YouToon

Yes he is!!!!

But a charismatic one where I almost think he’s finally learned how destructive he is, only to have him lean into it more. :-p

He’s only around 18-19 and he’s lost everyone who loved him. His character is not as heinous as in the book but he didnt get a full redemption arc. More like he’s alive and now has the experience to try to do better or continue to to do nothing from a position where he cant really harm others because he’ll be watched the test of his life trapped in a gilded cage.

Its based on a book. A really good one. And forced marriages are a common trope. So maybe that is where the deja vu comes from?

Agreed. There was so much in the book that they stopped showing at a certain point. She had a really epic final arc adventure all her own separate from GJ. Would have loved to see that. Especially the stuff with the river

Jiang He does show up in the scenes with the emperor. He’s demoted along with King Liang. LY getting counseled by GJ is suppose to take the place of the prophetic dream that would have led her originally. That being said she is clever and figures out alot without GJ. Mr. Wan is the biggest early example. GJ could advise her because he grew up in the business. She didnt. The commissioner wasnt empowered to do what he did. That was kind of the point. He was making up excuses like the Gu family are related to a traitor but really he just wanted to steal everyone’s money and take power. The drama did explain that. The whole scene where LZS tempts the commissioners son by stating he thinks his father has what it takes to be a dragon. Thats a reference to being an emperor and/or taking power. I do agree all of this could have been clearer. If it had the episode count of story of minglan and the like we probably would have understood alot of it better.

Thanks for the tip!

Watch the whole thing. The last 10 episodes combine roughly 3-4 arcs from the novel. It might not feel as complete as the first 30 episodes but its still really good and gives you several stand out scenes for the characters and a satisfying conclusion.

Yeah their shared recognition of where their relationship being mutual in episode 26 was super sweet. The hand in the snow and how rock paper scissors can be romantic when you are in love were adorable.

We are still figuring out all the details but the clues so far are: her dad owed a lot of money to loan sharks. After he was gone, the loan sharks harassed her and her mother constantly. At some point later her mother fell off a building and died. It was ruled a suicide. LX was adopted by family friends. Years later when she just finished her first internship one of the former loan sharks guys found her and started blackmailing her by threatening to reveal all of her past pre-adoption. His statements seem to imply its LX’s fault her mom died. He’s called her a monster and a murderer. She pays him and shows extreme guilt and fear whenever he threatens to reveal her past. However, if that is because of survivors guilt, misunderstanding how her mom died, or actual guilt cause she is somehow at fault, we don’t know yet. One thing that has become clear is having those men go daily to harass her and her mom with neighbors and strangers watching was traumatic. I suspect that alone would be enough to make the idea of anyone knowing about her past something she’d run from even if it meant paying a leech like the loan shark dick.

I would have loved QW to live but the Zhou massacre was necessary. Its the only way in the drama the Zhous would ever have rebelled. The drama did skim over alot of the factors leading up to the massacre and the aftermath. I agree it felt forced because it wasnt as organic as the book.

I understand your perspective. Its a privilege to not have to consider if the tolerance you offer others will result in giving them access to harm you. You can be tolerant of a group while still stating you dont agree with individuals within that group. Those protestors were wrong. And every political party that makes their primary platform one of hate against an entire group rather than condemnation against actions of individuals, is manipulative and should be watched closely. Someone who plays off your fears to gain your support rarely has yours or anyones best interests at heart. They just want power. And they want a mob to give it to them.

Not really. Both male leads are younger than female lead. I could totally ship any combination of the three but this story focused more on how the relationship and friendship they all share helped them grow as people.

And that isnt right. Anti-anything parties inevitably play off fears without making meaningful action to foster communication and understanding to get past hate. So it just continues the problem generation to generation.

The fake dad judging him for hiring a dad when he has a living father was so funny. The delivery was perfect.

The nice sister worked in the store. But yeah, the half siblings kind of disappeared. He’s probably fine.

Technically they are fully committed to staying together with no divorce after episodes 14-16 but yeah, story beats, inexperience, and her heath delay a physical confirmation till episodes 27-28.

Alot of times emperor’s used their marriages as a means of balancing power in the court. If he’s married to so and so niece and this other dudes granddaughter, well he has familial ties to them and in both sides have to respect each other. At least publicly. Rulership is like 60% a stage show, so that is important . If an emperor has a enough support in his own right, he doesn't really have to marry so long as the exchange of power is clear with a heir out front and center. Im sure there were times in history emperor wished they had that much influence but it was probably pretty rare to dominate politics that much. Especially towards the tail end of dynasties when they are tied by generations of political cachets, marriage alliances etc. Zhou Ye is basically at the start of a dynasty, the entire court trusts him and his dad is ensuring the entire country is united under one rule. ZY has the influence to marry or not as he chooses.

In the drama she never married. In the book his name was Qin something

Given how much they streamlined the plot, I really wasnt sure they could stick the landing on that ending. I am happy to say I am satisfied with how this ended. Amazing acting, direction and usually decent writing kept me entertained all 40 episodes. I’ll probably be way more critical of some of the obvious plot-holes they glossed over trying to cover divergences from the book on future rewatches. But that wont diminish how fun this drama has been and will continue to be.