CKDramaddicts

Exactly, same for me!!

I did not think he was telling Xifeng where it was. I think he knew he was dying and worried his will would not be followed if nobody could find it/or conversely, if it fell into the wrong hands. Xifeng, who is really sharp just happened to pick up on it and decided to investigate. That was my interpretation, anyway.

Am I the only one who bawled through the first half of the final episode?? I cried for so many people, but really did not expect to shed any tears, let alone this many for LZS too. This was so well done and such a satisfying ending! Not rushed, no loose ends that I can think of.

There's some tragedies, but overall, a happy, satisfying, unrushed ending!

😆

Yes, I figured that was the reason, but thought it was still nice to weave that detail in -- it's easy to keep a character like that one-dimentional, but I thought it was a humanizing touch that makes him less like a typical background character and another element that added more depth to that world in general, every character has it's origin and reason for being.

The Eastern Capital arc has been really good too. If anything, in some ways, the plot has moved a little faster than the previous arcs because they're running out of episodes to tell a lot of story and wrap things up, lol...so this could be good/bad depending on your perspective. I still love it, personally, flaws and all.

Today's developments were devastating! LZS is truly next level in his villainy and LXY is chilling and confident pulling off the character. I do hope they give a satisfying closure to his story and ending. (Also, I kept wondering why Mengzi was so blindingly loyal to LZS, and amazingly got that little scene with Ye Shi'an that sheds light on that.)

This cracked me up. It may be lazy writing, but I also blame the 40 episode limit. They've done a pretty amazing job fitting so much in as it is. It really could use an extra couple of expisodes though, as things are definitely starting to feel a bit rushed. 😥

lol, I wondered the same! I just told myself he snuck in or bribed his way in, or was allowed to come back with The Brat, but was all behind the scenes. It's LZS, afterall. 😆Details, pfth! 😜

I believe it was also referenced earlier on before the rebellion happened when GJS's mom received a special delivery of sweets. She recognized the source right away and looked for the hidden message, and explained to GJS what it was. If I recall, the secret message was from a close childhood friend who was now the wife of King Liang. At the time, she was wistful for a reunion, but GJS warned her to be careful not to take the wrong side and potentially risk implicating the entire family.

💯💯. I have hope given the overall track record of the director and scriptwriter that it will at least be decent to great. 🤞🤞 Edited: On second thought, as much as I thought their other dramas were excellent, a few of the endings did leave me wanting just a little more -- even just 15 minutes more....still hoping this one will be a satisfying one. 🤞

I've loved this drama so much I think I will be holding my breath for the last four episodes, anxious that they won't mess it up or give an unsatisfying ending! 😅

I debated whether to reply because I don't want to hype this up and set crazy expectations that leave you disappointed!

That being said, for me personally, there were no boring draggy parts - more like "breathers" before the next major arc, but done in a way that's still interesting. People who don't like "slice of life" moments might find those episodes draggy, especially given the excitement that came before it. There is an epic battle scene that I thought was done well - I sometimes find those boring because you can't tell what's happening other than endless fighting, but there was so much tension and drama here, I was glued. Anyway, for me, this drama has a wonderful balance of different genres without the usual tropes and annoying characters or stupid misunderstandings and lack of communication. And just wonderful relationships all around. I've liked a number of BJT dramas, but was relatively neutral about the actor himself, but this drama really changed that, so if you like him already, hopefully you'll enjoy this one from start to finish!

I think his character is done well here because while he is clearly irredeemable and ruthless, he is also complex and somehow sympathetic, because you can trace how he became this way (sometimes the Big Bad Villain in a drama is just bad for the sake of being bad, or bad just because of the clichéd hunger for power and greed). His feelings towards LYR conveys the "what ifs" of his character.

https://38jiejie.com/2022/11/11/bai-jingting-and-song-yi-rumored-to-be-dating-and-living-together/ Never confirmed, so hard to know for certain, but this was circulating last year, long before the drama aired.

haha, yes, I'm sure there are lots of shows like that! Who Rules the World has a 5.6 or something on Douban, and an 8.7 on MDL. But on Douban, Western shows like Friends score 9.8!

But I do agree with the language issue. I understand Mandarin well enough to be able to tell if the dialogue is elegant, anachronistic, weak, etc. which doesn't often translate in the subtitles, but I am entirely reliant on the translations for K-dramas, etc. and would have no idea about script quality, it's more about the story, execution, acting, etc.

I'm watching another costume drama that, in my view, has weak script and kind of repetitive dialogue (I'm enjoying it enough and mainly watching for the lead though, haha), but everyone is raving about it, so I don't know...everyone's different, I guess. Maybe it might not have been as noticeable to me had I not been watching Destined at the same time!

Yeah, I saw a lot of comments who were like, "I saw a few episodes and don't like it," and giving it one star.

Usually I am more aligned with Douban in terms of "relative" score (so even if I would personally give a higher score, I would agree with Douban's rating relative to their tough ratings scale for C-dramas, or if X drama was a certain score compared to Y drama, it would at least make sense!).

I'm also in the minority in that I usually prefer to read the book after I've watched the adaptation (or give myself lots of time in between both so I don't remember as much from the book), since books have so much more vivid detail and can set expectations for the screen, while the screen version rarely creates the same level of expectations for me when I check out the book. Also, I try very hard to judge both mediums on their own merits, though I totally understand it can be really hard to do so!

I have to admit I'm kind of surprised and disappointed with where it sits right now on Douban (6.7 as of writing). By Douban's tough standards for domestic dramas, I think it should be in the 7s at least. I was reading some of the comments on the site, and it felt like we were watching two different shows! Or maybe my diaspora perspective is different? (Since Douban ratings for foreign shows are conversely speaking, ridiculously high!)

Yeah, it got a bit ridiculous how endless the attacks were! At the same time, it was VERY satisfying the way she outwitted them *every single time* ... so worth it overall, lol.