Love of Nirvana

Surprisingly good

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The dynamic between the leads was engaging, though i initially wasn’t a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, as I often find it overused and cliche. Despite that, i found myself enjoying it, even though there were moments when i wanted to skip scenes. It didn’t always feel like a true enemies-to-lovers story, as the fl often seemed disadvantaged in their interactions. Still, i couldn’t skip any episodes, which is impressive for me, especially in a political drama.

I liked the fl’s character. she has this genuine desire to make people around her happy, and even though she helps others, she doesn’t come across as a pushover. She genuinely seems content with helping, which is heartwarming and made me connect with her on an emotional level.

That being said, some things bothered me. The ml’s initial treatment of the FL was frustrating. He acts like he’s going to kill her, using threats to keep himself safe and hidden, even though she’s a defenseless girl with no martial skills. His approach felt unnecessarily harsh. This is part of why i don’t typically enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope—it often feels forced, with little thought given to why the characters are even at odds in the first place.

Also, the fl’s inconsistency with her principles was frustrating. She helps one person, then immediately goes back on her word just to reconcile with the ml. It made me wish she would stand up for herself more and follow through on her own path, rather than bending to fit his.

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Scheming, scheming and more scheming

I love watching scheming, political, fighting for the throne type of Chinese dramas so I had to give this one a shot.

Where do I even begin with this. I mean, the storyline itself is mediocre at best. It's the typical political/framed hero type of storyline, so I am very used to this. However, what I like about it is that it has so many unlikable characters and people wanting the throne.

Of course, it has the two brothers fighting for the throne, but it also added the scorned ex lover who is crazy enough to believe that she deserves the throne after the emperor casted her aside. I mean, who even saw that coming.

Lets start with the main leads:

Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia: I like Allen Ren and I like how he plays this character. Don't get me wrong, he was not the nicest male lead. I mean, he tried to kill her every chance he got, so yeah, not the nicest man alive. Does he deserve her undying love? No, he does not. But I do understand where he is coming from. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something she shouldn't have. And yes, he did also saved her a lot of times, but I don't think that makes up for the fact that he also tried killing her so many times either. I also like how him falling in love with Jiang Ci did not deter him from trying to reveal the truth behind his father's unjustified death. All he wanted to do was clear his father's name and restore Yueluo to its former glory while trying to serve the one person who is behind it all. One thing I would say about him is that for someone who is so smart and supposed to be one step ahead, he still fell into the emperor's trap. However, I really do like how they ended his arc. He died a hero to the Yueluo people. He was able to accomplish what he set up to do, even though the world may not know that the real truth, he was able to bring peace to Yueluo. And to me, that's the greatest thing he did by sacrificing himself, he protected the people he wanted to protect the most.

Pei Yan: Don't even get me started on him. Argh. He is my most hated second male lead. He's obsessive, controlling, and manipulative person ever. He used Jiang Ci for his own good and even tries to control her. He wants her to be trapped in a cage even though she only wanted to be free. AND he knew that, but yet, he wanted to control her. Every time he says that he's doing it to protect her, I just want to slap him because he's not doing anything for her. He is only pushing her further away from him. She respected him as her savior and he went and become someone she hated. I do feel pity for him because he grew up under his mother's reign. She used him and treated him like a puppet and her meal ticket to the throne. He deserved a better mother than that. However, that does not excuse him for trapping Jiang Ci because he was trapped by his mother. Even to the end, he foolishly protected her when she deserves death for staging a coup.

Jiang Ci/Princess Yong'an: I like her carefreeness, but boy, she got herself in a lot of trouble. She's always at the wrong place at the wrong time. Honestly, out of the three main leads, I wished they explored her childhood more. They barely touched based on her father and mother and her master/aunt. I mean, we met the master/aunt and then she disappears for more than half the drama and shows up towards the end and then she's dead. I wanted to get more of her background and stuff. As for her secret birth, I haven't read the novel, so I don't know if this was part of the original story, but I can go without it. I don't really think we needed her to be a princess but I guess it's just way to trap her even more. Who knows. I just wished they would have showed her being a doctor or something. Throughout the show, they showed her as someone who likes medicine and is knowledgable in it, but yet, they just ended it like that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like that they gave her a child and she returned to her home with Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia, but at least make her a doctor or something. You know? Like give her something more than just being a mother.

Cui Zhiming: I don't have much to say about him, but I do feel like they kind of messed up his relationship. He was so cute with Miss Dong and they just ended like that. He deserves someone to be his side. He was the only one who treated Jiang Ci like a real person and not just someone they can used. He was nice to her and cared for her -- genuinely. I am glad that he is finally free from Pei Yan. So, I am happy with that. I really do like Gao Han since Falling Into Your Smile, I especially enjoyed him in Love Like the Galaxy, but I do wish that they gave him someone.

I'm not even going to talk about the emperor and Madam Rongguo, because they're just so unlikable. They make my blood boiled and at the end of it all, I was wishing for their deaths. So let's just leave it at that. Two of the most detestable persons in drama land.

Overall, I gave this an 8 out of 10. I feel that it could have been shorter and I wished they took some plot lines away that were not necessary at all to the main plot. I also wished that Wei Zhao/Xiao Wuxia or at least Pei Yan have evidence of what happened 20 years ago so the world can truly know that their "beloved" emperor was the cause of Prince Qi's death and the fall of Yueluo. Don't get me wrong, I am satisfied with how they wrapped that up, but I wished there was evidence to really let the world know what happened. Other than that, I am happy with how they wrap up the story.

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The Jiang Ci Rule: A RANT

There is a special spot in hell reserved for this drama.

The only way that this drama can possibly work is if you imagine that it takes place in an alternate universe that completely revolves around one person - Jiang Ci. Everyone lives for Jiang Ci, everyone’s happiness is contingent on Jiang Ci’s safety, everyone’s goals, ambitions and shrewd lifestyle of precaution and careful planning can be thrown out the window the moment that they lay eyes on Jiang Ci.
This, what I’ve termed as the “Jiang Ci Rule”, is the fundamental rule of this world that the ML, the SML, and even her “Shifu” are all enslaved to live by. And every time you begin to understand a character - their motivations, their backstory, their train of logic - and their role begins to take life as a more 3-dimensional character with depth, the Jiang Ci Rule must be invoked to trample them down into a 2-dimensional puppet whose only purpose is to behave in whatever way because “the screenwriter said so.”

The show was promising in its exposition, but quickly derailed off of the tracks in a way that is unsalvageable.

THE EXPOSITION

The initial relationship between most of the characters made sense. The ML and the FL were true enemies, they didn’t know each other’s identities but they knew that they were not standing on the same side, as their plans were constantly being thwarted by each others presence. And while I disliked how Jiang Ci’s meddling always successfully ruined the ML’s well-crafted schemes, I understood that was her intention all along, as she did not know what he was scheming and why. And based on how they met, and on the upstanding man that she believed the SML to be, it is totally rational that, in her ignorance of the ML’s justice mission, she would default to taking the SML’s side and positioning herself as the obstacle to all the ML’s plans. While it is annoyingly that she is so presumptuous as to try to be the hero all the time and interfere in this political conflict for which she has no context, her actions can be reasoned away by her naivety and narcissistic “defender of justice” hero complex (unlikable, but not far-fetched).

THE CATALYST
** Spoilers Hereafter **

The first major sin happens after the elderly couple that had been helping the ML behind scenes are publicly tortured and killed by the SML. They would have never been captured and killed had the ML’s plans worked out up until now, but their deaths were caused by the multiple cracks that the FL over-eagerly wedged into the ML’s perfect schemes. And the ML seemed to agree with this conclusion before this scene, as he had just been water torturing the FL in prison because he blamed her for every comrade that died, or was maimed, had to go into hiding thanks to all of the FL’s interferences. So naturally he should blame her too for this (and the FL should’ve also realized her guilt at this point because she had not stopped to consider who she might be harming whenever she helped expose the ML’s plans). When the FL requests to meet the ML next, you would expect to hear some remorse, apologies and recognition of her guilt on the FL’s side, and a lot of blame and increased animosity towards her on the ML’s. But what does she do instead of apologizing? She launches into a story about a stray cat that once died and makes parallels to that and the death of this elderly couple to show that she can empathize with the ML. She assumes no fault at all and compares the lives of this loyal, misfortunate, suffering elderly couple to that of a stray cat. A logical response for the ML at this point in their relationship is to take offense at this and for his hatred for her to not be pacified. But this is the first time that the “Jiang Ci Rule” goes into effect, and the ML is softened to the FL as if their whole negativity history has been wiped clean by her pathetic attempt at sympathy. Somehow this, of all things, is the turning point where the ML chooses to forgive all the things that the FL has done to get in his way and inadvertently harm his people, and does a complete 180 degrees - going from wanting to manipulate, silence, and seek retribution from the FL, to wanting to defend, protect, and fall in love with the FL. It just makes no sense.

THE JOURNEY

Now that the leads are no longer enemies, the FL often tries to find a way to “save” the ML when she thinks he might get in trouble. This FL, who has no martial arts ability, no context for the political struggle going on, and no insight into the intricate plans that the ML is weaving, cannot let go of her meddling nature and allows herself to continue to be the catalyst for things going south in all of the MLs plans. Like when the ML goes to such lengths to help her escape from the SML after the ordeal in Nanning, and then she immediately returns, rendering all of his efforts in vain, because she needs to “save him” from having his identity as the assassin revealed thanks to the matching arrowhead. And how does she do this? By stealing the arrowhead in broad daylight and then running straight to the ML’s room, leaving muddy tracks leading right through his window to further incriminate him. If they weren’t fully convinced that he was the assassin before, those actions were most certainly the nail in the coffin. Moreover, as clever as the ML is, he too would’ve already figured out that the arrowhead would’ve incriminated him and came up with a backup plan, but after Jiang Ci’s actions there was no more denying it. And the most ridiculous part of this whole thing? When she arrives in his room, she begs him to not let the SML find her, don’t let him take her away. WTH???? He already did so much for you to escape before today and you threw it all away, and now you show up and say “I’m back, you have to protect me again now.” Does she not realize how much of a liability she makes herself by staying with him, or does she just not care and expect him to be fully willing to take on her baggage, no questions asked? But the Jiang Ci Rule exists, and so of course he hides her, he houses her for days, and he sorrowfully listens at night when she complains about “when will we be able to leave this place? My shifu’s waiting for me. My shifu, my shifu, I’m gonna miss my shifu.” HE ALREADY SENT YOU TO HER AND YOU CAME BACK OF YOUR OWN VOLITION TO CAUSE TROUBLE FOR HIM. What right does she have to complain in front of him and guilt him about her missing the meetup?? He should be growing annoyed with her by now, but instead I’m supposed to believe that these are the situations that make him fall in love with a bullheaded brat like her?
Or how about when they are in Yueluo on the day of the City Lord selection when he tells her to stay home, and she deliberately sneaks out and shows up in the city center. Because of her, she and Yu Lian and Le are spotted in the crowd by Hong Jie and they are later kidnapped in order to threaten the ML into handing over the jade hairpin. Hmmm, If only they weren’t spotted on that day, then they would never have been discovered as the ML’s affiliates. Hmmm, if only someone knew to tell them not to be seen outside that day… smh
With all this, every action that the FL makes has proven to be a thorn in the ML’s side, whether intentionally or not. And she never recognizes how much trouble she has caused, never takes responsibility for it, and still acts so brazenly wherever she goes, as if she deserves to hold her head high in front of everyone, because she’s just a carefree girl who has done them no harm. You cannot convince me that there is a romance developing between these two leads unless the ML has no concept of cause and effect. Maybe in his eyes, the FL is fearless, loyal, and stick to her own principles. But her fearlessness combined with willful ignorance and lack of ability constantly backfires on him. Her loyalty is an obstacle whenever the loyalty is blindly applied to those who stand on the opposite side of the ML. Her principles lead her to constantly thwart the ML’s plans as she does not what he instructs, but whatever she thinks is best in the moment. But the “Jiang Ci Rule” allows him to only see the virtuous causes of her actions, and not their disastrous effects. So much so that she becomes the person for whom he would constantly alter his well-crafted plans, and put her wellbeing and desires above the justice of the Yueluo people and the redemption of his father’s name that he had spent years of his like committed to seeking.

And then there is the SML, which is another extreme case of this. A man who had planned for years just to make a name for himself and redeem his father’s legacy, suddenly becomes obsessed with this one girl and would constantly sacrifices his reputation and his goals in order to forcefully bring her back into his household. He looks crazed half the time whenever Jiang Ci is mentioned, and I don’t even know why because they don’t have that much history with each other, and she told him very early on that she was not interested in him. Yet in every scheme he makes, he seems ready to sacrifice lives until he hears that Jiang Ci might be there, and then he’s running like the wind to protect her, and only her. Without reason she has become this prized jewel that does not have to do anything to earn undying devotion from him.

THE BREAKING POINT

So all this was frustrating, but I thought I could just grit my teeth and make it through the show if I just told myself that the SML is a lunatic that was written/acted poorly to be portrayed as a nonsensical love-obsessed archetype rather than a rational human being. And then I just had to close my eyes and pretend that there was no romance happening between the ML and FL, and he was tolerating her because he has way too much foresight and is playing the long game, so her little blunders actually are trivial to him.
But I absolutely had enough when the shifu entered the ring. This woman shows up on the day of what would be the final battle between YueLuo City and Lu Yu’s Liang forces, and she enters the battlefield dressed in a Liang army uniform and thinks, “this is the perfect time for me to attempt to reunite with my disciple. I see her on the battlefield, trying to protect the YueLuo people who are clearly being oppressed and about to be annihilated, and it is the perfect time for me to make a scene because everything is all about me and my disciple.” Like hello??? There are bigger things at hand right now than you and Jiang Ci. Didn’t she say that she was fond of YueLuo and always yearned for their bitterless congee? Now that they are fighting for their life, she thinks it is a good time to engage the ML (who is clearly the leader of YueLuo’s army) in combat and fight over this one girl? The women, children and elderly behind those city walls will all die if they lose this battle, but you really think this is an appropriate time to settle personal scores??? This can only be explained by the Jiang Ci Rule. Unless this entire world is meant to revolve solely around Jiang Ci, there is no way that the shifu would choose this battleground to make a move unless she really is a ruthless, evil person worthy of bring the main villain of this drama. Anyone whose behavior sends the message “whole cities may fall, and I will not be concerned, as long as I get my disciple back,” is not supposed to be viewed as a good or even neutral character in a show. And yet, when Jiang Ci sees her shifu fighting the ML, she behaves the exact same way! She starts crying like a baby and yelling “I’ll never forgive you if you hurt my shifu,” and her whole awareness of the battle that they are in is completely lost. Suddenly it is all about protecting the shifu from the ML, who is suddenly a bad guy in her mind? He wasn’t even trying to fight the shifu, he keeps telling her to calm down and he’ll explain things after the battle, but she refuses to back down and continues to attack him like a rabid animal unable to listen to reason. Yet in the FL’s eyes he not only is attacking her shifu, but he must have approached her intentionally from the start just so that he could hurt her shifu. Why would she jump to that conclusion in that moment??? The shifu was dressed in enemy army attire, it is more likely that he is attacking her thinking she is a member of the enemy army. But in her eyes he must immediately know who the shifu is and must be so desperate to harm her that he would prioritize attacking her now over finishing the battle to protect YueLuo that he is LITERALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF FIGHTING. Because the world revolves around Jiang Ci and the people around her, everyone else is expendable. Just a few episodes ago the entire city BOWED DOWN to Jiang Ci to thank her for her efforts in curing the pandemic, and now on the main battlefield she is ignoring their plight to cause a scene and distract their leader from winning the battle, because the single life of her shifu is that much more important than every life saved in the city? And in doing so she obviously exposed herself as someone precious to the ML and the enemy took advantage of the conflict to kidnap her for use as a bargaining chip with the ML later. Thus, once again a decisive victory for the ML is thwarted by the FL appearing to endanger herself and give him a weakness that his enemy can use against him. The FL has forever been written to be a thorn in his side.

This was the breaking point. The ML, the SML and now even the shifu have been acting in ways that are unreasonable and can only be explained by blind obsession with and devotion to the FL. And it has blinded them all so much that the shifu directly inserted herself into the situation causing damage to the greater good, the SML has long lost sight of the greater good, and the ML still fights for the greater good but willingly humors the FL’s immaturity, self-serving sense of justice, and ignorance-fueled fearlessness that gravely hinders the greater good. As soon as the FL was captured I turned off the screen and refused to watch any more. Every character is insufferable and not worthy of a good ending, whatever misery comes next is well deserved. The ML and the people loyal to him are the only characters with redeeming qualities, but his indulgence of the FL will cause every one of them to be harmed in the end, and that’s not something I want to see.

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Life after Love Of Nirvana, Wei Zhao, and Jiang Ci

Overall I would say that this show had me interested 75% of the time but the 25% really REALLY got to me.

First things first credit where credit is due.
1) Li Landy, Ren Jia Lun, and Jeremy Tsui all did a wonderful job at their respective roles and were able to truly bring them to life, these roles felt 3 dimensional and not just 2D.

2) The writers truly fleshed out the Li Landy and Ren Jia Lun's characters. They each had a back story that unraveled as the drama unfolded, their motives were clear, their priorities were set and they did what they set out to do. (Win my heart that is.)

3) Jeremy Tsui was truly able to make me fall in love and hate the Second Male Lead, I don't know if that was the intention but...

4) Yueluo's arc is truly phenomenal from the story line to the development and the future of Yueluo.

The 25% that truly bothered me
1) Jeremy Tsui or Pei Yan and his mothers story could be made into another drama altogether and that could have been interesting instead of roughly meshing together 2 stories. There were parts in the second half of the drama that I was truly skipping because of this and funny thing is it did not take away from the story. If these parts were made shorter and brief it would still have had the same effect desired. I feel like this drama did not do Pei Yan or the second storyline justice.

2) I have not read the book and I will not claim to do so just to prove my point but from my engagement with the viewers who had, it was clear that the drama did not follow the same storyline as the novel. If we assume that that is the case then I do not understand WHY they HAD to give it the novel's ending. For a character who is shown to have mental, and physical prowess, I do not understand why the drama ended the way it did. One situation that I truly found ridiculous was the last episode and everything has gone to hell he says - “Today's story is mine to tell. The Emperor of Liang died at the hands of a sycophant, Wei Zhao.” If you are so keen on telling the story then you need to be *alive* to do that. He could have left, he could have been alive but maybe it's the actors love for sad endings, honestly I could have done without this.

3) Minor details - It truly made be scoff when the emperor reveals who killed Wei Zhao's sister and why. Like Sir are you okay? This could have been SOMETHING but she died for what. Also Pei Yan's unnecessary overbearingness and obsession is rough to witness, I'm just glad he realizes it and moves on. Lastly, one night and pregnancy is a bit much even if it's a period drama like can there be some build up, some fluffy domestic scenes, etc. I have no problem with a pregnancy trope but do it right instead of just throwing it in at the last moment.

I know it may seem like I truly disliked the drama - that is not the case. I encourage anyone who reads this review to watch the drama at least once and skip when you feel like it too. Its a good watch and you can learn a few things from it about life.

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Palace and Revenge Themes That Didn't Hold My Interest

This is a partial review covering episodes 1–20 only.

I can’t continue with this one. After watching half of the drama, I can confidently say this isn’t my cup of tea. The main storyline and sub-arcs don’t interest me, and I struggled to stay engaged in the entire first half. Wen Zhengrong and Jeremy Tsui's roles are the most interesting to me, but Wen Zhengrong isn’t in a substantial number of scenes, and Jeremy Tsui as Pei Yan alone isn’t enough to carry the drama forward for me.

I also found the situations that set the story in motion a stretch, and the romantic conflicts aren’t engaging or compelling to me. There is a hidden backstory, delivered as Easter eggs in the first half, and that aspect does interest me. However, because so much of the screen time is dominated by elements I find sleepy, I’ve forgotten much of that thread. At this point, it’s time for me to put this one to bed. I gave it a fair chance, having watched half of the series. But it is good to mention that many people did highly enjoy this one.

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Fell a little short because of the romance

This story would have been much better if they left the romance completely out. I get that romance is CDrama’s kryptonite and without it, maybe some people won’t want to watch it but it is not needed in every drama. CDrama’s tend to try to force romance no matter if the situation is murky and it takes so much away from the story sometimes.

The Good

Started strong steeped in some mystery with a murder/revenge plot. The original plot was actually engaging and intriguing. The main characters were all setup nicely, had strong acting and were a great fit for their roles. Costumes, makeup, wigs and sets were decent as well.

The Bad

The romance. I love a good romance story like the next person but the connection between main leads felt lackluster and partly due to the extreme treatment he put her through. This caused a huge disconnection of even wanting to see romance or even believe it. Again, the romance was not needed or warranted after all he had done. It became forced and became the identity of the story as it went on towards the end. They could have been great allies since their stories intertwined but the shallow romance left the ending for the main FL unsatisfying for me. I also did not like that the two MLs were dubbed. I don’t think it was necessary since both can dub themselves.

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عالی بود

به نظر من بین سریالای رن جیالون دتبه ی دوم و داره الان توی قلبم ( بعد از یکه و تنها ) نقش اصلی دختر کاراکترش رو مخم بود ولی نقش اصلی پسر رو خیلی دوست داشتم و تمام قسمت هایی که توی یوئه لو بودن با تک تک اشکاش و ناراحتی هاش منم گریه کردم و واقعا درد و ناراحتی شو با تمام وجودم حس کردم ، اهنگای سریالم خیلی قشنگ بودن و تا پخش میشدن اشک منو درمیوردن

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Drama focused more on theme

I liked the beginning of the story where the male protagonist, with his face covered by a mask, infiltrates a place to carry out an attack. The female protagonist unknowingly intervenes in his mission, putting him in a tough spot. He even considers killing her because he doesn't want any obstacles, even innocent ones, in his path.
This plot twist gave me goosebumps. Why? Because moments like this add spice and elevate the story.
As the story progresses, we see that the three main characters are all battling their personal struggles, each with a painful past. Their conflicts stem from these heart-wrenching histories. Initially, all three are suspicious of one another, dealing with each other cautiously. But later, we learn that two of their pasts are connected, and they then face emotions like revenge, hatred, jealousy, and love.

The drama doesn't have many romantic scenes, as it focuses more on the main theme. Except for two characters, the rest have happy endings.

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Emotionally Stressful And Pathetic Love

I think this series should not be rated high because the story is emotionally stressful and it really condemns women by romanticizing the suffering of women. Why should Jiang Ci have to go through so many turmoils in the hands of this so called morally ambiguous Wei Zhao just to earn his love, like seriously. This series should not have been a romance, it should have been just a political intrigue with bromance or even mutual respect among leads.
LON is really romanticizing to the audience about what love is and what a woman should do to be loved. The same happened in TSOPG the female lead had to go through a lot of physical and emotional pain from the male lead, Yan Zijing before she earned his love and sometimes even respect. I get it that Wei Zhao hates Liang but that doesn't give him any right whatsoever to hurt someone to that extent. It is very clear that he is cruel. But the outcome of Jiang Ci and his relationship makes Jiang Ci out to be pathetic and hollow.
Overall Love Of Nirvana is not worth the watch and the hype.

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A Script of Nonsense.

In just the first few episodes you can kiss any sense goodbye.

ML#1 (Wei Zhao) attempts to kill FL (Jiang Ci) 3 times and ML#2 (Pei Yan) saves FL 3 times.
ML#2 is trying to catch ML#1. FL can help easily but decides not to.
They not even in a close relationship at this stage.
In FL's perspective there is a clearly defined good guy(saves her), and bad guy(kills her).
FL knows if she wants to leave the protection of ML#2, she needs to say what she knows and help catch ML#1. But she doesn't.
She has every reason to be against ML#1. Every reason to help ML#2.
FL can even setup a trap with how frequently ML#1 likes to invade ML#2's Home. LOL.

Setting aside the bizarre notion to romanticize "Stockholm syndrome" and manipulation/torture of FL, the script just doesn't make sense right from the beginning.

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Really such a shame...

Only five episodes in and the plot has been very intriguing so far. The cast is also quite good and I truly do want to keep watching it but the female lead has ruined another series for me once again.

I actually almost wanted to drop this at the first episode because of the female lead. While I understand her character is someone who grew up in the mountains and wouldn't understand the cultural aspect of the city, none of her actions through all five episodes made any sense. Trying to continually claim her to be someone who's blunt, free-spirited, and naive just doesn't cut it here at all.

-- She was raised by her "master" who is a cautious woman herself and had warned her to be careful with her actions when she left for the city. Yet the FL somehow loses her bag and she decides to sneak into a court official's house to steal food and leisurely climb a tree to drink stolen alcohol? Especially while knowing who's house it is and that an envoy is visiting? Fine. Let's pretend that she really is this naive.
-- Then while hanging out in the tree talking out loud to herself, an assassin drops down next to her because that's the location he needs for his target. He doesn't even kill her and just needs to stay quiet. But she decides she's such a smart cookie that she starts talking to him about who his target is? Fine. Let's pretend again that she's really oblivious. He gets annoyed and poisons her (she knows the poison apparently) and warns her again to stfu. But she decides AGAIN to ramble on as if this is all a joke and he stays true to his word and stabs her. For this level of ignorance, it was deserved.
-- Then she gets invited to a banquet with high officials. Is she nervous in this setting despite it likely being her first time hanging out with officials to begin with? No. But when some side characters start to complain about the entertainer, she thought it was a GREAT idea to start throwing fruits at them from across the room. Seriously? I don't care who the hell it is or how lacking common sense can be... who the hell would do this in her situation?
-- Then she gets blackmailed by the assassin who has repeatedly proven that he can find her and kill her at any time. He manages to find this lost bag of hers that would lead him to find her master. You would think that FINALLY, she would learn to be more cautious about actions and be more humble about her abilities. But no... she holds some petty grudge against being blackmailed and decides to give him false information? Not because she has some tactical reasoning for it. Simple because she wants to get back at him and she just thinks everyone is dumber than her.
-- Her "savior" comments on how she cares more about his life than hers. And her response to him was pretty much "well, I'm not worried about dying because my master says I'm so slippery that I can escape anything". Really?? After having been unsuccessful this many times already??? She still thinks of herself as being more competent than others? She's also implying that he would be less successful in escaping than she would be, despite the huge intellectual and physical abilities between the two.

So yea. I really tried to keep watching the series because the chess game the two MLs are playing with one another right now is actually quite interesting. But the FL has such a huge role in the story and my stomach is already full of irritation with her character's ridiculousness. With five episodes in, I can't see anything that would redeem this unless they plan to mention that she has mental issues later.

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The last few drama for Jeremy Tsui

I am watching this because of Jeremy Tsui and Li Landi. I love both these two actors.
The beginning is interesting though still somewhat slow … I believe CP is Ren JL and Li Landi.
I really like what I see of Jeremy Tsui thus far …
Wei Zhao (REN) seemed to be the nephew of the emperor as his mother was the emperor’s sister. Likely some conspiracy that implicate the Emperor…. Pei Yan ( Jeremy) is a Lord who seemed to be entrusted with managing some talk with another neighboring country…
However, during the talk, Wei Zhao tried to kidnap or believed to try to assassinate the delegate for talks nd was foiled by Li Landi ‘s character, more a wrong place at wrong time situation….

There is a lot of angst and fights between the 2 MLs and FLs in the first 10-12 episodes. Initially, 1st ML and FL fought quite furiously… until about ep 14/15 where their relationships became closer due to common case interests. Ep 17 has got to be the highlight of all the episodes I watched thus far….the dynamics between FL changes from being supportive of Pei Yan to Commander Wei. I do like how nuanced the interactions are between all 3 leads … I see Jeremy Tsui and REN’s role as both leads … there is a “reverse “ harem with the doctor, Wei Zhao and Pei Yan all liking FL ( Li Landi’s role)…

Definitely a good drama to watch … the story and characters all have complex personalities and nuanced storytelling…

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