Aramintai

Uh-oh, the emperor is kinda low key terrifying when he's serious. Better go back to your concubines, gramps, I'm getting scared for FL. And looks like he knows he was fooled and was coddling FL out of guilt.

Where? Or are you talking about ML?

What is there to grow? They're already cool and not red flags. But if you mean intercharacter development, it gets gradually revealed.

Alright, this may not be an Asian drama, but have you watched Castle TV series? There are some similarities there - cool FL with tragic family past trying to find the killer, sidekick ML with a different set of skills and two helpful colleagues. And together they solve a sh*t ton of cases.

As for Asian dramas, I'd recommend May It Please the Court.

Btw, did they really have to off Pei Yu and then replace her with samey character of Yu Di? I'm feeling overlap here. Though Yu Di is more charismatic, I give her that.

This drama's based on a novel. The plot is already known.

Yea, it's quite an intriguing story, with various mysterious criminal cases that the leads investigate at the palace grounds and beyond. Most of them have one underlying theme, with some being connected to the main plot - FL seeking the truth about her family's massacre. Can't wait for the resolution.
Parallel to that, the story explores the leads' background stories and childhood connection, as well as the development of their relationship. There are also some funny and cool side characters.

It's was the right chancellor.

Depends on what you mean by that.

It has romance, but it's not the main focus of the drama. Mods have to update the tags at some point.
This drama has high production value as well.

It's not her maid, but a junior colleague in the Bureau.

34 episodes total.

I like how in one of the episodes ML said that celestial events are just celestial bodies' movements, they don't bring calamities. It's the evil people who use them to exploit people's fears and prejudices for their own gain. I wonder though whether that is a general consensus among the astronomers, or just his opinion, as it kinda undermines the usefulness of the Astronomers' Office.

No, it's the right chancellor who's behind it. The whole plot is already in the novel.

At this point this cop out is getting a bit ridiculous, it's hard to believe that so many people are so readily willing to kill themselves, as it's against all instincts. I mean, sure, some people got into that mentality through prolonged abuse. But some others did it as soon they got in trouble, like total brainwashed knobs.
I guess the showrunners want to keep the palace's prison empty 🤣.

And then always comes some greedy guy who ruins it by making everything in there a product for money.

Some nice backstories and connections in ep 25. FL owes ML her life, basically. And he became an astronomer because of her. And her mentor taught her all his skills, along with his bad temper and habits. She really was never alone, kind people willingly helped her survive and become what she is. Gotta stop believing that cursed lone star bs.

I think most of the complainers were going into this thinking this would be a rom-com focused drama, instead of investigations and underlying tales of women's plight. And since the romance is mild here, they're inventing what to hate about this drama. I too think ML's too stiff here, but since I saw him in other works, I'm thinking it's deliberate here, that's just how his character is. Personally, it doesn't bother me that much. His character is very genuine and compliments FL here nicely with his calm demeanor.

And sure, not all cases are mysterious enough to not see who did what pretty early. If it's your favorite genre, you've probably seen it all. However, the focus here is not about the elaborate methods, the focus here is about the victims' stories behind these cases, which are absolutely devastating and leave lots to think about. This aspect crime dramas often overlook in favor of procedurals and excitement of catching the criminal.

It's Lunar New Year in China toady. New episodes tomorrow.

Prestige / profits for herself and family / was forced to / was sold as slave or for family debts. In most cases - nobody asked what those women want and they've no rights to object.