KJ2025

Actors did well — story did not

The actors did an excellent job with their parts. What was completely a hot mess was their scripts. 😝 This entire episode was a hodgepodge of events to get HongHong in a ridiculous position of assuming all hate to rule the hate. In her speculation she could be filled with hate and not perform evil deeds and keep the foxes in line. This drama has had 30 plus episodes of decent storyline to get reduced to this unbelievable series of events to position the lame villain ShiJi in a somewhat more powerful position as second henchman. 😝Fu Cheng killing a bunch of children spirits and YueChu’s friend was a miserable ending for a decent character. After all she’d been through this was worse than if she’d just died by Jin RenFeng’s hand. The tree spirit and bark tool human could have had a cute story but they made him stupid and her self serving. YueChu is mourning what he did but nobody is talking about the fact that he fulfilled the elder’s request to save Tushan. It wasn’t an option for him. ShiJi has now gone back to the origins of YueChu’s purpose for being adopted. She told the truth, but it was slanted and the story was far more complicated. This was a very lame way to rush to the end and getting all the characters in place. This single episode trashed all the prior ones for me. They ruined the good characters to elevate the lamest villain. 😝This is the first time I thought the drama deserved it’s crappy rating.

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Five Stars

The guests are getting ready to continue celebrating at wedding reception and Jiang Cheng Yi is working hard to save the chair next to him. Just as Lu Yan enters the room, Ding Jing snags the chair.😝 This gives Wen Peng the chance to offer chair next to him to Lu Yan. Their friends start playing an old basketball game to remember their fun college years. They are all up and dancing when a photo of three friends is displayed. It has Deng Man in it who is a dead classmate. Flashbacks reveal that she also had a crush on Jiang Cheng Yi and had a fight with Lu Yan over him. Later that night Yu Lan was called to identify the body of her friend. So of course seeing this halted the celebration and Lu Yan runs out. There is an odd exchange between Ding Jing and Wen Peng so it’s pretty definite this combination caused the photo to be included. Both men try to offer Lu Yan a ride home but once again Jiang Cheng Yi takes the lead and takes her hand to get her to his car. He offers his jacket and phone number as he drops her off. He calls her best friend to check up on her. Very late at night she is called to go to hospital for emergency patient. As she is making her way through a dark alley somebody runs into her and they both fall. The person is one deliberately trying to look like her dead friend and she says she will never forgive her. Lu Yan is very shaken as she is awakened in the hospital. In college she had found hate notes stashed under the bed from Deng Man so that is haunting her now. Jiang Cheng Yi makes excuse to talk to her about his dad but it’s clear she has already covered it and she sends him on his way. This episode was a bizarre crash of past and present. The emergency call was cancelled, so she was set up to be in alley with dead friend doppleganger. She has not had a chance to talk to anyone about the encounter yet except for slight mention when Jiang Cheng Yi asks about bandage on her hand. He knows something is up so hopefully he will continue to look into it.

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Mastermind

Qiao Man was very cute using the letters home to send secret messages.🥰 This was a good way to communicate freely and support each other. I am surprised the mom spoke up about the grain. She was duped by empress but even the gma knew that. Crush girl did not deserve to die, but it was rather heartless that she was going to help a village starve by giving them cooked seed. It really was a case of jealous women rather than politics but it sure caused a lot of damage. And we did not get to see gma’s reaction to bracelet. For all the crap he did do, I am glad Yan is innocent. He will have to decide how to proceed but he does have some options. I hope he will figure out friend from foe and that he will make better use of himself now. Empress and that murdering boy of hers are kinda scary in their complete lack of remorse for the deaths they cause. They are like a plague or cancer that needs removed for the betterment of the world. For all his hedonistic ways, Yan is not as evil as these two. He truly hurts himself the most and in his misguided way was really trying to look out for his family. I did not expect to feel sympathy for him, but I find that I actually do. I wish he could go dry out and find a way to live through his art.

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Uncle snake🐍 and empress fated 😝

Wei Shao decides to stay home and delegates the canal inspection to a newer general. He then surprises his wife by eating with her. She catches him liking the belt she made and grins. This was a cute moment. Wei Shao puts Qiao Man in charge of Gma’s bday celebration. It is an honor of trust but a very big undertaking for a new member of household. Qiao Man has the wisdom to seek mom’s advice in spite of their differences. There is an arrival of a rakish uncle who came for the celebration. The Gma gives him and Wei Shao rough jade stones that are priceless. They decide to make a bracelet for Gia’s bday and while showing jeweler the stone a horse distracts and it is dropped. Enter the uncle who saves the day by sketching a bracelet design and tries to flirt with Qiao Man with a piece of jewelry. She declines and he leaves in a bit of a huff. He visits later and admires and hides the bracelet. He acts like she is incompetent to Wei Shao.This guy is worse than the mom because he has a brain cell.😝 The jade bracelet is ok but now he has Wei Shao on the hook for the other piece of jade. The two pieces of jade were very different colors so it should not have been the emerald green color of first bracelet. And this time gma will be no help because snake is a favorite. She will see him as a dear rascal that isn’t evil but mischievous. He is a whole lot of ick. While he will have a distasteful presence I don’t see Qiao Man not being able to handle him. A new couple is introduced. It is clear there is something wrong with the husband and the wife has evil stamped all over her. She is crush girl 2.0 or higher. She has power goals and it is clear hubby is not part of them. It is unclear at present what part she has with Wei family, but she is going to be a bigger problem than uncle lech.

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Equal strategists

Wei Shao very nicely countered the efforts of his mother and crush girl over treasure box. His mother in particular knew how much it meant to him. So for him to say he taught her how to open the box and let her use it was a double slam to them. The icing on the cake was to offer getting crush girl married to stay by mom’s side in household.😁 Nicely played. Qiao Man has had his favorite dishes waiting for him after work and fixed the shoes his mom made to fit better. This gave him much room for thought as his mom pointed out the one closest to him and loved most would know his favorite dishes and shoe size. 😂 The one she slandered the most had already proven herself most capable. The chat with his advisor 🤣 His mentor responded to his question by pointing out specifically the people closest to him and how they helped him and he loved them. As he went down the line of family and advisor, the advisor then wrote down the words and how they pointed directly to his wife. This is the last thing Wei Shao wants to hear and he does not accept the obvious truth….his advisor just leaves with a smile. Qiao Man receives gifts from home and inside a note from family saying they would help Fan but not send troops. She corners a family member and finds out Wei Shao has waves of soldiers in Panyi and she was left unaware. This consoles family member as he thought she had completely forgotten family since wedding. Qiao Man shows off her lack of musical talent.😂 she persuades Wei Shao to send supplies to her cousin. After he promises she lets him know it’s Boya. One of his generals accompanies the wagons and he meets Bi Zhu on the way. Along with the rice Qiao Man gave tactics on how to appear stronger than they are and get Qiao flag up. The general reports back that his brother in law is the head of military there. Wei Shao questions his wife if she knew of his status. She deftly responds that can’t be right because he’s a stable hand. 😂 His advisor pointed out that it would be interesting to see which family side was chosen to represent since Wei and Qiao both part of family. The local bully general also wants to know who Bi Zhi has supporting him. As he ponders this Qiao Man is ticked off she had no clue about troops in Panyi. As her temper dies down she relents and is having a pillow made for him. These two😂 both quick minded and brilliant strategists. Now to see how different or similar their big picture are when placed side by side. 😁

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Deceit from friends and family

I do not know how Wei Shao managed to treat Qiao Man with such respect and so horridly at same time. He showed her respect that she was worth hunting a lynx, but then for the wedding ceremony he makes no effort to taste meal and pours the ceremonial couples toast out before memorial. His army and family lament her grandfather died rather than getting executed. He takes his new bride home to park her outside the gate. Considering the treachery from her family, this was something that should have been done tho kinder arrangements could have been made for her. At the ceremony he gets to question an uncle about not helping in Xindu who swears up and down he received no letter. Then he left an old friend in charge of bringing his wife in when ceremony complete. Not only did she fail to do that, her mother had a fake letter of divorce written up and henchmen to send off Qiao Man’s carriage. She is inside burning up with fever and her maid was most valiant pleading for her and trying to fight off the men. Wei Shao’s men were most reluctant to assist but did finally send a messenger to check on validity of events happening. Wei Shao saves the day to get her but then is carrying her back so they both are going to be drenched and ill.😝 He is not seeming so heroic to me at this time because no matter how much his friends betrayed him….he had a wife he was responsible for and he failed. She had proved repeatedly that she was trying to advance his goals and he treated her worse than a servant. While it was inadvertently done, he can’t be pointing fingers too much at how evil the Qiaos are right now😝 I think he successfully sunk to their level in lack of support.

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Battle of the fiancé s

Qiao Man finds herself between two armies. Wei Shao is surprised she chooses him. I also think he was touched about the importance she put on the lives of people in general. That the other side shot arrows her way after declaring her a gem was quite the irony. Wei Shao rescues her and she punches his face. I am honestly surprised she could reach that high😂 He is stunned a bit by that and the angry woman squatting on ground beside him mad at men in general😂 All his sidekicks make excuse to leave so he can deal with it. She tells him she’s not marrying period. I am not sure if he was relieved or sorry. She pleads ill and stays inside. Right when he goes to check on her he see she is leaving. He follows her and overhears her chat with big sister. He finds out that she stepped in to marry him so her sister could marry someone else. He thrusts out his chest and straightens his shoulders as Qiao Man tells how ‘heroic’ he is.🤣Little by little he is starting to care about her. In her speech to the people of Panyi, she admits her family failing to keep their word because of building a canal. She speaks of the hardships they went through. She inspires them to help Wei Shao finish building the canal that will join two cities and help crops. Wei Shao found that she learned of his plans reading the annals he gave her and studying the maps. She is claiming the land and people for Wei. It was a very good day with one huge exception. Her grandfather had passed away that night and she did not get to say goodbye. While her family mourns, others were not happy she handed Panyi over to Wei.

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Partings

More edit errors😝 Black fox caused more grief via ShiJi. The three drops of blood drunkard elder donated gave them the means to possess a fox. Drunkard gave very bad advice but was always an excellent warrior. He was trying to make peace with his tree chief love…she was off pouting in the woods while her daughter brought home a beau. Had she been thinking of how desperate her daughter was to get the tool back, it might have just dawned on her that her daughter did exactly what she was told to do. Make the tool holder fall in love with her. More mischief from Ximen caused six deaths. Now they want vengeance. YueChu kept his promise to Fox elder and killed him to save Tushan. The cost was even higher because now HongHong may never forgive him. She does not know of the oath and while she knows how sorrowful YueChu is, she does not let it go and questions if no other options. So does YueChu. The takeover by ShiJi was not as well done for a battle choice. Lame possession from lame villain😝 it felt like production could have done more to make this creepy and evil rather than loud and lame. 😝 HongHong should have hammered it out immediately. This is only going to lead to more trouble. Tree chief should have had a chat with her daughter before she threatened YiQi Alliance. When she left elder to go pout, she lost the high road for indignation. She was as much to blame by not taking care of things herself. The writing is on the wall for all our heroes but it could have been done with a better version of ShiJi. I don’t know if actor or writing or both to blame, but she doesn’t come across as serious villain. Her whole character could have been done better. The snow fox still was the best villain within the circle. YueChu is torn with remorse. His honor and duties have come into play in conflict for the first time with HongHong. There was dark that entered him at the border. Who will succumb first, HongHong or YueChu?

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Romance for tool

Another editing error😝 Maybe they should not have rushed this one and waited to release it second so story could have been in order. Watched in order, this one is not the low rating indicated. It was unfairly slammed and by releasing first it messed up storyline of Love in Pavilion as well. I don’t get the purpose in that. Why lose on two fronts? The tree spirit has convinced the Ximen disciple she is a twin.😂 He is not too smart. But this will work to get tool back to rightful place. The alliance has circumstantial evidence that Ximen family is involved in the threat, but the dark fox’ s envoy has helped disguise it. So now theee drops of blood has been forfeited as recompense. I am wondering what use the dark foxes have for it. Will that allow them to clone? HongHong and YueChu have stayed behind and sent the two elder spirits home. They know something is up with Ximen elder. TueChu’s dreams have been invaded with the thought that HongHong would sacrifice a child for the tree. It is known that DongFang’s owe a sacrifice to the tree, but it has not dawned on him he already made it.😝 He has slapped dream aside but as the dark one said, the seed has been planted.

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Garden tools

Note that 2 editing errors in this episode. Production staff better than this. 😝 I see that HongHong wears half red and blue and her spirit sign has two red marks like from beginning. This is a nice touch and attention to detail. It is funny to see Chen DuLing play petulant tree sprite😂 Lai’s real identity is revealed after break in circle. HongYe realizes he must get new YiQi Alliance director in place to strengthen Alliance power to combat dark force out of circle. YueChu wins the director emblem, but is strongly reminded by HongYe as to where his allegiance lies. YueChu is still firmly stanced on humans and spirits together fighting evil. ShiJi is visited by the dark force henchman. She is reminded of her failure and I think he is behind the tree clan tool theft by Ximan clan. There is a new member of the group who inadvertently was chosen by the tool to be its master. Now the daughter of Nanlin tree clan must try to get the new master to fall for her. If in love, the tool will change its allegiance. YueChu agrees to cultivate the empty magic as it will force the shapeless ones into a host. This will allow the host and spirit to be killed. This is the only defense as the foxes now in circle can circumvent space and time otherwise. It is believed they are trying to get back in time prior to circle being made. YueChu vows to learn the magic, but as usual he did not stick around to read fine print. Fu Cheng knows she has no chance with YueChu and agrees to be as sister in villa to help him. YueChu is quite vain. But he wants to look his best when proposing to HongHong. He is just about to ask when RongRong interrupts. They know YiQi Alliance family has stolen the tree spirit’s tool and that it will cause big trouble within six realms.so now the combined efforts of the alliances are challenged to keep the peace from within and strengthen the circle to fight those without. It is not known how many foxes are in inner circle, but it can be assumed there is at least one per realm.

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Love declarations

It was a nice work around for constable and her spirit. Each got their own way…but now there is hope in the future. Very sneaky to use his own gift as the spell blocker. I hate that he there 100 years in the ice and snow, but he can see her and she knows he is there. I am glad that they were given a wedding…very brief but it will last them both. HongHong has endangered herself falling in love again. I do not know why everyone is surprised. These two are just destined. He has always given his heart and blood freely for her. So this solution isn’t a surprise. I hope the tree counts it as much as the constable’s. These four deserve a wedding celebration together in a future life. I am still curious about RongRong since she is the only sister that got a flower from the tree. Whoever is planned for her may be even more special than YueChu.

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Partings

Nangong is dealt with. YanRuYun was also punished for his escape. Even with extenuating circumstances they added 40 years to his sentence. YueChu gets them to agree to work with spirit alliance to place guards preventing Fox spells to work in the prison. HongYe tells HongHong about the formless ones beyond the barrier. There is still a big question of how to deal with them. The constable ends up having to quit her job which now means she cannot visit her lover in prison. Here is where the wonderful alliance could have allowed them visitation in prison. 😝 so now he knows the constable will spend her life waiting for him outside the prison. Here was the debate with HongHong on giving him the spell to make the constable forget. YueChu fought against it and the constable also agreed she did not want to forget. To allow him the spell meant they would never know each other in present or future. HongHong offered another means where her life would be extended but she would forget for a century. She opted to remember. HongHong notes YueChu always fights for both sides. That one lover should not decide for both. He eventually corners her with this. Yan RuYun finally realizes she loves him as he replays what he said. Men can be slow.😝 But then he was willing to throw it away for her to have a life without him. ShiJi sets up Luo for a battle with HongHong. She plays up the guilt because that is what she does best. YueChu as always is there to protect her and between them they break through his enthrallment. He opts to kill himself with the sword. He confesses that he was the one that killed Lei’s brother and that he colluded because he wanted them to be a pair. He accepted it wasn’t meant to be but let her know his regrets. ShiJi drives home the thought HongHong is still responsible for his death. HongHong declares herself Luo’s only friend as she seals his cave. YueChu is now angered and wants to know how she could not remember their time together and wants to know why. I am not sure if even she knows what she did. And since ShiJi didn’t stay there long, was it really worth it? I’m with YueChu. They think better together. She should have consulted him first to see if there was any other way to deal with the tree and ShiJi. He is best thinking outside the box. And he was the only one that would dare to argue with her directly and consider her path. If both had done half heart at beginning…..could their fates have been changed?

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Lovers and liars and editing issues

The constable has been kidnapped to make Yan RuYu escape and be killed. The plan is to use this to trick HongHong into leaving Tushan and being killed by ShiJi. Nangong😝 I wish they would have annihilated this family and destroyed their forge. Nothing good has come from their and now it seems they have brought in a force beyond ShiJi. I am not as convinced of this from what I have seen, but he is definitely colluding with evil spirits. He is smarter than Ysng and Jin RenFeng, at least more cunning in self preservation. He makes sure there is a way out for him. I am hoping that venue is now closed and they just purge the world of him.😝 so HongYe never recovered from their battle. That is not surprising actually. Without HuaiZhu he would not have real incentive to live. Especially if their child is now grown. There is some bad editing this episode. Three different times it was not matched well. I do not know what effect this had on the dialogue of other translations. It was covered ok in English for me. With this cast it is somewhat sloppy for production to leave this in the final product. More mysteries like why QinLan’s finale was cut from Love in Pavilion and that this one was released before prologue and starting with her story. It makes no sense for either drama. YueChu is not really understood without seeing the antics of QinLan and QuZhou from last drama. And while he did have a different father, his antics here are very similar to how the two behaved in last drama. It makes sense if seen in the opposite order of release😝I am not sure how they are going to end the constable and Yan RuYu’s story but their willingness to die for each other makes the strength of their love very clear. I hope this negates whatever evil ShiJi has planned for the tree. I am surprised snow fox is killed so easily. He was the tragic villain of this story and even he told YaYa not to save him in future. He still seems more likely candidate for outer circle than Nangong to me. Tho power and money and evil tend to go together too well. His plot against WangQuan family is why Yangs and Nangongs should have been dealt with more strongly last drama. 😝 Same with Jin RenFeng. The nobles’ arrogance in just letting things slide have hurt too many. Too bad HongYe’s harshness didn’t extend to the nobles equally and was used up on spirits. YueChu's battle with ShiJi has weakened him…again but at least he could show the duplicity of Luo. HongHong wants to shoulder the blame, but Luo is selfish and weak. He wanted mutual destruction rather than what would have benefited everybody. I don’t think he killed Lei’s brother I think snow fox did that. But he is as guilty as if he did. I hope he receives real justice.

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Pinky promise

Judgment from humans is pretty severe on spirits. Yan RuYu got 60 years and this is a reduced sentence for assisting in saving constable.🙄 I did like how constable got a confession from him in her scroll questions🥰 The only thing sweeter than this was his horn gift. These two are such an odd couple yet so fitting. Who would have thought that being judged ugly is what they most had in common? That was a nice twist. Their steadfastness even with lengthy jail time has made them official for the tree. The pinky promise of him behaving in future was very sweet. I really like these two. Initially I was wanting her as a second for YueChu but this is a better fit for her. Just nothing that I pictured. Tushan is still investigating the murder. YueChu and constable have pointed a link with DongFang Luo, but so far no evidence other than her gift of smell has stuck. YueChu has gone back to villa because FuCheng is awake and he wants more evidence about the noble she saw. Unfortunately I think was Nangong and not Luo. Lai is also suspicious of Luo so that’s a good thing. His motive for serving ShiJi is selfish but it is not as mean spirited as a\I thought except for his hate of YieChu. I think there is equal mutual distain with these two. 😝It is also ironic that each believe the other has won. Neither realize she no longer can hold either of them in her heart. YueChu has almost figured out the truth of things but not the extent. Luo has figured out a way to make the constable’s love with spirit a way to trick HongHong. It is unfortunate nobody considers him capable of being a threat. However, with the exception of the snow fox….none of the villains chosen by ShiJi were very capable. 😝and there is still a mystery about snow fox origins….is he from within or without the circle.

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Luo the liar

Yan RuYu got the info to alliances on how to get into the valley. As they were leaving, two of the gang were pushed into the ravine. The bridge was broken leaving HongHong and YueChu on one side and the rest of the group on the other. Snow Fox had devised a formation that would trap HongHong and free ShiJi. YueChu managed to finally convince Lei who had really tricked and killed his brother. He managed to get HongHong out and she finished rescuing him. They are alive but trapped there. It was funny him commenting that she finally cooked porridge for him.😂 She did not get the joke but she is puzzled why he takes care of her. At last she is convinced he is not part of the problem. He just needed to almost die first.😝 what was unexpected until the constable mentioned the smell was Luo being the traitor. He seems to mild mannered to kill. I thought it was Snow Fox. He did something that makes him more guilty than innocent in the murder. He also revealed himself a follower of ShiJi calling her dark lord. 😝 Guess she was the one that woke him up and now he owes her. He has been providing Tushan intel and ironically is envious of YueChu. For whatever reason he is as empty about love as HongHong now is. YueChu and HongHong followed the river and managed to get back to Tushan. Luo has told his ‘masters’ they are back. I hope he gets found out soon. After HongHong guarded him for centuries it is annoying where his loyalties are. I think like when he was a boy, he is weak and cowardly so he tries to play both sides as much as possible. Yan RuYu is waiting for his court case. Unfortunately the new guard did too much talking about matchmakers and he believes she lied to him about character being more important than looks. I hope this doesn’t make him do anything stupid.

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