SnG

She only just started to learn flute in that carriage from aunty no 3. Fast learner

Yeah it is mostly about css n lou yau. N by ep 18 they r yet to be unengaged. N we hv to wait for 5 days for ep 19.

Ya n she doesn't believe good things can happen to her. I think deep down we know n she sub consciously know if she falls for lby, her heart is lost. With louyau, she never hv to give fully, n hence will nvr be hurt.

I know right. When she pulled out that arrow. She asked her is it painful. His look basically says u r my anaesthetic. No pain. Ya right. He asked her ur hands hurt? Omg the guy is completely smitten. He just had a arrow pulled out n he worry it hurt her hands.

She says she want peaceful life, a hubby she can control n be free to to her heart desire. But sorry, gal u r born to do great things n stand beside a great man. All her talents are there. From ep 12, She is made of steely stuffs that can make any military men respect her. Like her mum I hv to say.

N worst is next week 6 episodes is mainly about lou yau n css. We need more of lby n css.

Even her aunt says so. She is more suited to be a general wife. She can't write, do poet, play musical instruments. But she has intelligence, guts n no fear for blood n wound n love traps n mechanics. All the right stuffs to fight along a military man, not a studious officer wife or some nobleman wife.

Actuslly the most unsettling thing is the mum knows what happened to the daughter all along as she keep eyes in the household but she act more like a strategist than a mum.
1. Wanting the husband to see his mum true colour n be on her side 2. Revenge on 2nd aunty must be thorough not half hearted. If she move it must be get at the throat.
This was mentioned in one of the 1st or 2nd or 3rd episode. Ss knew about it as she overheard the conversation. N mum says it as well when confronting 2nd aunty.
That is why I dislike her. She could hv amend the situation years b4 but wanted
calculated her timing. Now she realised her daughter is not what she would like her to be. She wanted her bend her back ASAP. N her most ridiculous manner is she wanted to right damage
2nd aunty did like she herself is faultless n conscience clear for her own scheming.
If she doesn't know I can't understand her guilt n urgency but she knows. So it more like she is angry n annoyed someone not going according to her plan.

since this is written 3 years after drama shown, i will not put in spoiler. But yes this part review contains spoiler:

I watched this in 2019 when it first aired for less than 10 episodes then dropping because i wasn't up to watching a full on set political drama and knowing this part of the Qin history recorded that Lady Zhao as a very 'colourful' character after the death of her husband, King Qin Zhuang Xiang, with lovers and even having babies with one of them. So i imagine it to be a pretty dark drama with not a happy ending. But i forgot that this is a drama and a drama does not necessary staying 100% true to history. So watch this drama for itself and dont go matching it with what happen in actual history. otherwise it will get confusing.

this year in 2022 i came back to it and watched in 4 days 38 episodes and loving it. So i am writing how i feel about it now because i love it immensely. when i finished it, i may write about the other 1/3.

The court bit (mainly in Zhao court up to episode 38) is yes a little draggy in some episodes but most political situations like battle of changping, slaughtering of 450k of zhao soliders by Qin general Baiqi and battle of handan were indeed a part of chinese history during that period. The costumes are just so beautiful (i personally love yiren clothing and the actor has a slender body to carry it off elegantly) and black is official Qin dynasty court colour from the Qin ancestry, so that bit stays true to the records that even after Qin shih huang unify the warring states and call himself Emperor, the clothing is still black predominantly. the music is nice. especially the opening song. -haunting and beautiful.

The story first give an impression that this is mainly about mother of the first emperor of China (the man who united all the warring states and make China under one ruler, ie the Emperor). But as the episodes progress on, to me personally, it is more a depiction of the Parents of the first Emperor, not just the mother alone. in fact hao lan (the mother) and ying yiren (the father) holds most of the show with lu bu wei becoming more and more of a supporting character. it was confusing in the beginning because LBW has a strong love line with hao lan first so it gave an impression it is about them and the ending should be about them. But it is not!! Ying yiren is the main male lead here. It is a depiction about the threats and humiliation he suffered in Zhao as a young royal hostage. By the show start he was in Zhao state for 8 years already since he was 13. He has been thrown in prison numerous times and threated to be killed whenever the Qin and Zhao states warred; he was given bare minimum and suffered relentless humiliation by most people around him (ie is ep 2 even the dancers in Zhao court despise him, even his servant could sell his musical instrument) One scene that hit me is Princess Ya poke him with a needle under the cloak just to remind him she gets what she want. Through it all, he struggled to stay strong, determined and focused and never give up on himself, building up a strong inner strength as he bears it all. He reads, he learns martial art and he keeps his mind sharp and keeps a humble stance in the midst of all the trials and tribulation. He finally escaped Qin with the help of his wife and LBW and final ascend to the Qin Throne, which later pave way for his son to be the next king and finally the First Emperor. The drama talks about his relationship with LBW who will later be his chancellor/prime minister and the great love story with hao lan who is historically known as Zhao Ji (Lady Zhao) who stands with him through thick and thin.

The love story bit was really well executed imo. From the moment he was saw her, he was attracted to her (the rainy scene of them meeting first time gives a beautiful depiction of 'he looked at her and its a love that last a thousand year and indeed these two were the monarchs more than 2000 years back). How he stayed by her side in the midst of all her heartaches from LBW and troubles caused by her family and Zhao court, grabbing the chance to marry her and the subtly wooing her after marriage and finally making her his true wife and queen consort were all so sweet. The drama team showed us a well educated, dashing, composed young royal prince who not only knows what he wants but is smart and stayed steadfast and focused to win the love of his life. Here Yiren is truly brilliant and even cunning in a way i would say. He never hurried but when the time is right, he knows it and grab the opportunity. Knowing full well LBW and hao lan feelings for each other, he was a gentleman in a way and does not resort to underhanded ways to make her his. Instead he quietly stood by and watch where it progresses and act accordingly. But to be honest, i do get a vibe that he stand quietly by because he reads LBW too well. He knows that LBW is too full of ambitions and ultimately the aim of everyone is to bring him back to Qin, and he knows Hao Lan characters (her streak to protect those she love) so well as that he knows it will not work for them. Episode 14 i think he gave it a push, he told LBW u cant have everything (both love and ambition) and he told haolan, go for it if u want. and indeed it did fall apart. So i would not think it is overboard to say that he never wavers and strategise to win the love of his life.

Yiren and Haolan:
From episode 2 onwards when they met, up to his escape back to Qin, i love the way he respect and love hao lan. the way he dotes on her can make any woman swoon. and to me, i think he actually understand hao lan better than herself. It is so nice to see never pushed her into anything she doesn't want to do and never get insecure with himself and doubt her unnecessarily. In fact when they work together to over calamities and threats, i truly feel yiren is very proud of his wife. We can see he always stay on the fringe to provide protection and ideas and encouragements but he never overdo it till it belittled her or make her feel she was being left alone. Many times his eyes twinkled and his mouth tweaked into a little smile when his wife faced those against her almost like saying ' yeap, u are dead meat and yes she is mine'. Most of all through various events we can see he always put her first. I truly think this time in Zhao state with him being a hostage is marital bliss for them despite all the threats and fear and their lifes are hanging on thin ropes. They got a fair bit of undisturbed time together and the way their eyes meet and they smile at each other, they stayed by each other side doing their own things (one reading and painting and one sewing) are beautiful to watch. it is so quietly beautiful and slow yet the chemistry btw yiren and hao lan is oozing, to me much stronger than her with lbw. with yiren it is a slow burn, with lbw it is a fire that engulfed but it will fizzled out. I especially think the actor Mao zi jun did a brilliant act of w yiren looking at hao lan,. It is always with pride and love and tenderness in his eyes is oozing. If anyone else notice, in the whole drama, yiren never look at anyone else like that. to the others he is always gentle, polite and composed and as the drama moves on, we start to understand the more he dislike the person/s (eg Princess Ya), he more composed he gets and he has this permanent gentleman smile on his face that doesnt reflect in the eyes. the smile will turn colder if he hates the person. He is always a gentleman - well mannered and calm on the surface but very deep with his actual thoughts and plans, which can even get chilly in many situations. Boy i am totally impressed with Mao Zi jun. my first time watching him. he did the handsome, regal, i am a blue blood royal by birth act so naturally. Like LBW says, he is a prince and he will always be one no matter if he is in prison or in court. I think the actor does an excellent job. Basically, Yiren here is a brilliant strategist both in court and in love.

some ppl think hao lan is more similar with lbw and even lbw says so himself but i beg to differ. hao lan and yiren are more similar in the drama. and i am not surprised in the end hao lan chooses yiren. in terms of background and family, one is born royal and another is born and raised a noblelady. in fact Han princess described hao lan really well, she is well mannered and has the demeanor of a noble lady when she is not being ruffled up. so when yiren and hao lan stand together, it is like wow....they are so classy and good to look.... at much like say duke and duchess of cambridge in today's term haha..... lbw sees the fierce and wild and passionate, tigress side of hao lan but i feel that she was only like that due to her situations. hao lan says in the drama many times, ambitions is not her thing. she just want to love and be loved and be respected and be treated like an equal. i think personally in yiren, it is all there. at least up to episode 38 for now. She is smart but she used it to protect herself., not to achieve any ambitions for power and richness. all she want is to have the power to protect those whom she loves. Both of yiren and haolan have a kind streak in them too (ep 1 both wanted to offer money to the poor even when they themselves are down in a slump). both would not harm others unnecessarily unless the other side get overboard with their scheming and relentless abuses. Then both will bite back at the throat at the right time especially yiren. Both had strong principles and backbones and inner strength of steel. i honestly believe couple can only work if the values are similar. the drama makes them similar.

LBW and Hao Lan:
LBW on the other hand is and smart and determined and that is where his similarities with Hao lan ends. He is so ambitious and he wanted to be the most powerful man of the nation and he shows it blatantly. he is what we call a rogue!!!!. he is passionate on things he set his eyes and heart upon (maybe a elon musk or steve job in today's term) and is go getter. he will make things happen. But he has no fixed principles in any way or maybe we can say he can change his bottomlines over and over again except he wants to be powerful (this bit never change). And there is a roughness to him vs yiren elegance. That is the way he is. There is nothing wrong with that but unfortunately he comprised his relationship with hao lan. he can tell her the sweetest thing at one moment and make the most heartfelt promise that makes any woman swoon but voila his attention goes elsewhere and he makes mistakes and he begs her to understand him because she are his soulmate and he knows only she can truly understand what he wants and what and why he is doing what he is doing. she forgive him but he forgets again. and on the cycles go. he is fun, sexy and wild. but this type of relationship is toxic. The actor did an fantastic job of portraying the character. Nie yuan is a seasoned actor. but anyone thinks that he and wu jinyan does not have great chemistry. in fact in yanxi i love his chemistry with his empress more than with consort ling.

Love Triangle:
With lbw it is like u cant help but be attracted to the bad bold boy in town and u feel u have fallen in love with him head over heels, wildly and crazily but once the passion fizzled out, lets ask ourselves truly : would it work in any marriage, what more in the time of turbulence and between a couple who need to face more trials and tribulations in the process of ascending a country's throne and running a country thereafter as king and queen consort. Yiren with haolan relationship is stable. LBW with haolan is volatile. With yiren it is like a nice guy (well we all know he has his tactics, he isnt exactly harmless as he seems) that is always around but then when u slow down and try everything else, u realise wat u truly need is steadfast love, not the passionate type that is so engulfed u but also burn u out. The kind of love that is true, non compromising and steadfast with the sense of togetherness, being there for each other, warming ur heart. it is not a passionate fire burns high and engulfing but the one that will continue to burn and warm u for the rest of your life.

So for those who thinks hao lan love lbw more than yiren, her action makes it super clear otherwise. she chooses not to wait around for lbw after his repeatedly changing in goals about them. Good for u gal. get out of any toxic relationship and love urself. She choose to stay with yiren and trusted and waited for him for 8 years to bring them back to qin. because not for once he has let her down (at least up to episode 38). in one of episode i think 30 or 31, yiren told her a bedtime story of a poor woodcutter with the flower fairy and stone statue. he watched for reaction. she responded by saying that the flower fairy can repay the woodcutter with land and gold, she does not need insist on marrying him. the stone statue is lying about the flower fairy being a evil spirit because he is jealous and hao lan thinks that woodcutter is so silly to not see the fairy love for him. there u go,....yiren has his answer. it is no more out of gratitude nor sympathy anymore. she firmly called yiren her husband and she means it and wanted this true partnership in marriage (stand by u, die and live with u kind of love). in episode 30, she was very uncertain to leave with LBW and leave yiren behind and when she found out LBW had the chance to let her know she is still alive, her speed of dropping LBW and running back to be with yiren who is trouble is tact to fast for me. it almost feel like she need the excuse to go back to yiren. And of the declaration in the face of Handan mob, he is my husband and we will live and die together. ommph...Side notes: i think when she started calling him yiren and bickered with him, i think she has started to fall in love. previously it was always " qin royal grandson" and she is always polite with him. we see he always feel happy with she get hopping mad at him.

Obviously the love story bit is very much by the imagination of the scriptwriter but it is nicely written and make me wish it did happen like that. Historically yin yiren asked for lady zhao from LBW after meeting her at LBW manor (maybe after a party) and married her whilst he is in exile. In the society of those times, yin yiren is royalty and he could have just have fun with her as he may one day leave to go back to Qin or died in Zhao and make her concubine (cause historically she is a entertainer/concubine of lbw. I tend to think she is an entertainer more than concubine. she has a better chance to be seen as an entertainer by yin yiren than another man secondary wife). if a 'lowly' merchant class only see lady zhao fit as concubine, i cant think of any other reason other than love, the prince even in exile makes her his main wife and in history yin yiren make Lady zhao his queen consort of Qin in the end and her son his crown prince. also yin yiren in history has very small harem and only one son by the another concubine. so i feel yin yiren do have some deep feelings for Lady Zhao, so this bit of the drama screen imagination of yiren falling in love with hao lan is entirely believable. it is anybody guess really.

i totally agree with u. Mao Zijun is so mesmerising here. to me this drama should be the Story of the Parents of First Emperor. because Ying yiren the father of the China First Emperor story here and his trial and tribulation to the Qin throne is very very strong here. including his time as hostage in zhao and how he met the love of his life as well. the love line between hao lan and yiren is so sweet and heartwarming and they have marital bliss despite the lives are constantly hanging on threads. so it is their struggles to the highest power on Qin dynasty and paving the way for their son who later become the first emperor of china unifying the 7 warring states. Lu bu wei to me is a side character. the characters are real character in chinese history but story is a mixture of fiction and imagination tying to the actual event like war of handan and war of changping where 450 k zhao soldiers were slaugthered by Qin army.

His role as Ying yiren is the male lead here. to me the whole story is the story of the parents of the First Emperor of China. lu bu wei by nie yuan to me is the second male lead. but he has a love arc with hao lan for about 25 episodes.

Thomas Tong who is in a few dramas recent years and this year with baby Zhang.

No prob. Love to share my enjoyment. Post here if u hv prob understand any parts. Will try to explain. Hope u like it too.

They r so sweet towards one another.

Oh dear I watch in Chinese as I understand spoken mandarin. Usually dramas n duboku. If I come across any English subs sites I will post here.

Yuer is born w heart issue. But she is kind, sweet n innocent yet very resilient n independent as her mum died when she was young n her dad is weak n married a evil woman. Yeap u get the cinderella vibe with evil stepmom n step sis (ugly too). She loves cooking. N excel at it.

ML Hua yinan is the new ruler of the hua island after the passing of his dad. The story starts w HYN insisting to marry her. Wooing her both in the usual man-woo-woman tricks plus some underhanded tricks as welk. Then it was revealed that in his father's will it makes compulsory for HYN to marry Yuer in order to succeed as the ruler. The actual reason for him to marry her is to get the military power to command the island army as pirate was rampant. Later on, the dad even required Yuer to hold the purse string after marriage. U may ask why.

The back story is his father had almost marry her mum who was actually an amazing cook. This part is not fully reveal yet by ep 9. But we know he loves her so much but they were separated in the end with his dad marry a princess n hence their high status on the Island. He never forget her. This cause a lot of heartbreaks in HYN family. So in his way, he want their love to cont in their children, HYN n Yuer.

Yuer din understand his insistence of marrying her (poor gal, unpopular due to her illness n may die anytime) n even dislike his arrogance in the beginning. She refused him countless time. he did not care other than get the wedding done n he get to command the army. But in the process of wooing her in both soft n hard way, he started to fall in love w her. By ep 2 he already felt all messup emotionally by her. By wedding ep4 she started to see him as a kind n caring person. She saw the soft n sensitive side of him. N truly, he is really in love w her by wedding time, willing to wait for her to reciprocate his feelings. By ep 9 she finally tell him she loves him..
U may ask why the speed.

The answer is their prev life's, revealed right at the start of drama. 1000 years ago when men n gods Co exist. She was the blossom tree fairy n he was a human general. The dragon king knew the fairy first but fairy fall in love w general. General promise to marry fairy after the war. But in his blinded jealousy the dragon king kill general n want to disperse his soul till he will never reincarnate. General n fairy love till death will not do them apart. She took her heart energy n pass on to him to save his soul but lost her fairy status. He has her heart energy implanted, both will go into reincarnation. Her last word to him. If there is ever a next lifetime, u must come marry me. Hence, story ties to that promise of him coming to marry her.

Both leads has no prev lifetime memories.. That makes the story nice n logical imo.. It is like loving each other has been carved in their dna. It is just natural n unavoidable. They Don know why he cried when they kiss under the withered blossom tree n why she can't stop herself from shielding him in danger. but it is just meant to be.

But I believe later on the dragon King reincarnated as 6th prince will wreak havoc to the couple once he got back his memory.. Now male cousin is causing some jealousy as he is in love w fl. But I think it will be over soon because he will be the second couple w the gal who is in love w the ml. Both these persons will not create much big prob. The real danger lies w 6th prince now. Who just can't accept she does not love him. He is psychotic.

I cannot believe I actually like this drama a lot. I wasn't expecting much. Cause it is one of those low budget w not high traffic leads. I was expecting all sort of cringy troupe. But boy, this is entertaining. Fast pace (so much happen in 4 episode which will take some fantasy drama 20 ep to sort out), the leads are good looking n their chemistry unbelievably good (but now I know they did ugly beauty together, this is their 2nd time working together, I understand their naturalness w each other), plot is so far believable. As for troupes, yes we get some troupey kisses (drama not stingy w kisses. Lots of them) n movement n angle shootings but there are those touching moments that are good n can move my heart into feeling sour/bittersweet n emotion . Will put the storyline I hv seen so far in the spoilerr below. Cause the mdl synopsis is pretty non informative n uninteresting. But ya, enjoying myself up to ep 9.

Both. There is the fl male cousin with the gal originally in love w the ml. I think the triangle is forced. Because from prev life till this current lifetime the leads are always in love w one another. The other male lead the dragon king/6th prince just not accepting that the lady did not/does not love him.

Haha.. Ugly beauty 2021. Same leads in modern drama

Let me. I really like it. It is unbelievable good for a low budget not so famous leads. I watch till ep9. Fast pace, sweet n cute n believable chemistry (the leads 2nd time working together, last one was ugly beauty 2021) n good looking leads n believable plot. Go watch yeah!!