ShortCircuit

I'll pay for his ticket back to LaoLan Pass. I don't even care.

This is the second time, and also a bit of a misunderstanding - BUT her father did make an action to help HER and Li Ni is not stupid, he knows what it's all about.

Coming so close on the heels of their Wonderland day, it sure must've felt like a deep betrayal. She put herself as bait between the princes and caused, because of this - the death of Jun's wife (indirectly), the death of the nanny (indirectly), the death of Li Ni's closest friends and comrades in Zhenxi Army (indirectly).

So far, that is. There's still Pei Yuan and Chang'er is heavily wounded.

Sure, she didn't MEAN to. But she came to the court, she made an offer to marry one of the princes, and then expected Li Ni to just battle for her hand with the other two, or for the other two to take each other out... Because WHY would Li Ni play this game?? He's not interested in the position, and had made it clear for her from the beginning. Love will only take one so far... and if she's manipulating him with her love, then yes he'll be heartbroken, but if he has any backbone... he still won't fold.

Even if they reconcile, I think his POV is the most valid. And TBH, the way she and her father are playing the game has made me lose some respect for their family... They're both warriors and here she comes playing palace games of love-me-love-me-not with the man she DOES love... or what?? What if he refuses her again and again? What's her end game? Just marry one of the princes? (Well, now there's only Lai remaining). Just because Li Ni WON'T play to the Cui family tune?!

She knows she herself is better than all the Imperial Li family put together - she started out thinking Li Ni was even worse than the lot of them, being unable to even stay in the game in the capital.

And she's a woman. No matter how much merits she accumulates, she won't end up an Empress (unless by marriage). And her focus is on bringing the world to peace (even through arms, because that's how ancient world worked).

So now she indeed thinks Li Ni is good enough to put on the throne and basically the only one SHE can trust to actually bring that peaceful world she's craving. And she imagines she can be of help to him too.

Then again - HE is well aware of what the Palace world is like, and maybe that she doesn't truly realise what that kind of life will do to HER and THEIR CHILDREN, if they have any. She might imagine the sacrifice is worth making, but he does not agree, when THERE IS another way - just put the rightful heir back on his throne, as it was meant to be before Sun Jing's rebellion.

And she doesn't trust his choice. She - and her dad - keep treating him like a pawn in a chess game (or a more powerful piece, maybe even a King BUT still a piece to be moved around a chessboard). He... just doesn't agree.

I hope she'll come to see his POV and they both compromise. We'll see how it turns out.

I am also SO, SO VERY GLAD Li Ni didn't cave in.

Yes!! He knows himself, his doubts are valid (I mean, who the f WANTS to have their kids face what an Imperial (UNWANTED) Heir would face, and then basically grow them up as sacrifices to the Empire?? (And on that note, he DOES plan exactly this for the other poor grandson, but at least the grandson HAS been raised to expect that kind of life). And now she SHOULD know she can't just put him on the spot and expect him to fold to her will - he IS his own man, even if he's head over heels in love with her.

I love both their characters again for this - she did get kind of annoying with the whole rescued-poisoned-kidnapped-rescued-being womanly-no wait being a warrior cycle. I like her to be firm and know her mind, not always waiting to be rescued dammit!!

I guess even LCF grew on me - a tiny bit. I mean, he DOES plan an AWESOME AMBUSH!!! I just hope the Cui Army gets there on time and has a few words with the Jieshuo people. (I mean, it's raining now, bows should be useless - don't mind the Helm's Deep blunders on that, LOL), and Li Ni and the gang did most of the work.

Damn, that was a whole lot of amazing shots, one after the other!! My favourite death pose - the two guys who seem to just... rest, leaning on each other. Whoever imagined that scene - thumbs up for you!!

Ah, that Li family... those three - father and two elder sons - deserve each other so, so much!! One kills his faithful wife and then tries to kill his brother for good measure, the other one does kill one of his brothers, the father is a weak pisspot, and those are ruling DaYu. So, so nice! I WONDER why Li Ni definitely wants none to do with it at all!

Okay so I'm going to rewatch that whole ambush scene, because I've been missing that dazed feeling of being completely taken in into a scene, that this drama has already gotten me used to, before the middle dip.

OMG the great episodes are finally back!!!!!

This must be one of the best skirmishes scenes I've ever seen (LOTR included - and yes, skirmish, not war). I kind of guessed what would happen to some of them (since lots of red flags were raised in previous eps) but I'd call this scene quite a few scenes - maybe Da Bao Does a Boromir or something.

When they stick to cinematography, music, love and action, they're the best!!! I hope we're finally through the threading painful politicking and recounting instead of showing eps and back on the original amazing track!

I've watched three of these, and in one of them I recognize the BFF feeling (Hidden Love). Not so much in Business Proposal. Hospital Playlist is great on friendships, but there are so many, and then there's love interests.

I'll admit I'm more into BFFs when it's men - bromance is the best kind of friendship in dramas, LOL. With women... it usually gets a bit complicated.

So I'd add Nirvana in Fire (Mei ChangSu and JingYan - BFF beyond death), Oh No! Here Comes Trouble (YiYong and GuangYan - they're the best frenemies who ever existed LOL), Under the Microscope (JiaMo and BaoYu - these are the cutest show of pony and puppy you'll ever see LOL), the handsome trio of Alchemy of Souls (Jang Uk, Seo Yul and DangGu - besties forever!), even Goblin with its hilarious BFF between Kim Shin and the Reaper :D, and so on, and so forth.

He straight up admitted he has had feelings for her for 15 years, enough to go looking for her on deserted islands since highschool, too.

She's a straight-up girl too - if she discovers one day her feelings are strong enough and of THAT kind, she'll tell him, don't worry.

There won't probably be a nice rom-com romance, but there is interest on both sides.

The others "disappeared" from him - and he might even think they're dead. But KiHo actively ran away, and destroyed his career too.

If he'll find them all, he'll take revenge on them all. But KiHo is the one he KNOWS is alive - and now, because MokHa didn't deny it credibly, he's suspicious about ChaeHo being alive too, since she knows about his sons (plural).

Being a planner and a doer shouldn't be used like this... I hope he doesn't go through with it - even if he gives Crazy Dad a dose of his own medicine.

RanJoo is being a diva right now, LOL. I hope she too gets out of that mood ASAP.

I don't know about other people, but the actress playing RanJoo's mom keeps throwing me off the story - she'll always be WiGen for me, everywhere she'll be in the future. And I keep expecting the Counters to come, too LOL.

Mid-ep 8 she starts singing Dream Us and those damned elves start cutting onions around me. That's a good song, and the way they included it made it even special.

...Okay now let's get back to watching the rest of the ep.

PS When did Yoo JiTae bulk up so much? He obviously always was tall and built to the measure, but now he definitely looks bulked up. Much like Namkoong Min did for The Veil (which made me never start My Dearest, LOL, he was another Hulk - can someone please tell me if he lost the bulk in that series, or is he still bigger than life?)

LOL, the big cop - and the rest of them - aren't trying to help him, they're just concerned for the optics.

Think about it like this; YOU're the one they decided has to be blamed for the actual vigilante's crimes. You maybe broke a window, hit someone in anger, maybe you shoplifted something, IDK, something pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

And then all these cops come and pinpoint you for three gruesome murders (maybe they decide to stick the copycat's killings on you too, for good measure - so make that 6 gruesome deaths). All the evidence conveniently points at you. You get a public defense lawyer who's in over their head. The public isn't on your side any more, because you're not tall&handsome, have a stable job, smile at people and are young with great prospects.

You're basically doomed. And SK still has the death penalty.

Doesn't sound like what the cop is preparing is so righteous anymore, does it?

All comic characters take a lot of time to develop, if they develop at all. For an 8-ep series, there's not a lot of time to do that - you can't see their motivations, what drives them mad or happy, etc. So it all remains at surface level and you interpret them based on tropes and clichees.

So far, the only one who is actually kind of nuanced (as it can be in this time) is Cho Heon, who is pretty gray himself. The rest... not so much.

Gangster: You can't hit me, you'll be thrown out of the police force!!
The Hulk: Do you really want to meet me when I'm out of the police force?

That was an actual LOL moment. I'm warming up toward Cho Heon.

That stupid DK CEO wants to be Batman, doesn't he?

The music continues to be great. Haven't read the webtoon, no idea how this ends, but so far, so good.

I can do this!! In 1.5x....

I think we got too usedd to self-sacrificing heroes who just forego their own lives for the sake of duty, and then live miserably so that everyone else can live freely and happily. I'm pretty tired of that trope too.

Why should he sacrifice his own life for the country? What did he ever get in return from his countrymen, his country's nobles, from his grandfather (the assassinated Emperor who didn't even want to see him before sending him off to the army), from his family, who's insulting his mother every chance they got? His only loyalties so far are to his army brothers, and being a strong Emperor might kill them all off in some suicidal mission, too. Why should he be the one to cut off all his links to actual meaningful life - since he's always known what he wants?

I'm pretty ready for a hero who DOESN'T sacrifice.

After all, the kid - his cousin - DID expect to inherit, DID expect to eventually take over the country, was in fact educated to do it (so far). The Empire doesn't NEED a Emperor/King who can fight - that's what generals are for. The Empire needs a DIPLOMAT and a POLITICIAN.

My vote goes to Li ZuanXe and not Li Ni.

The kid is at least 10-12. He'd be a King from 18 or thereabouts. It's not too long to wait until Li Ni could go to LaoLan Pass, and interim he could make sure the throne is secure and also check how stable the King to be actually is.

But if he becomes Emperor, there won't ever be any freedom in his future at all, even if he abdicates in favour of his cousin.

He only wanted to be let go when he got properly frightened and realised he was in over his head. When the troupe wanted to leave, he's the one who opposes the plan. And then the play is played and thus ends them all. Obviously he decided to leave then - but it was already way too late.

But not forever.

She means to have him forever be the Emperor. And he's not having it. Or if he does cave in, in the end, it'll not be by his own choice.

If the other grandson makes it to become Emperor, he doesn't need Li Ni close, he needs him at the border. The quip about border governors with huge armies being a threat while fragile clerks being less of a danger is pretty true, even coming from Miss Gu.

And Li Ni actually is true to his words - he's been telling them all who he is, and nobody's listening right now. I thought she was hearing him, but guess not.