There was a lot of flash and less of a bang. But it was enjoyable.
The best character was the King - he could have stopped everything though and went "nah, more secrets is always good".
I wish there was some conclusion as to what the chain and promise to the Gwi Mae meant, I hope it's not a coda left to hook a second season. (Bet they're going to try anyway).
PS the little ggeokmeoksali (sp) is a no for me, sorry. I mean, he went into hysterics the first time he saw it, and by the end it's a house pet to him?! Like, what the heck. Keep monsters being monsters.
Anyway, give Kwak DongYeon more roles and make him lead already, he has the poise to carry it.
Lang Di, a little confused: Is your sister a bit abnormal? :D
I was ROFLMAO at that point. I mean, he HAS to have had crazy shippers before, but she's one to top some of the worst of them, LOL. The way she starts wailing the second she remembers hahaha~
Can someone explain the results of the DNA evidence?
The person who manipulated evidence in the case of the meth-death (their DNA was on the inside of the glove found at the site) is the biological son of Prosecutor Tak.
Now, since the actual legal son of Prosecutor Tak is adopted, being his wife's son from a previous marriage, it's evident this is another son, not legally recognised. And Mrs Oh is involved in basically all the crimes they're investigating, in one manner or another. So they deducted it must be HER biological son and Prosecutor Tak's.
I think it's Mr Song, the other investigator in Ju TaeSeon's office. It would make sense his father - if he knows about him - would put him in a certain position where he could find out anything about what's concerning Mrs Oh and Mr Tak... And if it's not the father, given how the killer keeps weapons and other keepsakes from the murders - maybe Mr Song is actually doing it by himself just for his own reasons.
It HAS to be Mr. Song. He's too in for all of it, nosing around, trying to ingratiate himself to Lee ChaeHa.
Now Mrs Oh has gone and done it - exposed Ju TaeSeon to Lee ChaeHa, good for her! Now they can air all the grievances and come to a better understanding.
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed. So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to…
It's accumulated frustration (because I really, really wanted to like this, and did, in the beginning. But the repetititve near-misses and last-second-saves and the harem-like devotion of basically every male around to the FL got to me.
I know they explained how Prince Lie came to her, I wanted to note how each and every time there's someone suddenly appearing just in time to save the FL from some sudden / random danger while she stays there petrified waiting for it to happen (usually the CP, this time Prince Lie). I wanted her to have (a lot) more agency herself. It's not that hard to learn to move a bit a let the arrows / kidnappers / arsons / b!tchy female villain's horse whip miss. She DID, previously (what with the scene where that noble lady fell in the water). She forgot how, lately.
Anyway. I guess it's to each their own. As I said, I'll try to keep watching - because of the ML, who does a decent job of a pretty one-tone character, but I had hoped for a lot more. And from time to time, there's a scene or two that show what could have been and it's really sad. (For example, that scene where he realizes he exposed his secret side by accident when sending the incense bracelets as a betrothal gift. That scene was so good, it deserved a lot more like it to join it in the drama, LOL.)
And now that I think about it, what's even worse is how they got a whole studded-cast that they're not even using well (they might be not lead-level but they're all experienced and pretty present in most dramas, which is a lot, given the huge competition in Chinese ent. - like, Lester Lin is there but mostly as a comic side-kick, Chen HeYi (his character has disappeared lately), Jeremy Xu has to play another one-tone character, Gala Zhang is... just there. And what they're doing with Ye ZuXin's character is criminal.)
I still blame the writing. I KNOW Meng ZiYi can do a lot better, I've seen her do it. If she - and basically all of them - feel so flat, it might be how their characters are written.
Book is same like this ml and fl are a ten steps a head to be frank ..any way i understand ur frustration you…
I meant they teleport in jest, they obviously have to travel. But Ancient China (even fantasy Ancient China) travel takes freaking time, a lot of it.
They just announce they're going to X county and they're - poof! - there. They announce the brother will come aaaaaall the way from the border and he - poof! - is there. They announce the father will also visit aaaaaall the way from the border, and he - poof! - arrives.
The freaking kitten never grew up, but we're supposed to believe at LEAST some months passed.
And it bugs me no end when the CP just materializes out of thin air just to block some arrow for her - he HAS good aides, why not send those? Why gallivant around while he's supposedly death-sick AND has complex schemes of his own to plan and execute?!
It's frustrating we're being TOLD they're both smart, but we don't see that, she's girlsplaining things to him all the time, even when it's obvious. Or she's basically taking info out of thin air and they turn out to be the exact true explanations of things that happened. Like - it's magic, trust us bro, that's what happened.
I don't even want to go into her super-nose (that's the original body's nose too, since she's reincarnated, not that we ever revisited much of that backstory yet.)
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed. So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to…
I watched the first episodes, these things you mention (other than her being married to Prince Xin and then killing herself in order to set a trap and revenge her family) were NEVER mentioned at all.
Have you read the book and are taking this info from the novel?! Because I can promise you... they did not mention anything about her being affianced to Dr Xie before. And she never had any kind of reaction to him when she got to meet him in her reincarnated period.
Anyway.... I don't need more words to explain this drama, I need this drama to show more than tell. Because so far they've been telling us a lot of things that happened offscreen and should have mattered but they never came into play, being replaced by yet another romantic scene with a song where she's looking at rain or snow and he's looking at her for the tenth time.
Thanks for trying to explain :)
PS The CP moving around freely in the capital or around it does not warrant him being able to take a few weeks/months to go on a different county where some prefect was killed and replaced and NOBODY found out for TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS?! And they only found out because some random kid managed to escape being hunted down by rebels and tell HER?!
NGL, I stayed in spite of the messy execution/plot (because they're cute) but it's became slowly kind of stale.…
Like, I can't believe how badly the whole Duke Ying sideplot was executed.
So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to appeal on his brother's behalf (we never learn what happened to the kid and his brother, either), there's a sudden fire that endangers her (like, how many times it's been now? About the 5th at least, right?), Prince Lie saves her (because of reasons, he just teleported there for a change instead of the CP doing the teleportation to save her in the last second). We find out Doctor Xie is Duke Xie's estranged son (this never came up ever before, despite the doctor being pretty present in the drama so far. And TBH, I expected a bigger presence from Gala Zhang). Then she promises him that IF he EVER needs help, she'll help him. The same day off he goes and disappears prompting her to go help him. She engineers a missing token and sidetracks into finding a hiding place where Duke Ying- never spoken of before - is hiding and being treated by Xie's estranged son that doesn't care his father is about to get arrested. (Because in his case filial piety isn't a thing since he SUSPECTS his father poisoned his mother). And so in the space of a few days we get an unknown noble connection for Dr Xie, find out more unsavoury things about the current Emperor, lose and save Dr Xie, unearth a whole conspiracy (and sideline the love story between Mr Cui and Ms Bu), investigate everything and find out that ooops this isn't the poisoner you're looking for.
In two episodes.
Not to mention the mine-and-forge plot (okay so Mr Cui and Ms Bu could admire each other's attributes - his more than hers - and then appreciate each other more etc). But XiHe and CP get to teleport to that province out of the blue (nobody told the Emperor his CP is going on a wander about AGAIN), XiHe inserts herself into guvernatorial business - like by WHAT authority?! There's no logic - and then SHE gets to decide what happens to the rescued prisoners. Because of reasons. While the CP is standing there like an idiot, being cute wallpaper (I mean he IS supposed to inherit, if he lives, that would be a perfect PR opportunity for him, what, are we supposed to believe the Emperor wouldn't use it?!)
Anyway - the most stupid plot point is CP arguing that Dr Xie's poisoned mother that we never found out about until 20 minutes before he disappeared deserves to be raised in rank post-mortem because she was chaste and demure and noble and whatnot. And the Emperor going OMG that's an AMAZING idea, why didn't we ever do that before?! Let's do that, let me give an edict about it right this minute!!
My IQ slipped 2 points on that scene alone.
Anyway. Long story short, I wanted to like this or at least enjoy some mindless fun, but it's not really fun any more...
NGL, I stayed in spite of the messy execution/plot (because they're cute) but it's became slowly kind of stale. I mean, it already feels episodic and disjointed and I bet they didn't intend for it to be so.
Something happens - gets solved (through deus-ex-machina, out-of-the-blue information that was never brought up before the moment it was needed, magical intervention of a character that never appeared before and never returns, etc) - next episode another thing happens. The other princes are basically MIA at this point, the CP is simping like no man ever simped before, she's playing ice goddess (because why?!) and all the rest of the story is meaningless and inane.
This drama had an attempt to the life of a royal at least once every two episodes and nobody ever batted an eye. They all go in and out of the Imperial Palace on a whim, nobody cares (are those eunuchs for decor or what?!) The people from the NW frontier teleport back and forth in an instant. Huge important clue into the poisoning comes and goes in two eps (that were mostly about completely different things than the poisoning).
However I tried to just not mind and turn my brain off, it's became annoying about now. There are cute scenes and he's being heroic at times and then all the rest of the support cast comes and goes but dammit... it feels empty. Completely lacking in substance.
I might continue just because I never watched a drama with this ML before, but it's going to be a struggle.
Liked the opening. My catching point so far for this is that it has gorgeous historical costumes, usually not something I've seen in Thai BLs (also most of the men and women from 350 years ago go around half naked anyway LOL). And Gaew going into shock instead of just diving right into the isekai transmigration was on point, LOL. I mean, who wouldn't go a bit crazy over something like that?!
The main cast is gorgeous - though WTF is original Gaew's problem?! I hope the new and improved Gaew starts impressing people right and left immediately with his cutie side.
PS I thought cars were practical Faraday cages, someone inside a car struck by lightning wouldn't get electrocuted (if all doors and windows are closed). I guess we're going with the "he hit his head" (where the heck is his belt though?)
daddy dearest is in for another disappointment. it's 2026, conservative dads, entrust your legacy to your daughters…
The men could also use surrogacy if they really wanted babies - but I think that, despite the age difference, ChangYang already has his hands full with his QingLang baby :D
Oh my God, comments about the dubbing, the story not being someone’s cup of tea, the pacing being fast, or the…
But she's not of that family, going by the reincarnation. Which begs the question on WHO exactly she is - is she the original Gu daughter who killed herself (since she does her incense stuff and knows the Imperial family), or is she the not-drowned Shen daughter (who was naive and not really worldly before the drowning). Or is she supposed to be a mix between them?
She doesn't owe the Wen Duke's family anything if she's reborn, she's protecting them because she needs their power structure BUT she's not their daughter. They cared for the original girl, not this one. All her powerplays make no sense in this POV. She's doing it because she used to do it as a Prince's wife.
But then this again makes no sense - it's been three years since she killed herself, she HAS to have known all the princes, they're not younglings. She HAS to have known the Crown Prince too (even if she didn't care much for him at the time). There's not a lot of logic into her going to test each and every one of them. Not in the drama, anyway. Maybe in the novel she forgot most of her previous life or something so that she needs to learn things anew. But the drama doesn't imply that at all. She also remembers everyone her body's original knew and the secret codes between the family (that she knew WHY?! Since the original body's conscience wasn't really smart enough to use them safely).
However you're looking at it, there are too many fails of logic in this one.
Anyway, it's pretty and there are good scenes and it moves fast (sometimes too fast). For me, TBH, the support characters and the secondary leads carry the drama. So far anyway.
TBH I am quite certain this isn't the best of the cdramas I've ever watched. Everything is so far-fetched, things just happen with no rhyme and reason (and this a drama about a scheming bunch of people including the soon-to-be newlyweds), everyone in that Imperial Palace is prone to going missing for days (no one bats and eye), or getting attacked repeatedly at random or while going about the capital in the dead of night with no guards (because of reasons) but there's no outcry anywhere in the Palace (like AT ALL, repeatedly), things are summarily introduced and solved and on and on.
BUT it's entertaining in it's almost stupidity. There are some amazing shots and I live for the fake crossdressing bromance between Ms. Bu and Mr. Cui (I seriously think they are the best CP in the drama). There are quite a lot of pretty known actors in this one, I wonder why the writer couldn't adapt it better. Or maybe that's just how the novel nonsensically moves LOL.
I'll keep watching because it's light and easy and because of the fake bromance, I'm invested now LOL.
3 
The best character was the King - he could have stopped everything though and went "nah, more secrets is always good".
I wish there was some conclusion as to what the chain and promise to the Gwi Mae meant, I hope it's not a coda left to hook a second season. (Bet they're going to try anyway).
PS the little ggeokmeoksali (sp) is a no for me, sorry. I mean, he went into hysterics the first time he saw it, and by the end it's a house pet to him?! Like, what the heck. Keep monsters being monsters.
Anyway, give Kwak DongYeon more roles and make him lead already, he has the poise to carry it.
Lang Di, a little confused: Is your sister a bit abnormal? :D
I was ROFLMAO at that point. I mean, he HAS to have had crazy shippers before, but she's one to top some of the worst of them, LOL. The way she starts wailing the second she remembers hahaha~
Now, since the actual legal son of Prosecutor Tak is adopted, being his wife's son from a previous marriage, it's evident this is another son, not legally recognised. And Mrs Oh is involved in basically all the crimes they're investigating, in one manner or another. So they deducted it must be HER biological son and Prosecutor Tak's.
I think it's Mr Song, the other investigator in Ju TaeSeon's office. It would make sense his father - if he knows about him - would put him in a certain position where he could find out anything about what's concerning Mrs Oh and Mr Tak... And if it's not the father, given how the killer keeps weapons and other keepsakes from the murders - maybe Mr Song is actually doing it by himself just for his own reasons.
Now Mrs Oh has gone and done it - exposed Ju TaeSeon to Lee ChaeHa, good for her! Now they can air all the grievances and come to a better understanding.
Also, JTS fell so hard LOL.
Yummy Yummy Yummy - the family that cooks together (and stuff) stays together.
There are plenty of nice family costume dramas. But there are so many cdramas you just have to get lucky finding them :D
I know they explained how Prince Lie came to her, I wanted to note how each and every time there's someone suddenly appearing just in time to save the FL from some sudden / random danger while she stays there petrified waiting for it to happen (usually the CP, this time Prince Lie). I wanted her to have (a lot) more agency herself. It's not that hard to learn to move a bit a let the arrows / kidnappers / arsons / b!tchy female villain's horse whip miss. She DID, previously (what with the scene where that noble lady fell in the water). She forgot how, lately.
Anyway. I guess it's to each their own. As I said, I'll try to keep watching - because of the ML, who does a decent job of a pretty one-tone character, but I had hoped for a lot more. And from time to time, there's a scene or two that show what could have been and it's really sad. (For example, that scene where he realizes he exposed his secret side by accident when sending the incense bracelets as a betrothal gift. That scene was so good, it deserved a lot more like it to join it in the drama, LOL.)
And now that I think about it, what's even worse is how they got a whole studded-cast that they're not even using well (they might be not lead-level but they're all experienced and pretty present in most dramas, which is a lot, given the huge competition in Chinese ent. - like, Lester Lin is there but mostly as a comic side-kick, Chen HeYi (his character has disappeared lately), Jeremy Xu has to play another one-tone character, Gala Zhang is... just there. And what they're doing with Ye ZuXin's character is criminal.)
I still blame the writing. I KNOW Meng ZiYi can do a lot better, I've seen her do it. If she - and basically all of them - feel so flat, it might be how their characters are written.
They just announce they're going to X county and they're - poof! - there. They announce the brother will come aaaaaall the way from the border and he - poof! - is there. They announce the father will also visit aaaaaall the way from the border, and he - poof! - arrives.
The freaking kitten never grew up, but we're supposed to believe at LEAST some months passed.
And it bugs me no end when the CP just materializes out of thin air just to block some arrow for her - he HAS good aides, why not send those? Why gallivant around while he's supposedly death-sick AND has complex schemes of his own to plan and execute?!
It's frustrating we're being TOLD they're both smart, but we don't see that, she's girlsplaining things to him all the time, even when it's obvious. Or she's basically taking info out of thin air and they turn out to be the exact true explanations of things that happened. Like - it's magic, trust us bro, that's what happened.
I don't even want to go into her super-nose (that's the original body's nose too, since she's reincarnated, not that we ever revisited much of that backstory yet.)
Have you read the book and are taking this info from the novel?! Because I can promise you... they did not mention anything about her being affianced to Dr Xie before. And she never had any kind of reaction to him when she got to meet him in her reincarnated period.
Anyway.... I don't need more words to explain this drama, I need this drama to show more than tell. Because so far they've been telling us a lot of things that happened offscreen and should have mattered but they never came into play, being replaced by yet another romantic scene with a song where she's looking at rain or snow and he's looking at her for the tenth time.
Thanks for trying to explain :)
PS The CP moving around freely in the capital or around it does not warrant him being able to take a few weeks/months to go on a different county where some prefect was killed and replaced and NOBODY found out for TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS?! And they only found out because some random kid managed to escape being hunted down by rebels and tell HER?!
Like... this is ridiculous.
So, an out-of-the-blue kid comes to appeal on his brother's behalf (we never learn what happened to the kid and his brother, either), there's a sudden fire that endangers her (like, how many times it's been now? About the 5th at least, right?), Prince Lie saves her (because of reasons, he just teleported there for a change instead of the CP doing the teleportation to save her in the last second). We find out Doctor Xie is Duke Xie's estranged son (this never came up ever before, despite the doctor being pretty present in the drama so far. And TBH, I expected a bigger presence from Gala Zhang). Then she promises him that IF he EVER needs help, she'll help him. The same day off he goes and disappears prompting her to go help him. She engineers a missing token and sidetracks into finding a hiding place where Duke Ying- never spoken of before - is hiding and being treated by Xie's estranged son that doesn't care his father is about to get arrested. (Because in his case filial piety isn't a thing since he SUSPECTS his father poisoned his mother). And so in the space of a few days we get an unknown noble connection for Dr Xie, find out more unsavoury things about the current Emperor, lose and save Dr Xie, unearth a whole conspiracy (and sideline the love story between Mr Cui and Ms Bu), investigate everything and find out that ooops this isn't the poisoner you're looking for.
In two episodes.
Not to mention the mine-and-forge plot (okay so Mr Cui and Ms Bu could admire each other's attributes - his more than hers - and then appreciate each other more etc). But XiHe and CP get to teleport to that province out of the blue (nobody told the Emperor his CP is going on a wander about AGAIN), XiHe inserts herself into guvernatorial business - like by WHAT authority?! There's no logic - and then SHE gets to decide what happens to the rescued prisoners. Because of reasons. While the CP is standing there like an idiot, being cute wallpaper (I mean he IS supposed to inherit, if he lives, that would be a perfect PR opportunity for him, what, are we supposed to believe the Emperor wouldn't use it?!)
Anyway - the most stupid plot point is CP arguing that Dr Xie's poisoned mother that we never found out about until 20 minutes before he disappeared deserves to be raised in rank post-mortem because she was chaste and demure and noble and whatnot. And the Emperor going OMG that's an AMAZING idea, why didn't we ever do that before?! Let's do that, let me give an edict about it right this minute!!
My IQ slipped 2 points on that scene alone.
Anyway. Long story short, I wanted to like this or at least enjoy some mindless fun, but it's not really fun any more...
Something happens - gets solved (through deus-ex-machina, out-of-the-blue information that was never brought up before the moment it was needed, magical intervention of a character that never appeared before and never returns, etc) - next episode another thing happens. The other princes are basically MIA at this point, the CP is simping like no man ever simped before, she's playing ice goddess (because why?!) and all the rest of the story is meaningless and inane.
This drama had an attempt to the life of a royal at least once every two episodes and nobody ever batted an eye. They all go in and out of the Imperial Palace on a whim, nobody cares (are those eunuchs for decor or what?!) The people from the NW frontier teleport back and forth in an instant. Huge important clue into the poisoning comes and goes in two eps (that were mostly about completely different things than the poisoning).
However I tried to just not mind and turn my brain off, it's became annoying about now. There are cute scenes and he's being heroic at times and then all the rest of the support cast comes and goes but dammit... it feels empty. Completely lacking in substance.
I might continue just because I never watched a drama with this ML before, but it's going to be a struggle.
Is the book as bad?!
You can take your AI-generated content and shove it.
The main cast is gorgeous - though WTF is original Gaew's problem?! I hope the new and improved Gaew starts impressing people right and left immediately with his cutie side.
PS I thought cars were practical Faraday cages, someone inside a car struck by lightning wouldn't get electrocuted (if all doors and windows are closed). I guess we're going with the "he hit his head" (where the heck is his belt though?)
She doesn't owe the Wen Duke's family anything if she's reborn, she's protecting them because she needs their power structure BUT she's not their daughter. They cared for the original girl, not this one. All her powerplays make no sense in this POV. She's doing it because she used to do it as a Prince's wife.
But then this again makes no sense - it's been three years since she killed herself, she HAS to have known all the princes, they're not younglings. She HAS to have known the Crown Prince too (even if she didn't care much for him at the time). There's not a lot of logic into her going to test each and every one of them. Not in the drama, anyway. Maybe in the novel she forgot most of her previous life or something so that she needs to learn things anew. But the drama doesn't imply that at all. She also remembers everyone her body's original knew and the secret codes between the family (that she knew WHY?! Since the original body's conscience wasn't really smart enough to use them safely).
However you're looking at it, there are too many fails of logic in this one.
Anyway, it's pretty and there are good scenes and it moves fast (sometimes too fast). For me, TBH, the support characters and the secondary leads carry the drama. So far anyway.
(I kind of think his name is WenShu indeed).
BUT it's entertaining in it's almost stupidity. There are some amazing shots and I live for the fake crossdressing bromance between Ms. Bu and Mr. Cui (I seriously think they are the best CP in the drama). There are quite a lot of pretty known actors in this one, I wonder why the writer couldn't adapt it better. Or maybe that's just how the novel nonsensically moves LOL.
I'll keep watching because it's light and easy and because of the fake bromance, I'm invested now LOL.