ElofOz

Fingers crossed they can keep up this standard of quality the whole way through! It would be devastating if the ending was a flop. Praying for a second half as good as the first (or better!). 🙏🙏💕

Run, don't walk.

Love the way the rating for this is slowly inching upwards. 💕🥳 And rightly so. The whole cast is killing it! Could be the top historical drama for 2026 for me.

I have been totally caught by surprise by this drama. It is very, very good. The screenwriter wrote Story of Yanxi Palace, which may explain why it's so well written and ingenious. Hoping it can keep this standard up for the remaining episodes.

I agree - I'd much rather a slightly cryptic and limited trailer than one that gives away all the best scenes like most do these days. 😂 Tian Xi Wei looks great in this so keen to see how it goes.

The trailer is a bit strange to me (the ML hardly appears in it at all?) and overall underwhelming. But I am taking that as a good sign. Every trailer I have loved this year has ultimately led to a disappointment (Rebirth, Spring of the Blade the key ones) so maybe this will be winner.

Don't worry, you don't have to convince me! He was very, very good in this. He's just got this knack at using his eyes to do most of the talking doesn't he? I've seen a few of his dramas (Wonderland of Love, She and Her Perfect Husband, Story of Yanxi Palace) and he has consistently impressed me with his versatility and ability to show depth to his characters. It's just a shame Spring of the Blade wasn't a better project for him.

Totally agree with this. The music is atrocious! It's like AI wrote music for a daytime soap opera or something. It totally killed any of the half-decent scenes.

I really wanted this to be good, but sadly Xu Kai is really the only reason to watch this (and never again). The story is just too superficial and rushed to feel worthwhile investing in. The side characters are boring and none of them seem even remotely formidable, but the FL character is the most disappointing. In most of her scenes she is simply useless, waiting to be saved by the ML (or his brother). And when he does, she appears ungrateful and annoyed at him. Their romance is unfortunately just not believable, despite Xu Kai giving it his all. I have a few episodes to go, but am skipping through most of it. So disappointing because it had the right ingredients, but was just poorly written, edited and directed.

I'm watching Road to Splendor at the moment and I honestly don't think another actress could have played the FL role as well as Deng En Xi. It's hard to believe she is only 21. It's a bit like WXY when he was in The Double. If you didn't know he was 21 at the time, you could easily mistake him for 30. They both have a maturity about their acting that is beyond their years.

I just think it's strange that when they are back in Hengtang she returns to toying with him instead of just declaring her interest in him -and rejecting Li Cong Xin for example. I guess they still have to play these dual roles back in Hengtang. But you'd think privately she'd show more warmth and care.

Totally robbed! This series needed 40 episodes.

Can someone pls explain what happened with their time in the fishing village? We get, like, one scene of them bonding near a beach and then ... nothing. What is going on? I feel like half this show is on the cutting room floor somehow. And why is she suddenly so cold to him again back in Hengtang? It's not like she hasn't realised by now that: (a) he's not corrupt and (b) he would give up his life for her and (c) she likes him (see eg: head on shoulder). I feel like I'm being gaslit with this show sometimes ... But there is no denying Xu Kai's charm in his. He is perfect in this role.

Yes - I was going to say this exact thing about the editing and supporting characters. The editing is rushing everything. And the side characters are all a bit ... meh. There's no personality at all among them. It's sad to see Ke Yi wasted in her role as the resident spoiled princess after her great turns in A Familiar Stranger and Perfect Match. And the Grandma doesn't feel like a matriarch at all - we needed the grandma in Glory! Thank goodness for the return of the Xie father. Fingers crossed he can actually put up a fight worth watching.

I'm only at Ep 10 and sadly not feeling it so far. Will it improve because I had such high hopes! But atm Xu Kai is carrying things. I can't remember seeing this sort of swagger since Duke Su in The Double.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's the fact that all the supporting characters and their stores as just so meh and the foes so far have been hardly formidable at all. Thank goodness for the return of the Xie father. Maybe he will prove a worthy adversary?
Also, a trivial and probably highly subjective matter, but is anyone else finding the background music/OST is almost ruining half the scenes? Music makes such a difference to a drama for me. Not every serious scene needs to have such dramatic background music. It has the opposite effect. The ballads are all pretty average too sadly.

No love for Key to the Phoenix Heart? :(

I found her character so refreshing. She was so wise, and understanding of his predicament. And nice to finally see a female character who's a foodie and gets to actually enjoy their food with gusto! (Although no doubt the actress hardly ate any of it irl!)

Praying this is as good as the trailer makes it look. 🙏 But I have been let down before this year (ahem, Rebirth) so am not going to get my hopes up. I haven't seen much of the two lead actors' works to date, but they seem to pick decent and varied roles. I hope it's successful for them.

Watching this again. Had forgotten how very good it was. The chemistry between these two great actors - and the comedy! Now realising what I have been missing in this year's dramas. Nothing has come close so far. :(

Saw that too! I just assumed it happened during all those arrows coming toward him during his face-off with the Eagle King. You'd have to think there are a treasure trove of deleted scenes from this waiting to be minded. Hope they end up on You Tube one day. 🙏💖