MarkWasHere

Three other Chinese historical dramas that I really enjoyed are are:
The Double (2024)
Blossoms in Adversity (2024)
Legend of the Female General (2025)
If you are interested in checking out some Chinese modern dramas, I'd recommend:
Loving Strangers (2026) - Remake of the classic Korean Drama "My Mister"
Twelve Letters (2025)
Meet Yourself (2023)
Will Love in Spring (2024)
Hidden Love (2023)

As an MDL user, you are free to suggest any change that you think is warranted. That's what the "Edit This Page" link is for.

This is something that the Chinese version did much better than the original Korean version. I understood and sympathised with the wife in the Chinese version because we got to see how poorly the ML treated his wife. His cold indifference would drive many woman to seek out the affection that is entirely absent in her marriage elsewhere.

Like many historical dramas, its best to park your brain and just enjoy the show for what it is. There aren't too many such dramas where you cannot find numerous and massive plot holes if you look for them.

I'm not a fan of non-consensual kissing, especially when a person physically forces themself onto the other person. Writer's that romanticise assault need to reflect on themselves.

God no. Qi Min is a sociopathic, psychopathic monster who tortures and murders innocent people (or orders them to be tortured or murdered) without a second thought. He kidnapped Qian Qian, repeatedly threatened her and her son, and even though it wasn't shown, I think it would be naïve to assume that he didn't also rape her. I for one don't want to see a drama where Stockholm Syndrome is the central plot device.

Here are a few Chinese dramas that I personally thought are as good, or better than this drama:
Loving Strangers (2026)
Blossoms in Adversity (2024)
The Double (2024)

I'm finding the opposite to be true. For me, the story has gotten even better from around the half way point.

It was OK.

I don't think I will watch a drama in which sexual assault is romanticised.

I've just finished episode 24 in which Xie Zheng apologised to Fan Chang Yu. His apology was very brief and vague, and it isn't even clear what he is apologising for. I don't think he was apologising for the non-consensual kiss, because he basically did the same thing again (kissed her without having obtained consent) in the very next episode. The only real difference between the two situations was that this time, Fan Chang Yu responded positively to the kiss.

She's two years older in the drama than she is in the book. It is common for underage characters in novels to be made older in dramas in order to avoid controversy.

An MDL score from tens of thousands of viewers is a reasonably good indication of the quality of a drama. By my assessment, this drama is worth the MDL score it has. I'm just over half way through and I'll either be scoring it a 9 or 9.5, depending on how it ends.

You and I have different understandings of the word "consent". Of course I'm looking at these actions through the modern Western eyes. For almost all of human history, a wife's consent was irrelevant. There would still be countries today in which a woman's consent doesn't matter, as women are essentially the property of a man - either their father or their husband. Where I live (Australia), which is a Western first world country, when I was born (in 1970), it was not illegal for a man to rape his wife.

Thanks for sharing what AI thinks about this drama. Did you have any thoughts of your own?

This drama is watchable, but not great. Personally I'd only recommend it to GL drama fans.

No, my comment referred to Xie Zheng forcing himself onto Fan Chang Yu in episode 17. I've been told he later apologised for doing that, but I have not yet seen that apology to be able to judge how sincere it is.

I haven't completed the drama yet, so I haven't seen him apologise. If and when he does, provided it is genuinely sincere and not just flippant, that will certainly be to his credit, and I'll then re-evaluate my description of this event being romanticised.
Until then, I'll stand by my assessment because it is basically universal scriptwriting practice in Chinese dramas that there is no meaningful consequence for a man forcing himself onto a woman. Even if the woman is annoyed at the time, she quickly "forgets" about it and then everybody continues on as though it didn't even happen. The "message" communicated is that assault isn't really that big of a deal, and can even be seen as romantic because the man is attracted the woman so much, he just can't help but force himself on her.

Sigh! ANOTHER Chinese drama where non-consensual kissing is romanticised. Why do so many Chinese film-makers insist on having their male leads force themselves on the female leads? Chinese censors have so many strict rules, but activity that is essentially sexual assault is permitted? I guess I just don't understand the Eastern mindset.

Thank you