WandereR

Oh, I didn't realise Chen Xiao was already involved in the earlier production lol. I enjoy his roles in historical dramas and he has this stonefaced look that's permanently etched on his face :D

You're right, the older actors would only work if the show started at a more advanced stage but to play a young man of 20, they would need to travel back in time.

Now that you mentioned it, Hu Ge and Zhang Lu Yi (from his profile photo) especially with those eyes, do bear some resemblance to each other.

Ah yes, how could I have missed out on Wang Da Lu. His feral looks (The Wolf) would match the xiong persona and you're right, needs a bit of skin whitening as well lol

You're right about Chang Chen, which is a pity. I really love his acting. Had he been younger like his role in Red Cliff, that would've been perfect. The new movie, you're referring to The Soul? I enjoy watching him in movies and I think I've missed out a few in recent years, now I'm motivated to look back and search. So many detective shows this year, Christmas has really come early! :D

Fascinating question - who should be cast as Ying Zheng? I like this idea XD

We have the 2 Bad Kids to play the teenager. For age 20 - 30'ish, the good actors with the "cold exterior" (to me anyway) in that age range...
Ren Jia Lun, Zhang Zhe Han, Chen Xiao, Liu Xue Yi, and Peng Yu Yan.

For the middle aged Ying Zheng, this gets easier...
Chang Chen, Qin Hao, Huang Xiaoming, Wu Xiu Bo (actually he's slightly older and he'd make a great Lv Buwei or Li Si too), Jin Dong, Hu Ge, Jing Chao (he looks older than his age), Han Dong, and of course Chen Kun.

What do you guys think? This is an interesting thread before we relocate to Part 2's page lol

Hi there. Just happened to visit this page after quite a while and came upon your comment, which is fortunate because MDL doesn't provide notification from content in the comments. Nice to hear from you again too, since we last interacted on Renascence lol

If you enjoyed this, you would definitely enjoy LoYX. The plot is more straighforward (less convoluted) but there is much more depth to the writing (including how the villains there are written).

As for the ending, for your info in case you're unaware, there's more than one ending - the official ending and the fan-service ending (2 alternate endings) which were released subsequently after the show had completed airing. So you get the best of both worlds, if you know what I mean lol

Enjoy and let me know your thoughts afterwards :)

This is a fun article filled with adorable yet practical ideas. It's always fun and meaningful to do things and learn new things together, and it doesn't have to cost a lot. All it takes is some effort and heart, plus the outcome can be extremely rewarding. I've watched LIS and I particularly enjoy the scenes between Bai Lu and Leo Luo, especially the "aquarium scene".

Thanks so much for sharing these fun ideas :)

Since you enjoyed bad Kids, you could give the rest of the Light On series a watch. They're pretty similar in nature and are considered serious thrillers.

Great review, as always. I totally share your sentiment about the route the writers took with regards to Tan Bodun - I didn't enjoy the character's split personalities, in fact it put me off somewhat. I haven't completed this drama but from what I've seen, the sub-mysteries are just so-so, it's the main mystery that's intriguing.

Totally understand! My PTW and CW lists are insane! So many shows to watch XD

Wow, can I hire you to be my tour guide? Lol

Listening to the description is making me excited already! The huashan mountains, that's the same Wah San sect in wuxia, right? It would be so awesome to visit.

I haven't reached ep24 yet as I'm watching another series concurrently but I'll get there this weekend. So many shows and so little time, the life of a drama addict, aaarrgghh XD

I'm amazed at how much Ying Zheng accomplished and had the vision for all these construction projects. No wonder he needed the immortality pills, there were probably more things he wanted to do.

That sounds great! I definitely will, many thanks in advance :)

Hengdian is in my bucket list. In fact, it's probably top of the list lol

I really need to make a trip to China... Guess I'll have to make do with dramas for the time being.

Awww, that's so sweet!! Thanks for sharing that adorable scene :)
Yeah, now I totally ship them lol

Now I really gotta check it out. Once the pandemic is over (not sure how long it's gonna take though, the latest Pfizer clinical testing resulted in 6 deaths...) will add Xi'an into my bucket list :)

I especially find the story about the the law students bearing offerings before their exams very amusing lol

You make a good point, and I'd like to think of Sima Qian as being professional in his work. I just remembered that Ying Zheng was recorded as being poisoned by the so-called immortality elixir/ pills, so maybe that contributed to his state of mind and early death. What a pity though.

The movie (The Emperor and the Assassin) was really dark from what I can remember. I watched it then mainly because of Gong Li and she played a very prominent role in it so I guess that part was probably the dramatic element. I haven't really read up on Ying Zheng's love life so might need to do some research there, but I don't think he ever named an official Empress right or he only had concubines, so not very certain about that. The assassination attempt by Jing Ke was very interestingly depicted in the movie. I'm glad you clarified that part of the history. Ying Zheng's biography is very colourful indeed xD

You're really a big fan of the Qin Dynasty, huh? XD
You're so fortunate to stay so near the historic site. I wish I could explore all the places related to the shows we watch.
But first stop for me probably would be Hengdian World Studio :P

I watched The Emperor and the Assassin many many years back and my memory of that is fuzzy too, but I do recall it was highly fictionalised, even though it's supposed to be based on history (recorded after the fact by the subsequent dynasty so how true that account is, is also subject to debate). In those days, because of portrayals in movies and history books, Ying Zheng is depicted as cruel and unstable in his later years, and "not of royal bloodline", so I guess Ly Buwei became notorious in this aspect. But I prefer to focus on the early beginnings of Ying Zheng and his single-minded focus in unifying all the various states into one imperial dynasty (again also heavily romanticized though it's less depressing than what happens after). I enjoyed watching the link you shared, I wasn't aware of The Emperor's Shadow but the documentary explaining the movie is very insightful.

Wow, that is absolutely fascinating. I wanna visit Xi'an now. But many of the mausoleums are not open to visitors though :(

I'm a big fan of anything historical and museums but I had no idea even up to this day they are still digging stuff up, and from the FIRST dynasty too.

Silent criminal looks like a low budget drama, based on what I've seen so far. Psych Hunter is the better produced show but the plot with the FL here is the negative aspect...

To answer the earlier part of your question, yes, you are correct, it is used as a term of endearment. In this context, however, it is a different 'er' being used, which means 'second', as the user pointed out.

The last bit on amazing at psychological and suspense dramas, you're absolutely right. Saw Neo Hou's version of Wu Xie and currently in Psych-Hunter, while we saw how good Joseph Zeng was in TJATN.
Your review makes this series sound promising already!

Thanks for the rec, will look that up as well (I see that one has Qin Hao, excellent actor). Maybe I'll just watch them all concurrently, if I have time. But the trailer for this is impressive and Joseph Zeng is still fresh on my mind since I watched him in The Journey of the Night (together with you too).
Looks like it has premiered on iQiyi!