Didi

Right! I like how the cruelty isn't the run of the mill people being out of this world cruel but 'normal' mean if that makes any sense (what is normal?) or more like believably mean. This isn't like Eternal Love where people engage in outrageous acts of cruelty but more like the kind of thing where you personally have experienced or might know someone who has experienced the level of selfishness displayed by her family

I disagree I think everything she does and says is very calculated and built around her personal experiences growing up in the Sheng family. She knows how to hide herself, and she doesn't trust others. She has seen what disharmony has done to her family and chooses to make the road as smooth as possible--i think she buries her own desires and instead opts for the path that is best for the family. I am not sure we even know what she wants because there has never been a moment where she confides in her personal servants. She is like a bottle where the lid won't come off and the male lead is trying to take that lid off and is frustrated by her seeing to his every need but not giving him what he has always wanted his whole life but has been denied--love.

is this based off of a novel??

out of curiosity, and you can spoil it for me, does the drama end with her loving he ping or the other guy?

it isn't fair but i think all is fair in love and war, you know? as long as you don't resort to any underhanded tricks, as an outsider, i think meeting the person you will love forever is kind of like a miracle--it all depends on how badly you want to be with that person and if you are willing to give up another relationship. if that person is your other half, then at the end of the day, you two should pick each other, not other people, and ideally your friend would know when to bow out. BUT we all know that is easier said than done--this is made murky by family, indecisiveness, and fear of hurting other people (or sometimes the exact opposite)

I wondered if you are dubbed you pay more attention to your face just a thought

I wonder what these celebrities actually sound like maybe because Western films.arent dubbed it could explain why they have a wider range of facial/eye expressions in mainland china

i think this drama helped make eternal love happen if only because the same people who made this made eternal love

I rooted for the two but when I reached the end I realized that Bai Zi Hua is arguably one of the best villains out there. After rewatching the series, there was a lot of things I noticed with the acting for Bai Zi Hua--and as early as their first encounter I realized that he had feelings for her, but he hid them--what makes him so awful is that he maintained that image of purity and 'I am doing this all for the world' but in truth he only cared about himself, and this is what really shattered bones's heart at the end--she realized he loved her but he never could admit it because he wanted everything--he forced her to stay by his side in so many different ways, always making excuses (I will train her turns into as long as she doesn't have feelings for me its ok turns into I need to keep her hear me to stop this calamity from happening turns into you cant be with anyone else but I wont be with you and i don't love you). There are some really interesting youtube videos that showcase the subtle expression of his feelings.

I do agree with you that Bones was obsessed, but I think her obsession hurt only herself--she was the kind of person who was fine for the longest time with merely being near him but when that option was taken away, when her feelings were found out, and she began to put 2+2 together, her dislike for all of the lies and hypocrisy around her grew and grew, especially as her 'friends' one by one died or abandoned her. Dong Feng's character is very similar to hers--wiling to do anything for ther person he loved just as she was, but just like Bai zi Hua he also used her and lied to her.

the ONLY person who had her interest first was big sister, I think, and her 'child' the little caterpillar. But they left her. I think that if Bai Zu Hua had followed his heart none of this would have happened, because his decisions basically made her into the demon god, and at the end, she chose to deceive him so he could finally see how selfish he was--he loves her, but he can't trust her, he can't do anything for her but he insists on having a say in her destiny, steering it without consulting her, and so I was so happy when she cursed him because she was simply finished with him. you can bang your head against a wall all you want but if people don't want to change, then what else can you do?

i agree with you--the epilogue frustrated me because it didn't seem fair. why should he be allowed to have what he wants? this is the only drama that i have watched where i was okay with the leads simply not being together. because his actions were just so damn selfish and cruel. and it made me so angry because he really seemed like he was trying to make it work but i didn't realize until the end that he had a lot of other choices, looking back, and he really wanted her and he wanted to be the pure shifu at her and everyone else's expense. so selfish.

looking back i think it is not to shabby that this drama has an 8.2 after so many years and thousands of reviews when a lot of chinese dramas if they are popular seem to cap off at around 2k

yang mi and dilraba are both in it??

i wish i spoke mandarin/waiting for viki to sub the newest episodes....

i don't know if i will rate this one because if it keeps this tone i think it means that it just means it isn't my type so my review would be biased i will keep it on in the background for now which is as close to a review as i will do

thanks for the comments--i think empress of china is post 2015 the lead actress might be the prettiest actress I have ever seen and she is great at acting its just that it is a palace drama first, with little romance

is this like perfect couple because i see it as rec

i was thinking of an earlier episode when they were discussing concubines the persons who have the reveal spoiler tags were in the right/i was wrong

if you want to watch a drama with a happy ending I recomment the legend of minglan because they address head on the difficulties facing women during this time period plus it is feng william and zhanilla!

would you compare this to the empress of china? or is it more romantic?

probs just a bunch of trolls they are so brave :)

this drama feels really light because of the opening song; is this a comedy with some drama or is it like ashes of drama that had a light first half and then becomes very serious later?