Thanks for creating this thread! I belong to the people who were disappointed by the progression (or lack thereof) to female general. So many dramas stop their heroines from being badass by giving them amnesia for too long or trapping them in another plot device to make them weaker, so a FL getting to grow into her role as female general really endeared me to the premise. Sadly, the road to general was fighting two battles, pretending she fought more and learning nothing to the point that she barely appeared during the final fight. Her role in the final fight was pretty much hilariously bad.

For me it really fell apart the second the story arrived at the capital. It should have been a second season so the political plot actually makes sense and then there would have been more time to make her an actual general with more fights. For me, the last great scene was the death of the second villain/younger brother. The last episode I could barely watch and stopped before the AU part began.

I didn't know Xie Zheng is so different in the novel but it explains why people in the comment section early on during release were acting as if he is this mad man, when we don't really see that at all in the drama. All things considered, he is pretty well adjusted.

Stevie70:

Slim Xtra:

contrary to lovelydove419  I think its not long enough to make the perfekt addaption/drama. 40 episodes may in this case be not enough but I have not yet watched past epi 34 so I cannot state if they dragged the last episode,s as often seen in other c-dramas.

China passed a law a few years ago that dramas can NOT be more  than 40 episodes so they might have to condense the story or have a season 2 

That is wrong. Not sure why this is still widespread. In 2020 chinas media regulator passed a rule that dramas should not be longer then 40 episodes but it was not a criminal law or anything. Since last year (2025) the 40 episode cap was further relaxed it is not more then a benchmark now.

I just left this comment in the main thread.

While I actually really like ZLH (been a fan since his very first drama), WHY ON EARTH did he get dubbed here??
And WHY THE HELL did they choose a voice actor who has been in so many other dramas - namely lots of Wang Zi Qi’s dramas (of which I’ve seen almost all of??) Because I have seen so much of this voice actor’s work, and associate him so closely with other actors, it means that I am being taken out of ZLH’s scenes almost constantly, expecting to see a different face and hear a different voice when he speaks.
Even though I adore both main characters, it’s honestly making me want to drop this.
I F$CKING HATE DUBBING 🤬

Popcxqueen:

I just left this comment in the main thread.

While I actually really like ZLH (been a fan since his very first drama), WHY ON EARTH did he get dubbed here??
And WHY THE HELL did they choose a voice actor who has been in so many other dramas - namely lots of Wang Zi Qi’s dramas (of which I’ve seen almost all of??) Because I have seen so much of this voice actor’s work, and associate him so closely with other actors, it means that I am being taken out of ZLH’s scenes almost constantly, expecting to see a different face and hear a different voice when he speaks.
Even though I adore both main characters, it’s honestly making me want to drop this.
I F$CKING HATE DUBBING 🤬

The dubbing is usually done for practical reasons. ZLH is very popular and his schedule is usually packed. They might have wanted him to do the dubbing for his own character, but his schedule might not have permitted it. Additionally, they have to deal with a lot of censorship in China. Post-production dubbing allows for easy changes to dialogue to comply with strict censorship guidelines without re-filming scenes. It's also easier and more affordable to call up a voice actor and have him come in to read a few lines, than having to schedule stuff around ZLH's availability to come in and read lines for them. Using dubs also allow the production team to film without having to worry about audio quality. For period dramas where they have to film a lot of open air scenes, the environments are often crowded, noisy, and difficult to control. They can't really record good quality audio in these circumstances, so post-production dubbing is used to provide clear, clean audio for the drama.

AmelieLucan:

Popcxqueen:

And WHY THE HELL did they choose a voice actor who has been in so many other dramas - namely lots of Wang Zi Qi’s dramas (of which I’ve seen almost all of??)

I don't understand the rules of dubbing. Many actors dub their voices and if ZLH has a good voice I don't know why they would dub him, either, or use a voice actor who is apparently associated with a specific actor so much so that fans of that actor would connect his voice to ZLH. I can totally understand how that would frustrate you!

Has ZLH been dubbed in other dramas? If not it seems like a real misstep to dub him here.

In a nutshell, Chinese dramas are dubbed to ensure clear audio, standard Mandarin (China has many regional accents), stronger voice performances, and greater flexibility in casting (actors are often chosen for looks) and post-production. Recently, more dramas are using live sound, where actors use their real voices, to feel more natural and real, and some shows even promote this as a selling point.

Avi:

The episode cap was further relaxed last year in August but PoJ had finished filming in April 2025, so it was still affected by the 40 episode rule.

Yes well, I am aware that PoJ was filmed before it was relaxed but the 40 ep cap rule was never meant to restrict a plot, it was meant to raise the quality of dramas as most of them dragged to long. In my opinion PoJ choose to unfortunately cut important plots. The ep cap is not an argument for that ... I think PoJ lost quality because of that...

Slim Xtra:

Avi:

The episode cap was further relaxed last year in August but PoJ had finished filming in April 2025, so it was still affected by the 40 episode rule.

Yes well, I am aware that PoJ was filmed before it was relaxed but the 40 ep cap rule was never meant to restrict a plot, it was meant to raise the quality of dramas as most of them dragged to long. In my opinion PoJ choose to unfortunately cut important plots. The ep cap is not an argument for that ... I think PoJ lost quality because of that...

Do you think the writers could have tightened up the script and included the important plot points and stayed within in the 40 ep limits?

Slim Xtra:

AmelieLucan:

Do you think the writers could have tightened up the script and included the important plot points and stayed within in the 40 ep limits?

I think they didn't have to stay withing the 40 ep boundary at all, if the plot, that was allready tightened, was supposed to compliment character depth and is only adding to the overall plot line. But opinions differ so maybe someone who has a totally different opinion tells us her/his arguments. But I think some charakters felt flat and roughly elaborated because the makers of PoJ wanted to meet the 40 eps for wathever reasons. I agree that in most cases more then 40 episodes are not needed and tempts to drag certain plotlines. But there are certain cases a few episodes more would be justified and don't need a standardised rule or benchmark limiting their story.

Thank you for your explanation. Not having read the book I have no knowledge of what's important to include and what's not. And for those who have read the book that's going to make a big difference in how they view the drama. I know it does when I've read a book and then seen a movie based on it.