Chitsuki

Dowager Zhao was adopted into the noble Zhao family. She and the former Marquis are siblings in name but not in blood. (like Mu Yao and Mu Sheng). She marries into the royal family as a Consort but considers the Zhao to still be her maiden family since they raised her. (In the convo she has with the young Marquis when he tells her he doesn't want to marry the Princess, she says "I consider you my real nephew." ) Her wish for her daughter (Princess Duanyang) to marry the current young Marquis is to protect him (since he mostly appears useless and powerless) and to protect the Zhao family (since they would then really become blood relations of the royal family).

Should be half brothers. Same dad.

In the young Marquis's memories of his dad, he was never happy with his mom and didn't love her (which led to the young Marquis's determination to marry for love and not duty). His dad also says he can't remember the woman he loves. The woman he loves should be Mu Sheng's mom. They were seen together at Qiling Mountain naming the 2 waterfalls that became the water demon lovers.

My guess is something or someone made the dad forget Mu Sheng's mom, probably something to do with royal or family duties since he's human and she's demon. Plus that cultivator Guo tells Mu Yao that Consort Dowager Zhao had all of them hunt down the demons on Qiling Mountain, which was Mu Sheng's home in his memories, and Consort Dowager Zhao is the old Marquis's sister. The old Marquis probably went home, did his duty, had the young Marquis, and was never happy again. Mu Sheng's flashback showed him and his mom waiting for the dad, who obviously didn't come back because he didn't remember, and probably leaving Qiling Mountain to look for him since there's also one flashback of him telling his mom he preferred their lives on the mountain. The same forgetful spell seems to have been used on Mu Sheng, who doesn't remember anything before the age of 7.

For me, it's the relatable portrayal of the characters that make this one especially enjoyable over other cdramas with a similar transmigration plot.

I really like the small details like how LMM uses what she remembers from the book for things big (plot related) and small (the gold mine that has nothing to do with driving the plot forward), but that she can't remember all the details sometimes, that it takes awhile for her to admit that the people of the book world feel real. In other cdramas with similar plots, I found the transmigrating character to either accept their reality too easily, or remember too much about the details of events that happened like 20 years ago (please, I can barely remember what happened last week....) , or their actions are too lethargic for someone who should know the major events that are about to happen.

It also helps that the comedic elements inserted into the plot are thematically sound with the plot. Mu Sheng's social awkwardness dealing with the herb yao is in line with his character. Cui Cui turning into miscellaneous items to try to tag along makes sense because he has no idea what's useful or subtle enough to hide, etc. It doesn't feel forced.

And of course, the main leads' chemistry is very enjoyable too.

Exactly. Agree with everything you said. There's this paradox of the story trying to portray her as an expect investigator, but a lot of her actions actually makes more sense if she was an inexperienced investigator. (It would explain the recklessness and lack of awareness of dangers and political consequences.)

In Blossom sounds like Imperial Coroner, which I really enjoyed. I'll put it on my watchlist! :)

I think the plot is trying to sell Yan Xing as an all-around fantastic investigator, and maybe she is compared to other people in the department she works at, but the drama never shows us that. It just shows her seeking help from others, Panchi finding out information they didn't already have, and Shendu pointing out things she missed and having planned like 10 steps ahead. So she comes across as being a pretty average investigator.

In "Maiden Holmes", Su Ci was portrayed as eagle-eyed and very, very good at noticing details missed by others. They had whole scenes dedicated to how she used these skills to deduce cases. So as a viewer, it was easy to see what she brought to the table as a team member. In here, it's difficult to tell what Yan Xing is bringing to the table in terms of skills that is an asset to solving the case.

You misunderstood. I have no issues with the actress; she's doing a great job. When I say FL, I mean the character. Issues with the plot and writing are not the fault of the actress.

So unlike most of the comments here, I actually have little issues with the FL. After episode 26, my problem with this investigative "duo" is that it feels a lot like Shendu could have solved this case himself..... or Shendu with Panchi's info.

Both Maiden Holmes and Imperial Coroner do much better jobs of having their FL be skilled at something the ML is not and being crucial to the crime solving.

Am I not watching the same show or are the subs for this show that bad? I understand Mandarin so I don't watch it with subs, and I don't remember half the things the FL is being accused of doing.

It's not because the clothes were late; it's because of the pattern on the clothes. The Elder Princess's husband had commissioned the clothes for the Elder Princess to wear at some kind of ceremony. But the embroidery pattern ended up being some kind of taboo. (Either exclusive to the Empress or the prior year's designated pattern or something. I'm not super clear on this, but I guess liken it to wearing Nazi symbols to the US presidential inauguation.) To beg for forgiveness and save her from execution for wearing it, the Elder Princess's husband killed himself and the Elder Princess was exiled to that temple. Jinxiufang was responsible for making the clothes, so the family and workers were killed for it.

The case was swept under the rug and closed quickly, but seems like a number of people are now showing up to say the family was innocent and that wasn't the original pattern made and delivered, and they were set up.

She makes her first appearance in episode 19. Just saw her at the tail-end of the episode.