Deirdre19

So there will be a 2nd season? Does this mean we will get a cliff-hanger ending?

It's true that well-written female roles are extremely rare. There is a variety of characters, but sadly they are all stereotypes:
- the innocent (and annoyingly cutsie) girlie
- the obsessive delusional SFL
- the know-it-all quirky/spoilt type
- the dumb-as-bread, whiny maid
- the evil step-mother/grand-mother
One of the reasons that I love Legend of the Phoenix so much (other than JT being great in it) is that it has a wonderfully written Empress and Empress Dowager.

For once I'm glad for censorship. I really hate the whole time travel/transmigration trope. It's such a lame device just to bring in a character that is slightly different (yet for some strange reason still knows exactly how to behave in a different century).
I absolutely love the way they dealt with the stupid "time traveller" in Dong Lan Xue 😈

I think the word "inexplicably" in the summary above is key here. Take it as a euphemism for "we couldn't be bothered to come up with a reason..."
A kind person who has read the novel already gave an explanation of some of the most apparent plot holes in a reply below.

It's really sad (and says a lot about those so-called fans) that fandom wars are even a criterium when it comes to choosing the cast for a drama.

If you're watching short dramas, I can recommend Dong Lan Xue. It has a kick-ass FL. The kind you'd wish to see in a full-length drama...

Yeah, I don't understand this either. On one hand there is supposedly a push to penalise actors who cannot do their own dubbing, and on the other hand, even the ones who could do it are still replaced by voice-actors. I read several comments that JT's deep voice was difficult to understand, but since the voice-actor has a similarly deep voice that doesn't really make any sense to me.

Thanks for clearing this up. It's always good to have some novel readers around to fill in the gaps left by the screenwriters 😂
The thought of a modern person ending up in the FL's body had crossed my mind, because she comes across as rather modern. Of all the tropes used in dramas/novels, transmigration is probably the one I hate the most, so I'm happy for once about the censorship.
Maybe the "twin sister" is just an incorrect translation of something else...

No, the FL isn't annoying, but the ML is! Boring, overbearing and stuck-up are the words that spring to mind. I dropped this because the whole "romance" is build on manipulation, lies and coercion which I found really off-putting. Read spoilers further down for more info.

I loved the drama starting with a bang. What followed seems a bit incoherent: so the FL died and her body was taken over by another person who does not seem to know the previous owner of the body, so how could this be her twin sister. Also, what happened to the body of said twin sister? Why did she just move into this one?
The whiny maid is definitely annoying, but at least the FL is better than the average FL in costume dramas (clever, independent and normal voice).
The ML is not really likeable, why would any clever, independent woman want such an arrogant and rude guy who takes a concubine after four years of marriage. Not really good looking either... if, as we are told, he is the best-looking guy in town, this seems to be a really bad place to be. His fear of fire due to a childhood trauma reminds me of the boring ML in Love by Hypnotic.
If I watch another episode it will be for the well-written (so far) FL, everything else seems rather meh.

Watched the first episode and this gives me some rather mixed feelings...

According to DramaWiki the ML is dubbed by a guy called Jing Xiang Shei Yi. Their voices sound quite similar, so I think it was a good choice. Of course, better would have been the original...

Hi Amy, you finally joined us... 🙋‍♀️

Yes, would love to see him in some more serious productions, too. He definitely has the acting prowess for it! Although, I have to admit that to me he looks much better in costume than (and preferably on a horse) than in modern stuff. I'm still waiting for one of his modern dramas "Trace" to finally get subtitles. I has been over two years and, as someone already commented, it may be faster to learn Chinese 😂😂😂

Well, to me he looks grown up (and incredibly hot...). unlike the teenage festival that we see in some other dramas. Some milk-bearded 21-year-old as cunning Crown Prince isn't very believable to me...

It's nice to see grown ups cast in romantic-action-costume dramas, because believe it or not, life doesn't end after 30. People can still do action stuff or be stupid in love.

Just in case you need some ideas for your work-out... the action starts approx. 5 min in.
https://weibo.com/izztsui?layerid=4881404372976820

Funny detail from ep. 12: when Jiamin and Hua Liuli finally meet the Crown Prince again after their kidnapping, Jiamin sees CP embrace Liuli and says "how many secrets have I known" and then she presses her anti-fainting acupoint (under the nose) 😂
This woman is so funny!!!

Ah, I didn't notice. I'll have to re-watch this! There are so many details that I miss when concentrating on the subtitles.
I just re-watched ep. 12 because I wanted to see what was up with that horse that JT is riding - it seemed a bit overly keen, but I still can't tell whether it was intentional or not. It's quite a nice horse and looks a bit different from the usual film horses that they use...

I'm not too sure, but I think it was some sort of fermented milk-based drink. Many fermented drinks like kombucha or kwass contain a low level of alcohol (0.5-1.5%), so in the first scene I assumed that he had a low alcohol tolerance and therefore got drunk. There is, however, a later scene where we see the ML drink serious quantities of wine (which should have a much higher level of alcohol) until he is finally drunk. So this would contradict my theory of low alcohol tolerance...
While lactose intolerance is prevalent in most of Asia, I'm not aware that this would cause a state that would resemble being drunk.

There seem to be English subs now... just watched the 1st episodes, so I don't know how much of it is already subbed.