Meari21

I was so frustrated with the writing I almost dropped it. 😂 7 is already somewhat high for me. It means I enjoyed it to a certain degree. An 8-8.5 means it’s a solid drama with some flaws. My 9-9.5 is reserved for the ones I consider great and rewatchable. I rarely give 10. POJ became a chore to watch after the first arc and definitely something I won’t want to rewatch. That’s why my rating went down drastically. But it’s still above average, especially production-wise and the casting, so I give it a 6.5.

Yep. It was an 8-8.5 but went down to 6. I added a .5 for the Lin’An dream sequence-ish scene with all the people who died welcoming Changyu. That scene tugged at my heartstrings.

I thought I was going nuts not liking this drama because almost every drama fan I know have been watching this and loving it. lol

The alternative timeline ending is so unnecessary. I'd rather they used that time to fully flesh out the root cause of that disaster 17 years ago. I am honestly disappointed with this drama. I went into this thinking it has real potential, but ended up thinking the second half is a chore to watch. You're more generous in your rating than me. lol

Strange that my iQIYI Premium subscription allows me to watch the remaining episodes with no additional fee but my WeTV sub requires me to pay for the express package. My iQIYI sub is proving to be a much better investment.

Because the premium VIP membership allows you to unlock the remaining episodes with no added express package fee. I was able to unlock mine just now. But my WeTV subscription needs additional payment for the express. Good thing I have both subscriptions now. I guess I better hold on to my iQIYI premium sub.

Yeah, but the very reason why she found him buried in the snow is because of that political subplot. Plus, Changyu's whole identity is directly related to what occurred many years ago. If that whole disaster hadn't transpired, she would've been a Wei living a comfortable life and probably would've been betrothed to the Marquis since childhood even. What a waste of a great premise!

The animated version was actually better. Mulan wasn’t OP just a smart and resourceful girl. I meant the live action with Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, and Jet Li. The politics in POJ is also practically non-existent just a plot device that they only included to move the story forward when needed. It was also not executed well. I struggled trying to remember the players at first because they barely talk about the political aspects of the story. I didn’t really understand what was actually going on with the royals and nobles until much later. This is a female-centric romance fantasy. The politics is just a cosmetic addition. I realized that too late unfortunately.

Yep. It’s basically a Wattpad story. I tried reading it but I kept shaking my head at how ridiculous her character is. I thought the drama would make it more realistic, but it didn’t they just toned things down a bit.

If I'm not mistaken, it follows the novel closely so the original author is responsible for this. Changyu is supposed to be a one in a thousand years martial artist and they use that to justify her superhuman abilities. It reminds me of Disney's live action Mulan starring Liu Yifei, which was a complete dumpster fire. She was just born with the martial arts prowess and naturally better than all the men who are far more experienced and supposedly more skilled despite receiving little to no training, and she does it while looking beautiful. lol

I completely agree with you. I liked this drama at first. I really enjoyed the Lin'An slice of life story arc and I was drawn to Fan Changyu as a character. But as the story progressed, it became less and less interesting and more and more infuriating, and they turned her into a Mary Sue who could whip out her blades and kill some of the most celebrated and seasoned warriors just like that. At least Xena's skills came from years of brutal training and actually leading troops to war, Changyu has become Rey Skywalker from the Star Wars sequels and it's unfortunate. I did like her initially. There are far too many suspend-your-disbelief moments that I can't forgive the writing anymore. I initially rated this an 8 and expected it to go higher because of the strong first arc, but now my rating has gone down considerably. There are episodes that I found downright dull, I started watching in 2x the speed, which I very rarely do. At this point, I'm still holding on just for the sake of finishing the drama, I'm almost through after all. I watched this mostly for Deng Kai's bloodthirsty psycho Qi Min. Whenever he's on screen, I can't look away even though I abhor his character. That's simply great acting from this guy.

And that’s why I said they’re going after those who posted and even shared the leaks online in China, even if they weren’t the actual culprits who stole from them. They’re also going after the international sites that uploaded the leaked episodes. Which drama had their unaired episodes leaked before this? Were they also as viral as this drama? Because as far as I know, this is a huge controversy over there now.

This is different. These are unreleased episodes. That’s not just piracy but a serious crime there. Word is they’re also going after people who posted and shared the leaks on Chinese social media and they’ll be going after these international illegal sites.

There isn't any. The subs there are machine generated. Besides, those sites might be taken down soon because the production team are determined to sue and go after sites that uploaded the leaked episodes. If you're in China and you try to watch these episodes on illegal streaming sites, that's a 10-year jail time. That's how serious they are. KissKh and other sites better watch out, Tencent and iQIYI are pissed their biggest hit series of 2026 is being pirated.

The audience usually rate dramas based on how much they enjoyed them. While I do agree that this isn't on the same level as Nirvana in Fire or Joy of Life in terms of quality, heck, I don't even think it's as good as The Prisoner of Beauty, but that's just me. This drama isn't just as good as those dramas I mentioned in my humble opinion. But that's just it, it's just an opinion. Some people think it's the greatest thing there is and they're entitled to that opinion as much as we are entitled to ours. I wondered why this got so much hype that even my K-drama fanatic friends started obsessing about it. But to be honest, I'm kinda glad they made the transition from K-drama to C-drama. The more the merrier. I'm no gatekeeper, so if more people start enjoying C-dramas in general and they discover more and better dramas because of this, then I'm good. I'd be happy to recommend more dramas for them to watch. lol

That I get. That's why I said, after he has fully recovered and gone back to the army, he should've looked more imposing and domineering physically. But they still haven't given us the fearsome military general they promised us. What we're getting is a lovesick fool who thinks he's protecting his wife by not being fully honest with her even though he knows she's more than capable of defending herself. The fact that he decided not to tell her the truth or bring her along was him underestimating her capabilities and taking away her right to make that decision for herself. A truly good man would've told her the truth before he left and allowed her to choose whether to go with him or stay.

Yes. If Xie Zheng was just some spoiled rich playboy Marquis who fell in love with a butcher, I would've bought it. Other dramas have done that before, including Nirvana in Fire where the ML has no martial arts prowess so he has to be protected by those around him. But after Xie Zheng recovers from his initial injuries, he should've been a full-blown badass. I expected this pairing to be similar to Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ruyi from A Journey to Love, both are capable fighters who go to war together. But they're trying to elevate Changyu at the expense of Xie Zheng and that is not good writing.

Exactly! He's more beta than alpha and it frustrates me. lol Changyu is becoming more and more like a Hollywood Mary Sue girl boss and I'm not liking it. I was drawn to this drama initially because she was just a simple hardworking and compassionate girl who doesn't back down from a fight. But they're making her too OP and Xie Zheng, who is supposed to be the better fighter and strategist, is turning out to be the damsel in distress. I want them to be on equal footing.

I agree. I like Changyu being badass and all, but not at the expense of Xie Zheng who is supposed to be the greatest military mind and warrior their kingdom has ever produced. They already nerfed him in the beginning by giving him a handicap, and even after he has fully recovered from his injuries, he is still nowhere near the warrior he is built up to be. I was expecting a power couple, not a powerful woman with a kept man. I hope they give Xie Zheng an impressive fight scene later on.

I’ve never liked her as an actress tbh. But she carries this show imho. I know there are plenty of eye candies to keep us ladies busy but Changyu is the central character, and Tian Xiwei does a good job at playing her.