Aramintai

He wasn't, it was all the main villain's work back then. At least, nowhere in the drama is it stated that he was involved. He also looks to young to have been involved. He's only involved in the last case and unknowingly played into FL's hands with his schemes.

The leads got criminally short closure scenes in the last episode.
Where's the normal reconcilliation talk? Apologies? ML commenting on FL killing the chancellor? He had very strong opinion about that in episode 29. Saying farewells to ML's family? Implied wedding? Where are they going in those frilly costumes and no baggage?

There's a thought 🤔.

Different leads is, like, an immediate epic fail, lol. Most of this drama's success rode on FL's charisma and cool character concept.

They can perhaps drag FL into this again if she won't have to fight, but they'll have to invent something story wise as to why. Or make heavy use of doubles.

I'm fine with role reversal and FL having a more dominant role. But I think he should have been less stiff here, I don't know if his character was supposed to be like that or he's got acting problems, but it just felt off at times.

If both leads won't be in it I ain't watching.

Exactly. Just pretend that extra scene isn't canon and put it to rest for now.
Also, what a shitty way from the showrunners to sour a happy ending...

I dunno, how fast do they film dramas there in China? Gotta cook it while it's hot. Nobody would care a few years later. So I think either they'll confirm season 2 soon, or it ain't gonna happen at all.

Maybe they'll do some extra episodes at most. Like a mini-series. But I dunno, I'm not holding my breath.
And the novel was written by a talented writer and got popular enough to warrant an adaptation. Some script writer coming up with same quality season 2 is highly unlikely. Probably gonna be s*it. And if they manage to do it, but some of the main actors won't be in it's also gonna be s*it.

I dunno, I've read FL doesn't want to do this hard fighting s*it no more, as she got some injuries. Maybe if they paid her a s*it ton of money, but it's still not gonna happen anytime soon - there's no novel, no script and actors' schedules are probably booked for the forseeable future. And did the drama do well in China? Judging by MDL's scores, it's not looking promising.

Yea, they def did right by omitting all this. This drama's focused on investigations, dark themes behind them and sweet revenge. Shoving dynasty wars into this would have overstuffed the plot. Maybe they can explore it in season 2, but I somehow doubt it's gonna happen.

Meh, def liking it better in the drama.
FL being the sole survivor with survivor's guilt and being called a cursed lone star is way more impactful.
And ML being a prince with some contention to the throne would just be too cliche and overcomplicate the plot, imho.

Crown Prince.

You should start worrying about it only if season 2 gets confirmed. So far it looks like a wishful thinking from greedy showrunners.
You can head canon they kick his butt too for now.

Oh, so the novel's CP was not the emperor's son?

Why the ef the prince would work as an astronomer though? Or he wasn't an astronomer?
FL being the prime minister's daughter is some crazy role reversal. The guy's the main villain here, lol.

I like what we got in the drama. Though the emperor not lifting a finger because of the prime minister's death is more believable than the royal's prince's death.

Also, did they deal with CP? Was it the same as in the drama with the chancellor? Or did he live in the end?

I don't think CP was involved in FL's family massacre, he looks too young, 30 at most. And since he had a tutor back then, he was still a green teen. Too early to get into the nitty gritty of political schemes.
He also had no apparent reason to kill FL's father, the father was about to quietly retire and wasn't a contender to the throne. The chancellor though had beef with him because FL's father got wind of his embezzlement schemes.

Furthermore, nowhere in the drama is it explicitly stated that CP was involved in the massacre. If the chancellor at some point had worked with him, he'd no doubt sell him out to save his skin.

The only known thing for sure is that CP was involved with Chen Luo - it was his royal guards that conveniently ran in to FL's banquet after she almost killed the chancellor. They were in cohoots ever since he heard Chen Luo got into contact with FL. He wanted to use both of them to eliminate the chancellor, preferrably with his whole clan and consort Shu, as she holds great influence over the emperor. It looked like he wanted to start his rule with a clean slate, with all of his father's favorites and corrupt officials eliminated. And at the credits scene he ordered to kill those who knew of his involvement in the bad omens hoax:
-consort Shu (doesn't know much, but is still a threat to his plans);
-Chen Luo (def knows too much);
-both leads (they know, but don't care).

If they ever do a season 2, the hooks may be that the first two get killed, the leads defend themselves against the assassins and then return to avenge consort Shu's death.

FL was raising a replacement, so can't be too soft on her or she's won't become a good boss 😅. Also, I think FL literally is incapable of doting, she's got that cranky, sarcastic personality inherited from her mentor. Doting on people would make her feel very awkward, I'd guess.

Why do palace dramas warrant censorship?
Also, they did change the plot for the drama. In the novel CP was the main villain. Maybe they really do plan season 2 and moved him there as the main villain.

I rarely write these, but even with flaws, I found this drama to be quite memorable. So it warrants a review:
https://kisskh.at/profile/10070561/review/542960