Love Like the Galaxy (2022) Episodes 41-42 Ramblings

By now the good people of Ruyang who aren’t living under rocks must be well acquainted with General Ling’s single-minded devotion to his future bride. Word surely must get around in a place where every day is a slow news day. His intentions towards her are shamelessly ostentatious to the extreme even in the local marketplace. And while the lady at the heart of his affections is self-conscious enough to look properly embarrassed by his overdone antics, the man who commands armies and tortures criminals in his dungeon is blissfully oblivious of how he comes across to lesser mortals. Not does he care it seems. He is and always has been in a league of his own.

There is something god-like about Ling Buyi the public figure who strikes fear in the hearts of those who have something to hide. So he should. However, in front of the emperor, the general is a godson, an adopted son who is beloved by the father and mother of the nation, whose future happiness means the world to them. To them he is their child, one as important as their birth children. When his desire to dig into the truth behind the massacre at Gu City comes into conflict with their wishes for him to live happily ever after with a family of his own, the godfather, who wants him to put death and suffering behind him, hits the roof.

Fortunately for Ling Zisheng, he now has a fiancee who now understands him better than most. There’s no denying that they are cut from the same cloth in most areas. Now that she’s basking in the glow of being loved by him, the larger than life quality to the young general fades into the background and the flesh and blood creature becomes more apparent. The man now at the centre of her affections is no longer a tyrant in her eyes but someone who will move mountains for her sake. Secure in this knowledge, Niaoniao is now fearless in her expressions of love. This is why decent writers know the importance of men initiating courtship and doing all the heavy lifting. Contrary to audience belief, this isn’t primarily about magnifying the greatness of the male lead, who already knows what he wants and will do whatever it takes to win his lady. What’s really at play here is this: When a man does all the hard work first, only then will his future bride feel secure in his intentions.

In these last few episodes it is clearer than ever that being loved has always been at the heart of what Niaoniao’s combative posture is about. To be fair she’s always been loved but the parenting she’s experienced prior to entering the palace has been a mishmash of confusing signals which has left her reeling in bewilderment. The empress’ gentle reprimands and open minded discourse has worked magic for the quick-witted Niaoniao who already has a good sense of right from wrong but it is far less effective for a child who has grown up in the palace with all the temptations of privilege at his/her fingertips. A neglected child who has been deprived of everything will respond differently to the same kind of parenting to a child who has grown up with status and servants. The Fifth Princess with all the trappings of wealth around her would have certainly benefited from a different disciplinary regime.

Niaoniao’s intuitive ability to understand Zisheng’s need to hunt down the perpetrators of the Gu City catastrophe comes in large part from all the years of suffering abuse in the hands of her grandmother and second aunt. Couple that with the humiliation and bullying she’s suffered in the hands of entitled mean girls, her innate desire to get even and right wrongs makes her an empathetic spouse. The exchange between them once again evokes his dramatic proposal where he declares her to be the only one worthy of being his fellow companion on the journey of life. He suspected then because of her need to see retribution exacted with her own hands that she would potentially follow him to hell and back. Later when she talks about accumulating good luck and having good judgment about choosing him, he retorts that in the matter of selecting a future spouse he is the one with discerning eye.

Who can begrudge him this charming desire to take credit? Certainly not the lady who is now brimming with happiness that she’s been singled out by him to pour all of his affections into. No doubt he gets brownie points for being so candid in his declarations of love. She concedes the point with a bright smile and then offers to buy him preserved fruits to sweeten his tongue further — a simple enough offer that turns into a major undertaking. It wouldn’t be Ling Buyi not to make a fanfare of everything including buying sweets for his girl. Like the CEO boyfriend who flashes his platinum credit card around the pub, the drinks for the rest of the patrons are all on him. Ling Buyi doesn’t just do… he must be memorable.

So when he wants to go to Shouchun to get the rebel and emerging suspect in the Gu City incident, Niaoniao throws her weight behind him. She talks the cantankerous emperor into letting Zisheng go because as everyone knows… a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. The Big Man can’t be seen to be showing favouritism in such matters when other nobles/officials are letting their precious male offsprings go to bootcamp to make their mark. On paper Zisheng would be an ideal commander who will whip these youngsters into shape in the meantime but who knows what lies ahead where conspiracies are involved. It might not be the walk in the park that the families think that such an expedition appear to be.

There’s little doubt that Wen Di is good to the people he cares deeply about. He is a man of great affection and inspires a great deal of affection in return. There’s also something delightfully unassuming and unpretentious about him. He’s not a man who has forgotten his roots and his friends. It is refreshing to see him sitting on the throne room floor as if he’s having a regular picnic with his best mates, breaking bread with them, chatting about old times and talking battle strategy. The casual atmosphere is more reminiscent of home than a sacred office where important decisions concerning the country are handed down. There can be no doubt that his concern for the well-being of his loved ones is genuine, the habitual tantrum throwing notwithstanding — although how much of that is merely theatre is a question worth considering. On top of that, he is sensitive to the needs of his wives. Even though the empress is not his first wife and he married her primarily to consolidate his position with the Xuan clan, he takes her counsel, if you can call it that, seriously. He’s a considerate husband who gives her respect and affection due to her although it’s force fed to us repeatedly that he didn’t marry her for love.

Despite all the various types of marriages featured here that are functional for the preservation of family and society, a love match is portrayed as a far less common dynamic that is not a given in that world where marriages are arranged by elders of every household. It’s the holy grail that’s coveted but out of the reach of most. Our charismatic leads who are flag bearers for this type of dynamic are not the norm. This kind of relationship may promise greater happiness to both parties but there are also inherent dangers to making happiness the ultimate goal of marriage, in so far as it is unreliable to place too much stock in feelings as a measurement of marital success. There’s no additional guarantee that a love match will result in marital longevity much less something as fleeting as happiness. A fact that the current divorce statistics in our day can certainly attest to.

Although the empress has never tasted the sweetness of falling in love and having her feelings reciprocated, in the scheme of things she is fortunate to be well-taken care of by the emperor and Consort Yue. Things could be far worse for her if other tv harems are to be believed. Arranged marriages in that world are the norm rather than the exception. It is assumed in such cases that affection can be developed after the ceremony as the couple become better acquainted through building a family together.

It may be too by showering his beloved with gifts that Zisheng is creating expectations that he himself cannot live up to. It can be a troubling thing when two people who are in love promise each other the sun, moon and the stars but when the unpredictable realities of life hits, the simplicity of those promises may not stand the test of time. Life consists of zero sum games that have to played. No one can have everything… a fact of life even the show trumpets routinely. Being in love can’t be enough to sustain a marriage, as there needs to be mutual respect, and headstrong commitment to the process of becoming one flesh.

It’s a painful exit for the former crown prince consort Chu who wanted the privilege of marrying the crown prince but could not bear the burden of marrying a man who was in love with another woman. It’s clear that she felt her inferiority acutely and just couldn’t live with the guilt of taking a man away from what could have been the love of his life. This drove her on a self-destructive path from which there is apparently no return. That unrepentant recalcitrance at the end is a meaningless gesture when one considers the absolute waste of a marriage for two lives up to this point.

I’m sure for some there’s something romantic in the way Yuan Shen is so attached to Niaoniao despite all their caustic banter but for me, it’s a pitiful person who can’t let go and puts himself on a road that only leads to heartache. It’s one thing to be compelled by circumstances to marry someone you don’t love but it’s another thing to invest yourself so much in someone that you leave no place for someone else who could be a part of your future. In a harem trope of any kind there is that person who can’t let go and it’s often seen to be romantic and noble. In reality it’s the height of silliness. There is no nobility in harbouring a one-sided love to the exclusion of all else. None whatsoever. There will never be a perfect woman just as there is no such thing as a perfect man. Yuan Shen is missing out because he thinks he’s missing out. In fact should move on like A’Yao and give himself a chance to find a woman who will love him back. He can be of help to the Chengs during their time of need but the fact that it could become the means of binding himself to Niaoniao is disquieting. It could end up being a burden for the two of them.

It is not without a sense of irony that a man who so adamantly against the institution of marriage should find himself entirely besotted by a woman who is already head over heels committed elsewhere. Whether it’s a punishment or a wakeup call from the throne of Heaven, I can’t say with certainty. But he is a man most pitiful. And so is the woman that he ends up marrying. If he does marry, that is.

The Cheng family have come under serious attack of late due to some ridiculous embezzlement and defection charges levelled against Cheng Shi. In a time of crisis, it really is up to Yuanyi, with her head screwed on right, to pull them all together because the so-called matriarch of the family is unequivocally useless in such moments. She’s wallowed in the achievements and rewards of her sons so now that the threat of the rug being pulled from under her is imminent, she reverts to type — petty cunning and a blithering mess emotionally. This is the kind of crisis moment that separates the men from the boys but in this case — the women from the girls. It’s Yuanyi’s time to shine. There’s no doubting Yuanyi’s strength of character, her devotion to her husband and the family as a whole. To me Yuanyi has always been a fighter more than a figure of maternal wisdom and her place in Niaoniao’s life has always been pivotal. It is in large part due to her choices that Niaoniao gradually evolves into a fighter herself. Despite her parenting mistakes or maybe because of them, Niaoniao has adopted the combative spirit that’s marked their dynamic. It’s hard to disagree with her at this point that there’s no good sense to stand in solidarity with the rest of the family because let’s face it, who knows what’s going to happen in these sorts of politically charged situations.

This is not to say, however, that I believe it’s a good idea for Niaoniao to go traipsing off to Tongniu County on her own but knowing who she is and the kind of person that she is, it’s inevitable that she’ll do just that despite vehement opposition from various quarters. She’s proven over and over again that she’s not someone who can sit still and do nothing when the lives of people dearest to her are in serious jeopardy. As she consistently reminds others — she’s not anybody’s obedient wife. She has her own ideas and her own way of getting things done. Once again we see that Ruyang’s most famous lovebirds are peas from the same pod. Even though Niaoniao promises solemnly that she’ll wait obediently for Zisheng’s return, at the first sign of trouble, she’s off to save her family from a fate seemingly worse than death. So what’s that talk about caring for the empress about again?

Wen Di’s dilemma is rather more understandable this time in part because of the political optics of the situation that has implications for his reformist agenda. He certainly has to be concerned about the backlash from nobles who oppose the aspirational model that he’s keen to promote. Cheng Shi’s alleged defection and theft are serious charges and Wen Di is obligated to abide by due process especially because the man at the centre of this offence has apparently gone AWOL. While it doesn’t seem to make much sense that Cheng Shi would endanger the lives of his family in such impulsive fashion but because there are plenty of questions in search of answers, the rest of his family are dragged into the fray. Of course Wen Di is also concerned about Zisheng and Shaoshang’s impending nuptials which is partly driving his inability to act quickly. It’s become preferable to fling memorials around the room in frustration but for the intervention of Consort Yue who after being disappointed by how the matter regarding her brother was dealt insists that the Big Man do things by the book this time. She is only too aware that this is Wen Di’s weakness — a tendency to indulge in favouritism even if he himself sincerely believes that he’s just taking care of the people he loves.

It can’t be said too often that as the country’s monarch Wen Di can’t just do whatever he wants and use his power to protect the people that he deems should get special treatment. He has to be seen to be impartial at the very least. The rules and procedures are there to protect the integrity of the system. Whether he or we like it or not, detaining the Cheng family is something he has to do because this is what he gets paid the big bucks to do.