Sherayith

It's a bit more complicated than I am able to get into, but basically in the novel, the FL's first life she was engaged to ML's older brother, but broke the engagment for SML, who was her first love. The SML neglects and scorns her and she ends up dying of illness. When she lives her life over again, she marries ML's older brother as she was originally supposed to, but said older brother dies in battle shortly after the marriage, so she quickly becomes a widow.

There is kiiiiind of a love triangle in the novel, because the SML tries to win her affections in her second life, but she is absolutely against him because of what happened to her the first time.

In the drama I'm not sure how much older she's supposed to be, but physically the ML and FML are supposed to be only a couple years apart. Mentally, however, she perceives herself as in her mid-30's, because that's how old she was when she died, so initially she views him only as a younger brother.

That's more like it!

We're blessed with so many HMH dramas coming out! Which just means after they finish airing we'll have another 8-12 month dry spell as we wait for those currently filming to finish their post production 😭

My advice is to read the novel! It's really good, I enjoyed it a lot. The drama changes quite a bit! Certain events are either removed or happen differently or are condensed into a much shorter timeline; for example, the events in the first episode are shortened from literally years in the novel to just a few months, and exclude a ton of stuff from the book (including the reason He Yan joining the army in her second life being that she needs to leave the city due to killing a high-ranking scoundrel that tried to r*pe her). Certain characters are removed, like He Yan's despicable husband, her new found family with the brother and father of her body's previous owner, and the drama also merged Cheng Lisu into an amalgam of his book version (who is like 15yo) and a man named Lin Shuanghe who is the actual doctor in the novel. And the drama also reduces the roles of other characters like He Yan's 'brothers' in the training camp and the camp instructors.

Yeah, the happy trailer threw me off, because the book is much more serious. I'm wondering if they're going to give more screentime for Chu Yu to be married to Wei Jun, prior to the war that gets him killed, and thats when all that happy cutesy stuff happens with Wei Yun? Though some cute stuff happens between them post-tragedy as well. I guess we'll find out soon.

The book is a happy ending, so hopefully the drama should be the same.
I was so confused as to what your question was at first. I was like, "is He or Se" what?

The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not they have removed the reincarnation of the FL from the drama - which is like, a MAJOR part of the story's plot. It is literally the catalyst of the entire novel, as Chu Yu is reliving events and making changes based on what she KNOWS is going to happen, in hopes of a better future.
They did this with Legend of a Female General drama, where unlike the novel she didn't actually die, and it messed with some of the logic of that story, though it isn't exactly the same circumstance since in that novel she wasn't reliving the past but instead had transmigrated into someone else's body and was still in the present.

I mean, that's debatable. He's not exactly a good guy in the novel either.

Chu Zhao is a complex character in the novel - he's not a good guy, he works for the bad guy in the palace, but he is willing to help the protagonists if it serves his own ends. He has genuine feelings for He Yan, but he is willing to use her if it benefits himself, so it's a very selfish kind of love. Eventually his plotting and political manouvering end up trapping him in an unwinnable situation, because he realizes even if he wants to do the right thing, he's done too much to ever be trusted by the good guys. In the end, the one person who loved him unconditionally (his beautiful maid) dies because of him, and he loses everything.

Well, it's better explained in the book, and I do recommend reading it because they did change quite a bit in the drama.

Growing up, He Yan was almost completely forbidden from socializing outside of school, she never took off the mask in front of anybody, and she never went to court as He Rufei. Her interactions with Xiao Jue were limited to their teenage years, they didn't really meet as adults. He Yan led an army with a cadre of loyal officers who were familiar with her, so when her brother swapped places with her, he made sure they all died so no one who knew "General He Rufei" would live to tell that he had changed to someone else. In the book, if I remember correctly, it was the real He Rufei who failed to bring reinforcements in time to save Xiao Jue's father, because by that time the swap had already occurred. He Yan never personally knew Xiao Jue's father.

In the book, different from the drama, He Rufei actually succeeded in having He Yan assassinated, and it's even more tragic - He Yan is married off quickly to a seemingly kind man. She believed her husband truly cared about her, and she was even pregnant with his child, but he conspired with He Rufei to poison her/blind her and eventually to have his favored concubine drown her. He Yan revives in the body of a woman (with the same name) who had committed suicide.

yes

From what I've experienced, there's an unwritten rule that when a chinese novel gets an official English release, many fan translations are removed from the internet so that it doesn't affect book sales.

FR FR I've been waiting since last year 🙏🥹

I don't often watch modern setting Chinese dramas because they tend to lean more towards fluffy romance without much drama or substance and while that's fine, it's just not my cup of tea most of the time. I prefer the heavier, more dramatic costume dramas overall, so the fact that he's in so many is making me happy.

As I understand it, it's partially due to the Chinese media regulators requiring that all words on television be spoken in a uniform, standard Mandarin accent to avoid regional variations. Some actors do dub their own lines, but sometimes either due to time constraints or because the screen actor might have a regional accent, a different voice actor dubs the lines instead. Since Ding Yuxi often dubs his own lines, I'm guessing in this case he may not have been available to dub for this series. I'm kinda disappointed tbh, I love his voice.

did SevenSeas pick this one up? I haven't checked for several months, but last time I looked this Priest title was not being translated by SevenSeas.

The final villain is a corrupt emperor who wants vengeance on the world for his suffering. There is a good bit of angst and pining in the story but it is a happy ending in the book.

So, that ending episode. Hm. It was kinda boring and long-winded.
Li Bing gives an impassioned speech about friendship, integrity, and upholding justice and Li Zhi Hua just...experiences the feels and isn't crazy anymore? He even cries and says is this what it's like to have friends? Bizarre.

All Ye Yun wanted was to live in his thatched hut with his wife and trouble no one. But the world wouldn't leave him alone. And in the end, there never was any justice for Ye Yun. (Or for Neo Hou who was barely in this drama even though it's supposed to be about him).
I'm angry that in the end Ye Yun kills himself to atone (which felt so unnecessary), but he didn't get to kill the emperor of Beili. I know, it happened that way in the books, but it is infuriating that the emperor gets to live without consequences. He married an unwilling girl for political power, forced himself on her to get her pregnant (he definitely drugged her if I'm not misinterpreting what he said in the wedding episode~!), and then tried to murder the man she loved when he was weak and unconscious. AND TO TOP IT OFF SHE REMAINS TRAPPED IN THAT DAMNED PALACE BECAUSE THEY USE HER CHILD AS BLACKMAIL TO FORCE HER INTO GOING BACK.
I can't rate this drama higher than an 7.5. It was good *enough*, i liked the characters, I liked the plot, but it had numerous issued that are hard to overlook. The way Neo Hou was sidelined in his own drama, was also nothing short of criminal.

The romance is vastly overshadowed by the brotherhood/friendship focus of the story, so I'm not surprised its not one of the tags.