PeachBlossomGoddess

This is very helpful. And btw I think you meant Renzong and not Wenzong emperor of Song. He was Taizong's son, the third Song emperor. He is the emperor in Serenade of Peaceful Joy (2021) and Palace of Devotion (2020).

She is just trying to get the cure to bring her bro out of his coma.

I am going to guess she is good.

Yes Zhan Zhao is Justice Bao's protector and henchman.
The plot has to do with Taizong emperor's ascent; allegedly by murdering his brother Taizu. Enemy kingdom Western Xia is using "evidence" of this to destabilize the empire. Xiangyang Wang is the mastermind. Zhan Zhao is tasked to uncover all the people involved in this conspiracy. Seems quite a straightforward plot to me.

Yeah its quite obvious its a body double but the action scenes here are really intense and difficult. I can't think of any other female c-drama actresses who can pull them off either. So I am not that fussed about it.

Neither am I but I am just going to pretend she is not the same Ding Yuehua from the classic novel.

Seems this is a heavily fictionalised account - Siddhartha Gautama never traveled to China. His enlightenment under the bodhi tree all happened in a small Indian kingdom whose name I forgot long ago. Yups - as a child I attended Buddhist dharma classes once a week.

I don't mind the way the poison trope is written here. It makes him vulnerable and raises the stakes for all of them.

Yes BYT is less safe but I would also be surprised if they kill him off here.

MDL viewers have a strong romance bias and drama ratings here broadly reflect this demographic. Its fine, to each their own.

Yeah- its happening more nowadays - I just grit my teeth and pretend I didn't see it. Total monkeys making dramas these days that insist on putting a modern spin on everything for better audience appeal.

Yang Yang deserves a medal for the fight scenes. They look effortless but these kind of fast paced continuous shots of close combat scenes are so hard dramas rarely attempt them anymore. The FL couldn't pull off hers they are mostly (and obviously) executed by a body double.

Judge Bao/Bao Zheng was the Song dynasty's incarnation of Judge Di (Di Renjie/Tang dynasty). Both these real historical figures were such famous justice and truth seekers and champions of the common folk that over time their cases and contributions were inflated by folklore and fiction. Zhan Zhao is Judge Bao's bodyguard and henchman. He is a fictional character but one that is a wuxia legend that any fan of the genre will know.

Nope, its definitely not something I would expect in a classic wuxia. This is one of those unfortunate embellishments of modern/China version wuxias. I don't like it.

Maybe I haven't gotten there yet but they are a classic wuxia couple that met as adults. I doubt the drama would try to change something so fundamental about their story. Maybe she is just a different character that grew up with him and not Ding Yuehua.

No I don't think so. They met in a duel organized by her brother when they were both proper grownups. Its one of my favorite parts of the original novel - I read it many times. They were definitely NOT childhood sweethearts.

This drama was produced by Daylight Entertainment. They own the IP. They licensed it to Youku for China only. They sold the international licenses to Disney+, Viki and VIU depending on which market.

I don't think anyone will dare kill off Zhan Zhao. Just like no one has ever dared kill off Guo Jing onscreen even though Jin Yong himself wrote he died in the battle of Xiangyang. But I woulnd't be shocked if they kill off Linglong... which is why he married Ding Yuehua in the end. That would be a good fan fic side story that still respects canon.

In the original classic novel, Ding Yuehua is indeed Zhan Zhao's wife. This is a fan fiction side story that seems to take place after Zhan Zhao already met Ding Yuehua and they should be engaged already (bc he has her sword) but they are probably not married yet.

This is a Daylight Entertainment drama. I would expect that for every meaningful role, the actor is able to dub themselves.