Pupusa

I firmly believe that the dream of them sitting by the lake is LY's dream, not YJX. This is because this scene ends with the camera panning to him, still sleeping.

YJX's dream is as she described it, rated X :) Considering her “research materials,” the glove fits. It's refreshing to have a FL who's a little more naughty compared to the ML.

No matter which theory you go with, it's very clever of the director to leave this scene ambiguous.

I'm fine with open endings, as long as they're done in a thoughtful and meaningful way. The old “did she return to him or not” ending is no different.

The best (and classic) example is the church scene in Looking Back in Anger. It poses viewers with the question: does a man deserve a second chance if he sincerely tries to set right the things he did wrong?

At the end of this drama, I’m left with this question: how stupid is GZY for letting his wife go out unprotected while the evil boss is still at large? No excuse, it's just plain bad writing.

The theme song is lovely, romantic, and quite unexpected for a military-themed story. Love it, thank you!

Ah, I see your point. Mark of great story, one that opens itself up to meaningful discussions!

At this point, Ruoxi still thought she can save 8th from his doomed fate by giving him all the information he needed to protected himself. She broke up with him for a different reason, imo.

The turning point was when she asked 8th to make her his empress, and he readily said yes. It was total BS, and she knew it. This man couldn't even manage his own harem, much less an entire country. He failed to see the real her, that she didn't really care about status.

It was the lack of sincerity and understanding that killed this relationship.

I like that Ruoxi is flawed, too. She couldn't let go of her modern views and accept 4th for who he was. That's sad in any relationship.

If anyone is interested in the song Piggy (Zhu Na Jie) sings in his dream with his three "wives," it's called Love Inside a Warm Heart (爱在心内暖), originally by Adam Cheng and Liza Wang.

A more recent performance by Adam with another singer is here: https://youtu.be/bVF13QeyEu8?si=Pj9HUIgjeL26RB34

Not unpopular at all, I totally agree with you. And the writers don't preach that, they show it through Shen's actions. It's all about subtext, which feels more and more like a lost art these days.

I'm with you there! There's a right way to do an opening ending, then there's this.

Heals your uncles (3rd uncle was crippled before she was even born!)
Helps save your godfather
Stops you from marrying the most two-faced woman in wulin
Gives up a life of wealth and status for you
Of the 4 girls, she was the only one willing to die for him (during the fight with the Persians on Snake Island)

Shows like this needs to be considered in its entirety. ZWJ is far from my favorite character, but he's justified in his decision here.

I love her, too, but I think she needs to face consequences what she's done. In her quest for revenge she doesn't care who she hurts, and that's a dark path to go on.

There's another character like this, and he paid a heavy price. She practically got away with it because of GSJ's feelings for her.

If anyone's seen Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm, she's the Andrea Beaumont to GSJ's Bruce Wayne

The outfits are exceptionally pretty, but there is a sameness about them. My husband said he couldn’t tell a lot of the actors apart, and I can sort of see why.

The costume department missed the mark on this one. They could’ve used different hues, tones, prints, jewelry to highlight each character's personality and social status. Instead everything looks immaculate and mass-produced.

I do admit, the wedding gowns are gorgeous.

I'm the opposite actually 😅 as I love the finale. To me it couldn't be any more perfect.

Su Zhe needs to die for viewers to understand the depth of his sacrifice. He died as he lived, quietly, because he did not want his loved ones to see him suffer. The writers didn't do the stereotypical "big dramatic death scene" because they know that the saddest thing is not the inevitably of death, but the inability to say the proper goodbye.

So many years and I still marvel at the genius of the writing.

This is the best (and the only) adaption that properly casts Mo Yung Fuk as he should be in the book

Bill Chan's MYF is handsome, dashing, and just really cool. Until you get a glimpse of his true nature, he appears much more appealing than his love rival, Duen Yu.

The later versions of MYF are either too old, too unattractive, or both. I get that that they don't want him to outshine the male lead, but if they cast a good and charismatic Duen Yu, there would be no need to downgrade MYF. It just makes Wong Yu Yin look like an idiot for loving such an inferior man.

Love the depth of the villain here. He was a man who did a lot of good for the people, then thought it gave him the right to take whatever he wants. Once he had all that wealth and power, he realized too late that it wasn’t enough to save him from a lifetime of pain.

Contrast that with the ML and FL, who dedicated themselves to helping others without expecting anything in return. That’s what they have in common and that’s why they fall in love. Ironically, it’s also what kept them apart. But no worries, they’ll get their happily ever after.

Great show to watch over Valentine’s day.

Or maybe, just maybe, they are secretly fans of the show, trying to get people to keep talking about it. It's certainly lively in here, kinda fun!

Not just misogyny, toxicity is pouring like champagne from both male and female characters.

I'm ok with it as long as they face consequences for their bad behaviors , or just grow to be better people. That would be more meaningful than a bunch of mary sues and gary stus.

Let's see where the writing will take us. Well, at least for those of us who are willing to stick around.

I found her annoying at first, too, but you really have to look beneath the surface.
-She’s very clear about who she loves. With a guy she doesn’t love, she doesn’t string him along or use him to cause any misunderstanding.
-She’s not petty or catty, going so far as forgiving the girl who harmed her, even pushing that girl to become a better person.
-She doesn’t let revenge consume her or compromise her principles because of it.

There’s a maturity beneath all that whiny-ness. If you don’t have the patience to follow a character (and that’s totally ok), it’s better to skip this show. But if you have the time and the interest, this one is totally worth it.

This series is not a romance and doesn't follow the romance formula of having the FL appearing at the beginning.

Zhao Min's part in the Mongolian faction is actually not random but very deliberate, coming full circle on the Condor trilogy. The first book saw the Mongolian empire on the rise, here it's falling apart. The hero in the first book rejected his Mongolian princess, this one marries his.

But yeah, not a great adaptation of the source material.

I know! Me, too.

Everyone thought he was monstrous and wanted to kill him as a baby, except for Ji Chang (who is all that is good and wonderful in this world). He later came back to save Ji Chang, holding Ji Chang the same way the man held him as a baby, uttering just one word, "father." Powerful scene in so many different ways.

The true monster is King Zhou.

They're far better here than in LoH. Having a good director makes a huge difference.

Hope they'll team up again for another project. They do have this very natural chemistry.