Her prior knowledge is mainly only used at the beginning, in her youth, to save her from the clutches of her abusive fathers side of the family.

I quite like their "non-romance". It's the most realistic one I've seen yet I think, feelings wise anyway. But then I only say that because he's one of the few MLs in these Asian novels that's not completely hung up over some girl he met when he was 11. Post-marriage/newlywed-stage, their relationship dynamic is quite refreshing to see in this genre. They bicker and fight all the time, but they're both pragmatic and respect each other's expertise in their respective area and don't hesitate to ask for help or advise when it comes to business. And they're not one of those annoying couples that are married but act like chaste monks who only have accidental skinship until the author decides to make them confess heartfelt feelings to each other. And wow, an FL that actually knows how to reciprocate instead of crying and trying to run away.

He is insufferable, cold, moody, threatens MC to lock her up, mocks her while she cries, says he married her just for convenience, always blackmails her to do things for her, and is generally disagreeable to her, while hounding her to be his maid (which, to be fair, is what a wife was in theses times but if only that was the only bad thing about him). Proclaims to only want someone to manage his mansion but also get terribly controlling and jealous. Wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't supposed to be the ML, and she was just trying to survive, but he's just not a nice person.

MC is constantly frustrated by him and not in a good way. She herself is supposed to do her duties as wife but the help he gives her is always framed as a show of his benevolence and that she should repay him. If she's not tending to him, he's unhappy, if she is, he's also unhappy. He's always making it hard for her, and expect her to be grateful for things a husband in this time period should do. He's a pain. He also menaces to kill her if she ever brings up divorce to him, while never having made any real show of love or kind gestures (and not yet in love with her either), and it happens really early in their marriage (while having met like four times before said marriage). This is not romantic and she is genuinely frightened. Literal excerpt :

The look on Jian Xubai’s face was quite horrifying. However, the way he had talked was gentler and gentler. He said, “Do you keep all I said in your mind? Humph? Why are you silent?”

“I am yours, whether I am alive or not.” Song Yixiao closed her eyes as a drop of crystal tear scrolled down from the corner of her eyes. She replied emotionlessly, “Are you satisfied now?”

Jian Xubai nodded smilingly and said, “Good girl!”

How is this not a horror story ??? The dissonance I had from her being in distress and him calmly oppressing her and then the servant thinking thinking afterwards that the master favored her so much like ? How ??? The passages before and after also describes his fingers' horned pulp rubbing her eyelashes, the viciousness of his eyebrows 'so strong it seemed physically real', his bursts of rage, and that she's never allowed to step out of the mansion again (then the servant manages to negotiate with ML to allow for some urgent exceptions for her duties and, I'm sorry, is this supposed to be attractive and kind ?? Because the story is trying to tell that it is). He also knows he's in the wrong and shouldn't accuse her but doesn't care (once again, written in plain text).

Like, he also sincerely told her something along the lines of 'if at least your father cared about you then I could use him because he would do it for your sake' while being fully aware that she was mistreated by her paternal family while being himself disliked by his own father, which she rightfully points out (for once). This is not done teasingly, the text clearly states that it's to aggravate her. He often brushes off her concerns while also not telling her the necessary information. Which could be valid, given that he doesn't know her that well, and must be careful about spilling everything about his situation and various complications in his family, but is fundamentally s*upid when it's relevant to her duties of managing the damn house he claims is what he married her for !

Regardless of the fact that he is a huge jerk, my other main gripe is that they are not equal, he has all the power, while also playing the victim 'oh woe is me she dares sometimes not like that I belittle her constantly'. They are not bickering playfully, he's low-key abusive. MC is not perfect, but she doesn't deserves that.

Now, I understand and generally prefer more realism in ancient chinese novels, which is why I don't mind depictions of characters with wildly different values than our modern ones, or historically accurate harems. It is more interesting to me than the nth novel about overpowered fated lovers that just has the veneer of an historical era but could actually take place anytime anywhere. But this is not it, and I really dislike feeling repeatedly gaslit by the novel that his behaviour is in any way reasonable, while also not giving any qualities to his character. Maybe he changes, maybe not, I'm too tired to find out. He's just painfully unlikable. Being in ancient times does not mean being absolutely unable communicate or having no redeeming qualities. He's also impatient (despite what the text says), not understanding, has violent tendencies, unable to give compliments, hypocritical, remorseless, and generally mean. This is not a flawed character, this is a big bag of flaws. I guess he's handsome. And rich. Wow. I'm swooning.

I could be quoting and providing examples for every claim I made but this already way longer than I planned it to be. In short, he's way too similar in both overt and more subtle behaviours that real-life modern ab*sers employ that any excuse of 'historical accuracy' falls totally flat. This isn't crazy yandere territory 'I love you way too much', it's genuinely disturbing for anyone having been in any way witness of this kind of patterns. Is it dramatic ? Maybe. But even if he wasn't an ab*ser, he's still a dirtbag all he same, with the narration quietly denying that he is.