#yes i will serenade the devil wife given the option

[justandy]

@resident-lover

[shangyangjunzhu]

Epiphanies

Okay so this is gonna be a long post...

Both Story of Yanxi Palace and Legend of Ruyi have some of the most complicated characters and such beautiful writing. Even some of the “villians” force me to sympathize and like them unlike Serenade of Peaceful Joy (internally screaming). Something I am seeing often is how Jin Yuyan (from Legend of Ruyi) and Hoifa-Nara Shushen (from Story of Yanxi Palace) change abruptly and that there is no proper explanation behind this character development. I’d like to play devil’s advocate and argue why it is infact excellent writing.

Okay starting off, Neither Yuyan nor Shushen really ever love their respective Qianlong. Yuyan’s only motivation to do anything is to win glory for her clan, which would obviously benefit her lover the Duke of Yu. Therefore, she doesn’t bat an eye when she goads Xiyue to kill the royal heirs or manipulate Ruiji to kill Langhua. She seduces Qianlong to give birth to more children which would solidify her standing in court. Her folly lies in believing that a woman of Korean descent would be allowed to be the Empress of a Manchu dynasty (sorry this isn’t the Yuan dynasty) even if she would eliminate Luyun (who is Han, which means that she can’t dream of this either) and Ruyi. If not Ruyi, Qianlong would probably have elevated Yihuan even if she had no kids  just because she was Manchu. I am going off topic, so let’s go back. When she loses Qianlong’s favor, she also happens to lose Zhenshu, who kind of did most of the dirty work and kept Yuyan from going beserk. Losing her made her alone in the Qing court which meant that there was no one to tell Yuyan if what she was doing was too suspicious or do it covertly for her. Zhenshu was Yuyan’s only confidante who knew everything and I mean EVERYTHING. Lianxin is just a sidekick who is there for appearances. In addition, knowing that she couldn’t be an Empress at this point meant the only other option is for one of her sons to become the next Emperor. One of the biggest taboos for a Chinese emperor is the succession, especially after the Kangxi era (for further info watch Bu Bu Jing Xin). She didn’t realize that was the one thing she shouldn’t have messed with, which Zhenshu may have reminded her of. In my opinion, this is why she changes so abruptly and also falls from glory; not to forget, our lady Yanwan’s grudge. The only reason she decides to get into the succession battle is not even for her son’s future or her own prosperity but just so that Duke might benefit from it. It is so sad to see her break down when she realizes that she was merely a pawn the entire time and that she fought so viciously for a loser that abandoned her the moment she is of no use.

Coming to Shushen, her whole deal was to simply live her life peacefully. She cared for the Emperor as a wife would for her husband, but it was never really love. If anything, it was initially what Chinese culture demanded of a wife; respect, filial piety and the lack of jealousy. What really pushes her is that despite her not messing with anyone, everyone decides to mistreat her. Qianlong doesn’t care for her, Ningxin goes out of her way to make her life miserable and Jinghao keeps pushing her to be an ally of Rongyin. She decides that being above everyone is the only way to preserve her life and that of her father’s. Therefore, she ruthlessly gets rid of everyone in her path without even getting her hands dirty (She does it so well). As the Empress, she never gets jealous of anyone or their favor, rather it is when she is afraid that Yingluo might be capable of snatching her security and power (when she is given the right to carry out the silkworm ceremony) that she decides to wipe Yingluo out. Shushen’s facade is impeccable that it takes a very long time for Yingluo to realize what Shushen is capable of. Like Yingluo said, Shushen is the “most patient hunter she’s ever seen”. So why does Shushen really fail? Insecurities about her age and her son’s lack of talent is what really brings this about. She realizes that her time is ending and that Yingluo might be the one who gains the power after she is gone; the inability to be confident about her prowess is the root of it all. This is exactly why the ever-smart Shushen is able to be manipulated by Yuan Chunwang into making a fatal folly. One might think, how nice it would have been if she remained viciously smart? Fortunately or unfortunately, this is the beauty and ugliness of human nature. Insecurities can bring down the smartest and most cunning women. Yingluo doesn’t let these trivialities get the better of her while Shushen does.

Would I have liked to see this characters remain viley and successful? Yes. Was it a mistake on the part of the writers? No. They did a perfect job of depicting human imperfections.