DefyingDestiny

Zhang Zhe equals Yan Xing. They are the same person just different genders. Zhang Zhe lost his love because the female lead stopped pushing and I'm sayig the same will happen here unless Shen Du keeps pushing.
He is the wiser more dominant matured character. "It's not on her" because she is almost an idiot! She can't see as far or as much as he can! She is reckless and a no it all but she is passionate and dutiful and solving all the cases and she is caring and protective of her family and she is learning to include him in that list.

Tibbs an hour ago
@LovelyLady You seem to have forgotten at the very beginning, the first day she spent in the Shen residence he told her 'You are not the wife I was waiting for(wanted)'. That set the tone in their relationship. Up until he threw that piece of chalk at her that hit her neck, she had hoped to be amicable with him. But his ugly response made her believe there was no future in their marriage or relationship, so she calmly bowed out.

Now the ML has changed his mind and caught feelings for her. He needs to let her know that he wants her to stay. She cannot read his mind, it's on him. And all her talk of divorce - if he told her that he no longer wants it - don't you think she would reconsider and stop mentioning it?

Me: He also moved another woman into their house. He has a keepsake of another woman under his pillow

I truly don't understand how you see things.
I have been noting both their short fallings as people and I believe he needs to do more because if it's up to her they won't work. I am not saying he is "wrong" or that she is. For them to be together he needs to be The Man. I am not a fan of women confessing. I believe men do better as spouses when they are in charge of relationship milestones! This is my meaning of "Man Up". If it offends you I'm sorry.
She was crying at his "death bed" and her obnoxious bff overheard the divorce issue and blew it out of proportion. She followed them to the temple with his permission and was forced into a "date" which she cleared up immediately. What morality problem? He saved her from execution: she didn't know! She said terrible ignorant things about his actions to his father because she was scared of what his actions implied about his character and to her and her family! She makes reckless mistakes because she is a "know it all" but she learns, corrects herself and apologies.
They are getting to know each other!!

I keep saying Zhang Zhe- SOKP , same character but a man. It's not a feminist thing; it's just people peopling! Some people annoy us!

She, a fake wife, should have refused him, the white impermanence, from bringing in a witness and self professed simp and future Mrs Shen? On what ground? When jealousy was a reason to divorce women at that time😂
She had never taken over house hold management and she had no way to understand he wanted her to show territoriality. Since he was in charge of the decisions in the house and he was quick to keep her in check, that he was letting Yun Que run free must be because he was open to "attachment", so she handed over everything. She is the daughter of a concubine that doesn't fight for power. She couldn't reasonably make another choice as a fake wife.
His job involves fighting, he could have died at anytime. She stitched and nursed him back to life. She clearly doesn't want to over reach her rile because of the keepsake under his pillow!

He also moved a potential love interest into their home! A girl that trained to be his wife!!

They are in a fake relationship! They agreed (the two of them) to break up. His guard actually had to ask him who he should root for between Yun Que and Yan Xing because he is not being clear either.
Their feelings for each other are private. The other is unaware and feels like they are in and unrequited love.
She is a child of a concubine, sexual overtures to her (the almost kisses) are not a testament of love.

A man should be a man: man up means he needs to lead in the relationship. Are you so hateful of female perspective that one that agrees with you ideals is still repulsive to you?

I don't really understand what we are honestly arguing about but my point is: He is the more matured person, he needs to get her under control because she needs leadership: romantically and professionally. I don't find her annoying , I might later but for now she is clearly growing and I'm cool with that. She isn't cheating or two timing, she has drawn the line with all love interests: she is reacting normally for someone in a FAKE marriage by looking to the finish date.

It's not a female empowerment thing it a that persona thing. I mentioned Zhang Zhe from SOKP to help you see it.
1. They don't know each other so they are getting to understand each other’s backstory, temperaments and goals. He had her investigated, she is in the relationship blind!
2. He is more matured than her: he has seen more life than she has and she is immature.
3. She is open and straightforward: she doesn't want to talk about the past because from her POV it is irrelevant and would be weird trying to force The White Impermanence into the role of her memory of a child. She treats him according to the lore about him while trying not to be too taken up by the myth and focus on the man. However, the man is supposedly in love with someone else.
4. He has not tried to get closer. He has attempted to kiss her and stopped inexplicably. She was open to their marriage being physical but he stopped. He didn't want marriage, she put up the divorce so he would stop trying to stop the marriage. She didn't betray him, she needed to get the PM off her families back and she put her life on the line FOR HIM!!!
5. NEITHER ONE OF THEM IS AT FAULT. THERE IS NO FAULT!!!!

Thanks 😊

Low key, I like that the costumes are mid. 😅 All the wars, riots, deaths and dynasty changes, atleast you can see things are tough. The official robes particularly look like 'struggle"

Considering there has been two important plot point accident fires, I think this drama allows you keep the fire awareness part of your brain on 😅

Me too. They care too much about each other and their relationship is too fragile right now with too many episodes to go😰. I'm stressed about what will happen next😅

Can someone explain the FL names/ naming: Yan Xing and Yan Lu Niang! Is it like in The Double: Xue Fang Fei/ Xue Li?
Which one is her official and which one is her pet name?

You can get an idea of how ratings can be viewed. I think on MDL 7 - 10 is watchable and you can find very good dramas in this range. Anything below 7 is objectively bad unless its a mini drama then 6.5 should be your limit unless you are really brave.

Dramas with "idols" or traffic actors below 8.5 are also objectively bad because their fans normally should "over rate" so it had to be truly terrible for enough casual viewers to down rate it below 8.5. If it has a more matured theme, then for idol drama the final is below 8. Seriously don't watch it.

On average the best dramas have a rating of 8.0 to 9.5.
Dramas above 9.5 rarely ever match that rating because it's an average drama that was fan manipulated or overly nice few watchers.

Below 8: 7.0-7.9, you can find some hidden gems but these require your mood and niche interest and making concessions for mini dramas with poor production quality but great stories. If a drama ends with rating of 7.8 or 7.9 it might still be great but there was some controversy or fan war. So watch for your self.

Ratings are also audience feedback. This drama for example is downrated because people are protesting the fl actress being so young and the age gap with the ml. I think as more watchers rate, the rating will go up. But then again people are also complaining about the FL's actions in the drama, so likely more down rating.

I am saying none of them is doing anything wrong.
She didn't ask him for help because his help affects the country and she wouldn't make him choose her over the country. Which is a display of affection and him choosing to help her knowing he is making a deal with the devil is a reciprocal show of affection.
They both have drawn a line in their personal lives and if any of them wants to change things they have to make themselves vulnerable and admit they don't want the marriage to be "fake".
She told Yun Que- the woman he moved into their home after she had just confessed to him; because she decided to not overstep her role- fake wife. Her friend overheard her and then told everyone.
There is no fault to be assigned and neither of them have any blame. They are just trying to navigate from fake to real without scaring off the other person.


You might find her annoying because she is naive, self righteous and obsessed with her work and that's fine but that is her personality and its similar to Zhang Zhe from Story of Kunning Palace. People hated him too for the same reasons. ZZ didn't end up with the FL because he needed her to make the move and since she didn't their lovestory ended before it began and the same with this story: if Shen Du doesn't make the move, she will walk away quietly.

First saw her as a female villain in Go Princess Go and I was like I support Women's Wrong 😅. She's distractingly pretty

I'm feeling hesitant about this show because I hate "catfishing" romance stories and amnesia romance- those are my top two romance icks. But I've been hearing good things about this show, so I'm holding my gag reflex to get through the first arc.
In ep 3, the comedy is good and they look great😍, so I'm powering through till she finds out... which is when exactly? What episodes? Spoil me?

To be clear, I'm confused about what there is to be annoyed about because I think both of them are blameless. They are in a marriage of convenience with an expiration date. They are friendly and respectful to each other and support each other’s work and strengths and help each other in difficulties.
What is there to complain about in this couple?
If she focuses on him when they agreed to have a divorce, she would be as delusional as Yun Que. Unless he brings it up or if she is brave enough, she brings it up, they are walking steadily towards an amicable separation.

Her decisions are reckless, not dumb. Everyone in the kingdom is frozen in time because they are all being too careful. She is idealistic and reckless and could not see the big picture and now that she can, she has chosen not to care because all the careful working that the ml and the other powerful people are doing just mean injustices for everyone including themselves.
From a non romantic point of view, which is what she is actively trying to have, she is following her first intentions: to find the truth and serve justice.
He is saving her but he has yet to put himself "out there" to me. And that includes the almost dying because he's literally doing his job. If he let "Chen Houa" kill Mrs Shen it would lead to chaos, if he let King Ying assasinate her sister it would lead to chaos! While those things are nice to her, they could be construed as service to the country and nothing else and since he has said over and over again that she ain't the one for him, she has chosen to believe it.
I don't think he is "wrong" but he needs to be the man and take ownership of his marriage as the dominant figure.
Or is it feminist propaganda to expect men to lead?

Ep19

After doing surgery on him with her autopsy tools and then she cut her "unsterilised autopsy threads" with her teeth; and then he had a fever and she was like "why does he have a fever"
Me: 🤣🤣🤣 that he doesn't die right now is a testament to his immune system and superior healing power

I don't even see why they think she is annoying: she has been solving most of the cases and her only flaw is not taking her personal safety into consideration. She is like a female Zhang Zhe (Story of Kunning Palace).
She is open and straightforward; he is the one with secrets and is a massive celebrity in their world. She has no reason to expect a personal relationship with him because he has been clear over and over again that she has no chance. If he doesn't say anything or do anything clear and concrete...it's not on her!