Unidentifiable

Consider my mistake with the genre as further evidence of my previous disinterest. I always get those confused (I'll be correcting my original comment to reflect this new knowledge).

I think perhaps a number of factors could have been at play - my unfamiliarity with the genre and cdramas in general, my intense dislike of dubbing (which I'm now over), lack of patience with the... special effects, and most significantly the fact that I did not want to watch an extended flashback. The drama was still airing at the time, so I had no idea when I could expect the flashback to end (knowing how long I must wait goes a long way in driving patience for me).

And then finally, because it was airing, it hadn't quite blown up in popularity (though it was already making waves) and so the subtitle options were... well, all I had access to at the time was youtube.

I've already watched the first few episodes again, and it is much better than I remember it. Or maybe because I've watched and enjoyed other dramas of lesser quality since. And I think the subtitles I'm watching now must be much better - conversations no longer feel so awkward, from memory.

Thanks for your encouragement and extensive reply.

I feel like I must be the only person who struggled to get into this. I got to about episode 13, but it just felt so slow. Maybe because I wasn't huge fan of the genre? (which I'm more open to now) And at the time, though I wasn't used to watching Cdramas, I did genuinely try to like it.

It's been 3 years since I last tried though, so I guess it's worth another go. At what episode would you say the story picks up?

The only reason I'm delaying this is because I recently watched Rise of Pheonixes and I'm not yet prepared to see the actor as anyone else. I will get there eventually though, as this drama really does look like my cup of tea. I like well executed spies and politicking.

It's not really that kind of drama. There aren't, though, from memory. (I'm re-watching it now, after several years.)

Yes, haha "true historical events" ... definitely not whole truth. I refuse to watch cdramas from this time period, because censorship is unavoidable. I'll be giving this drama a pass.

It's obviously Ye Xiu and Glory!

No really, you have a good point. I have no idea.

Yes, I've reached this point. Irredeemable.

Hmm, thinking deeper on this, it may be partly because so far, the FL is still clearly uncomfortable in his presence - I imagine that as she grows to like him, I'll probably find his scenes easier to watch.

I'm at episode 23, and I love the FL, absolutely adore her - but I don't know why, the ML is just not compelling to me at all. It may be that, for some inexplicable reason, I don't like the actor (didn't like him in other projects either)... or maybe I'm simply tired of fearsome/competent general MLs, which seems to be an extremely common trope.

Other viewers: Is there a point at which you grew to like him? Or if I don't like him by now, is this case hopeless? I'll probably continue because I'm so invested in the FL, but still...

Episode 8 is an absolute riot - the FL's acting skills 😂

So far I'm at episode 5 and watching the FL's mother constantly put her down is very painful. I'm gonna trust that it gets better, but for now it's not easy.

But why may help with figuring out who... many very thrilling mysteries start with the why...

Your opening statement is truly ironic. Please don't use my mdl lists to reason out my opinion of this drama - I'm not good at keeping my lists up to date, and almost all the dramas I've put on hold or temporarily dropped are there due to my bad habit of watching dramas while they're airing, and then forgetting about them. They're on those lists because I had to put them somewhere, and mdl only offers those categories. They are rarely there because I dislike them, but because I have a poor attention span and lousy memory - a result of my cognitive illness. Sometimes, it's because my subscriptions for things run out, so I no longer have access to them. Occasionally, it's because the subtitles are so poor that I don't feel like enduring. And then there are those that I mostly like, and appreciate the technical execution of, but have dropped because they contain elements I find personally triggering (like Sky Castle). So the assumption that I dislike all the dramas I have not finished is incorrect.

But seeing as you have put so much effort into looking at reasons why I might dislike this drama (which it is too soon to have complete opinion of anyway) I take it that you are enjoying this one immensely - and that is perfectly justifiable.

Oh, I completely forgot about that drama! It was 4 years ago, so I can't remember why exactly I gave it that score... In this case though, I'm not liking the writing.

Thanks. I was confused, but you cleared it up.

Yeah this is why I was confused. So, more of a fostering relationship?

"the earliest episode that made me cry was episode 2" This implies that episode 2 made you cry. The way this sentence is constructed makes it seem as though episode 2 has already happened.

Spoil me please, I like spoilers, and I'll probably try to watch this anyway.

So what's the deal with "emperor's adopted son Ling Bu Yi" Key being adopted - how does that work? You don't need to tell me the inns an outs of his history, as I'm guessing that will be revealed, but I'm mostly curious about the legal/social implications of this - is it just an informal arrangement, or is there something more official? Also, why would the emperor adopt a son in the first place? Also, as I'm not a huge cdrama watcher, I haven't encountered this scenario before, how would an adoption work in a historical China? In this context, at least.

Ep 2 hasn't even aired yet though...

hmm I view it as kind of symbolic - they're both investigating this case, but from wildly different angles. The fact that they are identical makes this contrast even more apparent. I would not call it lazy - it's simply the approach they chose to take in the story telling, and to me, it feels as though the fact that they are twins was integral to developing this mirror-narrative, maybe even the reason they are twins in the first place..