KJ2025

Past demons

This episode finished up the story of mirror demon. He had the ability to seal portions of people that could hurt him in mirrors. This is how dancer found out that she had several lovers that he had killed over the years. She also saw her image in various costumes with scissors wanting to kill the demon. She was reminded that her original agreement to stay young was to be by his side forever. She realized forever is a long time. Here the fight scenes were not as good. It seemed more fake to me. There was a fitting end to the mirror demon and his accomplice accepted her part and stayed with him. BanXia and XuanYe escape right in front of the constable. He is starting to believe that demons can really exist. He tells BanXia the story of XuanYe’s family and the clinic. He made no excuses for his part in the matter. He believed he was right in how things were handled and only recently realized how wrong he was. XuanYe had horrible guilt of the outcome of the miasma poisoning. He was convinced he was responsible and his dad claimed the same. It was something he had no means to cure and what they became could not stay. I found their ghost versions far more believable than the mad beast version so production got it half right. BanXia is trying to look out for him and make her own medicine. I am not sure how successful she will be in either enterprise. I don’t know that XuanYe can ever heal from such an event. But it explains why he is more solitary in nature and uncommunicative. I can only hope the constable will lighten up now because he even admitted going out of his way to make the hunter miserable and I believe he has had enough misery cast on him. I am not sure of the symbolism of the white crow. It can be a good or bad omen. I can say that this was the first time to see a murder of white crows. It was just as creepy as black ones.

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Imperial orders

Things continue to move quickly. Pei’s army garrison has been burnt and fortunately no serious casualties. He now does not lead the army and receives 30 lashes as punishment. Other punishments amongst the soldiers are also dispensed and accepted. Ning’s birthday present from Pei was the tiger tally. She assembles it in front of both armies and Advisor Zhuo. She is now officially in charge of both armies and setting rules. Zhuo is losing it because he is not sure if Pei is part of the plot or victim of circumstance. He takes out his frustrations on Li who has declared she loves him. She plays chess very well so she is lining up her moves nicely. Zhuo calls out in his sleep so she is figuring out Pei is a prince. What is still a bit murky for me is if the babies were swapped first. So it is possible and maybe even likely the one claiming to have a son really did and he was replaced with a girl. Since both fathers were psychos and really didn’t care about their children or people, I don’t think Ning or Pei will be thrown off too much if their fathers are inversed. Fate can be the result of interesting paths. These two might be the only good the prior two emperors accomplished. Still enjoying everything about this drama. My only complaint is having to wait for each episode.

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I want to be a hero

Gou Ling Feng has one wish. He wants to be a super hero. He has the heart and determination but an unfortunate birthmark on his face makes everyone think he’s from the demon sect. His father is wealthy and has tried to bribe everyone possible to train his son but no one is willing to teach him. This drama is almost like a live action king fu panda.😂 GLF finds one that recognizes his innate abilities for martial arts and agrees to train him. When he tells GLF to travel to the MMA, he is again judged by his appearance tho his skills are undeniable. He is very honest in his pursuit of being a hero but he acts more like a child and isn’t taken seriously. When cornered by a bunch of fighters who try to bully him, he quickly disarms them and uses high ranking demonic skills. This is recognized by a handsome knight that tries to make himself a disciple to GLF. A prison break results in a murder and GLF is immediately accused of the crime. There is no evidence that puts him anywhere near the incident but that doesn’t matter. They learn it is someone else and the magistrate is trying to make amends when the handsome knight comes to rescue GLF and they leave. The fight scenes while silly are well choreographed and entertaining. They successfully show off GLF’s fighting skills while his speaking skills are more childlike than warrior like. This is a fun parody drama.

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Getting acquainted

ZZ let’s GXX monitor a class and she invites SSM. QQC gets cornered to teach about voice acting and he tags SSM to participate. She is thrown into the deep end when his dialogue begins with I love you. Do you love me? The best friends cringe for him when she responds Yes, I love your voice.😂 He takes it in stride and continues teaching. But she has pleasant thoughts afterwards. It is agreed that plans with nonprofit app should start after the girls undergraduate exams so there is no conflict. SSM’s roommates have as much fun teasing her as QQC’s friends with him. It is clear there is an attraction. QQM is hero to two doctors being harassed outside of the hospital. SSM sees the conflict and is going to reward him with 12% price reduction next time he shops🤣 She finds out she has become popular overnight because QQC is now following her online. She needs his assist to get verified and he suggests her singing for him. He has her sing what she calls a shameful song. 🤣 Zhou Ye is not really singing this, but she acts well and her friend and QQC have a good laugh at her expense on this one. The song is very funny and I kept a TikTok version available to watch for a good laugh. I found 3 slightly different translations, each one a bit coarser in wording. QQC definitely has an ornery side with this request. 🤣He proves this again when he buys bags of snacks for the harassed co workers and hands them to his friend to give out and take credit. As he exits, his friend realizes he has been tricked to stay after shift is over to pass out the treats. 😂 Everybody is making fun plans for the holiday except Dr Mo who takes advantage of the quiet time to get more work done. Perfect voice is making plans for a holiday broadcast and QQC asks SSM her opinion. She ends up getting to choose the song and singers, additionally suggesting QQC narrates. While his friends tease him for being drafted to participate, he ropes in SSM to help with vocals.

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Qiang Qing Ci meet Sheng Sheng Man

I love this drama. I don’t even know how many times I have watched it. This was my first Tan Jian Ci drama and like ShengSheng, I became a huge fan. I can relate to her starry eyed look just enjoying his voice. ShengSheng is in college sharing a dorm room with two friends. Qiang Qing Ci is a doctor and a voice actor. He and his colleagues helped found perfect voice recording studio where they do voice overs for games, dramas, etc. Paths cross when her roommates nonprofit wants to collaborate with Perfect Voice. Sheng Sheng got included as the music composer. Now what is really sweet is that her brother played a demo at their family store and QQC is as enamored with her voice as she is with his. He has some very nosy friends that are having a field day trying to find out what girl finally has his attention. Jue Mei agrees to work with the nonprofit just to watch his friend react.🤣 Their paths just miss as they are out with friends but they do link up in voice chat rooms. Here he shares recipes with her because he heard her chatting with her friend about food so uses this as an icebreaker to talk with her. She just sits there lost in her own little world getting lost in the sound of his voice. And I completely agree with her sentiment.

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Charitable donations

Advisor Zhuo makes Pei accompany his treasure and lead the Huting army to its new location. Interestingly enough Ning asks him directly if he will be the one leading and he affirms it. While they are moving the treasure, they are set upon by a mob of refugees. The army refuses to fight unarmed civilians so quite a bit of the treasure was “donated”. Emperor Ning finishes up her fasting time at the temple and makes her way to where Zhuo is punishing Pei and the army commander for losing his loot. He is just getting ready to start killing when Ning and company come in catching him in the act. She reminds him it is not legal to use the army for private use. He inadvertently slashes her arm with his sword and a group comes in with a citizen statement thanking him for his kind donation to the refugees. Ning says that when circumstances are better she will build him a statue. Zhuo leaves in a huff, for once publicly outplayed in front of his men. They all see that she is the one standing up for them and the people and they hail allegiance to her. She passes out in Pei’s arms as the episode ends. Here I think he finally sees she is for real and means to stand for the people, with or without help. She is playing the game well. It will not be checkmate until Zhuo is dead. But getting his money was a good start.

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X marks the spot

Everyone knows Advisor Zhuo steals the collection money. Nobody is exactly sure where his private stash is. I wonder who is behind the mystery flames and too bad didn’t have them appear right by him in palace meeting place. They have enough rumors circulating and a rogue band of robbers on the loose to make Zhuo a bit nervous about his hiding place. Will he really reveal the location? Pei tries to warn her that it isn’t a good idea because he has a lot of things stashed there and it will be dangerous. Ning takes his hand off her shoulder and drops it telling him to show respect. 🤣 she is definitely learning how the game is played, but she is in a very high stakes game. To the winner goes the spoils.

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Frenemies

Ning says a lot of things to Pei not knowing he had suffered the same and first. He made no rebuttal but declared himself not on her side in regards to Advisor Zhuo. She has completely fed that man’s ego and given him full reign to basically do as he pleases with no repurcussions. She fires the censor and reduces him to commoner status. She gets very drunk and makes one more attempt to get Pei’s allegiance. When he refuses she declares them enemies. Right when I thought Zhuo was trying something again it was her censor that knocked her out and snuck her out of the palace. She now knows who is on her side but they are few in number. She knows she is playing the game of mutual destruction. Her first goal is to get the relief money Zhuo stole and get it to the two places suffering emergency conditions.

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A life for a life

Right when you think Advisor Zhuo couldn’t possibly sink any lower he finds a way to accomplish it. He struck a heavy blow to both of them. Pei knows who really believes in him, but he plays Zhuo’s game to try to get antidote for Ning. It’s a good thing Zhuo doesn’t know Ning is female or he might have proposed a different situation. Li is throwing herself in the fire but is being fought every step of the way by Ning. She is completely ready to sacrifice herself for Li. Zhuo is relishing the upper hand and had the temerity to say a life for a life. I guess he killed the apothecary so no antidotes could be made timely in future. He has that knife move down pat and it’s a perfect mimicry of Pei’s first (inadvertent) killing.

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Up in flames

Everything was going to plan. Magistrate Zhuo condemned himself and actually got off easier being killed by Pei’s sword rather than dismemberment. Ning made a new decree that allowed women to be head of household. She argued it beautifully and could not be refuted. But the Censor just could not wait like told. He was determined to bring Advisor Zhuo down. He brought a wagon full of evidence that was let to go up in smoke. One army was brought in daring a confrontation. Ning has to wait before she can bring him down and that young man just made it a lot harder for everybody. The scholars are incensed and the Advisor is determined more scorched earth. Ning and Pei are walking such a fine line here.

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Subterfuge

Pei is an excellent chess player. He sees that Zhou knows of his alliance with Ning and is following Zhuo’s suggestion to distance himself and give Ning a chance. I really detest the entire Zhuo family😝 Pei is related by default not by blood. The arrogance of these men truly has no limits. They really have no allegiance to each other but will kill for each other. I do not see how Ning can work her way around all these circumstances but I really hope she figures out something. She knows something is off with Pei so she has been forewarned. But she has no clue what his endgame is. Right now, I don’t think he does either. I would be happier if all three of those magistrates were permanently off the grid. I am glad for the young man being the censor. This will at least give him some sense of vindication. I am also hoping it was not Pei who killed the scholar. This really doesn’t feel like his type of action. But, I am not convinced he didn’t know about it and help delay Ning from finding out. He is a master of all things gray.

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Justice denied

Both share a similar dream🔥 Both got hit hard with reality🤣 Ning has found a way to circumvent Zhuo about bride. She has created a happy circumstance and alliance with the young woman that will give her some justice from mean step mother. However, Zhou and his family continue with scorched earth approach. Together these two have murdered the mentor and the Junlai villagers. Ning learns that he has hidden 10 memorials addressed to her about the matter. He is pleased with himself because he is expecting a new heir soon so he is loosening his grasp a bit. Pei knows that they need to tread carefully so that Ning isn’t killed. This injustice by these men is outrageous. I hope to see them dealt with before drama ends. I also hope they receive some of their own type of justice. Pei will have to help her with this tightrope of killers and it will not be easy.

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Hidden alliances

Ning is confined to her room for 5 days as punishment for her leave from the palace. Zhuo is a psycho; demonstrated by making Pei kill his best friend as a young boy. He is suspicious about the identity of Madame Li and Pei’s loyalty. Pei makes a very convincing show of allegiance, and while frightening for Ning, she understands what he is doing and why necessary. These two play off each other well and are growing closer in understanding. Pei shares the treats he was duped into buying and notes that they really are a favorite for her. He is very cool and calculating in his assessment of people, which is why it’s surprising he was willing to change his mind about 5th Prince Ning. He tells her that whether an Emperor does good or evil is more important than gender. He is walking a fine line with Zhuo, but is successful for now in toeing the line. He questions Li thoroughly to find out who knows Ning is a woman. He knows he will have to figure out a way to keep this all quiet and considering his options. He tells Li flat out she will not get a second chance to deceive and her life is in the balance if she tries it. Li is protecting someone other than Ning but she definitely doesn’t want it known by anybody. The machinations continue and alliances are both fluid and steadfast. Zhuo is wondering if Li is someone from his past but hasn’t connected all the dots yet. His hatred and obsession with revenge clouds his judgment for the big picture. He prefers the scorched earth approach to dealing with conflict and doesn’t care about collateral damage. One interesting development is Ning wanting to allow women to have property. This will not go over well with officials but will be a godsend to widows who have no family or male to fight for them. This will allow them to live on their family land and to make a living without harassment from bully officials profiting from their hardships.

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