Michelle Topham

Not remotely surprised. It's one of the cleverest dramas I've ever seen coming out of China. Beautifully written and acted, and so unique compared to what's generally released.

You missed the entire point.

She's talking about her parents in real life, who must have died in a fire. That's why he asked "Isn't your father still alive?" -- (remember, her mother in the fictional world died when SYM was a child.)

She's remembering her real parents dying, and doesn't want that to happen to the fictional ones as she HAS an attachment to them.

She's been in the world for a long time now (months if not longer), and you can tell she's emotionally attached to her family, even if she doesn't admit it, by the way she talks to her father and how she treats her sister (rushes to protect her if she's in danger).

It's so well-written as the writer is now starting to pull all those loose threads back into place. And I have a feeling there is a lot more under the surface that we haven't learned yet.

One of the best written scripts out of China this year. Easily.

Oh yep, good point.

He's a truly horrible man, isn't he? And what's interesting to me is, while SYM has now told him in no uncertain terms she has no interest in marrying him, she still hasn't figured out he's one of the actual villains here. Will be interesting to see her reaction when she does :)

And yep, I think you're also correct about the uncle being responsible for the empress's death too.

I just want him dead sooner rather than later :) Actor's amazing tho.

Thanks for proving my point. :)

That's the problem with some Chinese drama fans tho, so don't be like that.

They take their hate for a character and apply it to the actor, with some actors even getting death threats from lunatic fans because of the character they play.

CGH is vile. Wang You Shuo is doing an incredibly job playing him.

Zero sympathy for him. He doesn't care. He's let his hate take over his actions, and his only goal in life now is to destroy Nan Heng no matter what. Even if it destroys his own life in the process, and the life of the woman he supposedly "loves".

Like Song Yi Meng's father said to him "You didn't think for a second that going after Nan Heng could negatively affect Song Yi Meng's life".

And it was at that point her father also realized, as polite as he was to Chu Gui Hong, the guy was a loser who would take everyone else down with him just to "win", and so didn't deserve to be within 1,000 miles of his daughter.

I have empathy for many people, especially if they admit their mistakes. But there comes a point where the only kind thing to do for everyone else around some people is to put them down. And fast.

The quicker Nan Heng kills him, the better off everyone will be. Hopefully soon :)

It's bizarre to see some people completely unable to understand an incredibly well-written script or a character's motivations. Proves having a high emotional intelligence isn't common, doesn't it?

I guess that's what happens when you've spent months of your life watching the same tired plots by the same tired writers. You don't have the intellectual or emotional capacity to understand something truly different, as it goes against everything else you've ever watched.

I see it in life though too, and realized a long time ago emotional intelligence and the ability to empathize or to understand someone's motivations is sadly lacking in the general public. Or they empathize with the wrong people. (Supporting Hamas/terrorist-supporting Palestinians over the Israelis who were attacked and murdered, for instance).

To me, it also proves spending so much time on social media and being force fed everything in bite sized pieces that require little ability to actually think is one of the reasons so many younger people nowadays are so intellectually and emotionally stunted.

Very sad.

They're the same as every other episode. Brilliantly written and acted.

It's one of the best-written scripts in Chinese drama in a long time. Sorry it's not the usual been-there-seen-it-a-thousand-times script we normally get, filled with brain-dead "leads" who just regurgitate the same plot from drama to drama to drama.

Easy to see why so much of Chinese drama is junk though.

It's watched by people who don't understand something truly original, and so bitch and moan how "bad" it is

Not sure you meant this the way I took it? :) "With what they are given"?

It's one of the best-written Chinese dramas released in years.

But yes, the entire cast is doing a phenomenal job. Easily one of the best-acted C-dramas of the year, because it doesn't only require superb acting skills, but impeccable comedic timing to make it work.

Now that starts to make complete sense why the first episodes were excellent and it has now become unwatchable (I dropped it after Ep24, but started to hate it after about EP14). Thanks for the info. Hadn't read that.

I think so many people are forgetting that, because she thinks she's in a drama that's eventually going to end (and who really knows?), she also believes the people in it aren't real as she's always talking about "the script" and "the male lead", the "plot armor" and "the plot device".

How many times has she called Nan Heng "the male lead"? Thus stripping him of any humanity and leaving him as nothing more than a character on a page she needs to defeat to survive.

That's why she seems so emotionally removed from everything going on, as she believes the people are just cardboard cutouts created by a screenwriter and there for her to use for her own ends.

In Episode 26, it's finally dawning on her that, while it may be the world of a script, the people in it are living, breathing people with feelings and thoughts and, yep, they can die just like she can.

Expecting great things from her from here on out. Although it may take her a couple more episodes to really buy a clue :)

Hers is literally one of the best female performances in a Chinese drama in eons, and her character is beautifully written.

She's flawed, self-involved, obsessed with saving herself, and clueless about those around her. There are tens of millions of people like that around the world, and she is one of them.

That she's finally started to grow after 23 episodes is also fascinating to watch because, as stubborn as she is, she KNOWS now that she's in the wrong, but it's still going to take her a while longer to admit it. That's what stubborn people do.

As for the drama, it's one of the best modern Chinese dramas ever written.

Other than his mother, Song Yi Meng is the only person in his entire life from late childhood onwards who has thrown him a crumb of care. And that's why he's desperate to keep her with him, and why he puts up with her horrendous abuse.

There are men like that all over the world -- putting up with abysmal behavior from wives or girlfriends, just for that few seconds of knowing someone cares about them. Even if the rest of the time, the woman in question is a vile bitch from hell.

(And no, I don't think Song Yi Meng is as big of a bitch as some, but she really needs to get a clue at this point -- and, from today's episodes, it finally looks like she will be. Hurray!!! :)

I have not seen her in anything else, but I'll be rectifying that as soon as this has finished.

She's breathtaking in this.

Especially as I remember reading somewhere that "fans" (read "trolls") are always upset because they think she copies Bai Lu .

Seriously, Bai Lu, who is a talented actress in her own right, could only WISH to be this good.

Song Yi Meng's father was also entirely too kind to Chu Gui Hong.

Should have told him in no uncertain terms, "I'd kill her myself before hand her to you".

Really hoping he gets the comeuppance he deserves and that the emperor endures a quick decapitation. (Brilliant performance tho by Zhang Zheng Yang).

Easily one of Liu Yu Ning's best performances, he's so good in this. But Li Yi Tong is even out-performing him here.

She's handed in one of the best female lead performances I've ever seen in a Chinese drama with, not only phenomenal acting skills, but impeccable comedic timing.

She should be inundated with lead offers after this if the world is anything like fair.

iQIYI did the same thing with the A Moment But Forever donghua. Free, then it wasn't, then free again. It's like someone with schizophrenia is running that service sometimes -- hahahahaha.

(BTW, not my favorite streaming service, will never pay for it again so, yep, I'll admit I'm biased :)