XiaoQing

I can't believe a 47-episode drama in 2026 would feel so short! When I started this I thought it would be yet another drag I would drop mid way, but what a gem it was instead.

I don't want it to end, I want to stay a little longer with the characters... I hope they give enough time to the side characters' storylines to end properly like Xiuwan, scholar Han etc.

Oh I thought the play at the end of ep 38 was how she told him

Just saw the wedding- omg the slap, it was so deserved!! You go Lanxiang, your anger is totally valid! This is one of the very few dramas where I don't get bored and drop it after the couple gets married but I'm actually even more interested in seeing what comes next

I haven't seen any spoilers or trailers so these are just my thoughts, but maybe it's all the crown prince's doing, and it isn't LJQ who forces the marriage but he's also unaware of everything?

The crown prince probably assumes he and Lanxiang are in love and wants to thank LJQ for saving him so he orders the marriage (I'm also assuming the crown prince doesn't die and the one on the stage was a double/he faked it somehow)

I would also prefer it like this, like an arranged marriage kind of story, rather than the ML forcing the marriage tbh

Love a female lead who plans and takes her sweet revenge against a b*tch haha. The crown prince who was shot must be a double, right? So when he becomes emperor in the next episode, he grants Jinqi the marriage because he knew about him and Lanxiang (this is what I assume from the preview)

I'm seeing on some Chinese websites that we're getting 2 episodes a day even in the following days (even though the MDL countdown says there's a break). Can anyone confirm?

The actress playing Manyi is really pretty

If this new girl is yet another schemer, it means Madam's skills at finding matches for her son are truly shit lol

For a second I was worried they had turned Xiuwan into a villain, but thankfully it doesn't seem so. I hope we see her grow into a very big boat :)

Without spoiling too much, can someone tell me how they get married? (if it's in the trailer, I haven't watched it to avoid spoilers). I'm also curious if they get married before or after he discovers her identity

My theory is that it's not a contagious disease (bc Lanxiang and the other maid who cared for Yuchan are fine) but it's poisoning from something brought into the house by the Du siblings. Maybe the herbs given by the Du sister to Jinqi are related to it as well.

I'm still not sure what their endgame is though- just to ruin the Lin family?

Also in the last few episodes you can really feel the cut material. It seems like some stuff with the pirates, the Marquis, and the Dai family (which is suddenly important?) was cut because there are some jumps and things feel rushed in the scenes with Jinqi and the Marquis. Maybe it's for the better, bc I prefer seeing the family stuff instead of too many army/political plots, but I hope the cuts won't make the story hard to understand.

A main character's looks are irrelevant...? Are we supposed to close our eyes when watching?

I do actually. You can see the difference if you compare her with her older dramas. People are taking my comment as if I've personally insulted the actress when nope, I still find her beautiful, but I don't like the prevalence of faces with filters and cosmetic procedures in period dramas nowadays (which also applies to the west with the iphone face trend btw).

Everyone else is wearing generic flowers like plum flowers. Cuihua is a very very specific flower name and female name, so there is a direct connection with a girl present. It's not the same.

Very good drama, gives me the nostalgic feeling of some old classics like bu bu jing xin or old harem/family dramas. Gotta say the main actress's botox face and smoothing filter is a little distracting, when compared to the natural good looks of all the other supporting cast. She would be beautiful even without all that

Thanks for replying! Yeah I know, it's hard to find dramas consistently good from start to finish with no drop of quality or outright crashing at the end... and period idol dramas don't really excel at writing politics. I'll keep watching, hopefully I won't drop this one like I did with Blossom. I like the characters more here

It's currently 6.6. Also I wouldn't call a 6.8 strong... I was surprised because I was expecting at least a 7, if not an 8. I was wondering if it had crashed in the finale or something because it's very good so far imo

Why did this drama only score 6.6 on Douban?? I've only seen positive comments about it. I'm on episode 10 and enjoying it very much

This drama is so good! Such good writing, good pacing, smart leads who talk to each other (!!) and clear up misunderstandings quickly (!!), and so full of heartwarming moments. I love the (current) friendship between the leads, the romance buildup is so natural and not forced. I love that they're both reasonable and intelligent. And the VR world bits are what makes the drama even more special, especially how the VR events starts to integrate with the real world dynamics. The bad guy is a lil cliché but it's okay lol, I hope he won't get in the way of the main relationship too much with his plotting.

The things I dread the most are 1) some kind of "childhood connection" plot between the leads coming up because I hate those, 2) ML's tragic past becomes too cliché, 3) dumb misunderstandings between ML and FL where they also suddenly turn dumb. But fingers crossed that the writing stays solid, the leads stay smart, and none of this happens

Thanks for replying!! Omg, I'm surprised she stays his secretary even after becoming his wife. That's so weird, and not really an equal relashionship... I thought Ji Ah would take that role and she would be more like a partner in running the company with him

I dropped this around ep 9 because it got boring and I hate "childhood connection" plots, but I'm curious about something. Is she still his secretary at the end, or does she leave her job after they get married?