jace

poor ji ling... now I'm wondering if long shen is actually corrupted bc he keeps saying some sus things like wanting his power back so people can worship him as god forever... but instead of killing him and risking evil and chaos overtaking the world again, couldn't they try to purify him instead?

ji ling turning into a wooden puppet and lijie carrying him made me laugh like it's kinda sad but also unserious jsbfjshfks and then the pile of puppets at the bottom of the pool tho yikes got goosebumps. really curious what's the connection between ji ling and long shen and also lie jie and yuan wudi. ji ling doesn't even know he's a puppet, is he a piece of long shen's personality like maybe his younger self or a separate being?

that mo yun tan guy keep showing up sooo randomly and suddenly and just disappearing again is cracking me upppp omg

kinda valid cuz ep 1 really was a bit like that but i think it was just a slow start. it's pretty interesting so far but a slow start for a 29 ep drama is kinda weird. but i wouldn't rate until you've at least watched all the released eps from the first day.

poor lijie is just drowning in vinegar tho. is this lilun's karma xD it's doomed yaoi again

watching the reuters isn't always good lol i unfortunately knew who xiaowei was the whole time, which made the reveal kinda not hit at all hahaha but it's cool to see all the scenes put together. but tbh they spoil so much in the trailers anyway lol
now for thAt iconic one with jiling and lijie, according to their clothes, is it gonna be ep 6??

wwy's a similar foxy character but her voice sounds more natural(?) while lwy's is like dialed to the max, which i find unnecessary. wwy is shown as a more matured character tho so hopefully lwy will sound more natural later on but according to the trailers, idk...
not judging the actors btw, just my opinions on the voices in this drama

urgh but lwy's voice is kinda bothering me, is she dubbed?

tian jiarui and yan an duo is ahhhhhhsjdlsk too good

that fuling maid is kinda dumb bro like she was told to watch ningning and left, leading to losing both ning and bao'er, and then she didn't learn her lesson and lost them again on new years?? you'd think after the first scare she'd be more careful. if u wanna go buy tang hulu, bring the kids along. you can't just leave them, no matter how short you think it'll be.
if i was in qianqian's shoes, i'd get pissed off at her instead of bao'er

this took forever omg I remember watching reuters every day at the end of 2024! with how crazy packed full of stuff the trailers are, still can't believe it's only 29 eps, hope they don't disappoint bc I've been waiting to see tjr again

seeing zhao qi from the double as the emperor cracked me up tf 😭 he's so unserious

btw the rest of the drama is limited time free on youtube rn

blossom

also the weird thing where they kept questioning the fl's identity based on her childhood's personality and looks when she was raised strangely by her stepmom and lately had to suffer a decade in a desolate place where you can't be a spoiled noble anymore.
and then the ye cousin thing. I found it weird that he had some romantic feelings for jiang li before he even found out who she was. but ig back then marrying a cousin with a different last name was permissible...

some parts that made me not give this a 10/10:
the damn ending. yz is always ruining dramas, trying to give this a bad ending. I absolutely hate unnecessary deaths that don't add anything to the story and the duo that always followed xiao heng definitely deserved a happy ending. bad endings just for the sake of a bad ending is worthless. I also think it's unfair that xiao heng has so many of his loved ones taken from him while the fl ends up having her whole family safe and sound. not that I want any of the xue family to not be well, just that xiao heng didn't deserve to lose anyone else after already losing his parents so young. and this is assuming that xiao heng himself survived, which they made seem so ambiguous in the ending of ep 40

finally finished it, and I can say it really is a good drama. solid plotline, well written characters, amazing acting, especially from the leads, and beautiful cinematography and ost.
I liked that the characters were not black and white, some antagonists were so hateful but also hard to hate, and some of the 'good' people also had very questionable moments. also I only like to watch dramas with strong fl, and this is really the case in this drama despite not being physically strong. it was great watching her outsmart her opponents again and again. I do wish there was more focus on xiao heng, though I understand it's a very fl focused drama. wu jinyan is a veteran actress but wang xingyue, as young as he was, easily matched her skill and charisma. he's truly a gem.
although there were some cheesy or questionable parts in the drama, overall it was very good

also this is a more mature drama with darker themes that shine light on the injustices and corruption in and out of the palace, so it's not for people who want an easy watch with a huge focus on romance. family bonds, camaraderie, loyalty and trust are all equally important

the only problem i had with the ending was the after credits scene tho like it ended perfectly but they just had to add like a potential link to a second season or something? idek why tho bc this story already wrapped up so well. at least we know li peiyi can definitely defend herself and huaijin but grrr that crown prince >:( i was so happy until he rained on my parade. i should've just stopped at the credits lol

i loved how well they wrapped everything up in the last episode, calling back on all the cases we went through :') not everyone got a happy ending but those left behind must move on and live well for the ones who left first...
this drama might've actually suited my tastes the most among bailu's dramas, it's amazing how she keeps putting out dramas that exceed my expectations, even when i'm picky enough not to like all an actor's dramas unconditionally. wang xingyue also really impressed me here, i'll be looking forward to his future dramas too! i hope they'll keep picking good scripts, bc this was really a good script imo