This review may contain spoilers
Kill me…”love” me…bore me,…completely lost me
This series was unique from other “revenge/conspiracy” shows in that early on it revealed the villain. Thus the direction of the main plot was exposing his evil deeds. Sometimes it can be difficult for this type of story to work because the enemies of the leads is no longer a mystery which eliminates much of the intrigue in the plot. This was painfully apparent here.At times the story could be interesting, especially in the beginning but it started to drag due to nothing much happening half way through the series. Or something would happen and it would drag out too long.
The conspiracy plot just wasn’t that good and the revenge plot was non existent. The love story between the leads was good until it wasn’t. Going completely off the rails into angst for no other reason other than drama for drama’s sake. The 2nd “love” story between the Crown Prince and the General was ridiculous at best. He was a horrible person who’d been obsessed with her since he was a teen while she was in love with the ML, Jinghe. She vehemently rejected the Crown Prince’s marriage proposals then suddenly after one major event claimed he was her “beloved.” It made absolutely no sense as there was no built up whatsoever to her falling in love with the him. Literally one episode she was vehemently rejecting him. The next episode she was reluctantly accepting his proposal (mind you after he drugged and planned to r*pe her but changed his mind out of honor towards her RME), then the next episode she was claiming him as her beloved with whom she was deeply in love. It was ridiculous.
Moreover , she had to be the worst general I’d ever seen. Though she held herself to a high standard of goodness and integrity when she learned the Crown Prince killed thousands of innocents due to his personal vendetta against his bother she slapped him a couple of times then resumed the relationship. She continued to “love” and comfort him, and allowed him to be by her side despite his monstrous behavior. She had much potential but unfortunately she was turned into a mindless pushover driven by “love” instead of a smart badass who could love but be intolerant of evil and thus not hesitate to strike it down.
The show started to go south around episode 20 with some senseless twists in the story but nosedived into absurdity around episode 22 which is where I dropped this series.
The actors were really good in this. The leads had nice chemistry but the love stories and the conspiracies failed to live up to their potential.
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What Is Going On?!
I may need to give this another try but based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m dropping it for now.The actors were great, especially Liu Xueyi in the first few episodes. He was captivating as Murong Jinghe. However, I got so confused at the story and thought it was just not for me. After giving it a chance, I decided to stop in the middle of episode 25 because.. what is going on?!
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Bait and switch supposed enemies to lovers romance that peters out after its explosive introduction
So, this was sold as this dark enemies-to-lovers toxic romance with lots of triggers and red flags, which means I was there day one like a moth to a flame, and...it was very misleading. The beginning is certainly that, but the leads form an alliance way too fast, and then it's mostly about Mei Lin protecting baby princess Murong Jinghe and them trying be happy despite horrible circumstances. Is it spicy ? Not really once you've seen the famous bathtub scene. After that, say goodbye to your dark fantasies and go watch a trashy minidrama instead (there is hundreds of them with this type of plot), as the leads fall in (basic) love very fast, frolic under the moonlight, all that jazz. Is Lui Xue Yi's unhinged and magnetic performance worth it and strangely sexy ? Absolutely. Is Wu Jin Yan on fire as an assassin on the hunt ? Also yes. But they don't stay that way very long, and it doesn't erase the fact that the show is not what we were promised. Still, I was going with it after that first letdown, and enjoying it for the most part. Problem is, the subplots are waaay too weak, and some don't even feel like they belong in the show (don't get me started on the idiotic Xiyan siblings and kingdom). The secondary romances, if you can even call them that, were also bafflingly bad. I've heard since that the original novel is paper-thin, that they had several writers creating various plots to fill the void, and if it's true, it explains a lot. It's also too long for its own good, and I dropped it around the 20th episode, when I just couldn't care anymore about any of the politics happening. I've heard bad things about the ending so no regrets. What a waste though, the beginning was so good.Was this review helpful to you?
Excellent then ridiculous
If the drama ended around episode 23 I would have given it a 10This was shaping up to be one of my fav dramas and I honestly I cannot fathom what made the writers, producers and director drop the ball so hard,
I was hopeful that it was a minor slip up and that things would get back on track but it just got worse and worse. After grinding through a few more episodes I eventually skipped to the last 2 episodes just to get closure.
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This review may contain spoilers
DON'T watch this expecting the same ending as the book it's apparently based on.
I haven't read the book I was told it's based on. I've been told the drama is VERY different compared to the book, definitely from episode 23. So don't watch this expecting the same story or ending. DON'T read past the spoilers alert below if you don't want to know ANYTHING about what happens!!! Though I have tried to be vague.SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
Just to be sure everyone understands that there are SPOILERS ahead.......
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
The book apparently had a happy ending for the main couple ( though they did really suffer for it). I don't know this because I didn't read the book. There is NO happy ending, not even a bittersweet ending. It's just a full on tragedy.......needlessly so. I've been told the author, who was (allegedly) not aware of the changes being made to her story, is 'upset'. I would be more than 'upset' if it was my book being butchered like this.
However, the acting was truly amazing; completely faultless - the main couple were so cute and really made the development of their deep love for each other (we're talking SOULMATES, people!) utterly believable. Liu Xue Yi who played the ML wonderfully as the (somewhat insane, at least in the beginning) , Prince Murong Jing He. His growing love for the FL was also very believable. As an actor, he really aces these historical/fantasy roles the best.
Wu Jin Yan, is a consummate actress, I've seen many of her dramas and she aces her roles every time. and she really was believable as the revenge driven female lead, Mei Lin. Again, her developing love for the prince was believable. As was the desperation to remain with each other come what may as their story progressed. The similar desperation to 'save' each other though, was annoying and led to so many moments of me just yelling - "OH MY GOD!! JUST *TELL* HIM/HER!!". Things would've been different for the FL if she'd just TOLD the ML some stuff, but she didn't because......enter stupid reason. But that, sadly, was the script, not the actors fault.
Even the malevolent couple were cute (together - scary with everyone else!) you really believed that, especially the Crown Prince, was genuinely, deeply in love. The always wonderful Baron Chen was the evil Crown Prince (and man, was he evil to all but his beloved general, Luo Mei).
We truly expected the unnecessary suffering would at least lead to a Happily Ever After for the main leads and at least SOME pf the other 'good' characters......which it did in the book (at least that's what I'm told). I swore so MUCH at my tv at the ending.....SO much. Basically NOTHING good is kept at the end and EVERYONE suffers and ends up utterly MISERABLE, DEPRESSED and verging on self deleting.
There's a cute ending bit of what would've happened to the main leads if Jinghe had had the entry to the town HE wanted and there was no fire. In it the princes were brothers first, etc and there was no power struggle. Jinghe's mother was still alive too. It was cute - but, again (at least in my mind), the scriptwriter fricked us over.
The scenes were about how the main couple were fated to meet, how they were fated to be together because they were soulmates. So why not have that cuteness as their NEXT lives? Maybe a few ones after too? Showing them having increasingly happier lives together after the suffering they endured for justice in this life (including the side characters who suffered). So give them better lives moving forward, ESPECIALLY the main leads? Oh this is a soapbox I could camp out on - literally build a small town here and move in to rant daily about how even this TEENY segment was done so wrongly.
It was definitely wonderful to see Baron Chen (he's the evil Crown Prince) back on our screens in the West again (I'm sure, as the gifted actor he is, he's been working a lot in Asia, but we still don't get enough Asian dramas/movies here so don't see too much of him). He played the Crown Prince as the malevolent royal usurper, completely without redemption. EXCEPT for his love for his female general, who you could see he genuinely love deeply. They were very believable in their devotion though, fully as much as the main couple.
There is NO SML Syndrome; which, I admit, was refreshing - I am a repeated SML Syndrome sufferer and have been for years. So it made a pleasant change not to have it here. He wasn't even that nice overall; he did something UNACCEPTABLE to FL. He is also NO threat to the ML on any level - warrior, lover, romantic interest. Naught, None, Nada. You know it the second you see him interact with the FL; there's not even an attempt to pose him as a serious threat to the main lead on any level - as shown by the fact its clear in the drama to main leads are soulmates (in damaged souls as well as love) and the loathsome thing he did to the FL.
There is NO rewatch value - seriously, NONE. I don't need to see the abomination of the ending more than once. I don't need to use that amount of bad language against my poor tv more than once. It literally switched itself off randomly, probably because of the bad language being angrily hurled at it. Apparently some people watch just the main leads and stop at episode 23 (which is where the script basically completely abandoned the book).
If I can find the book as an English translation I might buy it, just to find the better ending.
Please understand this is MY take from this drama, only mine. I loved ALL the actors; I think they ALL deserved better than this Script of Abomination - like. oh I don't know, maybe the author's ORIGINAL story. I mean they really committed to their characters and made their character so believable.
I wish another, more competent, scriptwriter could work WITH the author and do it all again with the same, VERY gifted cast. But then, as my late mum would say, "if wishes were horses, then beggars could ride." So yeah.....sadly, there will be no horseriding beggars and no better version of this. This had so MUCH promise that was wasted by a scriptwriter from hell.
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This review may contain spoilers
I watched this drama just because... but I'm truly glad I did! It turned out to be quite a captivating watch.This is the story of a woman named Mei Lin (ML) and Prince Murong Jing He (JH).
The story begins with a devastating fire that destroys Qingzhou, with JH accused as the perpetrator. In the chaos, ML loses her entire family and vows revenge. She joins the Shadow Works, enduring grueling training to become an assassin. When she finally graduates, her very first mission is to kill JH.
ML takes on the identity of one of the Xiyan beauties to get close to her target. She successfully infiltrates his circle, but soon discovers a shocking truth—the mastermind behind her mission is actually JH himself.
It turns out JH orchestrated everything in order to uncover the real perpetrator behind the Qingzhou fire. Now, working together, ML and JH dive into the investigation to seek justice for Qingzhou.
As they spend time together, their relationship slowly shifts from one of deception and hostility to trust and even affection. ML’s hatred turns into reliance, and JH finds himself genuinely drawn to her.
But can they uncover the full truth about what happened in Qingzhou? Will justice be served—and what about their relationship? Will the Emperor ever approve of their love?
That's pretty much the story without giving the spoiler. Now what I like and don't.
What I like:
+ Good chemistry between Liu Xue Yi & Wu Jin Yan.
+ A pleasant surprise to see Bi Wen Jun in the role of the second male lead—I’m actually happy he’s part of this drama.
+ The ending! Loved how they gave us an alternative ending within the final episode—no extra specials needed.
What I don't too like:
- At times, the development of the relationship between JH and ML feels too rushed. The way ML’s deep-seated hatred simply fades away, after everything she’s been through, seems a bit too easy and unrealistic.
Overall this is really one good drama to watch
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This review may contain spoilers
Starting off soooo strong
This has the potential to become a 10 stars story from me, judging from 3/4th of the episodes. It started off so strong, and just getting stronger and more griping for me as it goes on. I enjoyed the storyline so much, and the acting was so strong, not to mention the chemistry between LXY and WJY was chef kiss. To me, the plot was convincing and the execution was near perfect, up until the final fight in which Murong Jinghe finally exacts his revenge and brings down Murong Xuanlie. However, the arc after that started to stress me out. It feels like there are 2 different scriptwriter writing the first 25 plus episodes, and another writer took over and botch the last few episodes after that. The arc in which Yue Qin suddenly became stupid and turned evil and the laughable scene of a King thieving on his son’s herb and eating it like a goat for the sake of immortality was ridiculous, in fact I need to stop my bingewatching at that point of time and regroup. Lol. They did YueQin dirty after such long episodes, he was such a likeable SML from the start *sigh. Not to mention how ridiculous they turn the mighty Murong Jinghe with the 7days idiotic outofmind vigil over the supposed death of Mei Lin. Even borderline creepy (who the hell kept on romancing a corpse?? Not to mention, she should be smelly rotten corpse and on her way to liquidify within that time span if you want to be realistic lol. But who watch Cdramas for the realisticality of it right? Hahaha). Luckily they save the plot back after that with the war etc, even though not to the point of this story deserving a 10.This is my second dramas of LXY (first know of him in The Blood of Youth, and his character there was charming even though he’s a baldy boy. Lol). Not many actors can pull off being baldy and still looking quite good and it shows in this drama. With his get up as Murong Jinghe, he was so charming and lovely and handsome and beautiful all at the same time. He carried off a vengeful soft hearted wronged prince so well, his cry made you want to cry as well sometimes. Though he did cry too pathetically during his return after losing Qingyan, I felt that it is unbecoming for a general to be that way in front of his other soldiers, trying to upkeep moral. He just lost a few mighty points there lol. Wu Jinyan as usual, really delivers. Her earlier fight scenes were so well executed I was gleefully clapping in my mind. In fact, almost 85% of all fight scenes choreography was very much well executed and enchanting. YQ’s actor carries the second male lead role well, even though you are team Jinghe/Mei Lin, you still want him to be happy (except for those few episodes near the end). The villain (Murong Xuanlie) was also well written, coming as someone so cunning, but also was a poor wronged soul turn bad. His end is bittersweet in a way. General Lin was so and so though, i’m not that much into her character or care too much for her. Surprisingly, the role of Princess Zigu was acted quite well, coming across as lovely innocent girl and even though her love story with someone maybe 30years her senior ideally sounds quite erghhh sometimes, but the acting of Zigu’s and the emperor’s was able to make it less awkward and mature love, rather than the pedophile vibe it can possibly be. Qingyan should have an honorary mention as well and his death broke me as much as it broke Prince Jing, but I pity that guy having to deal with Murong Jinghe during his 7day vigil with a dead girl. Lol. You are a strong man Qingyan! Lol. And as much as Qingyan deserved his appreciation scenes, I was as disappointed that Eunuch Liu was killed that easily without any mention whatsoever after that. He died heroic! I love that old fatherly eunuch how dare you!
Costumes were allllll so nice and beautifully crafted, no matter if it was jinghe, mei lin, yueqin or even Zigu. It was a feast to the eyes. The cinematography was also pleasant to the eyes. Ost was also heard beautifully accompanying so many scenes, not overly done or underused. And of course, the whump scenes I got from this drama kept me well fed (I adore those male lead whump scenes beat me!)
All in all, I very much enjoy this drama and staying up late for 3nights bingewatching this in between work shift was well deserved.
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Don't watch this
If you haven't, don't watch this drama, it's so disappointing, everything went downhill from episode 5, it had potential but the plot was just too repetitive,carried on because of the face card of the male lead. Also the OST was supper annoying, in every scene there was a background music, I became confused if I was watching a musical or not. I need justice for the Second Female lead, this show is a lesson in how not to waste such a good character.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
crazy level of misogyny for a show that wants to be perceived as female led
I love revenge stories and a revenge story centered on a female assassin? Sign me up! Unfortunately the show prioritizes Murong Jinghe over Mei Lin in every way - he repeatedly puts Mei Lin in horrible (and deadly!) situations because he views her as expendable and only cares about how she can further his plan to clear his name and then once they start working together as partners and he starts to care about her, the show goes to great pains to be like 'oh but he's sad about treating her badly now' SHUT UP. (Murong Jinghe's character arc maybe could've worked if the narrative didn't want me to ship him with Mei Lin, but since it does, I hate that man passionately. And don't twist what I'm saying, absolutely no hate to Liu Xue Yi, he did a fantastic job with what he was given and I would love to see him play an actual villain.) The female characters are all interesting and different from each other and then they all repeatedly risk their safety for these awful men. You know that quote that's like "I will not set myself on fire to keep you warm"? Yeah, the women on this show sacrifice absolutely everything for the men they love. Also this show had no idea how to wrap things up and the final third really drags.If you don't mind spoilers, about 6 months ago I actually made a video essay (https://youtu.be/jIexOU_As-4) where I explained how much I disliked this show
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Snow Dragon Moustache flower
I liked the series in general. I enjoyed watching it. The story started with a sense of revenge, then the struggle between two brothers, then it turned into getting rid of an incident that was thrown at him. When events such as sending a princess to make peace between two countries, and the detention of a prince and the reflections of this were added, the story got a little confusing in my opinion. Also, both our prince and the woman he loved were poisoned, I think the prince got rid of the poison but the woman he loved could not get rid of it and eventually died. The deaths were very emotional. The scenes and the processing were done accordingly, I got very emotional while watching it. Zi Gu's death scenes especially upset me. The scene where Guard Qing Yan caught fire and jumped on the explosives was terrific. It was a scene like a triumphant excitement with emotion. I liked it very much. Bravo to those who think about it.I think the negative aspects of the series are especially the Mei Lin character dying and reviving. This did not happen. At that time, it is difficult for a person to die and revive if they are poisoned. It is not possible for them to recover from illnesses so easily and then fight, assassinate and fight hundreds of people an hour later as if nothing happened.
It is also impossible for a Prince to get married without permission from his father the Emperor. It would be fake. It would not be announced. It is like an illegal marriage. If so, it is possible. I cannot say anything. Those issues were never discussed.
My last negative remark is about Baron Chen, who plays the character Prince Xiuan Lie. In other words, I like him. I have watched a few of his series. In this series, I watched him with astonishment. Can he be played this badly? He acted as if they forced him to act. He played it showily. He acted according to the book. He exaggerated. He made it very obvious. In other words, when his scenes came, I felt like shouting that I do not want to watch it. That much. In other words, I became estranged from the actor. I did not expect such a performance. I was shocked. Did the director force him? Otherwise, I do not want this role. He is in the mood to direct me and let's play like that, let's finish and leave. He was very ugly. Please excuse me. He should watch himself. He was the worst actor. In terms of acting.
I really liked the harmony of the lead actors, Xue Yi and Jin Yan. They were both very successful. Jin Yan is very successful in these assassin types. His stance and action are very good. I also really liked the emotional scenes. I think Xue Yi has surpassed himself. I watched a lot of his series. He was successful in all of them. He works very hard. Well done.
The other actor I liked was Huang Ri Ying. He was very successful in the Zi Gu character. Although he doesn't look much, I think he did his role very well. He added color with his cheerful, excited, lively attitude. He put his weight on it. They also did a good job with the veteran actor Jiang Kai about his marriage to an old emperor. I think he made him feel comfortable. In other words, he acted by thinking about the person opposite him, that's how I saw it. I got the feeling too. His emotional scenes were also very good. Wen Jun also had very few scenes. He gave himself an air and went with that air, he portrayed a prince beautifully with his stance and serious attitude, he gave his role a different air. There was nothing extra about the role, but I still say it was good. I liked it. I found Wei Tong good in the guard character. Well done. And our female general Xiao Tang. I was hesitant at first. But I don't know if my eyes got used to it over time. I said he was a very good general. Although his role didn't have much weight, he gave himself the air of a general. I found him successful. I recommend it to those who haven't watched it.
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unsatisfiying ending okay watch wouldn’t recommend
Just finished watching this and though I dont usually comment I really wanted to write a review about this one. Honestly the only good thing this drama had was the chemistry of the two leads but even that was getting a bit boring. To finish the drama I had to skip most scenes cause they added zero value to the plot. Especially after ep 24.Spoilers Spoilers
The revenge plan started off good and then went downhill. It wasn’t satisfactory the romance of the crown prince with Luomei was ridiculous and even more ridiculous was the romance of the grandpa with concubine yan. When I first saw them and he told her he didnt want anything from her I was a bit sceptical but also thought that he will be like the father the she never had. boy was I wrong. whenever I saw them together my brain was telling ew ew ew and then they just killed her off. The prince of Xiyan is useless literally he had to orotect the flower his country but he allowed everyone to step all over him. if he had killed the traitor he eoudnt have taken the flower and he wouldnt attack the village. only after he died he just said let me lead you back like a loser. he never tried just hid. apart from him all those episodes looking for a remedie just for her to die at the end just like that. come on. i cried but also couldnt believe it. and then years later he died too on the same spot same chair. come onnnn. why even add those last 8 eps? they dont offer anything. It was an okay watch but i dont think i would recommend it.
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Started off good
Had a good strong storyline at the beginning and it's fascinating, but it becomes too complicated and overloaded with many unnecessary scenes and information that did not add to the storyline. Actors did very well especially the scenes in the first number of episodes however it gets draining halfway. I didn't bother to watch the last ten episodes fully - saved myself some 10 hours. It would be interesting to see a similar plot with a stronger tight-knit storyline.Was this review helpful to you?
