Originally Posted by
Ilovewuxia
Ruyi in this drama is not the Ruyi in Legend of Zhen Huan. Ruyi has always been painted as the evil one even in the famous Qiong Yau's Huan Zhu Ge Ge. I think in this novel, she is not painted as evil. The evil one is the third Empress who has always been painted as nice and kind.
Oh, thanks. Interesting. I went to look up the real-life counterparts of the characters in history. The third empress
click to show/hide spoilerswon it all, so to speak. (Using spoiler tags for the show may stay faithful to history.)
I am intrigued by Imperial Noble Consort Shujia. She had four children, all sons. And three survived to adulthood. Two of whom had long lives. Not an easy feat in the palace in those days, surely?
Originally Posted by
Ilovewuxia
Dong Jie as first Empress
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('https://i.imgur.com/uTER1Ej.jpg')
The first empress seemed
click to show/hide spoilersnice all round and truly loved by her husband, who was said to have "often visited her grave with wistful longing, and remained heartbroken to the end of his days" (
Wikipedia).
Originally Posted by
Ilovewuxia
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('https://i.imgur.com/l8maDT6.jpg')
This Ruyi, the second empress though,
click to show/hide spoilerspoor woman:
He also gradually reduced the number of servants Lady Ulanara had, until the empress was only left with two maids by July. This was the number of servants low-ranking consorts had. Lady Ulanara died a year later at the age of 48. (
Wikipedia)
Qianlong held whatever it was against her till her death. Even after her death. She was buried "in a way similar to how servants were buried beside their masters" (
Wikipedia).
Originally Posted by
Ilovewuxia
Ivy made this wonderful video on Wallace's role as Emperor Qianlong. The English subtitles are translated from his own comments on his role. He said that he could feel the overwhelming loneliness of the emperor. He said that Qianlong's multi-faceted and he is happy to play Qianlong. Thank you Ivy for the wonderful video of stills. Love Ivy's choice of music.
Loneliness. It appears emperors are often portrayed as not very happy men. Amongst her other reasons for doing so, it seemed Zhen Huan was also smart to let Qianlong take the throne and thus the fall, so to speak, for her son.