MDZS did have some decent female characters, but they all were present for only short amounts of time, and died in the flashbacks. (Yu Ziyuan, and I also ended up liking Wang Lingjiao.) The closest thing to a main female character, on the other hand, was Jiang Yanli, who was very blandly inoffensively feminine. While it's understandable that she grew up like that in the Lotus Pier, I really just wish that she'd resembled her mother more in personality. Or make Lan Qiren the scary maiden aunt.

I agree whole-heartedly!

As for Zhu Hong, she gets the snappy dialogue, but way less agency. She is always side-lined when the main action starts.