These two episode have been a blast, phenomenal writing! There's so much to take in but first and foremost, the interaction between our ML and FL is so unique and awesome, can't help but ship! Our princess is a badass and our Zang Hai is a mastermind cunning fox. They match so well my goodness. I'm entranced in this drama, two episodes a day is too little, I'm down the rabbit hole. Someone save me!
The first episode is so absurd with the kids. Really weak writing there. We have a wild pre teen girl that is…
There’s nothing “absurd” about the episode, the writing is sharp and sets the stage for a proper revenge arc within a layered heavy political drama. You just need to watch more attentively. The girl wasn’t inexplicably skilled, she was a trained princess taken as tribute from Dongxia and presented to the emperor like a trophy. The children were around 10 to 12, hardly toddlers, especially considering that 13-14 was a common age for marriage at the time. They kidnapped the boy because they were trying to extract information about the male lead’s father. These weren’t ordinary peasant kids either. The ML is the son of the Imperial Astronomer, a high-ranking court official. It’s no surprise the others carried themselves with a sense of entitlement, they were raised in a world where power and politics shaped everything.
Xiao Zhan is one of the most famous celebrities on earth - I'll bet he is very high on the list of globally recognizable…
I have this huge feeling he revealed himself in purpose to all these people, I'm pretty sure the bigger scheming in the series it's him and no one else.
In you past comment you don't even like ML ? Zhanghai I guess this drama isn't for you bye.
Of course she is manipulative, scheming and selfish, she is a princess from a conquered land, she's been brought to the court as a prisoner for the Emperor by the Marquis when he came back from Dongxia. Her purpose is to take revenge on those who humiliated her and her country. Of course she is not friendly with the ML, she thinks he is gonna help the Marquis to gain more favors and an army. She doesn't know he has the same revenge desire as her so she wants to harm him because he is now the marquis number one aide. Would you not do the same in her place? We can see you didn't paid attention at all to the drama plot, or else you would have understood all these things by yourself.
There have been a few Chinese dramas I have truly enjoyed but a number of them have voice actors for the main…
Zheng Xiaolong the director is very strict with his dramas dubbing, in this drama all the actors used their own voices live, except for the FL who the director found to be too high pitch and childish for the character, so he replaced it with a more mature and seasoned actress. All the other characters included the random guest appearances are using their own voice and they received high praises in China for this.
For Some Reason, Zhang hai(XZ) comes across as not so smart character.doesn't have control over the situation,…
Dude you rated a 6 all his other dramas, you better drop your 6 now and move on. No need to brainwash anyone with fake interest in the plot, kind of ridiculous to see lol...
Getting some more information about the FL is making me realize she honestly isn't a bad person. I think she just…
She's the tribute princess from Dongxia, she hates the country and their people, she's been brought there by force. She's gonna become our ML court insider spy and his trusted assassin. Can't wait!
At least did you got paid to be a troll? Must be tiring...
Aha, i knew it, this reply smells suspiciously like deepseek with a splash of charm and zero actual drama review. Caught red handed twice and trying to distract me with flattery again... Classic tactic, fast execution but still no content. 😏 Glad the hearts finally loosened your fingers though. Now that you’ve stopped dodging the bush, I expect a real review next time, not just poetic compliments disguised as critique. Don’t make me send more hearts or else I might start charging per paragraph. 😂😝
I actually was wondering the same. But perhaps his dad had no time to become an immortal, but whoever is the masked…
Here's the reply I wrote to someone else who had more or less your same perplexities. Take from it the answer you was looking for, probably it fits most of your questions.
The tattoo on the master’s arm is called Qilin and is a direct nod to Zhang Qilin from Daomu Biji lore (The Lost Tomb novel). In the novels, the Qilin symbolizes the Zhang family patriarchs/guardians of ancient secrets with unnaturally long lifespans, but at a cost (memory loss, isolation, etc.). The tattoo’s “stepping on fire and raging winds” design hints at duality: protection and destruction. If your master has this tattoo, he’s likely part of a lineage tied to immortality rituals or tomb guardianship. The “smell of death” mentioned in the novels is a side effect of their prolonged existence. So he’s not already dead, but he’s straddling the line between life and whatever cursed longevity the Zhang clan endures. Hence he ended his mission to train Zang Hai he has no more purpose, hence he set himself on fire.
Those so-called zombie-like miners in Episode 1 are also directly linked to the classic Daomu Biji lore, aka ghost soldiers. In the novels, these are often corpses reanimated by dark rituals or parasitic fungi. The Marquis’s obsession with Kuai Duo’s stolen artifact likely ties to this. Kuai Duo stole the copper fish bracelet and the ghost seal from the altar he then collapsed. These are key items in Daomu Biji that control undead armies or unlock tombs. The Marquis exterminated Kuai’s clan to reclaim them, mirroring how factions in The Lost Tomb slaughter each other over tomb secrets.
The Marquis isn’t just a cartoon villain, he’s following the Daomu Biji villain playbook. If you pay attention to the first episode, when the Marquis comes back from the foreign territories, he brings with himself some troupes that carries some tall flags. These flags have in the middle depicted the mystic beast head of the Zhang Clan from the Lost tomb lore. His interest in Kuai’s artifact aligns with how figures in the novels exploit tomb curses for control (e.g., the Wang family manipulating the Zhangs). He wants an army and the ghost soldiers are the perfect ones to be manipulated but other than the copper fish artifact, he also needs the ghost seal, which Kuai Duo hid. The third master which we don't know who it is, must be someone powerful who wants the same artifact but must be of much higher lineage. I hope I cleared somehow some of your perplexities.
There's so much to take in but first and foremost, the interaction between our ML and FL is so unique and awesome, can't help but ship! Our princess is a badass and our Zang Hai is a mastermind cunning fox. They match so well my goodness.
I'm entranced in this drama, two episodes a day is too little, I'm down the rabbit hole. Someone save me!
The girl wasn’t inexplicably skilled, she was a trained princess taken as tribute from Dongxia and presented to the emperor like a trophy. The children were around 10 to 12, hardly toddlers, especially considering that 13-14 was a common age for marriage at the time. They kidnapped the boy because they were trying to extract information about the male lead’s father. These weren’t ordinary peasant kids either. The ML is the son of the Imperial Astronomer, a high-ranking court official. It’s no surprise the others carried themselves with a sense of entitlement, they were raised in a world where power and politics shaped everything.
What does even mean "the ML is xiao zhan"?...
Glad the hearts finally loosened your fingers though. Now that you’ve stopped dodging the bush, I expect a real review next time, not just poetic compliments disguised as critique. Don’t make me send more hearts or else I might start charging per paragraph. 😂😝
The tattoo on the master’s arm is called Qilin and is a direct nod to Zhang Qilin from Daomu Biji lore (The Lost Tomb novel). In the novels, the Qilin symbolizes the Zhang family patriarchs/guardians of ancient secrets with unnaturally long lifespans, but at a cost (memory loss, isolation, etc.). The tattoo’s “stepping on fire and raging winds” design hints at duality: protection and destruction. If your master has this tattoo, he’s likely part of a lineage tied to immortality rituals or tomb guardianship. The “smell of death” mentioned in the novels is a side effect of their prolonged existence. So he’s not already dead, but he’s straddling the line between life and whatever cursed longevity the Zhang clan endures. Hence he ended his mission to train Zang Hai he has no more purpose, hence he set himself on fire.
Those so-called zombie-like miners in Episode 1 are also directly linked to the classic Daomu Biji lore, aka ghost soldiers. In the novels, these are often corpses reanimated by dark rituals or parasitic fungi. The Marquis’s obsession with Kuai Duo’s stolen artifact likely ties to this. Kuai Duo stole the copper fish bracelet and the ghost seal from the altar he then collapsed. These are key items in Daomu Biji that control undead armies or unlock tombs. The Marquis exterminated Kuai’s clan to reclaim them, mirroring how factions in The Lost Tomb slaughter each other over tomb secrets.
The Marquis isn’t just a cartoon villain, he’s following the Daomu Biji villain playbook. If you pay attention to the first episode, when the Marquis comes back from the foreign territories, he brings with himself some troupes that carries some tall flags. These flags have in the middle depicted the mystic beast head of the Zhang Clan from the Lost tomb lore. His interest in Kuai’s artifact aligns with how figures in the novels exploit tomb curses for control (e.g., the Wang family manipulating the Zhangs). He wants an army and the ghost soldiers are the perfect ones to be manipulated but other than the copper fish artifact, he also needs the ghost seal, which Kuai Duo hid. The third master which we don't know who it is, must be someone powerful who wants the same artifact but must be of much higher lineage.
I hope I cleared somehow some of your perplexities.