LYRRJL

I have very mixed feelings about this drama. I genuinely can’t describe how much I love it while also wishing they had done certain parts differently.

For one, I understand that this is Lan Xiang’s story, but did we really need all those little events right up until her death? I feel like they tried to squeeze in so many side incidents that were interesting but not entirely necessary, and it ended up cramping the story. So many things happened, and everything was introduced and resolved so quickly.

Then we have the time skips. After watching this, I realise I can accept at most 2 time skips - at the start (from childhood to adulthood) and then maybe one at the end. This drama had too MANY time skips, the pacing felt very off.

But my biggest regret is that, because the story was so cramped with all these other events and time skips, they completely overlooked the development of the main couple’s relationship. They showed us how much ML loves FL and how initially he was wrong and she hated his way of getting her to marry him. Then stayed very cold towards him right until she found out ML was the one who set up her family grave. To appreciate that but still not tell him her true identity was so wrong. But she still insisted that their paths are different then suddenly he quits his job and they sleep together?? Like what??

You spend so much time building up this emotional distance between them, only to completely gloss over the little moments where she gradually starts falling for him before they eventually consummate their marriage five years later. That was such a terrible storytelling decision. The producer/writer could have given us so much more of their emotional development, but instead, one of the most important parts of their relationship happens almost entirely off-screen.

And then there’s the ML discovering her identity on his own. The way he eventually reaches that conclusion felt a bit too stretched to me. Honestly, the drama had already shown us that he is definitely not THAT clever, so it was difficult for me to buy into how he suddenly pieced everything together.

That said, I absolutely loved LX and her relationships with her parents and her group of maids. Those relationships were beautifully done. You could really feel the love, warmth, and familiarity between them.

Which is why it was so sad to see that, even towards the end, her relationship with the ML felt simply respectful but still emotionally distant. It almost felt like this was a deliberate choice by the production team. As if they were telling us that Lan Xiang accepted him and accepted the life they had together, but she was never truly head over heels in love with him and that honestly broke my heart a little. The ML loved her so deeply right until the very end. He wanted her in every lifetime, while Lan Xiang never seemed to reach that same level of overwhelming love for him. It reminded me a little of Ming Lan and Gu Ting Ye (in The Story of Minglan), especially the way GTY was frustrated by how Ming Lan was always so respectful and accepting of everything he said and did. He didn’t just want her obedience or acceptance, he wanted her to genuinely love him, to be irrational and jealous over him, to care enough to lose her composure. We never really got that growth in Lan Xiang’s love for the ML.

And as someone who has always wanted that kind of overflowing, all-consuming love in life/relationship, that made me sad. Because, unfortunately, it also felt realistic. The ML chose her forcefully in the beginning, and even after everything they went through, he never quite received the kind of love from her that he had given her.

So why is this still a 9/10 for me?

Because this is the first drama in a long time that actually made me sit down and think about my own life after finishing it. The last third of the drama moved so quickly, with one thing happening after another, and strangely, that made me think about how life itself works. Things happen. Some complications get resolved, others don’t and time keeps moving regardless. And then suddenly, you’re old and dying, looking back at your life and hoping you can honestly say that you've lived as well as you could, spent your time wisely, and don’t have too many regrets or “what ifs.” It made me ask myself if I'm I actually living that kind of life? Because if I’m being honest, I don’t think I am. I’m in my late 20s now, and when I look back at my 20s, what I remember most is feeling depressed for large parts of it. Every year seems to have been a cycle of fluctuating emotions and periods of feeling low. I binge one drama after another, go to work mainly for the money even though I don’t enjoy it, and somehow the years just keep passing. Watching this drama made me realise how frighteningly easy it is to let life simply happen to you.

So despite all my complaints about the pacing, the time skips, and the lack of development in the main couple’s relationship, this drama left me with something much more profound than most of the dramas I’ve watched this year, even the ones with far better-written love stories. It made me rethink the way I’m living my own life. So despite everything, it’s still a 9 for me.


Special mention: Limeng's Zhao Xing Tang was absolutely AMAZING. I hate her but also pity her. How she made me understand the why behind her actions. Amazing acting. I'm so proud of Limeng lolol for making a side character so powerful. I'd been rooting for her without realising right until the end! I honestly hope she gets a main role soon, she deserves it.