Xiang83

How many dramas this year have this? I remember Coroners' Diary, and probably overlooked others.

A very good to great drama will elevate the characters of the cast, and not leave loose ends hanging. Part of the engagement is also because many viewers want to know whether each character (big or small) can overcome their origins to chart their destiny for the happiest (or worst) ending possible for each of them. A well-plotted romance moves the plot while helping to show character development alongside an evolving relationship.

Everyone that Fu Yuxiao interacts with gets rude true awakenings XD

This drama is layered with multiple themes, plus the villains are complex and realistic. They are not perfect nor one-dimensional villains but realistic, and they make the audience feel a mixture of emotions. Hero, heroine, villain- There are many incidents or details for everyone to enjoy and think about and discuss.

I'll go take a look. Why do you think FSG was too soft in interrogating Ruyan, as in what would you have wanted to see him say or do in a different manner?

The novel is a mess in some parts, and I had difficulty liking the ML and FL in the novel but in theisdrama, they are very well-written and portrayed and hence memorable and endearing. This novel has to be massively rewritten during adaptation for a drama, to be successful. The novel was interesting for me, to see what XJS and Xiyang would do.

Even if novel-XJS has XJS being inscrutable with a faint smile on his face at times, I believe the directors for drama-XJS needed to give him specific directions and tips on micro-expressions for some scenes. That is why I brought up those two scenes as examples, also because they give an impression of the limitations of Chen Heyi's acting range. I also gave my suggestions of how to improve the scenes while taking into account the differences in acting experience of Li Qin (significantly more and quite nuanced) versus Chen Heyi (significantly more limited).

For example, if XJS cannot reciprocate love but has respect or pity for Xiyang, there's got to be some indication that we can detect. I have seen joint criticisms elsewhere about Li Qin acting opposite a block of wood (as an indirect reference to Chen Heyi) while praising the rest of Fated Hearts, and they are not referring to Chen Zheyuan.

Novel-XJS actually requires good micro-emoting for drama-XJS. So visually, Chen Heyi looks the part perfectly. Emoting-wise, I'm not sure what's happening on this front.

If you do not want to see Cheng Yi's character suffer from losing valued people and humiliation and serious injuries which happens at times during the first 14 episodes, you might want to watch this drama later, at a different point of time if/when your mental state is fine with this.

That is a good point. If FYX with her limited resources in this enemy city can find out about the girls being assassins, why can't FSG discover this with all his spies? When Murong Yao pointed his sword at Feng Suige, shouldn't there have been an epiphany of sorts from our ML, given his history of being constantly betrayed by many people as you have also pointed out?

As to FSG interrogating Ruyan, I can't remember that scene. Which episode was it?

I believe I'm a bit biased for XJS partially because I am hyper-fixated on novel-Xia Jingshi, but then drama-Feng Suige's veering between convincing mush and awesome protective brutality has me somewhat distracted XD

Firstly for someone who wants to be a capable badass villain, Murong Yao talks too much when questioned by Yixiao or Feng Suige. And he cannot anticipate in advance what should have been obvious, such as when he answered Yixiao kin a certain manner. His ability to evaluate opponents is not awesome.

XJS is deadly in comparison to Murong Yao because he is a wall of silence and wants to be underestimated. He doesn't play his cards. He's stacking them up for when he completely decimates the card stack of a foe. One has to appreciate that in all these episodes this far, he mostly doesn't reveal anything to anyone including Xiyang.

XJS learned this because he understands what Xia Jingyan is like. Xia Jingyan behaves like a buffoon but is more shrewd than he appears.

Prime Minister Zhuang is smooth and most deadly, because he plays the same game and has decades more experience than XJS.

Go enjoy your weekend! XD

1) Xia Jingshi has shot Li Qin, and she's falling off the cliff. Cue look of shock on her face. Camera pans back to Chen Heyi's face, which has him wide-eyed and mouth open in an "O".

This is where I wish the Directors had this scene follow through in a different manner, after XJS closed his eyes while shooting Yixiao. That shot of Chen Heyi disrupted the emotional intensity from Li Qin for me. I would have preferred if Xia Jingshi had not been looking at Yixiao, gaze deflected downwards and teeth set in a grimace because not only was it cowardly to shoot her with eyes closed, this scene shot in this different manner could also convey how much he was emotionally disturbed to shoot someone he claimed to love.

And then as the camera pans to him looking over the cliff, seeing him collapse to his knees and grasp the edge of the cliff looking down would have been a very evocative back shot from the drone.

2) The other scene is where Yixiao has just confronted XJS about shooting her and asks about the masked man. He grabs her by the shoulders and speaks very fast, about what he wants while claiming he will do anything so they can be like before. I would have preferred if he had audibly swallowed while staring at her, then enunciates emotionally with two pauses, "Yixiao... I...", and goes into his spiel of rapidfire statements.

It's the emotional intensity and variety of scenes that is gripping, be it the sweetness of Feng Suige with Yixiao, or Feng Suige trying to control himself before dislocating Wu Ying's lower jaw. When matching Li Qin's intensity, I believe it would have better catered to these two interactions between Xia Jingshi and Yixiao.

I'm curious about how individual viewers think, about how to improve certain scenes if you remember a scene that you think could be improved, and how/why. This comment section has a large variety of viewers, and it's been very smooth and funny and sweet, which is amazing. I'm glad all of you are here, and it's wonderful to learn from different viewpoints.

In order for such a discussion not to become emotionally misunderstood, I believe we should be able to voice our thoughts in a constructive manner and discuss/disagree, while keeping this section spoiler-free (as much as possible) for the new viewers coming in. Much of the cast has been styled well for most of it, especially the male characters (although I'm sure there are valid quibbles about certain details there. Wind machine working overtime, even in prison cells XD).

Feel free to input your own ideas. For example, I appreciate that visually, Xia Jingshi matches what I envision in the novel, but there are two scenes that I wish had been shot differently with Chen Heyi (see next comment for details):

It is quite possible that elderly Zhuang had planned the downfall and demise of the late Empress well, to enable his own daughter to replace her. There's a scene in one of the recent episodes, whereby Feng Suige tells Yixiao not to kill Prime Minister Zhuang or his mother's name will never be cleared. I also remember Feng Suige once said people such as the maid of the late Empress died, and evidence was destroyed.

Did the Emperor make any attempts to uncover the truth? We don't know. He definitely has certain ideas about how to prepare Feng Suige to be Emperor, but not all those ideas are correct. His silence is likely part of protecting Feng Suige but also part of a warped idea believing that toughening Feng Suige in a certain manner growing up is the only way to properly prepare Feng Suige to take over. I am sure this Emperor can be ruthless with himself when it comes to the crunch. After all, what did he go through to become Emperor?

Prime Minister Zhuang hates the Emperor for a son's death, but the reason why is not yet clear.

Murong Yao strikes me as not quite having a very clear vision of how to achieve what he wants. Sure, he's allied himself with Prime Minister Zhuang for his own beliefs of petty revenge perceived wrongly but if his father goes against Prime Minister Zhuang, Murong Yao is likely to alter his stance. Murong Yao may have an idea of what an Emperor should be, but we have yet to see if he approves of the Prime Minister's Grandson being Emperor. He doesn't even strike me as respectful of Prime Minister Zhuang so to a large extent, he is a loose cannon ultimately based on what happens to his father and his father's well-being.

The Storm Alliance was founded by Feng Suige's mother. At one point in one of the pre-release trailers, we see Feng Suige being stabbed through the back by a sword, and Yixiao desperately rushing to the place where he was dumped into a prepared pit for burial.

In order to rightfully retrieve the throne which his father meant for him to have all along and since he is her son, people of the Storm Alliance will be willing to save Feng Suige. If we take elder physician Ling's words at face value, these people should also be willing to help Feng Suige become Emperor. If the late Empress had left any orders to the Storm Alliance about her son and any of these people wanted to keep an eye on Feng Suige, they might have infiltrated the court under the pretext of being one of Prime Minister Zhuang's people or Elder Murong's people.

I presume our tender-hearted Second Prince will not want to be a puppet Emperor at some point because this Prime Minister Zhuang and this Empress cannot help themselves, and the Second Prince finds out how evil they are. Given the scenes of sibling love and respect within the first ten episodes, the Second Prince is willing to help his older brother and brotherly love will be necessary to help Feng Suige take the throne, along with people of the Storm Alliance and Elder Murong who is opposed to Prime Minister Zhuang.

Speculation about certain scenes in a pre-release trailer plus the interesting detail in a conversation between two characters at the end of episode 20, pertaining to the late Empress of Susha Kingdom:

I am aware that there are spoiler speculations for the drama floating around weibo, x and other mediums pertaining to what happens with XJS and Xiyang after they enter Jinxiu Kingdom. A lot of these videos are wrong because they didn't understand the correct context of the scenes that are indeed for future episodes and not yet aired.

One example is the slapping scene. A lot of these speculation videos missed out the fact that in this scene, Xiyang is wearing a specific dress and hairstyle whereby she imitates Yixiao. She is desperate to get the love of XJS in the novel and the drama, but this scene is only for the drama and never in the novel. My version of spoilers is very different for what happens to drama XJS and Xiyang in Jinxiu Kingdom before episode 19 aired, partially due to understanding the novel plus drama differences and because of awareness of certain scenes:

https://kisskh.at/768987-wan-xin-ji#comment-23740534

Tormented and humiliated by his brother is one matter. Having to suffer pain from the poison that he needs a monthly antidote to is another matter. Drama-Xiyang doesn't realise that by trying to mimic Yixiao, she gives the greatest pain to the biggest wound of XJS: Her existence is the reminder that he was never given a choice in the matter of marriage to her, and her getup reminds him of how he is permanently separated from Yixiao whom he loves so much that he wants to give Yixiao his mother's jade bangle.

In the novel, the Empress Dowager of Jinxiu is responsible for the deaths of Xia Jingshi's parents and denying Xia Jingshi the throne, which was her late husband's wish.

In the novel, there is no indication that Xiyang has sex with anyone. Xia Jingshi does not touch her. At one point, the Emperor made Yixiao accidentally stab Xiyang through the chest with a sword by shoving Xiyang at Yixiao.

Novel-Xiyang did not fall in love with the younger brother of XJS and does not have a kid. Because the Emperor looks 7/10 like XJS, Xiyang is drawn to the Emperor while XJS constantly treats her with civil respect and is blunt about being unable to love her. That said, Xiyang rejects every physical advance made on her by the Emperor.

In the novel, the Emperor pretends to be a good person and takes advantage of Xiyang's naivety about life and overwhelmingly stupid jealousy of Fu Yixiao, and tells Xiyang a ridiculous story about Ning Fei and Fu Yixiao which she then tells XJS. XJS doesn't believe Xiyang because in the novel at the beginning, Yixiao is deeply in love with XJS to the point that she once offered herself as a concubine or slave or maid to XJS and was also willing to die to stop XJS going to Susha Kingdom to marry Xiyang as per the imperial decree that XJS accepted.

Where novel-Xiyang and drama-Xiyang are similar at this point is the naivety about life and jealousy of Yixiao. Drama-Xiyang is better then novel-Xiyang at this point, because novel-Xiyang betrayed Xia Jingshi a first time and the second time novel-Xiyang does something equally stupid after that, it could have gotten her own brother plus Yixiao plus XJS killed because they had to break out of an encirclement. This happens because Yixiao and Suige travelled to Jingxiu Kingdom after hearing about Weiran and XJS being badly injured plus wanting to send Ling Xueying back. During that journey, they learn about XJS being targeted by the Emperor and want to help XJS.

What leads to all this is Xiyang's overwhelming jealousy of Yixiao combined with desperation to get the love of XJS resulting in very stupid emotional decisions. Why all this sounds alien is because novel-XJS is 98% different from drama-XJS. Just like novel-XJS, drama-XJS is firmly verbal about being unable to love Xiyang and for now, is civilly respectful to Xiyang.

But the drama will have at least one change fundamental to Xiyang that makes XJS snap, resulting in XJS slapping Xiyang.

And in episode 22, since the Emperor Dowager verbally forbade her son from any intentions towards Xiyang, that horrible psychopath who always does the opposite of what he is told by authority is now going to focus on Xiyang. How he will focus? Well, that's going to involve at least one instance of physical cruelty. In the novel, this Emperor wants to take away whatever good things or fortune which XJS has. In this drama, the writers may keep that motive but change the ideas which this Emperor embarks upon.

In this drama, the stylists have done a mostly-great job with the male characters for costumes and wigs and much of the makeup. The directors and screenwriter understand the source material and the need for the changes because their scenes and plots have a very natural progression and the pacing is tightly-controlled with no filler scenes, plus the lines between all characters (primary or secondary) sound natural and engaging because the dialogues are very carefully planned. On top of that, Li Qin has been encouraging and helpful with Chen Zheyuan when acting with him.

I have never finished a drama that Chen Zheyuan is in, because he appeared bland or over-acts to me. But in this drama, he's been able to fully bring out a range of emoting with the right crew and co-stars, helped by a very good script. He shines brightly, and I'd say he portrays all the best aspects of novel-Feng Suige. He'll be acting with Wu Jinyan in another drama, and I believe he does better with actresses older than him.

Novel-Xiyang did not fall in love with the younger brother of XJS. Because the Emperor looks 7/10 like XJS, Xiyang is drawn to the Emperor while XJS constantly treats her with civil respect and is blunt about being unable to love her.

The Emperor pretends to be a good person and takes advantage of Xiyang's naivety about life and overwhelmingly stupid jealousy of Fu Yixiao, and tells Xiyang a ridiculous story about Ning Fei and Fu Yixiao which she then tells XJS. XJS doesn't believe Xiyang because in the novel at the beginning, Yixiao is deeply in love with XJS to the point that she once offered herself as a concubine or slave or maid to XJS and was also willing to die to stop XJS going to Susha Kingdom to marry Xiyang as per the imperial decree that XJS accepted.

Where novel-Xiyang and drama-Xiyang are similar at this point is the naivety about life and jealousy of Yixiao. Drama-Xiyang is better then novel-Xiyang at this point, because novel-Xiyang betrayed Xia Jingshi a first time and the second time novel-Xiyang does something equally stupid after that, it could have gotten her own brother plus Yixiao plus XJS killed because they had to break out of an encirclement. This happens because Yixiao and Suige travelled to Jingxiu Kingdom after hearing about Weiran and XJS being badly injured plus wanting to send Ling Xueying back. During that journey, they learn about XJS being targeted by the Emperor and want to help XJS.

What leads to all this is Xiyang's overwhelming jealousy of Yixiao combined with desperation to get the love of XJS resulting in very stupid emotional decisions. Why all this sounds alien is because novel-XJS is 98% different from drama-XJS. Just like novel-XJS, drama-XJS is firmly verbal about being unable to love Xiyang and for now, is civilly respectful to Xiyang.

But the drama will have at least one change fundamental to Xiyang that makes XJS snap, resulting in XJS slapping Xiyang.

Try to join in sometime within the next 3 days. This section is a lot of fun and discussions are generally civil and/or humorous.

For those who simply want to enjoy seeing our three leads interacting before/while taking a photo in an episode in the drama, this segment has no spoilers if you don't understand mandarin: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5219882368769715

Jiang Shu Ying and Wu Jinyan are in this not-yet-released IQiyi Light On series: https://kisskh.at/776041-thos-flowers

I want more quality female-centric dramas, regardless of the era. We need some dynamic ladies tag-teaming and getting the spotlight they deserve.