DefyingDestiny

1. First one: because in the novel SRQ apparently promised him re-entry into his family clan.
2. An attempt to whitewash the Li Rong faction I guess🤷. In the novel, Li Rong wanted to kill Li Cheng so the father would stop threatening Li Chuan since he would have only one son. Li Rong meant to take the blame and exile herself. The drama, however claim the Emperor wanted Li Cheng poisoned by a poison he would hold the antidote to, so that he could control him. It was the same poison the Li Rong group were using to kill Xie leader and they inadvertently activated it and caused Li Cheng's death.

The plot seemed to move on its own. No one really had anything to do with when, why or how. Few examples:
Qin Lin was betrayed: why? By whom? When?- No answer and none needed; it is resolved easily.
PWX goes to capture Wang: Why? For what? What is the impact?- Nothing really, it gets resolved easily!
SGY starts dating LFB: How does her family take it? What are the risk? When do they break up?- Nothing really; all tge answers happen off screen.

The Princess Royal is like asking for a chocolate cake and getting a fruit cake. It's a perfectly delicious fruit cake but it's not what you want. So, rather than complaining about the lack of chocolate, let me commend the delicious fruits of this fruit cake:
1. Set Design- some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen. Every room was gorgeous, the table, chairs, curtains, woodwork and floors, I loved it all.
2. Costume Design: Magnifico. The attires were all hella impressive. Although I didn't like the colour pallet because it looked so old and dreary, I understand that was the exact tone and I commend you effort in bringing the story to life. Thank you for the pleasure of your work.
3. Li Chuan: Liu Xu Wei thank you for the gift of Li Chuan. He was by far my favourite part of this ensemble. From baby prince to depressed prince to maniac Emperor, I bought into your story and felt everything you wanted me to feel. 💕💕💕
4. Dong Ye and Fu Lai: Loved all your scenes. Thanks for laughs and entertainment.
5. The Comedy: Lots of laughs. The humour was never overdone, misplaced or off the mark. It was done perfectly.

6. Zhao Jin mai and Zhang LingHe: I love you...so I'm going to rewatch Reset and SOKP, to cleanse my palette. My love for you held me together to watch this to the end and you had some really good scenes- Li Rong at Pei Fu and all her emotional scenes👏👏👏; Zaddy PWX, and jealous hubby scenes👏👏👏👏. There was a lot of good; thank you for your efforts

Li Rong's information was filtered through PWX and SRQ. She used PWX's information web to collect info and the SRQ was her 2nd in command; they were never fully honest with her and she didn't care to know the details either.

Thinking about how things unfolded from Li Chuan's point of view: her digust for everyone after hearing they killed her is miniscule compared to how he felt. After pushing him to marry SGY, he cheats on him, murders his love and wants to crown an illegitimate child, his mother and uncle know and support it, his sister begs for the lives of the only people he can openly punish for it. She's lucky he didn't kill her immediately. Li Rong really didn't care about how any of them felt because she hd cut out her own feelings for PWX for the greater good- he supported her brother, so rather than retaliating against him or Zhen zhen, she moveed on. She expected/ imagined everyone was doing the same. She thought only Li Chaun was being selfish. She would never hurt Li Chuan, PWX, or SRQ or anyone they cared about. It never crossed her mind that they could hurt each other so much as well as destabilising the country for their personal quarrels.

The hyperfocus on 1st life Li Chuan villian arc is so foolish on everybodies part. Li Chuan killed Li Rong not because she tried to kill him but because he was dying and SRQ and SGY were her "allies" and THEY were the villains. The nobles were toxic and SRQ acting like the wars and famine were not caused and fueled by the nobles is just peak SRQ: The Empress had a love child, the adulterer's family was killed, the behemoth noble class was pruned 🫢 "Li Chuan is so evil"
Two lifetimes and SRQ can't think straight and someone in the production team actually likes THIS character??!?!!?

What's worst - the



Qq11
choosing to side with Prince Su; it's not even in the novel. They made a decision to change the story only to make the story even more foolish.

PWX watching LR fall over the cliff with SRQ had less emotional range than me when I drop my phone.

On "Assassination Day" a maid she doesn't know says SGY wants to see her in the woods- out of their plans for the day, LR happily follows her because ya know....

Then they make the simply brilliant decision to stage PWX's scenes like it has nothing to do with the main plot. LR is reeling, PWX let me make some congee for the baby...

I really don't want to comment anymore. I know I'm going to be disappointed, so no point in whining everyday.

While Li Rong and Rongqing lived together for 17 years or so; I don't think they really loved each other. I think they both wanted to love each other especially because they had no one else. They were more like an amicable arranged marriage between individuals of rival families. Her brother, whom she loved and would never go against, exterminated his entire clan; from being the capital's golden child to eunuch from a sinful family he lived as her slave; she on the otherhand ran away from her marriage at the first sign of danger because she couldn't risk being entangled in a bad romance as The Grand Princess; she kept trying to recreate the feelings she had had for PWX in SRQ but her "feeings" for PWX never went away because she still trusted and relied on him across "enemy lines" till her dying moment and SRQ was well aware of this. Neither of them could move forward in the relationship which was why he could kill her and she wasn't that surprised or disappointed.

This is actually smart. They will definitely not use it😂😂😅🤣

I joined the argument for the Malicious Empress casting but nothing good can come from this much attention even before casting.
The trailer for The Glory (Gui Nv) looks amazing and the stills from Star General also look wonderful. The casting of both seem promising, so I'm quite excited. Hope they can bring the The Double’s magic to their project.

The actor says it was love at first sight for Duke Su. And it shows in the way he looks at her the first time, his angry stare at SYR at her funeral and how he shamelessly flirts with her when she claims to be Jiang Li. He even tries to confirm if she really ran away with a lover. He's way too invested in her from the start and even his guards notice it.

So far they have disappointed almost all my expectations😅 I'm expecting they'll choose the worse possible option 😂🤭

Costume and Set design are the best thing about this drama

Butterflies, blushing, giddy, smitten...
I'm loving this show so much. And I usually avoid Seven Tan, to say just how good this show is.
Seven's Ji Xing is adorable and strong. Xu Kai's Han Ting is the best modern ml I've seen in a long time. The support cast is wonderful and their stories are just as engaging as the main leads. The business plot is well fleshed out and interesting. Make up, costumes and set design are all lovely. Half way through and I'm very pleased

The father feels isolated and I'm guessing it's from whenever the fallout with his wife happened. They apparently were happy for a time and then they much like Li Rong and PWX in the 1st life, had power and adulterers in-between them. With Consort Rou talking sweet nothings in his ears for years and the Empress being too arrogant to fight over a man her family enthroned with a former maid, he can not see the Empress or her children as anything but enemies. The people that put him in power are against him; his chidren are in their faction- this is all he can see. The Empress might be able to understand that her husband doesn't want to be a puppet to his in-laws, however he has another woman and other children; if she supports him and relinquishes the Shaungguans hold on the palace, would he respect her? Would she be safe? Would she remain the Empress? Does she really need to lower herself for him to trust her? Or love her?
The Emperor is a weak man and a domestic tyrant. Like PWX only a weak man needs his woman to be weak to feel like a man.

I think its apparently hard to adapt 😅😅 because this was my expectation for this drama and Queen of Tears. Powerful female lead who fights against family and prejudice to be with her loyal and weak male lead, that also has to overcome his weakness to be with her.
The Princess Royal actually has this dynamic, its just that the direction of the drama is sloppy and it's hard to see it clearly.

The show's director. There is no triangle; just ambiguous sad looks at each other🤷. The direction of the drama doesn't make clear the fl and sml stance but it also doesn't give credence to any real/true feelings between them but the sml keeps getting screentime to look mopey!!

For historical/xin xia: "Last Immortal" was almost there but it fumbled quite a bit.
"Back from the Brink" does it for me. The fl was the protector and leader in the relationship, she ends up being the one that saves the day. I loved it.

The sml is just chasing the director at this point. It is irrelevant to the story.

For chasing in historical drama, it would be fun to see it done right. In the context of their time: being in the right parties and wearing the right outfits and such. For modern dramas my two favourite: You are my Glory and When I fly towards you.
Female chasing is a hard dynamic to pull off because the man has to maintain manliness but the woman has to "save" him somehow. I thought these two shows pulled it off very well.