And thatās a wrap yāall. My final thoughts below.Anyway, bye yaāll. It was a pleasant experience and time…
Lord Huaiyang Cui Xing Zhou was clever, well rounded, and witty the entire drama. In life, you either gain peopleās respect through fear or love, rarely both. However, Cui Xing Zhou possessed both. Heās a fearsome lord at night and beloved ruler during the day. He is one of the most well written characters with great depth, growth, and resiliency even though they assassinated parts of his persona in the name of āstrong female leadā. We had a chance to see his flaws yet the strengths that make his enemies tremble, his lies yet righteous governing in the courts to war strategies, his imperfections yet ordinary qualities that makes him human. He redeemed his mistakes, welcomed changes, and pursued unfamiliar concepts. His entire existence was to protect his family, loved ones, and people. His mission had always been clear and consistent. He achieved those goals through and through the entire drama.
Shi Xue Ji, although plain in beauty and not favored by any man, she was a true phoenix who rose from the fire. Nothing was ever handed freely to her. She lived a life full of hardships and grievances yet possessed the most grace and kindness. She proved over and over again that she CAN live without a man in the most well executed and subtle way. She was humble and never overestimated herself. She was a pawn, used by every man in her life yet a chess piece that would end their game too. She may be physically caged, but perhaps freedom is only a thought away. You could be physically free but be trapped in toxicity like Binglan and her mother. Xue Ji pursued happiness in her own little ways and understood that equality isnāt all about women doing what men could or replacing them but rather knowing that you can still change the world bit by bit with every situation, from any position, beauty or not, favored by the emperor and male lead or not, praised or mistreated, man or woman. She always had her own way of resolving matters and thatās why sheās empress. Only such a woman could gracefully and selflessly see the bigger picture.
I really loved the amnesia Liu Miantang. She was strong willed but not overbearing, was smart through actions, not words, humble and never boasted. Iām glad the drama began the story with this version of her or else I wouldnāt have liked her as much. The more they pushed the narrative that she could live on her own forever without Cui Xing Zhou or any man for that matter during the unnecessarily long chase of 8-14 episodes, and it was poorly executed by the way, the more Cui Xing Zhou became the only part I liked about her. After Episode 17, her character made a lot of noise but when it really came down to it, her shadow was way bigger than her actual size and substance. There was a HUGE disconnect amongst the different versions of Liu Miantang. We got to see all of Cui Xing Zhouās thoughts, contemplations, questions, guilt, apologies, sincerity, changes to becoming a better person. He communicated EVERYTHING in his heart throughout the show, so little was left for us to assume. Cui Xing Zhou went from lying and using Liu Miantang with no mercy, to feeling guilty, to wanting to pardon her of all her crimes once the master bandit was caught, to falling in love with her and finding ways to keep her, to losing her but not letting go, to chasing her with marriage in mind, to receiving her forgiveness and marrying her. However, Liu Miantang was different. There were no scenes to help us understand her thoughts, plans, and feelings. We assumed a lot to continue with the story. This had nothing to do with spoon feeding either. If they could show so many sides of Cui Xing Zhou, why not Liu Miantang, also? The writing is off. Maybe they filmed them but they got cut? I don't know. They summarized her plans and thoughts in one or two sentences? And I never liked her grandpa either.
Liu Miantang was the mystery identity, so they shouldāve connected her past to present, weaving all the different versions of her together because honestly, Lu Wen somehow became a myth, there to scare people off, but I never saw a Liu Miantang Lu Wen, the one Cui Xing Zhou admired so much. Oh, those fighting scenes? Too many inconsistencies regarding those fight scenes to even point out at this time. Haha. Itās like, the only purpose those badass fight scenes existed was to again, push the narrative that Liu Miantang doesnāt need a man BUT it doesnāt even flow with the rest of the drama. Anyway, behind the scenes, the emperor favored her, and Cui Xing Zhou was always pulling favors and strings for her, so the excessive praises of her character seemed rather unnecessary and if they were necessary then too propagandish for you know. Then I liked He Zhen less and less. Hahah.
Iām sure all of us have different takes on this drama. Some of us loved it, some of us still enjoyed it with so many flaws like me, some of us hated it. Perhaps one day, when I rewatch this, Iāll totally love it with little complaints or maybe enjoy it less. Time changes people and people change their times. I actually applaud people who question the writing of characters, stories, to overall editing and production of things they care about. They just donāt blindly accept or receive even if itās a drama. They possess the "strong female lead" attributes that dare to question the status quo Liu Miantang was well praised for. Hahah. We all know that there are tons of politics involved to produce a drama, so the reason of thatās how the writer wanted things to go is rather weak. Feedback is for improvement. I have yet to see negative and nonsense criticism, most on here are truly about the inconsistencies and horrible adaptation of a novel they really loved. I thank all the novel writers for their contributions. I, at one point, defended the drama against novel readers in other pages, but now, I totally understand novel readersā standpoint. Zhang Wan Yi and Wang Chu Ran, kudos to both! I hope to see the Ziyu actor in a more likeable character next time. Haha.
And thatās a wrap yāall. My final thoughts below.
Anyway, bye yaāll. It was a pleasant experience and time well spent here with all the ups and downs. Whether we crossed paths in agreement or argument, I thank each and every one of your time to drop me a comment. Take care everyone and see you next time!
The wedding was amazing although I wanted a longer lovey dovey scene cuz it just got right to it in the next scene, no morning after, breakfast in bed, chatting as real husband and wife, or anything.š„²š
1 
Shi Xue Ji, although plain in beauty and not favored by any man, she was a true phoenix who rose from the fire. Nothing was ever handed freely to her. She lived a life full of hardships and grievances yet possessed the most grace and kindness. She proved over and over again that she CAN live without a man in the most well executed and subtle way. She was humble and never overestimated herself. She was a pawn, used by every man in her life yet a chess piece that would end their game too. She may be physically caged, but perhaps freedom is only a thought away. You could be physically free but be trapped in toxicity like Binglan and her mother. Xue Ji pursued happiness in her own little ways and understood that equality isnāt all about women doing what men could or replacing them but rather knowing that you can still change the world bit by bit with every situation, from any position, beauty or not, favored by the emperor and male lead or not, praised or mistreated, man or woman. She always had her own way of resolving matters and thatās why sheās empress. Only such a woman could gracefully and selflessly see the bigger picture.
I really loved the amnesia Liu Miantang. She was strong willed but not overbearing, was smart through actions, not words, humble and never boasted. Iām glad the drama began the story with this version of her or else I wouldnāt have liked her as much. The more they pushed the narrative that she could live on her own forever without Cui Xing Zhou or any man for that matter during the unnecessarily long chase of 8-14 episodes, and it was poorly executed by the way, the more Cui Xing Zhou became the only part I liked about her. After Episode 17, her character made a lot of noise but when it really came down to it, her shadow was way bigger than her actual size and substance. There was a HUGE disconnect amongst the different versions of Liu Miantang. We got to see all of Cui Xing Zhouās thoughts, contemplations, questions, guilt, apologies, sincerity, changes to becoming a better person. He communicated EVERYTHING in his heart throughout the show, so little was left for us to assume. Cui Xing Zhou went from lying and using Liu Miantang with no mercy, to feeling guilty, to wanting to pardon her of all her crimes once the master bandit was caught, to falling in love with her and finding ways to keep her, to losing her but not letting go, to chasing her with marriage in mind, to receiving her forgiveness and marrying her. However, Liu Miantang was different. There were no scenes to help us understand her thoughts, plans, and feelings. We assumed a lot to continue with the story. This had nothing to do with spoon feeding either. If they could show so many sides of Cui Xing Zhou, why not Liu Miantang, also? The writing is off. Maybe they filmed them but they got cut? I don't know. They summarized her plans and thoughts in one or two sentences? And I never liked her grandpa either.
Liu Miantang was the mystery identity, so they shouldāve connected her past to present, weaving all the different versions of her together because honestly, Lu Wen somehow became a myth, there to scare people off, but I never saw a Liu Miantang Lu Wen, the one Cui Xing Zhou admired so much. Oh, those fighting scenes? Too many inconsistencies regarding those fight scenes to even point out at this time. Haha. Itās like, the only purpose those badass fight scenes existed was to again, push the narrative that Liu Miantang doesnāt need a man BUT it doesnāt even flow with the rest of the drama. Anyway, behind the scenes, the emperor favored her, and Cui Xing Zhou was always pulling favors and strings for her, so the excessive praises of her character seemed rather unnecessary and if they were necessary then too propagandish for you know. Then I liked He Zhen less and less. Hahah.
Iām sure all of us have different takes on this drama. Some of us loved it, some of us still enjoyed it with so many flaws like me, some of us hated it. Perhaps one day, when I rewatch this, Iāll totally love it with little complaints or maybe enjoy it less. Time changes people and people change their times. I actually applaud people who question the writing of characters, stories, to overall editing and production of things they care about. They just donāt blindly accept or receive even if itās a drama. They possess the "strong female lead" attributes that dare to question the status quo Liu Miantang was well praised for. Hahah. We all know that there are tons of politics involved to produce a drama, so the reason of thatās how the writer wanted things to go is rather weak. Feedback is for improvement. I have yet to see negative and nonsense criticism, most on here are truly about the inconsistencies and horrible adaptation of a novel they really loved. I thank all the novel writers for their contributions. I, at one point, defended the drama against novel readers in other pages, but now, I totally understand novel readersā standpoint. Zhang Wan Yi and Wang Chu Ran, kudos to both! I hope to see the Ziyu actor in a more likeable character next time. Haha.
Anyway, bye yaāll. It was a pleasant experience and time well spent here with all the ups and downs. Whether we crossed paths in agreement or argument, I thank each and every one of your time to drop me a comment. Take care everyone and see you next time!