Lizzy

Yeah… I’m still managing to accept it with some optimism even though I am also noticing his lack of presence. Maybe I am still hoping that he will get more screen time in the last six episodes lol.

I heard the subtitles are sh*t, so I wouldn’t recommend watching the leaked episodes. Like they are really bad.

I don’t mind the pacing either and am one of the few people who appreciate that the leads didn’t break up again as they did in the novel. I think it could have probably worked if the drama could have been more than 40 episodes. But seeing as they were separated for 8 episodes and then sort of reconciled after the identity reveal… don’t think I would have liked them cramming in a second breakup before the end. I think that would have created more pacing issues in a 40 ep drama.

I haven’t seen that one, but I don’t think the synopsis was interesting enough to me when I looked into it a while ago. Thanks for the Kdrama rec. I didn’t get through LiTC because the lying and secret keeping made me really mad in that one 😅Other dramas that did strike a good balance was Legend of Shen Li, Alchemy of Souls, How Dare You and The Story of Ming Lan.

Yup. It’s annoying. I think after PoJ I might avoid dramas by this director and screenwriter in the future because it truly does seem like the common theme in all of their dramas. Whereas in other shows like Fated Hearts or TPoB there was not any of that annoying preaching or not-so-subtle jabs at men, but through their storytelling I was never left feeling like the FL was “less than” or “weak” compared to her male counterpart.

So one of my complaints about this director and screenwriter is that they push the “rah rah girl power” to an annoying amount sometimes. I noticed it a bit with “Blossom”, LLTG and some of their other works like “Coroner’s Diary”. They insert dumb dialogue into the drama, such as in episode 29 during the battle XZ being like “stand behind me and stay close” and FCY being like “I stand behind no one” and XZ grins at her. It’s dumb and preachy. Just cut the dialogue out and show it through the storytelling. There are stupid comments like that scattered about the whole show. “She’s more handsome than young men” (ep 34) or “a capable woman is worth more than ten men.” (20s) 🙄So you’re not alone in your annoyance. They tend to try to boost their female characters by putting down the men or severely downplaying their roles in the FL’s life. Some of their shows are more blatant than others. I had reservations about watching this one initially because elements of “Blossom” left a bad taste in my mouth last year and I have never been into dramas that boost their FLs at the expense of the male characters. While there is a LOT that I truly love about this drama, I am still noticing the same elements. The ML is not really allowed to be depended on much by the FL (but it’s OK for him to need her), and they push the “independent FL” too much imo. There’s nothing wrong with mutual reliance on each other, and what we get instead is an unequal and unbalanced romance.

Can you blame them? As someone else here said, of all the emperors seen in Cdramas this is the most unserious one 😂

Ok! I will watch ep. 34 today- they air at like 2am my time so I’m always a bit late to watch the latest ones.

Okay that’s what I thought. Thanks 😊

I have a clarifying question about the drama - so in episode 31 (?) FCY was promoted to General because Lihuai reported her merits to the court, right? It sounded like her promotion was a political move, and that she was being used as a political pawn? Was it Lihuai’s intention for her to be promoted, and his showy apology was his way of trying to manipulate her? Who exactly in the court pushed for her promotion? I haven’t watched past 33 yet so please don’t spoil anything from leaked episodes.

episode 26

Hmm. I get the frustration, but I guess I don’t see it completely the same way. FCY, in a big deviation from the novel, was promoted because Lihuai manipulated the situation for her to be promoted. He spoke of her merits to the Imperial Court and did not disclose any of the crap she did. I didn’t interpret it as her getting the promotion because she earned it or had experience. I think they are wanting to use her as a pawn for something. But everything else I see. The relationship has been mostly one-sided since she discovered his identity in 27. A lot has happened to her since then, but still.

I have been fed up with how Mr. Jin has been treating Xie Zheng as well, but I also see how it could have gone badly for XZ if he bit back at one of FCY’s friends. Granted, I still wish he would and if she gets mad she gets mad. That being said, I think the deeper issue is that XZ’s relationship with FCY has felt pretty one-sided in the past several episodes with him doing all of the chasing. I think what most of us are really looking for is for FCY to chase after XZ, side with him or stand up to Mr. Jin as well.

The rating hasn’t moved, but the rank decreased from #16 to #18, so the rating is dropping.

Yeah mostly.

Huh? It’s not showing express on mine.

I am thankful for posts like this too because it really helps me better understand his character. I need more metas like this. Hearing someone else say a long time ago that generals are not necessarily the best fighters, but rather their role is to strategize and make quick decisions to turn the tides of a war helped me a lot too. That’s why if a general dies the battles typically fall apart. It really helped me change my perspective.

Oh wow this is amazing! It makes SO MUCH more sense now 🤯I was one of the viewers who was so confused by what happened.

Is there a part 2 of this explanation?

It’s sad watching the drama lower in rank from 14 to 16 :/ It’s a very good rating on this website, but I have a feeling that the last handful of episodes damaged the show’s standing. The leaks probably didnt help, or those who have watched on illegal websites weren’t impressed with the last 10. 😞

IQIYI and WeTV have the best subtitles 😊