Xiang83

Looking forward to the scenes involving the link to the first BTS of your comment.

I have no issues with a separation arc, but whatever the arc and its length, it must be justified. I've finished episode 25, but I am going to put this drama on hold until episode 30.

I really enjoy your recounting of how you felt. I will write a review at some point. This is an excellent drama I would recommend for literary discourse, and also for anyone wanting to watch and learn acting.

If you need any help, holler. Enigma05 is lovely and helpful :)

I'll help too, if you need it. Have a great time watching and reading!

Thank you for the flower award :)

The novel is complex, with leads who are realistic, complex and messy yet changing for the better in ways that people who like adult dramas would get behind. Novel-Ming Yi is very much a feminist and character I enjoy.

The drama works because there is a receptive target audience that will enjoy a far-more simplistic portrayal whitewashing much of the past and flaws of both leads. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to fantasise about novel-Ji Bozai as opposed to drama -Ji Bozai. Commercial success is crucial to the career of an artist in C-Dramaland.

This drama could have been further elevated if the original key villain had not died but joined hands with Situ Ling's father, Situ Ling nearly becomes evil after killing his brothers but has an awakening- And this can only be possible if Ming Yi's lying was shortened significantly, and Ming Yi's interactions with Situ Ling were changed. Which is possible, if the first four episodes got off to a quick start just like Fated Hearts, and some parts of the script were written differently. Ming Yi's lying to protect her mother etc should have gotten a significant flashback, followed by a second flashback later in the drama so the audience doesn't forget.

Situ Ling joining forces with Ji Bozai and Ming Yi at the end would have sent a very different enhanced message to a larger audience about second chances and learning from mistakes.

Secondary characters being well-developed along with any key villains are crucial to how well a drama ages. Yu Cheng En would have been allowed to shine in such a role, instead of having to do one-note-obsessiveness which isn't fair to the actor. I saw him in Coroner's Diary and I am sure he could do better in this drama if the character was given more complexity. The screenwriting for LITC has significant issues (including laziness) from my perspective.

What really turned me off were episodes 25 and 26 of LITC. Ji Bozai forces a kiss on Ming Yi who has come to give him the sword Nirvana she made for him, which would protect him akin to Embers. Ming Yi clearly does not enjoy any of that kiss. Novel-Ming Yi would have struck Ji Bozai with enough Yuan power to send him flying. And when Ming Yi is finally allowed to enter the place which Ji Bozai cannot- She doesn't seem to realise the significance.

At this point, drama-Ming Yi is too unlike novel-Ming Yi and not a female character I can stomach for my friends or any younger females I encourage about feminism and boundaries. Kudos to Lu Yuxiao for executing this role and her lines with such earnestness and sincerity.

Enigma05 wrote a review for TJOL going into details of what was not good and why it didn't work. In my review for TJOL, I encouraged at least one commenter to go read Enigma05's review, while detailing why and how the main screenwriter, directors and post-production team screwed up in multiple aspects so the cast couldn't be faulted (including the weaker actors).

In this case, the actors for Yan Xiao and Princess Tianji received better editing and role-characterisation than Yu Cheng En. I'm sure those two actors gained new fans.

He is good. Xifang Tao has been hiding her identity and purpose from him.

Episodes 1 to 7 started great, and now I have no understanding of this arc. It's making people drop this drama. I have put it on hold, depending on how episodes 24 to 28 turn out.

I suggest giving it 6 episodes, before you decide. Whatever your decision, may you fully enjoy whatever you decide to watch for the long haul.

Episode 21 preview: Gui Mudan and Liu Yan. I have a feeling Gui Mudan is going to get rid of Liu Yan not long after this episode (maybe another 4 episodes more) of Liu Yan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZf2YxeUy4Y

Considering how crazy everything is between Tang Lici and Liu Yan, looks like Fu Zhumei peacefully hiding somewhere while manning a great foodie place is best.

For anyone who is interested in episode 14 where Gui Mudan (Jeremy Tsui) and Liu Yan (Alen Fang) had a conversation and couldn't grasp the two works which Gui Mudan was reciting from plus the context, here's the context and translation of the lines: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049698

Partial dissection of that interaction between Gui Mudan and Liu Yan: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049658

I really like your summary. Summarises what I thought.

You're welcome. In episode 14, Gui Mudan is reciting lines of works which will fly over the heads of many people, so I posted a partial opinion of what he is doing to Liu Yan plus translations of what he is reciting from Wang Shifu's most-famous zaju.

Translation here: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049698

Partial opinion here: https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24049658

This is what some people will see in subtitles:

可正是 (I was indeed)
人值殘春蒲郡東 (in the waning spring in Pudong Prefecture)
門掩重關蕭寺中 (The temple gates are shut again)

Gui Mudan is singing the lines attributed to Cui Yingying and the translation for 可正是 (I was indeed) is correct because he is solo, waiting for Liu Yan. However, there is a translational error because Pudong Prefecture did not exist in the Tang Dynasty. The translation above is more literal and works in this context because those are the only lines Gui Mudan sings, before mockingly questioning Liu Yan as to why he is late.

The dramatist reciting the lines of Cui Yingying in entirety is as follows:

可正是 (Here we are)
人值残春蒲郡东 / 人值殘春蒲郡東，(east of District Pu, when spring is late)
门掩重关萧寺中 / 門掩重關蕭寺中；(shut up in lonely temple with barred door and gate)
花落水流红 / 花落水流紅，(The flowing stream is red with fallen blooms)
闲愁万种 / 閑愁萬種，(laden with glooms)
无语怨东风 / 無語怨東風。(Mutely I bear a grudge against the eastern breeze, blowing down flowers from the tree.)

[無語怨東風。(Mutely I bear a grudge against the eastern breeze, blowing down flowers from the tree.)] is perfect here rather than “Sullen, bereft of words to begrudge the eastern breeze” (which is what I would translate, if these were standalone sentences. But this is theatre and as a translation into English, the lines must capture and convey the essence of the original work yet conform to certain poetical structures in another language.)

MTL won't work for what Gui Mudan is reciting.

So as not to double-post, I have replied to the comment above yours as to why I believe Gui Mudan is mocking Liu Yan throughout the entire conversation.

Gui Mudan is singing from a zaju based on the tragedy “The Story of Yingying” by Yuan Shen of the Tang Dynasty. Unlike that tragic romance, Wang Shifu’s zaju has a happy ending and can be seen as a love comedy containing observations of societal mores focusing on a couple managing to succeed in uniting individual passions to triumph over a strict Confucian hierarchy and Confucian values of that time. The setting is the first year in the reign of Zhenyuan in the Tang Dynasty.

How the original lines are translated by the likes of Xu Yuanchong also being more historically accurate (which I prefer due to him having an excellent grasp of the structures of English poetry and understanding of imagery conveyed by the skilful usage of mandarin by Wang Shifu), because Cui Yingying aka Oriole is in the presence of her mother and her maidservant Hongniang aka Rose in the first scene of the first act (simplified mandarin to the left, traditional mandarin to the right):

The conversation with Tang Lici showcases certain traits of Gui Mudan: He is highly intelligent and intellectual. He wasn’t just testing Tang Lici, but also measuring Tang Lici as per how he would weigh up an object for usefulness or value. As to what kind of object, the conversation with Liu Yan has Gui Mudan likening Tang Lici to a plaything. Gui Mudan’s homicidal tendencies (and what is now labelled as antisocial personality disorder in modern times) became clear in that conversation with Tang Lici, and are cemented in the incident where the waiter dies.

Gui Mudan is the polar-opposite of Tang Lici, when it comes to perceptions of the value of life and death. Tang Lici is full of life and wanting to live, despite having slightly less than a year to live. Gui Mudan is hollow for cherishing death and devoid of empathy, which is why he can momentarily enjoy the taste of delicious food yet fail to appreciate the efforts and time needed to create them.

Why Gui Mudan is fundamentally different from Liu Yan is that his decision to kill or not to kill does not arise from grudges or emotions. He behaves like a cold-blooded observer or puppet master in his decisions. Liu Yan hates theatre.

Gui Mudan does exactly what Liu Yan doesn’t like, because Gui Mudan is mocking him and has no respect for him. As a dramatist reciting lines for Cui Yingying, Gui Mudan is well aware that Liu Yan is not scholar Zhang Sheng come to meet his lady love. Any honorary titles Gui Mudan purposely used with Liu Yan in the conversation here eg 尊主 is completely undercut by reminders of mutual usage and not overstepping boundaries, because Gui Mudan is not pleased at the setbacks suffered in the mess pertaining to Sword King City costing Fengliu Dian (ie House of Pleasure) and is also aware that further losses will follow if a certain female companion of Tang Lici at the Central Plains Sword Alliance knows the locations of certain bases which trade in the Nine-Hearts Ape Ghoul pills.

If Liu Yan does not get his act together to kill Tang Lici soon and Fengliu Dian suffers unacceptable damages which Gui Mudan is not duly compensated for or unwilling to further tolerate, Gui Mudan will cut short his play. Gui Mudan is the 班主 and will end any plays not worth continuing or keeping. The cost of doing so might involve Gui Mudan deciding to exert efforts to turn Liu Yan into a useful plaything for Fengliu Dian, until Liu Yan dies.

That final theatrical line in a mask was a point (once again referencing another moment in history and literature) to make within a threat, which is exactly why Liu Yan’s reply is to assure Gui Mudan that he knows what he is doing, by using the explicit analogy of a cat with a rat. Gui Mudan is warning Liu Yan not to continue being like King You who was the final monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty ie don't neglect the necessary and over-indulge yourself until you destroy everything for a woman such as Bao Si aka Tang Lici. Or else...

Liu Yan asks Gui Mudan why he didn’t do anything to Tang Lici. Gui Mudan wears a partial mask, before turning to face Liu Yan. Every time a mask is used, Gui Mudan is reminding Liu Yan of their respective places in this entire scheme, and Liu Yan had better not forget his part to play.

Gui Mudan is a grotesque parody of life. The impression of 鬼气 he gives off succeeded with me, because I would literally make myself scarce around Gui Mudan after seeing that one conversation he had with Tang Lici. The masks and conversation with Liu Yan using the theatrics of opera cements the intellectual devoid of empathy as inhuman menace in his 鬼气, whereby he is truly hollow due to cherishing death. I’d prefer Gui Mudan not to be aware of my existence or anyone I value.

Another account just below your comment asked for an understanding of what Gui Mudan is reciting, so I posted necessary translations and context of each line in a reply below.

And yes, we will differ on this subject 😊

Gui Mudan is reciting lines from《西厢记》just before he speaks to Liu Yan. "Romance of The Western Chamber" is by the famous playwright Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty. This work consisting of 5 books and twenty acts is most representative of Yuan Opera literature while considered one of the greatest northern Chinese plays.

In the first book for the first act, part of the lines Gui Mudan recites frames the setting and lays the foundations of the place and time period. Whether it is in traditional mandarin or simplified mandarin, the mandarin subtitles wrongly reversed two words for Gui Mudan's recitation. As it stands:

{ 可正是人值残春蒲郡东，门掩重关萧寺中；花落水流红，闲愁万种，无语怨东风。}

In my opinion, the masks and lines using opera build upon certain aspects of Gui Mudan's persona, as seen in that conversation he had with Tang Lici.

This is a very underrated drama. You'll more than enjoy it. 17 episodes flew by for me without realising. Still coming to grips with the ending.

Thanks, episode 35. I'll have to figure out how to retrieve my heart another day. That song which plays at 13:56, the camerawork for Ding Yi and Gu Yangshan and flashbacks until 17:15.... Perfection. Then flowing again into the tension and flow of this drama... The acting of Zhang Yishan, Elvis Han and Zhang Tian Ai is fantastic. The dialogues in this episode are amazingly maintained, even with the supporting cast.

And at the end... I'm not even sure how I'm going to write a review for what I have watched. What an experience. At this point, still my C-Drama of 2025.

Luo Yunxi was dancing in-costume in rehearsal for scenes in episode 18. Him dancing for more then 2 minutes is quite mesmerising. Goodnight~ : https://kisskh.at/755725-shui-long-yin#comment-24034328