Tibbs

I have a serious problem with a woman falling in love with a man who almost killed her three times. Stabs her. Chokes her. Poisons her. Puts honey on her body and lets ants crawl all over her body. I can understand why he did this, but I have a problem with it being romanticized on screen for fan girls to gush over. Everyone, this type of person is a RED flag and should be avoided at all costs.

The SML is not really better, yes, he's never violent to her, but he manipulates her at every turn, exposes her to danger, endangers her and traps her without allowing her to express her free will to leave and go where she wants. I don't like each of these characters even though the men playing them are hot.

The plot is quite intriguing, and in this drama, I would be okay if they just remained friends or close alliances but nothing romantic. The amount of violence in this drama exceeds what I see in most costume C-dramas. tsk tsk. But at the same time, the plot is so addictive, and the acting so good that I want to keep watching it. Jeremy Tsui has always been excellent, here he exceeds my expectation once again and is so compelling on screen. Landi Li and Ren Jua Lun are killing it as well. So I'm mesmerized.

I'm not surprised at the Douban rating. I believe the drama would have been rated higher if they had used the actors' real voices. The Chinese have a dislike of dubbed voices which is something that the international audience can ignore as we rely heavily on subs. I've watched Chinese dramas for so long that there are some voice actors whose voice I hear repetitively in many dramas. He dubbed the main lead here and I can tell you it's quite distracting. Also, the voice doesn't emote as well as the characters and sometimes feels like someone is just reading from a script.

I agree with your logic. She was empress. She could have killed him and no one would have batted an eye. But she let him go on a killing spree. My guess is that she wanted to use Lai to "clean house" of all the factions of the court. She knew that the fall out of putting him in power would be collateral damage. As always, some innocent good people get slaughtered alongside the evil ones.

At the end of the day, she's going to have to live with her decisions. I don't feel sorry for her standing by her husband's picture and crying.

A very satisfying watch.

How convenient! Why should a woman kill herself because of the stupid decisions of others? (I ask rhetorically).

I agree with you, and I also think it's partly because Shen Du is more attractive as a married man. Before his marriage, they did not witness any tenderness from him so many females were afraid of him, and afraid to marry him probably thinking he would kill his wife, but this time, he's a happily married man, so they feel he will treat them well

It's amazing what perspectives do for our decision making!

I agree 100%. Their chemistry is very real, and very hot. Ryan Ding is smoking hot and the FL is young but responsive. If she were older and could respond even more.... what a drama it would have been! (Fans self)

There's a lot to be said about a man who kisses his beloved with a live chicken and a piece of meat in his hands! lol!!

Ewww. I don't mind them not showing scenes of them washing up in the morning. But they should at least show her wearing gloves or washing her hand after touching a cadaver. Particularly because she cooks for her husband as well. lol.

It's the 6th sister that married Shen Du not the 4th.

The 4th sister is divorced with two sons.

Usually, there's a servant with a bowl of water and a wash cloth and the production shows the actors wiping their hands so the viewer is safe to assume they've cleaned up. Don't tell me that there's no scene like that in this drama? Especially after touching a cadaver?

lol

They definitely have 'very hot' chemistry. I had to fan myself while watching the confession scene. The kiss scene wasn't too shabby either. I just reminded myself that she's a young girl and it must be her first kiss, so of course she's shy and inexperienced. So not badly done, at all!

Yeah, she's a fresh faced beauty with her unique looks and plenty of talent. I wish the best for her career going forward.

True. But give it time, I believe the ratings will eventually climb up. It would be helpful if more people rated each individual episode as that drives the ratings up.

Ending for me was somewhat anticlimactic, but it was a good ending. I love this drama. 10 stars.

👍🏽

It's because the viewers don't bother to rate each episode that the rating here is lower.

She wasn't 19 when the drama was filmed, was she? Anyway, Zhao Lusi did plenty of kiss scenes in dramas when she was 19, and they weren't tame either. Maybe it's director's choice?

Maybe because the lead actress is 19? They are taking it easy with the kiss scenes? lol