I saw some negative comments about the lead actress and I'm so glad I waited until the end to check them because…
agreed! many viewers really hated zhou ye's portrayal of he yan, but funny enough, that's exactly how he yan is in the novel. she's playful on the surface, easygoing with most people, arrogant because of her skills, a little annoying to xiao jue, and deeply lonely on the inside. zhou ye did a great job bringing all of those traits to life.
you guys... i sobbed my way through these last few episodes lol. i bought express because i was too impatient to wait any longer, but then i ended up not binging them right away. instead, i tried to stretch them out for as long as possible, rewinding and rewatching my favorite scenes. i kept wishing there would be 15 more episodes. it took me a whole day, but now that i finally completed them, i feel so overwhelmed with emotions... so please excuse my sappy post-finale rambling. 😅😭
i don't even know if words can express how much i love this drama. every single one of these characters holds a special place in my heart, and i am inspired by their messages on love, family, loyalty, sisterhood, and resilience. what an ensemble! i feel like i've lived an entire lifetime with all of them - like they are my real friends and my own family - and now i have to mourn their absence from my daily routine. so blessed to be a witness to their joys and their sorrows, so heartbroken to say goodbye to their stories. it is bittersweet.
i get that the genre, pacing, and execution of the themes in the drama might not be for everyone, but i have nothing but praise for this rollercoaster of a journey. for me, it was great from the beginning until the very end. 👏
thank you to the against the current community on mdl for making this a beautiful viewing experience. i've enjoyed reading all of the insightful comments along the way and i can't wait to read all of your final thoughts once you all catch up (or i catch up to you guys by lurking through the older comments lol.)
hopefully, we will reunite in a comment section of another drama just as compelling and memorable as this one. until then... let's all live well.
Agreed. The title alone would have told these clueless commenters it's about at least one woman's life. And so…
for realll. and even if the title didn't ring a bell, the opening credits of every single episode literally showcase an ensemble female cast taking up an entire courtyard. but i guess some people only see what they want to see lol.
xie zhao to xiuwan: "back then, i wasn't worthy of you yet. that's why heaven made each of us take a longer road and become better people before we truly met."
this is peak character development, and i love this exchange so muchhh. literally so beautiful, humbling, and sincere. they have both come a long way as individuals, and i wish we could get a spin-off of just their adventures!
the number of people who watch a female-centric drama only to complain about "too much women empowerment" or "too many feminist ideals" is astonishing. why the hell would you go into a drama like this and expect anything less? i just read two of these comments, clicked on their profiles, and noticed they are both men. of course they are. 🙄
(and women who hate on women-driven stories are even more baffling, but that’s a rant for ANOTHER day.)
since the beginning of time, men have been prioritized in everything, whether it's real life or fiction. how many superhero stories do we have about ordinary men who wake up one day and discover they are special / they have superpowers and they are the only ones who can save the world? countless!!! AND YET, when we finally have a few stories about women trying to save their families, other women, or themselves? suddenly there are just too many of those.
I don't think he knows about her Shen identity yes, at least i didn't get that from episode 42
for realll. there's plenty of romance in this drama... it's just not the hot-and-heavy kind that some people might want lol.
jinqi has always been bold (we saw this in that flashback where he beat his father's ass when he was a kid - his hand slipped, of course 😂), and lanxiang has always been lowkey; her every word and action is carefully crafted before being executed. jinqi doesn't try to change her because he has grown to love all aspects of who she is.
so why do these critics want to change lanxiang? why expect her to suddenly become a passionate hopeless romantic? for her to *want* to be with him, hold his hand, cry with him, share his bed, protect him, and be his true partner in this life - even if those things are done quietly, that's already huge for someone with her personality.
each of them speaks a different love language, and instead of saying "this isn't going to work", they decided to learn how to listen and adapt. that IS very romantic.
yes, so many!- xiuru and marquis yuan- jinlan and suhua- yuchan and jiugao- xiaolian and nanke- gantang and xiaolian's…
you're welcome! and unfortunately, yes. as of ep42, several people close to the main couple have already died... and a few more will likely meet that same fate as the drama nears the end.
I don't think he knows about her Shen identity yes, at least i didn't get that from episode 42
he definitely knew by ep42:
- all the clues in his little trinket chest pointed to the identity of an educated noble lady - not a slave.
- lanxiang couldn't contain her emotions and broke down at the unmarked shen family grave. being sad over someone you owe a life debt to is one thing, but grieving in the raw way lanxiang did only makes sense if it's her own family.
- the painting her adoptive father acquired was confirmed to have once belonged to the old shen master. most saw it as a counterfeit; only those closest to the old shen master knew it was real. jinqi's grandfather knew because he was the old shen master's best friend. lanxiang knew too - who else could she be but a member of the shen family?
- jinqi's grandfather described young shen jialan as having the exact same temperament as adult lanxiang.
- lanxiang panicked when their daughter started crying and refused to give jinqi a straight answer when he confronted her. he probably realized later that she would never admit her secrets out loud because it would endanger her children's lives.
that's why he burned the evidence. if she were exposed as the real shen jialan, that would be treason. he knew the truth, but chose silence to protect her the way she protected him.
I’m dreading the loss I’ll feel when this concludes airing. 🥹
i'm right there with you! in real time, we spent less than a month with this drama. narratively though, we've lived an entire lifetime with all these characters, and as jinqi said, have shared in all of their joys and sorrows. once this drama concludes, it's going to sting as if we lost a loved one fr.
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i don't even know if words can express how much i love this drama. every single one of these characters holds a special place in my heart, and i am inspired by their messages on love, family, loyalty, sisterhood, and resilience. what an ensemble! i feel like i've lived an entire lifetime with all of them - like they are my real friends and my own family - and now i have to mourn their absence from my daily routine. so blessed to be a witness to their joys and their sorrows, so heartbroken to say goodbye to their stories. it is bittersweet.
i get that the genre, pacing, and execution of the themes in the drama might not be for everyone, but i have nothing but praise for this rollercoaster of a journey. for me, it was great from the beginning until the very end. 👏
thank you to the against the current community on mdl for making this a beautiful viewing experience. i've enjoyed reading all of the insightful comments along the way and i can't wait to read all of your final thoughts once you all catch up (or i catch up to you guys by lurking through the older comments lol.)
hopefully, we will reunite in a comment section of another drama just as compelling and memorable as this one. until then... let's all live well.
this is peak character development, and i love this exchange so muchhh. literally so beautiful, humbling, and sincere. they have both come a long way as individuals, and i wish we could get a spin-off of just their adventures!
(and women who hate on women-driven stories are even more baffling, but that’s a rant for ANOTHER day.)
since the beginning of time, men have been prioritized in everything, whether it's real life or fiction. how many superhero stories do we have about ordinary men who wake up one day and discover they are special / they have superpowers and they are the only ones who can save the world? countless!!! AND YET, when we finally have a few stories about women trying to save their families, other women, or themselves? suddenly there are just too many of those.
the entitlement is unreal. blocked and blocked.
jinqi has always been bold (we saw this in that flashback where he beat his father's ass when he was a kid - his hand slipped, of course 😂), and lanxiang has always been lowkey; her every word and action is carefully crafted before being executed. jinqi doesn't try to change her because he has grown to love all aspects of who she is.
so why do these critics want to change lanxiang? why expect her to suddenly become a passionate hopeless romantic? for her to *want* to be with him, hold his hand, cry with him, share his bed, protect him, and be his true partner in this life - even if those things are done quietly, that's already huge for someone with her personality.
each of them speaks a different love language, and instead of saying "this isn't going to work", they decided to learn how to listen and adapt. that IS very romantic.
- xiuru and marquis yuan
- jinlan and suhua
- yuchan and jiugao
- xiaolian and nanke
- gantang and xiaolian's brother
- xiuwan and xie zhao
and those are only the ones i can think of atm.
- all the clues in his little trinket chest pointed to the identity of an educated noble lady - not a slave.
- lanxiang couldn't contain her emotions and broke down at the unmarked shen family grave. being sad over someone you owe a life debt to is one thing, but grieving in the raw way lanxiang did only makes sense if it's her own family.
- the painting her adoptive father acquired was confirmed to have once belonged to the old shen master. most saw it as a counterfeit; only those closest to the old shen master knew it was real. jinqi's grandfather knew because he was the old shen master's best friend. lanxiang knew too - who else could she be but a member of the shen family?
- jinqi's grandfather described young shen jialan as having the exact same temperament as adult lanxiang.
- lanxiang panicked when their daughter started crying and refused to give jinqi a straight answer when he confronted her. he probably realized later that she would never admit her secrets out loud because it would endanger her children's lives.
that's why he burned the evidence. if she were exposed as the real shen jialan, that would be treason. he knew the truth, but chose silence to protect her the way she protected him.