I feel like the 40 episodes restriction really sacrificed the story a bit. Had it been 50 episodes long, I'm sure…
They knew about the 40 episode limit before they even began filming. That the drama feels rushed to some people is the fault of the screenwriter and film editors. They needed to make the plot fit into 40 episodes, not increase the number of episodes. In hindsight I wish they had shortened the scenes with Qi Min and QianQian. The support actors were excellent but the writers gave too much time to secondary characters at the expense of moving the plot forward at an even pace.
the writing fell apart for me in the second half but like the first 10/15 eps of the story and acting were IMMACULATE.…
so true. It started a 10 out of 10 for me and then dropped significantly. I still enjoy watching it but I'm really getting annoyed by the whole Mary Sue aspect of CY like her struggles don't really seem tht big because well others face the consequences of her actions instead of her and of course she can never be defeated. heavy plot armor for the main characters makes it worse. and this whole dragging romance between the leads is very annoying too. I do like the leads together tho if only the writing remained as strong as the first couple of eps...
Replying toSushi88•Mar 28, 2026•Liked Mar 28, 2026
People these days forget to enjoy the moment.I mean when I was young,our national TV showed a lot of C dramas back then. All my classmates, our families watched two episodes per week for any drama with tons of commercials in it.Next morning,everyone talked about how the plot ,heroine ,hero, villains like crazy.Like we never knew their real names of the actors or real name of a drama back then.After many years later and looking back, it's all about decent memory of family gathering, friends I forgot their names or faces , but always remember the thrill we got from that moment of shared experience.It's very nostalgic and unique memory of viewing a drama or film or movie together.Hope POJ passed down the exact experience to all the viewers.
lol im confused. this drama is trying so hard to promote this as a strong FL drama but then makes her journey too easy. we never see her do any martial arts practice, and with no military experience, she kills a bunch of main villains, easily, one by one, without any logic. she then gets promoted to a higher rank, not because she earned it, but because of politics. yup, using a woman as a political pawn! lol that’s not a strong woman. that’s a caricature of a strong woman and simply insulting to women in general.
I have this feeling and I may be in the minority but so far first arc is the strongest, military arc just pissed off half of the comment section myself included except for DK's exceptional job and the little shit that wouldn't die until he self decapitated which I've never seen in any drama; maybe a huge can of 🪳 RAID would have worked.. Now we're slowly moving into the last and truth revealing and sabotaging scheming rebellion arc....I hope it strengthens ML again from Goddess of war's pooch to the Marquis that he is. The writing has been weak and unstable a lot. Even a fictional character has to be written in a way ppl can understand and believe. Had this been a Xianxia or fantasy supernatural something or other, than it would've been understandable but other than surviving cliff diving, everything else was standard historical and too unbelievable to the point of ridiculous. My rating started at 9 but has been falling; won't know till the end and without a review unless I just write out my frustrations, doubt y'all will find that interesting lol. I guess when you don't sleep all night you ramble. Not sure any of this made sense to y'all.
This drama has so many integral characters that the 2nd half of this drama ends up feeling like a completely new drama. I know that the stories of the others have to be told but we end up losing Xie Zheng in the process.
This plot is centered around Changyu so she is the focal point in almost every aspect of this drama. But once Xie Zheng leaves Changyu after their fight Xie Zheng gets relegated to a supporting character until the last few episodes, with only a scene or 2 in each episode. After all the build up and chemistry generated in the first 16 episodes, this feels deflating, especially when episode after episode focus on death and destruction done by 2 psychotic brothers. It weighs down the drama for me.
The romance between the leads is epic. I wished they would have showed more interactions in the military camp but everything seemed disjointed and rushed. Trying to capture all of the multitude of substories that connect to the CP just completely overshadowed them and it made those intimate scenes between them fleeting and not as satisfying. I spent most of my energy watching hoping for their next interactions. In this way, all the other parts that were important made me more impatient with the drama instead.
This drama was not 'bad'. It just suffered from the censorship board and control outside of the hands of the production team. Forcing them to fit this story in a confined box didn't do it justice.
Kudos to all the actors though, not just our CP. They all did a wonderful job in their roles. I wished I could have enjoyed them more. I probably will when I calm down and rewatch it without all the expectations. I say that because, for me, this drama is a solid 8.5/10 right now with the value of rewatching for the acting and cinematography alone. Now that I know how this is going to play out, rewatching may make me revise it higher, despite my current disappointments.
At ep 30, I love the FL but her being overpowered is getting a little too tiring to watch.
I have honestly lost interest once i saw them sky rocketing the FL to a general within 6-7 episodes…like come on…if it was that easy to become a general the whole brigade would have become one. Great director but he annoys me a bit with the woman overempowerment thing….it takes away from the director, the actors and the story line
I think this is one of the greatest dramas I've ever seen. I took time to watch, and watched it slowly, enjoying each part of the drama. And wow, I love this drama. I don't regret not watching it daily, I think these types of drama have 2 ways of enjoyment: 1. When you guess what's gonna happen 2. When you enjoy it fully, learning everything and not having time to mix things with your own opinion
This drama’s people don’t die from being stabbed. They don’t die even when knifed deeply. They don’t die…
The same stuff the casts in every costume drama eat that means they never need to brush their beautiful hair yet it never gets tangled. Awesome Juice. (Tho to be fair people do die in this from some of these things. But it also depends where the stabbing is aimed for. In Ep2 they established you could aim for not vital places if you were trying to and look like you wanted to kill someone you didn’t kill, so sometimes that helps people to live too.)
Who needs an enemy when you have xiao wenjing as your brother....... Damn, his character pissed me off like hell, the drama was so good but I can't withstand the fact how XWJ got away from all the dangers and survived till the end without any injury because there were people to protect him at all costs . Pity how XHA put his life on the line to protect XWY but XWY got front-stabbed by his own didi......man didn't even hesitate before stabbing his Ge twice while XWY stood in awe trying to figure out the cause of his betrayal...... XWJ the fool you are to trust WZH's words of giving you 50% Of Chang'An to rule...... My understanding of XWJ character align with Zhang Mo's father's words ......."I know you have your reasons but I can't understand those reasons of yours which made you stab your own blood brother in an instant" His character was beyond redemption since day 1 he killed the innocent pageboy .......I also don't understand why everyone was saying down in comments that the reason why XWJ at the end chose to remain hidden behind zhang mo's face is to prevent unrest and quell rebellion against the throne...but the throne alone didn't belong to XWJ , XWY also belongs to the imperial bloodline and moreover he's the older brother so rightly he should ascend the throne ......what does it have to do with XWJ alive or dead.
SPOILERS on why Huben Army betrayed Liu Ziwen. I put this together based on what I read from Cnetz. There are hints here and there throughout the show. I don't think I covered everything but it makes sense to me.
It's officially a wrap now. 🥲 With so many praises and thoughtful analysis, it was a pleasure to read everyone's understanding of this drama.
This was really a group effort by every actor to portray the struggles of the characters and let us feel their humanity and not just deem them as one dimensional people. And with the careful editing of introducing every character and scenes without making it feel overwhelming or hard to follow, and interlacing it with high adrenaline action and the slow pace of everyday life, it allows the viewer to have time to digest what was happening.
But on a deeper level, the philosophy and take away of this drama is what has us nerds loving it and singing high praises for it.
And here's hoping wherever Huai'an is, that he sees the blossoms year after year. 🌼🌷🌾
3 
1 
This plot is centered around Changyu so she is the focal point in almost every aspect of this drama. But once Xie Zheng leaves Changyu after their fight Xie Zheng gets relegated to a supporting character until the last few episodes, with only a scene or 2 in each episode. After all the build up and chemistry generated in the first 16 episodes, this feels deflating, especially when episode after episode focus on death and destruction done by 2 psychotic brothers. It weighs down the drama for me.
The romance between the leads is epic. I wished they would have showed more interactions in the military camp but everything seemed disjointed and rushed. Trying to capture all of the multitude of substories that connect to the CP just completely overshadowed them and it made those intimate scenes between them fleeting and not as satisfying. I spent most of my energy watching hoping for their next interactions. In this way, all the other parts that were important made me more impatient with the drama instead.
This drama was not 'bad'. It just suffered from the censorship board and control outside of the hands of the production team. Forcing them to fit this story in a confined box didn't do it justice.
Kudos to all the actors though, not just our CP. They all did a wonderful job in their roles. I wished I could have enjoyed them more. I probably will when I calm down and rewatch it without all the expectations. I say that because, for me, this drama is a solid 8.5/10 right now with the value of rewatching for the acting and cinematography alone. Now that I know how this is going to play out, rewatching may make me revise it higher, despite my current disappointments.
Great director but he annoys me a bit with the woman overempowerment thing….it takes away from the director, the actors and the story line
I don't regret not watching it daily, I think these types of drama have 2 ways of enjoyment:
1. When you guess what's gonna happen
2. When you enjoy it fully, learning everything and not having time to mix things with your own opinion
Damn, his character pissed me off like hell, the drama was so good but I can't withstand the fact how XWJ got away from all the dangers and survived till the end without any injury because there were people to protect him at all costs .
Pity how XHA put his life on the line to protect XWY but XWY got front-stabbed by his own didi......man didn't even hesitate before stabbing his Ge twice while XWY stood in awe trying to figure out the cause of his betrayal......
XWJ the fool you are to trust WZH's words of giving you 50% Of Chang'An to rule......
My understanding of XWJ character align with Zhang Mo's father's words ......."I know you have your reasons but I can't understand those reasons of yours which made you stab your own blood brother in an instant"
His character was beyond redemption since day 1 he killed the innocent pageboy .......I also don't understand why everyone was saying down in comments that the reason why XWJ at the end chose to remain hidden behind zhang mo's face is to prevent unrest and quell rebellion against the throne...but the throne alone didn't belong to XWJ , XWY also belongs to the imperial bloodline and moreover he's the older brother so rightly he should ascend the throne ......what does it have to do with XWJ alive or dead.
This was really a group effort by every actor to portray the struggles of the characters and let us feel their humanity and not just deem them as one dimensional people. And with the careful editing of introducing every character and scenes without making it feel overwhelming or hard to follow, and interlacing it with high adrenaline action and the slow pace of everyday life, it allows the viewer to have time to digest what was happening.
But on a deeper level, the philosophy and take away of this drama is what has us nerds loving it and singing high praises for it.
And here's hoping wherever Huai'an is, that he sees the blossoms year after year. 🌼🌷🌾