Cortanaherondale

I honestly didn’t expect this show to be so funny, I went in thinking it would be more serious, but Part 1 is genuinely entertaining and humorous, and it’s such a good build-up season for what’s coming in Part 2.
Zhao Lusi is literally the queen of this drama. Part 1 feels like it’s mainly building Niao Niao’s story, and I didn’t mind that at all because she carried so hard. Even without heavy romance, she was still the most interesting part of the show. But she’s also funny and chaotic in a way that makes the show fun to watch. She is shameless and selfish. An unperfect character and I loved that.
I also love the dad — he might be my favorite character. And the brothers too, especially the sibling dynamic, but I really wish we got more interactions between them. Hopefully Part 2 gives us more of that. The grandmother is funny but sometimes annoying when she is greedy. But she adds a nice laugh to the show.
My favorite character overall though is the Emperor. He’s honestly one of the best costume drama emperors ever — so fun, so warm, and I love his relationship with Lin Buyi. It’s so unserious and cute.
Now about A’Yao and Niao Niao: I really liked the way they broke up. It was the best scenario. They were cute together and Lucy has chemistry with everyone so I didn’t mind them, but I didn’t want their breakup to become toxic. I’m so happy it ended with mutual understanding and respect, without them hating each other or him turning into a villain. She didn’t love him romantically, he loved her, and their relationship felt more like a close best-friends / older brother vibe anyway.
And honestly, Niao Niao wouldn’t work with A’Yao long-term — she’d always be protecting him while his family mistreats her, and the freedom she wants wouldn’t be there. She also wouldn’t work with Yuan Shen. I don’t hate him, but he’s too blunt and always highlights her flaws, even if he loves her. Ling Buyi is the right choice because he accepts her flaws and loves her anyway. He’ll protect her, and he doesn’t have a family that would control her, so she actually gets the freedom she wants. They’re both broken and unloved too, so it makes sense that they’ll heal and learn together.
Romance-wise, I feel like Part 1 is them learning how to love themselves first. Ling Buyi annoyed me at the start because he doesn’t even properly ask her if they want to get married. I did like how obsessed he was with her from the start, he knew he finally found his equal. People would say he is too dominating and controlling but he grew up without love, and she did too. They’re both basically kids figuring it out.
The most annoying part of the show for me was the mom. I kept trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she’s genuinely one of the most irritating drama mothers ever. She constantly downgrades her daughter and it’s exhausting. I’m really looking forward to Niao Niao proving her wrong.
Also the girls in this drama annoyed me so much… I hate when girls bring other girls down, and there’s a LOT of that. All of them were the spitting image of their horrible mothers. Plus all of them being obsessed with Ling Buyi is so annoying because he’s literally cold and cruel to them but blame it on NN.
Overall, Part 1 is more family-focused and it’s a great foundation for Part 2. Even with the lack of romance, the scenes between Niao Niao and Ling Buyi still felt tense and electric, and I loved that. Now I just need Part 2 because I know it’s about to go crazy.