Ok I have a lot more to say than I thought; mind that I’m on ch 4 rn - ngl I kind of feel bad for the OG concubine with the light hair. I know she’s supposed to be a villain and bitch but if we are imagining ourselves in this reality’s historical context - light hair concubine was there first/before FL, fucking red flag ML for literally 5+ years at least, and even bore him a son - this would realistically make her in charge. FL mentions that she has been there for 4 yrs and that she has been kind of just there - “evil” light hair concubine was doing all the sex labor; other concubine has been taking care of all the household responsibilities and financial responsibilities while main dude is at war or whatever- the sex “job” is somewhat shared between all the concubines naturally, but the main wife really should have been at the one primarily in charge of the household (managing staff, maintaining and allocating finances). I would be a salty ass concubine if the legal wife wasn’t doing what her highly sought out position required - nevermind the sex stuff whatever cus the King chooses who wants so that’s kind of out of the girls control) but remember that the queen doesn’t just manage the estate’s responsibilities but also the people of her land. it’s a job and even if u didn’t want to be there in the first place, yeah you can fired, but in this point and time, your place is court doesn’t just impact you, but the people that work for you and rely on you as a ruler to allocate funds/distribute resources if possible (like if there were a famine)/control taxes/etc. also, even if she acts like the main wife due to the circumstances of the way ML was treating everyone, if OG light hair concubine loses favor or main wife has a son as well, both OG light hair girl and her son’s survival is kind of at risk. I would do anything to protect my hypothetical son’s life too (given that he actually exists).
idk I think that when FL in ch 3 or 4 was talking about neglecting her responsibilities and leaving it everyone else as the queen literally, saying that she’s lower than the maids and blah blah… dude even if the king wasn’t favoring you all this time, you still can earn the households respect by trying to contribute in other ways (like the financial and estate management part i mentioned earlier).
I’m not gonna say it’s entirely her fault. She’s still a victim to the palace hierarchy/structure at the time, and abused by her family. I get the sentiment of just wanting to be in a safe place and having your basic needs met. We can’t control the circumstances of our birth but we can at least attempt to improve the conditions of our future.
Ngl the main person at fault and true villain is the ML. I am sure that he’s gonna pull one of the “but I loved you this whole time” but the fact of the matter is that the ML completely ignored her for years. Idrc if you loved me this whole time secretly for years even though you were my literal lawful husband. Im assuming he was waiting for her to “grow up a little more” as he implied (im going to acknowledge that this is a different time period with little choice and different culturally appropriate child rearing ages) but through a modern lens, that kind of sounds like grooming, although she was mostly just neglected.
I can’t write him off as a stupid man that didn’t know better. He was born and raised in this time period. He literally rules his country. Even if he wasn’t gonna fuck her actively, he could have AT LEAST provided SOME INDICATION to the staff/court that he at least respects her and acknowledges her at all (if he’s not willing to go as far as to showeveryone that she’s his beloved/favored wife for some odd reason) which would have improved her palace treatment to some degree.
I’m sure later as the story progresses, the author will do some mind gymnastics to make his actions feel justified, and then I stop rationalizing a literal pornhwa and can go back to enjoying this as a mindless smut fantasy.
Ok I have a lot more to say than I thought; mind that I’m on ch 4 rn - ngl I kind of feel bad for the OG concubine with the light hair. I know she’s supposed to be a villain and bitch but if we are imagining ourselves in this reality’s historical context - light hair concubine was there first/before FL, fucking red flag ML for literally 5+ years at least, and even bore him a son - this would realistically make her in charge. FL mentions that she has been there for 4 yrs and that she has been kind of just there - “evil” light hair concubine was doing all the sex labor; other concubine has been taking care of all the household responsibilities and financial responsibilities while main dude is at war or whatever- the sex “job” is somewhat shared between all the concubines naturally, but the main wife really should have been at the one primarily in charge of the household (managing staff, maintaining and allocating finances). I would be a salty ass concubine if the legal wife wasn’t doing what her highly sought out position required - nevermind the sex stuff whatever cus the King chooses who wants so that’s kind of out of the girls control) but remember that the queen doesn’t just manage the estate’s responsibilities but also the people of her land. it’s a job and even if u didn’t want to be there in the first place, yeah you can fired, but in this point and time, your place is court doesn’t just impact you, but the people that work for you and rely on you as a ruler to allocate funds/distribute resources if possible (like if there were a famine)/control taxes/etc.
also, even if she acts like the main wife due to the circumstances of the way ML was treating everyone, if OG light hair concubine loses favor or main wife has a son as well, both OG light hair girl and her son’s survival is kind of at risk. I would do anything to protect my hypothetical son’s life too (given that he actually exists).
idk I think that when FL in ch 3 or 4 was talking about neglecting her responsibilities and leaving it everyone else as the queen literally, saying that she’s lower than the maids and blah blah… dude even if the king wasn’t favoring you all this time, you still can earn the households respect by trying to contribute in other ways (like the financial and estate management part i mentioned earlier).
I’m not gonna say it’s entirely her fault. She’s still a victim to the palace hierarchy/structure at the time, and abused by her family. I get the sentiment of just wanting to be in a safe place and having your basic needs met. We can’t control the circumstances of our birth but we can at least attempt to improve the conditions of our future.
Ngl the main person at fault and true villain is the ML. I am sure that he’s gonna pull one of the “but I loved you this whole time” but the fact of the matter is that the ML completely ignored her for years. Idrc if you loved me this whole time secretly for years even though you were my literal lawful husband. Im assuming he was waiting for her to “grow up a little more” as he implied (im going to acknowledge that this is a different time period with little choice and different culturally appropriate child rearing ages) but through a modern lens, that kind of sounds like grooming, although she was mostly just neglected.
I can’t write him off as a stupid man that didn’t know better. He was born and raised in this time period. He literally rules his country. Even if he wasn’t gonna fuck her actively, he could have AT LEAST provided SOME INDICATION to the staff/court that he at least respects her and acknowledges her at all (if he’s not willing to go as far as to showeveryone that she’s his beloved/favored wife for some odd reason) which would have improved her palace treatment to some degree.
I’m sure later as the story progresses, the author will do some mind gymnastics to make his actions feel justified, and then I stop rationalizing a literal pornhwa and can go back to enjoying this as a mindless smut fantasy.