Saffy88

To everyone asking about where to watch this - iQiyi gives new users a free one-month VIP trial if you feel you can't fork out the quite cheap monthly membership. It's also on viki which has also got very reasonable annual rates esp with promotions.

Yes, that was my first return to c-dramas after not having watched them since the height of HK TVB days and I loved it. Too bad they didn't stick to the original novel and did a crappy, oops-we-lost-the-plot ending............although still not as bad as the WTF cliffhanger in Princess Agents!

What app are you watching on? They are available on iQiyi (with VPN) and viki.com

To be fair to Cockroach Sis the writer surprisingly gave her a role in saving Pengcheng. It feels like the writer is trying to nuance all the characters a little, but unfortunately only a little - I don't feel the depth of character exploration that we see with the Crown Prince villain in Rise of Phoenixes for eg. where after a while you almost felt sorry for the guy during his downfall.

There's the under the sea scene in Love of Thousand Years..........the two leads had pretty great chemistry in that drama

It's pitiful and exasperating - every time there's an immersion in harem politics in these dramas, you become so aware of these trapped women with nothing to do except be bitchy baby machines. It'll be a relief when they move on to the battlefield in a few episodes.

You mean where she pirouetted, saved the falling bowl and administered the antidote via kiss of life to Pengcheng? That was pretty cool!

Ep 25: https://www.iq.com/play/2ffkwy7wlp0
Ep 26: https://www.iq.com/play/2ffkwy6qxk8

Depends on what you mean by exposed. This is one drama where everyone knows she's doing bad things throughout cos Lige is constantly exposing her. If you mean when she gets her comeuppance - not sure - she's surviving like a cockroach for the moment. There is a scene where she falls off a cliff - but as you know in c-drama if you fall off cliff you can still miraculously survive if the writer decides to resurrect you............

It's compounded by the fact that Chinese guys & women generally look youngish anyway - look at Tony Leung - for the longest time he just looked like he was not aging at all. But I just feel like this year aside from some bright spots like Miss Truth (which also had a young lead actress whose acting was not always up to snuff), Joy of Life (more 2019 than 2020), Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, Under the Power, the rest have just been so-so - harmless fluff plus some downright disappointments like Sword Dynasty (that's one of those c-dramas which drops the audience in a hole towards the end). I tend to watch less modern c-drama - but if you like Qin Hao in this you will be blown away by The Bad Kids where he's the inadvertent serial killer.............

Love, love, love British period dramas and Spanish telenovelas and period dramas help me retain some Spanish. Have not watched Turkish dramas yet although I see them pop up on Netflix every now and then. Must try.

Yes, am pretty sure the positive reax to this drama is an indication of way too many fluffy period dramas this year with new idol stars who all look like they're still in high school. While this drama is not perfect, the depth of people's reaction to it on the forum here shows that we've been waiting far too long for something really meaty. Picking apart the details like not bloody enough clothes or the failure to recognize the other person misses this point I think. After all we're not dissecting a Zhang Yimou film here - this is a web drama which for some of us, stands out amongst this year's offerings. BTW - SoG was apparently the top web drama a week ago and now no 2 based on people watching, social media comments etc.

Actually that was probably just to set up the hairpin escape scene, another super hilarious and rather suggestive scene..............

this drama does stretch it to the max with their near misses in realizing who they really are. but all is forgiven cos when the audience just about couldn't take it any more there was ep 22 - the big reveal which was a pretty fantastic ep.

yup - it was like dude, she looks exactly the same as she did in her own clothes.................

We do see Shen Zhi suspecting her initially but since she managed to cover up her disappearance (by bending space and time or maybe buying some takeaway osmanthus cakes after mission - LOL) I suppose he felt disloyal to her especially when she's obviously making their mum happy.

Anyone watching c-dramas just gets used to these conventions of thinly/barely disguised characters. Lost count of the many dramas where women dressed as men are never recognized until it's convenient for the plot (something Shakespeare also used quite a bit). See Once Upon A Time in Lingjian Mountain where they make fun of precisely these conventions - like sticking a mole on your face magically makes you unrecognizable..........Also as discussed in earlier comments, in this story they do take great pains to emphasize she never really gets to see his face fully throughout the assassination attempt.

I think everyone views chemistry differently and actually it's quite refreshing to see a relationship which is very steady and firm once they get over the big stabbing reveal. This isn't an angsty Romeo and Juliet couple, this is a couple that could actually grow old together (if they're given a chance), work together and support each other in all aspects. I think Qin Hao plays it very calm and cool and that's just his character in the drama - I mean who reacts so calmly when an unknown female assassin turns up in his boat? But that's precisely why I loved that scene because it was so unexpected and funny.

Hmmm, 3 episodes seems to be very low threshold for the average c-drama - even with things like Eternal Love or Love and Destiny, the first maybe 10 episodes or so were not exactly gripping and then finally one's patience pays off and the story really starts taking off. If you watch further you will actually see Lige's character develop as she starts to listen to the Pengcheng Prince as he challenges her to think of solutions beyond just being a La Femme Nikita and slaying everyone. She also changes and matures as a result of being accepted into the Shen family. And actually at the start of the story she is a teenager; moreover a teenager who's been brainwashed by a dodgy shifu to carry out a suicide mission. So there's that to take into account.
I've enjoyed this right from the beginning probably because this year's offerings have mostly been so fluffy and full of new teeny-bopper stars who just haven't seen enough of life yet to bring depth to the screen. So far this drama hasn't fizzled out yet like so many c-dramas which start so very promisingly and then lose the plot quickly. Stay with it - you might also be rewarded for your patience.

It's on both viki and iqiyi