"A brave girl sought justice for her friend. With the help of righteous men, she forged a revenge plan."

This drama was well-written, and it resonated so poignantly as to what happens within our society today.

Faithful sets the stage of telling a story about a young woman by the name of Lin Ru Lan who enters the Yanyu Tower to learn the art/skills of embroidery and how her life takes a turn for the worse at the hands of Wu Lian who is the master there.

During the unfolding of this drama, we are told through flashbacks of each of the nine individuals who touched Lin Ru Lan's life prior to her committing suicide to prove her innocence at the hands of Wu Lian who sexually assaulted her. Seven years later, Meng Wan, who was a good friend of Lin Ru Lan's plotted and planned the most intricate revenge plan to clear the name of her friend by assembling those nine people to aid in her quest to seek justice on behalf of her.

We see what happens when you do try to get justice.

Disregarding Meng Wan's objections, Lin Ru Lan decided to risk her own reputation to sue Wu Lian. She went and beat the drum calling the court in session to hear her story. She tells the court how Wu Lian violated her. He basically makes it seem like she was in love with him, and he rejected her, and this was her way at getting back at him. She does have Liu San Niang, who is a courtesan as a witness. But you know she was disregarded because of her profession. All and all she lost the case.

But Lin Ru Lan was not to be deterred. Meng Wan had a cousin, Zhao Yucheng who she found would litigate the case for her. We see excitement from both of these women that they are finally getting somewhere. Not so fast, Wu Lian had found out there was a handkerchief that Ding Ru, who he also had assaulted and committed suicide had been found by her mother. Ding Ru's mother went to Lin Ru Lan and gave it to her for evidence. Thinking this would finally seal the deal with getting Wu Lian, she gives the evidence to Zhao Yucheng. Little did she know that Zhao Yucheng was bribed by Wu Lian to fake the evidence in return to giving him a high position and to let him meet Mrs. Ning who was influential within society. (Note: Wu Lian never helped him. He used Zhao Yucheng for his purpose.)

The downside of this, was Meng Wan was going to support her friend only to find out that her mother (who you will not like) knew of her pregnancy (which was by Wu Lian), gave her an abortion cocktail the same day as the trial to get rid of the baby. Being in so much pain, and bleeding profusely, she did make it finally to the court only to find out it was over. Meng Wan made her way to Lin Ru Lan only to meet Gao Cheng Cheng who she had convinced to testify, which she didn't do because Meng Wan did not show up. Gao Cheng Cheng did not allow Meng Wan to defend herself as to why she could not make the trial due to what her mother did. She stood silently as she was berated over and over again by her. Lin Ru Lan had enough and defended her friend once more even though she lost her case, and it would never be heard again.

To show support of Lin Ru Lan, Meng Wan tells her they will leave the city the next day and just travel together. As Meng Wan is getting ready to leave, her mother once again intercedes and stops this from happening. She has a coughing spell and tells Meng Wan that she needs her medicine. Meng Wan goes to get it while her mother goes to the city gates to meet Lin Ru Lan. She asks her where they will go and how will they survive on ruined reputations. She gets on her knees and begs Lin Ru Lan to let Meng Wan go. She wants her to get married and have a stable life. Lin Ru Lan decides to say that she never showed up and leaves. Meng Wan stays at the city gates all day and late into the evening.

Everyone is coming at Lin Ru Lan--her brother, her mother, her father, everyone until she tells them that she will marry Wu Lian. Her mother not trusting her locks her in her room. Meng Wan comes to see Lin Ru Lan. She asks her why they have locked her up. What happened? Did they find out she was leaving? Lin Ru Lan tells her no, that she never had decided to leave as she embroiders her wedding dress. Meng Wan is just flabbergasted as Lin Ru Lan says how can they survive on doing embroidery alone. She said marrying Wu Lian was her best choice. Meng Wan does not believe her but she tells Meng Wan that she can marry and live a peaceful life with him.

At last Lin Ru Lan's brother tries to help her and even Meng Wan breaks her fingers never to do embroidery again to pay the debt to Wu Lian to let Lin Ru Lan go. But in the end, it was for nothing. Lin Ru Lan had her own plan to let people hear her and give her justice. Before her wedding Meng Wan and Lin Ru Lan spent time together. She asks Meng Wan to give a letter to Shen Mu at 7 p.m. the day of her wedding.

As I said, Lin Ru Lan was exhausted by everything and had to figure her own way out. She decided the day of her wedding to take Wu Lian up to the top of Yanyu Tower because she always thought this would be a perfect view once they were married. Meanwhile, Meng Wan delivers the letter to Shen Mu that tells him that she is in danger at Yanyu Tower and to come quickly.

Going up to the top of Yanyu Tower, Lin Ru Lan has already set the stage for what was to happen. She had already relented to the decision she had made and settle it within herself that this was the only way to be heard. Wu Lian grabs her by the throat, and she ask him if he has the guts to kill her. He asks her does she think he doesn't. She then removes her hairpin from her hair and grabs his hand and puts the hairpin deep into her throat. Pulls it out and her blood goes everywhere on him. She places the hairpin in his hand as her body falls from the tower. Shen Mu and the other guard watch as her body falls to the ground. They look up and see Wu Lian staring down at her. This was the end and the drive that pushed Meng Wan to seek justice for Lin Ru Lan.

The assembly of these nine individuals took Meng Wan seven years but there were two deaths along the way before the retrial--Liu San Niang and Li Chun Feng. Here is what happened at the retrial:
- Wu Lian said Lin Ru Lan retracted her petition and admitted to false accusations.
- Lin Ru Lan's brother is the one who admits a letter to reopen the case to vindicate his sister.
- Meng Wan and Tian Xiao Ling testify.
- Liu Xin goes to the jail to get Wu An to testify against Wu Lian.
- Zhao Yucheng who represented Lin Ru Lan is called to admit that Wu Lian got him to fabricate the handkerchief with a different one and to lose the case. The maid to Zhao Yucheng testified to the change as well.
- Huang Jiao Jiao says that she saw Zhao Yucheng leaving Wu Lian's study the day before the trial.
- Wu An comes to testify but turns the tables on Meng Wan and tells them that she was holding the maidservant that he liked and threaten her.

But what will get you the most is the testimony of Tian Xiao Ling and what Wu Lian did to her. It is truly unbelievable:
"Seven years ago, the night I met him. I wanted to leave quickly. But he seemed to have had a drink and was in a good mood, so he started talking about embroidery with me. When I said a falling plum blossom seemed desolated, and a plum blossom on the tree showed more dignity, it provoked his anger. In his fury, he pinned me to the embroidery table. But that wasn't enough for him. At that time, I was out of my senses, filled with despair, like the living dead. He took a needle and embroidered this plum blossom on my shoulder stitch by stitch, trying to leave this plum blossom on me for a lifetime."

Can you imagine the pain she felt?

But when you see Episode 19 "The boy gave up his studies for embroidery" we are told the story of Wu Lian. We see how he is left to his own devices without the love of either his mother or father but by Lady Wu the concubine of his father. She is the only one that shows interest in him. He goes out of his way to be around her, even to learn to embroider.

Lady Wu tells him to hide this from his father that he is doing embroidery because this was not a profession that men did. He didn't care. He found out that Lady Wu like plum blossoms and he perfected them. Even being bullied by his friends he didn't care.

But his father did find out about him doing embroidery. He tells Lady Wu that she can no longer stay there, and he was sending her away. Wu Lian raced home because he wanted to see her before she left but he was to let, he found her--dead. She had hung herself. Was this what lead Wu Lian to go down the path he did? The plum blossoms that he felt so drawn to? Were they based on Lady Wu and what happened to her?

We really do not get a definitive reason why Wu Lian assaulted all of these women at Yanyu Tower or why he was the way he was. This was something that was lacking for me. I felt the writers should have given us more when they told his backstory.

There was finally vindication after all, and justice did prevail in prosecuting Wu Lian. Mr. Lou by order of the emperor handled the case as he saw fit and was told to bring closure. And with that, Wu Lian's sentence was: According to the law, he was sentenced to the punishment of flogging and exiled to the northwest for three thousand miles, never to be pardoned in his lifetime. Fitting do you think?

The final encounter of Meng Wan and Wu Lian was when he had already been flogged and was in jail. Meng Wan sees Wu Lian as he is lying face down and doing embroidery. He still doing plum blossoms with fingers that really can no longer hold a needle. Meng Wan asks him if he ever regretted in the slightest what he had done, he never said a word.

As he was lying there, he heard Lady Wu call him (he was hallucinating) and tells him not to do plum blossoms anymore and to put the needle down. He starts calling Lady Wu. Wu Lian swallowed the needle. Meng Wan hears the jailers yelling that Wu Lian had swallowed the needle but she just kept walking out of the prison. All the while smiling. So ended the life of Wu Lian.

In Episode 25 which is called "A Mere Dream" we are given the opportunity to see what life would have been like if none of this had happened. Want to see?

Wu Lian's life changed because his family was loving towards him. He had his mother and Lady Wu together as well as his father with him at dinners. He became a pastry chef. He headed to the capital to open up a shop. He meets Wu An along the way whom he helps.

Then we were given to see what if they didn’t have witnesses.

We are shown the different side of Meng Wan's mother. How her mother was a lot stronger and fended off her husband, not as she did before when he was in a drunken state. Their relationship was much better.

Meng Wan goes off with Xu who she married and was his only wife.
Liu Xin was married and had two children by the girl he first like at the booth selling buns.
Liu San Niang this time saves her master and pays his ransom so he could leave the troupe.
Shen Mu was a fugitive. He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.
Feng Da was an owner of his own embroidery shop and he was an embroider.
Tian Xiao Ling and Li Chun Feng married.

As for Rulan she gets married, and she sees Meng Wan as she is in her wedding chariot and they both feel they somehow seemed familiar to each other.

Lin Ru Lan is in the market as are all of the nine individuals who played such an important role in her previous life. As the ending comes, everything is just like a dream. Hope it wouldn't come true even if we could never meet again.

I loved all of the lantern sayings:
Meng Wan – To accompany her to see the splendid views in the world.
Lin Ru Lan – An adult girl is fearless.
Liu San Niang – Wait in the boudoir for seven years, but nothing is forgotten.
Lin Xiu – Give a treasure hairpin to the hero. Ignite a candlelight.
Feng Da – The wilderness also has emotions.
Tian Xiao Ling – Troubled by worldly affairs, seeking tranquility in the mountains.
Huang Jiao Jiao – Pray to Silkworm Mother at the door. Worship the God of Wealth inside.
Shen Mu – The young man goes with the wind and returns in time.

When I watched this drama, I was filled with such anger. Why? Because it is still the same today in some ways. We beat our drum and call the injustice that we see to ourselves as women every day, but it can fall on deaf ears. We saw in this drama, the physical and mental abuse, the bullying, the assault of these women over and over again, family and friends turning a blind eye, stereotyping of how women should act and behave, reputations put on the forefront, citizens who tried these women every day. Can you imagine how exhausting it is? And yes, you do give up. You want to keep beating that drum, but how long can you beat it to be heard. I hope, we as women never lose the drive and desire to beat our own drum when we see injustice not only for ourselves but for others that may be so scared to do so. We are in this fight together. It took nine of them. How many will it take for you?

If one only thinks for one person, it's not kindness. A single lantern creates limited light, but so what? As long as this lantern remains luminous, it can light more lanterns, leading to a million lights. As bright as the rising sun, it can illuminate the long night.