YAY!

The two other scholars, Feng Xianyu and Liu Wenyi, offer two other extremes. Feng Xianyu gives up his honour so the Imperial Princess (Cougar Princess) can get him a job. While this works in the short term, it binds his progress to her power and he fades from the story, probably never advancing very far. Liu Wenyi tries to advance without any help at all, believing that he's smart enough to beat the system. He ends up disillusioned and bitter, eventually also resorting to power (almost) entirely based on favour.

Even though Yan Shang is the only one who does it "right," I think the novel illustrates just how hard it is to navigate in these systems without losing sight of morality. How much playing the system is okay and how quickly that can topple into a complete loss of morality. It also makes me think of the Chinese idiom I've heard in a lot of dramas "water that is too clear has no fish" No one can be completely pure and still be effective.

Mango Sago (杨枝甘露) My Mango sago is a chilled Hong Kong style dessert with a smooth ripe mango and coconut milk base, chewy tapioca pearls, and fresh diced mango on top. The dessert is naturally dairy free in my version, comes together in a few stages at the stove and the blender, and tastes like a Cantonese dessert shop in a bowl.