CKDiary

QingRu is a typical bully character who grew up in privilege and was treated as someone above all else by her mother. She knows what she did to Li Congxin was wrong, but she only realized and accepted that her actions were wrong because she loves him. If it had been for someone else, she wouldn't have realized and accepted that her actions were wrong, and would have stayed the way she was.

Their marriage is done, and she is his official wife. He could not get a divorce because she had not done anything that would grant grounds for one, and she is devoted to him. Even if what she did was wrong, their situation is that she will either be ignored for the rest of her life or Li Congxin will accept her. Li Congxin is not the type of guy who can stay resentful for a lifetime for such a thing. With her efforts and his father’s words before he died, he chose to accept her and if you think about it he was doing what he preached to QingYuan all the time that he believes after marriage his love for her would make her fall for him and accept him. QingRu love for Li Congxin made him accept her and willingly fall for her.

Not every bad person gets a bad ending; sometimes they get a good one. She also stopped being a brat and became devoted to him. So I don’t understand why so many people think the ending Li Congxin and QingRu got was the worst fate for him when he ended up with a wife who is solely devoted to him. Qingyuan doesn’t even love him a bit, and the chances of her falling for him are zero. So his ending is better than what he was trying to get for himself, except for the death of his father.

I don’t know if you will read all of this, but this is just my opinion from what I observed.

During Li Congxin is introduction. He was basking in the attention he got from the women around him, and then he notices Qingyuan, who didn't give him any attention. He approaches her and their conversation literally establishes what kind of person he is. When he fails to get her attention, what he does next is propose marriage, which her family refuses. Then the second marriage proposal comes when Yanrui arrests Second Brother and soldiers surround the Xie house. He uses that situation because this marriage becomes a helping hand to the Xie family, meaning the probability of them rejecting his proposal is low. It means they would be pressured into accepting because of the situation they are in(He knows what he was doing, but he deluded himself into believing it was good for Qingyuan and that he was helping her). Qingyuan gives her grandmother the right to decide because she cannot outright say no when the marriage benefits the family in that situation, and she also believes the Xie family will not let such a good marriage come to her.

Even though no one gave verbal acceptance to his proposal and Qingyuan even rejected him to his face, he kept treating her as if she will become his wife. He did not stop pushing for the marriage even after witnessing Qingyuan's love for Yanrui. The reason? He believed that after getting married she will naturally fall for him because of his love for her. But why does he not think that he will fall for QingRu after marriage, since she loves him so much? That is what finally happened! But he did not even entertain that idea; he just expected Qingyuan to entertain it.

Then he realized Qingyuan was getting her revenge, and he even used her thirst for revenge to try to make her accept his proposal. If he wanted to help her, then help her, so why bring marriage into it? She accepts his proposal and he fully knows that she loves ShenRun and is forcing herself to marry him, and his reaction is happiness? Seriously? That's messed up. If he married her, he would eventually lose its spark because he attained what he wanted. And if he comes across a woman who spikes his interest, the same thing would repeat: he pursues her with everything he has got, tries to marry her.

Just because he said he would give up his status to marry QingYuan does not mean he really meant it, because his parents doted on him very much and he knows they would never let him lose his status as they love him so much and he is the only child. It was an emotional attack to force his parents. There are no differences in his character between the novel and the drama. If you read it, you will understand more that he is not what most people think he is. It's sad that he was deceived by his own mother but he not that innocent. He is a good guy but loves to have fun but doesn't care what his actions causes to others, he is a playboy who just suppressed his nature to pursue a women he fallen in love for. His playboy nature would come out sooner or later, just like in the novel.

QingRu is a typical bully character who grew up in privilege and was treated as someone above all else. She knows what she did to Li Congxin was wrong, but she only realized and accepted that her actions were wrong because she loves him. If it had been for someone else, she wouldn't have realized and accepted that her actions were wrong, and would have stayed the way she was.

Their marriage is done, and she is his official wife. He could not get a divorce because she had not done anything that would grant grounds for one, and she is devoted to him. Even if what she did was wrong, their situation is that she will either be ignored for the rest of her life or Li Congxin will accept her. Li Congxin is not the type of guy who can stay resentful for a lifetime such a thing. With her efforts and his father’s words before he died, he chose to accept her. Not every bad person gets a bad ending; sometimes they get a good one. She also stopped being a brat and became devoted to him. So I don’t understand why so many people think the ending Li Congxin and QingRu got was the worst fate for him when he ended up with a wife who is solely devoted to him. Qingyuan doesn’t even love him a bit, and the chances of her falling for him are zero. So his ending is better than what he was trying to get for himself, except for the death of his father.

As for the drama itself, it definitely has narrative issues that doesn't give us the satisfying revenge after the buildup it built till ep 24 and the shift was abrupt and things happen too fast.

I'd give:

EP 1-24: 8.9
EP 25: 6.5
EP 26-30: 7.8

Before I started watching, I thought this drama would be silly and not to my taste, so I avoided it for a long time. But I finally gave in because I wanted to see how LuYuXiao performed. Now, I’m liking it more and more with each episode.

It’s funny how in the novel, Xie Qingyuan compares SML to her father. But she can’t pull that comparison in the drama because her dad is pure evil in his methods, and she despises him far more than in the novel.

The drama has so much more to offer than the novel, but there are people who like the novel version more than the drama just because ShenRun and Chen Yunya have more intimate scenes.

I'm reading the novel, and I don't know if I should even call this drama a novel adaptation. Except for a few details, almost everything has been changed. The drama focuses on revenge interwoven with political justice, while the novel is not at all revenge focused; it's more focused on the FL's life after she was forcefully taken in by the Xie family. I actually like the drama more because, even with its imperfections, it has layers upon layers. There are so many high moments that I can constantly rewatch and feel the same high. The biggest plus for me is the leads' chemistry and the dynamic between Chen YunYa and ShenRun.

This is the unfulfilled potential drama of the Year! I enjoyed it. This drama has a lot of high moments that made me love it, but if they had edited it properly and planned the reveals, buildup and setting up few things better, it would have been the undisputed drama of the year for me. I just loved every second of Zhou Ye and Xu Kai on screen. From the product we got and the lack of proper promotion, it's clear there were many issues behind the scenes. It's a pity , but anyway, I don’t care if it’s modern or costume; I just hope we get a second collaboration between Zhou Ye and Xu Kai that does their chemistry justice.

Yeah, he was seriously trying to coerce her into accepting his marriage proposal. If he genuinely wanted to help FL, he would’ve offered it even without bringing up the marriage. He brings it up almost every single time he's on screen.

I feel bad that ChunZhi’s own mother deceived him, but I just cannot bring myself to like his character. He simply wants to marry her no matter what. I might be wrong but I felt every action he took for her was solely in the hope that the FL or the Xie family would agree to marry him. Even his conversations with her focused entirely on the benefits she would get from marrying him and how she would eventually fall in love with him. He believes that because he loves her so much, she will definitely warm up and fall in love with him. That is what he kept saying. However, this raises the question of why he is not willing to put himself in her shoes. The second daughter of the Xie family also loves him deeply, meaning he could just as easily fall for her after marriage. Why does he not think positively about that scenario, marry her from the start, and stop pursuing a girl who clearly loves someone else? That logic does not apply to him because it works against his own desires. Instead, he keeps trying to marry her without worrying about mutual love and only seeking agreement. He clearly knows she forced herself to accept his proposal for revenge and that she is not happy, yet he still goes forward with the marriage. I did not want to critique this specific point because she was ultimately the one who accepted the proposal, but it is impossible to understand how he can feel happy about an acceptance born out of such circumstances.

I am not saying the FL and ML are blameless, but this comment is specifically about the SML.

The emperor's decree was sent out even before the letter was revealed. Once a decree is issued, it must be read; neither Shen Run nor any other official has the right to decide whether to read it or not.

Can anyone please share the link for Episode 20 preview?

They also don’t consider the fact that these martial artists move a lot faster than normal people can react. They just use slow motion to show the action better.

In almost all cdramas, smart FL characters are either formally educated or have a guiding figure. Qingyuan has neither; she is entirely self made. Because of this, everything she accomplishes is incredibly impressive. In fact, she is underrated.

Yeah, their childhood scenes also highlight their different character traits.

I think he is a playboy who loves to bask in admiration and takes pride in it. His introduction says it all. Qingyuan was the only one who wasn't part of that group, and as she walked away, he noticed her, hence his desire to make her his own. Furthermore, he absolutely knows nothing about who she really is.

I am not a novel reader, but from what I understand, Yan Rui has seen so much of the world and is definitely focused on getting revenge. He is cunning and ruthless, but his vengeance isn't stopping him from being human, being compassionate, and showing love. Xie Qingyuan looks more closed off; she is kind but doesn't trust anyone other than a few select people, and even then, she mostly relies entirely on herself. Ep10 reveals who personally killed her mother, and shows just how convincing her father's false act of love truly was, so it's not strange for her to be more guarded when it comes to romance. Furthermore, the Episode 11 preview shares her cynical view of love between a man and a woman. From what I've seen, I think she is clearly feeling the spark between herself and Yan Rui, but her heart is so closed off that she refuses to let it affect her. Yes, Yan Rui’s family and clan were massacred, but unlike Qingyuan, his heart isn't completely closed off to feeling and showing love... at least, that is what I’ve understood so far

Later, it was shown that Yunxiao was also with him, though not physically.

This drama is ok... nothing really good, but it had the qualities to become one. It's clear 30 episodes weren't enough for the story they intended to tell.

Two years.

2011