The problem with people who vehemently hate Jinshi and Jinmao is that they desperately want the author, story, and other people to view him and the ship like they do. This is why they spread misinformation about the story, precisely because the story never treats Jinshi as a villain or a monster for any of his mistakes or blunders, even when he is shown to be in the wrong. There is a clear line the series draws regarding actions like r@pe, child abuse, pedophilia, assault, etc. (compare how the previous emperor is depicted, the question of how to lower a courtesan’s value, or Lakan’s initial appearance to how Jinshi is treated).
I always see the mentions of “Maomao is forced to oblige because of status” and that “she could get her head cut off if she refuses him.” There is commentary about power imbalances throughout the story, and their relationship is no exception. However, that is not to say that these comments are accurate.
People always say that Maomao cannot refuse Jinshi, and sure, in theory that is true — someone of her status cannot refuse someone of his, or *shouldn’t* be able to. As she gets to know him throughout the series, it becomes increasingly clear to her that he would not harm her, rejection or not. Take the honey scene for example: it’s very early on in their relationship, and Maomao here has reason to believe she would face punishment for refusal. Even with that in mind, she still makes it very clear that she was uncomfortable with his advancements. The author makes it easy for the audience to understand when Maomao does not approve of something (honey scene, Lakan, etc.), so we have all the reason to believe that if Maomao felt the same way about Jinshi’s other advances (frog scene, LN 5 epilogue, etc.) that the author would make it known in some way or another. Instead, there are often conflicting feelings present when it comes to his serious advancements.
Maomao fears deepening her connection with Jinshi because of all the trouble it could bring her way. She also fears abandonment and worries that, if she makes the decision to be vulnerable and honest, that she will suffer the same fate as her mother and many other women did; she feels that she cannot let herself love or be loved (both romantically and platonically). She does not truly operate as someone who fears or detests him.
This becomes especially evident when you compare Maomao’s interactions with other people of higher status to those with Jinshi. Even with those who favor her, she maintains a polite and professional atmosphere, yet treats him with what would be taken as disrespect by anyone else in his position.
The refusal to accept that the romance subplot — something decided upon years ago that has unequivocal development on both sides of the relationship — is very much there and crucial to the story colors takes on the author’s intent with their scenes.
Natsu Hyuuga has said that her favourite scene to write was the frog scene. If it was meant to depict assault, and not to show two individuals pushing each other's buttons, then would we say that she was happy to write about a man assaulting a woman? Nothing about her clear depictions of assault and its effects within the story vs. how Maomao and Jinshi moments are depicted suggests that they are remotely the same or should be taken as such.
While the frog scene drives the plot forward (Maomao gets full confirmation that Jinshi is not a real eunuch) it also has romantic and comedic undertones that cannot be divorced from it (regardless of how the scene made some feel on a personal level). Just because the writing for a romance does not cater to one's personal tastes does not mean that the romance in these scenes are not present.
It's also a show of vulnerability (romance aside) on Jinshi’s part in wanting to share his secret with Maomao. She expresses worry, not in fear that he would harm her, but rather because she does not want to deal with the baggage that comes with being privy to what she perceived to be a crime in that moment (uncastrated man in the rear palace).
This is not to say his behavior in the scene was okay, and the series acknowledges this by having him apologize. Maomao also apologized as she was also not entirely innocent either.
Disliking him and the scene is fine, but the story not once paints him as the evil r@pist people try to make him out to be, and they must accept that. Don’t expect the story or author to validate such claims / feelings.
He is a multifaceted character, much like Maomao. You are not meant to agree with his every action, but he is painted as a genuinely good person overall. Their emphasis placed on him being too kind and caring to be emperor (a sentiment Maomao holds) suggests as much.
Also, those who say that the author actually wanted to write romance between Maomao and any other character in the story tend to use the author not initially planning a romantic subplot as justification for why the main ship of the series is bad or “forced”. If she wasn’t planning on making Maomao fall in love with anyone, how can one say that she actually wanted to make her fall in love with xyz? It would be one thing if the logic used was consistent. I promise that it's okay to hate things because you don’t vibe with it.
Genreally speaking, the lack of reading between the lines in this fandom gets rather annoying and does a disservice to both the author and her work.
