Lead couple Ding Yuxi and Deng Enxi from Melody of Golden Age fame are back together again. This time round they’re a mismatched pair who first meet under false pretences and after a series of misadventures become comrades who on the rocky road to success fall in love. Ding Yuxi’s Zhao Ling is introduced as a salt smuggler with Robin Hood tendencies and Deng Enxi’s Fu Tingyun is the politically savvy daughter of a prominent family looking to break free from family restraints on realising that clan reputation take precedence over all else. In that world it’s an unlikely collaboration undoubtedly but as fate would have it, and with a few hiccoughs under their sashes, it’s turning out to be a match made in heaven.
Getting in their way are 1) former bestie Fan Yake (Fan Shiran), 2) the man who might have married Fu Tingyun, Yu Jingxiu (Dong Zifan), 3) his mother Mrs Yu (Shi Yueling) and 4) the bitterly resentful sister-in-law, Lady Zuo (Una You). And that I imagine is just the start.
Clearly the world they inhabit don’t make things easy for them even when they have made some profitable connections. Which makes sense. Certainly more sense than many C dramas. Independence comes at a price and the school of hard knocks is the foundation through which our duo is being prepared far greater challenges ahead.
Although The Road to Splendor is not a cluttered trope travesty that many C dramas are, it still begins life as a contract marriage. In this instance it’s an informal union that’s not formed out of the conventions of the day — an arrangement made between the elders of both families — but an expedient measure/transaction compelled by circumstances. Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling have scarcely anything in common except pluck and determination. The old adage — fortune favours the brave — is their guiding light. Still courage isn’t enough to achieve their ambitions. Acting decisively without thought for consequences (as has been vividly demonstrated in the show) will end in self-inflicted calamity. One should hasten to add that the leads are different, in terms of skill set and personality. Shared goals, however, can see those differences leveraged for better outcomes if governed by a spirit of accommodation ie. knowing when to push back, step back and give in. It’s the understanding that losing an argument can mean a win for all concerned. Finessing collaboration also means using the right tools for the right occasion. A successful marriage understands this. Diversity in and of itself is not strength. Shared values on top of common goals have to underpin such relationships.
Shows featuring contract relationships succeed when the script understands that love without wisdom leads to egotistical recklessness and pragmatism without trust can never bloom into lasting love. To the credit of the writing, Tingyun knows only too well that she cannot get anywhere without a man’s protection while Zhao Ling gradually understands that he cannot protect the people he cares about without relying on her to navigate officialdom. In truth they desperately need each other and as the show demonstrates, it is no weakness to acknowledge that. Indeed it takes humility and strength to accept advice and help especially when emotions run amok.
Traditionally the belief has always been that marriage matures a man as it gives them someone to be responsible for. Zhao Ling is a good man but smuggling salt is a dubious short-term solution to a long-term feeding problem. He must exit that life to win at life. It is Tingyun who gives him that bigger picture as well as the motivation to fulfill his potential in in order to avoid the executioner’s sword. On the other hand, Tingyun is no match for brute strength or the common folk not of her milieu. They each bring something that the other needs in that relationship. Moreover in any good relationship, it behooves one party to prevent the other from rushing headlong into disaster and tragedy even as they beckon.
The Road to Splendor is a show about the journey that is marriage. The thesis here is that for them to succeed as individuals, they need to succeed as a couple first. It’s a reasonable enough assumption as one contrasts their relationship with those around them. They start from the bottom and the hope is that they will move their way up. The man who might have married Tingyun, Yu Jingxiu, is a self-righteous pompous prig. He claims to detest his mothers scheming but he’s doing his underhanded best to “escape” an arranged marriage. Mother’s scheming or scheming in general isn’t likely the problem. It’s just that he’s smart enough to know that Tingyun will be hard to bend to his whims. He marries the seemingly docile Yake mistakenly believing that she’s all about him. But in truth, the marriage is about her playing one upmanship. When push comes to shove, they are marrying one another under false pretences which is bound to end very badly.
Already this series is superior to Melody of Golden Age just for the fact that the leads don’t deliberately try to misunderstand… by not talking. Moreover it was beholden to tropes in a way this one isn’t. Life is hard enough when two flawed human beings are joined together in holy matrimony. Surely there’s no need to escalate conflict and compound problems by a refusal to communicate.
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I really enjoyed Love Between the Lines—the female lead was such a joy, and ml has proven himself is so many other dramas. Was wary of premise but found it delightful!
Also watched Genius Girlfriend, and enjoyed the romance between brother of fl and fl’s rival—very sweet! So two to check out if you have not yet seen.