KingC

Nah, it's not impressive really. [I've seen way too many dramas and his character setup and EP2 sort of confirmed that he had something to do with the other party. ]

Your post was helpful, GinnyDragon! Thanks for that! :D

Ooh. I already suspected that he was a spy since he was too secretive everytime. Thanks for this!

Thanks. Well... I do not know if I should feel happy or sad. (Daisaku seems to be getting ready for parting according to the drama.)
If you don't mind, why does Kyujiro kill him? (His identity?)

Please do! I like to be prepared.

I can't find any information about the manga, but based on the synopsis and the opening, Daisaku dies. Or does Kyujiro die too?
Watching this, I realized that I have zero idea about Japanese History.

I just checked. EP19. FL never actually confesses in this episode to the ML mind you, but she accepts him but doesn't admit it.

It's a well paced/written drama. So, yes, give it a try, even if it's a bit predictable.
The 'couple' are married from the beginning, but they are both plotting and trying to trap each other. FL and ML are almost constantly together due to several circumstances/plots but FL only starts to warm up to ML (romantically) after EP18.

Funny, because when this drama was airing, there were several arguments/fights regarding the pace and the FL in particular. (My review is not that pretty, despite the 8 rating.)
But, all those comments got buried and it is now that we can see at least 2-3 comments that do not support FL.
Most people stuck around for Shi Yi -- but, dude was perpetually stuck as a 2nd ML in FL's life.
The novel ends at EP34. And the way EP34 ends seems like the writers really thought of wrapping it all up like that, then added the final 2 episodes for consolation.

In the book, he is around 35+. Must be about the same here, too.

You might want to hide this comment as a spoiler.
I agree with your thoughts. After rewatching, I think the main reason why Hua Qing Ge (the author, possibly a bad one) was acting silly was because she never took the characters as real people. I mean, she tries to change the ML by doing some stupid stuff which would've worked in cartoons. The only good thing it did was convince the ML that she was harmless/insane/not Hua Qing Ge.

She designed ideal characters (such as dream ML, evil tropey hostage villain prince) and tried to fit them into a plot that was not for them instead of crafting a scenario that actually is tailored for them.
If you notice, she doesn't know anything about the main villain, till the very end -- her original story was never deep to begin with and her readers were right to criticize her. She is absent in 70% of the important stuff that happens between the royal siblings.

Hence, she tries to force her beliefs on the characters, including ML and SML, forgetting that they were people with their own minds and decisions -- like how that one reader accused her of circumventing character logic. Gong Ye Qi was literally the only character who boldly called her out for her prejudice.
Literally, many good people who did not have to die died in her novel (Qing does say that their love ends badly, but we'll never know how it ended in her version. Though I doubt it is a logical one.)

This is the trouble with CEnt. Anytime anything or anyone gets remotely some amount of attention, there'll be someone digging around for trouble.

This drama went overboard with 'slow motion'. I skipped around 20s and still did not miss anything except maybe the soundtrack.

Usually in dramas, some major palace politics is definitely behind the scenes. Here, the main characters have someone associated with the Royals - Pan Yue and Yang Cai Wei's fathers both worked for the Emperor.
So, it definitely is relayed to someone influential.

I think the transmigration rule is not too strict for webdramas. The Story of Kunning Palace (she dreams up the stuff just like Hua Qing Ge and even a similar ending) and Legally Romance (she dreams everything, but there is no change in the future) are two other dramas that come to my mind. In all stories, there is nothing significantly 'changing' in the present. Just that there is no 'real' time travel. Even in Different Princess, the clock stops when she disappears.

I've always watched CDramas warily due to their love for dramatic sad endings. This one is far from a terrible ending. It's clearly a happy one.

The one I'm truly upset about is Wan'er. But, knowing her, I knew she carried the guilt of her mother's crimes. It was a stupid decision, but did not seem out of character for her.
The same for Ji Yun. I knew he'd try to kill himself to stop his mother, but it only turned into a HE because of Gong Ye Chi.

The ending changed as Hua Qing Ge intended it to be -- because in the story, Ji Yun was the dream man that everyone loved. He got his happy ending the way he wanted it to happen -- live freely away from the palace. Ji Chu still became the Emperor, but his last wish was to just get over everything and meet Qing in the future world. If Hua Qing Ge could live and fall in love with Ji Chu in the fictional world and never forget him, I think he could do the same.

Their first meeting (EP2) and last meeting (EP36) almost mirror each other. Her in complete shock, trying to slip away and him calling her out.

Honestly, I loved the ending. (Which itself tells how low my expectations are thanks to the exceptional talent of CDrama scriptwriters to turn even a happy ending to a terrible one. There might be a million ways to make a happy ending or even a hopeful or open ending, yet they go 'On your Marks! Get set! Cry!'

Nah. It looks like she jumped in front of her mother, the Empress to protect her. Seems like none of the Empress's kids are going to make it out alive. [Qing does say that their romance doesn't end well in EP4.]
Qing's last request to Ji Chu was to never forget her or something like that if google translate is correct.
That makes me wonder if she has to start writing the story from scratch to 'fill in the blanks' of her original. Then, for that ending with Nan Yi, she'll have to change Ji Chu's character - Ji Chu didn't exactly change from scratch from what I observed, but rather, it was the writer who finally got to see his hidden side and removed her prejudice against the villain.
Qing was with him from the start and the ML in her fictional life was Ji Chu whereas in her novel, it's Ji Yun.
That ending doesn't sit well with me to be honest. I can stand her disappearing from the world as it makes sense, but putting Ji Chu with Nan Yi... I don't know. It's Qing's story, so I guess she iwns the rights to her characters. I am curious, though. Since she is emotionally involved with Ji Chu now, I don't think she'll force him to do something out of character.

Watchers for this drama are very few and the cast is not much popular.
I personally think this is one of the most well written dramas out there of the same genre. Go ahead and give it a try for the first few episodes.

Well, Qing is from the modern world. I'm sure Qi Gong doesn't come naturally to her as it might've done for the character Hua Qing Ge. She reflexively acted out of instinct.
As for the dance, Writer Qing didn't seem to have thought much while naming and killing off novel Hua Qing Ge. (Her naming the character after herself itself is a tongue in the cheek.) She blindly made up the dance and it was the Empress who revealed that she was solely trained in martial arts.

Wow. Thank you for those words! 😁
I've seen dramas with similar themes, but this is the first time I'm sticking on to one like this.