#cdrama #WinterBegonia #WinterBegoniaWP

I love this engineer trying to figure out how the roof was built. I am very much That Guy, too. When I got to visit Ellis Island, I was mostly fascinated by the mechanisms to open and close the windows or provide airflow from rooms to the halls. 🤓

Omg, I want to play with all the architecture models! Nerd joy fills the shelves in that house! 😍

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I know how to count (kinda) in Mandarin, so saying "60 years" as "six ten years" makes sense to me. The word for "year" sounds similar to the Korean word for year "년". But in Mandarin, it sounds more like "냔". #LanguageLearner

He wants a trigger to be able to collapse the tunnel at will?! Yikes. But, I guess, war and commerce are both bloody and risky games? "You look like someone with stature but you have the air of a bandit." 👀

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Second Master Cheng is certainly throwing a lot of his money around today. Paying any price for a mountain tunnel. Paying for that hall restoration. Paying for the opera company to stay. He sure has a lot of money to spare... 😬 I hope he's not overextending himself...

Oh, he has enemies, too!

Leading 10,000 troops is easier than 10 theater workers? 😂

LOL I keep thinking this show will be serious and then there's this gossipy fight!

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Holy, how much do they pay the soldier for being willing to stand with a cake on his head and be shot at?! Yikes. Holy fuck, and a no-look shot like that?! Was that speech about fearing the unexpected and even tigers dozing off a threat from Cheng to Cao?

"I sincerely want to collaborate with you" sounds a bit weird after he stole that guy's goods and then tried to scare him off with gunmanship. 😬

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Holy shit, accusing the elder Cao of conspiring with the Japanese and that Cheng has been unknowingly supplying them?!

This is not the image of a happy man. Much more evil retribution plotting.

Another 100k to buy his wife's brother's unborn baby. Another 10k to bribe his brother-in-law's brother. His piggy bank has to hit bottom at some time, right?

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"When I went home yesterday, your sister wasn't angry with me. It shows that there is room for discussion." To have that kind of removed insight and mindset to your spouse's emotions. Wow.

But apparently, that grace is not between her and Shang Xi Rui! Yikes! The way she can slander an entire profession. And conflate an interaction with thievery that will turn into arson. 

"Just go home and ask your articulate Second Madam!" 😳

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Wow, Shang Xi Rui is not afraid to kick some ass when necessary!

That little giggle just as he's about to put pen to ... back. 🤭

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Does touching your earlobe reduce the heat of holding a hot baked yam? Both these guys keep touching their earlobes.

"I'm inviting you to eat noodles, not lick the table." 😂

"9 out of 10 times it is boasting" and "i have a new act, too! It's called ... um ... um ... Goddess Steps." 😂 Marketing!

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Was dancing on the drum to show how lightly his steps were? (I keep wanting to call him "her" when he's performing.) It probably DOES take a great deal of leg and core strength to control your footsteps that quietly!

"Is this four-eye Fan Lian really worth that much?" 😮 "The fourth Fan is a money-loser who hasn't achieved anything." Fuckin' OUCH. I thought he treated this guy quite generously for familial reasons, but damn!

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"What can they do to me?" Famous last words. 😬🫣

#cdrama #WinterBegonia #WinterBegoniaWP episode 15

Damn, Shang Xi Rui is pretty scrappy for an opera singer.

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"The talent i have is worth so much more than a piece of paper." MIC DROP

"In the future, whoever catches him can stab him to death," says this Queen Bandit lady sitting on her throne of tiger skins. Damn, girl.

Commander Cao's son "hugging" his step-mom from behind like that. "My request is not small." Is it ... getting bigger? 🤨🤭

"How long has it been since you were rejected by someone?" he says, like he's not obsessed with her.

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Genuine giggle as Shang Xi Rui pulls that one guy's hat off so him can rub his shaved head. 😁 That guy is adorable. He even agrees that it is fun to rub a shaved head. And the little grin he has when he admits he's really going to Shanghai for his girlfriend. 🤭

"I can write better stuff with my foot!" Ha, the lines in this show are great.

"A man from the south," and Commander Cao shows up?! 🤔😏

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"Sir, the weather is turning. We can't take the trails back down."

😃 "so you have to spend the night!" 🍑😆 she's going to get that extraordinary son tonight, no matter what. 😆 "you looked pretty good yesterday, but now that there's this NEW strong guy..."

Cheng Fengtai scratching his head with the barrel of her gun... his lack of fear around guns is hilarious.

I love Gu Dali so so much. She is my favorite.

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NOW I recognize that shaved guy! He's Tan Jian Ci! How mad were his fans when they found out they shaved his head FOR REAL?! 😅😅😅😅😅

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Gu Dali knocked his TOOTH out?! 🤣🤣🤣 And he seems a lot less ... uptight ... around his step-mom now that he had a night with Dali.

I did NOT expect the younger Cui to go to bat for Shang Xi Rui like that! Wow! He really teamed up with his young uncle Cheng Fengtai, didn't he?

Oh, I didn't connect the dots that Father Cui is supplying the Japanese and Son Cui is fighting for China... 😳 Yipes!

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D'aw, Shang Xi Rui just got adopted by an opera elder! One who respects his teacher's skills! He even kneels down to serve him tea, this scrappy opera singer! 🥹 Liu Hanyun.

"If I go to Shanghai with you, will you get me a godmother, too?" 🤭

So many politics. Godfather politics. Storefront politics. School friend politics. Cha Cha'er isn't even exempt!

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When Cheng Fengtai asks Shang Xi Rui if the performance was fun, I did NOT expect Xi Rui to grin at him like that! "It was fun. Dangerous and exciting!" ... "Bring it on! Call me anytime." 😆

Cha Cha'er is nonplussed, however. 😬 and understandably so. Using her and her school friend as leverage like that. Now she's *really* not going to have any friends at school.

Shang Xi Rui dares to sit on the Emperor's throne!

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I love this scene where the all-powerful military commander is rendered mumbling and nervous between two strong women. His wife, who, only a moment before, was all doe-eyed and innocent and meek with him, feeding him food she had prepared. And now, "How did I not know you had coronary heart disease?" 😤 I love this duality of handling him. But also the power struggle between Madam and Doctor over the commander.

Is Doctor Japanese...?

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I FUCKIN' CALLED IT!

So is commander *really* fighting for the Japanese or just compromised by this Japanese doctor interfering?

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Shang Xi Rui gets to pick what Proprietor Huo sings next and it's like he just got free reign at a candy store. How big his eyes got! 😳

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What is this Royal Mother freaking out about?! She didn't keep the Little Prince? Is Xi Rui the orphaned prince?!

"Is there even something that bothers you?!" Cheng Fengtai usually has 3 plans up his sleeve and a fourth in one shoe, but he is bothered today. Shang Xi Rui says to just be direct and ask, not sneaking around.

"Commander, i refuse to be a traitor." Xi Rui was right. You have to speak directly to someone like Commander.

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... Commander specifically yells about this, being able to protect his brother-in-law's insignificant family, in front of the Japanese doctor. He even stands UP when the Japanese doctor walks in.

Dude is VERY compromised and walking around with a live grenade in his hands.

Cheng Fengtai now holding freight instead of shipping it for Commander.  Shit just got serious.

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Shang Xi Rui absolutely was right about Seventh Young Master having too high of taste and would eventually write the dang script for him. 😂

Cheng Fengtai telling his nephew that it's even more troublesome that they aren't on the same side. 😬😬😬 "If he finds out, he will execute me twice."

Thoughtful and cowardly describes me, but surely not Cheng Fengtai!

Oh, that excited giggle upon the news of buying the Prince's theater!

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Jealous wife does NOT want her too-young-to-retire baby-daddy to perform with the woman he really loves. 👀 But conveniently that woman will sing for Shang Xi Rui's new opera!

I like how Shang Xi Rui admits to her that he is very strict and her working for/with him will not be easy. At least he's honest.

Oh, I hope this kid gets to learn under Shang Xi Rui!

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Gu Dali isn't alone?! She's getting her prophesied son! D'aw, and Cao was worried about her, too! Ha ha, that he's scared of her! And he seems so gentle with her, too. Does he actually really care for her?

Bwahahaha "it only took one shot." And that baby will be either king or queen of the forest bandits!

And Cao can be used to save the young singer! Or Gu Dali pretends to be a young lady once again!

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Shang Xi Rui looks triumphant and smug as soon as that poor kid walks in.

"I don't know about his singing, but he sure eats like you." LMAO

I really hope his new roommates don't haze him or anything cruel like that. 😰 He's already been through a lot. That kind kid with the two gold bracelets. 🥹 But he got kicked out in the middle of the night anyway! 😡 Kick their asses, Xi Rui! Or teach the kid how to.

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I guess busking isn't more cruel than walking home naked in public, but still super scary!

Ruh roh. What is Gu Dali going to do in that crowd? LOL "Bring that woman to me. Wait! You can't do it alone. Bring two more people." LMAOOOOO So he brought a group of FIVE SOLDIERS to bring the pregnant lady over.

"Now you admit the child is mine?" 😅 He's going to let her call herself his wife in public? I think he really is soft on her!

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I think he might actually marry Gu Dali!

Is Shang Xi Rui hiding somewhere to see how the kid performs? Yesssss, finally Shang Xi Rui gets to give some dudes an ass kicking.

This younger Cao is so brash all the time (except around Gu Dali), I love it. Just pushes his way past that Japanese doctor.

OMG i didn't put 2 and 2 together to realize that Shang Xi Rui's new godfather is the guy Gu Dali wants to kill! 😳

Cheng Fengtai: 💡

This #cdrama #WinterBegonia is SO GOOD.

I thought it had only 30 episodes or so and I was SAD today, thinking it was almost over (I completed ep 22 at the time).

Even now, knowing I've completed 23/49 episodes, I am loathe to be done.

It is intelligent and sneaky and silly and infuriating and endearing and and and and

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"The show onstage and offstage are now up to you." I'm so glad Cheng Fengtai let Shang Xi Rui in on his plans. Because they could get VERY disruptive and it is a brand new play!

Ho ho, the godfather knew Cao was coming! "Master of military theory but have never fought in a fierce war." Them's fightin' words!

I actually thought the head would be Commander Cao's. 😬 Bandits killed the Japanese lieutenant? Gu Dali's bandits?

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Younger Cao explicitly stated the ammunition was his and he *made* Cheng Fengtai get it for him. He did NOT mention Gu Dali's people, though. 🤔

ACK! NO! The kid smacked his own head into the door frame! Fuck!

AND THE PRINCESS DIES?! What a night!

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Oh wow! So Ning is the reason why Liu loves opera so much! He saved his life with opera!!! And Liu is forever grateful and appreciative of the art form, since.

That conversation amongst Xi Rui, Cheng Fengtai, and disguised Prince Qi is the basis for this whole show, isn't it? That theater and war are integral to human nature and both will always exist. (And Fengtai asks a merchant gets stuck in the middle!)

I love this so much!

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Shang Xi Rui considers Cheng Fengtai as family! That was pretty obvious, but I'm glad it was said. He still left a giant bite mark on Fengtai's arm! 😂

Pregnant lady assassin! I think Young Commander Cao is really getting soft on her, and not just because she is pregnant. I wonder how things will change when the baby is born!

And Fengtai's older sister really working hard to stay with Elder Commander Cao. As a spy...? 🤔

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The dichotomy of Xi Rui beating somebody up because Fengtai is his family, and Fengtai's older sister telling Madam Fan that she is the closest family to Fengtai... right as Madam Fan kicks Fengtai out. What is family?

It is so hard to believe that Madam Cheng would SELL their younger sister in order to keep their family house. It is Fengtai who keeps the family together, isn't it? Working so hard to keep them all from unraveling...

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I guess we have not seen the last of that baby's mom! She runs into Shang Xi Rui in Shanghai!

Will she run into Cheng Fengtai and maybe her performing brother will get to meet his niece who already loves opera?

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Wow, Shang Xi Rui has a whole family now! Sister, niece, and ... fake brother? 😬

Will he treat the baby differently now that she is his biological niece?

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"Whoever beats Fan Lian to death gets a hefty reward!"

Shang Xi Rui definitely changed his tune about babies now that he knows he's the biological uncle!

"You really do deserve to be beat up by him!" Are they ever going to tell him why? He really was a snake, though, getting a woman pregnant, not wanting to own up to it, not wanting to take care of the baby, and only NOW wanting to play with, er, raise her. 😤

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The crossed lines of love here. Fengyi's mom taking care of her older brother, but a false older brother. But the real older brother recognizing it and cherishing it. And recognizing that *he* doesn't need her sacrifice but the false older brother does. And just ... letting that happen. Because clarifying would be more hurtful to all parties. 🥹😭

And all is settled, until war comes.

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Prince Qi is going to die, isn't he?

"The two of us can sing a duet in front of him." WHATTTTT Commander Cao wasn't the dummy he was playing for so long! 😲