LOVE!
I absolutely ADORE this show! It is now in my collection of top 10 shows. I've watched it twice all the way through, and it is even better the second time around!Whether you like this drama or not, will depend on if you can be patient enough to endure a slow burn romance. There is no "love at first sight" or an instant attraction. The romance between the two leads develops over a long period of time and at a slow and steady pace. It's a beautiful story of love! It is such a journey to see the two main leads come together through an arranged marriage, try and convince themselves that they will simply coexist and nothing more, and then have the ML slowly fall in love and woo his wife. Mistakes and misunderstandings along the way, the leads eventually realized that they were stronger together and their love made them better people. I've seen other people comment on this drama saying it is "slow paced" and "boring", but the slow pace is the beauty of this drama. It's wonderful to see the main leads overcome obstacles together, communicate, learn about each other's past, and grow stronger together. I've started to watch other dramas and I find myself laughing, like how do these other characters simply "fall in love" with each other?! The Sword and the Brocade depicts such a deep and meaningful love, that when I see other dramas, it feels so superficial.
What I love:
-The ACTING is some of the best! Wow-Wallace Chung and Seven Tan hit it out of the park with this drama. Seven Tan is a STAR! Her future is so bright. Her smile lights up the whole room. She did a great job depicting a strong and intelligent FL. Wallace is an incredible actor! He is truly a veteran actor and he did a fantastic job depicting a lonely and stoic nobleman. It is so refreshing to watch a drama with two high caliber actors. Their acting is convincing and mature. Many times while watching this drama I kept asking myself, who is the better actor (Wallace Chung or Seven Tan) and I couldn't decide because they both matched each other so perfectly! The supporting characters and villains also did an excellent job!
-The costumes, cinematography, camera work and directing is top notch! You can really tell this drama had a fairly good budget because the props, costumes and sceneries look beautiful.
-The MUSIC is fantastic! EVERY single song in this drama is wonderful and perfectly fits! Even the instrumental and back ground music was stunning. Between the instrumental music and the beautiful flower/nature shots transitioning to a new scene, it felt like a meditation.
What I didn't like:
-The last few episodes had a ridiculous story arc with the FL's maids. It was so unnecessary and quite frankly annoying. It's like the writer desperately wanted to squeeze in this side plot (hence my overall 9.5 rating). However, it only lasted like 2 episodes so it didn't negatively impact my view of the show. The last three episodes were amazing!
Overall: I truly enjoyed this drama! I laughed, smiled, cried, and experienced every emotion while watching. Do yourself a favor and watch The Sword and the Brocade!!
On a side note, I recently found out that Seven Tan's mother passed away at the end of 2018 in a car accident (before the shooting of this series). That explains so much. I can definitely see how much Seven Tan poured her heart and soul into her acting, especially with certain scenes in this drama!
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed this one a lot when it came out in 2021. It's a great slow-burn romance, which might be frustrating to some because the leads do make mistakes initially. Their missteps threaten to undo their relationship altogether, but it's a journey worth watching as they learn to trust and love one another wholeheartedly. Additionally, great chemistry and acting from the leads, bolstered by a wonderful supporting cast and memorable soundtrack, help move the story along.It's not all about romance - life for a woman in the Ming dynasty is hard. The opening shot of the 1st episode lays out one of these main issues/themes: the difference between the legal wife/children and the "illegitimate". This plays out throughout the whole drama, with some to tragic ends and others with heartwarming journeys of redemption and reconciliation. Highly recommend, also a great one to rewatch.
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Beware of the mother-in-law!
I love the feeling of finishing a show🤭. A couple of thoughts on this one…The costumes and sets were absolutely stunning, the female lead’s chambers were breathtaking—especially that window that looked like a moon! I also quite loved the detail of her evolving hairstyle, signifying her growth as the lady of the house.
Now, the monster of the show. Mommy dearest, big mama, mother-in-law. Girl. This woman was such a hypocrite and biased, it was actually infuriating. The ending scene also just made me laugh to be honest. Praising Shi Yi’s embroidery business, only because it ended up being mega-successful. Meanwhile, throughout the whole show, she held it against the female lead😐🧍🏻♀️. The mother-in-law was such a brainless woman, who was easily manipulated by anyone, and who could not once admit her mistakes. Not once did she apologize to Shi Yi for the abuse and mistreatment she faced. Every single time, she had to be reminded how amazing the female lead actually is in doing her duties as the legal wife/ladyship, only to immediately turn against her in a matter of seconds. No matter how many good deeds Shi Yi did, one bad thing and POOF, the mother-in-law just complained what a bad wife she is… Give me a break! It was so annoying, because the female lead’s submission was used as an excuse to push the narrative that “actions are louder than words”. It would have been really nice had Shi Yi just cussed out her mother-in-law… even just once, honestly. The female lead never complained, blabla, and I’m supposed to believe it’s aspirational, meanwhile, she faces unjust treatment all the time. No matter how much I like that man, having that kind of family-in-law is just a big no-no. Ugh, I would hate to live in that house.
Another time the writing pissed me off was when Shi Yi had a lapse in judgment and actually believed that Ling Yi had killed her mother. The show spends every single episode establishing Shi Yi as a level-headed female lead, who thinks before she acts. A female lead who is one step ahead, and when she is not, she adapts quickly and turns a situation back around in her favor. In order to create several episodes’ worth of conflict and tension between the two leads, they made her emotional and guided by irrationality when it mattered most to stay calm. Now, you can argue that 1) Shi Yi is still very young, literally a teenager, and 2) her mother was one of the very few people in her life that genuinely loved her, thus, her death was obviously a big blow—especially since she found her dead. Therefore, 3) finally finding some evidence, even if it’s collateral (as she did admit herself), it is not surprising that she would hope and be over-eager. But taking Ling Yi’s ambiguous and DRUNK confession as the absolute truth is just so dumb lol. Again, I just think the writers wanted some tension among the leads, but I did not like it (the conflict itself was annoying, however, the pay-off was … nice…. I guess… 👀 since we did get a really nice kiss… and yearning and longing… I’ll take whatever I can get!). Shi Yi, until that point, was rational, but not heartless, caring and sensible. In a critical moment like that, I wish the writing had been better.
The last 3 episodes were so … I just wanted to finish the show, so I skipped the part when girly was almost beheaded lol. I do think the show was good, and had sweet moments between the leads, but they dragged it a little. I think more than 40 episodes was just too much. However, the sets, costumes, the stunning OSTs as well has the yearning portrayed by Wallace Chung really did make up for it. I did enjoy the overall acting performances by the whole cast as well. I would not rewatch this show, though. Big Mama annoyed me too much… 🤭💖
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Look elsewhere if you are searching for a historical romance drama
The Sword and the Brocade was very high on my to-watch list since the day they released the teaser images. This drama stars two of the better (if not best) category actors in China. I thought there was no way they could go wrong because the synopsis and the BTS clips were all too good for me to expect that this drama would end up not delivering. Heck, I wish I went in with lower expectations and I wouldn't come out with such mixed feelings.PLOT:
I thought to expect a lot of politics and scheming since the synopsis mentions "a girl with a low birth status". But the promise of the FL reaching up high in the ranks was what caught my interest. The drama reads like a typical harem drama and for most part- it is. The harem politics is what kept me engaged and enjoying uptil ep 30 (with some glitches in the process) or so after which it started going downhill. The drama was absolutely phenomenal upto 30-something episodes and after that I just started getting bored. I would be lying if I don't say at times I struggled or even went to the skip button to get past some irrelevant plots.
WHAT WORKS:
Harem politics might not be everyone's thing but here it wasn't that heavy. I enjoyed the cattiness of the concubines but it became a bit too unrealistic by the end. Qianfeng was annoying but she actually made the drama more fun for me.
The next and main highlight are the leads. I've not seen such amazing brainy, calm and level headed leads in a drama since a long time. The FL is like a modern women who keeps her wits and knows how to survive in a cruel or challenging situations. The ML seems cold but is more tsundere as the story progresses. It was a bit cringey with him having so many women around him but his doting and dedication towards the FL was brilliant. Both leads have issues and go through the misunderstanding trope a few times but it never drags. I loved how they always resolved problems and their romance build up is enjoyable in spite of the age gap between the leads. However, I did wish for it to not lost steam later on. For still making it work, I give kudos to Wallace and Seven because they play their parts pretty well. I admit the slow/lack of romance was disappointing but the maturity of both and their little interactions were enough for me.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
The boring and draggy second-half. I wonder where that enjoyment went. This drama went downhill the moment they got rid of the main "villain". Later it made me realize that until then the harem and romance were the only things that could hold the drama. Unfortunately the drama chose to focus on other plots which I didn't care so much about. The leads getting together was acted well but should have been way earlier. Even the ending was underwhelming at best as the events leading up to it made me lose all my earlier excitement.
OST:
The OST and music of this drama is quite nice. I recommend a listen.
OVERALL:
This drama could have been my absolute favourite but I am sad it didn't work out that way by the end. Nonetheless, it's a good one-time watch with some skipping to make it more bearable. Wallace Chung and Seven Tan do not disappoint but I wish they had better scripts to work with. I still believe this story could have focused on other things and have been more enjoyable. I still don't hesitate to recommend it because I quite enjoyed the good parts of the drama.
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Reputable, Brave & Lovely Main Leads + Severe Polygamy delineation~!
This drama got me so whipped the entire time and put me in quite a few mood swings during its duration.A well planned, produced and written story that will surely touch you in every corner there is. I expected it to be Good but not THIS 'GOOD'. An example of a Solid drama that surpasses the Great tier and should be lined up along the BEST OF BEST!
I've got so much to say but lemme just summarize it to the best way I can cause this will be endless for sure IF i don't limit myself. Hahaha~
×× Things I LIKE and/or Love.
+ The characters are well-versed and truly showcases different views, situations and emotions that are relatable to probably anyone who would watch it.
+ Smart Story and Plot, It feels so surreal to be able to watch such production who's incorporated with proper planning and thinking after a long time. This drama provided it all beyond my expectation and truly nailed it.
+ Refreshing character development and world building. Something that is rarely seen these days due to 'recycling-whats-popular' trend nowadays. A breath of fresh air I must say.
+ The EVER reliable Main Leads who're always there to help nonetheless of the situation and is always ready to take charge and resolve things. Both of them are brave and responsible individials whose sense of responsibilty and understanding is beyond and above the normal/standard.
×× Things I Dislike and/or Hate.
+ Terrible presentation of Polygamy. I always hated the Idea of having more than 1 Wife and this show just infuriated me for doing so.
+ This is more like a compliment but I hate the villains here more than I do to other dramas antagonists I've ever watched.
Story - 10, Story & Plot wise it's top notch. No words needed. A story that is highly and worth recommending to almost everyone. This production won't disappoint one way or another.
Acting/Cast - 10, Oh God! Phenomenal set of Actors. 💯 All of them nailed it and it's really rare for a drama to do that. Their way of executing emotions and reaching out to their viewers is something to take note of. One of a kind.
Music - 10, I honestly didn't focused much on the music side cause I was so engrossed on how the story unfolds but simply base on the BGMs and insert music I've listened to, I can say that it's decent, Good even. No complaints at all
Rewatch Value - 9, For me, It is on the level of 'Nirvana in Fire'. A drama I wouldn't get tired watching of no matter how many times I watch it. It will always has that multiple spark that will glued your eyes on the screen gradually and consistently.
Overall - 10, This shouldn't even be a question at this point. This drama deserves more than what it has achieved. The way it's produced and presented to viewers felt so refreshing and relatively new. I can assure anyone that this drama will never disappoint.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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MUST WATCH!
This drama is so beautiful! GIVE IT A TRY! The music and outfits are greatly designed, the storyline is wonderfully written! JUST WATCH! :DThe main couple, side couples, and the kids are so cute! The romance between the main couple comes later but their interactions are so sweet! They understand each other and respect each other... any who I don't like writing long reviews so yeahh... just watch LOL! ................................................................................................................they required 500 characters when writing a review...............................................have a nice day! :D
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Families Fuel !!!
GREAT DRAMA!!!I 💜love watching Seven T. Her acting skills it’s very natural. She one of my favorite actresses. The Other act well too. Storyline is good. Lots of actions. Basically about Families, Power, Revenge, Tragedy and Concubines fighting for love and attention for the Prince. Typical Historic Dramas. Some of the characters I wonder what happens to them. It needs a little bit more supporting details. I feel it’s a little bit lack in some parts. If you don’t care about the details. The story it’s good all the way through. I finished in 2 weeks 😊. Watch it again…maybe. I still have lots of dramas to watch. Going down the drama list 😀😃
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This review may contain spoilers
Survival & empowerment within the husband's harem and politics.
• Contains spoilers, read at your own risk. You can skip to the bullet points if you want a more general review. •The Sword and The Brocade was nothing like what I expected it to be. When I first heard about this drama, I was a bit skeptical and a bit excited because I wasn't sure how I felt about a concubine's daughter marrying into Marquis Yongping's manor (meaning she'd probably be manipulated and schemed against a lot which came true but less than I thought) but I was excited that it was a Ming Dynasty based drama as they are usually uncommon so it was nice to see something different for a change. Shi Yi Niang proved herself to be quite an independent as well as intelligent woman throughout the entire drama. She married into Marquis Yongping's manor with a motive of investigating her mother's death and ended up catching Xu Lingyi's (Marquis Yongping) attention in the process. She fought through his entire harem (3 concubines) and made them believe that they succeeded in scheming against her when in reality she was the real successful one. She went through constant disapproval of her concubine's daughter status from her mother-in-law as well as her sister-in-law without complaining once about how they were treating her and instead earned their respect from everything she did. She defied the ethics of being a married woman back then when she got involved with Xianling Pavilion with her husband's support rather than approval. I absolutely loved her character because it shows so much female empowerment. It proves that it's not only every successful man has a supportive woman behind him but it shows that it could be vice versa even in ancient times when things like what she was doing were seen as shameful. Most of the drama was focused on family importance, the development of our ML & FL's romance, our FL's intelligent and politics in regards to the sea ban. Some parts of politics were interesting when the scheming was happening but all in all, I try to avoid those as much as possible lol. I would recommend this drama to someone who usually enjoys a slight mix of politics and the scheming tricks of a harem (with an intelligent FL).
To sum it up in bullet points:
• Mix of politics and harem schemes.
• Ming dynasty based drama which is uncommon so it was exciting to see all the different costumes.
• FL is very intelligent and independent which she proves throughout the drama.
• Small but interesting harem schemes.
• Defied societal standards of women in ancient times with her involvement in Xianling Pavilion.
• Message of female empowerment.
• Gained respect from mother-in-law and sister-in-law despite her concubine's daughter status.
• Would recommend to someone who enjoys a bit of politics and harem/family schemes.
OST: Personally I didn't find anything catchy about the OSTs in the drama but I thought they were very suitable to the drama. I have yet to find a drama where the OST doesn't match the development of the drama. It gives calm but slight powerful tunes. I mainly remember the ending song because the beginning of it was the catchiest to me.
Acting: I had actually never watched Wallace Chung in a drama before this one and I can safely say, he was worth the watch lol. I personally think he was a bit too emotionless and could've fixed his facial expressions better when he was upset but overall he did pretty well in his role. I loved Seven Tan's acting in this. She played her young lady role amazingly and her body language/expressions were outstanding. The one thing I think that wasn't that believable was her at the end when she had become an more developed woman (after she had a kid). I think that is due to her sort of baby face though so that may be why.
Ending: It was a happy ending. It fulfilled what the drama wanted to fulfill throughout and it showed one big happy family together. I do wish that Shi Yi Niang had more children with Xu Lingyi because I believe they could've but for the purpose of protecting the eldest son's importance, I think the screenwriter/direction settled with just giving them one child. Overall it was cute though seeing how everyone was happy and the scheming was over.
Rewatch Value: I would definitely rewatch but I don't see it in the near future. I think I'll find myself coming back to this drama when I need a less intense drama to watch that still includes politics and scheming.
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Watchable,, amazing ost, amazing acting, i enjoy the story
## ABOUT ACTING ##I really admire Tan Songyun's acting skills！！ When she was filming "under the power", I felt a little weird because I havent watch her historical dramas, but when watch it i feel it was not bad ,
but this time it made me admire her! Omaigot! Tan song yun acting is very good! And the othes artists aren't bad either ,, sometimes there are only a few that are annoying, im not sure is too deep in acting or not
##ABOUT EDITING, STORY, PLOT##
at the beginning of the story, in my opinion, the words used are quite complicated and require subtitles, but when it is at the end of the story, as long as you can listeningb Chinese and read the chinese subtittle is easier to understand(i need the chinese sub even i use english sub or my country sub)
### at first there are also scenes that are missed but still acceptable because they are not too important, but hence foward,, the more important and awaited scenes are not shown, very frustrating!!!
Detail good enough ,but sometimes i feel the flashback for explaining how that thing happen a little bit unimportant (not related),,, good enough, but the annoying is when there is a scene that happens directly or i expected to know how its happen,,but is not shown how it happened ,, or the flashback is not related to the scene (ep 19 opening scene ) (ep 45 how shiyiniang can get free?! Omaigot! Frustrated! Im waiting for this but!
### And and the timing was pass very absurd ,, it could shuddenly already passed 1 month and sometimes when flashback how the thing happen the timing is unclear, like when they plan that, and whether the flashback is the 2nd meeting or the same meeting (it is unclear because their clothes are the same, but impossible at the same meeting) like oulixing and xu family spy meeting,, wheb the first meeting xu family spy not knowing about HUPO
and sometimes they seem to plan something but immediately do the plan , and not told out , so didnt know whan the plan is , when ouyanxing help shiyiniang for cure erniang ,,and the most is when oulixing planning something for framing marquis ! not said at all
## the scene that I think happened suddenly (spoiler) ##
1. When yuanniang know the next xu mistress candidate is shiyiniang? ,,, even though it has been changed to erniang,, and change back at the same day when yuanniang be in agony
2. When Shiyiniang was thrown back to Luo manor when investigated yuanniang death
3. when marquis know that erniang hand was injured? And he warn wangyu
4. how can the woman who provoked xianling pavilion worker escaped?
5. when madam luo know about the real cause of yuanniang death
6. when marquis stuck at shandong (It doesn't make sense, suddenly 1 month and Madam Xu just found a clue about what hurt the marquis,and then marquis plan a trap then come back like that)
7. how shiyiniang escape from death?! Omaigot they skip the scene! Frustrating me!
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If you want to sit through hours of lessons on how to be the perfect woman centuries ago, then this drama is for you. It was not for me. Shiyi, our main female lead, may gently lose her way but she is always selfless, looking out for others and willing to take blame. Ever patient, she uses her intelligence and skills only in the service of the causes of others.
Everyone around her, from her husband, to her own family, to her inlaws, is frustrating, narrow-minded and stubborn, though there is a nice growth and bond that forms between Shiyi and the Marquis Yongping over time. There's a fair amount of overacting from the side characters.
The music is nice, there really is nothing to rewatch. I grade on other criteria as well:
Complex Themes: 5.0
Be selfless and center others, your family, and your country and you will be rewarded with a contentful, joyful life.
Character Growth: 6.5
Shiyi becomes a more mature character, and her husband loosens up over time, but there isn't much character growth.
Relationships between Women/Complex Women characters: 7.0
On one hand, there's a lot of women, they interact a lot, and the discussion is not quite all about men. On the other hand, they are all stereotypes with very little depth.
Cinematography/Production Values: 8.0
For a smaller period drama, the costume, set and jewelry design is all excellent, really beautiful and creative with interesting flourishes and color combinations. The sets are a bit small and claustrophobic (almost nothing is shot in the 'real world' all on 4 or so established sets). There's very little action or complex scenes. The camera shoots straight on with very little creativity.
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Promising but Fizzled Out
This drama had the potential to be really good with a promising start but fizzling out towards the third quarter. The story has 2 main plots- the FL being a ranking official's main wife managing the harem and the ML surviving political conflicts with his quest for the emperor to end the sea trading ban. Even though the writers connected the plots together, the political scenes gave me a detached feel making me use the fast forward buttons for those. In contrast, I found the harem plot to be rather unique as it shows how the harem/polygamy practice causes pain and suffering not only to the women involved but also to the men. Although the harem premise of this drama is a huge turn-off to many, the redeeming aspect is that the ML realizes he loves only FL/his main wife and fights the system/elders refusing to accept any more concubines. The story became tiring and draggy as the episodes progressed no matter how clever some of the arcs were. I am quite disappointed at how the main characters were written does not show the acting depth of Wallace and Seven. Anyone expecting good romance vibes from Wallace will be disappointed, despite his good acting the chemistry with Seven was off in my opinion. Regarding technicals, production quality is high- location, sets, costumes, makeup, cinematography were excellent. Sadly, the happy ending is lackluster. In summary this drama is an okay one-time watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Harem Drama Lite.
Is this you? Have you just read a certain fanfic for a certain fandom that is a Harem AU and now the story hasn’t updated for weeks and you are just craving that good concubine no. 3 feels? Are you really tempted to watch one of those big harem dramas like Yanxi palace but you see the 70+ episode count and you feel like it’ll be less painful to take your organs out of your body with your bare hands than sit through that many episodes? Are you just itching to watch a bunch of stir-crazy people fight over who gets to sleep with an average/mediocre/ok-maybe-he’s-cool dude? THEN BOY DO I HAVE A SHOW FOR YOU!With a humble 45 (GOOD GOD! FORTY-FIVE?!?!?!?) episode count, the sword and the brocade gives you all that good “my love, I may have many in my harem, but there’s only you in the harem of my heart” feels while not actually making you want to crawl up a wall from all the palace intrigue melodrama. This is a show about two sourly yet genuinely good people slowly falling in love while every single character around them gets b*tch slapped by Karma! It’s fun…until it’s not.
I can’t in good conscience recommend this show though, mainly because I had such a negative experience making it through the last fifteen episodes of this show. It starts really well, it’s very gripping and there are so many delicious feelings throughout but the pace slows around episode 25 and just about becomes unbearable after episode 36. So maybe watch this only if you are very desperate for a Harem drama that isn’t as cut-throat or extreme as those palace ones.
You should watch this if you like:
1. Harem dramas
2. Murder mysteries
3. Happy endings
4. Meddlesome mother-in-laws (the real villain, everyone!)
5. Arranged marriage
6. Enemies to lovers but not very intense
7. Cinderella stories
8. Ming dynasty misogyny
9. Pro-monogamy harem plot…
10. Sewing (?)
Summary: The main character is the daughter of an unfavored concubine. Now it has come the time for the official mother to marry off her unfavorable concubine-born daughters in the most politically advantageous way. But best-laid plans of mice and men, everything goes the exact opposite way as she wanted, so now her least favorite daughter is married off to a beautiful, jade-like marquis of a man, instead of an abusive, drunkard womanizer and that’s karma for you! There’s a murder mystery, a skippable political plot, lots and lots of concubine drama, and the MOST unlikable, meddlesome, STUPID mother-in-law in the whole world, there too.
The story: I will give them a little credit. They were trying to say something, about women’s lives in the olden times, the terrible conditions of concubinage, the unfairness of the social hierarchy and they do manage to do that for the most part but it’s just so weak and it seems like they gave up on nuance very early on as they fall into the pitfalls of cliches and cinematic stereotypes of catfights that have proven to bring in excited viewers in the past. That’s my way of saying, they tried to be woke but realized it’ll make more money if they just go for the good old melodrama. I think Yanxi palace tried to do a similar thing but they achieved it with a lot more grace and elegance and the point was more solid there (even though that had its melodrama shenanigans too). There's also this bait-and-switch plot that is used too many times to show the change of tides in the plot that was cool the first time but got annoying when they did it over and over again.
The story also has something to say about getting lost in traditions and rules that can lead to denying people their agency to make choices for their own life. The show starts with this truly jaded man who has been forced into marriage and taking concubines and just putting up with all of this, even though he really couldn’t care less. He’s completely disillusioned about women and sees them as opportunistic people who will use sexuality and beauty to gain money and power. This is the best detail of the show because you can see how the female lead changes his perceptions throughout the show and finally makes it possible for him to figure out what he wants and what his problems were all along and how to ask for things that he wants.
But this also means that the female lead barely had a character arc! She was a pretty smart and level-headed person from the start and she is validated all the way to the end of the show. Her only change in the story is to fall in love but other than that she is a fully formed woman with a great understanding of herself and her principles from the very beginning.
The acting: Despite all the problems I had with the plot, I actually liked the two main actors. I prefer the more subdued and calm acting that Seven Tan did here and I also liked Wallace Chung’s acting. Not sure about the couple's chemistry, though. One was more into the romance than the other, I thought. I’ve also decided to add a new criterion to how I judge the acting, by judging the ensemble’s acting as a whole and basically judge how well everyone’s acting worked together. I have to say, here the acting was very homogenous. Everyone was on the same level. Shout out to He Hong Shan’s acting, she gave this very bratty voice to her character and it was brilliant. It made you want to slap her so bad! I also feel bad for Daddi Tong. I didn’t like his character but he did a good job and I hope he’ll get male leads in the future so he can be less pitiful.
The music: This is probably the best part of this show. The background music is just okay but the soundtrack is very romantic and it really worked well for the romance. As a whole the production was fine. Nothing special to say about it.
Rewatch value: None. Unless you’re THAT desperate for a harem drama that isn’t in the palace actually.
The negative: There’s a lot of weak writing in this show. For instance, there’s an attempt made to connect the political stuff with the harem stuff and the murder mystery all together, and yeah they’re connected but I don’t think anyone who was watching cared even a little for that political stuff, and for good reason. It was boring and very simple and it just took up a lot of space that had nothing happening in it. The other problem was the pacing. The show has a lot of little arcs and these did not mesh well together. Instead of having one big arc and small arcs intertwined together, each tiny arc is resolved separately. This means that we end up with the same story over and over again. Getting rid of a bad concubine? Three separate arcs that are solved one at a time, fighting over the second male lead being a potential homewrecker but with different intensities? Five different arcs! It just makes the show feel like a broken record because they keep arguing over the same things over and over again. After episode 25, everything just turns into a Groundhog Day. Everyone just goes around each other repeating the same issues again and again and each time only one thing is resolved until FINALLY, it’s all over. Really this show should have been 30 episodes. It was too long.
There was a lot of nothing in the show too: getting on and off carriages, purring tea, just moving from one place to another. You’d expect them to omit these in editing.
There’s also a bit of a negative bias in the story. Those women were all victims. The mother-in-law was a monster and she created this poisonous environment that only nurtured poisonous snakes. But the story somehow puts the main character on a moral high ground over these other victims. Even though there was no reason for her to be holier than the others. It’s not even her fault, it’s just that the show gets so twisted around itself that it ends up reaffirming the traditional values of women that the show was criticizing at first.
Overall: This show came into my life just as I needed it. I did binge some twenty-something episodes of it like my life depended on it. It’s a skippable watch unless you know mandarin and can just let it play in the background then maybe it'll be better. Just be ready to get annoyed.
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