Melody of Golden Age

A messy plot with decent actors and missed opportunities

For a drama with such a nice title, I was expecting something abit more mature.

It is clear that they went with an overall direction that is meant to please younger audiences with over the top editing, slow mow, fighting scenes, visual effects, stylish poses etc. Same with how they directed the FL and ML and their romance.

The show had many good premises, but it ended up being an absolute mess of story line.

1. Forced arranged marriage where a smart and defiant FL is not scared of ML, eventually aligning in solving cases together.
2. An empress dowager regent trying to fend off the wolves and protecting the throne for her grandson whilst also trying to promote women into power and Official positions.
3. Marshall Xu raising a bottom up police force to fight off the crimes of the nobles.
4. A sect spreading throughout the state brainwashing people and threatening the safety of the state and the throne

Any of these premises would have worked as a great drama in itself, but combined together, it was very chaotic. I definitely feel like it's a wasted potential, I wish the story line was consolidated and targeted towards more mature audiences. If they truly wanted to go with a silly romance and over the top action with good looking actors, they didn't need to go with such a convoluted plot.

Now, in terms of the premise of the show, FL acts according to her age, she is supposed to be young and willfull, so they went in that direction both woth how she acts and the romance itself. The actress in real life is very young, so making it the most sexy, steamy drama isn't very fitting in this instance. The story itself would have worked if the FL was older, almost considered "spinster" in those times. It would have been fun to see a "discarded" FL that has career ambitions slowly win over the scary and unapproachable ML. No need for the childhood connection.

There are some really interesting characters in the show, the actors do great/decent job. I appreciate some of the storylines in the drama, like FLs family and the empress dowager regent. It's a drama that is totally fine to watch in the background, but has little rewatch value, and relies on many tired tropes and this very empty feminism agenda.

I would give this a 6.5/10 in MDL scale. I fastforwarded alot of the last 10 episodes, because most of the scenes didnt really add much to the story.

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ML carried this show

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!


I love Shen Du!!! Omfg I didn't know I would love his character so much, but I love him. He's such a well written character, and every scene with him talking to his family in the memorial room was absolutely magnificent. Episode 8 was the best ep out of the whole show. Shen Du in his family's memorial room and giving his monologue about getting justice for his family, and the small snippet of him denouncing his father, despite not wanting to, was so heart breaking. Ding Yu Xi's performance, the music, the cinematography was absolutely marvellous! I will legit go back just to watch that whole episode. And then episode 39 where he was asking Queen Dowager for justice and it being paralleled to him denouncing his father was chilling. I had goosebumps. Then that final bow in the memorial room with the ost and lighting... I WANT IT FRAMED TO MY ROOM. THAT FUCKING SCENE HAD ME.

And now... all that being said, things that I DID NOT LIKE about this drama:

- The stupid divorce. The divorce bought down my enjoyment by a lot, if I'm being honest. They could have pretended. And them still "hating" each other despite the big bag being defeated was so stupid. Yall had something great, only to mess it up into something good because of this one decision.

- Shen Du's character being regressed to a loser at the end when he tried to win the FL lead back. That was so stupid.
- The one guy that trying to hit on a married woman!! Bro, why do we always have characters like this in shows? They're married, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!

- ChuiChui... my girl... why did it take you a whole kidnapping to finally tell your bestie who the masked guy was? And she could have easily pretended to marry the guy and then back stabbed him. The dude was so delulu it wasn't even funny, he wouldn't even have noticed.

- The FL. I love Yan LiuNiang, I really do. The scene where she used ML's blood to sign off the divorce was epic. But this girl cannot keep herself out of dangerous situations. Legit started to roll my eyes every time she got kidnapped or ended up in a situation that needed the ML to save her.

Overall, it was a good experience, and I would most definitely rewatch this up until the divorce, then skip to the end where Shen Du finally got his justice. The editing at times at the start was kinda jarring for me, but luckily it didn't persist through the whole show. Either that, or I just got accustomed to it. And it was lowkey slow for me at the start, but it definitely picked up after a couple of eps. But I do feel like this is one of those shows that you either like, or you don't vibe with it. So give it try!!

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Great visuals, great chemistry

●Some minor things could be better. I know this is drama so I tried not to expect unreasonable things.
● I'm a romance fan and intrigue is not my favorite but overall it was good. At some point it was hard to follow but I blame the subs. So I decided to trust show's logic and enjoy the story.
●I think the separation should had been handled better.Despite that SD actions were with good intentions there had to be a conversation(on screen) between them.Maybe it's because I'd like more interaction between our couple. I know it's my preference so ...
●Overall it was very good experience.
●A lot of episodes are worth rewatching.
●A lot of good, funny and romantic moments.
● I liked both actors. Very convincing and natural presence.

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Stupid drama by idiot writer

The drama suppose to show smart main couple solving crimes together but the idiot writer made the drama and main couple look so stupid with most of the time wasted on stupid misunderstandings and childish quarrels between the main couple.

The idiot writer seem to write this stupid drama without using any brain cell to think whether the plot is logical.

Dropped at Ep 15 as it is unbelievable that the writer so idiotly turned a talented female lead from a suppose smart investigator into a brainless, reckless and ungrateful spoilt damsel.

Stop wasting time on idiot writer that written stupid drama.

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Don't expect a spectacular show, but beware of "Entitled" female character!

Just writing a review since no one did and ratings are falling for no reason :D

What to expect:
1. A decent storyline which can become good later on (since its only 1/4 completed now) - It's basically a ML revenge plot where his family got killed as traitors.
2. Decent acting: Well ML seems to be doing good, not so sure about FL yet.
3. Slow Burn romance: Seems to me it would be more childish but healthy sort of relationship and would take a while to get mature if it ever does.
4. Too many side characters with each with their agenda could make story complex or really good later on.
5. Decent production nothing too spectacular.
6. Updated - An entitled FL which will keep using a ML abusing him (with words) and allowing her friend, SML and many others to constantly disrespect him - (She literally talks about divorcing him and then goes to temple to pray for nxt marriage just after he saves her by risking his life and lying on bed:D) . This made me realise this show went from 8.2-8.3 to something closer to 7.5, pretty fast.


What not to expect:
1. A banger that will blow your mind (well at least based on first 13)
2. High Chemistry: Well, considering age and slow burn romance dont expect it to be anything like "The Double" but thats also good since this seems to have a real story:D and not just romance. But overall chemistry might not be the usp of the show.
3. High level IQ based investigations, well its CDRAMA

Thats all folks, to me this could be a drama that we won't consider a waste of time (considering this year's shows its already a win!) and rather something that felt good while watching but not spectacular enough to be talked thereafter.

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Loved every second....!!

This was a complete surprise. Every single character's acting and role was done fabulously. The FL lead casting was bang on, the way she potrayed her character was such a delight. No delicate darling nor over the top unrealistic skills. Just a regular smart person who has strong survival skills and loves her family and wants to prove something.
This was my first Ding Yu Xi drama and i absolutely developed a massive crush on him or rather the role he played. One of my personal favourite things is to see actors who have some meat on the bones and are not sticklike or too skinny. Makes the roles they play comical imo.
The story was very well written and potrayed. I was absolutely immersed into it from episode1. You love the characters you are meant to love and hate the ones you should. No over the top overacting with comedy.
This is my second time watching this drama and many times I have found myself just looking for YouTube edits of my favourite scenes...just like that.
Highly recommend this drama. It deserves all the love it got and more.

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All Hail to the Great Chief Shen Du

I started watching this drama back in Sept 2024, but only watched like 30 minutes of it before moving on to another drama. I went back in May 2025, stopped watching it again and then a little bit in June, and I honestly felt bad because I had been sidetracked with so many dramas that I was waiting for. November 2025 came and I was like, you know what? I need to finish it now because I’ve been seeing a lot of good comments about this drama and I should definitely continue. I have watched Ding Yuxi in Love Game in Eastern Fantasy and Love You Seven Times and enjoyed watching his dramas. After finishing a few episodes, I really wanted to slap myself because why on earth did I waited so long to watch this beautiful drama?? The main character, Shen Du, is the great chief Shen Du aka The White Ghost of Dacang, the head of the imperial guards, and everyone is afraid of him. He looked really powerful here. Arrogant and domineering, but we always know why a character is like that. It’s definitely a facade. A barrier. I noticed how muscular he looked here compared to his older dramas. We also meet the female lead, Yan Xing (or Liuniang for some) is a brave little clerk of the Ministry of Justice. The FL is a brave little cookie, but every time she goes out on her own, she always gets herself in trouble. Her sister who was supposed to marry Shen Du, eloped with another man. To save the Yan family, she took her sister’s place. She knew Shen Du at the beginning of the story, but he acted like he didn’t know her. I love the ML because even though he found out that Yan Xing lied and hid some secrets from him, especially becoming a spy to track his whereabouts and activities, he understood why she did that. I love how jealous he gets when she mentions Pan Chi or whenever she goes out with him to investigate. Like that one time, Shen Du kicked Pan Chi and he fell inside the well. Hilarious. I love her family, they were all supportive. There were some deaths in the story and it was really heartbreaking. I loved everything about this drama. Can you imagine your whole family being annihilated but you had to choose another way to survive by denouncing your father. It must be so hard for Shen Du. Even with a tough exterior, he has a very good heart. I’m glad the empress trusted Shen Du. He did the right thing. I was so glad Princess of Valor and Prince Xian didn’t do anything to hurt Shen Du and Yan Xing. At first I was like, what are their agendas? Can they be trusted? The actor who played the villain, Lai, the black fiend, did an amazing job. He was ruthless and delusional. Ding Yuxi was awesome here with his sword fights. Awesome actor. Anyway, the ending was cute. We didn’t see any babies, but it’s okay. I highly recommend this drama. One of the best, in my opinion.

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Good one

Melody of the Golden Age — I liked the drama, especially the chemistry between the leads.
In the beginning, the male protagonist's character was rude and arrogant. He never spoke in a humble manner. He always carried an attitude on his face. Everyone was scared of him, and nobody praised him; they always said bitter words behind his back.
But this kind of behavior was only seen in the first few episodes. After getting married, he gradually became softer in his behaviour, though on the surface he seemed the same.
On the other hand, the female protagonist's character was humble and helpful. She was kind to everyone and never held grudges against anyone. She also had a past story with the male protagonist.

I liked the character of Lu Chui Chui as well and her love story.

I liked the performances by the leads and the emotions of love, hatred, and annoyance they expressed through their acting. I must say their expressions were incredible.

Overall, the drama is good, and I recommend it.

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