Michelle Topham

Episode 11 he's not though. He's angry (maybe you didn't get there yet?). And I don't think anyone should be mad. You're entitled to your opinions about any character :) I do think, though, that he's going to turn out to be very cool.

I thought she was an idiot in the first 10 episodes, but I have a feeling she will become one of the more interesting and more capable characters as the drama continues.

She knows what position she's in now, she knows that her husband is disgusting and she's stuck with him (at least for now) and she didn't really want Ye Li dead.

She was also brought up sheltered, and has now been given a very rude awakening and is beginning to realize Ye Li wasn't actually the one at fault.

I'm expecting a redemption arc, and I think she'll end up being really cool, and that she and Ye Li will eventually become close. Could be wrong but that's what my gut feeling tells me :)

Me too! And China, with its 3,700 to 5,000 years of history (the jury is out on exactly how many years :), is so interesting when it comes to its traditions. Traditions that actually do make a lot of sense.

1000% agree. Don't think he's remotely "lazily written" as all of this was explained. It's also why Sui Chang Shi his mentor (or whoever he is, not sure that's been explained properly or I might have missed it?) told him he needed to continue to act like a drunkard and a loser, as that was the only way the Palace wouldn't have him murdered.

While I think Ye Ying is an idiot (love the actress, think the character is a fool), I have a feeling we will start to see her redemption arc soon. She's just learned that her husband is disgusting, and we also saw she didn't really want her sister dead. I think all this is setting her up for her redemption arc, as she doesn't strike me as the type of person who will keep digging herself a bigger hole :)

She's been sheltered her whole life, remember, Ye Li hasn't, and now she's learning the truth about people and she doesn't like it. :)

It's a ritual wine oath and, in this case, Ye Li is likely using it to show she knows that the painter was associated with Lishan Mountain, so she's acknowledging his true identity while also telling him "I know who you are, and I swear not to reveal it".

The Chinese call it 滴酒誓 (a vow of alcohol) -- so a Chinese friend tells me :), and it's usually done by dripping drops of wine onto the floor with the idea that, once the wine has been spilled, it cannot be put back into the cup. Therefore, the pledge also cannot be taken back.

This explains that -- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%80%9D%E9%85%92%E8%A8%AD%E8%AA%93

I then asked AI about the use of the right hand ring finger (in China) by Ye Li, to which AI replied:

In traditional Chinese thought:

The ring finger (无名指, "nameless finger") is associated with the heart meridian and sincerity.

The right hand represents action, intent, and external expression.

Together, the right ring finger is sometimes used in minor rituals to "seal" a promise without speaking—especially when a full kneeling oath would be inappropriate (as in a casual tavern setting).

So, it appears, that was Ye Li's intention :)

Republican era in China -- began in January, 1912 and ended in 1949. The beginning of this then takes place in the early years starting out, so 1912, 1913, 1914, something like that, and then moves on from there (there's a 7 year gap between Ep 1 and 2), so they're already likely in the early 1920s.

Interestingly though, the novel its based on, written by Nan Pai San Shu (aka Kennedy Xu), is actually based during the Qing Dynasty from 1877 to 1878 during the Dingwu Qihuang famine, but the time period has been changed for the drama.

I think it's because he's just re-entered acting that he's only getting guest roles (remember, he officially retired a couple of years ago due to family issues, then recently returned to his career after the family issues were resolved) .

He's had many main roles before this, so I have a feeling, once settled back into the acting world, and obviously not going anywhere (no producer is going to take a chance giving a main role to an actor who retired then just came back, IMO, it's too risky), he'll be given more main gigs.

And yep, agree with you, he'd be brilliant as a Republican era main lead (fingers crossed, he? :). Can't believe he's 41 either. He still looks so young.

Ye Gods, this is the dumbest thing I've ever watched, but it's hilarious - hahahaha -- and SO well done.

Everything - the cinematography, the music (especially when someone gets hit or knocked out :), the set designs, the costumes, the writing, the CGI (really well done), and the performances (especially from the leads) are exceptionally good. (Replayed that scene in Episode 2 where Zhang Hai Yan is knocked unconscious (18:40) about 6 times - Zhang Xin Cheng performs it SO perfectly). And it's all so fast-paced, silly and incredibly fun. The humor lands brilliantly as well.

Loving everything about this so far. Superbly directed, acted, written and produced, and perfectly musically illustrated.

Where have you watched to? He comes back in Ep 4.

Oh thanks so much! And yep, I'm a proud naturalized American. We moved to the U.S. from the UK in the 80s though, so I feel a lot more American than British at this point :) Although still somewhat proud to be British. If the bloody country wasn't in such a mess :)

And btw, just saw this on your bio "My list is not complete because I can't remember everything I have watched since 2012" -- Same! I started watching Asian dramas before I moved to Thailand in 2002. Can't remember HALF the ones I've seen :)

Ah then you understand coding more than I do :)

I think it's because the site was set up a long time ago, when the owners didn't think that idiots would actually rate episodes they haven't watched :)

It's difficult (and can be expensive and time-consuming) to have a site redesigned, as even a minor change can affect many other things on the site, sometimes negatively.

Heck, I added one tiny line of code to one of my websites last week so that my articles would embed better on X and Facebook, and then suddenly I couldn't upload ANY visuals to the site after that until I figured out the line of code, given to me by a highly-qualified IT guy, was the problem :)

As the episode ratings don't really affect anything important, the owners have probably decided to leave it, rather than to chance a change breaking something else :)

MDL should have stopped it a long time ago, but they don't seem to care. So...

Long term, though, it makes no difference. The people who are watching rate the drama fairly, and the ratings eventually rise. Meanwhile, the morons continue to waste their time downrating a drama they're not usually even watching. Let them waste their finite life on stupidity. It damages them, not the rest of us :)

Ye Ying is an idiot, and annoying to watch, but I think Yang Shu Yi is doing a great job portraying her so far.

I know!!! Bizarre, isn't it? And iQIYI even went one further by officially announcing that they would be using AI-versions of specific actors in short dramas. Even showing the faces of the actors in question at their announcement event.

The problem?

The actors whose images they used were like, "Wait a minute. I did NOT sign up for this. And NO, I'm not going to let you use an AI-version of my FACE for your dramas" -- hahahahahahaha.

An absolute disaster for iQIYI they have yet to recover from :)

Overall, I think, most Cdrama fans HATE AI, so I don't see it taking off in a big way, as every time a production company comments about using AI, the overwhelming response from fans is "Bite me!: :)

Don't understand why they had him shouting at top volume in every scene. Awful performance.

It's all over Weibo today. And Cdramas often don't announce wrap the day they wrap.

IMO, the actors must be pissed. ZERO proper promo or any heads up. Just a sudden drop.

I wrote an article recently about why most C-dramas are dubbed. It's actually quite interesting, and for a variety of reasons...
https://michelletopham.com/why-are-c-dramas-dubbed-and-how-to-tell-if-the-actor-dubbed-their-own-role/