QAS

When I watched the trailer the day before, I thought that they must be an official couple. Little did I know, they were just meeting for a drink, or something. LOL

Emperor Han's scenes are scattered and brief, that it is hard to grasp his motivation and his relevance to the plot. He reads his scriptlines, does his mood swings, coughs sometimes, interacts with Eunuch, Han Ye, or other characters and there is no follow up to the conversations.

I think it was the charm of Han Ye (Gong Jun).

These subplots and characters would have greatly enhanced the production drama. Thanks for the details.

I am glad that many MDL members gave us the book's perspective, to understand the scope of the creative work. The differences between book and drama fall into the "lost in translation", "variations on a theme", "black hole" syndromes. Thanks @writerpersona.

Chinese theatrical movies were given nationwide releases in USA cinemas in the 1990s and early 2000s, then tapered off. There wasn't a slew of movies, but American (non--Asian) audiences were paying at the box office for Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Donnie Yen Chinese movies. Sony was the distributor. Then, the new Chinese movies started showing only a few So Cal Chinese communities, like Monterey Park. I believe the movie distributor is Well Go.

I prefer to read the subs, than listen to dubbing.

A better comparison to guage the quality and quantity might be Rebel Princess (China) and combined Arthdal Chronicles 1 and 2 (South Korea)! These productions had big budgets and high ratings.

China is also not manufacturing dramas for the Western hemisphere audience. International viewership, exluding Far East Asia, may be negligible. One reason that Netflix and Amazon Prime built up their Asian library, was to entice or expand the Asian/Pacific Islander customer base in their markets. I am writing this in the USA, btw, and I am East Asian heritage.

Too many chiefs in charge, no clear sense of job responsibilites or the big picture! Four producers, four directors, four scriptwriters!

Your comments are very valid.

Very good comments! I started out with a similar response this morning, then changed my mind.

What else is LMX planning? Opening more Pleasure Palaces in the Northwestern borders? Where did Great Aunt Di go, btw? LMX said, "She's back!", and she appeared in one scene only.

So, they made up a villain? Was there another villain in the book who was dropped?

Bad planning, bad communication skills!

When I started this drama, I had no idea I would be watching this drama daily (Sunday to Saturday) for a total of thirty-nine hours, and reading and typing comments on MDL and Dramacool for four to five hours daily. I might have read 80% of the comments on both sites. The drama is in the homestretch. Now, it's Han Ye, Ziyuan, Mingxi against Mo Bei, and the bipolar Emperor back home.

When I started this drama, I had no idea I would be watching this drama daily (Sunday to Saturday) for a total of thirty-nine hours, and reading approximately comments on MDL and Dramacool for four to five hours daily. I might have read 80% of the comments on MDL and dramacool.

I am not surprised. Beginning 70% 📈 End 30% 📉 And a cliff is involved.

Did they have to read the royal manual, "How to make a kid"?

I hope the final episode is not sprinkled with flashbacks and singing. They have been doing this throughout the drama.

Han Ye, Mingxi follow FL like a puppy.