Hi Xiang! Always love to read your sharing, lots of valuable info. 🤩. I enjoyed the tea culture clip notes…
Here's where the ML gets to really outdo them for shamelessness (Directors know that's a strength of the ML), and then when he regains his memory... I expect him to also be another level of shamelessness when he and Rong Shanbao are finally officially together XD
What I also want to see is the FL being shameless and still as cunning plus strong as she was sold to us since episode 1. Right now she's the tactical careful ice queen (icy on the surface), and she'll melt as she goes along. That is going to be interesting.
I prefer Bai Xin Zan as VA for Gulinazha over the VA for Yang Mi in "Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peace Blossoms". BXZ adds a lot of colour and character with her enunciation, by turns subtle and charming and insinuates menace or helplessness very easily.
Such a brilliant introduction to this intriguing drama and all the creative talent involved. Thank you for this.…
This team definitely knows what they are doing, because they also know how to camouflage weaknesses as best as possible while maximising strengths. Those from the short dramas will be maximally utilised, while tension and conflict is built up between the leads in a manner that feels natural. With all sorts of shamelessness from different suitors including ML being demonstrated, of course XD
Hi Xiang! Always love to read your sharing, lots of valuable info. 🤩. I enjoyed the tea culture clip notes…
Right now, just be distracted by all the yummy suitors fighting for our FL using all sorts of shameless tactics, since the least-entertaining ones have been kicked out :p
We have a stellar powerhouse of a creative team here, and viewers who have never watched Winter Begonia, Story of Yanxi Palace and certain short dramas wouldn't be aware of how talented they are. I'm certain many viewers on this page wouldn't know this.
They are the primary drivers of this drama's success for knowing how to maximise scenes and roles, while always advancing the main plotline and making it look effortless. Zhao Yi Qin and Richard Li Fei are powerhouses in their own right. All this isn't a fluke. It's very technical and micro-managing, not easily visible to someone who does not have at least 20 years of C-Ent experience while able to speak mandarin.
Whoever has watched "Story of Yanxi Palace" can identify all the consorts in the various suitors. If this…
There are many leading actors and actresses from short dramas here. Richard Li Fei and Zhao Yi Qin are among the most prominent, and they are well-cast.
Just as I guessed Bai Xin Zan is the VA for Gulinazha as Rong Shanbao upon first hearing her voice (Bai Xin Zan voiced Chen Yao as Xifang Tao for "Whispers of Fate"), I know Zhao Yi Qin will command the scenes so naturally that viewers new to his acting don't realise, and he always delivers. He is a powerhouse in his own right. If you rewatch the final few minutes of episode 4, you'll see what I mean.
The character I find most intriguing is Zhao Yi Qin as Yan Bai Luo. His costume design and the lines given to…
Whoever has watched "Story of Yanxi Palace" can identify all the consorts in the various suitors. If this was an official harem, Yan Bailuo is the virtuous consort who would deal the final blow to the emperor when least expected. His portrayal is too perfect. I'll be surprised if the screenwriters don't add a twist to him in such a manner. But then again, I am prepared to be surprised because of the secondary screenwriter and another director, all not listed on MDL.
Zhao Yi Qin is a natural magnet in short dramas, He will create chemistry with anyone. He's clearly in his element here.
Hi Xiang! Always love to read your sharing, lots of valuable info. 🤩. I enjoyed the tea culture clip notes…
That is a beautiful song!
You always have the best music taste.
If we are four scholars, you would wield the flute and feelings of encouragement and details. I would utilise the guqin and play chess. Megumi is the poet who decides calligraphy. And Pytheos is the painter who finds all sorts of inks (and visual media to make us crack up)~
I reckon ML will be given two opportunities to showcase shameless cunning: During amnesia and when he is in full possession of himself. Otherwise how will they maximise Gulinazha giving the same in return? XD
This is unofficially Yanxi Palace Season 2 in a completely different setting. If you close your eyes, you can envision which suitor is which consort fighting for the FL Emperor's favour.
The Directors know the short drama actors can carry the scenes and help make these first four episodes maximally engaging. If you watch Blood River, you can see that the leads had the least amount of time in the first two episodes while other cast members stepped to the fore.
The leads for this drama will be saved as the best for last, and the tension plus chemistry for these leads will be built over at least 20 episodes. The ML will be given time to showcase his ability to be shamelessly helpless and cunning, while the FL dominates. I am curious how they will have the FL in first half of drama versus second half of drama.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 💯 agreed! This production team and director has known past works that were good. Hence…
They have the biggest pressure to deliver everything as a solid notable package because of their reputations, and the biggest pressure will come from their efforts for the leads. So far they have me guessing about the leads, but there's definitely tantalising teasers of the push-pull happening in certain scenes :D
I have confidence the team can do it, given how picky and seasoned viewers can be for "Winter Begonia", "Story of Yanxi Palace" and certain short dramas.
Which drama was filmed first? Glory or The Unclouded Soul?I cannot as in literally mentally cannot like 2 FLs…
If you like a veteran creative team with individual skills responsible for successful longform dramas such as 'Story of Yanxi Palace" and short dramas such as "Dominion and Devotion" and "Fortune Writer", this is the drama to watch. There's gender reversal tropes, killer dialogue, and a supporting cast of talented leading actors and actresses from short dramas to bolster our FL and ML. Tension is slow-build, but sparks of chemistry is already apparent.
I'm going to quote from an earlier post below.
[ With them at the helm, storyboarding and editing of the first four episodes have been fun, compacted with precision, and well-paced. Zhang Zhi Wei's dramas include themes of female empowerment, so he's right at home here. Guo Hao is capable with micro-details (such as when Shang Xi Rui in Winter Begonia charms certain women with his demonstration of understanding certain gestures). The dialogue is never wasted, and killer lines are unforgettable. Relationships and events allowing for individual characters to unfold are nicely-structured and help develop the main plot line, always advancing.
Between the matriarchal tycoon family and suitors ahoy for our Rong Shanbao, the social commentary and humour is also delicately barbed. Refreshing to see how men can be as scheming and political as women, when it comes to social status attainments in role reversals. There are multiple different types of power imbalance systems being indirectly revealed here. Choreography for the physical fights has been highly-engaging. ]
What a fantastic way to close out 2025 for Luo Yunxi!
Azure did an amazing translation about Tang Lici's character here from a Douban article, cementing why Tang Lici is a unique timeless C-drama hero well-portrayed by Luo Yunxi, who is one of China's finest living cultural ambassadors: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24608278
~*~*~*~*~
kwanto's been just as amazing with collating and updating the data successes of SLY, and I attribute all the details in this section to kwanto:
As of 2 December, #4 on Maoyan’s annual chart after garnering more than 1.8 billion views within 39 days of broadcasting makes “Whispers of Fate” the fastest-moving entry of 2025 to move up the Maoyan chart. As of 6 December, exceeded 4.9 billion views on MangoTV’s front-end broadcast statistics. According to CSM data, 2.838 billion views were reached across all platforms. Despite newly-completing airing, not long after "Whispers of Fate" received nomination for CPOP 2026 (only other two dramas within these 3 years to be recognised and nominated were “Joy of Life” and “Till The End Of The Moon”).
[ Datawin awarded top crown for SLY as top 1 effective views for marital art drama in 2025 and top 1 average per episode views for marital art drama in 2025. Just image if SLY airs without competition like Till the end of the moon in 2023, instead of head to head with 5 other traffic actor drama airing the same time. The above CVB rating also confirmed that SLY is top 3 in term of viewership from Satellite TV views in 2025, the only costume drama on the top 3.]
Knew SLY would be fantastic, even before CVB confirmed on Christmas Day: 收视喜报｜电视剧《#水龙吟# 》首播收视1.6亿人次
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dramfun29212 shared this excellent summary of the three categories on kwanto's thread:
{ Since WoF was broadcast on all #1,2,3 and most crucially it performed very well on all 3 channel categories, the holistic measure of WoF performance seems to be CSM's (TAM) report: ---> CSM (TAM) reports WoF "total viewing hours" = 384 mil vs. 225 mil for last year's top drama Joy of Life 2. ["total viewing hours" metric calculated by CSM is unfortunately not very intuitive to the layman...] }
And for the currently-airing new drama "The Truth Within", kwanto also shared a weibo review by a forensic doctor about how realistic and technical Luo Yunxi has been, in this drama: https://weibo.com/7563543395/5249180608234345
2 
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What are you watching now?
What I also want to see is the FL being shameless and still as cunning plus strong as she was sold to us since episode 1. Right now she's the tactical careful ice queen (icy on the surface), and she'll melt as she goes along. That is going to be interesting.
I prefer Bai Xin Zan as VA for Gulinazha over the VA for Yang Mi in "Eternal Love: Ten Miles of Peace Blossoms". BXZ adds a lot of colour and character with her enunciation, by turns subtle and charming and insinuates menace or helplessness very easily.
https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24642016
They are the primary drivers of this drama's success for knowing how to maximise scenes and roles, while always advancing the main plotline and making it look effortless. Zhao Yi Qin and Richard Li Fei are powerhouses in their own right. All this isn't a fluke. It's very technical and micro-managing, not easily visible to someone who does not have at least 20 years of C-Ent experience while able to speak mandarin.
This earlier post of mine about cast and crew might help you, if you haven't seen it: https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24642016
Happy New Year! May 2026 be a blessed abundant year for you :)
Just as I guessed Bai Xin Zan is the VA for Gulinazha as Rong Shanbao upon first hearing her voice (Bai Xin Zan voiced Chen Yao as Xifang Tao for "Whispers of Fate"), I know Zhao Yi Qin will command the scenes so naturally that viewers new to his acting don't realise, and he always delivers. He is a powerhouse in his own right. If you rewatch the final few minutes of episode 4, you'll see what I mean.
The creative team is a stellar powerhouse, and they have delivered as I expected, in storylines and more: https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24642016
Happy New Year! May you have an abundant and blessed 2026!
I'm glad to say this to you <33
🌷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧🌷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧🌷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧🌷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧🌷
Zhao Yi Qin is a natural magnet in short dramas, He will create chemistry with anyone. He's clearly in his element here.
𖦹 ´ ᯅ ` 𖦹
(˶ˆᗜˆ˵)
ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ᗜ^)
૮ • ﻌ - ა
૮ ˶´ ᵕˋ ˶ა
ʚ(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )ɞ
ˆ𐃷ˆ
⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა
`⎚⩊⎚´
₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎
₍^ >ヮ<^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ
ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡
໒꒰ྀིっ˕ -｡꒱ྀི১
૮ ˙Ⱉ˙ ა
(っ- ‸ - ς)
(ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)
꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱
ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭
(╥﹏╥)
´っω=`)
₍ᐢ× ༝ ×ᐢ₎
₍ᐡ-᷅ ·̫ -᷄ᐡ₎
₍^⸝⸝> ·̫ <⸝⸝ ^₎
(´,,>ω<,,`)♡
ฅ՞•ﻌ•՞ฅ
₍ᐢ> ̫<ᐢ₎
(´･ω･`):
( ;´꒳`;)
₍ᐡඉ ̫ඉᐡ₎
ᐡ⸝⸝> ̫ <⸝⸝ᐡ
₍ᐡ-᷅ ·̫ -᷄ᐡ₎
⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*)⸝
٩̋(ˊ•͈ ꇴ •͈ˋ)و
(ヾﾉ･ω･`)
(๑´`๑)♡
˃̣̣̥᷄ ᴖ ˂̣̣̥᷅
ᐡ ᐧ ﻌ ᐧ ᐡ
(⸝⸝º ^ º⸝⸝ )
( ˊᵕˋ ; )
( ᴗ ̫ ᴗ )
(๑♡⌓♡๑)
⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
₍ᐢ˶• ˔ กᐢ₎
૮₍ ˃̵͈᷄ . ˂̵͈᷅ ₎ა
₍ᐢ•ﻌ•ᐢ₎
ᑦ(੭・㉨・)ᐣ
( ´͈ ᗨ `͈ )
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ଘ( ິ•ᆺ• )ິଓ
꒰˘꒳˘๑꒱
໒(＾ᴥ＾)७
ᘏ▸◂ᘏ
◟꒰◍ ´꒳` ◍꒱◞
˘ ᵜ ˘
( •ω•ฅ)
ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ
(๑´ㅂ`๑)
(๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)
ต( ິᵒ̴̶̷̤ ﻌ ᵒ̴̶̷̤ )ິ
ฅ՞•ﻌ•՞ฅ
(´๑•_•๑)
Ꮚ˘ ꈊ ˘ Ꮚ
₍˄·͈༝·͈˄₎◞ ̑̑
(ㅅ´ ˘ `)
(˃ ⌑ ˂ഃ )
(❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)
₍⑅ᐢ..ᐢ₎
૮₍•᷄ ࡇ •᷅₎ა
(づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡
( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
ᯣ_ᯣ
໒꒰ྀི⸝⸝- -⸝⸝꒱ྀི১
(๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)
( ⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝)
(·•᷄ࡇ•᷅ )
٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و
Here is 仙剑奇侠传《水龙吟·余情幽梦》: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a3PjMmWlOM
You always have the best music taste.
If we are four scholars, you would wield the flute and feelings of encouragement and details. I would utilise the guqin and play chess. Megumi is the poet who decides calligraphy. And Pytheos is the painter who finds all sorts of inks (and visual media to make us crack up)~
The Directors know the short drama actors can carry the scenes and help make these first four episodes maximally engaging. If you watch Blood River, you can see that the leads had the least amount of time in the first two episodes while other cast members stepped to the fore.
The leads for this drama will be saved as the best for last, and the tension plus chemistry for these leads will be built over at least 20 episodes. The ML will be given time to showcase his ability to be shamelessly helpless and cunning, while the FL dominates. I am curious how they will have the FL in first half of drama versus second half of drama.
I have confidence the team can do it, given how picky and seasoned viewers can be for "Winter Begonia", "Story of Yanxi Palace" and certain short dramas.
I'm going to quote from an earlier post below.
[ With them at the helm, storyboarding and editing of the first four episodes have been fun, compacted with precision, and well-paced. Zhang Zhi Wei's dramas include themes of female empowerment, so he's right at home here. Guo Hao is capable with micro-details (such as when Shang Xi Rui in Winter Begonia charms certain women with his demonstration of understanding certain gestures). The dialogue is never wasted, and killer lines are unforgettable. Relationships and events allowing for individual characters to unfold are nicely-structured and help develop the main plot line, always advancing.
Between the matriarchal tycoon family and suitors ahoy for our Rong Shanbao, the social commentary and humour is also delicately barbed. Refreshing to see how men can be as scheming and political as women, when it comes to social status attainments in role reversals. There are multiple different types of power imbalance systems being indirectly revealed here. Choreography for the physical fights has been highly-engaging. ]
https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24642016
The title of this drama is very meaningful, as shared by nolatoo here: https://kisskh.at/772283-ming-men-shi-jia#comment-24643630
Azure did an amazing translation about Tang Lici's character here from a Douban article, cementing why Tang Lici is a unique timeless C-drama hero well-portrayed by Luo Yunxi, who is one of China's finest living cultural ambassadors: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24608278
~*~*~*~*~
kwanto's been just as amazing with collating and updating the data successes of SLY, and I attribute all the details in this section to kwanto:
As of 2 December, #4 on Maoyan’s annual chart after garnering more than 1.8 billion views within 39 days of broadcasting makes “Whispers of Fate” the fastest-moving entry of 2025 to move up the Maoyan chart. As of 6 December, exceeded 4.9 billion views on MangoTV’s front-end broadcast statistics. According to CSM data, 2.838 billion views were reached across all platforms. Despite newly-completing airing, not long after "Whispers of Fate" received nomination for CPOP 2026 (only other two dramas within these 3 years to be recognised and nominated were “Joy of Life” and “Till The End Of The Moon”).
Quoting from kwanto's latest post yesterday: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24642922
[ Datawin awarded top crown for SLY as top 1 effective views for marital art drama in 2025 and top 1 average per episode views for marital art drama in 2025. Just image if SLY airs without competition like Till the end of the moon in 2023, instead of head to head with 5 other traffic actor drama airing the same time. The above CVB rating also confirmed that SLY is top 3 in term of viewership from Satellite TV views in 2025, the only costume drama on the top 3.]
Knew SLY would be fantastic, even before CVB confirmed on Christmas Day: 收视喜报｜电视剧《#水龙吟# 》首播收视1.6亿人次
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dramfun29212 shared this excellent summary of the three categories on kwanto's thread:
{ Since WoF was broadcast on all #1,2,3 and most crucially it performed very well on all 3 channel categories, the holistic measure of WoF performance seems to be CSM's (TAM) report: ---> CSM (TAM) reports WoF "total viewing hours" = 384 mil vs. 225 mil for last year's top drama Joy of Life 2.
["total viewing hours" metric calculated by CSM is unfortunately not very intuitive to the layman...] }
https://kisskh.at/discussions/755725-shui-long-yin/146888-shui-long-yin-whispers-of-fate-3weeks-post-svip-finale-achievements?pid=3450306&page=1#p3450306
~*~*~*~*~*~
And for the currently-airing new drama "The Truth Within", kwanto also shared a weibo review by a forensic doctor about how realistic and technical Luo Yunxi has been, in this drama:
https://weibo.com/7563543395/5249180608234345