#kunning palace

[shewholovestoread]

Story of Kunning Palace - Jiang Xue Ning - Part 1

There was something I wanted to touch upon about Jiang Xue Ning (Xue Ning) specifically the part about the first life.

All we know about the first life and her actions therein are largely from Xue Ning's perspective. Since we're limited because of this perspective, it is also hard to judge just how "evil" she was. She certainly judges herself very harshly but let's dig a little deeper. For the purpose of clarity, I'm going to break this up into a few key points that I think would illustrate what I'm trying to say, the post is split into 2 parts:

PART 1 1) Early Life 2) Desire for power and control. 3) Ning's desire to be loved.

PART 2 4) Alliances in first life and her influence in 2nd life 5) Ning's Personality 6) Conclusion

EARLY LIFE:

Wanniang, Xue Ning's father's concubine, switched her own daughter with Xue Ning, partly out of spite because she was being thrown out and partly because she wanted her own biological daughter to have a good life (a massive fuck-you to the Jiang family)

On her deathbed, Wanniang confesses to Xue Ning about what she did and that she has informed the family as well. Once, Ning's back home, she's faced with a family that she knows nothing about. Her father, in her first life, was largely indifferent towards her, her mother was outright hostile (she remained the same for a large portion of the 2nd life as well) and finally there was Xue Hui, the usurper. Her entire life, up until that moment had been a massive lie and one that had absolutely nothing to do with her, she was just unfortunate to get caught in the crossfire.

If we look at things from Ning's perspective, she was raised by Wanniang and thinks that Wanniang didn't really care about her, she talks about her insecurity both in the novel and show, when she says that Wanniang would sometimes look at her as if trying to see someone else in her face, or that she'd suddenly pull away from Ning. It was only later that Ning realised why that was.

At home, she always felt like an interloper. She knew that when her mother looked at her, she saw Wanniang and would not let go of that prejudice. Her father had no influence at home (he's repeatedly told that he should leave the home front to the wife) and the sister, who is so damn virtuous that there's no way that Ning could compete with her.

Her ambition then, to become the empress, makes complete sense, it stems from wanting power and control over her life.

DESIRE FOR POWER AND CONTROL:

This is tied to her early life where she felt that she had no control. It is easy to see why she would want to be the empress because the only person more powerful than her would be the emperor. But never again would she be left unable take the reins in her life. I'm going to go in deeper into how she did that in another section.

Her pursuit for power and control stems from her perceived lack of either in her life. She felt like she didn’t have any agency, all of the things that had happened were due to other people and the decisions they made, no one considered Ning’s feelings or what she might want to do.

That she pursues Shen Lang is for 2 reasons, his older brother is sickly and sooner or later, it would be Shen Lang on the throne. The 2nd is that she sees it as balancing the scales. Since Xue Hui took everything that was meant to be hers, she would take Shen Lang, it's that simple. It's fortunate that Shen Lang is a decent man and while Ning was never in love with him, she did care about him.

DESIRE FOR LOVE:

Ning herself would beat up anyone who dared to say that she was driven by her desire for love. Now, some might be thinking that in that case, why did she rebuff Yan Lin who so clearly liked her? That's partly tied to her desire for power and control. She's so incredibly haunted by what her life was like, everything that was taken from her and feeling unwanted by her own family.

She knows that love doesn't mean a damned thing if she's still powerless and ultimately her need for power overshadows any tender feelings she might harbour for Yan Lin. She feels used by the people who should have been looking out for her. Ning thought that Wanniang didn't love her and she could probably deal with that if she got along with her 'birth' family but she instead found herself alienated from them as well. I imagine she felt that there since there was no one in her corner, no one to protect her, she would have to do that herself but that also came from a place of hurt and disappointment. Her attitude towards and treatment of the people in her first life reflects her vindictiveness, she's going to use them to get what she wants.

Ning's actions in the first life are largely driven by her hurt and the all the trauma she's experienced. Imagine coming home to your "family" and realising that you're the outsider. Her desire for power and love are so deeply intertwined that I doubt that Ning herself could differentiate between them. She’s been hurt by people who should have cared about her, accepted her, and she will be damned before she lets anyone else do that again. It never occurs to her that there are people who could genuinely care about her and moreover she doesn't let herself consider that they might care.

It is only once she comes back that she has more information and context and she spends more time with people like Xie Wei, Shen Zhi Yi, Yan Lin, etc that she realizes that maybe she was wrong. Time and distance allow her to see people more clearly now that her judgement is not clouded by her prejudice, by her hurt. It's why she realizes that Shen Zhi Yi is very clearly in love with her (that's just not up for debate) and even at the end of the first life, when Xie Wei gave her the knife, maybe he did want her to have something to defend herself with. Xie Wei had to know what Yan Lin was doing every night but being an ally, he probably didn't want to alienate him, so instead gave Ning the dagger to protect herself with.

In keeping people at an arm’s length lest they hurt her, Ning doesn’t realise that she’s also closed herself to people who might genuinely care for her and I think she does realise that. It’s just that she figures that it’s a fair trade, she’s convinced that love and regard won’t last in the long run but shared interests will (hence her relationship with Zhou Yinzhi) but she only had to look at You Fangyin to know that people do have the ability to surprise you.

Click for Part 2

[dangermousie]

I will believe it when I see it but PLEASE!

[thesinglelogbridge]

evil toxic cdrama male lead my beloved 💕

[circumference-pie]

I don't know who's more of a cartoon villain, Zhu Jiu from Guardian or this barbarian prince guy

[chaos0pikachu]

everybody being like "how did xiao bao not realize huai en is a dude?" y'all don't watch enough c-dramas where the female lead rolls up to the sword society streets in a high bun in a full beat of makeup and all the relevant hot dude chars approach her like she's ginuwine & they're justin timberlake full on "fo'shiz! fo'shiz! what's up my sworn bromie?" like this is equality looks like people wake up and embrace it

[gizkasparadise]

[cdrama-action]

🍉SIGNUPS FOR CDRAMA GOTCHA FOR GAZA CREATORS NOW OPEN!🍉

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We greatly appreciate you promoting our project, even if you can't participate yourself. As this is a multi-fandom event, we need all the plugging we can get. Thank you!!

-Cdrama Action Team

[zhanglinghez]

STORY OF KUNNING PALACE 宁安如梦 (2023) → EPISODE 34

[storge]

From now on, let me teach you instead. I'll teach you how to love someone properly. Jiang Xuening... I'm yours.

Story of Kunning Palace (2023)

[dramashii]

ZHANG LING HE as Xie Wei in STORY OF KUNNING PALACE (2023)

[shewholovestoread]

Story of Kunning Palace - Jiang Xue Ning - Part 2

Part is here

NING'S ALLIANCES AND INFLUENCE - FIRST AND SECOND LIFE:

The one thing that stayed consistent with both 'lives' was Ning's ability to cultivate relationships with people around her. There is something about her that draws people to her.

In the first life, she had Zhou Yinzhi and You Fangyin. Zhou Yinzhi was never truly trustworthy, always more interested in furthering his own ambition and keeping his neck safe. The only reason he stayed loyal to Ning was because her ambition far outpaced his own. You Fangyin's loyalty was purer, she stayed by Ning's side even at the cost of her own life and safety.

In the second life, things are very different, with Ning trying to actively make changes and in doing so, she won over and also changed so many people she came into contact with.

There was of course You Fangyin, who remained steadfast as ever. But her relationship with Yan Lin matured. She was open and upfront that while she cared immensely for him, she was not in love with him and he took it well. (I'll do a deep dive on the relationships in a separate post) Same with Shen Zhi Yi, she went from someone who actively harassed Ning in life 1 to becoming one of her staunchest supporters and protected her in the court (true love and probably the healthiest of all her potential suitors). Then we have Xie Wei, who probably underwent the greatest amount of growth. And finally Zhang Zhe and with him, she actively tried to undo the mistakes of her past.

NING'S PERSONALITY:

One of the aspects that I loved about Ning is that, whether it was life 1 or 2, she was very clear when it came to her objective. She pursues her goal with a single-minded focus and is capable of thinking ten steps ahead while keeping track of possible obstacles. In the novel, we have access to her thoughts quite a bit of it is just inner monologue) and they’re great insight into her character and her growth through the story.

Her arc in life 1 is a great example of just how dedicated she in when she sets her mind on something. Think about it, she becomes the empress with all of the cards stacked against her, with no backing at all, it was all her own doing. That is admirable and impressive.

Ning thinks that in life 1, she was too clever for her own good and all she wants to do in life 2, is stay under the radar and live a boring life. In most other stories, there would have been a perceivable shift in her thinking, like she would be more noble after being humbled in her first life, and that’s just not the case. She is still very much the same person, capable of being just as callous and cruel as she used to be. This aspect is more clear in the books because we have access to her thoughts. I was concerned about how they would pull this off in the show, but thankfully they did a great job.

She remains cunning and conniving throughout the story, it’s just that she chooses to focus her considerable mental resources to protect she comes to care about. And she is single-minded in that regard as well, even willing to put her life on the line if it means that she can save them (when she was willing to whisk away Shen Zhi Yi, while fully aware of what it would cost her.)

CONCLUSION:

Was Ning “evil” in her first life? She did what everyone around her was doing and continued to do throughout the narrative with the Xue family vying for control of the court, Xie Wei with his own vengeful vendetta among others. Are her actions somehow more heinous because she dared to be ambitious and work to make that ambition a reality?

Under that hardened shell was someone who was deeply hurt and let down by all those around her, it is any surprise then that she would want a modicum of control over the course of her own life? We have this idea in our heads that people, specifically women, should be kind to the people around them and I reject that idea. Ning didn’t have to be kind and if she did, who should she be kind to, her useless family, the people who mocked her or the women who tried to trip her up?

Ning tells us that, in the previous life, she reached the zenith of power by using people indiscriminately and she very clearly views this in a negative light. But I don't think that's necessarily true.

Let's review shall we, the person she dumped most callously was Yan Lin. After he loses his family and is exiled, Ning tries to convince Shen Lang to bring him back, in fact, this was something she always intended to do.

We can assume (like in life 2) that she actively took care of and protected You Fangyin which is why she stayed by her side. I think Fangyin is an inherently decent person, if she found Ning being genuinely evil (like the Xue family) I don't think she would have stuck around.

When she realised that she was at the end of her rope in life 1, she chose to sacrifice herself to save Zhang Zhe's life. She didn't need to do that. If she was truly as callous as she thought she was, she would not have spared another thought for him.

I think that Ning is her own greatest critic. Taking into account, the setting of the story, Ning sees her ambition as dishonourable. Women are meant to work behind the scenes and not make too much noise. Power struggle within the harem? Perfectly fine, because that is a woman's space. But the wider society? How dare a woman have ambitions beyond marriage and children! While Ning is fairly progressive, she's not immune to the subconscious social prejudices of her time.

It is no surprise then that Ning thinks she was evil but as the viewer/reader, we know that she’s far from that. She’s not the conventional, dull, do-gooder female lead we usually get. Instead, in Ning, we have a nuanced and complicated female protagonist who takes back the reins of her life. She is calculating and manipulative but she is also capable of being incredibly selfless. She uses her skills to protect her loved ones but also does not shy away from using those same skills to take down people who would do her and hers harm.

[dangermousie]

Apparently the director of Kunning Palace said it will air “soon” (what does “soon” mean? In cosmic terms, anything before the heat death of the universe can be classed as soon) but whatever, I wanted to use that news as an excuse to post this amazing still because a cdrama ML in fluffy white with fluffy white cat is a major upgrade from usual dude with white cat territory:

If you don’t like this joke pls consider that at least I refrained from “gotta appreciate a man who loves pussy” take. (This rhetoric maneuver btw is called apophasis and with that note this post has achieved the holy grail combo of hot men, cats, terrible jokes, and educational value.)

[bebemoon]

the story of kunning palace

[circumference-pie]

i need to scream to someone about how xie wei is so mei changsu-coded

[animebw]

Everyone say thank you to Madhouse and JC Staff for keeping shoujo/josei anime alive in the modern anime era.

[gizkasparadise]

Me every time I start a palace drama: can a bitch get a flowchart and some name tags