Okay to sum up so far.....HUNDREDS people from Wei, and Yang family as well as officials not associated with the family members are dead or living in slavery/poverty, because a man was upset he wasn't allowed to borrow a book.
A man's ego was so bruised that he threw and entire county into chaos(and rumbles in the capital) because he couldn't BORROW A FUCKING BOOK!!!!!!???????
PS: Support you local libraries. Remember even if you don't used your library card when you get one it goes toward funding for the library itself. Donate books you no longer want for either their inventory or for one of their book sales.
Grandma really learns absolutely nothing. She is always just doubling down on wrong choices. Anyone else notice how aware Rong Shan Bao is around her grandmother's servant? She let her cousin talk shit about Lu Jiang Lai, because she can't give another thing away to her grandmother.
She's learned to hold things she loves close to the vest. Not expressing her love as to not harm them by the hands of others. Everyone always talks about how RSB shows no affection towards LJL, but every time they interact with each other she flirts with him in a way only he can keep up with.
She is calculating, yes, but she has had to learn to calculate risk and reward for years. She hid her little sister away because she loved her and wanted to protect her. She only ever cried in front of her godmother, to the point where when she does publicly cry all of her family looks at her like she's grown a second head. I think the actress is doing and amazing job and showing inner feelings through her eyes and subtle body language. He tiny little smiles, the way her eyes linger or shift to show thought. Her reservedness works extremely well for her character, and I really appreciate the level of detail in her performance.
I'm used to watching period dramas from all different regions so the sarcasm, teasing, and subtle indicators are peak romance to me. I like how balanced everything is in the show. I knew going in that this was going to be business/family/investigation focused with a undercurrent of romance/love so I'm not disappointed in how the story is playing out so far. Now, if someone were to going into this thinking it was just a Romance, yeah I could see that person being disappointed.
I'm glad he didn't go against his principals. I hope that he finds someone who truly loves him and he's able to go far in his career without needing to ever turn to the dark side/go against his morals.
So you remember how delayed Yan Bai Luo was in arriving at the Rong mansion for marriage selection? Yan Bai Luo also had very strong reactions to the Wei family case. So I'm guess is the man that they found is actually the real Yan Bai Luo and that the one living in the Rong mansion is actually a Wei descendant that escaped the imprisonment/enslavement of the male family members. I believe he was also the one to drive Lady Yang Lan to her death. I believe he did possibly grow up in a monastery for at least part of his life, but I think his reaction to things seems more in line with the 5th sister's act pitiful, but secretly plotting persona.
After every interaction the FL has with the 2ML the writing double downs on how absolutely horrible he is. Every single time they share a scene together, bar the rain car ride scene, the very next one is to show his true character and motive. And though we didn't get the double down after the rain car ride scene the ML talks about how he was worried for her safety being with him.
I needed to point this out because reels/tiktok be doing the most with the walking red flag. They're like he saved her multiple times. No, my guy, he shut up a mole, had an ego trip, and then realized he could use her against his younger brother(because he clocked she was driving his car). The man is evil.
I've watched 22 episodes so far and honestly I can't bear to watch the last 10 it's so boring. I can't believe…
I had to skip all the secondary couple/grandparent scenes. It's not in the original story and has much weaker writing. The chemistry between the actors is great, but the story is unnecessary.
Don't read if you're enjoying the show. Year end round up thoughts.
I've been going over all the shows I finished in 2025. So I've been revisiting scores and reviews(I don't always post them on this site) to make a rank list for my self, and I'm still sad that this drama didn't get adapted well by the screenwriter/director. All of his edits to the story dulled the shine of the main characters. I thought it was going to be a new rewatch drama, but every time I think about rewatching it I remember all the actual awful changes made. I just can't get behind character changes on a novel that I really enjoyed. It was always going to be darker in nature, but the fact the director chose to lean even more into that side of the story is actually insane to me. (I'm talking about adding things that were not in the original source material to sensationalize the drama more. I hear that some of those scenes have been edited out because of complaints from readers/viewers, but I haven't watched again to double check.)
Anytime someone uses the word simp unironically to describe behavior from a male character that actual living breathing women respond to positively makes me laugh. Calling a ML a simp in a negative context is like watching a point go right over someone's head. It's giving "I didn't like Barbie because of how the Kens were treated." Anytime there are shows with role reversals it's like they ALMOST get it, and then the point passes about a mile over their head because they duck down to tie their shoes. Toxic masculinity is ruining media literacy, I fear.
I think you've misunderstood me. The production missed the opportunity to have more interesting photos/styling for the posters for the drama. They normally take the poster photos first, before principal photography even starts as kind of a test shoot for various reasons. With two worlds being the focus of their dynamic, they don't really convey that well with the poster chosen to represent the drama for PR. So, on set photographers could have been used during production to get shots that would better represent both sides of the story. With the English title being a great play on words "lines" both for an actor in a game, and lines of architecture/drawing. I just feel like they missed the mark on the image used to represent the show/characters. The artwork on their scripts gives a better overall vibe. From a marketing standpoint I just feel like there could some more interesting uses of the photos taken on set earlier on. Still waiting for that horse shot to come out.
Nice to watch? I don't watch republican era C-dramas, but the setting is VR games n rating seems good hmmm. 🤔
It's great. They balance the back and forth between the real world and the game world well. It's just cheesy enough to make you kick your feet and giggle. The republican era game really adds to their dynamic in the real world.
Im looking forward to the actors at Midnight Express reactions to Qin XiaoYu & Hu Xiu being a couple. They arent a couple yet but its a romance drama so its going to happen & I can't wait to see how everyone around them reacts to the news.
This isn't about the show itself but about an aspect of production that I'm hoping will prove to be a wrong assumption in a few weeks. So I went through all the photos that people have added on My Drama List for this drama, and I just have to say this. I can clearly see that they had an on set photographer taking professional set photos and not just paps in the trees or fans on the set. So my side eye is this....why on EARTH would you waste those sets and those outfits and not do photo shoots between takes/setups? I went through all the photos looking for poster photos for my journal only to be struck by the lack of styled set photos for future poster/promotional use. Maybe we'll get more later, or maybe it's simply a case of those photos not yet being up loaded to this site. But as a photographer I'm just sitting here behind my screen screaming omg please tell me they have a HD still of this. I don't know if there are any other photographers in this comment section and seeing the potential and how it has so far been underutilized in poster/promotional images. The art they used on the scripts is amazing. I just wish we could have gotten a few on set photoshoots in character for their game characters.
I love all the sisters and Lu side eyeing the shit out of Rong Shan Bao when she pulled out that handkerchief and started to wipe away tears. They all looked at her like they were thinking "Bitch what the f*ck? dont laugh dont laugh dont laugh."
I'm about to make my "They better get what's coming to them" list. Granny is #1 closely followed by that little pissant of a cousin(Wen Can) and that backstabbing-doesn't-know-his-place Steward, Cheng Guan Yu. (I don't like having to draw a hard line between master and servant, even in fiction, but by god does his character ever make it clear why they drew such a harsh line in the sand. Seriously so many of the Rong servants and other attendants just act against their own master's interest, and thus their own interests. He's like a palace eunuch manipulating the Emperor with his poison. I just finish episode 19 and I'm pretty 100 he was the one who slipped the "secret letter" to Lu Jiang Lai about where to find Madame Yang and WanWan. Aka he put the person Rong Shan Bao love's most in danger just to get rid of a "love rival".) So far all the sisters, imo, could potentially be redeemed. 2nd Rong if she just focuses on the fact Rong Shan Bao brought her daughter in with no ill intent, Rong Yun Yin, needs to wake up and smell the roses, or tea leaves and stop blaming everyone for her own mistakes and hardships. And 5th Rong...Yun Shu...she's still at the top of my side-eye list as I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. She's only looking out for herself, and I can't trust anytime she "helps" someone. She's too clever and hiding that cleverness from too many people. But with a grandmother like that, I don't know if I really blame her...don't know what she has up her sleeves and I'm nervous about it.
PS. Please tell me Wen Can's family comes and gets his ass out of that house soon. I can't stand him and he obviously don't actually love Rong Shan Bao if all he wants is for her to feel heartbreak and pain because she treated him like a little brother instead of a lover. Tiny dick energy🙄. He's such a 🤡
in ep19 did the grandma just say, "because I couldn't be loved, no one is allowed to love or be loved"? Cause that's what it fucking sounded like to me. I hate this woman so much. She doesn't care about anyone in her family at all. Only about her tea.
2 
A man's ego was so bruised that he threw and entire county into chaos(and rumbles in the capital) because he couldn't BORROW A FUCKING BOOK!!!!!!???????
PS: Support you local libraries. Remember even if you don't used your library card when you get one it goes toward funding for the library itself. Donate books you no longer want for either their inventory or for one of their book sales.
She's learned to hold things she loves close to the vest. Not expressing her love as to not harm them by the hands of others. Everyone always talks about how RSB shows no affection towards LJL, but every time they interact with each other she flirts with him in a way only he can keep up with.
She is calculating, yes, but she has had to learn to calculate risk and reward for years. She hid her little sister away because she loved her and wanted to protect her. She only ever cried in front of her godmother, to the point where when she does publicly cry all of her family looks at her like she's grown a second head. I think the actress is doing and amazing job and showing inner feelings through her eyes and subtle body language. He tiny little smiles, the way her eyes linger or shift to show thought. Her reservedness works extremely well for her character, and I really appreciate the level of detail in her performance.
I'm used to watching period dramas from all different regions so the sarcasm, teasing, and subtle indicators are peak romance to me. I like how balanced everything is in the show. I knew going in that this was going to be business/family/investigation focused with a undercurrent of romance/love so I'm not disappointed in how the story is playing out so far. Now, if someone were to going into this thinking it was just a Romance, yeah I could see that person being disappointed.
So you remember how delayed Yan Bai Luo was in arriving at the Rong mansion for marriage selection?
Yan Bai Luo also had very strong reactions to the Wei family case. So I'm guess is the man that they found is actually the real Yan Bai Luo and that the one living in the Rong mansion is actually a Wei descendant that escaped the imprisonment/enslavement of the male family members. I believe he was also the one to drive Lady Yang Lan to her death.
I believe he did possibly grow up in a monastery for at least part of his life, but I think his reaction to things seems more in line with the 5th sister's act pitiful, but secretly plotting persona.
I needed to point this out because reels/tiktok be doing the most with the walking red flag. They're like he saved her multiple times. No, my guy, he shut up a mole, had an ego trip, and then realized he could use her against his younger brother(because he clocked she was driving his car). The man is evil.
I've been going over all the shows I finished in 2025. So I've been revisiting scores and reviews(I don't always post them on this site) to make a rank list for my self, and I'm still sad that this drama didn't get adapted well by the screenwriter/director. All of his edits to the story dulled the shine of the main characters. I thought it was going to be a new rewatch drama, but every time I think about rewatching it I remember all the actual awful changes made. I just can't get behind character changes on a novel that I really enjoyed. It was always going to be darker in nature, but the fact the director chose to lean even more into that side of the story is actually insane to me. (I'm talking about adding things that were not in the original source material to sensationalize the drama more. I hear that some of those scenes have been edited out because of complaints from readers/viewers, but I haven't watched again to double check.)
Anytime there are shows with role reversals it's like they ALMOST get it, and then the point passes about a mile over their head because they duck down to tie their shoes. Toxic masculinity is ruining media literacy, I fear.
So, on set photographers could have been used during production to get shots that would better represent both sides of the story.
With the English title being a great play on words "lines" both for an actor in a game, and lines of architecture/drawing. I just feel like they missed the mark on the image used to represent the show/characters. The artwork on their scripts gives a better overall vibe.
From a marketing standpoint I just feel like there could some more interesting uses of the photos taken on set earlier on.
Still waiting for that horse shot to come out.
So I went through all the photos that people have added on My Drama List for this drama, and I just have to say this. I can clearly see that they had an on set photographer taking professional set photos and not just paps in the trees or fans on the set.
So my side eye is this....why on EARTH would you waste those sets and those outfits and not do photo shoots between takes/setups? I went through all the photos looking for poster photos for my journal only to be struck by the lack of styled set photos for future poster/promotional use. Maybe we'll get more later, or maybe it's simply a case of those photos not yet being up loaded to this site. But as a photographer I'm just sitting here behind my screen screaming omg please tell me they have a HD still of this.
I don't know if there are any other photographers in this comment section and seeing the potential and how it has so far been underutilized in poster/promotional images. The art they used on the scripts is amazing. I just wish we could have gotten a few on set photoshoots in character for their game characters.
So far all the sisters, imo, could potentially be redeemed. 2nd Rong if she just focuses on the fact Rong Shan Bao brought her daughter in with no ill intent, Rong Yun Yin, needs to wake up and smell the roses, or tea leaves and stop blaming everyone for her own mistakes and hardships. And 5th Rong...Yun Shu...she's still at the top of my side-eye list as I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. She's only looking out for herself, and I can't trust anytime she "helps" someone. She's too clever and hiding that cleverness from too many people. But with a grandmother like that, I don't know if I really blame her...don't know what she has up her sleeves and I'm nervous about it.
PS. Please tell me Wen Can's family comes and gets his ass out of that house soon. I can't stand him and he obviously don't actually love Rong Shan Bao if all he wants is for her to feel heartbreak and pain because she treated him like a little brother instead of a lover.
Tiny dick energy🙄. He's such a 🤡
I hate this woman so much. She doesn't care about anyone in her family at all. Only about her tea.