DramaAjumma

The female lead looks so much like Ariel Lin from the original Taiwanese version.

Even though I'm a huge fan of crime and detective dramas, I'm not watching this show for that. There are shows that do that sort of thing much better. I stayed because of the romance and at least I thought that was the best part of the show. Admittedly Qin Xuan isn't the best written character but I could live with it because he's not the male lead. Nice but clueless. He serves a purpose. However, to this day I still don't know why he fell for her to the point that he would risk everything and drown himself in drink.

To be honest, I'm not sure what the show is trying to say about Qiu Yan and Liang Yi's relationship after that stunt. I also have to question the wisdom of letting a woman wander off by herself in that sort of environment. I'm surprised that Liang Yi is quick to approve. Where's the characteristic scolding or bickering? Sure, she's more quick witted than Qiu Min but as we've seen, is still prone to reckless behaviour. Of course he'll be keeping an eye on her from afar as he usually does but I don't see the point then of her making declarations of being actually free. Let's face it, it's a separation ploy -- nothing more, nothing less.

People are defending recent developments based on Qiu Yan's character but what about Liang Yi's character? Yes, he respects her freedom and proto-feminist views but he is far more concerned about her safety. So far he's been negotiating the terms of their relationship. It's not a zero sum game. It doesn't have to be. The show is creating the false impression that this has to be a zero sum situation.

All I can say is: better now than later. Small mercies.

It's getting better after a bumpy start. More than Dae Jang Geum, this show gives me Red Sleeve vibes. The scheme to frame the Crown Prince first and then Prince Han wasn't too bad. I remember the lad from Miss Truth. Not entirely sure if he's the right fit for the role here but I really liked him in Miss Truth.

Thanks for the support. I'm not particularly concerned about realism but consistency. It goes to the heart of who Liang Yi is as a person.

I certainly think that the inconsistency is far more jarring because it all happened in the same episode. The other thing that also bothers me is the lack of communication that got them to this point when on other occasions they have communicated much better than this even while they were bickering there was honesty. This to me looks a lot like noble idiocy.

I watched the RAWs before heading off to bed last night and I'm still a little hot under the collar. :D
It shows how invested we are in the storyline.

What you say here makes some sense and it's the best justification I've seen so far of why the narrative has taken the turn it has. But I still think the shift in direction feels abrupt.

Frankly to me that's a writing flaw to me as well. After trying so hard in all other ways, he's throwing in the towel without even trying to negotiate with her like he's always done. I believe he respects her freedom but this feels completely out of character for me.

I'm devastated for Liang Yi. He had so much reason to hope that he'd won her heart and it all came crashing down in those moments not long after Qiu Yan suddenly tells him she's off to find herself and her stories. It's a plot device that as a whole I don't have a lot of time for but at least in this case it's not some last minute inclusion half an hour before the end. There is some consolation in that. For me this desire on the part of Qiu Yan to up and leave on her own to become a fully-fledged writer comes out of nowhere. She already has a bank of experiences to draw on to write her book (as the published author has noted) so the rationale is unconvincing. Regardless of whether this is about stripping everything from Liang Yi before the end, it feels like it came out of left field especially after her involuntary confession earlier in the episode. No doubt that Qiu Yan becoming a writer has been on the cards for a while but it doesn't necessitate that they have to go their separate ways to achieve this. To me it's a likely flaw in the writing.

The fact that people are upset over this recent development demonstrates that the showrunners haven't done as good a job selling this turn of events as well as they could have. I accept that there have been some melodramatic elements to the show which I was onboard with for the most part but this feels more like bait and switch than consistently good development.

In all honesty the end of Episode 28 leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because narrative wise, it is so unnecessary and the result is that I'm less enthused about the remaining episodes. From the trailers, I'm sensing an extended revenge plot that's obviously devised to bring LIang Yi down very low.

I'm not concerned about the ending as such but how we get there. I'm sure the leads will be together in the end.

Oh well... at least we enjoyed the laughs while we had them.

The incident involving Consort Guo was hilarious. I laughed a lot and annoyed some members of my household. I think Jeremy Xu and Liang Yi got into the spirit of things rather too readily. :P

The thing that interested me most about Episodes 25 and 26 was how the leads were sounding out each other and testing one another with seemingly innocuous words or actions. They've obviously fallen each other but they're both unsure about the other. They aren't quite sure if these feelings they've developed are requited and they see enough to hope but not enough to be sure. This predicament is humorously played out with the inclusion of Qin Xuan and Min'er in particular interactions. Liang Yi shrewdly and wisely doesn't try to keep Qin Xuan away from Qiu Yan. He lets that play out because from there he can see if 1) he is winning by a significant margin or 2) how Yan'er sees Qin Xuan. Is she pretending disinterest or is she genuinely over the guy? There are moments when she's seems deeply concerned for his well-being -- but does that imply "love"? He can't be sure. They went on a shopping spree and it was for the mother-in-law. Does that mean she wants to stay being a permanent member of the Liang household? I observe Yan'er doing the same thing. She doesn't feel confident about coming outright saying how she feels so she's also testing the waters. She senses that he's going beyond the call of duty and guilt, reasoning that there's something else driving his actions.

There's some good acting there between the leads here.

I imagine it will like the vast majority of C dramas but the show's set-up isn't as good as it could be especially when it looks this expensive.

I was thinking that this would be a more serious drama. But the only thing that anyone takes seriously seems to be the food porn. An overweight Crown Prince who needs to go on a diet and the resources of the Jing Yi Wei aka Brocade Guards (who obviously have nothing better to do with their time) to keep an eye on the kitchen staff to make sure he follows the strict dietary regime. Maybe they need to be defunded or disbanded.

Still in it for the food.

It's a toss up as to who is more annoying. Yuan Lang or Min'er.

One guy buys up all the crime novels in the shop. The other guy brings her to meet an author. There's no competition.

Firewood Office.
He's partly suspicious of her as well. Not for no good reason either because she's scheming to get his friend which she doesn't deny.

This was a veritable soap opera from start to finish but highly addictive with all the backstabbing and counterschemes. Even though this was called The Legend of Haolan, I really loved Yi-ren and wanted more of him. Maybe it's just Mao Zijun but I hope that there will a show focused on the father of Qin Shi Huang in the future.

The main trio were the obvious highlights but the acting overall was pretty decent.

No doubt she's grateful for Qin Xuan's attentions and kindness towards her. I certainly agree with all that. I tend to think that when she lamented that she'll never meet anyone who treats her that well again she really meant it. But I don't think it was a deep love connection as subsequent events bear out. I keep referring to Pride and Prejudice because it is the source of the tropes here. Elizabeth Bennet was attracted to Wickham initially and flattered by his attentions to her so that led to her being more inclined to believe what he said. It wasn't love but a kind of temporary infatuation.

That said, I certainly don't disagree that it's possible for a woman (as it is in this case) to have different types of love relationships with different men. In the Legend of Haolan that kind of narrative was also in operation. Haolan had many loves but the one who prioritized her, won her. In Miss Truth, the female lead fell in love with two men for quite different reasons.

I also think that Qiu Min is a better match for Qin Xuan in terms of personality types but she was in too much of a hurry and put the cart before the horse. I certainly never thought she was as virtuous as she liked to present herself as being. She was as conniving as the next woman in the Qiu household.

He is rather mean at the start but there are for the most part actually good reasons for him being so. But he does pay for it later. The really good part is that they both read each other like books.

I accept that we all interpret the story and the scenes differently but it seems to me incongruous to say that Episodes 23 and 24 are filler episodes when romance clearly dominates the landscape of this drama. The expectation I would have thought is that 23 and 24 are crucial scenes because the romance is finally kicking into gear. Even with all the so-called pretence, there's honesty and vulnerability between the leads which was previously more about one upmanship. Liang Yi is baring his soul and allowing himself to be vulnerable to the woman he loves is a huge development in the storyline. He also does exactly what he tells Qin Xuan he is going to do -- for Qiu Yan, he will do all kinds of unrighteous things. When she put on the opera show for him in trying to console him, she shows that she cares more about him than anyone outside of her late stepmother.

I can't muster too many tears for Qin Xuan in terms of him losing Qiu Yan because what woman if she really likes a guy would be so immersed in playing concubine with another man. Besides, she has already insisted that things are over between them. Moreover, it's so natural for her to have skinship with Liang Yi. Even when she takes off her outer garment for him to apply first aid to her self-inflicted burn, there's no shyness or discomfort at having him see so much skin. I'm also struck again by how unapologetic Qiu Yan seems to be about going on with this charade. It should send off alarm bells already to a man who isn't totally blinded by love but I suppose it's easier for Qin Xuan to blame Liang Yi for the situation than to accept the realisation that Qiu Yan either never loved him, has changed her mind, or might have deceived him.

I've always liked the way the show has built up the primary romance, not only because it follows the Pride and Prejudice template in an interesting way but they are two intelligent go-getters who are a genuine comfort to each other in these dark times. Their tendency for pragmatism suit each other because they don't have to coax the other to go along with this scheme or that. They both instinctively know what has to be done even if it breaks rules or crosses lines.

Because they are using the Emperor's superstitious proclivities and desire for longevity/immortality against him as he would never reverse the previous conviction based on newly acquired evidence as it would be tantamount to admitting he had made a mistake. He is a fatuous ruler who isn't particularly interested in ruling justly but in maintaining his hold on power for as long as possible.

By the way, this type of plot device is really nothing new in this type of court drama. To manipulate the emperor into doing something using his deeply held beliefs in the supernatural. This was done very well in Vigilantes in Masks at one point.

He did say that. He had interrogated the man who supplied wood to the Ministry of Works and had him give his statement. After showing it to Qiu Yan, he burnt the statement because he knew the emperor would never reverse the conviction because the emperor would never admit he made a misjudgement.