It took 20 eps to build up some elements of comedy, which is the best-fitting genre for shapeshifting/body transformation or nose-reconstruction in "ancient" (ie., phantasy) time. We've got some (not particularly convincing) hints before, with Tong Sai'er in search of her fiancé or a farting Persian foreteller... and it's a pitty, because this cast is sooo well picked for a good comedy. I would have never expected Ryan Cheng, perfect as a dark, calculative, hot-like-a-hell but mind-twisted Gong Shangjue, was able to deliver here almost an opposite character. But he did it, flowlessly. The comedy isn't even mentioned among the "genres" above and I think not introducing more comedy in the first half of the drama, especially to contrast and smooth the initial rigidity of Jiang Xinbai is a mistake of the authors and it is probably the main reason for a relatively low rating. Lets hope it will improve in the second half, because almost all the actors are convincing in their roles and deserve better ratings.
"Then, sleep with me" --- when I've thought to drop this drama, these few words convinced me to keep watching 👌 Actually, there's a moving sweetness in their (not much believable, shapeshifting, come on!) akwardness that makes this drama watchable
--- want to know too if its worth watching. Even though the cast members are well know actors, still, the story…
it looks better than other "return to the past to redeem" dramas C-productions are so obsessed with (and I usually drop at a certain point, because they reveal themselves as cheap tricks with little or no added value to the topic). The authors certainly poured some money and care into this one: a refined setting, costumes and makeup are fine (more or less coherent with Wei/Jin period), good pacing, logical switch between past and present scenes from narrative pov, no weird filters or camera angles, pretty convincing acting. The story itself isn't great and the dialogues aren't spectacular and yet, the storytelling is convincing. The main leads are a bickering old-new-wed couple, sufficiently entertaining through a balance between serious, funny, resentful and romantic moments. There's a tension, too (political struggle, love triangles from both sides) but it isn't overwhelming or illogical. All in all, this drama has strong points to pass even the scrutiny of a highly picky watcher, notwithstanding some boring trope-inserts into the story, probably present in the original (and maybe not-so-original) novel, like the disguise of the leads (FL, who is a powerful princess... as a belly dancer) to investigate the money-laundring by stealing a ledger, while they could have done (they are powerful people) the investigation with "ordinary means": seizing the assets and arresting the suspect. But if I find it still watchable, I think you may, too
Sorry for interrupting your inquires about 32-36 eps fast speed release, I've just watched ep 31 (machine translation), and discovered an important clue: why those weird hairpins? Lady Fan, promoted at the wedding as FX's matriarch, fanned herself with her hairpin. That "Fan" surname is a part of the plan, right? 😂
Well they don't even have any banks yet so I guess it stands to reason there would be no central bank. You don't…
So what? Having standardized coins doesn't mean having a central bank, it only means having a mint to coint and the force to make those coins exchangeable (=standard). Actually, the (known) world's oldest coins go back to the Iron Age, the ancient Kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor (1200 BCE–540 BC). Letters of credit are not money. I merchant, lend you, a farmer, money to buy seeds (or fertilizers, or workforce) in March on condition that you sell all the crop to me exclusively, at a this (minor) price in July, which will cover your debt and assure my profit. They functioned even more to guarantee the lender. You are a rich dude who wants smth done by an artisan, but he wants an advanced payment to cover his costs, instead of giving him an advanced payment (he may fall ill, die, have problems of all kinds), you issue him a letter of credit. It's a guarantee you'll at least get back your money from his inheritors. In use maybe before the coins :))) Maybe you confuse the letters of credit with checks, smth similar appeared probably with Knights Templar issued to those going on the crusades or pilgrimages as early as the 12th century, but they were certainly not even a bank, central banks were nowhere in sight. :))) Actually, as Italy is considered "a fatherland of banking", there were and still are never-ending discussions among historians, if before the world-wide known "first bank" (Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena, evolved from a pawn shop, which existed in ancient China), there was a "Bank of Venice"? The answer is: it depends on what you assume as a "banking activity". And none of these were central banks, of course
There was nothing similar to the central bank in ancient China. The oldest one in the world is Sveriges Riksbank,…
I know, but the setting follows certain patterns from the ancient China history and the remark was "they were not so primitive because they had paper money". Paper money is not related to the existence of central bank. When existed, paper money was a treasury money (guaranteed by an imperial treasury, but of a floating value according to the amount of exchangeable valuables in it), not by a central bank. It was doomed to fail in the moment the treasury was short of money, then it lost its worth.
(Central) bank or some form of it not existing in this world is pretty unbelievable. They aren't that primitive.…
There was nothing similar to the central bank in ancient China. The oldest one in the world is Sveriges Riksbank, founded in 1668. Modern banking was introduced in China only in late 19th century. There were "shops" which could have dealt with basic banking affairs (deposits versus bearer checks, small loans as working money, security deposits), but not long term investments in bonds. Paper currency lasted less than a century before collapsing during the Ming dynasty.
I am surprised and also not surprised we got a real kiss and not a fishy one. Haven’t seen ZRY lock lips with…
It's because this drama made us expect only unexpected and weird things. The thing we would normally expect in a wedding night scene of a couple in love in any other drama, such as a passionate kiss, in this drama appears so weird and unexpected...
As Eldest Princes is the main villain - screenwriters are keeping her out of our view - so it will be a surprise…
I'm glad you don't think I was rude. I actually don't like War and Peace (if we talk about Russian classics, I'm certainly more a Dostoevskij, or even Bulgakov person, than a Tolstoy person, War and Peace was a long and somewhat boring I ought to finish only because it was an obligatory literature in classic studies). Although picky, I'am omnivourous, the only condition is: the meal (or narrative, in whatever form, written or screen performed) has to be good and contain all the necessary "nutrients" my body (or mind) needs. As I don't snub "street food" if fullfil the criteria, I don't snub popular narrative: among my 10 top readings of all times (and I was a kind of a bibliomane for the most of part of my life) is an autobiography "Open" written by a tennis player Andre Agassi, among "top 10 movies", an animation movie for children The Bug's Life and among top 10 dramas the Turkish series The Magnificent Century, labeled as a "soap-opera" in its own country. Why? Because they are GOOD, very well written and well delievered. Any kind of narrative is "the art" if it can convey and stir up emotions, that's the purpose of all arts. I'm not in a literature business (although I can be counted as an author of narrative, too), but anyone can analyse anything, if it's based on logics. I can't tell if I'm like your mom, but you're certainly very like my son, he is an engineer, too. :))))
In the 1st season we learned it was the Empress Dowager, but Chen Pingping has his own thoughts on the matter...
No. We only know Dowager has the key of the weapon box. We don't know how she entered in possession of that key. The fragmented Wu Zhu's memory hinted the key could be at the Dowager's place, but he could't remember was she entrusted by Qingmei with it, or was it taken, stolen...
As Eldest Princes is the main villain - screenwriters are keeping her out of our view - so it will be a surprise…
If we disagree on conclusion the best thing to do is to re-analyse the premises we agree upon. 1. You've said: "Fan Xian in the novel is quick witted person but in this S2 drama Fan Xian looks like a careful person..." Which one is more credible as a person with memory of our time, the cautious one or the quick one? His hastiness made him to commit crimes (eg. cleaning up the mess behind his bro Si Zhe), and this detail may be a problem for the C-censorship, yes, but moreover and above all it will be a problem for the audience to root for him. At least this detail was repaired by the scriptwriter. 2. @Kateoz pointed out the hugeness of the novel as a big problem here. You must take into account that the number of chapters in this novel is more than double than those in War and Peace, which is considered "a monumental novel". It's insanely big. But it is not War and Peace, which treats real historical events, with real historical persons and many more fictionalized dealing with difficulties which really existed at the time and in that setting - making War and Peace hardly adaptable for the screen, every effort to adapt it was criticised for "truncating the important parts", because all parts are somehow important (because they were important for understanding the course of real historical events). The events in JoL novel are set in a fictional time and fictional space. The settings of the events are pretty common in Chinese narrative, we have palace stories, court (corruption, embazzlement, upright officials, censors...), two brothel stories, murders to be solved, flower admiration (and other similar entertainment), banquets, hidden identity stories, smuggling, decentrated-local power story, bandits, pirates, mission in foreign country, spy agency story, imperial examination and so on. It's not a masterpiece, it's a supermarket of stories loosely tied together, ready to be cherry-picked or dropped, copied & pasted into a new patchwork that will do on screen. I'm sorry to say that, I know you love the novel and I respect that, but the course of the events in the novel serve as patterns which can be easily rearranged and remodelled. And the drama patchwork is very well tied together, with inevitable inserts that didn't exist in the original
3 
1 
I would have never expected Ryan Cheng, perfect as a dark, calculative, hot-like-a-hell but mind-twisted Gong Shangjue, was able to deliver here almost an opposite character. But he did it, flowlessly.
The comedy isn't even mentioned among the "genres" above and I think not introducing more comedy in the first half of the drama, especially to contrast and smooth the initial rigidity of Jiang Xinbai is a mistake of the authors and it is probably the main reason for a relatively low rating. Lets hope it will improve in the second half, because almost all the actors are convincing in their roles and deserve better ratings.
---
when I've thought to drop this drama, these few words convinced me to keep watching 👌
Actually, there's a moving sweetness in their (not much believable, shapeshifting, come on!) akwardness that makes this drama watchable
The authors certainly poured some money and care into this one: a refined setting, costumes and makeup are fine (more or less coherent with Wei/Jin period), good pacing, logical switch between past and present scenes from narrative pov, no weird filters or camera angles, pretty convincing acting. The story itself isn't great and the dialogues aren't spectacular and yet, the storytelling is convincing. The main leads are a bickering old-new-wed couple, sufficiently entertaining through a balance between serious, funny, resentful and romantic moments. There's a tension, too (political struggle, love triangles from both sides) but it isn't overwhelming or illogical.
All in all, this drama has strong points to pass even the scrutiny of a highly picky watcher, notwithstanding some boring trope-inserts into the story, probably present in the original (and maybe not-so-original) novel, like the disguise of the leads (FL, who is a powerful princess... as a belly dancer) to investigate the money-laundring by stealing a ledger, while they could have done (they are powerful people) the investigation with "ordinary means": seizing the assets and arresting the suspect. But if I find it still watchable, I think you may, too
Actually, the (known) world's oldest coins go back to the Iron Age, the ancient Kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor (1200 BCE–540 BC).
Letters of credit are not money. I merchant, lend you, a farmer, money to buy seeds (or fertilizers, or workforce) in March on condition that you sell all the crop to me exclusively, at a this (minor) price in July, which will cover your debt and assure my profit. They functioned even more to guarantee the lender. You are a rich dude who wants smth done by an artisan, but he wants an advanced payment to cover his costs, instead of giving him an advanced payment (he may fall ill, die, have problems of all kinds), you issue him a letter of credit. It's a guarantee you'll at least get back your money from his inheritors. In use maybe before the coins :)))
Maybe you confuse the letters of credit with checks, smth similar appeared probably with Knights Templar issued to those going on the crusades or pilgrimages as early as the 12th century, but they were certainly not even a bank, central banks were nowhere in sight. :)))
Actually, as Italy is considered "a fatherland of banking", there were and still are never-ending discussions among historians, if before the world-wide known "first bank" (Banco Monte dei Paschi di Siena, evolved from a pawn shop, which existed in ancient China), there was a "Bank of Venice"? The answer is: it depends on what you assume as a "banking activity". And none of these were central banks, of course
But I agree with you: that scene was very... very art
I actually don't like War and Peace (if we talk about Russian classics, I'm certainly more a Dostoevskij, or even Bulgakov person, than a Tolstoy person, War and Peace was a long and somewhat boring I ought to finish only because it was an obligatory literature in classic studies). Although picky, I'am omnivourous, the only condition is: the meal (or narrative, in whatever form, written or screen performed) has to be good and contain all the necessary "nutrients" my body (or mind) needs. As I don't snub "street food" if fullfil the criteria, I don't snub popular narrative: among my 10 top readings of all times (and I was a kind of a bibliomane for the most of part of my life) is an autobiography "Open" written by a tennis player Andre Agassi, among "top 10 movies", an animation movie for children The Bug's Life and among top 10 dramas the Turkish series The Magnificent Century, labeled as a "soap-opera" in its own country. Why? Because they are GOOD, very well written and well delievered.
Any kind of narrative is "the art" if it can convey and stir up emotions, that's the purpose of all arts. I'm not in a literature business (although I can be counted as an author of narrative, too), but anyone can analyse anything, if it's based on logics. I can't tell if I'm like your mom, but you're certainly very like my son, he is an engineer, too. :))))
1. You've said: "Fan Xian in the novel is quick witted person but in this S2 drama Fan Xian looks like a careful person..." Which one is more credible as a person with memory of our time, the cautious one or the quick one? His hastiness made him to commit crimes (eg. cleaning up the mess behind his bro Si Zhe), and this detail may be a problem for the C-censorship, yes, but moreover and above all it will be a problem for the audience to root for him. At least this detail was repaired by the scriptwriter.
2. @Kateoz pointed out the hugeness of the novel as a big problem here. You must take into account that the number of chapters in this novel is more than double than those in War and Peace, which is considered "a monumental novel". It's insanely big. But it is not War and Peace, which treats real historical events, with real historical persons and many more fictionalized dealing with difficulties which really existed at the time and in that setting - making War and Peace hardly adaptable for the screen, every effort to adapt it was criticised for "truncating the important parts", because all parts are somehow important (because they were important for understanding the course of real historical events). The events in JoL novel are set in a fictional time and fictional space. The settings of the events are pretty common in Chinese narrative, we have palace stories, court (corruption, embazzlement, upright officials, censors...), two brothel stories, murders to be solved, flower admiration (and other similar entertainment), banquets, hidden identity stories, smuggling, decentrated-local power story, bandits, pirates, mission in foreign country, spy agency story, imperial examination and so on. It's not a masterpiece, it's a supermarket of stories loosely tied together, ready to be cherry-picked or dropped, copied & pasted into a new patchwork that will do on screen. I'm sorry to say that, I know you love the novel and I respect that, but the course of the events in the novel serve as patterns which can be easily rearranged and remodelled. And the drama patchwork is very well tied together, with inevitable inserts that didn't exist in the original