Brennnndda

Oh! My Sweet Liar is adorable!

I meant when MY's dad attacked her, how did she survive it? I wish they showed the attack from the mom's perspective so we know if she crawled out of her watery grave or something like that.

Hahahhha, your comment is awesome!!!

She should've been like "You need her? Well, I need Han De Rang but you don't see me crawling into bed with him behind your back"
??
Inappropriate? Yes, but it would've been funny.

Yan Yan raised him

QY was always so mad because he thought he should've been given absolute power. . .but he was just so stupid. There wasn't a single moment where he did anything to prove he was ready to be respected as emperor.
My happiest moments when I saw QY were when Cheng Xu would kick his ass.
It was honestly:
1. QY plots against CX and makes up excuses to kill him
2. CX laughs at his stupidity, dares QY to try to kill him
3. Altercation erupts with CX flooring him and yelling at QY to get his shit together
4. Ming Yu hearing about it, scolding QY, then telling CX to not take it to heart
5. Repeat 1-4

They don't fully reconcile until around episode 46.
She marries Xiao Zhan's character in episode 40.

EP 46:
Hahahahahahah! That attempted coup was so ridiculously hilarious, then there was that "surprise" wedding hahaha
This drama is too funny. I suppose it could be entertaining to stretch human logic sometimes.

I'm not sure if I like HN's lover. It's great that he's so fresh and free. . .but for HN to promote him to general then for him to disregard all decorum/etiquette the first time he met YY was so . . .hmmm. . .odd.

I really can't help comparing Legend of Xiao Chuo to Promise of Chang An since both aired at such close intervals and because the backbone of both dramas are the same.

The stories are similar yet the results are quite different. Both YY and Ming Yu were Empress Dowagers for their sons but YY acted as regent while Ming Yu was not. I suppose what makes YY and DR more successful is that DR is not of royal blood so he isn't a threat to YY's son's reign and therefore she can pretty much do as she pleases in regards to both.

Even the way YY and Ming Yu married into the harem was different. Both were "stolen" from their lovers, and despite how much I hate Ming Yi, at least YY and DR were able to express their hurt and disgust with MY for what he did. Ming Yu and Cheng Xu on the other hand, had to stifle down their frustrations against Cheng Rui. I don't think Cheng Rui knowing the truth would've changed the end result. If anything, it could've put Cheng Xu on Cheng Rui's hit list.

There's also the differences in the sons' reception to their mothers' love interests. Qi Yuan was extremely antagonistic towards Cheng Xu despite the fact that the latter raised him like his own son; guiding him and training him from such a young age. On the other hand, YY's son is the polar opposite. YY's son has absolute trust in DR and listens obediently to his mother, father, and DR. There's even instances where he bows down to DR despite being the emperor. It's interesting to see a young emperor growing up with his eyes open and be pretty unprejudiced in contrast to Qi Yuan's many hissy fits.
YY and DR's past affection is also no secret and everyone knows why they didn't end up together. Cheng Xu and MY's relationship was the opposite. Besides their inner circle, no one knew they were together which was why there were more problems down the road.

I do appreciate that YY also sits her son down and talks to him about love. They discuss who he's interested in and whether his love interest could potentially be his bride. It also goes so far as YY's son essentially giving her the "go ahead" to be with DR because he respects his father and mother's decisions. MY never did that with QY which caused issues once it was time to name his empress. Qi Yuan basically dated behind his mother's back and not knowing that little detail was why Ming Yu betrothed Ruo Xuan to his brother instead.

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I think at the time, when The Wolf was filming, Darren Wang was peaking because of "Our Times." I remember when the trailer was released in 2017-ish, his movie "Legend of the Naga Pearls" was also released so this drama emphasized his and Li Qin's names rather than Xiao Zhan since XZ wasn't as famous back then.

If Luo Yun Xi is considered the (second) male lead who never gets a happy ending (Princess Silver, Ashes of Love) then Li Qin should be considered his female counterpart. Her characters don't catch a break (Princess Agents, Song of Glory, The Wolf).

HN was my favorite of the three. She was wise, considerate, nurturing, and firm with her decisions. It also helps that she's played by the fabulous Charmaine Sheh. Unfortunately, her character flopped so hard. It's so sad but for a drama that was suppose to be women-centric, all the female characters basically sucked.
I feel like the writer(s) had an inkling of how they wanted the characters to be and then just never followed through with it. The only likable character is probably Han De Rang...and let's face it, there's really nothing spectacular about how his character is written either. He's just an all-around good guy who seems to be very smart but that's only because all the other characters are relatively dumb.

At this point, I don't think he cared. He just wanted one to become empress.

true..

I agree. I don't particularly like YY. I feel like she hasn't been able to prove that she is the only one suited to be Empress. There's nothing special about her that would make people covet her so much.
I had hoped to see epic battles and smart political maneuverings but I've been disappointed. I wanted to see a huge battle against Song Dynasty's Yang Generals.

I facepalmed so hard when HN said "you and Yan Yan forced her to commit suicide. Why couldn't you guys give her a way out?"
uh. . .WHAT?! HDR even bluntly says, "If Wuguli succeeded then Yan Yan would be the one who's dead" and HN didn't even flinch or care when he said that. . .like wtf?!

It seems like HN meets her slave lover in the ep 45 or 46. But at this point, does any viewer even care anymore? He's probably going to be a plot device that forces HN to rise up against YY. So much potential of a drama wasted with paper thin characters.

EP 44:
I give Hu Nian a lot of credit for trying to maintain peace. . . however, her constant pleading between YY and Wuguli is downright annoying. It's constantly "please understand her" and "please, let them go this one time." I understand she's trying to protect the bonds between them but it's also very frustrating that she doesn't pick a side. The problem is that no one ever thinks they are in the wrong and instead always blame YY. YY has shown them mercy too many times to count. . .and for both Hu Nian and Wuguli to condemn her for not always giving in to them is too ridiculous.
I think the biggest problems with the relationships between the sisters and their husbands is that Hu Nian and Wuguli did not hold the same level of respect that YY held with Ming Yi; which now makes me grateful YY married for political advantage rather than love like the other two.
Hu Nian and Wuguli were kept in the dark about their husbands' activities but YY stood at the forefront of all the political sabotage and assassination attempts. To think that Wuguli couldn't even comprehend her husband deserved his fate many times over makes her stupid and makes life stressful for everyone. YY never attacked Xi Yi or Yansage first, she's always on the receiving end yet her sisters blame her for their husbands' treasonous acts. Then of course, Hu Nian blames Yan Yan and De Rang for Wuguli's death. . .Wuguli was not a child...she chose her own fate.

I just loved Han De Rang so much when Yan Yan questioned if there's anyone she can trust or if there's something that won't change. His declaration of "I won't" comes at a time when she desperately needs someone on her side.
Sometimes it feels like he stays by Yan Yan not because there's this grand love between them or because she's helpless without him (even though technically she is), but because he doesn't want her to wallow in loneliness or be consumed by her own sadness.

There was Queen Dugu starring Chen Xiao and Chen Qiao En. It's based on the Emperor who founded the Sui Dynasty. He made an oath to his wife that he'd never take a consort/concubine and he didn't until after she died.
I think men like him are very rare in history though.

When Yan yan's son was crowned emperor, I believe he was in the audience

I think they pulled a Romeo and Juliet scenario where she thought he died so she went into battle intending to die only for him to actually be alive while she ends up dying.

It's so exciting!! 4 years of waiting for The Wolf and it gets released all at once!!