SD1D Enthusiast

one of the few dramas where reverse harem ending would be the best ending since all 3 MLs have their own unique merits. Emperors in ancient china had harems of 3000 women, why can't our empress have 3 men?

I personally think it's more nuanced than that. I think ZZ and JXN resemble XL's story more because both loves had to do with the ML sacrificing for the FL and them loving each other, but not being able to act on it because of life circumstances outside of their control. Xiang Liu was the "bad" guy so to speak, but he put FL's happiness above his own if they were together and he never wanted to bind her with his burden, similar to how ZZ despite being the "good" guy does not want to bind JXN with the memories and guilt of the past life if it causes her pain, even if it means they won't be together.

And LYF comment section was WW3, can't be compared to this haha.

I'm not saying it doesn't make sense for his character; it does, we know he is cold and hostile because of his life experience. It still imo doesn't justify the brutal nature of his words of "skinning her" and wanting to remove her nature. Idk if it's just me who fixates on uses of language like this through a feminist lens, but I do think there's something really twisted and fcked up rather than swoonworthy about that kind of jealousy.

No matter if she is good or bad, she is her and he has no right to tell her how to act or feel. I mentioned this because people in the comments were asking why anyone would think XW is toxic because they think he's just a sad, misunderstood, traumatized puppy. And yes, he does have his own trauma and misunderstandings, but they don't erase the unhealthy way he pushes her boundaries and forces his views and thoughts on her when she does something he doesn't like. People keep saying that she gets to be her genuine self with him, but at the same time, ignore how he tries to erase parts of her genuine self.

I was watching this drama with my sister who was rooting for XW and she suddenly sent me a screenshot from episode 11 and said "hell nah." It was actually a moment that I totally skimmed over, but going through it again just now, it sends off alarms.

When XW is questioning JXN about her crush on ZZ and using YL as a reason to hide his jealousy and possessiveness, he says: "If I were Yan Lin, I would skin you and take away your rebellious nature."

Like...EXCUSE ME? Yeah, I get the jealous, possessive, agressive ML can be hot but a statement like this is directly opposed to all the claims that JXN can be her genuine self with XW. At that point, he became the only one among the 3 MLs who censored and rebuked JXN for acting like herself and following her heart. Even Yan Lin, is better in this regard because in this life, he cares for her happiness above his own, and doesn't seek to restrict her. I don't like how ML attempted to restrict her thoughts here, even if it was supposedly "romantic" to some.

man when in the rain scene the rain slid off his eyelashes, that was crazy

Now we need the 4th lifetime where they actually end up together and HEA lol, fingers crossed one day

I'm curious how they will adapt it, they are already changing things from the novel so we shall see.

think you forgot to include a link

this is one of the few dramas where I wouldn't mind reverse harem lmao

they have already changed it by a lot and already erased ZZ and JXN moments to make room for XW and JXN earlier. the drama has done XW fans a big favor

You hit the nail on the head. In the novel she thinks that ZZ was the only part of her heart uncovered by dust and it really makes sense considering everything.

the small acts of service are EVERYTHING to me

What I find funny about people saying he is too straight is that in both lifetimes, dude ended up in prison and goes head to head against the all powerful monarchy.

Anyway, yeah we all know XW is the ML here and they can be happy enough together, but I think it's silly to say that someone like JXN can't be with ZZ just because she is manipulative and he is not. On the contrary, that just means they have different strengths and could fill the gaps in each other's weaknesses. JXN isn't manipulative because she wants to be, she is that way at this point by necessity. In the second life, if she had a choice for a life with a peaceful and honest person, she would grab it. (And as we can see, she did try, even if it's not meant to be due to the storyline.)

I think these assumptions are a strawman argument considering their dynamic in the previous life. In her previous life, she was a complete menace to everyone and didn't shy away from teasing him and trying to get a rise out of him. She was intrigued by him but the opposite was also true. ZZ tried to act indifferent to her at the start, but later he had to admit to himself that he liked her rebelliousness and her dominant nature; she was a "vibrant flame" that brought passion into his dull life and he welcomed it even though his position didn't allow it. She brought something that his life was lacking and similarly, he brought her a level of warmth and peace that no one else did. They were attracted to each other precisely because of how different they were and they had an interesting, forbidden camaraderie.

They were very different people but they still complemented each other quite well. In this life, sure, JXN holds herself back but that is not only due to her guilt but also due to them never having a chance to communicate about in the past and her having the mistaken belief that he would not love her because of her many misdeeds.

This is proven false though because he says later at one point, that "there are many women in this world with good intentions, but I have not fallen in love with any of them," and instead only fell in love with her, even when she was at her most "wicked."

The people saying it's a crush are quite frankly downplaying it. ZZ imo is the greatest love of her life, but a love that she was unable to be with in both lifetimes, so their story is quite tragic. The lines from the novel describe ZZ as some of the most romantic and poetic lines in the novel. To JXN, ZZ is the last bit of sincerity "uncovered by dust left in her heart," her "warmth on a snowy day," and her "lamp in a dark room." She thinks multiple times that just his quiet presence gives her peace and fulfillment, and that she would go through a sea of fire to be with him. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

this is one thing about cdramas/cnovels, I really can't stand. if you're going to create a reverse harem concept and create well developed MLs, but don't commit to an actual reverse harem, then at the very least let the other MLs find their own happiness. Instead, the leftover MLs who arent the final boss, always end up living alone forever and mourning that they never got w FL and it's just so sad all around. I wouldn't want a 2FL who didn't get with her crush to be loveless her whole life and all alone, and I don't want that for the other MLs either.

I support the ZZ/JXN ship more but I agree that while JXN doesn't know that ZZ is reborn, she has been consciously trying to show her "best" side to him like any girl in love would towards her object of affection. That's probably why I'm more attracted to the dynamic JXN had with ZZ in her past life, because she was unashamedly herself and teased ZZ quite a bit, trying to get a rise out of him and generally being a menace. That was the JXN that ZZ fell in love with and she doesn't realize that truth. She could be her truest self and he would love her still, if only she knew :(

They've already toned it down a LOT tbh, and cnovel readers have complained that they've taken out quite a bit of ZZ and JXN's scenes and pushed the pace up a lot. If it followed the novel, we would only start to get XW and JXN around episode 35. Instead, they've erased a lot of ZZ and pushed the pace up a ton so that the ZZ loveline gets cut off halfway instead of 85% in.

I'm someone that looooves my fictional villains haha so I usually don't mind the swooning over mass murderers thing, but what I can't stand is the hypocrisy. Aint no way folks trying to criticize the one man in this story who actually gives a shit about justice and is the only one who actually was there for JXN in her past life with bogus reasons because they're annoyed he's making things difficult for the guy who only cares about revenge no matter who he harms AND hurt JXN in his past life.

He did what he did in his last life to protect JXN; it showed how much he loved her.