This is just my personal opinion, but the whole “giving up what society sees as good and settling for something more simple or less fancy” kind of plot feels a bit overrated at this point.
We’ve seen it in this drama too, and in a lot of Chinese dramas as well. Whenever the leads have something powerful or prestigious, they either dream of giving it up because it feels “cagey” or dull, or they eventually abandon it after realizing they can still find happiness in a simpler life.
I absolutely love this drama, I really do...I’d still give it a solid 9–10/10. But I feel like abolishing the monarchy was a bit unnecessary.
In Ian’s case, it makes sense why he would feel that way since he was mistreated all his life and suffered a lot because of the royal laws. And he himself said he wanted the throne for so long. He also understands how unfair and painful those laws are, not just for him but for others too.
Because of that, I personally would’ve preferred a different direction, maybe Ian and Huiju becoming a wise king and queen together, reforming the system from scratch and making it more fair and healthy.
By completely abolishing it, it kind of feels like it falls into the same repetitive pattern again. I think it would be more refreshing if stories showed people staying in their positions but changing the system for the better instead of always choosing to leave it behind.
I can’t believe I didn’t see PM’s betrayal coming. Not to brag, but I used to be good at sensing these things 😭 I always thought PM would be someone like that cool 2ML guy, but he really had to be the worst of all.
And how did Ian get the original will of his brother that the queen made sure to burn? And if he had it, I wonder why he kept it all these years without taking any action.
Not a boring moment in this drama. I’m officially addicted 😭 I never thought I’d find a villain in a K-drama that I’d hate more than the Jimu guy, but now I seriously can’t stand PM. HATE HIM. Pretends to be calm and cool while doing all the cheap things behind.
Don’t know how to wait until next week. And with everything going on right now, they could’ve easily made this into 16 eps instead of 12. I’m scared they’ll rush everything in the last episodes.
Somehow managed to wait until at least 6 episodes were out despite all the spoilers everywhere. Binge-watched all 6 while literally kicking my feet in the air... THIS IS SOOO GOOD 😭 I’ve been in a drama slump for a while now, and even the top-rated C-dramas and K-dramas in 2026 were hard to continue. But this… this took me right back to the 2016 golden era of K-dramas. As a fan for over a decade, I’m so glad I finally found something like thisafter a while. Nowadays most kdramas feels kind of repetitive, hollywood vibe and when a drama is lighter or follows the classic K-drama style, people label it as “boring.” It really feels like the industry has lost that original K-drama vibe. But this one? An absolute gem. Can’t wait for the next episodes.. I’m so excited ♥️
romantic thriller done right this a perfect blend of both like im intrigued abt the mystery still having butterflies…
Hi, I haven’t started this yet because I hate waiting between episodes..Is there any romance between the leads? I saw a comment saying they have a platonic relationship, which usually means more of a friendship than romance, so I got confused. I was actually expecting some romance from this even before it began…
Finally got the courage to write a comment after days of dreading the fact that I’d finished this drama 😭 My world felt so empty. I couldn’t even look at anything that reminded me of it, which is why I purposely avoided coming here. I loved every single second of this drama.. that’s honestly all I can say. I genuinely couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the role Jin Zhao than this actor himself. He’s such a great actor and portrayed Jin Zhao perfectly. I hope no one misunderstands me when I say this, but I usually find “cute” acting a bit cringe. Because of that, Esther Yu’s dramas were always a little hard for me to watch, so I used to avoid them. Even in Speed and Love, I felt the same way about her acting at the beginning. But as the drama went on, she was actually really good at expressing emotions..there were moments where I could genuinely feel everything she was portraying. I should give this a 10/10 because it truly deserves it. But I have to take 0.5 off, just like many other viewers, because I’m really upset and disappointed about all the cuts. This drama could’ve easily gone up to 30+ episodes if not for those abrupt edits everywhere. I think that’s probably why it has an 8.5/10 rating on MDL. Otherwise, it was amazing overall.. acting, plot, style, OSTs, cast, cinematography… everything. I’m really going to miss them. It’s going to take me a while to get over this drama 😪 For anyone who’s unsure about giving it a try, please do. This drama is the whole package. I haven’t loved a modern drama this much since First Frost.
Yup the cuts and chopping editing is at times obvious. This is 1 of the rare instances where I wished they let…
I’m totally with you. Even the background music is next level. This definitely deserves above a 9, with or without all the cuts. And that’s exactly why we’re all so upset i think.. if it wasn’t a good drama, we wouldn’t care this much about how much they edited out, right? We’re outraged because we know they robbed us of seeing some really great moments by deleting them so abruptly. Every minute mattered. And for me too, this is the first time I’ve ever wished a Chinese drama was longer 🥲
Trust me..we're all collectively upset and blaming the editor too..😭😂
Well, that’s not going to be good for that “editor” if everyone blames them like this 🤣 then again they should’ve seen it coming after making us suffer like this. Imagine how much we would’ve enjoyed the scenes they deleted… just thinking about it makes me want to cry 😔 Now I’m collectively blaming both the laws and the editor.
i am with you, i am flabbergasted if the China law is that super super strict, and why they couldn;t have pushed…
I know 😭 As viewers, we’re honestly helpless in situations like this. If all of this is because of their laws, they should seriously consider changing things up a little, especially now that their entertainment industry is growing so much. With such strict rules, it could be really difficult for them in the future. This isn’t even the first time censorship issues or laws have come up. whenever something unpleasant happens in a drama, those two things are always brought up.
All I can say is probably censorship but we so definitely need reasons. Also that doesn't give them the excuse…
Yes exactly. But my question is, they even deleted scenes like the wedding and all. Other Chinese dramas have no problem showing similar scenarios, right? So if this is a censorship issue, why is it only affecting this drama and not others?
I’m on ep 26 right now and I hate whoever was in charge of editing this. They should be sued. They cut out all the best scenes. Sometimes it honestly feels like watching a cheap production. Some cuts are that obvious. I’m just savoring every moment while watching (it’s taking me way longer than usual to finish this drama because I keep replaying scenes), and thinking about how much they’ve deleted just breaks my heart. Does anyone know the actual reason for this? Most Chinese dramas usually go up to 40 episodes, so why cut the best scenes so blatantly and squeeze everything into 29 episodes? Im frustrated 😭
We’ve seen it in this drama too, and in a lot of Chinese dramas as well. Whenever the leads have something powerful or prestigious, they either dream of giving it up because it feels “cagey” or dull, or they eventually abandon it after realizing they can still find happiness in a simpler life.
I absolutely love this drama, I really do...I’d still give it a solid 9–10/10. But I feel like abolishing the monarchy was a bit unnecessary.
In Ian’s case, it makes sense why he would feel that way since he was mistreated all his life and suffered a lot because of the royal laws. And he himself said he wanted the throne for so long. He also understands how unfair and painful those laws are, not just for him but for others too.
Because of that, I personally would’ve preferred a different direction, maybe Ian and Huiju becoming a wise king and queen together, reforming the system from scratch and making it more fair and healthy.
By completely abolishing it, it kind of feels like it falls into the same repetitive pattern again. I think it would be more refreshing if stories showed people staying in their positions but changing the system for the better instead of always choosing to leave it behind.
Just my thoughts though 😭✨️
And how did Ian get the original will of his brother that the queen made sure to burn? And if he had it, I wonder why he kept it all these years without taking any action.
Not a boring moment in this drama. I’m officially addicted 😭 I never thought I’d find a villain in a K-drama that I’d hate more than the Jimu guy, but now I seriously can’t stand PM. HATE HIM. Pretends to be calm and cool while doing all the cheap things behind.
Don’t know how to wait until next week. And with everything going on right now, they could’ve easily made this into 16 eps instead of 12. I’m scared they’ll rush everything in the last episodes.
I’ve been in a drama slump for a while now, and even the top-rated C-dramas and K-dramas in 2026 were hard to continue. But this… this took me right back to the 2016 golden era of K-dramas.
As a fan for over a decade, I’m so glad I finally found something like thisafter a while.
Nowadays most kdramas feels kind of repetitive, hollywood vibe and when a drama is lighter or follows the classic K-drama style, people label it as “boring.” It really feels like the industry has lost that original K-drama vibe.
But this one? An absolute gem. Can’t wait for the next episodes.. I’m so excited ♥️
I loved every single second of this drama.. that’s honestly all I can say.
I genuinely couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the role Jin Zhao than this actor himself. He’s such a great actor and portrayed Jin Zhao perfectly.
I hope no one misunderstands me when I say this, but I usually find “cute” acting a bit cringe. Because of that, Esther Yu’s dramas were always a little hard for me to watch, so I used to avoid them. Even in Speed and Love, I felt the same way about her acting at the beginning. But as the drama went on, she was actually really good at expressing emotions..there were moments where I could genuinely feel everything she was portraying.
I should give this a 10/10 because it truly deserves it. But I have to take 0.5 off, just like many other viewers, because I’m really upset and disappointed about all the cuts. This drama could’ve easily gone up to 30+ episodes if not for those abrupt edits everywhere. I think that’s probably why it has an 8.5/10 rating on MDL. Otherwise, it was amazing overall.. acting, plot, style, OSTs, cast, cinematography… everything.
I’m really going to miss them. It’s going to take me a while to get over this drama 😪
For anyone who’s unsure about giving it a try, please do. This drama is the whole package. I haven’t loved a modern drama this much since First Frost.
And that’s exactly why we’re all so upset i think.. if it wasn’t a good drama, we wouldn’t care this much about how much they edited out, right? We’re outraged because we know they robbed us of seeing some really great moments by deleting them so abruptly. Every minute mattered.
And for me too, this is the first time I’ve ever wished a Chinese drama was longer 🥲
This isn’t even the first time censorship issues or laws have come up. whenever something unpleasant happens in a drama, those two things are always brought up.
Does anyone know the actual reason for this? Most Chinese dramas usually go up to 40 episodes, so why cut the best scenes so blatantly and squeeze everything into 29 episodes? Im frustrated 😭