apocalib

First direct interaction is ep8! It’s cute though, they keep missing each other both on purpose and on accident.

I get the feeling that YJZ and that jade pendant is pointing towards the fact that she might be the original girl that the empress dowager picked. It would make sense as YJZ is well-read, well-spoken, intelligent and well-versed in playing instruments. Maybe she wasn’t lying when she said her and ZZJ were fated lol. She would be the princess if it weren’t for the change by the emperor, although I suspect there’s more to why she’s in the palace now and hiding her identity.

I prefer it this way too bc now they can really establish an emotional connection vs just a casual flirtation.

I feel this way whenever I watch a grand court drama but man, do I want to visit Beijing again and go to the Forbidden City. I know this wasn’t actually filmed there but these gorgeous winter scenes give me travel envy!

Yep, historically Emperor XuanDe, who Xu Kai's character ZZJ is based off of, had two "official" wives. Technically speaking, each emperor is only supposed to have one official wife/empress at any one time and the rest are basically different lvls of consorts/concubines etc. However, Empress Sun, who YZJ is supposedly based off of, becomes the empress after the original empress was disposed of, lol. But she does end up becoming an empress and not just a royal consort or lower ranking concubine, which is why you see the clips of her in the ending song with the red dress and undergoing the ceremony. If I remember correctly, XuanDe Emperor was the first Emperor to take away the empress title from his legally wedded official wife in order to put another empress onto the throne.

Np! I’m having some difficulties myself and that’s with me understanding Chinese. I always struggle with ancient dramas as they use different words and terms lol. The subs truly are something else, I keep them on and it’s really just lol.

I found it really impressive too that YZJ says in particular that despite being of a low status like a maid, she doesn’t think it’s ok to cheat herself (her heart). I think if anything this might be the real start of their feelings for one another! I mean she rejected his offer to take her as a concubine sooooo

I agree! I was thinking the same thing because their "relationship" progressed quite quickly. I feel like some minor events probably got cut like maybe her being called over more often etc but I think the progression of their feelings is still pretty on point. In ep 10, YZJ does say that it isn't that she doesn't want to be with him, it's that she doesn't think he truly feels the same way towards her as she does towards him. Which is that she likes him a lot but he probably thinks of her as something to be had because she currently piques his interest (like a shiny new toy, if you would).

Truly one of the most entertaining dramas I've watched in a while. It's not perfect and I have issues with the pacing and there are plot holes galore in the most recent episodes but most importantly, it's fun to watch. It's definitely one of those dramas that'll make you click play next episode until you reach the end, and even then you feel like you need to re-watch it from the start. (Also, major kudos to the fact that I can never skip the opening theme song despite doing that for 90% of all dramas)

Yes, haha. Like some of the others have said, in various interviews, both ZZH and GJ have said that they're nothing like the characters they play, which is another huge plus for their impressive acting!

GJ has said that ZZH is slow to warm up to people as well but once he does, he's someone who's loud and jokes around. If you see some of the BTS for SHL, ZZH is quite lol. Also, IRL, ZZH is a troll. An absolute troll. To me, the most surprising thing is how HAPPY GJ is all the time. I love how genuine he is and how he just enjoys working and despite being tired, he still has a real smile on his face. I hope that the craziness of everything won't change that aspect of him.

Well, in the novel, WKX ends up topping and ZZS ends up bottoming. And it's because they're kind of a couple, hahaha. It's kind of also a play on words too because Gong Jun's last name is Gong and so as a sort of nickname, people do tend to add "Lao" in front of the last name and he would be known as Lao Gong. Fans leave a ton of Lao Po/Lao Gong comments on their respective Weibo posts so a lot of interviewers end up asking them why, lol.

I'm sitting here with the episodes staring at me in the face but can't watch them until I'm off work so what do I do? I watch the teasers for next week's episodes instead, lol. Why do I torture myself so???

The scriptwriter really likes to make one cry and coo at the same time because one teaser is absolutely adorable and filled with flirty bickering, and then the next is them spitting literal blood. Thanks, thanks a lot.

Like casted-luck said, YBY finds out about WKX being the leader of the Ghost Valley but it's not really revealed how he found out. I haven't watched today's episodes yet because I'm saving them for after I'm off work but I think basically everyone in Jianghu finds out WKX's real identity and YBY goes in a fit to the Four Seasons mansion to try and rip WKX & ZZS a new one.

From the teaser, it actually seems like WKX gets hurt trying to protect ZZS, because it looks like ZZS runs into YBY before WKX does. YBY is mad about being tricked by ZZS & WKX but ZZS says that YBY should have an understanding of WKX's character since they've spent so much time together in the past. ZZS is also seen blocking YBY off with his sword and he says "If you wish to go to Four Seasons mansion tonight, then you'll have to do so over my dead body". And then they fight. And lose because YBY is like 100+ and supreme top fighter, lol. Also just want to note ZZS is not fighting at 100% because of the nails, he actually only gets to about 100% of his true abilities the closer he is to his death but I'm still not sure if WKX + ZZS could ever take on YBY even if they were both fully at 100%. Anyway, then WKX tells YBY to kill him because he wouldn't mind turning into a vengeful ghost to haunt everyone that ever did him wrong. YBY agrees but then ZZS tells YBY he has no right to do so. He reminds YBY that WKX's father died because he was protecting YBY's disciple and that because he helped him, WKX's entire family was ruined. He asks YBY to ask his own conscience, and that while everyone else can judge WKX for what evil deeds he's done, YBY absolutely cannot (because YBY and his disciple "owes" WKX and his family),

They're both deserving of their fame and I'm glad they're getting more fans. Earn some of that coin, boys!!! This is my first drama with either one of them so I'm pleasantly surprised, although I did hear that Gong Jun wasn't that great in other dramas? and that ZZH was more well-known. I think SHL is a very re-watchable drama as there's lot of little details that one missed the first time...also because I miss this show and it hasn't even ended yet? What is this T___T

I'm routinely distracted by the way ZZH smiles, I need him to smile more in the drama now. It's such a pretty smile T__T I'm glad to hear that a lot of people appreciate his more reserved acting too!!

It was definitely a stroke of luck that they both landed the roles when they did. I can't imagine the original actors in the roles (I mean, the Scorpion King dude is good at his role right now but I cannot see him as WKX, which is why he gave up the role I guess). They're good partners! I saw a clip where ZZH said that he brought out the best in Gong Jun/WKX just like Gong Jun brought out the best in him/ZZS!

I think both WKX and ZZS are hard roles to fill. WKX could very easily be overdone or over-exaggerated, and I'm glad that Gong Jun has a good enough handle on the character. Honestly, WKX was a character I disliked in the book for at least the first third and the drama ver of him is probably a better character overall (WKX in the book is completely unapologetic though and while he has a similar sob story bg, you get the sense he's completely blood-thirsty in the book whereas he still has redemption here).

Let's hope there'll be good scenes for ZZS/ZZH in the latter half of the drama! I think fans are often times captivated by how LOUD WKX as a character is so they overlook ZZS, which is a bit of a pity! They really play off each other well and have good chemistry together :D

One of my most favorite parts of TYK was how ambiguous both the main characters are. They're complete messes and like you said, ZZS has no qualms about killing. Sure, he has his regrets esp when it comes to his Shidi (his real one xD) but even Beiyuan says that he rarely sees ZZS the way he was around WKX, being more relaxed and less severe. I can understand why they changed him to make for a more engaging on-screen coupling but I think that it's a bit of a disservice to ZZS. I have hope it gets better though as there seem to be more scenes where it actually involves ZZS vs right now where he's only seen rescuing Chen Ling or in the bg somehow, lol.

On the note of redemption arc for WKX, I really hope they don't go the route of using him to "save" WKX bc that would be the only that that would really ruin the story for me. The whole point of WKX and ZZS was that they didn't feel the need to save each other in any way, they were both the same sort of revengeful characters and understood each other on that level, and respected what one another needed to do (esp ZZS towards WKX) and trusted each other to do it.

I rewatched a couple of episodes and have grown to admire ZZH's acting even more! There's little things that he's done, like hesitating before he answers WKX or using small gestures, to show his suffering from the nails that I missed the first time around. Gong Jun is a bit out there as WKX, which is necessary bc he's soooo...gay (for lack of a better term haha) which makes it harder to focus on ZZH's more reserved but, still good, acting. Ah, I'm really glad they both got the roles and are both doing well!!

Yeah, I can see why she would've struggled with ZZS xD It's a. more gray character and they've toned him down and made him much more righteous and well-meaning even though he was basically an assassin that killed everyone he had to for the Prince.

I've turned into a big fan of ZZH. I've seen a few of his interviews in Chinese and I really appreciate his thinking and how he's handled things in the past. He's quite mature and he's also got a deep understanding of ZZS and I think he connects well with the character too!

(Same with Gong Jun haha I was zero expectations for him but his acting as WKX is so YES!! He's literally WKX)

I'm someone that also was engaged by Gong Jun in the first few episodes, he's just so perfect as WKX and eye-catching! But yes, when ZZS goes from beggar to himself again, and when he smiles, wow hahaha. He's got a very lovely smile!! Besides that though, I think that it's very hard to act as someone who doesn't always show his emotions but he still manages to convey his feelings in a constrained way. He's someone who was ready to die but suddenly he's got a reason and a desire to live, and I think his portrayal of that has been good too!

ZZH has been very good as ZZS! There's a lot of small things he does for his role, very nuanced that people might not notice because it's not as obvious as with WKX. Both are challenging roles, and I can completely understand why Gong Jun is getting a lot of focus. He really is doing a great job as WKX but yes, ZZH has been doing so well too! I hope he gets more of a focus on his character, and isn't just there.

That's ok! I know some people said they were having some issues with ep1 as well! I'm glad you've continued to watch :D

So, WKX has ten "main" ghosts that work under him. He's the leader of the entire ghost valley, like I mentioned, so there's a lot of ghosts that work for him. He commands them etc but they're all free to do as they wish too. It's not exactly a great relationship between them, lol. They're afraid of him because he has a crazy~ reputation that kills whenever he wants to. And at any time, the ghosts want to kill him to take his role as well (which is what he did to the previous master, he killed and took over his position that he's been in for 8 years now). So at any time, the ghosts are plotting to kill WKX.

There'll be more revealed about the red outfit ghost in the latter episodes so I won't mention too much but her "group" is a bunch of female ghosts that have no place to go or have been taken advantage/ruined by men. She forced that man to marry one of her subordinates (who died and was pregnant at the time) that the man lied to.