MadelineMaureen

Don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying the performances. I just can't tell if the character is poorly written or the logic of the character is purposefully bad because he is bad. And because it seems to be a common thing when a general does well in all these dramas i'm just kind of like....what's the real reason and can someone please step in before he dies and they can't undo his royal edicts anymore.

Just barely into episode 33 and the emperor is so stupid. Pinning his most powerful supporters against each other. My guy...you are an idiot. I am rooting for him to be killed by the enemy at this point I would take the shitty crown prince over the current ruler. Hell make one of his ministers the killer.

He makes it so it's okay for the military families to intermingle and then is acting all shocked Pikachu when they ACTUALLY intermingle. The Song family was in retirement...they came when they realized the nation needed help. The Chu's and Wei's fought on multiple fronts. This man is pissing me the fuck off.

He has very few loyal subjects that don't just want power and because they don't want power but to protect the nation he gives them the option of a gilded cage or the iron bar kind. A misogynistic POS that can't even put his own ego aside to properly reward a woman for helping win back 2 cities, destroying an enemies' weapons factory/warehouse, and attempting to save his own beloved sister.
He's worse than his own backstabbing ministers now.

He thinks that just because North Qi's king is dead that he doesn't need the Chu's anymore. That they've served their purpose and can rot at home without ever producing legitimate heirs to their family line. He's so freaking lucky that Wei Yun and Chu Yu are mentally stable....villain origin story levels of bullshit happening to them right now.

Yall im heated and i'm only 8 minutes in. I need a drink or something.

I need the emperors/aka writers of these shows to realize that the people who sacrifice everything for their country shouldn't be locked in an emotional cage and barred from the person they love. What's stopping your loyal general to just saying well fuck it all and either taking up for the other team or stop fighting altogether? Oh no I fell off my horse in a freak accident and can no longer be a combat general. Oh you want to stop me from marrying the person I love and having my own family? Okay, bet, well Imma make sure your heir doesn't live past his enthronement.
DO NOT PISS OFF THE PEOPLE WHO PROTECT YOUR NATION and garner loyalty from THOUSANDS sometime hundreds of thousands. It is a repeated trope in most of these general FL or ML shows. The only time that wasn't the case the ML messed up so bad that FL went into solitude with a deposed empress for like 5 to 8 years(can't remember the year count) just to avoid his ass and having to marry period.
It's so dumb....like so dumb.
Blossom in Adversity, Legend of the Female General, Shadow Love, One and Only, Si Jin, Everlasting Longing.....these are just off the top of my head all of them delt with the ruler of a nation trying to box in their best warrior or warriors and stop/make it more difficult for them to be happy. 4 of them they were directly related to the Emperor in some way. I get that emperors were control freaks, but like choose a different struggle for the love of all that is holy.

Literally THIS! SHE was on a plane TO him and he was about to get on one TO HER, because she hadn't texted him back in a FEW hours(less than 5 hours) and he was worried about her. They had a fight/argument/disagreement BUT STAYED IN CONTACT the ENTIRE TIME he was visiting his sister at her university...and this director had the whole grain audacity to turn it into a SIX MONTH GHOSTING and KEEP THE ORGINGIAL less than 48 HOURS of being in two cities dialog. Did not change the hotel conversations at all....I was like...you MUST be joking with this bullsh*t.
So glad someone else understands my pain when it comes to that adaptation. Perfect cast wasted on such horrible creative license. Which is why I'm hoping he takes ZERO part in the screenplay for this drama.

ep23, confession accepted, secret relationship starts
ep23, relationship put on back burner because scandal/family duty(yes it was the same damn episode not even a full 30minutes of them together before shit hit the fan)
ep26, physically separated because war
end of ep30, reunited & more determined to be together than ever before.
teaser for ep31 kisses/I love/I like yous
teaser ep32-34 everyone is like nope can't be together & they're all like, well we dont care what you say even if you are the Emperor this is the hill we are willing to die on/you won't let us marry each other okay bet...we won't marry anyone & still be together. (aka the exact same plot happening that happened in Legend of the female general)

I always say put it on 2x speed & see if anything pops out at you to need to slow it down to read dialog. that way you still know the broad strokes of where everyone is located at any giving time as all the characters are moving around.
I hand write my summaries for each episode. if I had it typed I would just link it here for you. so super cliffnotes below.

Major spoilers below if you dont want to know about episodes 24-30







Wang Lan has her baby in episode 24 spy gets out & surprise is under timed poison that HanMei gives him the antidote for...you know the drill, only stops the poison for so long so that they can be controlled etc.

The ensemble kind of takes over at episode 26 as the leads split up to fight at different cities Chu's to FenLing, Wei, Gu, & Song brothers to QingZhou. this plot was a lot more interesting to me because of the trust everyone shows toward each other to protect themselves & out wit others. the song siblings get more development/screen time in this chunk as well(also Chu Lin Yang...i think him and Tuan Tuan are my favorite dynamic of all the love interests). & the battles start to kick off at ep 28. still fighting the FenLing battle as of episode 30.

Yes, but not until the back half of the show.
Depends on the couple. So far everything is very chaste with the 3 couples involving the Chu siblings(Chu Yu(fl)& Wei Yun(ml), Chu Lin Yang & TuanTuan(Song QingPing), & Chu Jin & Song Wen Chang). The fourth(princess & hanmei), though in an implied sexual relationship, hasn't even kissed on screen.


Exact episode spoilers below...


First kiss for leads is in ep23. forehead kiss & lip kiss(though I categorize this one as a "peck" & not a full kiss as it was not intentional & they broke apaet before he could "deepen" the kiss.)
Real kiss has yet to air but is shown in the teaser for episode 31.

they were such side characters in the novel that I forgot who they were when the cast list dropped tbh. It didnt need dementia grandpa & a dead dog to make an already heavy drama even more depressing. also why was Sang Yan invites men into their shared home? he literally would NEVER. im still heated about it if you can't tell. 😬

So far, all sibling bonds have stayed solid and loyal AF. Fingers crossed this stays a fact till the end.

The most adorable stowaway ever.

TL:DR if you have the time, go for it.
Below is more of a breakdown of my thoughts so far with little to no spoilers. But spoiler tag because long opinionated comment that takes too much space.

I'll be honest and say that there are sometimes noticeable editing issues because of something with the production. I would need to find the comment but there was some either production or post production issues when it came to editing down the drama.
Pacing wise it's pretty solid for a 40 episode drama. But please be aware of what a 40 episode drama pace is. Lots of character dynamics to introduce at the beginning, and those aren't even all the players on the board.

But once we get a little past the midway point there is a nice upturn with relationship development and the main cast starts phase 2 of they're investigations.

So if you're okay with romance taking a bit of a back seat and understand that they all have their own goals to achieve before jumping in to love I think you'll enjoy it.

Victoria's character, Chu Yu, is very one track minded for the first half, so her romantic affection will be locked down. I was having some issues with the director's choices when showing us Chu Yu's inner self in the teens(episodes) but we're finally privy to more of her thought process in the twenties. Ryan's character, Wei Yun is pretty much an open book for anyone with eyes, because he is a bit more innocent in certain aspects.

All the characters(including supporting) are having good growth and arcs. No one has acted out of character so the character writing for the most part has held up till episode 27. But the overall tone of the show does shift back a forth a bit...again this circles back to the editing/production issues that they had prior to airing the drama. I think my main beef is between episodes 15-22ish.

The show did get hit with trolls early on that a handful rated all episodes a one star another handful tried to counteract with ten star ratings, but most of us don't rate things that have yet to air so the trolls kind of won that. I say for my personal rating system it's currenting between a 7.5 and an 8. (I'm harsher on production because I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to the set up of making visual media. So this is above average, but not a "must watch" with points off for technical errors that shouldn't have happened on a show this big.)

I also appreciated how they wrote the men's conversation as well. The ones between Wei Yun and Gu Chu Sheng. Very mature, even when they are being a bit immature. The have actual working brains in their hand and don't just go cuckoo for cocoa puffs over liking the same woman.
I just overall like the emotional intelligence of all the characters with regards to when to pursue and when to pump the breaks/be realistic in the future they not only want for themselves but for the person they love.
It's honestly what's kept me going most. The fact that though there is a lot of differently relationships shown, the main characters stay true to their original goals and realize they are but a small piece in the greater scheme of the nation's safety.
But TuanTuan...go get your man, baby girl...let him know he's loved and supported. The man is a marshmallow with her and still tries to act like he isn't getting slow roasted over a fire until he's all gooey in the center.

there is an epilogue episode that shows their happily ever after. the director didnt want the art direction of the main show compromised so its like a bonus mini episode.

I have a tencent video app on my phone that I watch it on. well I cast my Samsung phone to my ruko so I can watch on a larger screen. im not sure on the devices you have. I made a free tencent account on my laptop, paid with my phone. but its been so long I can't remember the step by step.

Wei Yun and Gu Chu Sheng enjoying their little act a bit too much. But hey, two birds one stone...get a few extra licks in, whose gonna know? no one, because they have entered fight club rules.

the teaser for episode 30 is giving "hold on tight spider monkey" YuXi, what in the vampire run is happening.

Both of his parents are models. So adjacent to the acting industry with overlap being in those behind the scenes like producers. I think this is more of a case of having a good team that can help him navigate negative press as well as taking more offers or seeking out scripts himself.

Byeon Woo Seok has had tons of offers but he was more careful with his selection as to not be playing the same character over and over(at least that was the impression I got when he talked about it). He's had to deal with the fame side of popularity on a different scale as well, causing him to pump the breaks a bit. He now has the ability to choose or say no to something.

TuanTuan stealing my heart every time she's on screen. I just like that there is one pretty much unjaded and straight forward person to kind of balance out all the "must seek justice for my fallen family....but in the shadows" type people. Also love how her brothers are her own personal angel and devil on the shoulder giving her advise. I'm interested to see more of Song Shi Lan's story/character development. (i'm in constant fear he's either going to die or turn to the darkside somehow) I just need him to remain the loyal citizen/brother that he has shown so far no matter where his life takes him.

I'm even warming up Chu Jin now that she has all the information she hadn't been privy to prior about her sister's mission.
I'm liking that they(TuanTuan & Chu Jin) are having actual character development/arcs and aren't just left to be the pretty little sisters in the military family with no actual life skills. One is a doctor and the other an accountant. Chu Jin is perfect for a large noble family or merchant family. It's also understandable why she is so against becoming the wife of a general/military leader. She was left behind and saw what it did to her mother and herself.
And TuanTuan is the perfect wife for a military leader as she could assist on the battle field(well not ON, but you know what I mean) by treating the wounded.
They are both spoiled, but resourceful and curious about knowledge. Them being spoiled gives them the confidence to try, and do the damn thing.

They didn't adapt that part of the novel at all so it's straight forward with no redo.

I had a detailed comment that I accidently just exited completely out in response. Imma do my best to remember.
All of this is concluded from what the drama adaption has shown us, NOT what is canon in the novel. I have no in depth knowledge of the novel just a vague outline.

Gu Chu Sheng, like Chu Yu and Wei Yun, is trying to clear his family name and get justice for those who have been wrongfully accused/killed, but he has been at it for years longer than Chu Yu and Wei Yun. Where he messed up was not communicating with Chu Yu about his intentions/mission. This is somewhat understandable as what he was doing could get him a death sentence if found out. So telling the person you love the most about something that could open them up to a death sentence...I get it.

Where he really really messed up was not immediately going to Chu Yu when the Duke of Ning gave him the choice between death or marrying his daughter Wang Lin Lang. He and Chu Yu could have found a way around it, but he also knew that with the Duke's access/support he could get a leg up in the government/court, thus making it easier for him to investigate his family's case.

He hates his wife BECAUSE of her obsession with him that triggered him being threated and forced to marry into the Duke's family in the first place. He was already with Chu Yu, for years I might add, and this was obviously a known thing, so she had to have some knowledge about taking him from his lover/the woman he loved.
She stole a human at knife point and expected him to love her. Then he was abused by the Duke of Ning, and Chu Yu was threatened as well.

So in his, misguided, mind, Gu Chu Sheng believes that his and Chu Yu's relationship is just on pause until he can get out from under the Duke of Ning. He believes himself to stayed completely loyal to Chu Yu the whole time.(which in a sense he has, but...)

Chu Yu though, knows that there is always a 3rd choice. If he would have just come to her and treated her like his equal they would have been able to get out of the marriage-death threat.

I will give the man this though. He is a good official. Shity boyfriend, but a good official.