MJN

His drama coming up My Fireworks on Earth, I am looking forward to that starting, but the following are dramas I would recommend:

The King's Avatar (no romance, but it is a great drama)
You Are My Glory (really good, his chemistry with Dilraba was off the charts, it did get a tad boring toward the end, but overall a good drama)
Love O2O (great drama, I just don't like the FL, but other than that it was a really good drama)

Other than Whirlwind Girl (which I did not like, could not get through even one episode) and his movie Once Upon a Time (only watched because it was a short version of TMOPB), I haven't watched anything else he has been in. I have heard Glory of Special Forces is good, but it is another non romance drama, so I haven't really started it yet.

This drama gets better with every episode. The only negative (which really isn't that big of a negative) is the subtitles go by so fast sometimes and I have to rewind several scenes. Oh well, just means I get to rewatch some of the cute scenes again.

I wonder if it is because he doesn't really do a lot of costume dramas, or hardly any at all, so this one he just didn't seem like himself. Whereas, ZLS just flows easily between modern and costume so good, one of the few actresses that I feel can do both really well.

Yes I definitely agree.

I am the same way, he is so good looking, but I get bored of his dramas so fast, I can't ever finish them. He seems even more stoic than Allen Ren (whom is someone I love watching). The only drama I could finish with Hu Yitian in it was Go Go Squid (the first one, couldn't even get past the first episode of the second one).

I liked her pairing with YY, but I didn't get romantic chemistry that everyone else got. I got more of a playful brother/sister vibe when I saw them together. I think that is because I was still hung up on Dilraba and YY together from YAMG, who imo had some of the best chemistry I have ever seen.

Besides Leo Wu in LLTG, I liked her with Ryan Ding in RoT&R and her pairing with Lin Yu Shen in DITK. I would also like to see her star with Xiao Zhan, whom was her 2nd ML in OME and Xu Kai, who she did a movie with, but they weren't the Main Couple, although he did play a love interest.

ZLS just brings out the best in all her MLs and she does seem to have really great chemistry with all her MLs, whether it be romantic or platonic. I think that is why she has really become one of my top favorite actresses to watch.

I have only watched the first few episodes of Love Better than Immortality, I really couldn't get into it, didn't like it much. Prodigy Healer and Hu Tong are the only 2 LuSi dramas I can say I have not seen any episodes of. I have watched everything else of hers. So thank you for letting me know, I did not know that she had done a drama with the same male lead more than once. I know Romance of Tiger and Rose helped sort of excel her career, but Oh My Emperor was the first drama that I watched her in and started loving her.

I would love it, too. But I have yet to see ZLS do a 2nd drama with any of her previous MLs. I hope it happens though. I know her and Leo Wu were in The Long Ballad together, but they weren't a couple in that.

I love the pure innocence of this drama. No backstabbing, manipulations, evil intentions, etc. Just pure innocence of a growing love. I usually don't like overly sappy love stories, but this one doesn't make me feel that way. It is so nice and such a really healthy feel good drama. There are a few minor irritations (as in Jiang Ying), but they are insignificant in the greater story of this drama. It really is so sweet to watch. CZY has the best expressions during all their conversations. I love just watching his face when he is with ZLS in a scene, they really are so cute together. ( I still love her with Leo Wu more, but this is a very close second)

If your looking mainly for court politics. Here are a few I recommend (they do have a bit of love story in some, except for the first one, which is one of the best, imo).
~Nirvana in Fire (so good, first drama I ever watched Leo Wu in, and Hu Ge who plays the ML is amazing, love this drama, definitely all court politics)
~The Rebel Princess ( I like this one a lot as well, it mainly focuses on the FL, but the story is all about the court and corruption, etc. )
~Princess Agents (very intriguing, more of a spy type with a bit of court politics, ending a bit open ended)
~Joy of Life (I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but I did watch it, they are currently making the second season now, after several years)
~Stand by Me (I liked this one, but it isn't highly rated, has a lot of court politics as well)
~The Princess Wei Young (yes it is romance, but the political games in it are really well done as well)
~The Song of Glory (love this one as well, political, does have romance, I think it is good)
~The Rise of Phoenixes (this took a couple of times to get started, but once I did it was really really good, the romance is second to the amazing story and it is definitely intriguing)

Others that I love (but do focus on the romance sort of, but they are just as intriguing)
~The Story of Ming Lan (I admit I have probably watched this so many times, I can't count, I do skip a lot since I have seen it so much, but the story is still really well done)
~Love Like the Galaxy (I know you already saw this one, I absolutely love this, have watched it at least 3 or 4 times as well)
~The Sword and the Brocade (it does have a bit of court politics, but it mainly focuses on household politics, I guess you could say, but I love Seven Tan's character in this, how smart she is)
~General and I (The only reason I mention this, is because I love Wallace Chung and he is good in this, I do not like Angelababy but I got through it, the story is intriguing and political as well)
~Sword Snow Stride (there isn't much romance in it, and it sort of ends up being about the family going after their mother's murderer and it has wuxia elements in it, but the acting and story is really good and supposedly there should be a second season which should be more court based/focused)

The relationships in this drama are so well done. The friends, the family, the siblings, the love interests, they are so endearing and sweet and honest. It really is a very well done drama and to think I was hesitant about watching it.

Yes, I am loving the discussion and I am learning so much. I have watched so many ancient costume C Dramas and I am now wanting to get more into the history. That way I can finally get some reference when they start talking about certain areas, locations, people, etc.

Awesome thank you :)

I do too, I am crazy about details and I remember names and places. I am a huge geography and history nut as well. But I am mostly familiar with American History (growing up in the US) and a bit of European (mostly English) history. I love learning about all this stuff, so when familiar names pop up, I get hugely interested in learning about it.

Thank you for that info, it is really helpful. I get so confused sometimes, but I hear a lot of these cities and provinces, etc used multiple times, so I was curious.

I just hope we find out what really happened and just maybe her mom is still alive, like possibly Gu's patriarch is. But maybe they just wanted to kill off a lot of people since they are moving to a different region and other people will be introduced. I wish it had been the concubine who got killed instead though. She was definitely unnecessary.

Yes, she kept kind of slacking, if she had first taken off when the maid had said something, I think she would have missed the concubine coming and pleading to her and they would have made it out.

TY so much... perfect for what I am looking for.

I thought the same thing. I just can't remember which drama either.

I was able to find it on the Mango app, but the subtitles are so bad.