Moochi

you might want to try Nirvana in Fire? It has similar themes to ROTP.
I heard Legend of Fuyao is really popular as well. I only watched the first 20 episodes. I'd say it's good so far. The cast are lovable, good at acting and looks hot. The costuming are so pretty as well. But personally, I still love ROTP more (Even though it may have pulled at my heartstrings)

It's actually really good. The ending is open to interpretation if you know how the book ends. The ending is basically similar to the book's ending except the very last part of the book is not in the drama (which can turn it into a sad or happy ending).

You will definitely enjoy the journey of getting to where the ending is at. It's not one of those depressing drama that is heart wrenching from beginning to end. The female lead is smart and female empowering. She is so charming that she charms both men and women to fall for her. From the promo pics, you can see that she later on fakes to be a man. The story gets good there. The male lead is cunning and smart but very innocent in all aspects of love. He may seem like a formidable figure to his enemies, but has the softest of heart. There are many side characters who you'll fall in love with as they are developed well. The journey of the 2 leads takes them across continents, outside of the palace realm. The cinematography and acting is spectacular. This is the first time I've seen chen kun and Ni Ni in anything and now I am so invested and in love with them.

I think I got to the point of somewhat accepting how the ending was. With everything that was happening, I guess it made sense. I'm just going to pretend she survived that fall lolol....TT^TT

Btw, did Ningyi in the book also asked FZW to be his queen? I feel like Ningyi, having read her like a book for so many years would understand that there was no way she would agree to be his queen. Would he have not figured out that she could potentially kill herself to end the rebels once and for all? Or at least foreshadow that she was up to something?

the one on Hunan tv and DVD version was the sad one because of censorship issues. People who knows how the book ends or who have seen behind the scene clips of the non-broadcasted parts may think this is an open ending, but that might be a stretch. Hopefully Netflix will give us the full ending but i'm not going to put hopes on that TT^TT

Is anyone watching this drama? How is it so far?

I partially read a vietnamese translated version of it ^^

that was the only part I wished they kept true to the book TT^TT . Where is nan yi when she was jumping? I don't think nan yi would have let her do that. I heard from others (still too afraid to actually watch the last 2 episodes properly) that zhiwei was getting depressed, start blaming everything on herself, that's why she jumped. is this true? what happened to the strong willed girl who wants to change her fate and soar the sky so that no one in this world can step all over her again :((

I read on soompi that there were some scenes in the alternative ending that couldn't be aired because it didn't pass censorship laws. the alternative ending was that Ningyi meets zhiwei on the cliff and he said 'zhiwei you finally came back. you're alive'. zhiwei then calls him 'ning yi. liu lang' and they holds hands/hug each other. I suppose this is the scene a few years later after she jumps off the cliff.

So i suppose if it passes censorship, it would have been a happy ending? Seems like censorship messed up quite a lot of things. regardless, it's still a good drama.

In the novel, like skibbies said, I heard that ning yi faked his assassination to leave the empire to his 10th brother and went and live a carefree life with zhiwei. they even had kids.

Despite that, I think you'll still enjoy it if you like the cinematography, political fights, historical dramas, and romance kind of drama. The characters and cinematography are something I haven't seen in drama land before. The king is not stupid - one of the most interesting kings i've seen in dramaland. ning yi is a character haunted by childhood memories, cunning and plots and plans like a skilled 40 year old. But when it comes to romance, he is like a 10 year old in love. Zhiwei is smart, yet she still have the innocence of an 18 year old who have not experienced the world. She's clumsy but her charm and intelligence brings her far up into the court ranks (and into the hearts of young maidens).

If you're just there for the storyline and the amazing performance of the cast but don't want to stay for the tragedy side of things, i'd say watch the first 50 episodes. It gets kinda sad all the way until the finale afterwards TT^TT

sad ending according to Hunan tv cut version :((((( . Don't know about DVD or Netflix version because the director filmed an extra part for an alternative ending but it wasn't broadcasted :(((((

His so hot in rise of the phoenixes. Can we have him in another ancient drama TT^TT

I just watched a spoiler clip of the ending and my heart is hurting so much TT^TT

i heard even chen kun doesn't know if it's a bad ending or happy ending because they filmed for both endings. Is this true i wonder :((

ahh i see. i just heard that from some other fan-sites that the fans of the books are really disappointed that they're not following the book so they're not watching it haha. the ones that do try said apparently the books goes very fast so in comparison the drama seem to go slow but it's actually a pretty good pace. but this is from a forum online so not sure

yeah, it has good ratings but low viewership. i think the low views in because the fans of the novel think the storyline is too slow and doesn't follow the book so they're unwilling to watch it, hunan editing this show too much, and bad choice of broadcasting station. however, the essence of the book & its characters are still very much there and the story gains speed after episode 10. the first few episodes are more of setting the scene.

if you like this type of genre, once you start watching you'd be pulled in and can't watch other dramas the same. the performance from the whole cast was amazing. Definitely worth the watch. Just don't go anywhere near the hunan airing version (they cut the crap out of it) and watch the uncut full dvd version. i assume the netflix version is probably also the uncut version

after watching episode 36 (non dvd ver), i realised how this drama is not just about two grey ambitious grey characters that is driven by revenge, and their idea of justice. It dwells on the idea of family, love, trying to get autonomy of your own self and what the right thing to do is. It gives a humane perspective on the actions that each character take.

When the 2nd prince was finally caught in the emperor's ploy due to his own ill intentions and greed for the throne, the emperor told him to live as a normal citizen and do not make any more excuses for his wrong actions. but then the 2nd prince tells the emperor that after their farewells today, he know that the emperor and him will be as separated like heaven and mud (which is why he is trying so hard to plead innocent). He tells him that he knows the emperor will never want to see him again after today (because he knows that a child with no use to the emperor is not one the emperor keeps an eye at). The whole scene in this episode was really moving. Somehow what was meant to be a political issue became a family gathering of sorts, where no one (even ning yi) was particularly happy. Which words of love was real and which ones were all part of a political scheme? Each time a prince falls, it is because they used to be loved and appreciated by the emperor. Once they realised that love have been threatened, they start to distrust, become impatient and soon they are blinded by their fear. They tried to get rid of the very figure that they yearn familial love from. because they think that happiness will come from a high place such as the throne where you can be the judge of your own fate. They end up getting nothing and what is sad is that they're aiming for a position of no freedom or love whatsoever. They become so wrapped up in the political ploys, seeing enemies left and right when they are just shadows, and soon become beasts who only think about bathing in their supposedly enemies' blood. Yet even these beasts at the end of the day are just humans with a lot of feelings. I think the drama so far did really well in expressing the emotional aspect and complex feelings of each character.

Can you spoil for me what kind of drama this is if its not a spy drama and your thoughts on it? thank u :D <333

actually, chen kun's character is meant to 26 years old and ni ni's character is meant to be 18, so his a good 8 years older than her in the drama. But yeah, chen is pretty close in age with the other brothers in real life i think. originally i wasn't planning to watch, but then chen kun looks so handsome and young! and his acting just draws me in

i know right. they filmed for almost a year. So my bet is on the drama being split into 2 seasons with season 1 having 40 episodes

is this drama good? does anyone know if it was received well in china? How was the rating? :D