Editorials 
1
Keeping Up with the Xie Family
Someone on TikTok said that Lord Yan walking into the Xie family’s house looked like he was watching his own reality show unfold in real time, like At Home with the Kardashians.
A family can be complicated, full of drama and conflicts, with members who can't stand each other because, after all, you don't get to choose the family you're born into, you just end up stuck with them. But the Xie family? Every single member must have done something really terrible in a past life to be born into that family. You probably wouldn't have been bored if you were a servant there; every day brought a new dram and I could understand the male lead every time he couldn't resist watching yet another one unfold. I absolutely loved the moments when he walked into the family's ceremonial hall and watched everything that was happening with the exact same satisfaction as us. It must have been really fun for the actors to film some of those scenes.
I wouldn't recommend choosing this drama if you're looking for an extraordinary romance story. Even though romance is present throughout the story and many of the conflicts stem from the characters' one-sided or mutual love stories, it isn't the central part of the plot and you won't see more than a handful of truly romantic scenes. But sometimes less is more.
This drama is, first and foremost, about betrayal, about the schemes people devise in their pursuit of power. A single action from the past can ripple into dozens of consequences in the future that you could never have foreseen.
It is a story about friendship, alliances, revenge and, ultimately, forgiveness. I liked the female lead’s perspective that “children are not responsible for their parents’ actions” and the way she was simply looking for answers and rightful revenge, while she approached her relationships with her brothers and sisters without any ill intentions. Qingyuan perfectly reflects the behavior of her siblings, and I really enjoyed the relationships between her and her older sister, as well as with her brothers, especially Zhenglun. Zhengjun also had some really good character development.
Almost every character had a story of their own. Even Marquis Li’s heir, although he was very persistent and sometimes annoying (and honestly, if he lived in modern times, the female lead would definitely have told him to back off), was a good character with sincere intentions. There were many characters I really liked. Even the antagonists had very well-developed stories. And all the supporting and guest actors acted VERY WELL.
I really enjoyed watching the relationship between the female lead and the male lead, from their initial bickering to the way they gradually started helping each other, began to appreciate and respect each other more, while still pursuing their own plans at the same time. I was also genuinely interested in the story of their parents.
The characters were quite realistic, with each of them having their own strengths and weaknesses. I noticed that some people complained about the female lead, but I found her to be a believable character. She's intelligent and analytical, but she doesn't have any martial arts skills and that proves to be her weakness A LOT. She started out knowing very little about her case, only what she had seen when she was just a child, but gradually discovered a lot of things with the help of other people (or by analysing the people she interacted with). She made mistakes and learned from them. She also had her doubts about what she did.
Last but not least, there were many plot twists towards the end that I didn't see coming. Even though the last few episodes felt a little rushed and somewhat boring to me, the secrets were revealed at a fast pace and I was very surprised. I didn't notice any loose ends in the story. Everything was wrapped up by the end.
I do have to say, though, that I would have preferred to see more scenes showing what happened behind the scenes and how certain events contributed to the characters' plans. Sometimes, instead of actually showing us what happened, we were simply told about it, or we would reach a certain point and have to figure out for ourselves what steps had taken place without actually seeing them. I couldn't really explain this without giving spoilers, but it was something that irritated me.
Also, lol, the cinematography was beautiful, but there were quite a few scenes that felt repetitive, especially when they kept showing the characters' reactions over and over again, like those Bollywood movie memes where something dramatic happens and you get a close-up of everyone's shocked expression.
A family can be complicated, full of drama and conflicts, with members who can't stand each other because, after all, you don't get to choose the family you're born into, you just end up stuck with them. But the Xie family? Every single member must have done something really terrible in a past life to be born into that family. You probably wouldn't have been bored if you were a servant there; every day brought a new dram and I could understand the male lead every time he couldn't resist watching yet another one unfold. I absolutely loved the moments when he walked into the family's ceremonial hall and watched everything that was happening with the exact same satisfaction as us. It must have been really fun for the actors to film some of those scenes.
I wouldn't recommend choosing this drama if you're looking for an extraordinary romance story. Even though romance is present throughout the story and many of the conflicts stem from the characters' one-sided or mutual love stories, it isn't the central part of the plot and you won't see more than a handful of truly romantic scenes. But sometimes less is more.
This drama is, first and foremost, about betrayal, about the schemes people devise in their pursuit of power. A single action from the past can ripple into dozens of consequences in the future that you could never have foreseen.
It is a story about friendship, alliances, revenge and, ultimately, forgiveness. I liked the female lead’s perspective that “children are not responsible for their parents’ actions” and the way she was simply looking for answers and rightful revenge, while she approached her relationships with her brothers and sisters without any ill intentions. Qingyuan perfectly reflects the behavior of her siblings, and I really enjoyed the relationships between her and her older sister, as well as with her brothers, especially Zhenglun. Zhengjun also had some really good character development.
Almost every character had a story of their own. Even Marquis Li’s heir, although he was very persistent and sometimes annoying (and honestly, if he lived in modern times, the female lead would definitely have told him to back off), was a good character with sincere intentions. There were many characters I really liked. Even the antagonists had very well-developed stories. And all the supporting and guest actors acted VERY WELL.
I really enjoyed watching the relationship between the female lead and the male lead, from their initial bickering to the way they gradually started helping each other, began to appreciate and respect each other more, while still pursuing their own plans at the same time. I was also genuinely interested in the story of their parents.
The characters were quite realistic, with each of them having their own strengths and weaknesses. I noticed that some people complained about the female lead, but I found her to be a believable character. She's intelligent and analytical, but she doesn't have any martial arts skills and that proves to be her weakness A LOT. She started out knowing very little about her case, only what she had seen when she was just a child, but gradually discovered a lot of things with the help of other people (or by analysing the people she interacted with). She made mistakes and learned from them. She also had her doubts about what she did.
Last but not least, there were many plot twists towards the end that I didn't see coming. Even though the last few episodes felt a little rushed and somewhat boring to me, the secrets were revealed at a fast pace and I was very surprised. I didn't notice any loose ends in the story. Everything was wrapped up by the end.
I do have to say, though, that I would have preferred to see more scenes showing what happened behind the scenes and how certain events contributed to the characters' plans. Sometimes, instead of actually showing us what happened, we were simply told about it, or we would reach a certain point and have to figure out for ourselves what steps had taken place without actually seeing them. I couldn't really explain this without giving spoilers, but it was something that irritated me.
Also, lol, the cinematography was beautiful, but there were quite a few scenes that felt repetitive, especially when they kept showing the characters' reactions over and over again, like those Bollywood movie memes where something dramatic happens and you get a close-up of everyone's shocked expression.
Was this review helpful to you?
