battleaxe

did y'all peep the way xiaotao planted herself in front of her mistress after the secret tunnel was discovered and zhonglin came to confront manman? and how she didn't leave until manman told her to?? other maids watch and learn!

i'm very fond of dramas like these where there's love, strong and unquestionable. but you also have these lifelong legitimate (not silly 2ml/fl stuff) unshakable loyalties that compete with that love and its fascinating to watch and see which one will come out on top in the end. watching princess royal felt like this too in some parts

but manman never once forced either of them though. and also there are many many scenes of dq saying she just wants a peaceful life and bi zhi replying (independently) with echoes of manman's exact sentiments and plans, and how he needs the qiao clan to accept him so dq can be happy bc she was unhappy. iirc he took boya without any prodding from his wife or manman.
and for the pawn part: manman treated him the same way she treated her husband - as a means to safeguarding the qiao clan.

watching wei yan beat up those generals got me like 'you know sometimes violence really is the answer'

director: y'all ain't kissed once, not even accidentally in 29 epis so I'm gonna need that much episodes worth of kisses in one single scene with a quadrillion takes.
cp: sigh. bet.

IN HER DEFENSE yes I have arrived to defend my fl! that whole tunnel thing was at a time when they were in a different place and didn't trust each other. iirc, the tunnel was in response to the sneaky things he was doing behind her. in conclusion, 1+1= 2
not that anyone asked 🙄 i'm just yapping

so zhonglin can visit a single woman in the deep of the night to discuss 'canals' and come back home smelling of her and carrying things that smell of her and hm no biggie, no one even blinks an eye. but manman meets with a scholar during the bright light daylight with multiple people present and its code red? death to the patriarchy and all its children!

hm this is not really good but I'm still watching. and I agree with the tteotm comparisons, or more accurately I think this ml is what tantai jin should have been like, instead of the absolute snow bunny (pause for eyeroll) they gave us.

sounds interesting i'd like to see it. wouldn't it be meta though if it turns out in the end that she's the real one not the dude? hehehe

only two eps have been released since I was last here? omg its been days why are they breadcrumbing us? what in the toxicity is going on?!

I just watched the duel. the qiao clan finally have a warrior! hurray! he's still young but hurray!

"Even the size and height of the auspicious clouds on the court robes were discussed at length."
see this is why I stan historical cdramas so much. its so much work and effort that's getting poured into each of them

so there's yenzhou, yaozhou, then yanzhou! wow ty to them for making things so clear

for my own peace and enjoyment, I skip all of lady two face's scenes, so her schemes stay catching me by surprise

that has to end though. he can't keep going I trust you, but I will murder your family at the drop of a hat, especially since when it comes down to it, she will choose her family over him. and the way to end that and grow stronger together is to slowly start addressing these things as they come up

he's adorable, I remember him from the 1st duoluo continent drama, he was memorable then too

after lady yu lying face got exposed, zhonglin asked manman if she was mad about him being biased and she said no😲. girl! get mad! that's your family. don't let him think something as dangerous as his bias has no consequences??

when manman and her brother met🥹🤧. I teared up too, as an honorary member of the qiao clan 🤡

so they kissed, but she doesn't remember and he thinks it's a dream. only we know that it happened?? objection my lord!!

all the emotions zhonglin should have been experiencing over 21 eps are coming out all at once because he waited that long before allowing himself to love her back. 😂 that's why the poor guy has been an emotional mess for the past three eps