ramblingromantic

FIRST WATCH REVIEW (10/24-27/25)
Lets start with the negatives of this show because it’s a short list. Basically, whoever was in charge of music, liked the song “fated hearts” a bit too much. Maybe because it was named the same as the show? I don’t know but in the show it was OVER PLAYED. That said, if I ignore that and just listen to the OST on it’s own the other songs are great and I’m not sure why they used them so much less than the first song. Someone else pointed out the music was too loud to hear the actual actors which I can’t say matters to me since I need subtitles regardless, but that is something that can be noted. Not a deal breaker for me though. Lastly, I really wish that Fu Yi Xiao had called Xia Jing Shi on the fact that he was running death camps. I know some things don’t need to be said, but I feel like sometimes the villain is SO blind to their hypocrisy that I just want it said out loud.

That’s it. Those are all my negative thoughts. I’m sure if I realllly wanted to nit pick I could find some other small things, but this show was just so excellent. I hate blood and gore but with this show, I can excuse the squelches and blood for the good of the plot.

Time for a break down!!! I had so many thoughts as I was watching but ofc now it’s hard to remember everything. For now, I think a review for this show makes more sense by per person rather than chronological plot.

Fu Yi Xiao and Feng Sui Ge were phenomenal. I loved just how regal and benevolent **Fu Yi Xiao** is throughout the show. We *meet* her shooting down Feng Sui Ge with no remorse but then killing several assassins and trying to help a stranger from being caught in the crossfire. We know from this, she is a strong and determined woman. From there her personality only strengthens and grows as she investigates the truth. **Feng Sui Ge** is just so *melt worthy.* Chen Zhe Yuan does SUCH an excellent job of the hard as stone man melting for an amazing woman. She is useful to him so he compromises, but the cold hearted First Prince doesn’t seem to be so cold hearted as time goes by. **The two of them** really take on the world as everyone tries to betray and kill them. I love that they both fight amazingly, but mourn almost every death. When they killed the people they trust but that betrayed them, the way the memories flash is so well done. Its this balance of remorse but fight for maintaining integrity (1). I love that for the romance, once they are together, they do not break apart but rather continue to fight to be together. It was BEAUTIFUL AND I WANT MORE. I want them to really be happy and living well haha.

Murong Yao and his father, Murong Zhong, were interesting to watch unfold. I had a gut feeling **Murong Yao** was going to be a villain and the man in the mask not right away, but pretty early on. It was a tad disappointing because you really sympathize with all the betrayals Feng Sui Ge has had to experience. Murong Yao was hard to “figure out” other than he was traumatized by that childhood event and never unpacked it – because what do you mean Feng Sui Ge has been your *best friend* since childhood, but you have wanted vengeance for over 10 years of that friendship? Its weird because he claims to have cared for Feng Sui Ge but everything feels tainted by the fact that he’s been wanting to “reclaim the Murong family name”. It was painful to watch Feng Sui Ge suffer deeply as he thought of all their memories and closeness. If only Murong had just said something to Feng Sui Ge all those years ago, maybe he could have had a healthy path forward. I was also frustrated because Feng Sui Ge was a CHILD. He was protected because he is the First Prince, but that was never his choice. He was never malicious or arrogant with Murong Yao due to his position (4). He spoiled Murong Yao if anything and Yao was afforded such an extravagant and wasteful life, but still he wasn’t satisfied because to him Feng Sui Ge had it even better and the Emperor was to blame for all his woes. I think what really disappointed me though, is **Murong Zhong**. I loved that Murong Zhong was such a simple and loyal man. All he cared about was his son’s happiness and the royal family’s safety. I had really hoped he’d hold his son accountable but instead joined him in treachery (2). This show was SMART though because in the Murong family home, one of the “courts” is called **“**e***mbrace simplicity and uphold the truth”** (3)*. I wanted him to hold Murong Yao accountable but the way the plot unfolded was still well done. It was curious though, that when Murong Zhong was begging the Emperor for leniency, I thought the Empror gave it. But Murong Zhong kept asking the Emperor and the First Prince for help, so I thought I misunderstood the Emperor. ONLY FOR Feng Sui Ge’s last words to Murong Zhong to be that he and the Emperor never actually planned to kill Murong Yao anyways. But of course, the bad guys have to force the good guys’ hand.

Feng Cheng Yang and his mother, Empress Zhuang, where almost a precise contrast to Murong Yao and his father. While Murong Yao leads his father astray, **Cheng Yang** tries to get his mother to turn away from evil. **Cheng Yang** is not an unloyal son – he does what he can to keep the peace between his parents, brother, and even his grandfather. He has no desire to steal the throne from his brother, but **his mother** was obsessed with the Emperor and hated the previous Empress. Rather than be content with the life she had after her father killed the previous Empress, she projected her sins and hatred onto Feng Sui Ge. She was adamant that Feng Sui Ge wanted to kill her, and while he hated her for obvious and fair reasons, her manic disposition and insistence that Feng Cheng Yang must become Emperor or they will die was her way of deflecting her own role in the tragic past. Her spiral into insanity felt very Lady Macbeth-ian. I think it was executed well, because she never really got her hands “dirty” until she actively killed the Emperor but her jealousy and paranoia had already been eating at her. I LOVED when Feng Cheng Yang clocked his mother’s own hypocrisy. She was livid that the Zhuang’s had been sidelined by the Emperor, but was ready and eager to do the same to the Murong family (4).

Now to talk about Xia Jing Shi, Xia Jing Yan, and Feng Xi Yang. They need to be talked about specifically for the context and lens of viewing Xia Jing Yan (Emperor of Jinxiu). **Xia Jing Shi** was tormented as a kid and lived a horrible life with his brother and step-mother. This is undeniable and clear. He had to get scrappy and harden to survive, but in true film fashion he is the foil to Feng Sui Ge. Feng Sui Ge wasn’t tortured quite the same way but his own father wanted him to be so heartless as to usrp the throne and at every turn people would betray and try to kill him. And yet, Feng Sui Ge leads an army loyal to him not out of pity or fear, but rather out of a shared desire to protect the kingdom and it’s people (1). But Xia Jing Shi has his army from death camps. He fosters a false sense of care from the people he wants to use. He torments and tortures to *force* loyalty. Fu Yi Xiao thought he saved her, she thought he was a man of principle that cared for those around him. But at the end of the day, his revenge was worth the lives of endless innocent people including but not limited to Feng Xi Yang. **Feng Xi Yang** was inarguably very stupid for not heeding her brother’s warning about Xia Jing Shi. Never does a healthy romance start with “I can change him”, but that said, her one mistake was loving him. Can’t fault her when she was indeed sheltered and clueless about reality. I love that she actually is VERY similar to Feng Sui Ge becoming as decisive & unbending as him. She does not let her circumstance cage her in from pushing back. Last but not least, **Xia Jing Yan**. As an actor, Qin Tian Yu is getting his flowers for such an excellent portrayal and I couldn’t agree more. Xia Jing Yan is temperamental at best, a murderous manic at worst. He bullies his brother endlessly and I do think his abuse directly led to his own demise. It felt very much a self-fulfilling prophecy. Would Xia Jing Shi been so evil if his brother had loved him and treated him well? We will never know, but of course constantly treating Xia Jing Shi like an outsider and a person who will rebel only encouraged that to become true. But the depth the writers gave Xia Jing Yan was unparalleled to *anyone* else in the show including the protagonists. His character as Feng Xi Yang 1000% gave dark romance because he is in fact unwell, but that doesn’t change the reality that when he told his mom Feng Xi Yang didn’t need to bewitch him, all she did was need him, I understood where he was coming from immediately. I cannot relate to him at all in reality, but when he told his mom why he was so into Feng Xi Yang, I immediately sympathized with him. As the Emperor, he can do whatever he wants, but his mother has always undermined him and based of the few flashbacks, his father preferred Jing Shi so expectations of him were so low he had no reason to try or be better. Feng Xi Yang is terribly honest with him that she need him so she will do whatever to get what she wants. When she insists on going back to Susha his sadness was palpable because he would have to return to a life where he is alone and no one needs him. Ironically Xi Yang wanted to change Jing Shi with her love, but changed Jing Yan with their symbiotic relationship. When Jing Yan is being beaten and bruised, he still refuses to bend to Jing Shi. But once Jing Shi sets his eyes on Xi Yang, Jing Yan immediately crumbles. He begs for Jing Shi to spare her and the unborn child. And it is that moment that both viewers and Xi Yang realize how much more of a man for Jing Yan was for Xi Yang than Jing Shi ever was. Regardless of his many sins, he had officially changed. I honestly think if Jing Yan had survived the coup, he and Xi Yang *could* have had a new chapter.

**Feng Ping Cheng** was an infuriating emperor but even more frustrating father. When we learn about Wei Qing Yu’s death and how Feng Ping Cheng resented her, it truly explained his stupid parenting. He only wanted Feng Sui Ge to be Emperor, but wanted Feng Sui Ge to break as an empathetic warrior and rebuild as a power crazy man. The show does a good job of showing Ping Cheng’s obsession with power and his son taking the throne, but I still wish we saw a bit more. We know that he fought wars and is the first ruler for the land but I will never understand his logic. Probably because I would be more aligned with Wei Qing Yu’s logic. He also had an interesting form of love for Wei Qing Yu and Feng Sui Ge. He “loved” them but really he just wanted to “possess” and have control over them.

Honorable mentions, **Ling Xue Ying** was a cute doctor character and her father was also integral to the plot as a miracle healer saving all my babies to maintain my HEA.

**Xiao Wei Ran** was layered and complicated, but ultimately dullened by the reality he forsake his principles and brotherhood. ~~I really wish he knew just how horrible Jing Shi truly is. We know he has an idea, but I can’t help but wonder how his choices might have differed if he knew Jing Shi still had the death camps running.~~ [After second watch, I realize he DID know. What an idiot.]

**Ning Fei** was a wholesome character and I am glad Fu Yi Xiao got to maintain at least one brother. I knew he was going to end up with Ling Xue Ying haha. I am so glad he didn’t die.

Overall, the pacing of the show is amazing. It felt so seamless how each plot point folded into the next. It’s also well done specifically because the plot doesn’t linger. We are wondering if the protagonists can get along, then slowly but also quickly they do. We wonder who shot Fu Yi Xiao, then we find out and move on to the masked man but then we find that out too. Honestly by the 20th episode I didn’t understand how there would still be 18 episodes when issues were resolved so quickly, but the writers maintained such a healthy tempo for the plot as we watch the lives of so many different characters unfold.

### Original Thoughts & Ideas
I had SO MUCH to say in my review that I am linking the “plot points” in my review to my thoughts here.
1. Fu Yi Xiao grew up an orphan and in a death camp. After Feng Sui Ge’s mother was framed and murdered, he had no one he could trust or rely on *and* took on a paternal role to care for his sister. I think when you compare all the “antagonists” with the “protagonists”, you really hit up against the age old “trauma/being wronged does not mean you can disregard the life of others”. You can’t fight evil with kindness, but at what point does fighting back turn you into the same kind of person that wronged you? Xia Jing Shi hates his brother, Xia Jing Yan, with a passion and honestly I would too if I were him, but while Xia Jing Yan was able to find compassion for Feng Xi Yang and his unborn child, Xia Jing Shi still could not think beyond himself and tried to kill Feng Xi Yang simply for getting pregnant with Xia Jing Yan’s child.
2. This was a great example of why you should *not* love your child to the point of evil. I would like to think if my son tried killing the man he thought of as his best friend, I would hold him accountable and even if I don’t want him to die, I wouldn’t kill so many others in that cause. It actually makes me think about Prophet Ibrahim and how he almost killed his son Ismail. I honestly understood this story only on the most surface level of it’s lesson, but after this show, I realize that having devoted loyalty to a human is a dangerous game. This is proven several times in this show but more so between this father and son duo.
3. Embrace simplicity and uphold the truth: to what end is simplicity about being a pushover? Was Murong Zhong a pushover with how corrupt he let himself become? He went against the family governance of truth - he actively buried the truth. his son *literally* buried the truth when he thought Feng Sui Ge was dead. There’s something to be said that the Emperor, for all his many faults, *ACKNOWLEDGED* that if Murong Zhong wasn’t always away at the border, maybe Murong Yao would have been a better son and man. I felt like that moment was the epitome of all of Murong Zhong’s hard work truly being recognized, so to turn back on it just makes you think – what is a person’s line? what is their real goal? Is it recognition, power, money or maybe even something as debased as just revenge.
4. Power is an active evil. When Feng Cheng Yang called his mom out for wanting to sideline the Murong family, it highlighted that power is always insidiously working to corrupt. The Emperor couldn’t trust the Zhuang’s after they helped him claim the throne and the Empress couldn’t trust the Murong’s in the same situation, but so many humans do not know when to recognize enough is enough. They don’t know how to be grateful for all the things they do have, and instead dwell on what they don’t have.