(This can be moved if it’s not in the right place.) Seriously I don’t know if it’s noticed by other people or whatever but it is there. Like when the MC is an unfavored daughter and the green tea sister is the one that’s seen as “perfect”. The greedy grandma takes the side of the one with the most influence. What happens to the grandpas and if they die, why do they have to die first? Is it for the plot?.......
Simple, the grandma killed them to take their power, they're evil yaknow? or they died due to hidden wounds as the dudes tend to fight the harsh battles a tad more (war or clan rivalries)
What was the saying again, "The good die young, but calamities live for 1000 years" or something. I suspect that grandmothers are more interesting in story than grandfathers in this context. The grandfather might just use violence but the grandmother generally uses plots which is more interesting for readers. Only sometimes do I see the grandmother using violence.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-life-expectancy-lo/?redirect=1 this explain it and in most cn novels in historical period, men are either generals or officials, that means they get often injured and/or mentally exhausted, or simply killed in war
You said it yourself, she takes the side of the one with the most influence thus she survives. Thought that is actually a good question, now that think about it, in cultivation novels with a male MC there is always that grandpa(s) with lots of power and strength that usually takes the side of the genius descendant and rarely a grandma, so, my point is perhaps it is some sort of alternation because of the gender or something, like when the MC is a female then there is grandma and when the MC is male then there is a grandpa ?
Generally speaking, in such novels it's usually the women who are in charge of the household matters and the men are often away at court, wars and etc. The evil grandmother can cause more troubles for the MC because of that reason.
with male mc in some cn novels the grandma is astually a beauty and young woman, instead of a wrinkly grandma
Grandpas tend to have lived too stressed lives and died earlier, and even if they were alive, usually leave the household to his women unless something major has happened
Aside from the fact that women tend to live longer (on average), there are several (cultural) reasons: 1. If the grandfather was still alive, he most likely would be the head of the house, thus ruling over the family. Since he is dead however, grandma has to rely on her children to feed & care for her - aka earn money. Since they could decide to be unfilial and throw her out, she'd have to stay on their good side. Choosing them is logical. 2. As mentioned previously, women tend to be portrait as scheming, while men are usually shown to be more strait-forward. 3. Grandfathers are either cold b*stards or really dote on their granddaughters. There are those who let their grandchildren compete against one another, but those tend to only appear in martial novels with male MCs. 4. Clearly defined gender roles (in most novels and history) made it the main wifes (grandmother) job to take care of the harem. The man would only occasional check on his kids or impregnate some wifes and concubines, but mostly would not get involved in "women's business", instead focusing on whatever job he had. Thus having a father involving himself in his sons harem (aside from him asking to bring him his grandchildren for a visit) is pretty much all it takes for rumors about him cuckolding his son to float around. He might choose whom his sons and daughters have to marry, but that is about it.