JJJ

I am that Demi Lovato meme screaming at Pei Yan to get a job and get away from Jiang Ci. 😭😂

Yes! Pei Yan's sugary words are not that different compared to the beginning of the drama ("I miss eating your snacks", "Let me take care of your wounds", etc.) but they sound so oppressive now.

Hong Jie is such a puppy LOL.

Li Landi is a child actress. She has been acting since she was around 10 years old (she is in that child acting circle with Wu Lei, etc.). She got known for her role in "My Huckleberry Friends" when she was around 17 years old (considered one of the best school dramas there). After that, there were some issues with a variety show, her weight, and her going to college (Central Academy of Drama doesn't really allow their students to act for at least the first 2 years when school is in session) so her work around that time was a bit stagnate. As you mentioned, she became known again with TSL and she was still in college when she acted in that drama (around 21 years old). And she has been filming drama consistently since then/after graduation.

I think despite it all, Wei Zhao was raised in an environment in which he was truly loved without all the burdens (at the beginning of his life) before his family was killed off so he still can love "correctly" when he decides on it (though right now there is still the problem wiht the Yan sisters so he can't truly fully commit but I believe he will get there).

Pei Yan on the other hand, sadly due to his father's early death and how his mother is, lacks that ability. And for his kind of character, he might never be able to truly "love" the proper way but it does make his character compelling at the end of it (especially with the way the drama is set to go with the three of them eventually working together).

I don't think they will. Man was writing a whole military reform while he was at it too LOL. I think he will eventually realize this love is destined to fail and he will just have to focus solely on his career.

Not sure what episode you are up to so don't want to spoiler anything. In the beginning, her dream is to travel around the world and eat all the delicious food in the world (which is a valid dream because Jiang Ci has always just wanted to enjoy life). During episode 5, there is a convo she has with Pei Yan regarding it. In later episodes, there is something else that is starting to build with her knowledge of herbs/plants (but again, not sure what episode you are up to).

I actually love the way majority of the people can't really root for Jiang Ci and Pei Yan at this stage anymore (even if they found them sweet in the beginning) because Jiang Ci's resistant is so overt. Often times in these type of dramas with the 2nd MLs, despite their skewed views of love, the viewers still end up feeling bad for them and wish the FLs would pick them because "he loves her so much though!" without thinking from the FLs' POV.

But this drama slowly and clearly shows the type of "love" Pei Yan is able to showcase at this moment in time (due to his upbringing and how his mother "loves" too) is the complete opposite of what someone like Jiang Ci wants. Pei Yan needs to "heal" himself first (and this might not even be something he wants due to his duty) to truly be able to love someone someday but perhaps for someone like him... learning to not cling to that love might be the most he can learn how to love someone in this lifetime.

I think sadly for Pei Yan, this is his definition of "love". The way he grew up is already kind of messed up with his family history, so he doesn't actually understand the kind of love where you are just happy for the other person and want them to do the things they want to do/support them through it. Pei Yan's mother's love for him is via controlling everything and making sure he follows her set plan. That's his idea of love at this point.

I dislike viewers like this so much. All they do is hate on the FLs and put the blame on them but has nothing to say about the MLs. I get FLs are usually self-inserts, so people feel like they did make different decisions that are "smarter" than the FLs but it also just tells me these kinds of people have no media literacy. 💀 Good dramas with actual well written characters are a waste on these people.

Yes! I love how they give us a peek into the Yue Luo characters' past and struggles too. From Yu Lian not being able to reunite with her mother to Wei Zhao. And that Yue Luo is not "fully reunited" at this point either since there are internal conflicts between the elders.

When war is rained down upon land, the environment is affected too. You have animals and plants that are never the same again due to the environmental impact of war. And when you have plants like Lingjiu flower which might be extinct forever, cultural cuisine would also become a lost craft like the Bitterless Porridge. And these types of cultural cuisine are passed down generations and carry on stories of the past. Losing it is losing part of one's cultural identity.

I love how they addressed the Lingjiu flower and Bitterless Porridge aspect...

Episode 22 is sweet, sad, and beautiful. Phew, it felt like a movie moment.

LOL yeah, they probably ran out.

Yes, they were brothers and Prince Qi was supposed to be the one to succeed the throne.

They were also selling the ML killing FL at first for the shock factor which scared a lot of people away in general.

Too many people who haven't even watched this drama were trying to make sure this drama stays buried by spreading that this drama just tortures the FL. But thankfully people have been tuning in more and can see beyond the surface-level "shock factor".

They are saying maybe it is to show he is from Liang state so it is more "awkward" on him (as in he is supposed to look like an outsider). But I also think this production has a meh wig stylist. Their wigs can look so different when filming for the same scene (but at different times), I can ignore it because I like the drama enough but yeah, it is one of the things I think the production didn't do well on.

Yes!!! Agree on all points! I think sometimes people tend to speed through drama episodes (understandable LMAO) but for this drama, it needs to be watched in full and carefully. There is so much symbolism and foreshadowing. There is also throwback so nothing is "random" in this drama.

For example, I didn't even catch the reason why Wei Zhao got Jiang Ci that bag for her clay kitten until someone pointed out that time with Cui Liang. This drama doesn't throw these flashbacks to remind you, it expects you to remember and absorb the details and make the connections yourself because it trusts you to be smart enough to see it. I just find this drama so exciting and I find myself going back to it even after the episode is over to analyze it.

Yup yup, I think both versions are valid and exist for the time frame of when it was created. It is also nice to have a novel version and a drama version written by the same author explored a bit differently to match with our current events. It makes for an interesting analysis.