PeachBlossomGoddess

Yeah or it’s just a dream they had together before drinking poison or something. I saw the clip also but I have been tricked too many times. Seeing is believing... anyway I have 2 more to go but sick as a dog so dunno how far I will get before I pass out from my meds.

Not quite there yet but given the recent direction, I woulnd;t be surprised if that were the case. We wil know soon.

Sigh! I missed Jia Yibo! And the face fur is two thumbs up! Xoxo!

Wow - in film, what a fun job!!! Lucky you!
I prefer TMOPB to L&D because I like flawed characters but it was much less well executed than L&D.
Chang Chen and Ni Ni are together again in Savage which is a recent modern action thriller - it was ok, the Westerners are better at this kind of genre. I loved Brotherhood of Blades 1+2 and he was also in Red Cliff 1+2. And of course his role with Gong Li in Eros was quite acclaimed (and hot).
I am watching Ni Ni at the moment in Rise of Phoenixes - it is a much more substantive role than L&D but it is 70 episodes and it is well known that the production really messed up the ending. Nonetheless I am really enjoying it I would just watch it slowly. It is a heavy political drama that doesn't have a lot of fillers and the male lead Chen Kun is one of my favorites. I think she has better chemistry with him than with Chang Chen.

CP is going to be crushed by the Gus betrayal, he loves them so much. :(

Last year the regulators threatened a 40 episode limit on c-dramas but as far as I know it wasn't made official. Since then, many new dramas are limiting themselves to about 30-40 episodes but I suspect some of them are going to go for another season. The problem is people don't really pay for c-drama its still mostly advertising based. So they need a lot of episodes to make money. That will change as more people are willing to pay to view. I hate the fillers too, my time is also limited so I am picky about what I watch. Once something has too many fillers I watch it casually on the treadmill only.
I agree L&D wasn't balanced - they wasted too much time on the 2nd arc and there wasn't enough of the good ending parts. The two leads are among my favourite actors and Chang Chen really doesn't make that many dramas at all.

It is very unfortunate indeed that many good shows in 2019 had way too many fillers and L&D was no exception. Hopefully the threat of episode limitsby the rgulators puts a stop to this nonsense. In any case you should be at the part where its pretty much good to the end. Enjoy!

I wonder if that much content was actually lost. They supposedly shot three different endings so a big big chunk of that must be related to that. And this part doesn’t strike me as that controversial that it merits what amounts to a whole arc being cut like that. It shouldn’t be a free pass that is used to excuse all the plot holes that are emerging. If it was really censored at least some explanation of what was cut should be forthcoming.

What was the catalyst for Gu turning against the emperor? Was it because the empress died under suspicious circumstances or simply because the Cp had come of age and would be more malleable? Or is it because the horse scandal undermined the army and indirectly led to the death of his eldest son? It just seems he tolerated him for so many years what made him turn? Or is it defensive as emperor is striking first?

LOL - I found him really annoying also and I watched while airing which was worse. But she does kick him out and lets Jiu Chen stay instead I just don't remember when - maybe around 40. I have seen many way worse triangles than this one.

Nah I am down to the last legs of my vacation so I am not really prioritizing watching drama at the moment. But I hope you are right this wife beater CP has a lot of redeeming to do. Which btw I am aghast at the censors - if they let this kind of shit get through I wonder what it is that they actually cut.

Indeed love is the explanation that always works when nothing else does. It would be less lame if he didn’t beat the crap out of her (again). I want to like CP. but this character is regressing on multiple fronts. Who cares of they keep him alive at the end but assassinate his character along the way?

LOL so do I but it is not really a love triangle. She is never really that into him. But he is a real pest and he hangs out for about 10 episodes - you can just fast forward a bit. Definitely keep watching if you like the main leads.

Actually CP's actions to save her from the emperor made no sense whatsoever if he doesn't know her. When she was WX he had clear boundaries on what he was willing to do for her and drew a very clear line at his teacher's reputation. He had priorities and a sense of what is important. Then he squanders all the hard won goodwill he earned with his father after giving up the love of his life to save a lowly maid just because crown princess said to protect her? Beyond royally pissing off the emperor, this decision led to the ousterof his last remaining supporters at court. All to save a lowly servant he didn't even trust. The logic in this show is spiraling downward. I suspended disbelief in that entire episode because I assumed he figured out who she was and even then it didn't make complete sense because he had set limits on what he would do for WX. So this ending makes even less sense not more sense to me.

Wow... I didn't see that one coming. I just felt that uncle Gu was a grownup and fended all too well for himself all these years CP didn't have to go to such extreme measures to save him. How naive of CP. The guy just doesn't learn. Tragic.

That's quite disappointing. They went with the most crowd pleasing and least interesting way to end the show. This show lost me about 5-10 episodes ago - I only kept watching because I thought there were two really interesting ways to end this but it seems they went with neither.

Indeed but surely he doesn't need to take the scorched earth approach. His actions only serve to reinforce his father's suspicion that his first loyalty is to his uncle and maybe they are colluding. A dangerous and unwise idea to convey. And in any case, his plan doesn't seem to have worked that well. I can understand emperor's ongoing valid criticism of CP - he has a hard time separating personal vs professional. Maybe it is indeed true that the Gu family ought not to have so much military power. If I were the emperor I would not like anyone to have power to usurp the throne. Rebalancing power is a good and rational decision that should not be personal - it should not matter that Gu is his uncle. And CP already assumes his father will do the worst to his uncle and is trying to pre-empt him. Guilty with no opportunity to be proven innocent. There is no trust in this relationship. Emperor hates CP because when he looks at him he sees his own worst traits in the mirror and vice versa. They are so alike it is scary. CP's increasing abusiveness toward WX is yet another manifestation of their similarity.

Well she tried to kill WX over a man she has no realistic hope with (unless CP did lead her on - which is what I was wondering). WX turned around and had her killed dead instead. Very vicious of her. I am both shocked and a bit impressed at the same time... although I am not sure she knew CP would kill Chen maybe just have her dismissed.

Well AOL gave me rashes but I loved TMOPB so to me they are very different outside of being broadly xianxia romance dramas. In L&D there is definitely some history to establish the backstory of the main characters - that is unavoidable but most of the story focuses the two leads, especially the FL. There is a lot more comedy and is quite witty but if I have to find fault it is that the main characters are too good to be true and don't have a dark side. The acting by the leads was really outstanding. I would just check it out. If you don't have super high expectations you may find it quite enjoyable.

Does anyone else have a problem air-playing the new episodes from Youku? It doesn't work with every latest 4 new episodes but then the previous 4 episodes will be fine. I can't figure out how to fix it and its driving me nuts.