i love the relationship between xiuru and her stepdaughter, jiarong! for a child to side with her stepmother over…
sure, they needed to unite for survival, that's true - but the mutual love was already there. that's why jiarong waited for xiuru in the rain with an umbrella, and why xiuru's first thought was worrying that jiarong would catch a cold. i wouldn't have done either of those things for someone i didn't genuinely care about lol.
i love the relationship between xiuru and her stepdaughter, jiarong! for a child to side with her stepmother over her own father and grandmother - especially given how close in age xiuru and jiarong are - you just know xiuru was a genuinely good mother to her.
one thing this drama has always excelled at is breaking stereotypes. 👏
Most C-viewers really do not like court palace conflicts in these historical romance dramas because they are done…
i was getting so comfortable with the steady pacing in this drama that the three time jumps in a span of 45-46 minutes just really threw me off lol.
but you know what? you have a very fair point: "this isn't really Jinqi's story but Lanxiang's so if they only have limited episodes, I can see why they decided not to expand on it and focused on the Lin family again."
thank you for the insightful response. i really appreciate it!
i'm not sure if it was just my algorithm, but the reception i've seen for ep39 is much different on xiaohongshu than it is on here. i've read so many praises for how genius and "god-tier" the transition montage of jinqi resigning from the imperial court was, and relief over how there is finally a historical romance that does the political stuff correctly. this episode is clearly written for viewers who already have a strong understanding of chinese culture and history... unfortunately for me, i am not a part of that group lol.
and that is why i have such mixed feelings right now.
this is the first episode that i didn't fully love. the first half? i thought the storytelling with jinlan's arc was as heartfelt and solid as always. the second half? i liked the idea of what was happening, but i hated the execution. all of those time jumps really ruined the immersion for me. i wish the drama had given us some room to breathe every time they fast-forwarded a little into the future. let the present marinate. let us adjust to the changes first before throwing us into different locations, new situations, and drastic character transformations...
i saw someone on mdl say that this drama was supposed to be 60 episodes, but only 47 episodes were approved? if that's true, i want to blame the jarring time jumps on that, because the pacing has been so consistently great until now. if that's not the case, i want to trust that the director thought long and hard and felt that this was the only way to push us into the next era of our characters' lives. that's the only way i can make sense of things. 😅
i really hope this isn't the new pattern for the remaining few episodes. this has been my favorite drama of the year, and i would hate to see it crash and burn towards the end.
you know what? it's fine that there is no episode today. i've been crying my eyes out for every single episode - i needed to rehydrate anyway. gotta save my tears for those future episodes!
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one thing this drama has always excelled at is breaking stereotypes. 👏
and same. i wish this drama is 60 episodes so we can get even more in-depth side stories. i know, i know. that's just my greedy heart talking lol.
- xiuwan's career + potential romance
i don't know if it'll happen, but i want lanxiang and ji'er to reunite before the drama ends lol.
but you know what? you have a very fair point: "this isn't really Jinqi's story but Lanxiang's so if they only have limited episodes, I can see why they decided not to expand on it and focused on the Lin family again."
thank you for the insightful response. i really appreciate it!
and that is why i have such mixed feelings right now.
this is the first episode that i didn't fully love. the first half? i thought the storytelling with jinlan's arc was as heartfelt and solid as always. the second half? i liked the idea of what was happening, but i hated the execution. all of those time jumps really ruined the immersion for me. i wish the drama had given us some room to breathe every time they fast-forwarded a little into the future. let the present marinate. let us adjust to the changes first before throwing us into different locations, new situations, and drastic character transformations...
i saw someone on mdl say that this drama was supposed to be 60 episodes, but only 47 episodes were approved? if that's true, i want to blame the jarring time jumps on that, because the pacing has been so consistently great until now. if that's not the case, i want to trust that the director thought long and hard and felt that this was the only way to push us into the next era of our characters' lives. that's the only way i can make sense of things. 😅
i really hope this isn't the new pattern for the remaining few episodes. this has been my favorite drama of the year, and i would hate to see it crash and burn towards the end.
if i may ask, how come you didn't subscribe directly to the wetv app / site? the episode is available on there.