Raisins

I also need to catch up since ep 26 due to work and I'm a little wary of these comments but I plan to binge with express tomorrow so at least I can get past any weaker episodes quickly... the benefit of waiting 😁

In Ep1, he was the one who gave her the book, saying it was left there intended for her which kickstarted this whole thing. I get the sense that he is aware they have returned. He was there when she broke the mirror and gave her the book back as a kid so I think he knows her secret which is why he considers her his "soulmate". His main motivation has been to "cure the sickness of the country" no matter what it takes. Since he lacks emotions he can be very calculating. However, a bloom has appeared on his dead tree so perhaps that is his growing affection for DZ and he perhaps doesn't want her to be hurt as collateral damage.

This place will become a giant support group if that happens because it would be so devastating for everyone.

There was an article that went into how they focused on hiring pedigreed production staff and that a lot of their limited budget went there. So the effects, choreo, set and costume people are probably good at doing more with less. The budget was probably small for the actual actors and from the comments here it sounds like this is one of the few or possibly first ML role for the actor so maybe he took it on more for exposure. The FL also sounds like she didn't have lot of roles too before so hopefully this will open up some more doors.

Each day I tune in and wonder is this the episode that I will kind of watch in background? and no, never happens. Still riveted to my screen each day.

I don't know, roaches tend to survive somehow 😒 he also managed to live through the battle in Ep1.

It is implied that they were done by the same people. We still don't know exactly why.
My completely unsubstantiated guess is that Duke Ying has always been part of this grand conspiracy and Duke Ding was eliminated for political reasons (weaken the military?) and SM's mom was killed more for himself because he hates her and hates SM (why? I have no idea). He obviously wants the brother to succeed not Song Mo. The fact that Song Han just quietly did what he was told and didn't go help his sis-in-law is telling that he's either very cowardly or is in with the dad's plan.

I have whiplash from all the ups and downs. The latest episode was devastating.

This man is fated to betray his wife and get her killed. I consider his behavior and actions a betrayal to DM. He promised her the moon and the stars to keep her but didn't actually do anything for her.

My heart broke for her. She was so naive, innocent and in love. Died because of her mother's sins.

I loved how she was bringing actual numbers to the table like "oh yes surely you can bring in more than 70-80k yes?"

The last few episodes I felt really bad for DM. I think the actress for DM is doing a good job of showing how young and naive she is and bewildered with the situation. Support actors really help elevate an ok show to a great one.

One eye-opening thing to consider is that THIS is the utter garbage that DZ married into her first life as a teenager when she was DM's age. Ep1 doesn't go into her first life a lot but seeing how much suffering DM has now and how poor and worthless the Weis are, I think you can see how much bitterness DZ has built up in the past life, especially since she didn't have a loving mom and her husband didn't love her. So she married young into this mess and spent her life fixing it up and making the Wei household prosperous (since Ep1 shows them as well off) while being abused and all to be rewarded with betrayal from everyone in the end. We know how bitter DZ is and how much warning she gave DM about it but I like that this not only moves the story forward with DM but also shows glimpses of DZ's past life without additional exposition.

I don't trust Chen Jia.
However the meeting was different this time. Chen Jia was already with the escort guard and first life Duke Ding was not assassinated by bandits but was judged as a traitor and executed. It is implied that Duke Ding allies in the first life petitioned for his innocence which made the emperor even more suspicious of Duke Ding. The change in strategy in the second like made the bad guys murder the duke in transit because it didn't look like the emperor would be fooled so all the escorting guards were killed including Chen Jia father and he ran away.

I think he does feel some kind of emotion for her although the flower could represent friendship and not romantic love. The way he hinted twice that he is another option for her makes me think that it is more than friendship. He is so calm and collected about her marriage it may be that he expects Song Mo to die eventually in his grand machinations of politics so he's not worried about her at this point or maybe it truly is just platonic affection. He is such a wild card.

TBOY/DY fans in the house! I was also tickled that Song Mo was using a spear next to the Spear Deity Sikong Changfeng. 😄

I thought both child actors did a great job portraying the younger versions. I think the girl looked a little older than she was supposed to be but this may be because she was the best actor to portray an old soul in a young body and also she could never be purely childlike again since she had too much knowledge and experience. The young SM was an actual child who could be a child so he could just be adorable munchkin.

I actually could not believe he rolled up with armed guards, like was he going to just martially stop the wedding and kidnap the bride at this point? How desperate was he?

yes it's easier to understand as you watch more episodes. Also there is a lot of information conveyed in dialogues that may not make sense initially but make sense later. Like the fate of the uncle's clan in first life is briefly mentioned and the reason why DZ monologues how much work she had done for the Wei household including managing ALL of their shops and businesses which will provide a reason as to why she is such a business phenom at a young age (because she's done it for a decade in another life). I'm pretty sure I will rewatch this again to get all the details.

Episode 16



I know that DZ has a better life now without re-marrying her ex-husband but I also really liked that in this life, she actually seems to have a loving sister and a real sisterly bond that she thought she had before. DM is so sweet and cares so much for DZ. That is such a huge change from her previous life where she was all alone. I hope this means in this life, it's not just living better but that she can let go of some of the grudges from her old life because she is still so deeply affected by it and makes so her cynical especially about marriages and relationships. It was ironic that the evil stepmom was also echoing DZ's thoughts about love and marriages because her life didn't turn out so great either (although it's karma because the way she pursued her love was vile).

I actually chuckled. She was like oh I didn't admit it because I don't want to be a distraction and then he yells that at her. Like oh no, that ship's sailed, she's already on his mind, he's fallen for her bad.