#this is why I love cdramas

[lunar-bunn]

my girl A'Li (artfully draped in a towel, surrounded by roses) in a bath fantasizing about him while he's doing sword work in the pouring rain looking straight off the cover of a bodice ripping romance novel!

[sableeira]

You know how “the moon is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” is used as an expression for love confessions? It’s said that Natsume Soseki came up with it after overhearing a student translate “I love you” to Japanese in a very literal sense. While there is no source confirming that this exchange actually happened, I still think a scene referencing the expression with Natsume randomly appearing would be hilarious

[xinyuehui]

A single word of 'dawn' awakened me. The day breaks. Thank you for turning my dark night into a dawn.

大梦归离 · Fangs of Fortune · 2024

[guzhufuren]

Jin Xiaobao and one very eye opening and bisexuality awakening night (1/?)

Uncensored wuxia BL Meet You At The Blossom (2024)

[zhouyes]

our master-disciple relationship ends here.

love of the divine tree, 仙台有树. [ TRAILER ]

[clj-art-blog]

DFQC and XLH | Support and care of his beloved wife in boring paperwork of national importance

[storge]

What's all this first thing in the morning? You've been on leave for two long months. I was afraid your men's skills might be rusty. So I thought to help them warm up. In that case, I should thank the Jinwu Guards. You're welcome. Now that your men have warmed up, I'll personally help you warm up.

CHENG LEI as Shang Bieli & LUO YUNXI as Jiang Xinbai

Follow Your Heart (2024) 1.07

[dramatictrajectory]

How to sleep soundly with an assassin sharing your bed:

Don't let her restrain any bit of your robe

2. Don't let her keep her hidden sharp object

3. Don't let her win the staring contest

4. Don't let her give you a surprise knock-out chop

[mydaylight]

Do you like the flowers? Yesterday I passed the greenhouse and saw them in full bloom, so I told them to send you some. I like them very much. Thank you Your Majesty.

LEGEND OF ZHEN HUAN | Episode 4

[zishuge]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 (2024) | Ep. 2

[lemonsourcrisis]

Hidden Love 偷偷藏不住 (2023) — 1.13

[heymeowmao]

四海重明 | Love's Rebellion ° Wang Zirui as Nan Yi, Young Lord of Yao Palace

[sandushengshou]

Love and Redemption: episode 55

[xinyuehui]

They 🥺💖

[koremakaria]

The Favored Son,Parental Love, and Sibling Rivalry

Palace politics can be cutthroat like in the literal sense especially when you're a capable royal prince with the support of your royal father, the emperor, and your royal mother, the empress. (*info up to EP 15)

What can go wrong, you might asked and well ... apparently a lot can go wrong because ... see you also happened to have an older brother (from a different mother) who wants the throne and wants you cold and dead in the ground.

So you might be a good guy with a kind heart. Fighting off the enemies so that you can secure peace and prosperity for your people and your kingdom and still find yourself being framed for the death of 100, 000 people and a great fire you didn't start.

Such was the case for our ML ... the sad backstory of Murong Jinghe.

Even when MRJH was blamed for the brutal burning of a civilian city, his parents never stopped loving him. I just want to talk about the parental love for the favored son.

The Empress' Last Embroidered Screen

This piece was made when the empress was 'sick' to appease the people. Since she coughed up blood, it could also mean poison so the jury is still out on this. But I digress. The embroidered piece is the last connection between the empress and MRJH. She knew that one day he would be back in the palace and that he would be able to view the piece in person. She trusted her husband, the emperor, to one day bring their son home.

When MRJH returned, he thought that his mother died believing that he was a bad general. That he had deliberately went against her teaching. That he had become a cruel person. In Chinese and many Asian cultures to disappoint one's parents carry a great deal of shame because you (your accomplishments and failures) are a reflection of your parents and how they raised you. And so even when MRJH hated the blame of the fire he must have hated the fact that his mother thought he was a bad boy who did very bad things even more.

And so he cut the embroidery at the neck of the child's depiction of him because he couldn't stand to see the child version of him that his mother must have grieved before she passed. But with the help of Mei Lin, MRJH discovered his mother's hidden message written in the military flag positions. A coded message left for him to find. The fact MRJH only discovered the secret message with the help of Mei Lin symbolizes the importance of allies. Like he must have seen the embroidered piece many times before but had now just discovered the hidden message that told him that his mother never stop believing in him.

And then we get to the mending part. Old threads were taken to mend the ripped fabric. Mei Lin tried to help but ultimately our ML took over since it was his trauma to heal and only he could heal his own wound. MRJH said that he only knew how to embroidered because he was often mischievous when young and as punishment he often had to stand still and so he learned embroidery by watching his mother. Essentially he gained skills by making a mistake. This theme mirrors his current predicament. Being too good and too trusting was a mistake but because of it he also obtained new skills.

The message written in military flag positions is important here because it's his connection to the power of his mother's side of the family. Like the empress came from a military family and till the very end she left a military style message for her 'general' son that she loved him and that she believed in his goodness despite what everyone else was saying.

The Emperor's Love for the Third Prince

We see this paternal love numerous times in the drama and they are often subtle. I'll list a few that stood out to me.

When MRJH came back to the palace, his father asked him several times if he was still bitter about the many years of exile like the emperor was expecting his son to voice his grievance and he was ready to listen it seemed.

When princess Zigu wanted Mei Lin to stay at her residence instead of going to live with MRJH because she doesn't believe that he was truly in love with Mei Lin and that he might bully her friend, the emperor was quick to say that the third prince wouldn't do something like that. Like there was a complete conviction that his son was a good guy.

When father and son are together, we always get a feel that they have a good and trusting relationship.

When MRJH went missing, the emperor couldn't eat properly and basically ordered most of the military men to join the search and rescue mission. Like this is just one son. Clearly the favored child. I mean am I wrong?

When the emperor saw the 'fake' body of MRJH he remembered the ring that the empress gifted their son. Like that's such a detailed thing to remember. And the physical reaction to the news of his son's death was devastating.

All the evidence points to MRJH being the favored child. Despite being a disgraced military general his father still welcomed him back with open arms.

We don't get to see his skills as a military general yet but I'm sure that's coming soon. So our ML is a competent military general, has a kind heart, wants to protect civilians against harm, works for the greater good of his father's empire and is the only heir with the empress' bloodline ... all good stuff ... like these are great qualities for a crown prince which is why his older brother framed him.

Because envy has a name and it is Murong Xuanlie ... the current Crown Prince who got the position by sacrificing 100,000 souls.

[dramashii]

ZHANG LING HE as CHANG HENG, the god of war LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL (2022)