I wouldn't say CY is the best male lead I'd seen in a drama, but to be honest, he ranks pretty high up there.…
I wanted to whack CY when he kept protecting LQW when it was upsetting HBQ, but I think that it was still very consistent with his character.
1. CY made it very clear to LQW that he only saw her as a friend from the start.
2. CY is a good person. He's not just going to turn LQW out of his house when he knows that she will going to die as a result if he does. He's not a heartless person. He's feels some responsibility because LQW is in the situation because of their collaboration. He's not one for needless death.
3. He's not just letting LQW do whatever! He VERY CLEARLY has lines, and will not hesitate to take action when she crosses him. Apart from when he and HBQ were pretending not to know each other in front of DFS (which LQW took advantage of), he has taken HBQ's side over LQW and made it clear who he loves. He told LQW to leave and they shouldn't contact each other again when she stepped over the line in tricking him, and then arrested her when her maid tried to kill HBQ.
The whole situation he was between a rock and a hard place, and he made some stupid choices that hurt HBQ, but they weren't vindictive or petty, and he learned from them and made better choices. He was just trying to act within his conscience and balance his values.
I wouldn't say CY is the best male lead I'd seen in a drama, but to be honest, he ranks pretty high up there.
I think what a lot of people forget about CY is that he is genuinely kind, good-hearted and loyal under his act. Yes, he schemes and is ruthless in dealing with enemies sometimes, but it's to save himself and those he cares about and he doesn't let it consume him. In the first few episodes, when HBQ was still a beggar, he put on an act of not wanting to help her but he still did so willingly, even when it turned out that she might be the last person he wants to see.
He's not the typical intense/arrogant/obsessive/cold male lead in historical/fantasy dramas. He's protective, but not controlling and wants what is best for HBQ. At the same time, he respects HBQ's abilities, trusts what she says, and trusts in her ability to take care of herself. I think his character fits in with the lighter tone of this drama.
Thoughts about him and LQW in the replies in a spoiler tag.
Watching episode 38/39, and a great example of how HBQ is a strong female lead: Zhu Shou is in trouble because he owes DFS a lot of money after being tricked into signing the contract, and BQ and CY get there just as he's about to lose heaps of money to DFS's casino. CY offers to pay off all the money, but BQ comes up with her own plan to turn the situation in her favour and win all the money needed while CY just stands and watches. BQ is a female lead who is able to save herself, and CY is a male lead who will let her do so because he respects her unconventional skills.
I so hundred and one percent agree with you. She's amazing. She's smart, she's witty, she's a go getter/a hard…
Right! What I love about this drama is that the writers don't try to TELL us about her strengths, they SHOW us through the plot/dialogue/interactions with other characters that is smart, loyal, brave and has strength of character. She knows that she's at a disadvantage when it comes to martial arts, and she is very strategic about how she can mitigate that with her other skills.
I much prefer it over dramas where the writers just try to TELL us how strong and smart the female lead is, then SHOW us the exact opposite. Like... dude, if the selling point of your female lead is that she's super badass and good at martial arts, and you keep showing her beating up a few people before getting saved by the male lead who had better martial arts then... I'm not going to be convinced.
I think people just annoyed with her because she’s not popular like other actresses. And she’s not as pretty…
I don’t think it’s that she’s “not as pretty,” but she definitely adheres to different beauty standards than the typical Mainland Chinese one. Ariel is known for having a genuine and natural “girl next door” prettiness.
She also comes from a very different context! Her popularity came from Taiwanese dramas in like, the mid-late 2000s (+ hugely revitalised in 2011 with In Time With You and again in 2013 with Prince of Lanling ) compared to a lot of internationally popular Chinese actresses who broke out in early to mid 2010s from Chinese dramas (e.g. if you look at Zhao Liying, she didn’t really start getting popular until 2013/14ish).
I’m on episode 37 and HBQ/ZZ is such a refreshing female lead. She’s smart, has unconventional skills and it actually shows. I actually prefer it over all the apparently “badass” female leads in recently hyped dramas who are apparently good at martial arts and smart, but still are always getting saved/helped by the male lead and doing really dumb things.
I’d take HBQ’s intelligence and adaptability over a damsel in distress who is good at punching anyday.
Omg episode 28!! What I'm loving about this drama so far is that the misunderstandings and separations between the leads don't drag out forever and get ridiculous.
Can someone PLEASE explain me the family chart??? Is our heroine step-sister of lord Mo or what? Cause' on the…
Hua Buqi is Mo Ruofei's half-sister and the daughter of Xue Fei and Mo Ruofei's father. Chen Yu's father knew from the start that she wasn't his daughter, it was just a cover to try find and control her.
Up to episode 27, and this is shaping up to be one of my favourite dramas, so fingers crossed it doesn't go crazy in the second half/last 10 episodes like so many Chinese dramas...
Just finished the drama and a few thoughts: 1. The relationship between Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei is one of the strongest and most compelling I've seen. 2. Ning Yi is an extremely complex and nuanced character - he's a little like if the calculating nature Mei Changsu was put together with the impulsiveness and emotions of Prince Jing (from Nirvana in Fire) were put into one character. 3. The editing of it near the end really left a lot to be desired - it definitely felt like they filmed enough material for 100 episodes, were were forced to cut it down to 70. I definitely feel like I missed 30 eps worth of character development for Ning Yi, and a little less so for Feng Zhiwei. 4. Helian Zheng deserves better. 5. Feng Zhiwei is a great character, but I think she fits in with how good everything thing else is - she doesn't stand out to me like Ning Yi did. 6. Yuan Hong and Wang Ou's roles really aren't main - Yuan Hong is like a glorified guest role, and Wang Ou is definitely supporting. 7. Final verdict: worth watching, you won't miss much is you skim past the political subplots, be prepared that the last 20ish episodes are rushed and shoddily edited.
"As planned, on the eve of her wedding to Ning Yi as his Empress, Zhiwei goes to the Suojiao Cliff, and with the memories of the two of them, leaps off. Ning Yi, carrying the weight of his people, in the same way carries these unforgettable memories, and walks the lonely road of an Emperor."
I'm thinking of just waiting until everything is out and then binging it...
Chen = surname
Yu = given name
Zhangqing = courtesy name
Or do you have a different understanding?
1. CY made it very clear to LQW that he only saw her as a friend from the start.
2. CY is a good person. He's not just going to turn LQW out of his house when he knows that she will going to die as a result if he does. He's not a heartless person. He's feels some responsibility because LQW is in the situation because of their collaboration. He's not one for needless death.
3. He's not just letting LQW do whatever! He VERY CLEARLY has lines, and will not hesitate to take action when she crosses him. Apart from when he and HBQ were pretending not to know each other in front of DFS (which LQW took advantage of), he has taken HBQ's side over LQW and made it clear who he loves. He told LQW to leave and they shouldn't contact each other again when she stepped over the line in tricking him, and then arrested her when her maid tried to kill HBQ.
The whole situation he was between a rock and a hard place, and he made some stupid choices that hurt HBQ, but they weren't vindictive or petty, and he learned from them and made better choices. He was just trying to act within his conscience and balance his values.
I think what a lot of people forget about CY is that he is genuinely kind, good-hearted and loyal under his act. Yes, he schemes and is ruthless in dealing with enemies sometimes, but it's to save himself and those he cares about and he doesn't let it consume him. In the first few episodes, when HBQ was still a beggar, he put on an act of not wanting to help her but he still did so willingly, even when it turned out that she might be the last person he wants to see.
He's not the typical intense/arrogant/obsessive/cold male lead in historical/fantasy dramas. He's protective, but not controlling and wants what is best for HBQ. At the same time, he respects HBQ's abilities, trusts what she says, and trusts in her ability to take care of herself. I think his character fits in with the lighter tone of this drama.
Thoughts about him and LQW in the replies in a spoiler tag.
I much prefer it over dramas where the writers just try to TELL us how strong and smart the female lead is, then SHOW us the exact opposite. Like... dude, if the selling point of your female lead is that she's super badass and good at martial arts, and you keep showing her beating up a few people before getting saved by the male lead who had better martial arts then... I'm not going to be convinced.
She also comes from a very different context! Her popularity came from Taiwanese dramas in like, the mid-late 2000s (+ hugely revitalised in 2011 with In Time With You and again in 2013 with Prince of Lanling ) compared to a lot of internationally popular Chinese actresses who broke out in early to mid 2010s from Chinese dramas (e.g. if you look at Zhao Liying, she didn’t really start getting popular until 2013/14ish).
I’d take HBQ’s intelligence and adaptability over a damsel in distress who is good at punching anyday.
Jerry Yan's face/acting stiff and plastic, and Tong Liya's was just cringe. Neither are terrible actors though, so maybe that's just the script.
1. The relationship between Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei is one of the strongest and most compelling I've seen.
2. Ning Yi is an extremely complex and nuanced character - he's a little like if the calculating nature Mei Changsu was put together with the impulsiveness and emotions of Prince Jing (from Nirvana in Fire) were put into one character.
3. The editing of it near the end really left a lot to be desired - it definitely felt like they filmed enough material for 100 episodes, were were forced to cut it down to 70. I definitely feel like I missed 30 eps worth of character development for Ning Yi, and a little less so for Feng Zhiwei.
4. Helian Zheng deserves better.
5. Feng Zhiwei is a great character, but I think she fits in with how good everything thing else is - she doesn't stand out to me like Ning Yi did.
6. Yuan Hong and Wang Ou's roles really aren't main - Yuan Hong is like a glorified guest role, and Wang Ou is definitely supporting.
7. Final verdict: worth watching, you won't miss much is you skim past the political subplots, be prepared that the last 20ish episodes are rushed and shoddily edited.
"As planned, on the eve of her wedding to Ning Yi as his Empress, Zhiwei goes to the Suojiao Cliff, and with the memories of the two of them, leaps off. Ning Yi, carrying the weight of his people, in the same way carries these unforgettable memories, and walks the lonely road of an Emperor."