Marking for spoilers just in case, but I'm dropping this here.
Nope. You can't convince me this is "getting better" simply because the plot is way too forced. First off, everyone in her life is deciding it FOR her. The emperor, the duke, MIL, the dowager empress, her friends, and it sounds like even her old people. Is this realistic? Yes but it's still something I hate and it isn't done in an understandable way. There's no talking to her in the moment half the time. They simply decide how her life should be lived and are SHOCKED, AGHAST, when she's NOT HAPPY with the results.
The emperor said he did it to save her life and that's written to be ~romantic~ but he still actively put her in an abusive situation and did nothing to get her out in the first time line, and has done very little in the second time line. He didn't even bother checking up on her until he came across her by chance. You're telling me you couldn't take the time to have a proper engagement for her (that usually lasted between 4 months to 1 year), didn't bother to check on her once after she was married until you were reminded BY SEEING HER BY CHANCE "oh right she does exist" and now I'm supposed to believe you've been in love with her for years? Yeah no. That's not how it works.
She has actively tried talking to the duke about her predicament multiple times over the course of the story. He either called her a liar or manipulative and dismissed everything in the beginning. Later, he overheard her mentioning the abuse she's endured when she thinks no one else is listening. NOW he decides he believes her and IMMEDIATELY DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT. He gets angry about it but does he look into it? No. Does he try to find the culprit? No. At most, he asked Mommy dearest about it, who tells him the lies he spouts to her face, and calls her petty for not enduring better. And then he has the audacity to say she's happy with her life and treatment.
Her brother makes a brief appearance, acts like she should be grateful that he sold her to a political marriage. Not much to say here. She reads him for filth and that was the only good moment, but it happens like before 20 chapters in, very early. She's not happy, she isn't doing good, and his decision actively made her life worse.
MIL is a piece of trash. Abusive as all get out, haha that she married into the family but can't stand it when divorce is brought up later on. No point in saying more.
The empress is a little better but again, she suspected that she was in a bad situation and did nothing about it. Didn't try to help her build her political support until girlie pop was like, "hey can I do this?" Didn't try to talk to her son to get her out of this situation. She was just like, "lol here's some more work, figure it out." She's a passive character who is there only to offer solutions to problems. It makes her less of a character at this point tho and more of a plot point.
Same with her friends. They don't show up at all past the first 20 chapters for quiet moments together. They are only there as plot points. There to either present problems or solve them.
And the people are even worse. They are there only as plot points, no characterization at all. Here's a kid but he isn't really a kid. He's a problem for her to solve and a way for her to show off that she's a good person. Here's some poor people but they're not really poor people. They're a problem for her to solve and prove that she's a good leader. Here's the poor kid again but not really he's just here to remind you that she was a good person to him in the past and she's still a good person but now he isn't. Here's some criminals exploiting the poor but not really they're just yet another problem to solve.
It's fine for her to solve problems and all but every character seems only to be brought on screen to prove one of her merits. She's kind, she's compassionate, she's smart, etc etc etc. Everything is barely 2 dimensional, not fleshed out at all, to a frustrating degree.
If you want the exact same story line but don't better, read the series below. Her ex is better, he doesn't get redeemed but you grow to like and understand him more, even if he had horrid actions. Her new husband is 10000% better and actively works to help her improve her life. And there's a fleshed out group of characters who have nuance, where enemies become allies and vice versa, because of reasons like power and intrigue, not just to progress the plot. It's not perfect but it's much better done.
Marking for spoilers just in case, but I'm dropping this here.
Nope. You can't convince me this is "getting better" simply because the plot is way too forced. First off, everyone in her life is deciding it FOR her. The emperor, the duke, MIL, the dowager empress, her friends, and it sounds like even her old people. Is this realistic? Yes but it's still something I hate and it isn't done in an understandable way. There's no talking to her in the moment half the time. They simply decide how her life should be lived and are SHOCKED, AGHAST, when she's NOT HAPPY with the results.
The emperor said he did it to save her life and that's written to be ~romantic~ but he still actively put her in an abusive situation and did nothing to get her out in the first time line, and has done very little in the second time line. He didn't even bother checking up on her until he came across her by chance. You're telling me you couldn't take the time to have a proper engagement for her (that usually lasted between 4 months to 1 year), didn't bother to check on her once after she was married until you were reminded BY SEEING HER BY CHANCE "oh right she does exist" and now I'm supposed to believe you've been in love with her for years? Yeah no. That's not how it works.
She has actively tried talking to the duke about her predicament multiple times over the course of the story. He either called her a liar or manipulative and dismissed everything in the beginning. Later, he overheard her mentioning the abuse she's endured when she thinks no one else is listening. NOW he decides he believes her and IMMEDIATELY DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT. He gets angry about it but does he look into it? No. Does he try to find the culprit? No. At most, he asked Mommy dearest about it, who tells him the lies he spouts to her face, and calls her petty for not enduring better. And then he has the audacity to say she's happy with her life and treatment.
Her brother makes a brief appearance, acts like she should be grateful that he sold her to a political marriage. Not much to say here. She reads him for filth and that was the only good moment, but it happens like before 20 chapters in, very early. She's not happy, she isn't doing good, and his decision actively made her life worse.
MIL is a piece of trash. Abusive as all get out, haha that she married into the family but can't stand it when divorce is brought up later on. No point in saying more.
The empress is a little better but again, she suspected that she was in a bad situation and did nothing about it. Didn't try to help her build her political support until girlie pop was like, "hey can I do this?" Didn't try to talk to her son to get her out of this situation. She was just like, "lol here's some more work, figure it out." She's a passive character who is there only to offer solutions to problems. It makes her less of a character at this point tho and more of a plot point.
Same with her friends. They don't show up at all past the first 20 chapters for quiet moments together. They are only there as plot points. There to either present problems or solve them.
And the people are even worse. They are there only as plot points, no characterization at all. Here's a kid but he isn't really a kid. He's a problem for her to solve and a way for her to show off that she's a good person. Here's some poor people but they're not really poor people. They're a problem for her to solve and prove that she's a good leader. Here's the poor kid again but not really he's just here to remind you that she was a good person to him in the past and she's still a good person but now he isn't. Here's some criminals exploiting the poor but not really they're just yet another problem to solve.
It's fine for her to solve problems and all but every character seems only to be brought on screen to prove one of her merits. She's kind, she's compassionate, she's smart, etc etc etc. Everything is barely 2 dimensional, not fleshed out at all, to a frustrating degree.
If you want the exact same story line but don't better, read the series below. Her ex is better, he doesn't get redeemed but you grow to like and understand him more, even if he had horrid actions. Her new husband is 10000% better and actively works to help her improve her life. And there's a fleshed out group of characters who have nuance, where enemies become allies and vice versa, because of reasons like power and intrigue, not just to progress the plot. It's not perfect but it's much better done.
https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/my_second_husband_desperate_and_depressed/