Simple plot to follow with good acting from the main couple. Having seen Hou in ‘back from the brink ‘ and…
i think he melted her. we never see her smile that much in front of other people. and she worries about him a lot. just that i think she didn’t want to force him to come with her, she wanted him to “choose” her with his free will.
OOC? Why blame Lu Jiang for bravely fighting for what he wants? I don't think Lu Jianglai's character collapsed after the Yu Ming Cha arc! The Guogong Fu arc is practically as epic as Consort Xi returning to the palace! It masterfully reveals the protagonist's core personality. To put it bluntly: Lu Jianglai actually craves the stability of a family life. All his scheming, fighting, and 'green tea' behavior stem from this very reason.
After losing his mentor, Lu Jianglai was left with emotional trauma. Having lost his mother and adoptive father from a young age, he cherishes his older brother and nephew dearly. His outburst with Rong Shanbao was born from the panic of fearing his beloved would leave him after discovering his own brother was trying to harm him (the poisoning also amplified this psychological wound).
Lu Jianglai's pride is built on a sense of achievement, but it's unfortunately founded on the unstable bedrock of "no one loves me." This makes it inherently precarious and easily destroyed by things he craves but can't have, like family ties. With that bond severed, he resolutely turns to Rong Shanbao, returning to be a local official, because love and career bring him the inner stability he desires.
Internally, he is starved for love and self-pitying, yet externally, he is poised and in control. This isn't a sudden shift in his character; it's the medal of honor for a wounded child who has finally found a way to heal himself. Fortunately, Lu Jianglai grew into a strong man. He experienced true kindness from his adoptive father and pure support from his mentor, which is why he didn't become as narrow and selfish as the Guogong.
Some say the Guogong Fu arc had the protagonist suddenly dumbed down just to empower the female lead, but I disagree. What he received from Rong Shanbao was the kind of special, exceptional affection he had never gotten before. And this affection was given even after he repeatedly tested her with schemes, tantrums, and being fickle. His attempts to provoke her with fights, desperate pleas, and playing the victim were completely accepted by her. In this process, he gained a profound sense of security, which in turn bolstered his pride.
The choice to become a champion of justice is Lu Jianglai's free will, and so is his choice of Rong Shanbao. This is precisely what I want to defend: from beginning to end, this drama is about the exercise of individual free will under external pressure—and this applies to every single character!
Rong Shanbao's choice to shoulder her family's responsibilities was not made reluctantly; she was always an ambitious person. When she told Rong Si about her hardships growing up, she was only acknowledging that past, not devaluing her family. Rong Er's choice of her husband was also her own. Rong Wu's choice to become the "black lotus" and return to her clan was hers as well. Even the supporting characters made their own choices: Jun Dai chose to follow a new master for his livelihood, and the butler, oh sorry, Manager Cheng, chose to bury his own feelings.
Lu Jianglai chose what he subjectively desired and yearned for, not what he objectively deemed the more sensible or worthwhile option.
Lu Jianglai, with all his scheming and insecurities, his feelings for Rong Shanbao were never about the fear of losing her, but the desire to have a stable familial tie with her. I find it incredibly brave for someone who fights so hard to finally achieve their heart's desire.
this is well written but it’s not really a love pentagon coz the other three are not reciprocated hahaha. xy has always been that magnetic character where people just flock to her. i agree it deserves more love. it’s not a typical popcorn series but it’s a food for the soul that makes you ponder about the human condition and our moral choices. I’m rewatching multiple times already
I'm over the moon, Glory's CVB ratings are taking off. This is why if some of y'all new 🥝s wonder why he don't…
the ratings and everything made yuzheng happy but are they really going to make a sequel? did he make an unrealistic target or is it achievable? not sure if the translation was off but i think he commented under HMH’s farewell post wishing him to be more influential in the future.
this is good but the ML has become an entirely different person. he shares no qualities with the male lead from…
the basic character is the same. but he had amnesia in the first 13 episodes. he definitely retained his cunning, smart, unyielding persona. the first 13 eps fusheng still wanted to rise through the ranks to get a better life. LJL had a hard childhood, raised by a loving family but suffered from society judging his adoptive father’s status as a servant. then he was taken in by the Luo family but received constant mocking and beating by the Luo’s grandson. he still managed to become a top scholar and rise through the officialdom and became the emperor’s favorite. he suffered a lot of hate and jealousy from his peers but he still wanted to clean the office from corrupted officials, resorting to extreme means and constantly getting himself into danger. it’s not that his character is different, it’s just that the emotional weight and responsibility is heavier. you can see that even in the last 6 episodes, he still shows his “fusheng” personality to Shanbao in private. so he’s like a cute little kitten who developed a hard shell because of whatever life threw at him. i think that was stellar acting.
since the progression of the relationship between the leads is unusual, its very difficult to say when they really…
i agree it’s very ambiguous… but then again maybe it’s partly because the culture in china the FL doesn’t really directly professes her love. but the people around her are the ones who mention that she treats him with special care. you know how there are 5 love languages, she probably leans more towards acts of service and not on words of affirmation. the fact that she asks jundai to check on his wounds, whether he’s eating properly, etc, shows that she actually cares about him, just maybe coz she’s busy running a business.
If you want kiss that much see other drama don't watch this
it’s not a romance drama. there’s more to life than just romance. and usually there will not be any kissing scenes in these sort of dramas. just wait for it to air.
Friends this is houminghao s dream to play basketball with kiwies and watching horror movies with us if someone…
with 100 fans chasing him 😂 he really likes teasing us… (imagining him playing and winning and laughing like when he played with yang chaoyue). what if he finds out the 100 fans that show up are all male fans 😂 (laughing so much; honestly would be amazing tho)
https://x.com/m3nghaoo/status/2012426348032393573?s=46I’m posting this here in the hopes that people will reply…
i believe the viewers are not dumb. those who would believe in those sort of rumours are people who hasn’t seen him act. anyone who has seen at least one or two of his work would realize how great of an actor he is. (sometimes he delivers more than one character in one work) none of his characters overlap, and they don’t cause aesthetic fatigue because of his acting apart from difference in styling, makeup and cinematography. the reason he hasn’t made a breakthrough is because none of his companies even bothered to spend money on his marketing. but this way is better because his fans can see him grow without pressure of spotlight and too many saesang fans. he was already disturbed by ss fans last year; and the past three works and his music festival garnered him many support from within the industry and from many new fans. all his works encompasses different genres and target markets so his fans can’t even agree on which character is the best looking character but they all agree that his acting is superb and he himself has great character, resilience & skills. like HMH said, those who knows him will not be affected by such defamation rumours.
This is why Kiwis didnt want him to take this project in the 1st place and why I was even apprehensive on it when…
the audacity!! he said - the producers were really happy with the results and - that if it was in a different platform it would blow up. By saying that he’s clearly shifting the blame to the platform but it’s HIS responsibility as the producer to do more marketing! 😤
It's amazing how most of the dramas he's been in have a rating above 8.0 on MDL. I didn't need to watch many dramas…
the first time I discovered him, I thought it was such an impressive score.. I couldn’t believe a guy like him existed! turns out when you start digging, you really do find diamonds in the rough. everything he did, he really did well, despite the things he can’t control (editing, production, etc) and results do show! I end up liking all the characters he played and grew massive respect for him as an artist!
One thing I worry about with Minghao’s dramas is that his character usually gets weakened in the second half,…
now that you mention it… 🥲🤯😵 it’s okay, i think he’s going to explode with popularity this year after the concerts so he may be able to pick better scripts next time…
1 
1 
I think liking HMH comes with benefits, where we become more mature and wiser.
https://m.weibo.cn/status/5257612203397779
I don't think Lu Jianglai's character collapsed after the Yu Ming Cha arc! The Guogong Fu arc is practically as epic as Consort Xi returning to the palace! It masterfully reveals the protagonist's core personality. To put it bluntly: Lu Jianglai actually craves the stability of a family life. All his scheming, fighting, and 'green tea' behavior stem from this very reason.
After losing his mentor, Lu Jianglai was left with emotional trauma. Having lost his mother and adoptive father from a young age, he cherishes his older brother and nephew dearly. His outburst with Rong Shanbao was born from the panic of fearing his beloved would leave him after discovering his own brother was trying to harm him (the poisoning also amplified this psychological wound).
Lu Jianglai's pride is built on a sense of achievement, but it's unfortunately founded on the unstable bedrock of "no one loves me." This makes it inherently precarious and easily destroyed by things he craves but can't have, like family ties. With that bond severed, he resolutely turns to Rong Shanbao, returning to be a local official, because love and career bring him the inner stability he desires.
Internally, he is starved for love and self-pitying, yet externally, he is poised and in control. This isn't a sudden shift in his character; it's the medal of honor for a wounded child who has finally found a way to heal himself. Fortunately, Lu Jianglai grew into a strong man. He experienced true kindness from his adoptive father and pure support from his mentor, which is why he didn't become as narrow and selfish as the Guogong.
Some say the Guogong Fu arc had the protagonist suddenly dumbed down just to empower the female lead, but I disagree. What he received from Rong Shanbao was the kind of special, exceptional affection he had never gotten before. And this affection was given even after he repeatedly tested her with schemes, tantrums, and being fickle. His attempts to provoke her with fights, desperate pleas, and playing the victim were completely accepted by her. In this process, he gained a profound sense of security, which in turn bolstered his pride.
The choice to become a champion of justice is Lu Jianglai's free will, and so is his choice of Rong Shanbao. This is precisely what I want to defend: from beginning to end, this drama is about the exercise of individual free will under external pressure—and this applies to every single character!
Rong Shanbao's choice to shoulder her family's responsibilities was not made reluctantly; she was always an ambitious person. When she told Rong Si about her hardships growing up, she was only acknowledging that past, not devaluing her family.
Rong Er's choice of her husband was also her own. Rong Wu's choice to become the "black lotus" and return to her clan was hers as well.
Even the supporting characters made their own choices: Jun Dai chose to follow a new master for his livelihood, and the butler, oh sorry, Manager Cheng, chose to bury his own feelings.
Lu Jianglai chose what he subjectively desired and yearned for, not what he objectively deemed the more sensible or worthwhile option.
Lu Jianglai, with all his scheming and insecurities, his feelings for Rong Shanbao were never about the fear of losing her, but the desire to have a stable familial tie with her. I find it incredibly brave for someone who fights so hard to finally achieve their heart's desire.
i agree it deserves more love. it’s not a typical popcorn series but it’s a food for the soul that makes you ponder about the human condition and our moral choices. I’m rewatching multiple times already
like HMH said, those who knows him will not be affected by such defamation rumours.
- the producers were really happy with the results and
- that if it was in a different platform it would blow up.
By saying that he’s clearly shifting the blame to the platform but it’s HIS responsibility as the producer to do more marketing! 😤