Meari21

I don't have any complaints about the tragedies that transpired in this drama. I actually liked that there are real stakes involved here and no plot armor for the main characters. When wars happen, deaths are inevitable. My beef is with the writing. The last few episodes are kind of a mess. I agree with those who say that the ending was rushed. It just feels incomplete like there are missing pieces that should've been there but were taken out just to meet the 40-episode limit. The narrative changed drastically in the last few episodes and that's the reason why this drama was initially a 10 for me, but dropped to a 9. It is still one of the best dramas I've seen, though. I avoided watching this for years because of the negative reactions to the ending. Turns out, it's not so bad. It just feels like I was deprived of a truly epic ending. It started with a bang but ended with a sigh.

Looks like it's confirmed. It's finally airing this 26th of February after 3 years of waiting. I guess I'll have to subscribe to WeTV again then. lol

My theory is Nan Feng transmigrated into the script from when Nan Heng was just a child and forgot because he had to live the life of that character for years unlike Song Xiaoyu who only lived as Song Yimeng in just a matter of months. That is why only he could hear the typing of the scriptwriter apart from Yimeng. I'm guessing that the reason the character Li Shiliu appeared despite not being originally part of the script is because of Nan Feng transmigrating into the story. It was he who created Li Shiliu and the script naturally changed because of that. He only remembered that he was actually Nan Feng when he returned to the real world with Song Xiaoyu.

Now that you've mentioned Ao Ruipeng, I can picture him in the role too. lol I do want him to be paired with Wang Churan in the future.

Oh, you're right! I watched the donghua and noticed that voice, too. No wonder it sounded familiar.

From what I understand, the numbers represent their order of birth and that includes the sons and daughters of concubines, meaning the Emperor must have had at least 18 children. They are the only two mentioned because they're probably the only legal ones born from the Empress and a royal consort, the rest of their siblings have no position in court because they were born from concubines, so they have no significance to the story.

You have to understand, at this point, he is bearing 14 years of deep-seated hatred for the Qiaos. He survived a literal massacre, saw three generations of his family wiped out in one night and had to endure being stuck in a wooden box for days that he’s been suffering from PTSD because of it. He has been trying to give Manman a chance, treating her with respect. But he was made to think that she was trying to steal vital military information, deceiving and manipulating him while he allowed himself to open up to her. He was disappointed as well as disgusted by the idea of her being just as scheming and manipulative as her family. If you were him, wouldn’t you be overwhelmed with unadulterated rage?

She's actually what a strong female character should be imho. Not everyone should be a feisty, headstrong, and rebellious warrior princess. In fact, she's one of the toughest FLs I've seen in an idol drama. She may be softspoken and undeniably feminine, but she's a master tactician and doesn't back down easily. She has to deal with political plots, threats to her life, slanders, and the ire of her husband's entire clan, but she faces them head on and eventually earns their respect, love, and loyalty. She's also selfless, sincere, and compassionate, never asking anything in return for her help. How can a woman like that be fragile?

They were talking about Bogong and reminiscing about their youth. I suspect the jade ornament Wei Shao wears was Bogong’s. She was married off to Bianzhou’s lord for political reasons, she didn’t leave of her own free will. She had no choice because Bogong died and she can’t possibly marry a child. Remember Wei Shao was just a few years older than Manman when Bogong, his father, and grandfather died. He was too young for her.

She’s not his first love but his brother’s, Bogong. She was betrothed to him and was supposed to be the future Lady of Wei. But Bogong was killed by Li Su when the Qiao’s betrayed them so Wei Shao became Lord and they considered betrothing her to Wei Shao who was still a child. They were just close because they grew up together but as far as I know, she is older than him and was like an older sister to him. Manman became jealous of her because she was nearly engaged to Wei Shao and Wei Shao’s mother favored her.

I wonder if this will be acquired by Netflix for worldwide distribution.

Not quite on the same level but very close. It's basically the next best drama to watch if you like highly intelligent MLs, lots of scheming characters, and political machinations.

I didn't think I'd become an even bigger fan of this man. He's already my most favorite Chinese singer, but now that I've watched A Dream Within A Dream and Prisoner of Beauty, he is now one of my top actors.

She’s indeed exasperating. But she’s designed to be like that. She’s basically the combination of all annoying and frustrating FLs in idol C-dramas who like to assume and judge the MLs without giving them the benefit of the doubt. She knows all the usual tropes in dramas and wants to avoid them but she herself is a trope, a perfect archetype of a toxic FL, while Nan Heng is the ultimate long suffering misunderstood ML who gets stabbed and abused by the FL and those around him. Chu Guihong is the very representation of all the irritating second MLs that we all love to hate. This drama is a satire that pokes fun at C-drama tropes by using exaggerated versions of them. The FL evolves into someone likable later on.

I hope the streaming rights to this will be bought by international streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or Prime Video for worldwide release.

You took the words out of my mouth. I am not liking any of the female characters so far and I happen to like Cheng Xiao, so I thought my bias for her would overshadow my distaste for her character. But kudos to her for making me dislike her in this, her acting has improved a lot for sure.

This plot device kinda turned me off too. Amnesia subplots are so overdone and cheesy, very soap opera-ish. But I hope they use it in a more creative way and would only last for an episode or two.

I don’t normally ship or support CPs but they’re the exception, along with Ao Ruipeng and Bai Lu. I mostly like them because their chemistry extends to real life and I don’t mean romantic chemistry, they just appear to like working together and they genuinely like each other.

You’re not alone. I last saw him in Fangs of Fortune. He had a small part but he was great there too.

Yes! I always felt Neo was prettier than his FLs, no offense to his other FLs of course. 😁 It’s just that Neo is prettier than many Chinese actresses imho. But that will soon change with Gulinazha and Ai Mi. I like him best with Zhou Ye because they looked like they had so much fun on set and while promoting the drama. They ended up being quite good friends in real life. I would love to see them reunite for another project.