L13

LeYan's character is a composite of two historical figures: the princess she's named after and one of her sisters, who ended up marrying Du Ruhui's son.

Thank you very much for translating!

Leyan has a different personality, so I don't know if she would have wanted to take the same lessons as Changge, plus Changge had a higher status than her when they were growing up, so maybe it was seen as more reasonable for Changge to receive the same training as a nobleman/do what she wanted? BUT. The difference in Li Shimin's treatment of the two does seem strange, especially when you consider that he treats Changge with a lot of respect and pays attention to her opinions about war and politics, whereas in his conversations with Leyan earlier in the drama he seemed dismissive and distracted, like he was talking to a stupid child.

I think he probably wishes/wished Leyan was more like Changge and struggled to put his own daughter first in his affections simply because Changge is much more similar to him.

Textbook misogyny lol.

Every single scene with Wei Shuyu in it is about how pathetic he is. I'm guessing he'll either become a villain or redeem himself by dying bravely, or both, but I just can't take him seriously. He can do nothing right and he's cowardly, weak and self-interested while professing his noble intentions at every turn.

BTW, when did Li Shimin become emperor? Was the sudden appearance of a moustache meant to signify his ascension to the throne?

Esom is the lead actress because she’s supremely talented, not because there will be no romance and so the director could afford to cast an ugly woman lmao. IF there was romance, I’d much rather watch Esom with Lee Jehoon than Pyo Yejin because I know she can deliver sexual tension and believable adult emotions.

As you said, a very superficial comment, so...

I liked the intensity of the action scenes but thought the episode took a little long to finish recapping the events of the first and move the timeline forward, and then to wrap up Maria’s case and bring in Esom. I get that they wanted her meeting with Do-gi to serve as a cliffhanger and get viewers to tune in next week, but it should have happened earlier IMO.

Anyway, it’s not a major issue for me for now.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of that genre either. I've tried to get into Eternal Love, Ashes of Love, etc. many times and they're just not interesting to me. That said, although Love and Redemption shares a lot of the flaws of the genre (childish/stupid leads, no real emotional/psychological stakes, gender stereotypes, plot/romantic development relying on misunderstandings and jealous/controlling/manipulative secondary characters, tasteless costumes, styling and CGI, reincarnation and fated love nonsense, etc.), it did manage to hold my interest and I finished it because I got invested in the large cast of characters and backstory.

No Boundary is just kind of... empty... There's nothing of interest going on and neither main lead has any spark or charisma. I don't feel any tension between them that makes me root for them as a couple or want to see more of their interactions. When I realised I was wasting my time, I dropped it.

Anyway. To each their own. Given how many people love these dramas, they must be doing something right.

I'm really liking the atmosphere and direction of this drama, though the second episode was a little slow. I hope things pick up next week and we see more of Kang Ha-na!

You should watch a couple of episodes and decide for yourself if it's to your liking, but IMO The Long Ballad is miles better than No Boundary, which has a higher rating on MDL, so.

Don't want to pit two queens against each other etc etc, but Dilraba pulls off her youthful character more convincingly than Yang Mi, who definitely looks her age in Eternal Love, even when she's supposed to be an adolescent fox spirit or whatever it is. Dilraba looks like she could be anywhere between 20 and 30 to me, at least with the styling and lighting she gets in The Long Ballad, so I've never once thought her pairing with Leo Wu looks weird.

Liu Yu Ning has a bigger age gap with Zhao Lu Si, yet no one seems bothered by it, which is yet more proof there's usually some misogyny at play in complaints like this.

I actually think there's a lot of misogyny at play whenever people say they don't like the face or acting style of a famous female actress, which Dilraba also gets a lot. Leo Wu is much more wooden than her, yet everyone is praising his performance for some reason. (The reason being that they want to fuck him and don't like seeing women succeed.) But that's a whole other conversation...

Esom only had a couple of scenes in the first episode, but she stole them! I can already tell she'll turn what could otherwise be a typical gritty prosecutor role into a lively and distinctive character. Just one thing, though: I can't wait for her and Lee Jehoon's characters to meet and interact with each other!

It's really weird to hear of the popularity of the second couple among Chinese viewers when the second couple has barely interacted. So far, Hao Du has had more charged interactions with Changge than with Leyan and doesn't seem to care about LY at all. I'm sure that will change and am looking forward to the development of their relationship, but there's simply no good reason to care so much about it at this point IMO.

I have the opposite reaction in that I really like that Sun found out Changge is a woman early on. I am really tired of how historical dramas execute the crossdressing trope; the ML always treats the FL like a woman and has reactions to her that he doesn’t have to any other man (e.g. she brings out his ~protective instincts~ even though he’s mean to everyone else), yet he doesn’t realise what she is, even when it’s completely obvious. That’s not even queerbaiting as much as it is a way to lean into annoying gender stereotypes with plausible deniability because see, the FL is “not like other girls,” trust us! She's INTERESTING and SELF-SUFFICIENT because she can pass as a MAN, i.e. a strong character! Never mind that her ankles break more easily than wet cardboard and she can't stand in the rain and needs the ML to blow on her booboos. This dynamic is dumb on so many levels and I’m glad we’ve avoided it here. I think Sun's feelings toward Changge--respect and interest while he thought she was a guy and growing fascination after he found out the truth--are pretty realistic. (Although Changge successfully passing as a man to everyone else is still laughable to me, especially after she got shot in the chest for the tenth time and was bandaged by a doctor while she was unconscious.)

Leyan is a good person, so I feel kinda bad for finding her boring, but she really isn't particularly arresting as a character at this point. Hao Du by contrast is intense and moody, with lots of potential for angst, so there's a mismatch between them. It feels like his love interest should be a little more remarkable. Not necessarily the same type of character as Changge, but like... she should be doing something?

I watched the MV everyone is citing as evidence that the drama is headed for a sad ending, but the moment when Sun gets suplexed through a table and shot in the chest doesn't seem like a death scene to me. Changge isn't even looking at him when he falls and she only turns around when she realises he's hurt. If he were to die for real, it wouldn't be so random and quick IMO; it would be a huge production with lots of self-sacrificial bullshit and meaningful eye contact. As for the fact he coughs up blood, well, how many times did the ML in Love and Redemption cough up blood? Probably 30+, and he survived until the end! We've already seen Sun, Changge and that good-for-nothing Wei Shuyu recover within days after sustaining injuries that should have killed them, so I'm not too worried.

I get the feeling the kiss in the forest with the stupid parrots will be the final scene of the drama. Hope I’m right!

Anyway, Hao Du hot and sexy...

Wei Shuyu is so fucking useless! I want to slap him whenever he's on the screen.

She knows what happened to her family? And she didn't create any trouble by stealing the seal, which she sees as her father's, that she wasn't already in.

It's true that she wasn't aware of the undercurrents of political intrigue swirling under her nose in the palace, or the tension between her father and her uncle specifically, but I don't think anything she's done since going on the run has been particularly stupid. Reckless and self-destructive, sure, maybe, given her mental state, but she hasn't made any huge mistakes IMO.

I'm loving this drama. It's super melodramatic and high-stakes from the get-go; there's no time wasted setting up the story or ramping up the dramatic tension. It makes me wonder how much crazier things can even get from here on.

Darren Chen kind of reminds me of a younger Wallace Huo (c. the Perfect Couple era) in this, though WH's character there was both stupider and more charismatic than DC's.