SD1D Enthusiast

I loved seeing the rain scene interaction between the empress and ZZ Minister in the past life; there are a lot of layers to unravel there. You may have noticed that the FL did not like him when she was the empress at first, in fact, she was openly hostile against him and mocked him because he had criticized her henchman (the annoying and corrupt guy who helped cause Yan Lin's family's downfall) in front of the court and in turn criticized her. He had made himself her enemy by doing so, and so she mocked him.

But he didn't rise to the bait and that both frustrated and intrigued her. That's why when he turns to leave in the rain, she straight up steps on his official robes and restrains him. She wanted to make him look at her in the eye. The fact that even that doesn't stop him, and he instead tears off his own official court uniform is a BIG thing. Those robes are sacred. And he is a minister who is technically still a servant of the court. In essence, it shows how Zhang Zhe actually has quite a rebellious and stubborn streak to him that makes him want to defy convention.

That is the start of FL looking at him differently. Not just because he upright, but because of that fierce rebelliousness and him refusing to back down.

"I also have something to say to the empress. You must know that people are greedy for their own benefits and seek the skin of tigers, but they don't know that a tiger is born with a vicious nature and does not change due to circumstances. If you seek skin from a tiger today, you will be eaten by a tiger tomorrow. . Empress, take care of yourself."

Like DAMN. Man threatened her. He basically told her, be careful with me, if you try to take my skin off, I will swallow you whole. It's kind of ironic in the end because he actually did save later, and yet she did fall for him and willingly went to death because of him, so who was really the tiger in the end?

I love the rain scene so much and the juxtaposition with the last life was so good

And just like in LYF I am having major second lead syndrome, this year is cursed for me!

Yes. It makes sense if you take into account how his mother divorced his father in previous eps and the suspicious timing of his half sister's birth too.

np, good luck with the mtl 🙏

interesting, I'll put it on my to read

Oh, I'm going off the novel and not sure if they'll keep things the same but for the most part they've been following it well.

ML doesn't remember his past life yet, but will get hints of it later iirc.

ML doesn't kill Zhang Zhe. After ZZ finds out the empress killed herself, he writes up a memorandum for himself to be beheaded. He lost his mother and then he lost FL, so he had no one else to live for in the world and wanted to die. After he dies, he gets rebirthed. In a way, they both killed themselves in a really twisted romeo and juliet sort of tragedy.

Yan will also remember bits later, but near the end of the story.

Hmm this seems to be transmigration, not reincarnation. It's #1? that summary sounds like many others I've read.

Disagree, I think they are very compatible and their differences are actually quite complementary to the point that they make each other better people for it. She only gives up on him because she thinks she has to since he remembers his past life, but her heart wanted him. She just lost the courage to follow her heart once she knew.

I have read them all already unfortunately haha. I MTL novels regularly and am always on the lookout for any I may have missed even if they aren't set for drama adaptions

The Grand Princess is one of my fave novels

For Marriage of a Di Daughter, looks like the ML will be the actor of the 2ML from this drama!

It's a pity to hear about RoaMEoML, I don't think we will see it any time soon. However, Rebirth of a Star General is my favorite of this author's novels and the ML there looks promising.

Yeah, I personally thought the way the author did it was kind of a lame cop out. "Oh, no, we can't be together because we love each other TOO MUCH and can more easily hurt each other because we remember our past lives' pain." Like ?? that is some twisted logic. Especially because the ML never even blamed her for what happened, but she kept using her guilt as a reason that she didn't deserve him. Some plain old communication and courage would have easily fixed the so called issue.

sis, chill. it aint that serious

Can I ask what is the list of the other famous rebirth dramas in China? I don't mind if they aren't translated.

Rebirth of a Malicious Empress of Military Lineage hasnt been cast but Marriage of a Di Daughter has!

I didn't like him in MJTY, but I think he's doing MUCH better here. I think he suits grey and complex roles way more than the pure ones.

Np, I understand why they might say that in press releases bc they definitely want to simplify it. But think of it this way: if Zhang Zhe really did despise her as a "bad" why would he have risked his life, his reputation, and everything he had worked on for years to bring comfort to her? The world called her a Demon Empress and so she may herself have thought of herself as that kind of person and projected that Zhang Zhe thought of her like that, but she never thought what would it make someone who willingly bows down to that same demoness?

He never thought of her as someone evil like the others. He saw her that she was a lonely soul in the palace and wanted to help her, but more than that, she awakened passion inside him that no one else had and made HIM want to break the rules. So, if anything, he willingly became a reviled, "bad" person for her. Pretty interesting parallel if you think about it!

Hmm, reading the novel, I don't think that interpretation is really true. Zhang Zhe didn't want her to be "good," but it was she who thought she had to be a better person and reflect on herself in order to deserve Zhang Zhe. This is pretty significant if you remember that she basically got to her position as empress by stepping on and manipulating people around her as she wished, until the kindness that was in her before was forgotten. I think interacting with Zhang Zhe makes her want to...not change, but uncover that small part of her that was already there, but almost gone after going through everything she did in life.

And as we see in her second life....that conviction and promise actually does change her for the better, with her already taking several acts of compassion that she wouldn't have as her past self.

I want to talk about Zhang Zhe, so fans of him gather around. He was not on my radar AT ALL starting this drama. I also do not like love triangles and tend to fast forward scenes of 2MLs. I didn't expect to get so intrigued by ZZ.

There’s just something about the forbidden dynamic between a so called Evil Empress and the so called Righteous Minister who breaks his own rules of morality and righteousness to save her, that just thrills me. I love how from the glimpse we see from the past life, he was willing to abandon duty and honour to do the unspeakable for her. And vice versa, in this life, it seems like her promise to him to be a better person actually weighs on her mind and she does change a little. It's like they're pushing each other to be evolve, and become better versions of themselves inadvertently. They're different, but in a complementary way.

I love how when she was at her lowest and alone in her past life, he was the one person she could rely on to save her. When she had no one, she had him. There's something beautiful about that.

The latest scene in ep 10 where he just held her arm v the flashback where she grabbed on to him … simple touches but there’s some sizzling chemistry there. Their glances are loaded with meaning.

Honestly, same. I was not expecting to like ZZ so much but the more I read about him, the more I became convinced only he deserved her. She was the one person she could trust and rely on and find peace in, even when she was at her lowest and trapped in a cage in the palace. There is a line in the novel that says he was the only sincere spot in her heart left, untainted by the corruption of the world.

Ironic, because you could say that he was corrupted by her, and gladly so :)