budoboo

Exactly. 😂💋

Finally recognized him in episode 13. He is a wonderful actor.

Perhaps love but not in love mixed in with the duty.

This helps to understand it. Wondering if he planned on killing Gu too?

Episode 13 - just realized the actor playing the general Zhu Ya Wen was in Ming Dynasty. Threw me off that his voice is dubbed. Appreciating him here in this drama.

Had to rewind it. Took me a while to realize it was death by asphyxiation. Yes, the candle going out helped. 😅

The writing and acting was soo good. Went right through me.

Luv her. She is slaying here. Wonder if her role swings back around later in the drama.

Such a sweet scene. Thought the same thing when she said she would save him too.

ingenious - u so funny. 😂

Accepted. Appreciate we have a chance to disagree here on MDL.

I am okay if the female roll is actually 'just' female. I am not a feminist - I think its a missguided adventure. Human equality is more my style as my ultimate strength is actually found in my femininity. Starting in 2026, the only thing I will now be asking for in a drama is that the acting levels match irregardless of the sexes.

He walked away with enough to balance the Wang Tian Gui energy gap.

"...getting more and more impatient and expect female characters to be exactly how they want them..." - let me raise my hand as I myself have done this off and on throughout this year. 😕😉😂

How does Chen Xiao find himself in so many questionable contemporary dramas only to rise like the pheonix he is in these outstanding dramas (e.g., A Dream of Splendor & so far Legen of the Magnate)? I get so confused.

Understood. If it was not such an impactfully written/acted (so far) drama I think my opinion about the actress would not be so stern. Been hungry all year for this level of drama satisfaction. I still have hope that I am overreacting. 😅

Think its a good opinion. Let me follow it up by saying I think after the exchange in the jail/prison between the two (Li Wantang & Gu) that Li Wantang is his father or nephew and he is the son he always wished he had. Or, the love of Li Wantang's life is Gu's mother.

Points taken. Thank you for the info share. I agree with the premise that the contrast in acting levels is substantially informing my opinion on the actress. Stand firm that no matter how bad she actually is or is not, its a mis-match between the actress and the drama.

Agree we need to give it time and that the final judgment should be rendered much later on in the drama. Still, for me in the here and now, there is cross over confusion betwen the written character and the acting portrayal- " like she's a sweet strong gentlewoman that lost her mom since childhood and was raised by her dad traveling and doing business she barely knows anything aside traveling with her da" - yes it is a good solidly built character backgournd. The writing is outstanding. The acting, however, from the FL up until now is not on par with either the script or the fellow actors. The net result is a compromise of the drama itself.

Ouch. 😂 😂 😂