K-Drama
This show is an 11/10
The best show and by far the best Chinese drama I have ever seen. I love the story, the cast, the music the side characters. EVERYTHING. I’ve re-watched it three times in the space of 18 months.Key moments for me:
1. Looking after him while he was getting his appendix removed because he had no family was very moving, tender and touching.
2. Defending him in the restaurant when the stalker girl confronted him was exquisite.
3. In a flashback scene with him bowing to her parents for looking after him after his mother‘s death had me in floods of tears.
4. The scene at the airport when she thought her parents had scared him away and she chased back after him was absolutely everything. The sincerity of her confession, the way the realisation of her hidden love came across his face was giving so much and more.
I even like the villains, especially the stalker girl whose dad was killed by his dad was just the right side of demented.
The brother was a top boy and both sets of friends had depth and character.
I must watch for anyone who likes sweet love with not too much angst.
The horrific sickness and diabolical perversion of this drama has left me deeply disturbed
Utterly Horrendous and horrific. On IQIYL it is classed as a romance but this is absolutely a horror sprinkled with inhumane torture and abuse for the female lead throughout.They’ve already established in the first couple of episodes how horrifically and brutally she was tortured showing us her being beaten to a bloody pulp with open wounds and even losing an eye with blood gushing out and even showing her mum getting thrown off a building and slamming into a parked car to her death. Yet we barely saw the villains get laid a finger on and when they did demise it was short and sharp and quick without any suffering while for 98% of the drama, they were still standing on the female leads neck for most of it.. this can’t be just a cultural thing, it can’t be due to censorship regulations and guidelines because you are more than happy to show us the horrific torture the FL was getting uncensored yet you didn’t really wanna show the villains getting their comeuppance. I really don’t understand. It’s as if the writers just decided that they’re gonna stop pretending to have a moral code because what they want is deeply horrific, physical and emotional abuse to be inflicted on the good guys with little or no accountability for the villains.. and it can’t be just to get clicks and it can’t just be lazy writing. is this something in the psyche of the Chinese? content like this has such massive audiences and are popular. Serious questions need to be asked about this kind of content because all it would do is desensitise Chinese people into the horrors of these horrific crimes and make people believe this is part of the norm. It’s frankly disgusting..
Started off pretty good, but I was disappointed with the FL by the end
For 24 episodes approximately 10 minutes each it really wasn’t too bad. If this was going to be the story for a full length drama, I would’ve probably been pulling my hair out.Overall, it was alright and I like the fact the male lead was part of some clandestine justice league trying to keep the city in check from his evil overlord sister.
The FL was an assassin sent to infiltrate the palace to kill the evil overlord sister but it was all part of a scheme by the ML to have her by his side because she can cure his poison.
Anyway, by episode 19 I was really beginning to question the FLs decision-making. Not only was she impulsive and blaming the ML when the truth came out and the whole heart blood debacle. She also played with the 2ML’s feelings for the entire time..
She really didn’t care about him or his feelings and use him as a shield which ultimately led to his demise and her crying so heartbrokenly, you would think that she was actually in love with him when she didn’t actually care about him at all.
Anyway, I quite like the fact that most of the villains got proper justice even though they had to drag it out over 24 episodes which was still infuriating and they all got their throats slit and died instantly. The ML and FL did NOT end up together..
I hate the female lead with a passion
All I will say about this show is that she left for six years finding out she was pregnant and not letting the ML know and then turns up and despite an apology I never fully feel satisfied at the gravity of her unforgivable actions in robbing her son and his father of five years of his life because she was just selfish and immature. It’s quite disgusting actually that this has scored so high because he forgave her so quickly that iy just made me think this is common place in China for a parent to be separated from their kid for many years and it regarded as being not a big deal because I’ve seen it in many dramas..
Did the female lead even like the male lead at all?
I didn’t really like this drama. Spoiled rich kid slums it in the countryside with a chef and her rundown restaurant. The premise is okay, but I was quickly disappointed with how rude the female lead was to the male lead. It was okay up to a certain point, but it happened from the beginning to the end of this drama. Where she was gentle and demure with the second male lead she was rude, violent, insulting and looked down on the male lead for pretty much the entirety of the drama.. the Mum was diabolical and faced no accountability or self reflected on her behaviour. The brother was pretty horrendous but at least he grew a conscience by the end. The side characters were all meh! and I have to ask the question if the FL even liked the ML at all. He was smitten and she just looked like she settled. The whole thing left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.
Not the worst but total nonsense
I like the fact that it’s only 24 episodes and 15 minutes each.The story is unique and different, but that’s where the positives end.
The usual C drama rubbish where the villains are constantly plotting and scheming to kill our heroes and they are completely oblivious or don’t care.
The biggest crime of this drama is the FL leads sister. She plotted and schemed against our heroine for 75% of the drama until she realised that everybody on her side betrayed her.
She even tried to kill her and our male lead several times, but this was completely brushed under the carpet because she was alone and needed help from our heroes.
There was no accountability, no reflection, no apology, NOTHING.
You lost me then I’m afraid
A Masterclass in Gaslighting and Narrative Sickness
If Part 1 was a struggle, Part 2 is a complete, utter narrative shipwreck. The writing abandons all common human decency. When the ML finally takes rough justice against the people who butchered his family, the story has the audacity to demonize him with foreboding music while his hypocritical parents cry self-serving tears.The final arc is a horrific soap opera. From the ludicrous cliff-side murder attempt by General Zuo to the explosion caused by Wang Yanji, the plot is purely designed to provoke rage. The 5-year time jump is a disaster, and the FL's cold breakup while the ML is half-dead is the height of heartless storytelling. The most insulting part is the expectation that we accept a "Happy Family" finale where the abusive parents are forgiven with a honey cake and the grandmother is treated with reverence. It is pure sickness to frame this level of emotional neglect as "harmony." Wu Lei and Zhao Lusi give elite performances, but they are trapped in a script that is pure, unadulterated nonsense.
A toxic masterclass in gaslighting disguised as a romance
40 episodes at approximately 45 minutes each and I was basically hate watching from episode two.I would be here all day talking about the problematic elements of the show, but the only thing I’m gonna talk about is the grandmother.
her love is conditional and though she is the only protector Luo Yining (FL) has, her kindness is heavily tied to family reputation and bloodline. It’s frustrating to see her dote on Yining while remaining completely cold toward Luo Shenyuan (ML) simply because of his illegitimate status. Her niceness has sharp edges when it comes to anyone she deems unworthy.
She enables the father who is a coward, but he’s a coward because the Grandmother allows him to be. She keeps the peace by letting him indulge his mistress, only stepping in when things get messy enough to hurt the family's reputation. Her silence is essentially a green light for the abuse Yining and Shenyuan suffer.
She sits on her high horse acting like the moral compass of the house while watching a young man (ML) freeze in the snow or get beaten without lifting a finger. It’s that refined cruelty—she doesn't get her hands dirty, she just lets the lesser people suffer because of their low birth.
She uses tradition as a weapon. She demands respect and "filial piety" while giving absolutely zero genuine empathy to anyone who doesn't fit her perfect mold of a noble family member.
She doesn't apologise for treating the ML like dirt; she simply starts treating him better once he proves his worth and becomes the family's only hope for political survival. It’s not an apology; it’s a pivot.
The show frames her past coldness as her "doing what she had to do" to keep the Luo name respectable. It’s a classic trope where the narrative makes excuses for the elderly character’s bias by blaming "the times" or "the rules of society."
I guess it’s so popular because it sells a specific kind of social pornography: the fantasy that if you are abused, neglected, and treated like dirt, you can "win" by becoming so undeniably successful that your abusers are forced to depend on you. In my logical mind, this is demented. To the target audience, it’s "aspirational".
This storytelling is acceptable to a demented audience because it prioritises Social Stability over Individual Truth
The actual Truth is the Grandmother is a child-abuser or at best an enabler for child abuse by his so-called father.
For Storytelling purposes The Grandmother is a strict matriarch who eventually sees the light when the child becomes a genius.
Honestly, this is truly horrific if this is what the culture sees as entertaining and popular and a good story. Crikey! Smh
A masterpiece of absolute crap, Narcissism and Divine Stupidity
If you enjoy watching a supposedly "elite" military general treat the creator of the universe like a footstool while he thanks her for the privilege, then this is the "masterpiece" for you. For anyone else with a functioning grasp of logic, hierarchy, or basic human decency, The 39 episode 45 minute each The Legend of Shen Li is an infuriating exercise in "Rubbish Writing."The "General" Who is Just a Bully
The Female Lead, Shen Li, is marketed as a "badass warrior," but by Episode 15, it’s clear she’s just a narcissistic brat with a spear. She struts around the Immortal Realm with a level of "raisin cheek" that defies belief. Whether she’s laughing in the face of her betrothed while he’s literally trying to save a city from lethal miasma, or nearly strangling a prisoner because he said something she didn't like, she is consistently unlikable, impulsive, and cruel. She hasn't earned her status; she just screams the loudest and hits people who can’t hit back.
The Divine Lord Turned "Simp"
Then there’s the Male Lead, Xing Zhi. He is the last Ancient God—the literal pillar of the universe—yet he spends the entire drama "simping" after Shen Li like a brain-dead servant.
She commits a war crime? He feeds her a snack.
She orders him around like a medical intern? He complies with a smile.
She disrespects the entire chain of command? He looks on with "affected indifference."
His "devotion" isn't romantic; it’s pathetic. Watching a cosmic deity lose his dignity for a woman who treats him with contempt isn't "goals"—it’s a character assassination. By Episode 31, when he’s ready to sacrifice the safety of the entire world for her, the writing has officially collapsed into a logic-void.
A World Without Rules
The show completely ignores its own world-building. The Spirit Realm acts like they own the place despite being entirely dependent on the ML’s power to keep the Abyss from swallowing them whole. The Immortal Realm is a collection of useless bureaucrats who let a "vassal" General walk all over them. There are no consequences for her arrogance, no respect for divinity, and no growth.
Verdict
The only reason this show gets high marks is because fans are blinded by the lead actors' previous chemistry. Strip that away, and you’re left with two toxic leads burning down the universe for a relationship that feels entirely unearned. I didn't want to see them win; I wanted to see the Abyss swallow them both so the universe could finally have some peace from their combined ego.
Don't waste your time. It's 39 episodes of a God acting like a waiter for a brat.
Every single character is excruciatingly annoying
A couple of questions need to be asked first.1. Is this the worst Chinese drama of 2025 with so many popular actors?
2. Is this a disaster from beginning to end?
3.Is the female lead in the conversation for worst female lead of all time?
There were only 24 episodes at approximately 45 minutes each and I can answer the second question. The answer is no because the first handful of episodes were okay but then it became a complete and utter shambles.
My first complaint is Yao Fu. She was an integral part of the plot to wipe out Shenqyue Sect and stabbed female lead through the heart to kill her but because yan Qing gave her a scolding she was completely exonerated from all her crimes. Total garbage.
Secondly, every time the villain said anything against anybody it was immediately taken as gospel yet as soon as the heroes had suspicions of the villains villainy they required a copious amount of evidence before they were even allowed to accuse them.
I could go on, but my final thought is on the female lead.
She betrayed, abandoned her sect to cozy up with the sect that were responsible for the slaughter and imprisonment of her people because she loved the male lead who was a top dog there.
Morally bankrupt garbage. TOTALLY USELESS.. and I will forget this before I start my next drama. Waste of time.
A One-Sided Devotion. An Unequal age gap Power Dynamic
The central connection between the FL and the ML is defined by a significant imbalance of effort. Throughout the series, the ML is the primary driver of the relationship. He demonstrates a constant, high level of emotional vulnerability and dedication, often at the expense of his own self-respect and social standing.In contrast, the FL maintains a largely passive and guarded stance. Even after the eight-year time jump into the modern-day 2024 timeline, she frequently treats the ML with coldness or as a stranger. While the narrative frames her behaviour as "cautious" due to her past divorce, it results in a dynamic where she accepts the ML's intense pursuit without offering much vulnerability or accountability in return.
While the ML evolves from a timid student to a successful professional, his emotional position remains subservient. He openly admits to being at the FL's "beck and call," confirming that the power remains entirely in her hands. The FL rarely faces significant personal consequences or emotional pressure to change, as her surrounding environment, including her supportive father eventually accommodates her choices with little resistance.
Unfortunately this drama portrays a fantasy of absolute devotion rather than a balanced partnership. Because the FL is rarely challenged to meet the ML halfway, the relationship feels less like a mutual romance and more like a one-way pursuit that lacks a satisfying emotional payoff.
A GCSE Drama Project with an Unlimited Budget
If you’re coming from the strategic brilliance and high-stakes tension of The Prisoner of Beauty, prepare yourself for a massive case of tonal whiplash. I desperately wanted to like this—the lead actors are charming, and the production values are surprisingly polished—but no amount of pretty costumes can mask what is fundamentally a rotten, logic-free script.The show is a complete parody of itself, yet it lacks the self-awareness to actually be clever. We are served a relentless cycle of "misery porn" where the Emperor and Empress spend thirty episodes being passive door mats. The power dynamic is frankly ridiculous; watching an Emperor act like a helpless puppet while the Empress Dowager and Prince Duan treat the palace like their own personal playground is route-one nonsense.
The writing is strictly GCSE-level. Villains like Prince Duan don't win through tactical genius; they win through "teleportation" logic and literal plot armour. He can stroll into the inner palace for a chat whenever he fancies it, yet the moment our leads try to show an ounce of spine, they’re shackled by "filial piety" or "system" rules that only seem to apply to the heroes.
Then there is the insufferable "pandering." Watching the Female Lead "kiss the arse" of the villainous consort—a character who is a pouty, spoiled brat with a body count—is bizarre. The show tries to hide behind the meta-excuse that she’s "not a real person" to justify the FL acting like a spineless nanny. It completely kills any sense of immersion or stakes.
Even the finale is a shambles. After all the treachery and attempted murders, the wicked consorts are handed "happy endings" and travel funds like they’re off on a girls' holiday, rather than a one-way trip to the executioner. It wraps up with a forced "women’s empowerment" speech at a burial site that feels like a LinkedIn seminar dropped into a massacre.
I’ve given it 3.5 stars solely because the actors did their best with the absolute drivel they were handed. If you enjoy watching a show at 2x speed just to see the "Checkmate" (which is ultimately unsatisfying), then go ahead. Otherwise, don't let the high production values fool you—this is brainless drama at its most frustrating.
Had to knock a point off for the ending
It’s a good show, the story has lots of palace intrigue, convincing villains. I like the heroes and the actors were top-notch..This seemed like a big budget but 16 episodes ant approximately 20 minutes each it packed quite a story.
The biggest problem I had with this show is the FL‘s best friend Yin Cong.
Let’s recap, she actually killed the ML and was fully involved in the plot for the FL to have a miscarriage and was front and centre in the rebellion to take the throne from the ML and FL.
Just because she did one decent thing doesn’t forgive the fact that she’s a total and utter scumbag.
And the reason I took a point off my score is because the FL was crying so hard at her friends death she seemed more distraught than when the ML died.
Still a pretty good show, nevertheless.
This is in the conversation for one of the WORST dramas ever made
It is rare to see a show change its main character as quickly and drastically as this one. In the beginning, the female lead was introduced as a refreshing change of pace. She was a shrewd, calculating and genuinely a strong woman. By episode 9, however, that writing seems to have been discarded. She has devolved into an immature brat who spends her time being lovestruck, not even over the actual ML, but over his adopted nephew, a character who acts like a total closed book. Watching a once-promising, intelligent woman turn into a regressive character over a secondary figure can be quite frustrating. The rest of the show does very little to save itself from this writing. While the actual ML is depicted as properly ruthless and competent when dealing with his enemies, the domestic scenes surrounding the FL are difficult to sit through. It is a shame, because the toxic family dynamic itself is likely historically accurate for an abandoned legitimate daughter. The villa is entirely run by the scheming concubine and her wicked daughter, while the female lead's biological mother, who is supposed to be the matriarch, is portrayed as a weak and useless parent who refuses to step up. Ultimately, A Splendid Match is a massive disappointment that can lead to irritation. What started as a promising historical drama with a smart heroine has transitioned into a frustrating, immature mess that may not be worth finishing.Episodes 10–21 gets marginally better than the absolute bin fire of the first nine episodes, but it is still plagued by major problems. While the plot moves away from the FLs initial infatuation, it replaces it with lazy writing, a complete lack of logic and infuriating character dynamics. The 2ML is a difficult character who completely tanks any potential for second-lead syndrome. Despite a decent appearance, the Marquis’s son is a short-sighted individual who cannot see the bigger picture. The ML is desperately trying to save this man's family from ruin, yet the Marquis always accuses him of being petty and holding grudges, completely blind to the fact that he is the one acting in an immature and petty. Least we forget the fact that early on he actually whipped the FL because he was having one of his petulant tantrums because she was giving him some home truths. Very frustrating.
The romance completely stalls out because the female lead has devolved into a bit of an irritating character. The script cuts ridiculous corners, suddenly turning her into an expert archer out of nowhere just to suit the plot. When the ML behaves like a proper adult by confessing his love and proposing, she flat-out rejects him due to baggage over her dead mother, dragging their dynamic into a childish standstill. To top it all off, the show suffers from severe narrative amnesia regarding its core villains. The half-sister and father, whose cruel crimes defined the start of the series, are suddenly treated like background characters and completely sidelined. Instead of giving any satisfaction by punishing them for their past crimes, the script forces us to focus entirely on the father’s extended family and their wicked schemes, turning the show into a frustrating political slog.
Nb. During the first half of this show there are a couple of moments particularly after episode 10 they’re actually quite nice especially between the ML and FL but they are so few and far between that I lose sight of them and almost forget them because of the frustrating elements.
The narrative completely collapses from episode 22 to 28, transitioning from a potential promising historical thriller into a masterclass in script lobotomy and state-approved propaganda. The fierce, calculating heroine we were promised completely regresses into a passive, skittish martyr who spends her time fixing household problems for her abusers and collapsing into her evil grandmother's arms to satisfy censorship-mandated family harmony codes. Meanwhile, the ruthless ML is thoroughly neutered into a passive bystander, and the 2ML throws a psychotic, sword-wielding, blood-spitting tantrum over a heartbreak he never even earned, considering he never properly courted her and literally whipped the FL earlier in the series. The political stakes completely evaporate as the actual mastermind of the corrupt grain swap is lazily let out of prison, the young Emperor suddenly mutates into a telepathic mastermind and the adopted nephew goes on a literal hunger strike over the wedding. To top off this absolute bonfire of garbage writing, the wedding day rewards the unrepentant scumbag father and toxic cousin, grandmother et al with massive imperial prestige and social immunity simply because the FL is marrying up. The show has officially sacrificed every ounce of character logic and cathartic revenge to serve as a pretty, high-budget piece of ideological stability lecturing that is a total insult to the viewer's intelligence.
From episode 29 to 34, it has transformed into a show that is a logic-defying catastrophe where character consistency is sacrificed for lazy padding and state-approved propaganda. The absurdity begins when the Emperor suddenly strips the Marquis title from the household the second the patriarch dies, backing his top confidant (2ML) into a corner over a nonsense power play. Instead of dealing with this high-stakes political crisis, the script bizarrely stalls to let the MLs ex-fiancée launch into a petty lecture scolding the female lead regards the 2mls unrequited obsession, forcing the heroine to endure this unfair humiliation in submissive silence to satisfy censorship-mandated family harmony codes. The story completely abandons basic human psychology and legal consequences as it barrels through its worst writing loops. The weak Fourth Master gathers the brazen audacity to kidnap the fl with the explicit, vile intent to sell her to a brothel so the "whole world would trample on her", yet the supposedly ruthless ml lets him off the hook with a soft exile and a mere kick to the leg. This legal farce peaks when an ironclad treason petition against the corrupt grain minister is derailed by a single verbal claim, causing the bribe-taking uncle to be dragged off in chains while the actual treasonous mastermind is allowed to casually hang out in his luxury mansion instead of rotting in a cell. The script then drags out a repetitive, rage-baiting subplot of the corrupt official's evil wife trying to frame the female lead's restaurant, completely wasting the viewer's time because the writers have run out of original ideas. The ultimate death of character intelligence happens right after the male lead is injured in an ambush. When he acts like a mature adult and asks a perfectly rational question about her past with his nephew, the female lead completely refuses to answer him. Instead of using her brain to resolve the trust barrier, she simply uses a physical kiss as a conversational mute button while the production blasts sweet music to gaslight the audience into ignoring the total breakdown of logic. The show has officially checked out, trading its somewhat early promise for an exhausted, mechanical product that relies on lazy romantic shortcuts and unpunished villains just to crawl to its 40 episode finish line.
Episode 35 to 40. The structural collapse reaches absolute peak psychosis across the battlefield arcs. The top-tier Metropolitan scholar Chen Xuanqing is completely lobotomized, transforming into a knife-wielding madman who takes the heroine hostage out of pure, unearned spite because his uncle got married. The writers then subject him to an absurd, five-minute suicide speedrun where he is lashed forty times, bashes his own head, and reveals he already drank poison, all while the production blasts unearned, manipulative music to force a synthetic tragedy. This is immediately followed by a gruelling display of misery porn during the invasion battle. The script stubbornly refuses to give the audience a single second of heroic triumph; instead, the entire supporting cast of friends and the male lead's personal guard are pointlessly pulverised in the mud. The second male lead takes a cliché spear to the back to cheat his way out of stalking accountability, triggering a grotesque, ten-minute sequence where the female lead screams uncontrollably and tenderly strokes his corpse, completely ignoring her own husband who is literally bleeding out and fainting into the dirt right in front of her.
The final episode is a masterclass in production panic and structural failure. Out of a 41-minute finale, the first seventeen minutes are entirely wasted on the dead rival's funeral and the female lead weeping over a secret letter hidden behind a painting, completely freezing the political plot. When the male lead finally reappears at the 20-minute mark, the script commits a bizarre act of identity theft by forcing him to cosplay in the dead stalker's armor to lead the remaining army. The grand political climax is entirely outsourced to a kitchen-knife standoff inside the mentor's office. In the final two minutes, the writers suddenly remember that the male lead was supposed to be "ruthless" in episode 1, mutating him from a sophisticated statesman into a blade-throwing action-movie assassin who hurls a piece of steel straight through the hostage-taking wife's chest. Within thirty seconds, the entire mention magically mutates into a CGI inferno, allowing the mass-murdering traitors to get a romantic, peaceful "Romeo and Juliet" deathbed embrace while the male lead scoops up his wife in a bridal carry and strolls out of the flames. By completely erasing the supporting cast, ignoring the total breakdown of marital trust, and replacing human dialogue with cheap visual shortcuts, the show finishes as a mechanical, exhausted joke that actively insults the viewer's intelligence. This show is without a doubt in the running for the gold medal for worst of all time in the history of television.
If you don’t have power and influence, you are literally nothing
This is an interesting story, but not in a good way, but I’ll get to that.It takes place in the Qing Dynasty and revolves around our male lead Gu Pingyuan who goes to the capital to take part in the imperial exam but is tricked into thinking his mother is ill and he causes a scene and gets exiled for 10 years in the harshest of lands where he is surrounded by evildoers but uses his wit and intellect to stay alive. He finds love but has to separateand escapes the hell hole and is reunited with his family. He then goes into various different businesses and is constantly challenged by the establishment but manages to thwart their plans at every turn making several enemies.. though these people including his father, ms Su, various officials and royalty all plan his demise and death he always manages to find a way out. The story finishes with him going back to his wife and them living a peaceful life, even though he is declared officially dead..
The problem with this story is too many to list, but the point I will make is that it is supposed to be about Aspiration. The show uses Gu Pingyuan as a highly idealised aspirational figure. The issue I have with this is that it makes it very clear that the average Joe literally has no chance to succeed. The fact that only a person of Gu Pingyuan's extraordinary caliber can survive and effect change highlights just how flawed and brutal that society was.
They also try and show us this is about Nationalism/Patriotism: The core message emphasises that qualities like intelligence, resilience, and integrity, when dedicated to the good of the nation, lead to ultimate triumph and national salvation. This suggests that extraordinary individuals are needed to correct systemic injustice, and shows the average person is disposable.
But in my opinion, all this show does is reinforce Hierarchies. The status quo. Influence matters above all else, and the system is so brutal that typical hard work won't save you. My perspective views the show as subtly discouraging mass dissent and encouraging reliance on exceptional, virtuous leaders.
So while the show aims for a message of "virtue triumphs," the mechanics of how it gets there (requiring the ML to be essentially a genius superhero with incredible luck) inadvertently support the reasoning that the average person doesn't stand a chance.
It’s clearly Chinese state propaganda and this stems from this contrast between an individual's struggle and the state's message of strong, morally sound leadership being necessary to overcome challenges.
My final thought is I also hated the fact that every time somebody did something to the ML not only did he forgive them but he somehow found a way to reward them for their despicable actions by either becoming allies and cooperating with them in business or allowing their business to flourish successfully .
The whole thing is just stupid.