Slim Xtra:

 I accept your opinion. Everyone has different tastes and  impressions but understand: simple uncomplicated love ---> more complex love bound by social standards, that IS dynamic... and of course  that hits different as it is a difference in intensity, or lets say with restraints.

I hope you get to enjoy the later episodes and have fun.

yep i understand your point

I agree with @stay cause i cant point out which part of the story really made the tension of love toned down a bit even though they still love each other very much. Maybe too much politics and too little drama between ML and FL in the capital unlike the first half part of the series up to eps 28.

 nathanL:

I agree with @stay cause i cant point out which part of the story really made the tension of love toned down a bit even though they still love each other very much. Maybe too much politics and too little drama between ML and FL in the capital unlike the first half part of the series up to eps 28.

certainly! i do wanna read the novel to compare once now lol

I have few criticisms
1. Chang yu's acting is flat throughout. There is neither that simple woman nor the general, there is simply no depth. When I say depth, it doesn't mean whether she is simple or complex, but that you can't root for this action, you cannot connect cause her character evolution or lack of doesn't show on this actor's face or demenour. This was very disappointing to me, and I struggled with her scenes post-episode 20. However, Zhang Linghe, Xie Zheng - this actor's subtle character development, and acting shine through
2. The story is blah, lol. There are such lovely Chinese novels, this one is one of the simplest ones.
3. The cilched fireworks, and a few other romantic scenes, while I loved seeing Xie Zheng and some of his cocooning kisses, I disliked the use of the same sets. I had such hope after Li'nan village, where much of the drama takes place
4. Coincidences, everything seems to be a coincidence - how changyu suddenly and irrationally becomes 4th rank, how she just becomes grand princess's friend, people talking of them. all of it, is too coincidental, none strategic.
5. However, what shines in this drama are some lovely subtle kissing scenes, the first 15-18 episodes, the premise, some of the supporting actors, Ren Hao, Yu Zhongli, Li Qing, Lin Mu Ran, and mostly Zhang Linghe's acting. Even the guy who played crown price did some justice. 

 Nicky:

Zhang linghe cannnot act. Deng Kai, Lin Mu Ran, Gao Ming Chen and Li Qing are much better actors and it shows. They're all outperforming him. he never frowns, his eyes never change, his forehead never creases and his smiles never reach his eyes.

I've seen this comment a lot about him. Kind of sad that he's so often praised for his looks, but not his acting abilities. 

 stay:

I feel the tension between the main leads dying down in the later episodes.. dont get me wrong, the romance is there but the vibe is different. i felt more excited and intrigued in the first half of the drama, back in lin an.
second half's politics is good but yeah feels sort of like a different drama(??).. the romance aspect..  i guess i just liked yan zheng and butcher chang yu more haha

i hope the next few episodes change my mind

ALSO CHANG YU'S HAIRSTYLE WAS SO MUCH MORE CUTER IN LIN AN  i miss them bangsssss
 i fail to resonate the new chang yu with old one  cuz of this (shes still pretty even with the new look though!!!)

I've been disappointed in dramas where the beginning is so good and then things start to change and it doesn't feel like it's the same drama. It's so frustrating when your excitement starts to diminish. Hope things pick up for everyone who was loving the first half.

 Enigma05:

Many of us have written a whole missive or many diatribes in the comments in regards to what we haven’t liked in the drama and the majority of the people that we talked to agree with us some don’t which is fine. I’m glad you started this discussion I hope that people feel safer talking about it in here. Personally, I think I’ve spoken it out to pieces. It may go into some version of a thought review or I just may combine my comments if I can find them and put them in a review just because I have taken a hiatus from writing them as people who have been in dramas with me before now that I write a review after I finish every single one, and I also rate only after I finish every single one so I don’t have a rating for this drama yet and since I haven’t written two or three reviews, I don’t know if I will for this one plus it already has like 130 of them, which doesn’t make any sense to me.

I'm really glad that people have been able to share their thoughts here and been respectful of others' opinions when they differ. It upset me when someone commented that they weren't going to share their thoughts in the comment section because they didn't want to get called a hater. Being called a hater for not gushing about a drama/actor is not new, but this drama seems to have ratcheted things up to a degree I haven't seen before and it's kind of disturbing. I appreciate your thoughtful comment.

Honestly, I had someone attack me on a vile creepy stalker level so I just blocked them. Didn’t even respond. I have thick skin and if a person doesn’t agree to disagree and keeps attacking, blocking is the only way. Gives you a peace of mind.