My issue with this isn't so much that the emperor has a harem, but that he's so weak and simple minded. Yes you have to have these other women and even spend time with them even if you don't want to, but he can still back the empress more solidly. Instead he gets decevied by the concubines and the MC has to scheme and plot and manipulate to remind him of his feelings to get him to side with her. If he was really someone she could rely on for trust and support, she could have just told him about the Imperial Concubine scheme and how/why she wanted to have the other concubine's child given to her. Instead the MC had to show him a painting of them together and stir up his feelings to get him not to hand over the child. I understand there are limits to what he can do to these concubines, but he could still be unified with the MC within the parameters of these restrictions.
What's more annoying than the emperor though is the MC. The fact that she, a modern woman, is falling in love with this weak willed man who has multiple women and even children with these woman and especially SO QUICKLY makes no sense to me. It makes it hard to forgive the emperor on the excuse that the situation is realistic when the idea that this 20th century women could accept this harem relationship enough to love the ML is so unrealistic.
I don't know of any manga or drama's that do this better but I think some novels that do are: Dreamer In The Spring Boudoir, The Feast, The Delicate Prince and His Shrewd Peasant Consort. In all of these, the ML has a harem but it's done so much better. The Feast, I think, is particularly great because the ML & transmigrating MC actually have a conversation about this issue. Even though she has some feelings for him (after a year of being his 'wife') she tells him that she can't love him because she can't accept sharing him with multiple woman. He responds that he can't get rid of his other wives and concubines because (a) politics and (b) he made a commitment to them and has to honor that. That was such a fair response; both of them had stances that made sense for people coming from two different eras.
In contrast, the MC being all 'its okay for me to love him cuz he's nice!' just feels so air headed that I can't take her seriously. It's not even like she inherited the former body owner's memory and so is maybe overlapping those with her own feelings. Nope. She just thinks he's hot and nice to her so she's gonna be in love :
Thoughtful reply (although Dreamer in the Soring Boudoir's case, the marquis had more flexibility and freedom in terms of how he dealt with his own concubines). I have my own qualms about the character of the MC and the Emperor, but leaving all that aside, it was really the sheer amount of 'the Emperor is a CHEATER, he has a harem, she should run off with the second male lead and etc' comments that I just had to post, that it's not as simple as that.
Much has not been explored about the Emperor here, but from what we've seen, we can deduce that 1) he loves the Empress 2) he wants to protect her with his own strength 3) he can't do anything against the established customs (you'll see this in the upcoming chapters 4) other characters are aware he remains naive in a sense and 5) both Emperor and Original Empress have been outwitted by the harem before. But honestly, I will take this, over a scheming, selfish Emperor who threw away His Empress for 3000 women. That's why I'm more forgiving to him, because he's shown to at least love His Empress, leaving his flaws aside. I suppose it comes down to your preferences.
'Even though she has some feelings for him (after a year of being his 'wife') she tells him that she can't love him because she can't accept sharing him with multiple woman. He responds that he can't get rid of his other wives and concubines because (a) politics and (b) he made a commitment to them and has to honor that. That was such a fair response; both of them had stances that made sense for people coming from two different eras.'
I forgot to add that I loved this part as well, and I wish this manhwa could've a conversation of something just as similar. It explains to the readers why the harem is here to stay (unless they abolish the harem, but I haven't seen any that's done in a believable way.)
By the end the Marquis had more freedom, but in the beginning I'd argue he was just as restricted as the emperor. He was just more clever, cunning, and intelligent than the emperor here. He was scheming and even manipulating the concubines against each other to keep any of them from having a child and no one (including the women themselves and even the reader) figured it out.
I completely agree with you that the emperor is better "in comparison to", but even if he's better than, falling in love with him so quick just seems so stupid for a modern woman to do. So ultimately my problem is really more with the MC than with him. I don't like the emperor, but his flaws are believable so I can except. The MC, not so much.
Yes, this! Regardless how you feel about a harem, you had to respect the ML for not just tossing these women in the trash once his "true love" showed up. It's such a good exchange because you empathize with both sides and the morals fueling them.
Half of me wants a The Feast webtoon, but the other half of me fears them doing so and botching it by losing the nuance and gray areas with the female characters who aren't or oppose the FL. (see: I don't want to be Empress!)
I would say, rather than being restricted, the Marquis simply had -no reason- to abolish his own harem in the beginning. For reasons like what you said, they serve as his tools and he made use of them just fine. It wasn't until the Marquis genuinely fell in love in both scenarios - if I recall right, he 1) dismissed everyone and had a happy ending with the Heroine in novel and 2) he dismissed his harem after falling in love with transmigrated heroine and settled all the issues at the end. In both scenarios, he had every power to, just that earlier on, there was no reason to. Anyway, I liked the novel despite its criticisms though, happy to see another reader here.
The rest of my replies got cut off! Oh well, mangago doesn't like a smiley face and I just pretty much echoed your sentiments lol.
Earlier on, he had to keep the harem because of the struggle between the princes. All of them had some kind of political backing that he had to keep in check. One of the women was planted in his harem by a prince-- the white lotus one, who pretending to be sick; that's why even when she schemed things and he and the grandma knew she did it, they couldn't punish her until Sangyu schemed her back. And even Wanwan (Wen wan?) was being backed by a prince (a different one than the white lotus). Most of his concubines and wives, including Sangyu, had a connection to one of the princes struggling for the throne. That's also why even when he started to like Sangyu he kept claiming he didn't and that his true love was WenWan -- Sangyu's cousin was one of the princes vying for the throne and if it looked like he was too close to her then that could be taken as supporting that prince. But he also couldn't get rid of any of the woman because that would also be a political statement of backing or rejecting. It's also why he didn't let any of his women have children and had so many, he had to balance them so that it couldn't be taken as backing any particular prince.
By the end of the story it doesn't matter, because the new emperor is a child and the ML is basically the ruler behind the throne. He didn't exactly disband the harem though...the story contrived itself so that all his concubines either died or committed crimes bad enough to get them punished. He still has one concubine by the end of the story he just doesn't visit her. Also his heir is the son of a concubine.
I loved Spring Boudoir okay. Not nearly as much as The Feast, but I really appreciated that Sangyu always put herself first and was so pragmatic about everything, including her relationship with the ML.
Exactly! İ only read half of your comment but completely agree! How the hell modern woman like her falled him who has many wives and children while doesn't even how good personality
I hope that readers will come to appreciate this title for what it is: a transmigrated heroine working her way and triumphantly overcoming the traps of the inner harem. (I wrote a post about the Emperor and his concubines here: http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/5895738/ )
It is a somewhat realistic portrayal of how it is in the ancient times. You won't find an overpowered MC slapping everyone's faces and stomping on the Emperor before running off with the second ML. Instead, you'll find a story about a modern woman forging alliances with other concubines, keeping useful relationships close to her, protecting herself and weaving her way through many traps, using her wits to stay above her rivals. There will be face slapping, but done with wit. You will eventually learn more about the official concubine selections, and other customs that even the Emperor could not abolish... yet. What I'm reading here, is not about a slut Emperor spreading his seeds, but an Emperor who is genuinely in love with His Empress, despite being tied down by the political factions and his responsibility towards many many things. So I would like to ask readers to give this a chance, to not compare this to other villainess works here. They have different focuses.
You can watch Yanxi Palace or Ruyi's Love in the Palace to brush up on your knowledge of the Emperor and his harem. Doing so would change your mindset now that you understand why people do things the way they do here. The MC here is already miles and MILES ahead compared to them, simply in the basis of having the Emperor be completely utterly honest with her, and him being genuinely in love with her.