NickB

Okay, what I like about this is that the FL has a modern woman's attitude. All too often with this trope, the woman going back in time is damn near indistinguishable from other women of that era who were docile and submissive to the patriarchy. They draw within the lines instead of out of them . They usually lack backbone. This FL is feisty and I like that. ML has his perks, but plenty of flaws and I think it's because of the life he's had to live. It's a wonder he's still sane to be honest.

So far, I think it adds something new to the genre and I'm enjoying it

On Ep. 1 and I do hope to see a more modern attitude to the FL's character. One of the issues I have with these types of tropes is that the character from the present going back to the past is almost indistinguishable from someone who had been born in that era.

Still docile, still a bit dense, still depending on and submissive to the patriarchy instead of trying to defy it. So, I hope this Fl shows me some modern woman backbone and spunk.

Mine too. I'm loving it so much.

I love this series, but S2 left me a bit disappointed in the action and ruthless dept. Not this season. Holy s#@! He ain't playing this season. I love it. The fight scenes we were deprived of in S2 have returned to form and with a vengeance.

And he is showing zero mercy to these villains. Makes me a little sad this is the last season, but they are going out with a bang.

I'm waiting for the reveal that her most loyal maid is also deceiver her. This chick always tries to steer her away from WuYou, but in a sly manner, like all of her suggestions are coming from a place of naiveté. She was trying to get her to stay with the general on more than one occasion. Now she's trying to get her to accept LIyu as a consort of Wuyou. She always looks shifty to me. I haven't trusted her since ep. 10 to be honest.

I agree. The characters do things that are counterproductive to what they claim their goals are. For instance, the ML wants peace for the ppl, but because of his grudge against his father he doesn't want to be the crown prince, leading the ppl to be lead by his brother who will only be a tyrant to the ppl. Make that make sense.

37 eps in and I still don't know why the brother is the way he is. What the plot of Qi is regarding the FL. They just pop in once in a while to do something horrible to her and that's that.

FL spent majority of the series just being controlled and lying to herself. She was far too compliant to General Fu IMO for someone who's friends were killed to force her hand to marry him in a plot he was a part of.

ML risks the nation to save one woman and ends up a hostage being tortured.

FL finally outsmarts the villain and instead of killing him, she lets him live because he what? "Showed her kindness". Woman are you stupid? Kill him and be done with it. How many will die because you didn't take the opportunity when you had the chance. This man is responsible for so many deaths, but because he showed you kindness, you're letting him live to try again to harm you? I hate sh!t like that.

It's giving me some things I love, but not enough. But I'm going to finish it.

This is what happens when you drag your a$$ on marriage proposals. And FL grew boring after ep. 20. Just nothing going on with her. Even the conflict she had going with the 2nd ML seems tame and compliant.

You pointed out the issues I'm having with this series 20 eps in. There just isn't enough intrigue to justify the length. Also, I don't buy the chemistry between the leads. The whole time they were dating, it's like she forgot she was supposed to be convincing him to marry her as the princess. They never spent time with each other and when they were dating, she was thinking about leaving him anyway once she found the book. So, I didn't find myself invested because it was all fake pretense anyways. Then she annoyed me acting like she was the only one who got betrayed when she didn't even tell ML she had been forced to marry in 3 days. She didn't tell ML the truth when he told his father in front of her that he'd marry only her. But as soon as she finds out he has motivations for the book, now she wants to act like she was done wrong.

The emperor was the main one who told her the truth about her actions because she did cause all of that chaos with her own deceptions.

ML is another one that is annoying to me. He keeps talking about him wanting Peace, but what peace will he think he'll have if his brother becomes the emperor?

His girlfriend's selfish advice will cost him his job and future and maybe even that house she wants.. it will also get him into fights. He can't go through life the way she wants him to.

If he can tell one person, then he can tell more. I would find myself a financier. A very rich one. The more feats he does, more ppl will know about it. In that case, the government can pay him for his hero services.

It was just bad and anticlimactic. I skipped a lot because this didn't even need to be as long as it was. The 2FL who was jealous, they had her on rinse and repeat. No, don't waste your time. Watch In the Name of Loyalty instead. That one was so much better.

I hate characters like the FL because they act like they didn't add to their own drama. And when confronted they act like what they did wants as bad and that they are still the victims.

She caused a whole lot of problems by not being honest with the ML the moment he told his father he wanted to marry her. Her choice to lie resulted in the deaths of her friends because better plans to protect the ppl she loved could have been implemented had she been honest instead of accusatory after hearing portions of a conversation she didn't fully understand.

I get what you're saying about the FL and MLs lack of chemistry. I also hate that this series added the secret identity trope the most. To me, that trope always makes the characters do stupid stuff to cling to their identity thinking they've fooled everyone around them when they haven't.

But FL is annoying to.me because she's been lying to him the whole time. But gets mad when she's betrayed. She didn't even tell him that her brother set her up to be married in 3 days or that she was the real Princess when she agreed to be with him. He was still calling her "Man Yao" when she was standing on her self-righteous soap box.

And the next day, she gets mad that he has plans too. You both lied to each other, now stop acting like you were the only one wronged. And furthermore, wasn't she just five mins. Before her brother dropped the bombshell, hoping she could leave him and return back home? So, just how invested am I supposed to be in their romance?

This is the kind of series that didn't need that stupid "secret identity" trope. In fact, most series don't and that's why that damn trop annoys me as much as the "amnesia" trope. And they have both of them. For some reason, Cdramas love the combination of if a person has a secret Identity, they most also have amnesia too.

Anyway, what makes the trope stupid here is that in the beginning, the FL makes a bet with the ML that if he doesn't want to marry her in 6 months, then they can call it off. But the whole time, it's like she forgot she made that bet as the Princess who's facial mask hasn't been removed. The two have not spent any time together as Prince and Princess. ML has only been falling in love with her over several months as her alternate identity of being a teahouse owner... which is also a secret identity within a secret identity.

And that would be all well in good, IF she wasn't standoffish when the ML wasn't to move the relationship deeper. Not even anything series either. Hand holding, a hug, a tender kiss... She turns away.

So, as the viewer, I don't know what her motivation is. Does she want to be with him or not? Is she looking for a way to go back home and that's why she doesn't want to get closer? What's the point of making the bet in the beginning then? And as princess, will she ever seek him out and remove her mask so that he can see the woman he's already falling in love with is her.

See, that would be a certain strategy IF I thought that it WAS her strategy, but it's not. See doesn't know what she wants out of this relationship as this point.

Interesting how she forgets out to fight when she should. I guess this gives the ML the chance to swoop in and save her. Only on ep. 3, so far, it's interesting. I just side eye the selective martial art usage. So far, she's passed out 2 times and needed to be rescued by a man. Either she's a badass who can fight and save herself, or she's a damsel in distressed waiting for her hero.

One of the worst emperors ever. 😂

Their chemistry works

A Lucid Dream was cool. Yeah, I agree with everything you said.

This is when I get to the point when I ask, "are the characters 12?" Because this is some immature nonsense. The writers have decided to add in crazy scenarios like phone hacking to keep these two not having an adult conversation.

They had mature interactions prior to ep. 12

You're right about ep. 14. I'm on it now and she just discovered who he is. But to hold on to that lie, he decides to let his secretary do a Live stream misrepresenting the company as the CEO. Now that was just beyond stupid. You're the damn CEO, you'll risk losing investor and consumer confidence in your company because you're afraid some chick you like and are lying to when you don't have to, finds out that you're the CEO?

This sort of hijinks, I don't like or need.

They were doing everything right, being unique and then decided to fall on overused cliches. 😠