yet it feels like she barely knows where Jiang Li is half of the time.

Or I guess the dad is so useless that it didn’t take a mastermind to manipulate him.

Idk, I like the 宅斗 portion but I do feel like the Ji Shuran scenes are when I’m seeing Yu Zheng’s typical pitfalls, which is his tendency to give certain characters 50 pounds of plot armor. Still entertaining though, and thankfully the plot has to move along bc of the 40 eps count.

[ofqueensandwitches]

What I love the most about The Double is that the two ‘monstrous’ villainess (Wan Ning and Ji Shuran) are actually just victims of the true monsters—their power hungry fathers. Especially since the tendency in that era was that daughters were basically worthless to their fathers. It makes me think that if the real Jiang Li had been able to return to her awful family, she could be just as ‘evil’ as Wan Ning and Ji Shuran, or maybe even worse, in her efforts to destroy the Jiang family.

[myechoecho]

The Double, ep 27

Ep 27 had a severe lack of the Duke in it, which also means a lack of our OTP. And a lack of Lu Ji and Wen Ji. Still it wasn't a bad episode.

Let's start with Yu'e. At first, I thought she got what she deserved with being married to a man who hated her. But he's so awful that he couldn't just ignore her or something. He was beating her. So it was satisfying to see his genuine terror to when she says she's going personally take care of him now.

I truly do hope that Ruoyao can really find herself and break free. I was pleased to see that she was following with what she started and standing up to her mother. Unfortunately, her mother chose to POISON her as a way to get rid of Jiang Li. I'm going to assume that she will survive. And if she does, she really, really shows her mom how she cannot control her anymore.

I still think Shuran is awful. But at least we have context for where it all stems from. Cruelty begets cruelty. Her father was terrible and saw his daughters as pawns for his own position. When he disfigured her lover, he had her set up to be married to a useless person. He's the one who suggested she kill Jiang Li's mom to be able to married into the Jiang family. She's also just killed a child. Accidentally, but still.

It's interesting because there are similarities between Ruoyao and Shuran. Much of how Shuran treats Ruoyao is like how her father treated her. But there are lines that Ruoyao won't cross unlike her mother, who at this point has killed two people, attempted murder on another, got a child banished for matricide and fratricide (the kid wasn't even born yet so i dunno how that works), is trying to kill Jiang Li and has now poisoned Ruoyao.

Ruoyao is not her mother. Shuran is not wrong when she says that Jiang Li influenced her. But mostly Li just pointed out some things to Ruoyao. Ruoyao is the one who made the choice to stand up for herself - she could have just hidden she's done before. It also didn't hurt to hear Yanbang dismiss her and say he can coax her into anything because she has not thoughts of her own.

One thing I did notice is that Shuran's maid lacky was truly distressed at poisoning Ruoyao. It makes me wonder if she's not as on board with this plan as she has been with Shuran's others. She just might be the weak link, if Shuran goes even further against Ruoyao.

I did like what little we saw of Jiang Li. When the Duke gave her the whistle, I was curious as to how that would work (who's going to hear it?). I should have known better since the Duke has someone planted at the Jiang residence (and he's been there for 7 years!?! what is time and age in this drama??). So it's definitely been a very long game that the Duke and the Emperor have been playing.

Not much to say about the Aunt, though good in Li for seeing she was pretending to be crazy. I did suspect that someone had killed her child but in last episode it didn't look like she was pushed. However, this episode showed the real story.

As for Shuran, I'm confident she's very badly underestimated Li and whatever she's planning won't go as she thinks.

[thegreymoon]

The Double

This stupid opportunist.

She deserves her misery.

***

And he deserves to live as a vegetable.

***

LMAO, Ruoyao, what are you doing?

***

Genuine introspection and character growth! Wow!

Seriously, though. How many girls got trapped in miserable, abusive marriages because their only goal was to escape from their overbearing, abusive mothers? It's just sad.

***

This evildoer.

She acts all kind and benevolent but she was about to poison a poor concubine and then locked her in a shed. Fuck her.

***

So, Ji Shuran did kill that child.

***

No wonder ji Shuran turned out evil and insane.

***

LMAO, did she murder the wife too?

***

Ah.

***

I am fascinated.

Who would have thought Ji Shuran and her backstory would turn out to be so interesting.

***

LMFAO

***

Wait, did they poison her?

***

Facepalming forever.

***

I'm hoping you have a good plan because this whole thing is ridiculous and they are all insane.

[rose-tinted-vision]

The Double new live reaction post

(episode 28)

fuck i knew Tong'er was going to die bc 1. spoilers and 2. when characters start talking about what they want to do in the future it means they're going to die okay 🚩🚩🚩

i wouldn't blame Jiang Li if she's going to go full Tantai Jin and massacre the entire Jiang family (JJR excluded) bc it's valid fuck the mother for killing Tong'er

though if we're going to go into the core of everything it would also be caused by Ji Shuran's fucking fucked up father for forcing her into this

i really like how they're calling out societal norms in this show ngl and the actors are doing a fantastic job in all their roles

[blueberry-cheese-pizza]

The Double 墨雨云间 book scene- ML's first step into the 'play'

This scene is too long, so I can't post the Chinese version for this part even though it's written beautifully. The setting: Jiang Li and her uncle face unexpected danger in the woods behind Tong Xiang after rescuing her father's (Xue Huai Yuan) loyal staff from the mines. Ambushed by two groups of assassins, one sent by Princess Yong Ning and the other by Jiang Li's stepmother, Madam Ji, they become separated. Jiang Li finds herself confronting Madam Ji's deadly assassins alone in the dark forest. Guess who appears?

“Second Miss, there’s no need to look around for another way out,” the leader said with a peculiar malevolence. “Madam ordered us to use every method to torture you before killing you. But you’re so pure and lovely, wise and brave, we wouldn’t want to use any terrible methods on you. How about something more... comfortable?”

The surrounding men laughed sickeningly in agreement. Jiang Li didn’t need to guess what despicable ideas were running through their minds.

For an instant, she felt as if she were back in the Shen family’s courtyard, the same feelings of humiliation and rage that had consumed her in those months of near-death. These men were dredging up her most vile memories.

Her eyes darkened, and she sneered, “Do you think you’ve already won? Do you really believe I have no other way out?”

The leader laughed again. “I know you’re trying to buy time, but Master Ye is already injured, held up by Feng Yutang’s men. And your horse moved too quickly for him to follow. He doesn’t know this forest, and he won’t find you. Right now, it’s just us and you.”

His arrogance was blatant. Jiang Li had led three assassins into the swamp because she knew the terrain, but even if Ye Mingyu escaped the assassins, he wouldn’t know where to find her—Tong Xiang was entirely unfamiliar to him.

But Jiang Li merely smiled, “Who said I was waiting for Master Ye?”

The man was stunned.

Her voice, clear and laced with amusement, echoed through the forest.

"Lord Duke, after watching the performance for so long, how about coming out to meet us?"

Her clear voice echoed through the forest at night. The moon hung low, almost reclining on the treetops, illuminating Jiang Li's delicate face. Her eyes were bright and clear, devoid of the panic one might expect in a dire situation. Instead, she appeared relaxed and clear-minded, as if she had everything under control.

The men in black observed her, and their leader chuckled, "Second Miss, why the pretense..." Before he could finish his sentence, a soft laugh emerged from the depths of the forest.

A crimson figure gradually stepped out of the darkness. Under the moonlight, the darker it got, the more magnificent his red attire appeared.

The moonlight shone on the black-gold butterflies embroidered on the hem of his robe, making them seem ready to take flight, their beauty almost sinister in its extreme. Ji Heng walked out of the night at an unhurried pace, holding a gold-threaded folding fan, a smile playing on his lips. "Nothing escapes you, does it?"

Ji Heng’s appearance immediately drew the attention of the assassins hired by Ji Shuran. Several of them pointed their swords at Ji Heng. Jiang Li’s earlier call of “Lord Duke” had not escaped the assassins’ notice.

Ji Heng's appearance was overwhelmingly striking, almost unnaturally so. His sudden presence in the dark dense forest made him seem like a bewitching forest spirit, exuding a dangerous allure. Perhaps it was their assassin's intuition about danger that made the leader in black ask Ji Heng, “Who might Your Excellency be?”

Ji Heng, however, didn't acknowledge them. Smiling, he looked at Jiang Li and said, “Second Miss, your acting skills have become more impressive.”

“If the show isn't captivating, how could it attract your attention?” Jiang Li glanced at the leader in black, her smile widening. “My lord, they are pointing their swords at you.”

Ji Heng was the kind of person who wore a perpetual smile, yet beneath that facade lay a ruthless and cold-hearted nature. His arrogance made the act of pointing a sword at him an outright insult. The leader of the black-clad men caught a glimpse of Ji Heng's gaze and felt an inexplicable urge to step back. His fingers involuntarily tightened around his sword, sensing that something was terribly amiss. Ji Heng paid them no mind, continuing to smile at Jiang Li.

"Second Miss, why attempt to divert trouble towards me? I have told you, I am not a part of the play."

"After watching so many of my performances, would you simply let this one go? If I were to die here today, would you not regret never seeing another of my plays?" she asked, looking up at him.

Her face was fair, her eyes bright and lively, filled with endless appeal. When she spoke in a soft, pitiful tone, even a deity might be moved.

However, Ji Heng was no deity; he was a demon crueler, more callous than any deity. He merely watched Jiang Li with an amused expression and said, "It’s a pity, but I will not be a part of the play."

The look of pleading in Jiang Li's eyes vanished instantly. It was hard to believe that the captivating demeanor she had displayed could be withdrawn so quickly.

Jiang Li felt a twinge of annoyance. In her past life as Xue Fangfei, she had a face that could launch a thousand ships. While she didn't think much of it, her beautiful appearance often smoothed her way through conflicts. People would often relent upon seeing her face, not pursuing matters further. A beauty only needed to pout a little, and everything would fall into place. Though she disliked using such tactics, Xue Zhao often chided her for wasting her looks, saying she could have easily gained a reputation as a femme fatale.

Now, she found herself forced to play the part of the pitiable and lovable, but it seemed that her charms were lost on Ji Heng. His response was as clear and unaffected as ever, leaving her deflated. Ji Heng continued to smile at her, speaking lightly as if he saw nothing wrong in his decision to let her fend for herself. His long, narrow phoenix eyes, beneath which a crimson mole added even an air of seduction, glimmered invitingly in the night.

The leader of the assassins seemed to come to his senses at this moment. He addressed Ji Heng first, "Since Your Excellency has no conflict with us, this will be simple."

He then turned to Jiang Li, saying, "Second Miss, it seems your reinforcements aren’t planning to help you. Let’s not waste any more time, shall we?" With that, perhaps fearing Ji Heng’s presence might lead to unforeseen complications, he lunged at Jiang Li.

The silver tip of his sword gleamed with deadly intent, stirring the leaves into a flurry as they fell.

Seeing that the situation was beyond repair and her supposed ally remained detached, Jiang Li gathered her resolve and shouted, "Lord Duke, I know why you are associating with the Prime Minister and Prince Cheng! The court is divided into three factions. Though the Emperor may appear weak, but he is no fool. To gain his sole trust, you must support Prince Cheng. With threats on all sides, the Emperor will rely on you heavily. This entire tripartite standoff is your creation!"

Jiang Li's rapid and urgent words left the black-clad assassins dumbfounded. What Prince Cheng? What Prime Minister? What was she talking about?

The smile on Ji Heng's lips froze.

end of part 1~

part 2

[alipeeps]

See, one thing I *love* about this drama is that pretty much ALL the characters are well-written and well-rounded and their motivations make sense.

Pretty much no-one (with the possible exception of Feng Yutang) is a caricature or just evil for evil's sake.

Princess Wanning - I mean, sure, that girl has some serious issues... but like, it kinda makes sense... She's grown up wielding immense power. She behaves that way because she knows she can. She's like "person who has never been told "no" in their life" taken to extremes.

Shen Yurong - What he did was terrible. But I think he did genuinely love Xue Fangfei and he felt he had no other choice. Should he have had a backbone? Absolutely. But he doesn't. And oh boy is he suffering for it.

And even Sun Mama, Ji Shuran's maidservant. She has come across from the start as just as cruel and malicious as her mistress, seemingly taking delight in plotting and carrying out Shuren's cruel schemes. Heck, she even callously disposed of the body of an innocent child on Shuren's say so. But then we find out that she's been Shuren's maidservant since she was born. She has literally helped raise her and clearly cares for her and wants her to be happy. And so she does shitty things, and takes pleasure in it, because it's in service of her beloved mistress.

tldr: I love the writing and the characterisation on this show

[tovesaiko]

Sometimes I think about what the real Jiang Li's life would look like of she went to live with the Ye family as a child and it makes me sad.

Despite her father claiming she wasn't ruthless enough Ji Shuran didn't have to accuse A'Li of pushing her and causing her miscarriage. She could've just let her go to Luoyang and be raised by the Yes. She would be out of the picture and she could easily manipulate her husband to completely ignore his daughter even without labelling her as a criminal. Out of mind out of sight.

And A'Li? She'd grow up with her good-hearted second uncle, smartass cousing, drama queen of an aunt and loyal third uncle who doted on her mother so I'm pretty sure he'd dote equally on his niece. What a life that would be! And, with Luoyang being so close to Huaixiang she might have still met and befriended Xue Fangfei, especially since we know the Ye family had a shop in Huaixiang before magistrate Xue was accused of corruption and the town was mismanaged by Feng Yutan. They would most likely have some dealings with the magistrate.

Anyway dreaming of a happier AU where both women are safe and sound 🥺 (Fangfei doesn't marry Yurong in this one somehow. Maybe Jiang Li convinces her not to don't look into this one too closely 😂)

[elderflowergin]

Hello, hi. I hope that you are well and I hope you don't mind me kinda rambling in your inbox. I see that you've watched The Double! May I just say as great as the show was, I think I have one niggling issue with it, maybe two. The og Jiang Li was forgotten in the end and not even her father mourned her for real - as much as I love that Xue FF got her justice, that poor girl died not knowing that she was loved. It would have been nice to see her father, at least stand by her grave or something to remember her. Then Wanning(poor girl best girl mean girl)! I hate that she died like that. There was no way she was ever going to concede power to man after the treatment she received in that other kingdom, I don't even think that she wanted to corrupt Sheng Yurong, but her trauma will not allow her to trust or yield to man for any reason and I am so curious as to why she trusted her brother to be emperor knowing that she detests men in high positions. Lastly Jiang Li's fake pregnancy ploy was beyond cruel, of course she had no context, but to Wanning, it was everything. I cried for her. My heart broke her. Despised by her own people after what she endured for them, maybe a a little madness is not unrealistic. I cried when she cried. Wept with her. I hope this makes sense. Anyway, wish the show had more space for all three of them. That's all.

hello hi anon! I’m good! And I completely agree with you - I didn’t write my concluding thoughts on the show here (I did it on twitter) but yes, real-Jiang Li never got her due, and XFF’s reveal to Jiang Li’s father gave short shrift to the girl who suffered for ten abusive, lonely years. And I don’t think redeeming Jiang Yuanbai was fair to Jiang Li’s righteous rage at her total abandonment - Ji Shuran may have been the agent of destruction, but she managed to commit all these horrors because Jiang Yuanbai was a lousy father and husband. This man’s negligence led to the deaths of two wives and two children! Crying for thirty seconds of screen time is not enough imho.

Wanning’s end was indeed gutting to watch, and the only point at which I was weeping too. She’s sacrificed so much for her kingdom and suffered far more than anyone can imagine, and yet these grand old men turn up their noses and avoid her because she didn’t wield a bow and arrow. No wonder Shen Yurong’s meagre gesture meant so much to her. My guess is Wanning did not have enough power to drive succession - the men around her don’t trust her or think of her as smart, including Lord Cheng and yes, the emperor, and she’s nothing more than an inconvenience to be handled. I think Lord Cheng only pretended better than their younger brother does, and I guess being full siblings close in age helped them build a bond.

The fake pregnancy broke my heart as well, and I know it was aimed at saving the Yan, but it was so cruel considering Wanning’s backstory. How much indignity did she suffer, my god, and for LI JING to loudly mourn her! Blech!

I have to admit that all things considered this was an incredibly entertaining show! I enjoyed so much of it, and I was especially surprised that I enjoyed watching Shen Yurong. I find TV misogynists to be very boring - how many different ways can you hate women, after all? - but he was a compelling character till the end, like layers of a rotting onion. I’m hoping someone picks up Wanning’s plot and writes something that does her justice.

Thanks Anon, for giving me an opportunity to talk about this inexplicably compelling show!

[coquelicoq]

Jiang Li's family tree and familial terms of address in The Double

I'm making this guide for my own reference because there were several family relationships in The Double that I misinterpreted at first based on how they were translated in the English subs, so I've gone back and compared to the Chinese subs. I'm also hoping it will be helpful to people wanting to write fic in English! What little I know about Chinese terms of address has largely been gleaned from other tumblr users' posts predating this show, and I'll link to my sources.

The only significant potential spoiler is some basic biographical information about Jiang Li’s older sibling, who is not directly mentioned until episode 26 but whose existence can be inferred from the fact that Jiang Li is referred to as Second Lady Jiang.

I am basing all of this solely on the drama, not the novel it was adapted from.

Apologies in advance for any inconsistencies in the pinyin punctuation (hyphen vs. apostrophe vs. space vs. smooshed together); it varies widely across sources and I don't think I have a clear enough understanding of the nuances to be confident I'm being consistent in applying the conventions, but I'm including the hanzi as well as an English translation (if the translation is in quotation marks it’s from the subs, usually Viki but not always). Also apologies if I messed up any of the hanzi. I welcome corrections and insights from those with more knowledge!!

I'm referring to Jiang Li in the present tense here for convenience, but since she's dead for the majority of the show, when I say "Jiang Li calls so-and-so xyz," of course it's almost always actually Xue Fangfei acting as Jiang Li who's doing that.

Each image is of that character's first appearance, when the hanzi for their name is given. The hanzi and any other caption are transcribed in alt text.

Jiang Li

Jiang Li (姜梨), aka Jiang Ruoyu (姜若雨), is the second child and second daughter of Jiang Yuanbai. She’s his only child with his first wife, Ye Zhenzhen.

According to this title card, her given name is Ruoyu and her courtesy name is A'Li (阿梨). This means that in this universe, people are given courtesy names in childhood rather than upon maturity. No one ever calls her or refers to her as Ruoyu that I noticed.

She is 18 or thereabouts (she was sent away from the family 10 years ago at age 8).

She has an older sister, Jiang Yue, a younger sister, Jiang Ruoyao, and a younger brother, Jiang Bingji. More about them below.

Sometimes in the subs she's referred to as the eldest daughter or the firstborn. For instance, when Ji Shuran says in episode 7 梨儿终究是我家嫡女, the Viki subs give "Li'er is the firstborn." Another example is in episode 5; someone in the crowd at Jiang Ruoyao's coming-of-age ceremony refers to Jiang Li as Jiang Yuanbai's 嫡长之女, which Viki translates as "eldest daughter". I think this might be a mistranslation. She's not the eldest daughter, but she is the eldest legitimate daughter (born to a legal wife rather than a concubine). In episode 6, Jiang Li refers to herself as 嫡女, and that time it's translated as "legitimate daughter" (Jiang Ruoyao also refers to herself as the same thing in episode 26, and it's "legitimate daughter" there as well). In episodes 26 and 32, Jiang Li is referred to as 姜家的嫡娘子, translated as "legitimate daughter of the Jiang family". The character 嫡, di, means "legal wife" or "child of legal wife" and also is one of the characters in the title of the novel The Double was based on, 嫡嫁千金 (Marriage of the Di Daughter).

She was accused of fratricide and attempted matricide at age 8 when she was blamed for her stepmother's miscarriage.

As the second daughter of a noble family, she is referred to outside the family as Jiang-er'niangzi (姜二娘子, “Second Lady Jiang”, or sometimes translated as "Miss Jiang"). Family servants call her niangzi or er’niangzi (translated in direct address as "my lady"). (Note that Tong'er calls Jiang Li niangzi but tends to call Xue Fangfei jiejie (姐姐, older sister) when they're alone.)

Peers who are close to her, like her school friend Liu Xu and her (slightly) older male cousins Jiang Jingrui and Ye Shijie, call her Jiang Li in the earlier episodes and eventually start calling her A'Li as they become closer.

Her younger sister Jiang Ruoyao and younger cousin Jiang Yu'e call her er'jie (二姐, older sister, second in the birth order; subs often translate this as “Li” even though they’re not actually using her name at all) or er'jiejie. Her younger brother calls her jiejie.

People in her family who are older than her call her A'Li (阿梨], "A" being an affectionate/familiar prefix and "Li" being her given name) or Li'er (梨儿, "er" being an affectionate/familiar suffix). Most people who call her one of these things (including Xue Fangfei, her paternal family, her mother, and her mom’s friend Liu-furen) call her Li’er, while her maternal family (other than her mother) tends to call her A’Li. Her maternal cousin Ye Shijie calls her/refers to her as both Li’er and A’Li, though I noticed him using Li’er more often.

Her paternal grandmother calls her Li'er, haizi (孩子, child), and er’yatou (二丫头, literally second girl). The latter two are generally given in the subs as Li or Li’er.

Her aunt (her father’s younger brother’s wife) calls her wo de hao zhinu (我的好侄女, “my dear niece”) at one point when she's feeling particularly appreciative.

Note that while some people close to Jiang Li call her A'Li (阿梨), when Su-guogong calls (Xue Fangfei as) Jiang Li A'Li, the Chinese subs use 阿狸 (different "li" character). They are pronounced identically, but the latter is the way that Xue Fangfei’s given name, Xue Li, is spelled (薛狸).

Paternal family (Jiang jia 姜家)

Parents

Jiang Yuanbai (姜元柏) is the current head of the noble Jiang family and a high-ranking minister in the imperial court.

His title is Jiang-xiangguo 姜相国, translated as "Grand Chancellor" or "Secretariat Director", depending on the subs.

Xiangguo is a more general honorific that is used for some other ministers as well. His position more specifically seems to be zhongshuling (中书令, “Secretariat Director” or “Chief Secretary”) and taishi (太师, “Grand Preceptor”).

The emperor calls him (and other officials) qing (卿, noble, minister). He also refers to him at least once as laoshi (老师, teacher).

Servants call him zhujun (主君, translated as “my lord” when in direct address).

Jiang Li calls him fuqin (父亲, formal term for "father"). I don't think Xue-Fangfei-as-Jiang-Li ever calls him die (爹, less formal term for "father") at any point, but that is presumably what Jiang Li called him as a child, since he refers to himself as diedie in a flashback when she’s young.

His brothers call him da’ge (大哥, older brother, first in the birth order). His sister-in-law (Jiang Yuanping's wife) also calls him da'ge.

Jiang Jingrui and Jiang Yu'e call him da’bofu (大伯父, father’s older brother, first in the birth order, "Uncle").

Hi wife Ji Shuran calls him fujun (夫君, husband).

He and his brothers share a generation name (one shared character in the given name of each descendant of the same generation), 元, yuan. However, they don’t appear to have continued the tradition in the next generation, because Jiang Jingrui's and Jiang Bingji's names don't share a character. At first I thought at least the girls shared a character, because Jiang Li (whose given name is Ruoyu) and her sister Jiang Ruoyao both have 若, Ruo, but their older sister and their uncle’s daughter don’t have that character in their names, so I guess not.

Ye Zhenzhen (叶珍珍) was Jiang Li's mother.

She died when Jiang Li was a baby, at least six months after giving birth.

She was Jiang Yuanbai's furen (夫人), his official wife (as opposed to a concubine).

When Jiang Li talks about her, she refers to her as a'niang (阿娘, mother) or shengmu (生母, birth mother).

Xue Fangfei addresses her as Ye-furen in her head/when praying to her.

Her younger brother Ye Mingyu calls her Zhenzhen-jie (珍珍姐).

Ji Shuran (季淑然) is Jiang Li's stepmother.

She is Jiang Yuanbai's current furen. Jiang Yuanbai married her after Ye Zhenzhen died.

She's over 30 and probably under 40.

She's the mother of Jiang Ruoyao and Jiang Bingji, who call her niang. Jiang Ruoyao sometimes calls her or refers to her as muqin.

She's referred to as Jiang-furen (姜夫人, “Madam Jiang”) by those outside the family (women keep their own surname when they get married, but when honorifics are used, they're attached to the husband's surname). At one point she refers to herself as Jiang jia de zhumu (姜家的主母, "madam of the Jiang family").

Her husband and the family servants call her furen.

Jiang Li calls her muqin (母亲, formal term for "mother"). In flashbacks, like when she miscarries and when Jiang Li refuses to go home with her maternal grandmother, young Jiang Li calls her niang. She’s sometimes referred to as Jiang Li’s houmu (后母, stepmother).

Consort Li, her younger sister, calls her jiejie.

The Marquis of Ningyuan calls her xiangguo-furen (xiangguo being her husband’s court title).

Jiang Jingrui calls her da’bomu (大伯母, wife of da’bofu). Jiang Yu'e calls her bomu ("Auntie Shuran").

Her husband's younger brother Jiang Yuanping calls her saozi (嫂子, sister-in-law).

Before her marriage, as the eldest child/daughter of the Ji family, she was called Ji-da’niangzi.

Paternal grandparents

Jiang Yuanbai's mother is referred to as Jiang-lao'furen (姜老夫人, "old Madam Jiang").

She was Jiang Yuanbai’s father's furen. Her husband also had at least one concubine.

Jiang Li and her siblings and paternal cousins call her zumu (祖母, father's mother, "Grandmother").

Her two sons and her husband's son from a concubine call her muqin.

Members of her household, including her daughters-in-law, refer to her as lao’furen.

[Not pictured because he never appears onscreen] Jiang Yuanbai's father, who's deceased, is referred to a few times.

Tong’er refers to him as Jiang-lao’taigong (姜老太公, “Old Master Jiang”).

Jiang Li refers to him as zufu (祖父, “Grandfather”).

His widow refers to him as taigong (太公, grandfather, “Old Master Jiang”) in the context of Jiang Li. She addresses him as lao’Jiang at one point.

Paternal aunts and uncles

Jiang Yuanping (姜元平) is Jiang Yuanbai's younger brother from the same mother and father.

Jiang Li calls him er'shu (二叔, father’s younger brother, second in the birth order; “ Second Uncle Jiang”).

His son Jiang Jingrui calls him die (爹, "Father").

Jiang Yuanping’s wife's surname is Lu (卢).

Jiang Li calls her er'shumu (二叔母, wife of er'shu; “Second Auntie Lu”). Interestingly, all the tumblr guides I’ve seen say the wife of your father’s younger brother would be shenmu, not shumu, but she is clearly saying shu according to the subs, and shumu is in the dictionary.

Her husband calls her furen (translated as "My Lady" or "my dear"); her son calls her niang ("Mother").

Jiang Yuanxing (姜元兴) is Jiang Yuanbai's younger half-brother; they have the same dad, but his mom was their dad's concubine.

Jiang Li calls him san'shu (三叔, father’s younger brother, third in the birth order; “Third Uncle Jiang”).

Jiang Yuanxing’s wife's surname is Yang (杨).

Jiang Lu calls her san'shumu (三叔母, wife of san'shu; “Third Auntie Yang”).

Siblings

Jiang Yue (姜月) is Jiang Yuanbai’s oldest child and Jiang Li’s older sister. She was born to a maid (so, not the furen). This means that while she is the oldest child, she's not the oldest "legitimate" child.

She’s not directly mentioned until episode 26 (unless I missed something), so I won’t say anything else about her, to avoid spoilers.

Jiang Ruoyao (姜若瑶) is Ji Shuran's oldest child, Jiang Li's younger sister, and the third child and third daughter of Jiang Yuanbai.

She can't be much younger than Jiang Li, possibly two years younger at most would be my guess? I can't remember if they ever say her age. She has a coming of age ceremony in one of the early episodes.

Jiang Li calls her san'mei (三妹, literally "third younger sister", which refers to her position in the birth order as the third daughter of the Jiang family, rather than meaning that she's the third youngest of Jiang Li's younger sisters (Jiang Li only has one younger sister)).

She calls Jiang Li er’jie (二姐, older sister, second in the birth order; subs translate this as just “Li”).

Her parents call her Yao’er.

Those outside the family call her Jiang-san'niangzi (姜三娘子, “Third Lady Jiang”). Family servants call her niangzi or san’niangzi.

Jiang Bingji (姜丙吉) is Ji Shuran's second child, Jiang Li's younger brother, and the fourth child and only son of Jiang Yuanbai.

He was born after Ji Shuran’s miscarriage (source: he refers to the fetus as gege (哥哥, older brother), meaning it would have been born before him). This means he’s less than 10 years old, since the miscarriage/Jiang Li’s exile was 10 years ago.

Jiang Li doesn't have a lot of interaction with him, but in his intro she calls him didi (弟弟, little brother) and he calls her jiejie (姐姐, big sister).

Family servants call him xiao'gongzi (小���子, "Young Master").

Paternal cousins

Jiang Jingrui (姜景睿) is Jiang Yuanping's son.

Jiang Li calls him tangxiong (堂兄, older paternal male cousin, i.e., son of father’s brother, older than her) the first time they meet, which causes him to accuse her of not being Jiang Li because it's too formal. Jiang Yu’e also calls him tangxiong.

Jiang Li's childhood nickname for him was xiao'Ruirui (小睿睿). In the present she mostly calls him Jiang Jingrui.

Liu Xu refers to him as Jiang Li’s gege.

He calls Jiang Li “Jiang Li” and sometimes refers to her as Li'er.

Those outside the family call him Jiang-gongzi (姜公子, “Mr. Jiang”).

Jiang Yu'e (姜玉娥) is Jiang Yuanxing's daughter.

This was something that I didn't pick up on for a while: She and Jiang Li refer to each other (and others refer to them) as sisters (Jiang Li calls her si'mei (四妹, fourth younger sister) and she calls Jiang Li er'jie), but they're actually cousins; their dads are brothers.

Jiang Jingrui also calls her si’mei.

She has a lower position in the family because her dad's mom was not the furen but a concubine.

As the fourth daughter of the Jiang family (though again, not the fourth daughter of Jiang Yuanbei; she's the fourth girl born to the previous generation of Jiang sons), I think she's addressed by those outside the family as Jiang-si’niangzi (四三娘子, “Fourth Lady Jiang”).

Jiang family servants

Tong’er (桐儿) is Jiang Li’s maid.

Sun-mama (孙妈妈, “senior maidservant Sun” or "Madam Sun") is Ji Shuran’s maid.

[Not pictured because I never saw a title card for her] Zhang-popo (张婆婆, “maidservant Zhang”) is Jiang-lao’furen’s maid.

Maternal family (Ye jia 叶家)

Maternal grandmother

Ye Zhenzhen’s mother is referred to as Ye-lao’furen (叶老夫人, “Old Madam Ye” or “Old Mrs. Ye”).

Jiang Li calls her wai’zumu (外祖母, mother’s mother, “Grandmother”).

Maternal aunts and uncles

Ye Mingxuan (叶明轩) is Ye Zhenzhen's brother, the second oldest son in the family.

Jiang Li calls him er'jiu (二舅, mother’s brother, second in the birth order).

Ye Mingxuan’s older brother (Ye Shijie’s dad) and father are dead, making him the current head of the family.

It’s unclear if he’s Ye Zhenzhen’s older or younger brother. Because the term for a mother’s brother is the same whether the brother is older or younger than the mother (jiu), it’s impossible to tell from what Jiang Li calls him. I’m listening for other times someone else calls him something that could give a hint to this, but the only thing I’ve found is Jiang Yuanbai calling him something translated as brother-in-law, qingjia xiongdi (亲家兄弟), but xiongdi in my understanding refers generally to brothers and doesn’t specify older or younger. I don’t think there are any flashbacks in which Ye Zhenzhen talks to or about him. And we can infer that the birth order terms used for the men in this family do not include the women, because we know Ye Mingyu, who is referred to as third uncle and so must be the third son, actually must be the fourth child overall (assuming there aren't any other Ye daughters), because Ye Zhenzhen calls him younger brother, which means he has three older siblings (the two sons who are older than him, plus Ye Zhenzhen). So we know that Ye Mingxuan is second in the birth order of sons specifically, but he could have one or more older sisters as well.

Ye Mingxuan's wife’s surname is Zhuo (卓).

Jiang Li calls her er’jiumu (二舅母, wife of er’jiu).

I assume she's called Ye-furen (叶夫人) by those outside the family but haven't encountered it in my rewatch yet.

Ye Mingyu (叶明煜) is Ye Zhenzhen's younger brother, the third oldest son in the family.

Jiang Li calls him san'jiu (三舅, mother’s brother, third in the birth order).

He refers to Ye Zhenzhen as Zhenzhen-jie. In his flashback of her getting married in episode 15, she calls him san’di (三弟, third younger brother, meaning younger brother who’s the third son; it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s the third of her younger brothers. She does have three brothers, but it’s possible one or both of the other two are older than her; see above).

The clerk in his family’s store calls him san’lang (三郎, “Third Master”).

Ye Jia’er calls him san’shu and I assume Ye Shijie does as well, since in both cases he’s the younger brother of their fathers.

Maternal cousins

Ye Shengxuan (叶圣宣), courtesy name Shijie (世杰), is the son of the oldest (now deceased, and I never caught a name if it was given) son of the previous generation of the Ye family. (Source: Ye Mingxuan introduces himself as Ye Shijie’s er’shu, meaning he’s second in the birth order and the younger brother of Ye Shijie’s dad, so Ye Shijie's dad must be first in the birth order.)

Jiang Li calls him biaoge (表哥, term for an older male cousin when you're related through one or both of your mothers (so, one of his parents is your mom's sibling and/or one of your parents is his mom's sibling. In this case, Jiang Li's mom is his father's sister)). Jiang Jingrui refers to him as Jiang Li’s biaoxiong (表兄, another term for an older male maternal cousin).

He calls Jiang Li Li'er, A’Li, or Jiang Li.

Jiang Jingrui calls him Shijie or biaoge, though he is not Jiang Jingrui's maternal cousin (he is the maternal cousin of Jiang Li, Jiang Jingrui's paternal cousin).

People who aren’t close to him call him Ye-gongzi (叶公子) or Ye-longjun (叶郎君), both translated as “Mr. Ye”.

Ye Jia’er (叶嘉儿) is Ye Mingxuan's daughter.

Jiang Li calls her biaojie (表姐, term for an older female cousin when you’re related through one or both of your mothers) or Jia’er-biaojie.

She calls Jiang Li biaomei (表妹, younger female maternal cousin).

The clerk in the family store calls her Jia’er-niangzi (嘉儿娘子; in this case the “er” is part of her given name, rather than the “er” meaning “second”).

I assume people not associated with the family call her Ye-niangzi, but I haven’t come across that yet in my rewatch.

Ye family servants

[Not pictured because I didn't see a title card for her] Li-mama (李妈妈, “Madam Li”) is Ye-furen's maid.

I'll update the above as my rewatch continues, so watch this space!