flours

thanks for sharing the link!

There was no need for them to reply to your comment that way. there are so many misogynistic comments lately

Of his few modern dramas so far, I like Flourish the best, hope you enjoy it! It is a touching youth drama

This detail was a little fuzzy because the drama made changes from the novel. In the novel, princess and pwx assassinated Prince Su. But dramas probably can't have their leads being so gray and ruthless, so the drama changed it to an accidental poisoning by the emperor. One part of the poison was done by the emperor that was not explicitly explained but could possibly be explained by the fact that he is overly paranoid and controlling. I still don't think it makes a lot of sense because he only has the two sons and he clearly chose Prince Su over the other already. But maybe he was not thinking straight from side effects of his own poisoning by the concubine.

First of all, I also like ZLH and this is one of my favorite dramas for him.
Regarding SML, he is misunderstood by a lot of viewers. First of all FL does not feel conflicted about him romantically, it is very clear to me that she loves ML. SML does love her but also has other priorities that clash with that love. FL respects SML and knows that SML is not a bad person so she does not want him to go astray, but their goals are in conflict with each other. If that bothers you, then maybe don't watch. But I don't really think SML is as bad as people think.

It's common in political dramas for the emperor to be paranoid about keeping power and keeping his legacy. It is a common fear that the CP will usurp the throne, and also he was worried the CP would be a puppet ruler for Shangguan family. He has a beef with the Shangguan family because after they helped the emperor himself gain the throne, they would clash and he didn't want to be their puppet. He felt that they were too powerful. He and the empress grew distant and then he found someone else who was dependent on him. He favors that concubine and her kids but there are limits to his affection for them as well. This is the kind of complicated family life the princess grew up in, which is why she needed time to learn to trust and love PWX

I think his motivation makes sense to me. He has conflicting priorities, he loves his family, FL, and the noble class (which he is a part of). In his second chance, he wanted to protect these but these priorities clash with each other, like there are times he could have "won" if he did not love FL but he does not love FL enough to give up his other priorities either.

it's definitely not the thrilling kind, it's often restrained and understated
although i really like this drama, i think you made the right call for your tastes. it doesn't change later in a way that you would like i think

i totally agree with you, so many people were watching a different drama it seems

FL was solid romantically with ML. She cared about saving SML like she cared about saving other people, not romantically. She respected SML and knews that SML was not a bad person. She understood that SML wanted to protect his family and the nobles from what happened in the first life. But ultimately, she cared more about her own goals and what is right than caring about SML.

I also started Love's Rebellion but it's a really different style of story than this one so hard to say if you'll like it. They changed far more in adapting that novel than this drama. The characters don't totally make sense to me and logic is not all there anymore, they simplified and omitted a lot of details. But it can still be enjoyable to some if you like the humor and the characters. ZLH is great in that role too so I'm enjoying that. Admittedly not into the pairing with JT and it's not because I prefer ZLH with anyone else, just not feeling that chemistry. However that's very subjective so maybe you will feel it. My feeling is that someone who liked Back From the Brink might like it. Both Love's Rebellion and Back From the Brink took kind of dark novels and added a lot of light filler.

This is exactly why I enjoyed this story. I really appreciated exploring all these characters who had depth, nobody is all good or bad. They have positive traits, flaws, motivations that make sense from their point of view, the characters whose goals are in conflict with the leads are not necessarily evil. I liked the clash of all these intelligent schemers. In addition to their intelligence, the leads have the strength of their alliance with each other.

I just wanted to add that not all novel readers feel this way, I read the novel and am very happy with the adaptation. I was also already a ZLH fan and don't agree with the complaints. I feel like an oddity here 😂

I love this drama too and agree that there are a lot of people who don't understand it

it is believable and not out of an imaginary void

I think he did great with this role and there was no question of his competence and importance in the drama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4-Whwu0eBA I don't know why people are telling you there isn't going to be a special episode when youku's channel itself released the preview for it. unfortunately i don't know when but i'm guessing when the regular airing completes

not sure if you watched the preview https://youtu.be/s4-Whwu0eBA?si=J_Q5aVuihWxt8CCM

i guess a really abbreviated version 😅

it might be in the special episode because the preview for it shows something about getting the washboards to kneel on