News 
1
This review may contain spoilers
A long-form drama that would've been better off as a short vertical one.
Villain: I did something evil.
Wei Rao: I know you did something evil.
Villain: I know that you know that I did something evil.
Wei Rao: I know that you know that I know that you did something evil.
Villain: I know that you know that I know that you know that I did something evil.
Wei Rao: I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you did something evil.
Villain: You're worthless! You must die! I'm going to kill you!!!
Wei Rao: Oh no, that sucks!!! Don't kill me!
Villain:
Wei Rao:
Villain: WHAT?! IT CAN'T BE! How come I'm not able to kill you?!
Wei Rao (in her thick plot armor): *smirks* I already knew you were going to kill me. So I prepared in advance to kill YOU!
Villain: Oh no! [dies off screen]
Villain #2: Wow, I can't believe that villain is dead. BTW, I did something evil-er!
Wei Rao: I know!
... and it goes on.
Let me mention some things I liked about the drama:
1. It's VERY fast-paced. Most problems are introduced and resolved in the span of, like, 2-3 episodes MAX.
2. It's entertaining. From beginning till the end, it has played like a vertical C-Drama. Every time you feel like you're losing interest, they introduce a new villain more despicable than the last, and you're forced to sit through another 2 episodes to see their downfall.
3. Everyone is gorgeous. Especially Lady Li. She's stunning. I cannot stop talking about it.
4.
Now, onto the negatives:
1. It's not entertaining enough. Not for me to completely switch my brain off to enjoy it. The characters are one-dimensional (one-and-a-half-dimensional at most), the world doesn't feel lived in, and the relationships are not convincing. So now I'm laughing or rolling my eyes at how absurd the plot is. Towards the end, the Lu Zhuo coffin scene was so unintentionally hilarious. I was watching at 2x speed which made it funnier. (I watched the last ten episodes at 1.5x to 2x speed and used the fast-forwarding option liberally.)
2. Wei Rao is overpowered. She can do EVERYTHING. You're telling me this lowly peasant girl, this night soil collector, was trained well enough in five days to imitate a lady from a high-rank household? You're telling me you fixed her posture and her mannerisms in five days? Her hair is flawless. Her skin is smooth and clear (mostly, as they do mention that she's a bit tanned and her hands are calloused). She has conveniently learnt how to read, write, and dance from shunned scholars and courtesans growing up. She even learnt how to imitate Jun Dai's handwriting in five days. Wow!
She can outwit the nobles. She got rid of the fucking empress in, like, one episode. She dealt with the crown prince in two. Her army of refugees, who have been training for a few weeks/months at most, can overpower professionally trained palace guards. She's donning a mask to save her 'sister' and other women and barging into the crown prince's place at night. Easily. It was so risky, so why did she do it? Because she just didn't care anymore and didn't think it through. The character who has fought for 20+ episodes to stay alive did not care if she died. Okay.
She's so unafraid she can speak glibly in front of the empress dowager and the emperor from their first meeting. And yet...
3. The unnecessary divorce. It added nothing to the plot. Nothing happened that couldn't have happened without it. Just why? And then they get married again and we get a mid as hell wedding scene before they show the 'real' thing. Whatever. In fact, the romance wasn't convincing at all.
4. Jun Dai. How excited was I to finally watch an evil woman be evil on screen?! But we quickly realise Jun Dai is only evil because the show wants her to be evil. She is dumb and whiny. She's slapping and screeching and murdering people and nothing else. She pretends to be innocent and everyone just believes her even though they've seen her act crazy before. And then she dies. Okay.
5. Qi Zhong Kai was annoying and stupid.
6. Han Liao was annoying and stupid with a degradation kink, probably. (No kink shaming!)
7. None of the villains meet a satisfying end. Super underwhelming.
I'm forgetting many other grievances I have with this show because I've already ranted enough in the comment section. Ugh.
They should've named this 'The Legend of Wei Rao,' or, better yet, 'The Legendary Wei Rao.' It would've been more fitting.
I hope Wei Rao doesn't rip through the fabric of spacetime and reality and invent a time machine to come to the future to kill me for writing this. She's totally capable of doing that--the ripping and the inventing and the killing.
Wei Rao: I know you did something evil.
Villain: I know that you know that I did something evil.
Wei Rao: I know that you know that I know that you did something evil.
Villain: I know that you know that I know that you know that I did something evil.
Wei Rao: I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you did something evil.
Villain: You're worthless! You must die! I'm going to kill you!!!
Wei Rao: Oh no, that sucks!!! Don't kill me!
Villain:
Wei Rao:
Villain: WHAT?! IT CAN'T BE! How come I'm not able to kill you?!
Wei Rao (in her thick plot armor): *smirks* I already knew you were going to kill me. So I prepared in advance to kill YOU!
Villain: Oh no! [dies off screen]
Villain #2: Wow, I can't believe that villain is dead. BTW, I did something evil-er!
Wei Rao: I know!
... and it goes on.
Let me mention some things I liked about the drama:
1. It's VERY fast-paced. Most problems are introduced and resolved in the span of, like, 2-3 episodes MAX.
2. It's entertaining. From beginning till the end, it has played like a vertical C-Drama. Every time you feel like you're losing interest, they introduce a new villain more despicable than the last, and you're forced to sit through another 2 episodes to see their downfall.
3. Everyone is gorgeous. Especially Lady Li. She's stunning. I cannot stop talking about it.
4.
Now, onto the negatives:
1. It's not entertaining enough. Not for me to completely switch my brain off to enjoy it. The characters are one-dimensional (one-and-a-half-dimensional at most), the world doesn't feel lived in, and the relationships are not convincing. So now I'm laughing or rolling my eyes at how absurd the plot is. Towards the end, the Lu Zhuo coffin scene was so unintentionally hilarious. I was watching at 2x speed which made it funnier. (I watched the last ten episodes at 1.5x to 2x speed and used the fast-forwarding option liberally.)
2. Wei Rao is overpowered. She can do EVERYTHING. You're telling me this lowly peasant girl, this night soil collector, was trained well enough in five days to imitate a lady from a high-rank household? You're telling me you fixed her posture and her mannerisms in five days? Her hair is flawless. Her skin is smooth and clear (mostly, as they do mention that she's a bit tanned and her hands are calloused). She has conveniently learnt how to read, write, and dance from shunned scholars and courtesans growing up. She even learnt how to imitate Jun Dai's handwriting in five days. Wow!
She can outwit the nobles. She got rid of the fucking empress in, like, one episode. She dealt with the crown prince in two. Her army of refugees, who have been training for a few weeks/months at most, can overpower professionally trained palace guards. She's donning a mask to save her 'sister' and other women and barging into the crown prince's place at night. Easily. It was so risky, so why did she do it? Because she just didn't care anymore and didn't think it through. The character who has fought for 20+ episodes to stay alive did not care if she died. Okay.
She's so unafraid she can speak glibly in front of the empress dowager and the emperor from their first meeting. And yet...
3. The unnecessary divorce. It added nothing to the plot. Nothing happened that couldn't have happened without it. Just why? And then they get married again and we get a mid as hell wedding scene before they show the 'real' thing. Whatever. In fact, the romance wasn't convincing at all.
4. Jun Dai. How excited was I to finally watch an evil woman be evil on screen?! But we quickly realise Jun Dai is only evil because the show wants her to be evil. She is dumb and whiny. She's slapping and screeching and murdering people and nothing else. She pretends to be innocent and everyone just believes her even though they've seen her act crazy before. And then she dies. Okay.
5. Qi Zhong Kai was annoying and stupid.
6. Han Liao was annoying and stupid with a degradation kink, probably. (No kink shaming!)
7. None of the villains meet a satisfying end. Super underwhelming.
I'm forgetting many other grievances I have with this show because I've already ranted enough in the comment section. Ugh.
They should've named this 'The Legend of Wei Rao,' or, better yet, 'The Legendary Wei Rao.' It would've been more fitting.
I hope Wei Rao doesn't rip through the fabric of spacetime and reality and invent a time machine to come to the future to kill me for writing this. She's totally capable of doing that--the ripping and the inventing and the killing.
Was this review helpful to you?
