When Jesus talks about the faith of a mustard seed I understand now.
Sometimes you just have to have faith!
I believe.
I believe in love again and
I want love to THRIVE in my world!
This is the first Chinese period drama where I was hooked to the sound tracks.
Even though I can't understand the meaning with out reading the subtitles,
I still found myself singing out loud every single episode!
You can listen to the first one here,
and the second one here.
Staring Seven Tan (Tan Song Yun) as Luo Shiyi Niang, and Wallace Chung as Marquis Xu Lingyi
the whole series gradually won over my stubborn numb jaded heart.
This period drama is set in the Ming Dynasty and follows the story
of a concubine's daughter who is promised in marriage to her dying elder sister's husband.
It is the usual family dynamic , nothing new.
In this drama the matriarch/official wife, Madam Luo( Fang Xiao Li)
has autocratic rule over the household.
She's exploiting the marriages of her own daughter and her fellow co-wives' daughters' to create
lasting partnerships for the Luo family.
It's these arranged marriages that make our story.
In this blog post I am sharing my favorite episodes of the series!
It was really hard to choose, cause this series was so enjoyable, but here we go...
The story begins when our lead character Shiyi Niang is thrust into the center of the drama, she is summoned back to the city with her beloved mother after living a peaceful and quiet village life.
Madam Luo has decided it's time for all the remaining daughters in the household to get married.
BIG SPOILER ALERT FROM HERE ONWARDS!
1. EPISODE 7- THE WEDDING NIGHT
This bedroom scene was surprisingly comical for me. I laughed through so many well acted moments.
The awkwardness and shyness of the couple was played out so eloquently in this episode and the ones that follow. In fact this is when I became hooked, and decided to follow through and finish the series
Shiyi enters this marriage with no intention of honoring it. She is on a 'secret' mission to discover who killed her beloved mother. Marquis Xu is simply honoring his late wife, Yuan Niang's (Ying Er) request, to keep the marriage alliance between the Luo and Xu families. He is willing to make it work. Our fave couple begins their journey here, but it's such a deep contrast to where they end up.
I love the details of gold roses on the Marquis's headdress when he goes to collect his bride. The element of sadness in the celebration because it is the second time he is returning to the Luo household for a wife. He is older, and the jokes and festivities just aren't as fun for him. I love the way he catches Shiyi when she trips as she nervously enters her marital home. There are some emotional and poignant moments to this episode. A perfect blend of emotions.
2. EPISODE 15 and 16 - MOULDY RICE SCANDAL
Concubine Qiao, Shiyi's co-wife is in charge of the Xu household domestic duties, her latest task is organizing relief food to the refugees flooding into the city. Mrs Zhang, Concubine Qiao's servant purchases moldy rice to feed the refugees. Somehow, different servants of the other concubines discover the bad purchase. Eventually Nanny Tao(He Miao), reports the matter to Shiyi. These two episodes are wonderfully woven together and the suspense keeps us glued to our screens. Watching the subtlety of the servants telling, but not telling their masters until it finally reaches Shiyi's ear is really fantastic to watch. We see Shiyi blossom here,She is assertive and barks orders at incompetent servants and takes charge of the situation to maintain the reputation of the Xu family. Her cleverness, calmness and logical brain really come into play here. In the last twenty seconds of episode 15, the Marquis swoops in on horseback to save his wife from being crushed by rebels. We learn the depth of the Ou family -Xu family rivalry...it's deep....real deep!!! And lastly, we begin to root for our main couple. Well...I began to root for them. There is some serious soulmate compatibility there...
3. EPISODE 26- TAKING DOWN CONCUBINE QIAO
Concubine Qiao played by He Hong Shan is going down as one of my favorite villains. She's a villain but not a one sided evil villain She is human, reacting to hurt. We have to accept Marquis Xu is terrible at managing the 'wives', Concubine Qiao, Concubine Wen (Liu Yun) and Concubine Qin
He is cold and insensitive to their needs. All these women are suffering from the pain of neglect.
Fair enough, they were either chosen for him, or thrust upon him but still either it's emotional immaturity or bad character development. He was just an awful husband to them.
Concubine Qiao is the daughter of an official wife, so she wasn't destined to be a 'co-wife' she was raised to be 'number one'. Because of her love for Marquis and the clever trickery of Yuan Niang she chooses this unlucky life path. And is flabbergasted when Shiyi arrives and Marquis Xu takes to her like a duck on water. She jealously watches as he flirts and falls for his second official wife. She can't take it...it is too much! The episodes leading up to her downfall are a beautiful demonstration of the concept of the ' unreliable narrator'.
Here we see the Marquis working with Shiyi to uncover the mystery behind the murder of his first wife. Jumping out from nowhere once again to karate chop all the men sent to assassinate his beloved wife, I can't help but cheer at the screen for the second time! But Concubine Qiao plays her role well,
and we appreciate her all the way to the confines of the Buddhist nun temple, where she is banished until her death.
EPISODE 35: SHIYI CONFESSES HER LOVE...
All I have to say is poor Marquis Xu had to wait forever to consummate his marriage...imagine!?
We give him props for being polite and respectful given the historical context. Although she did stab him at one point... and she did mistakenly believe he killed her mother...so...we had to wait many episodes....insert deep sigh of sweet frustration. This was the third time I was cheering loudly at the screen while watching alone.... LOL There's is also the quintessential rain scene with the lead couple...enjoy!
EPISODE 41: SHIYI LEARNS WHO KILLED HER MOTHER
The widow of Marquis Xu's elder brother tributes a bamboo painting to her late husband and father in law during the death anniversary ceremony, and all hell breaks loose when it is discovered that it was painted by a member of the Ou family. The painter happens to be co-running an embroidery business with Shiyi. Great Madam Xu (Wu Mian) is mad and wants Shiyi to suffer. Her daughter-in-law is 'shamefully' running a business and has not dedicated her time to running the household and producing male heirs for the Xu family.
Honorable mention goes to Shiyi's personal maids Amber (Sue Xue Ning) and Dongqing for playing
their roles and pushing the story along well. Even Dongqing's (Ding Jie) little love story with Genera Fu (Xao Zheng) is for admiring.... But discovering Concubine Qin (Li Sheng) is a spy for the Ou family is lazy writing in my opinion, as an audience we needed to know this earlier. Yes, she has an excuse... years of neglect by Marquis Xu as we mentioned earlier but why collaborate with the Ou family if she just wanted to settle in the country and raise an orphan? There are a number of ways she could have taken revenge. We needed to know that she is untrustworthy no later than episode nineteen
and there needed to be more depth to this sleazy alliance. Atleast then, we would have waited in acceptance and anticipation for her betrayal though her secret messaging-flower-pot -system.
Once again Marquis Xu shows up to save the day, right when we have been deceived into thinking Shiyi is stupidly running away with her teenage lover(Daddi Tang)... well played script writers...well played! The way the whole family pleads for Shiyi in front of Great Madam Xu at the end....so endearing.
EPISODE 45: GREAT MADAM XU SCREAMS DOWN THE EXECUTIONER
I won't share much here.
You'll just have to watch the whole series.
This episode was stressful to watch but totally worth it
Some advice...don't forget to breath while watching it please!
You'll just have to watch the whole series.
This episode was stressful to watch but totally worth it
Some advice...don't forget to breath while watching it please!
Here's the link to the full series
Comment below with your favorite moments or episodes too!
Photo Credits: WeTV, C Drama Love, Tumbral
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