FDiyF

Straightforward Romance with a Slightly Brilliant FL

I have never heard of the names of any of the actors in this series, so u can say my review is very unbiased as i picked up this title just by the whim of the moment. Finished it within 3 days too.

The story started off with a somewhat cute cartoonish creature flying around the FL, Nan Yan, which i first thought was her fairy friend or pet. But then it was revealed that even she herself doesnt know that this creature resides inside her. Then a mysterious ML comes along, then a few others she befriends with as she was supposedly curing ML’s heart disease which was similar to her mother’s.

First off, i gotta say FL is one of the brightest and quickwitted characters ive ever watched. She just looked soft, gullible, and easily manilulated, but as the story progresses, it is revealed that she’s the exact opposite of that. Yeah in the first one third of the story, she was weak in physical and magical strength, because she only focusses on her medical skill and not interested in cultivating. But after the first love tribulation, when she came back strong and reknowned as the top demon slayer, with the combination of the intelligence and strength, she became someone you dont wanna mess around. And the best part of this character is that, in situations where FLs of other typical drama would go down the rabbit hole of misunderstanding and grudge against their better half, Nan Yan did not! Ha!

As for the ML, i like it that he manage to put on two very different attitude and demeanor of he as Shao Cang and later as Yin. Shao Cang appears to be arrogant and yet humble in his own way, aloof as the monarch of his sect and yet still cares of lives around him. While Yin, although still has the aloof aura as he doesnt really interact with people due to his demonic possession, has a much brash attitude and rather harsh in his actions.

Other supporting characters are all great. Costume are nice to look at and doesnt look too flamboyant.

The thing i dislike about the series is how badly the editing is. One scene jumps right to another in the middle of a conversation, which i sometimes had to backtrack to confirm if i had been spacing out and missed anything. This scene would eventually be explained in another scene through flashbacks. So yeah they wanted to keep it a surprise as not to reveal everything in a streamline fashion, but cutting in the middle of a conversation is such a turnoff. I keep getting dumbfounded as the scenes dont tally with the next that i eventually stopped backtracking and just went with it. Sure enough, that dumbfounding scene would then be explained later.

I feel that there is not much chemistry between the main couple. I almost felt it between Shao Cang and NanYan, but later when he came back as Yin, it somehow got diffused and became lost. The villains keep popping out episode after episode but Sen Luo is probably a major disappointment after they build up his reputation as the owner of three divine hearts and conqueror of 5 demon prisons which cannot even be vanquished by the best demi god of the realm - he can only be imprisoned while the demi god himself perish later on. All these hype and this demon lord get kicked out of the scene just like that? There was hardly any battle at all. And those banter between Yin and Sen Luo made it look like this demon lord is a mere joke instead of second biggest villain.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE_____________



I dont get the point of Yin having to be killed by Nan Yan in the last episode too. The drama is just nonexistent as two minutes later (3 years by the story) he would resurrect yet again. There’s no explanation of why or how he manage to live again though. So I see it as pointless. The last episode seemed rushed especially the the last battle between the lovers.

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Nice warm rom-com but rather mediocre storyline

It’s about a bandit, the FL, whose stronghold had been raided by the army after she snatched a tribute of Yeming kingdom to Pei Kingdom. She was thrown into court political struggle when the official leading the raid saw that she had an uncanny resemblance to his daughter, who died after jumping off a cliff in response to the arranged marriage to the Crown Prince of Pei, the ML. The official, the Prime Minister of Pei, grabbed the chance to threaten FL into posing as his daughter to become the Crown Princess, lest all occupant of the stronghold be killed. She had to do the Prime Minister’s bidding as she racked her brain to rescue people from the stronghold. Along the way, she grew to like the Crown Prince, who was wary of her at first, but eventually he too had fallen in love with his wife whom he consider just a spy from the Prime Minister’s residence. As the story progressed, mysteries and plots get revealed, but one thing remained for sure, the love between the Crown Prince and his princess.

I dont know where to start with this one. It’s definitely a hearty romantic comedy, but fell short of all the other aspects. The storyline, the conspiracy plotting, the court politics, the fightings, oh well like I said, everything. But the music scores are fun and catchy, although sounded much too modern for a period series. Although nice, it’s really annoying that there was too much of these interlaced songs in the scenes, especially romantic scenes, which made it sound repetetive and annoying.

Although the FL is good in acting, i think the ML has much work to do. His expressions sometimes doesnt fit the scene. He is supposed to be this intelligent, kind-hearted, quick witted Crown Prince, but ended up showing the audience someone who is adorably stupid and too slow to react in intense situations. He was shown to be quite bad in martial arts, and other characters have also mentioned this multiple times along the show, but suddenly without training much or studying from great masters like a wuxia series would show, he just suddenly become good at swordplay towards the end of the show.

Plotholes are aplenty in this one, you cant really make sense of the scenes presented unlike a high budget show has. Oh yes I blame the budget. They definitely dont have a budget high enough to hire good screenplay writers, action choreoghrapher and wardrobe manager.

Not only does the storyline strewn with plotholes, the fighting scenes are also horrendous and painful to watch. Too slow, too rehearsed, and too much wirework. Definitely not one of those that run like fluid while keeping us on the edge of our seats. They look cheap and too mediocre.

Lets not make me start on the costume the filmset. Theyre much too modern-looking, both the costume and the set, looks weird to see those designs in a period setting. The head gears are also too dangly. The make up is nice though, although I cant figure out why they had to make the FL wear such moisty lipstick that made her lower lip look swollen and bleeding. Another too modern look.

All in all, its just a show with two beautiful leads. That’s it. Definitely wont rewatch it. Recommended if youre into light romcoms. At least this is better than Royal Rumours.

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Fun enough to keep me watching

The plot is very light and comedic, mainly revolves around the building of relationship between the Crown Prince and Hua Liuli, amidst the lingering espionage from neighbouring warring country. Hua Liuli is a daughter of prominent general of the nation and had been crowned as princess for her parents’ military contributions, and invited to live in the capital, where in reality she was actually held as political hostage because the emperor was wary of how big an influence both her parents wield as mighty generals and worry that they might steal the throne with their huge army. Upon her arrival at the capital, she acted like a weak, sickly maiden to avoid people (especially the emperor) from getting wary of her, where in reality she was quick witted and very good in martial art.

The palace drama in the harem and the political conspiracy is minimal with ridiculously comedic kind of vibe so they tend to look stupid.

I didnt like how the ML (crown prince) look. He looked like a gaunt porcelain statue whose face been dabbed with too much fair coloured foundations and he had very weird face expressions. He tried too hard to look like a calculative, evil, indifferent crown prince. I think FL did okay although the part she acted as a sickly maiden is rather exaggerated (not sure if they intend to do it this way as it is a comedy). The acting is mediocre and they include so many awkward moments of proximity between the ML and FL which I failed to find the spark. I find them pretty lame.

The costume is sooooo over the top with ridiculous-looking dangling hair accessories and ugly flowy dress. Colour combination of the female dresses are botched too. The female’s makeup looks weird too as they put the blusher around the eyes instead of cheeks, and they drew the eyebrow wayyy across the temple.

I just realized everytime they want to portray a character of being sick, it’s always with the slight fake coughing. It’s like even when the character says,”i have a headache/stomach ache,” they would always cough. It’s so annoying.

The first kiss being on the forehead is pretty sweet though. I’m getting sick of lip-kissing between two yet-to-profess-their-love persons. It’s unrealistic in the ancient society that doesn’t even let females and males to mingle freely.

Towards the end the FL became rather stupid though, the plot also became rather ridiculous. So there’s a revolt going to happen and they know when the rebels will take action, one wouldve thought they had prepared backup properly. But nooooo, they had to make it dramatic by going about on how Liuli was going to mobilize the whole Hua army from outside the capital to storm into the palace as backup. Even funnier thing is that the emperor also knows about the plot and feigned sickness, and only came out when the mastermind revealed herself. Interestingly, the emperor conveniently forgets that a band of murderous assassins are pursuing his Crown Prince outside the palace while he was having a chat with the mastermind. I wouldve thought it’d be a brilliant plan by the scheming Crown Prince or even the quickwitted Liuli. It was big disappointment instead.

The show ended with a wedding of course.

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Truly a masterpiece!

I just cant move on from this drama. Everyone did a great job in it, even the small roles!

I read the novel first and thought that it was a total masterpiece despite not really into BL. I was actually reluctant to start watching this because the novel had excessively explicit sexual scenes. I didnt have much impression of Wang YiBo and XiaoZhan as I dont really know them and havent watched any of them on screen before The Untamed. I was actually curious when people keep talking about how great their friendship was when it's clear the novel had them hooked up as lovers. To be honest I was skeptical and delayed watching because I was preparing for the worst. However the drama proved me wrong as they manage to stay truthful to the novel despite a few changes to show bromance instead, which I truly adore! It's definitely different from typical love story like the other wuxia dramas that I've watched. There's no silly female characters chasing after the male leads, I hate it when they flock around male leads like leeches. And I dont care how much other people keep saying that they have BL element in this, I personally see those scenes as bromance!

I especially LOVE the sibling relationship between Jiang Cheng, Jiang YanLi and Wei WuXian. The pain suffered by WWX and JC when JYL died was so heartbreaking and I cried each time. In fact, I actually like the drama more than the novel, especially the scene where WWX broke down after JYL's death. I love the ending too!

Watched the special edition twice to relive the memorable moments after I finished with the full version, watched the anime version (up tp season 2) too, and still cant get over this. Watched behind the scenes shots and was surprised WYB was actually more goofy than XZ. It takes considerable talent to play the cold stoney Lan Zhan with someone of that character, and my hats off to all of the cast to be able to make the characters real. It was indeed really hard for me to move on from this story.

This is indeed one of the best cdrama I've ever watched. My only regret was not watching it much earlier!

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A redemption for Princess Agent fans

This is like another journey back to Eternal Love days. It’s about a spirit who is also the God of War in her realm, who falls in love with a human during her short stint of falling in the mortal realm. This human, however, turned out to be an ancient god who decided to experience mortality due to boredom. Because of his status as the only ancient god left to govern the world, he could not reciprocate her love, and she, being the big shot general of her realm, understood that they were just not meant to be. Well, turned out she understood and willing to forget her love, but it turned out the ancient god had a hard time of letting her go. Things happened, and their fates got entangled even more.

Honestly I did not have much high hopes on this series when I first saw its trailers. They looked over the top and ML looked silly because they featured Xing Yun. I thought it was going to be strong FL with weak ML (didnt read any synopsis before it was aired).

Another doubt that I had was because of Lin Geng Xin. I tried watching his other works after his superb performance in Princess Agent (PA) but I was met with disappointment. Didn't finish Zhao Yun God of War because he was so bad in it. So I had my doubt when I heard about this show. It was a mixed feeling because I really love his character as Yuwen Yue in PA but he fell short in his other tv series. Amazingly it turned out he did really well as an ancient god. I thought I wont see any better performance of a god after seeing Vengo Gao in Eternal Love of Dream, but amazingly Lin Geng Xin managed to surpass my expectation.

Most xianxia shows that I watched mostly had sad/open endings which is obviously less than satisfying, mostly frustrating (still cant get over the traumatic ending of Princess Agents, cuz the book had such a lovely ending!). Many claim to be adapted from novels and yet they really love to deviate from it. I finished reading the Yu Feng Xing novel and am happy that it had a happy ending, but then I didnt know if the tv series would be faithful to it, which kept me on edge as I watched the show. And as the story progressed, I was quite happy that they try to stay on track with the book. Only minor deviations/add on like the scenes of You Lan and Fu Rong Jun. You Lan actually got more screen time than the author wrote her on the book.

The good:

- no contradicting personality of any of the characters. The general acted like a general, the pauper like a pauper, the king as kings, the diety as dieties and so on. There’s no strong FL but with damsel in distress attitude when around ML, no clumsy trying to act cute scenes, no immature/ridiculous actions etc. Shen Li was strong, and she fights her own battle without waiting to be saved.

- There are no silly misunderstandings, stupid jealousy, ridiculous confusions around the love relationships. FL is clear about her stand on this topic, and she stayed true towards the end. SML never try to fight for her affection too, he knows the boundary and all he wanted was only for FL to be safe.

- Actors display superb performance, I couldn't really find any flaw with any of them.

- Costume is super gorgeous and not overly extravagant. I especially love love love costumes of the generals here. So smart looking and yet not overly done.

- Music is sooooo breathtaking and easy to catch on.

- storyline is easy to follow hence not many loopholes to pick on. However, this also means that the story is much too simple and straightforward with not much complicated plot thrown in.

- I really love that they decided to do the last episode. Most adaptations usually skip the very last chapter (prologue) and made audience feel dissatisfied. This show managed to capture every little part of the novel and made it into the screen. This one episode is the only moment that we get to see Shen Li and Xing Zhi as a real normal lovey-dovey couple with both of them acting cute with each other. It was so fulfilling. A real closure of both LoSL and PA combined.

The bad:

- there’s no real tension/conflict. Both Shen Li and Fu Rong Jun didnt like the arranged marriage so no conflict there. Both Shen Li and Xing Zhi know that theyre not meant to be together due to their respective responsibilities, so there’s no conflict there. In fact, Shen Li is more adamant about this more than Xing Zhi. At least Xing Zhi thought of living away quietly with Shen Li, but Shen Li never did. I truly enjoyed the moments when Xing Zhi was treating Shen Li’s torture injuries, I think that was the only sweet moments of them as lead general and ancient god setting their huge responsibility to the side to enjoy the brief moment with each other. There’s no love triangle either cuz Shen Li rejected Mo Fang right from the start, even after she realized who Xing Zhi really was. Her heart is set on stone and she never deviates.

- CGI is quite over the top. The earlier episodes of Shen Li as a phoenix looked cartoonish. Not seamless enough. The underwater scene is badly done too. But some of the battle scenes and the ocean freezing scene was great.

- Lack of good battle scenes with the villains because theyre just not strong enough until Feng Lai emerged. Yes even Fu Sheng was not really strong. The only memorable battle scenes of Fu Sheng was only the East Sea (eh was it the north sea, i get confused) battle which forced Shen Li to burn everything to crisp including herself. That was it. The torture scene was disappointing too. The torture by Fu Sheng and treatment by Xing Zhi was more gruesome in the book. But hey since they tried to stay true to the book with all the important details so I’ll let this slide.

I watched the series twice back to back because I just couldn't have enough of them. Am thinking of rewatching again in near future. Basically, I’d rate this one as one of the great pieces by Zhao Liying that I’ve watched, it was hard to move on from like how i felt after watching Ten Miles Peach Blossoms and The Untamed. I actually watched this show three times.

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Mediocre

When I started on this one I was ready for horrible acting and story, but to my surprise, the story up to the middle of the show is actually quite okay and acceptable for a low budget production. The acting is okay too, and for once I kinda got engrossed into the show. The leads are ordinary looking couple, so it kinda relate to the audience since we are generally ordinary. You don’t need extra handsome ML and super cute gorgeous FL to make a story works. Just good story and good acting actually suffice. Up to Episode 21, everything looks good and acceptable to me.

Then they went on to use the misunderstanding trope. Get the wife jealous with another woman so she would leave the husband then the bad guys won’t harm her. WTH man. Like seriously? With all the things that she knows of the bad guys, they’d just leave her alone just because she left you, is it? Whoever came up with this stupid idea? The budget is so low you cant even hire bright people to write the story is it? Youre so damn close to the ending too!

So thats it. Dropping it so fast and I actually wrote this review right after I hit the stop button. What a waste of my time.

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My stomach cramped from laughing too much

FL is Song Xiaoyu in a modern world, who landed a job as main actress in a costume tv series A Dream of QingNing. She was reading the script at home when she fell asleep and woke up in the story, as the main lead character she was supposed to play - Song Yimeng. She was bewildered that this character would eventually become paralyzed after a failed jumping off the tower suicide, so she tried hard to alter the course of storyline by not acting out the written plot, which was her falling in love with the male lead 7th Prince Nan Heng who would later cheat on her with her sister Song Yiting which drove her to the failed suicide and the killing of her whole Song clan by ML. Things did not turn out as she had wanted because she keeps getting killed and reset again each time she try to deviate. And there starts the adventure of her unwillingly cross paths with ML, finding out that they’re stuck with the script rule “ML will always save the FL”, sparking a long super exhausting story of laughter-and-anger-inducing misunderstandings while carrying out the written plotline in the process.

I have never seen an ML so misunderstood as 7th Prince, Nan Heng. His father hates him, his uncle used him, his brother fears him, the common people detests him, and the one he loves avoids him like a plague with pure prejudice. Such a tortured soul who had been suffering since a little boy just because his father decided to marry his mom for political balance and later hated his guts just because he was his mom’s son. It’s a wonder he could grow into the good-natured man that he is, although he hides this good side of him pretty well to protect himself, ruthlessly fighting the enemies at the border which how he earned himself the all-feared title God of Death. He took so many punishments on behalf of the people he cherished, and none actually thanked him for it or even mention it to others. It’s so frustrating how badly ML is treated in the first 3/4 of the show. However, although my general description of the ML sound like the typical roles Liu Yuning took up - broken, hurt, fierce, lovestruck - it is actually a new role I saw him in as he constantly become the source of laughter in the comedic scenes. It really puts some new perspective of him for me.

Cant stand the FL. She is annoying, selfish, stupid and reckless. The first few episodes was fun, but when she keeps on being prejudiced towards ML despite all the obvious proof against it, i just cant stand this character. It’s a blessing that she had an extremely intelligent and quick-witted younger sister Song Yiting who often knocks some senses into that pea-brain of hers. FL often gaslights ML and is so mean towards him for 3/4 parts of the show. She acts all hurt when ML didnt reveal all his strategies and tricks to overcome the enemy, and yet she herself never really come clean on why she keeps pushing ML away with all those unexplained quirks she displays. It’s frustrating to see her hurting ML over and over again just because of a mere script. I get that she is afraid of the script coming true, but cant she be kinder to him ? She had zero confidence in ML in that 3/4 of the show before ML proved to her that he could help her divert the iconic scene she feared so much to happen. It also irks me that ML keeps chasing after her despite her cruel attitude towards him. I just cant ship them. If not for the ML i wouldve dropped this long ago. I have no grudge against the actress, she is astonishingly beautiful with amazing acting skills, its just too bad this character is so poorly written that it makes it really hard for me to tolerate her.

The sweetest, purest soul goes to 18th Prince NanRui, the supposedly Crown Prince who acts like a spoilt child. Although he was at odds with ML in the earlier episodes, and I quite hated him then, but it was clear this was due to his insecurity and gullibleness. This character is also consistent throughout the show, although he eventually realized he had laid his loyalty in the wrong man, his sincerity, kindness and compassion stays strong all the way to the end. He was so loving towards the SML, Chu Guihong who he considered as his true blood brother instead of a cousin and ready to concede the crown prince title to beg th Emperor and ML to spare SML’s life after the attempted assassination, and when ML disclosed the secret about the script world, the first thing he blurted out was how painful ML must have been in to have died twice during the resets. And instead of worrying about getting himself injured or killed as ML laid out the plan to save the emperor, this Nan Rui was instead anxious about ML getting killed while luring SML’s troops away. Such a compassionate soul. It’s hard to really hate this character even when he was in cahoots with SML in the earlier parts. And his pairing with his bodyguard Ji Xiang is the cutest. One a blabbermouth with a kind heart, while the other a stone with no facial expression and even lesser spoken words, except display of immense loyalty towards his master.

As for the SML, Chu Guihong, he had the most character transformation of all although in a negative way. From the pure and innocent SML who acts only as ML’s love rival, he became a full fledged villain who is blinded by pure obsession to overcome ML using any means necessary. It’s really sad cuz their friendship had been beautiful in the beginning and I was hoping they would reconcile and SML stayed being a good person.

By the way, what kind of bastard of a father suspects a 9yo child of his to lead assassins to kill the wife? Like seriously? Any other sane adult would first suspect the rest of adult in the entourage. Why the hell was the blame pinned on the ML, Nan Heng, right off the bat? I cant fathom how this stupid emperor’s brain works. Blaming a 9yo for killing the empress using assassins? For real? You blamed the child for 19 long years and never really figured out any loophole in the investigation? 🙄

I have trouble handling the emotional rollercoaster the show thrusts into its audience. One minute the father is at his son’s throat (literally) and made the audience feel so angry at the father and pity the son, and the next scene was of the son running to attend to his collapsed mom, who actually fiegned sickness to trap her son and future bride in a room so they would sleep together (in a comedic way). What the frick 😂😂😂 one minute i was so angry and feel ML’s heartbreak for his bastard father’s action, and the next i was literally laughing my arse off at the trapping scene. And that is just one of many comedic scenes in the show. And they didnt look forced or slapstick at all like most comedy shows I’ve seen. I was in a restaurant one time and cant stop myself from laughing like a banshee that i had to put down the phone to continue watching at home else people might think i’m crazy. The show had so many references to other costume drama such as A Journey to Love and Love like the Galaxy, even having the themesongs of these series played in that scene even. Imagine how much cramp my stomach had to sustain? 😂 each time ML was forced to take the hits as he tried to kill the FL to figure out if he had been under her spell was hillarious as F. I had to pause the playback so my laughter would subside first, else I’d miss the next scenes.

Although the plot kinda slowed down and mellowed around 30 episodes, gradually look absurd when the screenwriter also went into the world to fix the storyline, it picked up its pace again in the last 3 episodes when they went to fight against the script. The ending, although rather draggy with after-climax scenes, is apt and fitting, brilliant even that explains the series title. It’s a happy ending btw so you guys who avoids tragic endings can watch with ease.

I liked the songs and bgm in this show. Especially the cowboy-like wild west background music during comedic scenes 😆

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Great story but they botched it with an annoying ending

For a spy wuxia show, I had to commend that this is definitely one of the best I’ve seen so far. When i first started out, i thought it was going to be the usual ‘spy assassin goes in for a target, assasssin and target fall in love with each other, assassin tries to kill target but failed and then target would go against his own men to protect the assassin’ trope. However as i watched on, they actually have more in store.

Basically FL is an assassin trained by an evil organization Wu Feng, whose aim is to control and dominate the martial world. One of the sects still left standing against Wufeng threat is the Gong family, who resides on a hill. This is where FL was supposed to go. She takes on the identity of a bride candidate, Yun Weishan, to enter the hill. The brides were supposed to be for the eldest and heir of the family, Young Lord Gong Huanyu, and the next line after him Gong Shangjue. Upon FL’s entry into the hill, she discovered that she might not be the only one that Wufeng sent in. Sometime later, a Wufeng assassin was discovered among the bride candidates, and later the Leader of Gong family - The Sword Wielder - and his heir Gong Huanyu were both killed while interrogating the assassin. As Gong Shangjue was not on the hill at that moment, the least talented, playboy, useless second son of the Sword Wielder - Gong Ziyu, the ML - was forced to take the helm as the Sword Wielder as the family’s rule stated that the Sword Wielder’s position can never be vacant. This was met with strong objection by both Gong Shangjue upon his return, with his brother Gong Yuanzhi strongly standing by his side, so they keep trying to make things difficult for ML to investigate his father’s and brother’s deaths while questioning ML’s ability to lead and protect the Gong family. FL also discovered that there was another Wufeng assassin among the brides, Shangguan Qian. As FL was chosen by ML as his bride, and Shangguan Qian chosen by Gong Shangjue, more sinister and mysterious events began to unfold, more deaths occurred, and the pressure rose upon ML to prove his worth, hence he was forced to go through the trial of the three realms while at the same time investigating Wufeng’s activity that is threatening his family.

At first, I didnt put much high hopes on this show. But as I watched on, the story began to get very interesting as there is extensive character background and building along the first 10 episodes, where we can see from various perspectives of the other roles. There are a lot of flashbacks for this character building, but instead of getting annoyed of so many flashbacks, i got more curious and empathatic towards the other roles, even as they go against ML. I especially liked Gong Yuanzhi’s character, he was supposed to be this arrogant teenager who always thought his brother Gong Shangjue is the rightful owner of the Sword Wielder position. His sinister smirks, although makes me cringe, they have a certain charm. When I looked at Gong Yuanzhi, his character seemed so similar to a character in Robin William’s Hook movie, Rufio.

I especially loved how they portray the multi-faceted types of love - Love between biological siblings, love between step/foster siblings, love between father and son, love between leader and subordinates, and of course love between lovers of opposing sides. It’s really beautiful and intricately written that I was left very impressed.

Love the costumes in this show. They match the dark setting of the Gong residence, with dark monotonous colours instead of bright and over the top that is usually the case in wuxia shows, especially in female wardrobe department.

The songs are slow and melancholic, although it grows on me as I watched on, they failed to put a print in my head.

One thing that i find weird is that everyone seem to talk like theyre whispering to each other, other than the squabbling scenes between ML and 2nd ML. All the whispers and talking in low tones gives a more darkish mystery vibe to the already dark setting of the show. The only cheery thing around the compound comes from the goofy characters which i will mention next.

Fighting sequences didnt look too CGIed, it has more earthly real life feel to it. Although they still use the usual wuxia theme of getting poisoned over and over again and recover like it has no aftermath at all (other than the fortnight flies which affected their inner strength fortnightly).

Usually with other shows, I wouldnt pay much attention to side characters and their love story, most of the time I would just fast forward them, but in this story, i kept watching and got amazed at how they play everything out. Even the goofy side characters that acts as a comic relief to a serious piece like this, such as the Eldest Young Lady Gong Zishang and Xiaohei - Young Lord Hua - kept me hooked. At first i was disgusted with Gong Zishang as she was portrayed as a flirtitious woman who likes to watch undressed men, with goofy over the top hand gestures and body movement, but as i watched more, she is really fun to watch especially when she keeps chasing Jin Fan - ML’s primary guard - while being clueless that the one who was always hanging out with her in the lab - Xiaohei - likes her. The fun part of this show is really fun, the mysterious part really mysterious and the sad part turned out super sad. Really love the plot twist towards the end.

SPOILER BEYOND THIS LINE!!!
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The fact that the brother that ML had always looked up to and love turned out to be the villain and the brother that he thought was always against him and hate him turned out to be the one who really love him is honestly so brilliantly executed.

When i started to watch this series, i am ready for a tragic ending cuz spy stories usually have that. After going through the trauma of character massacre in A Journey to Love, i don’t really think any other death can hit me that much anymore. So yeah. I was ready for ML or FL plus Jinfan or Gong Yuanzhi to die. I thought the careless act of letting FL go back to her hometown without any bodyguards is purposely to get the character killed, so am ready for that already. So imagine how dumbfounded I am to see the ending just ML with a surprised look to see whoever it is at the door of the compound? Dammit why end it like this. Honestly I was ready to see somebody handing over a box or a rug containing FL’s head. But they decided to put up an open ending instead! Are they trying to hint for S2 or what? Why just that? Gosh I dont know whether to get angry or excited. Duhhh. Just be done with it already. I am okay with ML and 2nd ML losing their lovers. Why the cliffhanger? Grrrr. I am also dissatisfied that the evil Shangguan Qian had a happy ending, free of shackles of Wufeng and Gong family. Why did she get to live a quiet life? I wouldve given 10/10 for story if they hadnt put up such a lousy ending.

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Great Start but Got Draggy towards The End

Fu Yixiao was a commander under Jinxiu’s First Prince, Prince of Zhennan Xia Jingshi, both being in love with each other and planning to get married. However at Battle of Pingling, right after FL secured a win for the Jinxiu by shooting the enemy’s general, the first Prince of Susha, Feng Suige right in the chest, FL went missing. It turned out she was shot down a cliff and hunted by assassins, at which she encountered Ling Xueying, daughter of divine physician Ling Feng, revered by both emperors of Susha and Jinxiu. Xueying brought her back for treatment, and while she was left to soak in the spring for recuperation, she met with ML who was sneaking in to recuperate in the pool. Due to a head injury during the fall, FL did not remember who she was and her life before, so ML took this chance to lure her into his trap by saying that they were friends. Once captured, ML tortured FL for revenge and intel as he believed Jinxiu had Susha’s people working as a spy. Unable to extract intel from her due to her amnesia, he brought her back to Susha under the pretense of a concubine. Meanwhile Xia Jingshi was frantically looking for FL when he heard she was spotted with ML. With the marriage arrangement between Susha and Jinxiu in return for peace, Xia Jingshi rushed to Susha under the guise of the bethrothal to Princess Feng Xiyang, when in reality he was determined to bring FL back with him to Jinxiu. As FL’s memories started to come back in bits and pieces, she realized there was a more sinister reason for her falling off the cliff, and eventually decided to work with ML to uncover the truth.

I truly prefer seeing Li Qin as a badass character than those demure, soft ones (like Lin Waner in Joy of Life). So far I have only seen Song of Glory where he was also a badass there, and i loved it too. In here, I love how resolute and ruthless the FL’s nature is. She doesnt hesitate to pay back every single lash that she received during interrogation by the ML, very unlike some supposedly badass FL who conveniently forgets the torture they had been subjected to a few episodes before just because they was starstruck by him. And you know how when the high and mighty minister started to pull ranks and bicker with the ML and in most situations the young one had to concede to the old villainous minister? We can all get pure satisfaction from this show because our ML doesnt take no nonsense at all. He actually swung a fist at the old guy’s face when the old hag won’t budge. Pure satisfaction!

Although i liked the plot where they deviated from the trash novel’s, I couldnt fathom how childish the court politics theyve written. It is disappointing that ML had no vision of his future beyond avenging his mom, of how much the court and the kingdom would be thrown in turmoil after he got rid of the trecherous minister who also has ties to the royal blood and then refuse to ascend the throne as his father wanted. For a brilliant mind who had been tiptoeing around people who keeps trying to kill him growing up, he was sure damn short sighted and never planned ahead. As for the SML, how is he so naiive and stubborn in not treating Xiyang courteously even as nominal wife? He had no connection and power in Jinxiu’s court, how could it never crossed his mind that a good relationship with a princess that represents a foreign power who is also infatuated in him would add considerably to his advantage and road for revenge? All his life he was trampled upon and used beyond measure, subjected to countless humiliating situations all due to his lowborn status, and when he was scheming against the court for survival he thought he’d just toss off this foreign power backing just because he was in love with a commoner who had turned against him? How laughable. If ML was shortsighted and never planned ahead, then the SML is double triple that! I just got off the brilliant Nirvana in Fire so the political scene in Fated Hearts seemed practically kindergarten level, giving off how stupid the characters are written. They couldve made the plot more interesting with better scheming characters, but nope, they went with the dull and stupid plot instead.

And just when i thought the plot could not get any worse, then bam they proved me wrong. Who the heck buries corpses in the middle of a route? 🤣 even if it’s in the forest, it’s still in plain sight accessible by carriage. Truly a joke.

And what even more laughable is how characters could survive multiple sword slashes and strikes through the midsection and chest like theyre freaking Terminators. Gosh, they really pushed the odds to the limits with ML’s supposedly assassination and later Xiyang’s 🤣 basically the good characters will survive while the bad characters wouldnt survive even one strike of sword. Lame-ass writing.

Despite the cringy plot, I am impressed with Feng Chengyang, ML’s pure-hearted brother. At first i thought he would be easily manipulated by both his mom and grandfather, being the soft and crybaby that he is, but it turned out he changed drastically after assuming the throne. Now this is one of the brilliant and pure soul that the screenwriter didnt manage to botch. Honestly i think he would be a thousand times a better ruler than the dense and stupid Xiyang, like seriously.

Love the fight choreography. Love the songs. Love Sa Dingding’s cameo. Love FL’s badass character that stayed true to the end. Love all the lead and second lead casts, theyre all beautiful people that impressed me with their acting (of all the cast I am only familiar with Li Qin and Sa Dingding, and a few support roles that i regularly see in other shows), but somehow I had a hard time finishing the show as quickly as when i binge great shows before. Even the last episode it took me 2 days to finish. I even got sleepy during the final battle. I cannot explain it, maybe the cringy and draggy plot in the last 10 episodes got to me more than my love for the overall plot? Somehow they failed to keep my binge attention.

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Sweet Revenge is Best Served Cold

Jiang Xueying and Jiang Yuer were siblings who had been at odds with each other due to a prophecy by a monk that their fates would always inverse from each other, and Jiang Yuer made sure to keep all the good fortunes to herself. The first life they had ended with Jiang Yuer dying after being discarded as a wife by the Heir Apparent of Lu family. Both siblings woke up in their do-over rebirth to the day of their wedding, and Jiang Yuer coerced Jiang Xueying to swap grooms, with Yuer becoming the second young master, Lu Liang’s wife, whom she already knew from her previous life would be a jinshi scholar with a bright future as Prince Ning’s aide, while Xueying marries the playboy and wayward Heir Apparent, Lu Junxing. Little that Yuer knew, being Lu Liang’s wife isnt all rainbow and sunshine, and Xueying was determined to create a destiny of her own without clinging to Heir Apparent’s status. On their first night, she proposed to have a fake marriage with Lu Junxing by signing a divorce agreement where they will divorce from each other at the end of the first year of their marriage. Lu Junxing was baffled by her straightforwardness but welcomed the gesture as he too was against the marriage all along. But as they interacted more with each other, they realized the person in front of them was not who they really was. Proximity naturally breeds attraction, and soon enough, they found themselves falling for each other, all while navigating the treacherous path of deceit and jealousy in the Lu Manor and outside.

No silly-ridiculous scenes, no repetitive-clumsy proximity staring contests or accidental hugs, no prolonged squabbles, almost no plotholes and no draggy bullying scenes. Sounds like impossible for a miniseries but that is exactly what this show is all about. The screenwriter was awesome in combining the episodes, as short as they are, without making the audience question what, why or how come anything happens. Each scene was threaded seamlessly to the next without much choppiness that is usually common with miniseries.

But then again, excellent screenwriting is meaningless without talented cast, and again this show nailed it in that department. Nobody overact and everyone successfully carried out their roles immaculately fine, even the small insignificant roles like a manor steward or a showgirl.

I especially love the FL, Jiang Xueying. She is firm, resolute, intelligent, and on top of that, she is a brilliant strategist. What i love the most about this character is that she doesnt fall head over heels for her husband to the point of losing her head, after they professed their love for each other and didnt turn into super clingy and weak woman. Coming from The Eternal Love which i set my bar rather high based on the ratings and comments but later became so disappointed to the point of dropping it altogether because of the steadily declining FL character, this show somewhat filled that void due to the disappointment with its excellent cast and brilliantly written characters.

I love the 2nd FL character development, which conveyed that the act of humanity pays off. All in all, this show satisfies me after dropping lousy dramas one after another before this one.

Although I love how the story came together without coming off as cheap and a waste of time, i must say the plot actually contain the usual reborn tropes that we most see on vertical dramas. Although it sounded kind of lame that multiple characters were eventually reborn together with intact memories of their last lives multiple times, i just couldnt hate this show too much cuz it is truly one of the good ones out there due to the strongpoints that i have stated above.

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The Jagged Path of Lone Wolves

The story opens with the ML - Jang Siyul, waiting for work detail at a dock controlled by bandits. They had to pay the bandits to be eligible for work permit, then pay taxes after the work is done at the end of the day. It was a harsh life strewn with corruption from the top (the governement) to bottom (the bandits), and it was these common people who had to bear the brunt of it. ML laid low most of the time, not wanting to draw any attention to himself, thus turning a blind eye to all the injustices that unfold in front of him despite his righteous heart. The final straw was when the bandit controlling the dock, a known coward called Mudeok, pocketed the fee from a merchant family, leaving the labors with no pay at all for their work. Siyul, who had starved for 3 days, decided to demand for payment from the merchant family as Mudeok claimed they did not receive any, and that was when he met FL - Choi Eun, daughter of the Choi Merchant Guild head. After some verbal altercation, FL gave him a bolt of silk, thinking he would pocket it all for himself. To her surprise, ML tore one small piece from the bolt and gave the rest to the workers waiting for him outside the merchant residence. It was also due to him chasing after the FL that he got into a brawl with another local bandit controlling the town, making himself a mark for others. Mudeok, aggrieved by ML’s defiance at his dock, decided to stalk him and eventually stole an article that linked ML to Jung Chul, a newly appointed assistent officer from the government office. With the letter, Mudeok threatened ML into becoming his loyal follower, or the letter would be exposed to the corrupt authorities which could jeopardize Jung Chul, his childhood best friend cum adopted brother. Thus begun ML’s days as a thug doing all Mudeok’s bidding. Despite that, he tried to improve the working condition of the workers, such as taking lesser tax, abolishing ridiculous taxes such as toilet break tax, and providing free shade for the workers to rest from the scorching sun. Although these actions angered Mudeok, he could not stop ML as he relied on ML’s muscle which his gang astronomically lack of. Later, a new threat raged into town as a defected Jurchen (Mongol) army officer stepped into the picture, who ML realized was his mother’s killer, becoming one of the thumbs (bandit boss that deals directly with govt official) under a corrupt government official along with Mudeok when ML won against Mudeok’s thumb.

The show practically depicted what a treacherous path it could be for singular people trying to change the world. Jung Chul tried to clean up the town’s government office, great General tried to clean up the kingdom, Choi Guild head (FL’s father) tried to clean up his merchant path by opposing corrupt officials discreetly, FL tried to stand tall as the first female guild head, and ML tried to clean up the bandits. Everyone had their own struggles with an oppressive surrounding suffocating them into submission. I could not help but think perhaps the endings of each persona would not have come to that point had they worked systemically together. I felt that Jung Chul couldve easily defeated Wang Hae the Jurchen had he fought him together with his childhood friend, ML. I really liked his character.

Honestly this wouldve been very enjoyable had not for the 5 stooges of the Mudeok bandit gang. They kind of took away part of my reverie for the character Jang Siyul. This character is great standing on its own rights, but when its thrown into the ragtag gang of halfbrains, with the suddenly developed camaraderie, this character also seem to chop its brain in half. The cowardly gang, although i knew their existence is partly for the comic relief and to make Siyul stand out from the rest, i just could not feel sorry nor find anything comedic about them, especially when they showed no mercy to the labourers before Siyul walked into their life. Theyre thugs through and through, and just because they were missing half a brain it doesnt make them any better than the rest of the more notorious thugs. And for Siyul to suddenly to hold them dearly to his heart just because a promise he made under duress is rather spontaneous and mindblowing.

I liked how this show downplay the romance which emphasizes it being a serious piece that shows the reality of life, and not what we expect of it. Other than occasional curious or surprised stare between ML and FL, romance is practically nonexistent. Worth noting that both ML and FL are very beautiful people, even with ML in his ragged, unkempt appearance of rough labor and later bandit.

I commend the makeup artists and wardrobe department, they successfully achieved to embody the harshness of common people’s life onto the actors. I felt hot and sweaty when the labors and thugs appeared on screen, with their torn clothes, dirty hands and faces with single layer clothing. And i felt as if the weather suddenly turn cold and breezy whenever the merchants and or nobles appeared, with all the clean look and multiple layered clothing on their backs.

The story is kinda slow paced in the beginning, and frustrating when ML had to lay low despite the injustices unfolding in front of him. I keep waiting for the moment he would pounce to save any of the bullied workers, but he never did. The pace and action only picks up after ML demanded for labor fee from Choi Guild.

Action sequence is marvelously executed. Nobody escape unscathed like Hollywood heroes would have. We see blood and cuts, even on the victor. It could get kinda gory for the weak-hearted, so be warned. The only thing that ticks me off about it is many of the fight scenes were done during nighttime and the production only relied on natural light, which makes it hard to see. I almost dropped this out of frustration, but decided to push on since it was only 9 episodes and i’m already over the middle of the show.

The ending looked as if it was prepped for season 2, but knowing that most kdrama don’t really do multiple seasons, I wouldnt put my hopes up. Overall it was an enjoyable ride if youre into reality instead of fantasy.

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Don’t Mess with Moms

This is truly an underrated hidden gem! The show took off right away from the start. What seemed to be a wife going after a cheating husband turned out to be a butt-kicking action gripping conspiracy intoxicating hunt for a group of gang criminals working for a conglomerate. The story follows the life of three women struggling with parenthood. Samantha was an ex secret agent who had communication problem with her beloved only daughter, despite her presence around the daughter 24/7, both seemed as distanced from each other as the rarely present father. Zheng Meihui was a promising inventor who gave up her overseas university offer for her only love but ending up struggling to adapt to the life of a daughter in law, constantly being criticized and condemned by her husband’s mother. Shufen was an ex-boxer turned park ranger who carried the guilt for her non verbal son, a condition she believed due to her selfish choice during preganancy. The three women had an uncanny encounter as Samantha was looking for her supposedly cheating husband in the small town of Chenggong, that forced them to become a team in taking down a conglomerate that was aiming to amass profit and benefits by spreading a virus to the population.

I really liked Zheng Meihui character, she was so adorable and her antics with her adorable husband are sooooo dang adorable! Although what seemed to be a cheerful and loving couple turned out to be not all cheerful behind closed doors. Shufen was the serious one among the three, while Samantha the hardcore one. I love their dynamics and how they complement each other. Despite the action storyline, the story took a dive into each of their couple conflicts too and how they overcame the stumbling blocks. The husbands, although not extremely good looking in terms of chinese look, they do look macho in certain aspects. I had a hard time adjusting to the Taiwanese faces though, my only show involving actresses remotely Taiwanese had been the american sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, so I keep seeing them 3 main female actresses here to look very alike and keep confusing between them in the first few episodes, especially the characters Meihui and Shufen. It’s like when I watch kdrama (I mainly only watch period cdrama) and keep confusing characters because in my eyes they all look the same unless they have very distinctive features like Ma Dong Seok 🤣 Took quite a while for me keep up, but it’s worth it.

I’d like to consider that the M in the title would most suitable to be ‘Mothers’. It’s a Mothers’ Mission of a bunch of young women towards finding their true self worth after seemingly losing themselves upon venturing into motherhood. A very relatable theme that plagues most women after drowning themselves in the responsibilities and expectations as a wife and a mom that they gradually start to lose the sense of who they really are, and who they used to be.

The story was really gripping and heart-stirring with the notable and very relatable family struggle and values, along with great action choreograph. I really enjoy this very much and I wouldnt mind if they made a season 2. The trio was explosive, in terms of comedy and action. Excellent performances by all the casts.

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Catch Me if You Can

It all started with NT Life Insurance Service’s employer Na Jaehee who was trying to collect some merit by proving a high-paying claimant case as suicide to forfeit its payment. She hired her senior in the force, ex police who was wasting her life playing videogames, Koo Kyungyi to investigate. KKY was enticed by the computer set offered by NJH, thus agreed to set out from her home and look into it. The trip that was supposed to turn a missing person case into suicide proved to harbour a more complicated story, which led them to a series of suspicious deaths that KKY believed to be perpertrated by a serial killer. As she and her team chased after this killer before they commit the next murder, they were plunged into a deeper plot that was related to KKY’s past.

Lee Young Ae looks undeniably marvelous as a woman in her 50s, they could barely hide her beauty even by making her act as a slob. Lee Young Ae definitely nailed it as the eccentric ex police inspector turned into a waste Koo Kyungyi, always dressed in colourful bright sweatpants, baggy T-shirt with loose collar due to overstretching, and oversized dark overcoat, coupled with messy, smelly hair which makes up to her unkempt appearance. She really looked like a total waste, spending all day and night drinking and playing videogames when she was not out investigating. It’s a real different look cuz i have always seen Lee Young Ae act as an elegant beauty. Despite her appearance, KKY is a very sharp investigator who literally thinks a dozen steps ahead of the criminal, even when she met her almost-match Song Yikyung, a young adult with super twisted mind whose sole purpose is to kill those who deserved it. This character is way from perfect, she can’t really fight even when her life depends on it, she is frequently physically overpowered by Song Yikyung whenever they crossed paths, and she doesnt come out unscratched from any fights. All those ‘ouching’ and ‘owwing’ whenever she strained herself physically seem so relatable to reality. She is not formidable in all aspects like most heroes in a story, but she pulls through everytime relying on pure survival instincts, clumsy as it may be.

The one who played Song Yikyung successfully embodied the total emotional wreck serial killer, who literally has no friends but those who owed to her when she killed for them. On the surface, Song Yikyung looked like a happy go lucky young woman, although lost her parents at a very young age, she was raised with all the love she could be given by her maternal Aunt. A natural loner, her aunt had always worried that she would tumble down the rabbit hole. Intelligent as she is, she proved to be KKY’s match as they keep ouwitting each other.

Somehow it is hard to see actors with poor performance in kdrama. From all that i saw (though cant say i watch many kdrama), their acting performance is always exceptional and top notch, with the only downside being the plot and the written character itself if i ever had to rate lower. The same goes to Inspector Koo. Everyone performed exceptionally well even the smallest part on screen. The songs are very catchy and kinda got stuck in my head (yeah im gonna add it to my running playlist).

One of the other thing that impressed me about kdrama is they do not have any qualm about hiring actors in late 40s or 50s as their lead cast. It’s great to see these great actors still donning the leading hat and not find them only in supporting or guest roles, especially Lee Young Ae who remained in my heart for so long after Jewel in the Palace.

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Ordinary People with Ordinary Wishes Forced to take Extraordinary Action

Zhao Buyou and Wen Yue was an ordinary couple living in the capital. One day, a corrupt official, Gan Liang, went to harass Wen Yue in her umbrella shop, and was about to manhandle her when Zhao Buyou arrived just in time to intervene, though he ended up getting beaten. A while later, as the family went to have fun at an amusement park, Wen Yue received a message which compelled her to meet with the sender. It was Gan Liang, threatening Wen Yue with her secret to force himself on her. Left with no choice, Wen Yue stabbed him with her hairpin which killed him on the spot. Zhao Buyou found her just as the official died, and they both scampered to hide the body. While they were trying to hide their traces, they got caught up with the local authority led by Commissioner Gu Zhen who was looking for Gan Liang. Zhao Buyou realized his wife was hiding something from him, and as he tried to keep her from getting sniffed by Gu Zhen, he offered himself to help Gu Zhen investigate a high profile case involving the disappearance of Mei ship during Qingming festival, which led to numerous queer cases that inadvertently affected the whole family’s life.

This is a very close-to-heart concept as it features a very ordinary family of the common folk, the breadwinner being a lower-tiered government servant who is often bullied and ostracized by his colleague and bosses. Zhao Buyou is in his late 30s who has worked as a scribe in Court of Judicial Review for more than 15 years, while his wife Wen Yue owns an umbrella making business. The family of 5 consisting of ML,FL and ML’s father and a younger brother and younger sister get by with ML’s meager salary and FL’s humble business income. I really love the family dynamics, it is not perfect as we hoped for. Theyre very ordinary with a father who is often sick but love his liquor too much, while the younger sister and brother still looking for their life purpose and having difficulties in keeping their apprenticeship posts.

Zhao Buyou is depicted to be very timid and cowardly, while Wen Yue is shown to have the final say in the household. We can see how much Zhao Buyou loved and adored his wife when he always gives in to almost everything she says. Zhao Buyou, although seem to be weak and easily bullied in the earlier episodes, turned out to be very eloquent, clever and resourceful, especially so when it comes to the safety of his wife.

Wen Yue, although shown to be weak and reserved in the first episode, turned out to be somewhat the opposite. Laying low for almost 15years from her pirating life, she was forced to shed her skin when Gan Liang decided to threaten her with this secret. Wen Yue was indeed a far cry from a weak woman. She wears the pants in the household for a reason, that is because she has a very strong personality and even physically more capable than her husband thanks to her hidden past life. Wen Yue acts like the glue for the family, she runs the household and manages their spending, and she knows how to handle each member of the family.

Commissioner Gu Zhen and his deputy Wan Fu are the real treat of the show. From officials filled with suspicion and wariness towards ML, their relationship progressed to be buddies in arms. Their characters aren’t perfect, Wan Fu takes bribes just to provide for their fallen comrade’s family, while Gu Zhen does not hesitate to kill a criminal when he sees there is no way they could be found guilty in the court of law due to their steel backing.

There were many villains in the show, corrupt officials and strong-backing figures pop up like mushrooms after the rain as cases emerged one after another, but the most cunning and twisted one is none other than Su Zheng, FL’s long lost brother. Initially pictured as a good natured scholar, he was about to win everyone’s heart in Zhao family had he not tried to snatch FL for himself, resorting to despicable acts.

It’s a real fresh look for a show to me, as the main characters have been husband and wife for more than 10years, a seasoned couple approaching their middle life as opposed to the budding romance between beautiful people in other shows. The ML here isnt quite as handsome, and the FL, although a beauty, they manage to make her look very ordinary as how her character should be, a very different take from the usual cheesy romance of exceedingly handsome young men with ethereally elegant young women depicted in other dramas.

I totally love the anecdote of facts about Song Dynasty at the end of each episode. It’s a real different approach of attracting viewers’ attention, this definitely impressed me very much.

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I dont get why people are so worked up about Wen Yue not being a good sister to Su Zheng. First off, she had suspected something fishy about him right off the bat, like he was hiding something from her. Then later he admitted that he was the client who was also behind all the other incidents regarding Zou family since the boat incident. If you realized the little brother you doted on back then turned to be a bloodthirsty vengeful monster who doesnt even bat an eye about sacrificing innocent people which they deem as mere collateral damage, can you really embrace them like they were the innocent little boy from back then? Those who died were not even accidental, he literally instigated them to make the move, making them kill, that eventually cost their lives. And this guy also tried to rip apart your family just so he could have you all to himself. Like seriously? You guys can really love this person just for the way he is? What Su Zheng experienced after he escaped the killing was no worse than Wen Yue, how did he turned into a monster and Wen Yue the opposite? It’s lame excuse to blame traumatic childhood, because what they experienced was the same. The difference is Wen Yue still had some humanity in her because she found warmth and love from ML’s family, and deemed that this family is more important to let go for revenge, while Su Zheng placed revenge on top others. He is a monster with a twisted mind, and he could never choose love over revenge. Wen Yue saw this, she even advised him as she saw fit, but he still went on to choose to be evil. How is Wen Yue the bad sister now? Get real. 🙄She had already accepted him into her family despite her suspicion and even tried to please him, now tell me what amount of doting could she have given more to Su Zheng for him to stop doing what he was planning to do? Should she have celebrated his birthday and ignore Zhao Mo Er after she knew Su Zheng had instigated him to do something horrible? There’s literally nothing she couldve done to prevent Su Zheng from inducing more damage. He just wanted everything to go the way he wants it to be because he had a bigger backing.

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Mind Over Matter

A murder of NDT supervisor occured, with the suspect none other than his own temp worker a.k.a secret agent, Chen Duo - The Poison Saint. This directed the microscope over the rest of 6 other regions’ temp workers/secret agents whose position as such due to their mysterious backgrounds, hence endangers exposure of Feng Baobao’s identity. The highest management of NDT was leaning towards confining them indefinitely, but after further discussion, they decided to make the secret agents to track down and apprehend Chen Duo. For the first time, all agents from various regions was supposed to work together as a team and this made Zhang Chulan nervous about exposing Feng Baobao to them. The rest of the group wasnt keen about working together either, so none stepped up to plan anything with each other. But as they closed in on Chen Duo, they were forced to work together and inadvertently reached concensus to cooperate. Zhang Chulan began to calculate and devise a plan to protect Feng Baobao from pending danger that could lead to her identity exposure.

This second season moved at a much faster pace than season 1, with many new faces introduced which i suspect would be the key roles in future seasons. I dont get why people freak out about not seeing most characters from season 1. I mean come on, it’s an ongoing story, and with the incoming calamity that could doom the world, ML would definitely need more people at his disposal.

The comedy got toned down although still entertaining enough, but the action remained packed. Zhang Chulan became more calculative as he realized how important Feng Baobao is. In everything he does, it was always about FBB’s wellbeing and protection, although their relationship is a far cry from romantic. Since he keeps calling her erjie, and with her being maybe close to 100yo already, i never saw them as a lover couple but more to bro and sis. I’m fine with shows without romance, so i cant get why people keep yapping about their chemistry. I dont think theyre supposed to be lovers at all. And their chemistry as complementing partners is off the charts. I totally love this duo.

It’s also the first show that I saw about the growth of a hero that did not plant the ML at the centre of its universe. In here, the FL seemed to be a more prominent character where the ML did everything in his power to pave the way for her safety because her origin and role is greater than his.

More questions arise in this season, as to the origin of the people manipulating the antagonist became the highlight. What was their purpose? How is it connected to Feng Baobao? What other calamity will occur? Is Wu Gensheng still alive and where is he now? I wouldnt say these as plotholes since it would be the continuance to the next seasons, but it just irks me out that it would take so long to unravel.

All in all, this season definitely did not disappoint. The action is more packed than Season 1, but i can’t help but feel it was just too short. Only 13 episodes? Whyy? And i heard another production house has bought the rights to the next season adaptation, it’s just too bad cuz the casts might change.

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