This review may contain spoilers
I feel super late to the party but I just finished part 1 of this! I love Zhao lusi but even then it won't be enough of a reason for me to watch a drama just because she's in it. This was one of those dramas where I didn't have time to watch it when it was airing, so I never ended up watching it and decided to just add it to the to watch list especially once it got really popular. but I felt like I needed to watch something people all praise about and this was definitely one of those dramas. It's been a hot minute since I've watched her actually, and she absolutely steals the show here. Her cleverness, stubbornness, and trouble-making characteristics as shaoshang truly shined through.
The drama definitely starts a little slow on the romance, and I mean truly slow, she was basically engaged to another man for half of the first part. the beginning episodes all start with her life as the uneducated daughter who had an unfortunate upbringing leading her to lack the manners and knowledge of other young ladies in the capital. her parents finally returned after 15 years from when the first abandoned her as a child and the mom seeing her child in this state really disappointed her. it was really heartbreaking to see the mistreatment whenever her mom compared her to her cousin, and it really wasn't her fault she ended up like this. somehow tho the mom decides to not leave an inch of empathy for what happened to shaoshang the first 15 years of her life and is the strictest with her, as if raising a daughter is the same as training a soldier. but where shaoshang lacks in knowledge of great philosophers, disciplines, basic etiquette, she makes up for with her bravery, resourcefulness, and her passion in craftsmanship. it doesn't take long to love shaoshang's character, I mean why else would she have 3 different men wanting to propose to her. the entire drama you're really just hoping she ends up happy and loved and protected. she eventually has her brothers and her father to protect her majority of the time, but what she really wants is for her mother to show her love as it seems the hardest to achieve at the moment. I understand it's hard for a child to understand their parents do what they do for their own good, but it gets to a point people!! she's 15 years old SHES JUST A BABYY.
one of the things I definitely didn't expect was for shaoshang to be engaged to Lou Yao. I really thought she would've kept firm with not reciprocating his feelings but after experiencing a tragedy together I guess that creates a strong bond. they were however in my mind definitely kindred spirits and should've stayed as platonic friends. shaoshang had mistaken their friendship and comfortability from that friendship for love, as she grew up without love and not knowing what it even meant to love someone as family, not to mention romantically. I feel bad he was still forced into a marriage he didn't want at the end, but I can see him and zhaojun eventually becoming a good couple, at least one that respects one another, though I hope their respect can grow into love, not sure if they'll still be mentioned in part 2. now for yuan shuanjian. this man is in love is totally going about it the wrong way. he belittles and makes fun of shaoshang for her character and upbringing - if this was an enemies to lovers and shaoshang was reciprocating that, hey im all for it but you can clearly see she's not having any of this. poor guy has so many ladies after him but has no clue what a lady wants. good thing this man gets his own popular drama later on (I love you li yunrui). MOVING ON to mr ling buyi. now if u asked me at the first half of this part why he's so deeply in love with our fl, I wouldn't know what to tell you. theres a big focus on shaoshang and general ling is a man of few words when it comes to his scenes. in fact I'll be honest, he was really boring to me, and you barely get any scenes of him and shaoshang together until her life is somehow in danger one way or another. it was definitely a bit of a jump between his short interactions with fl and then his sudden care for her. it only got more interesting near the end when he actually had more conversations with shaoshang, especially once she opened up to him. I will say tho it was definitely a red flag of him to ask the emperor to propose for him in front of everyone before even knowing whether or not shaoshang feels the same way towards him. he was basically trapping her in a marriage she didn't want, and it just proves his love for her was surface level and he didn't truly know her yet as a person. if he did he would know shaoshang would never want to be restrained this way, and now that she's involved in the palace, makes me even more worried for what she'll have to endure from this marriage. I do however, appreciate the character growth as he learned to respect shaoshang, showing her she's allowed to live the life she wants instead of having to follow rules. I do understand though, since he grew up in the military and he's always known to follow orders, so he's clearly a man of a strict routine with his life. that's how you get to know how much he likes shaoshang because of her defiance for rules. she's a bright start in his eyes and he truly lights up his life when he's around her. should've known better than to order her around in the beginning, amateur. he's so clueless with his social interactions with her family too, it was a little pathetic ngl, poor guy does not know how to act normal. I hope her family eventually accepts him and treats him like family too, I feel so bad he hasn't grown up in a proper family and I understand how hard it is to see the emperor as his father figure when he's well.. the emperor.
in terms of acing, ms lusi shines here. wu lei on the other hand was a little lacking. everyone else does their respective parts decently. mother was truly infuriating. good on her, I like this actress when she does the mother roles, that's her key thing now. in terms of the plot, I can't say im all that interested in whatever happened to gu city years ago, I think I'll remain more focused on the romance portion. it's definitely a decent drama and has some really funny moments - can't say it lives up to the hype it got though, but we'll see once I finish part two!
The drama definitely starts a little slow on the romance, and I mean truly slow, she was basically engaged to another man for half of the first part. the beginning episodes all start with her life as the uneducated daughter who had an unfortunate upbringing leading her to lack the manners and knowledge of other young ladies in the capital. her parents finally returned after 15 years from when the first abandoned her as a child and the mom seeing her child in this state really disappointed her. it was really heartbreaking to see the mistreatment whenever her mom compared her to her cousin, and it really wasn't her fault she ended up like this. somehow tho the mom decides to not leave an inch of empathy for what happened to shaoshang the first 15 years of her life and is the strictest with her, as if raising a daughter is the same as training a soldier. but where shaoshang lacks in knowledge of great philosophers, disciplines, basic etiquette, she makes up for with her bravery, resourcefulness, and her passion in craftsmanship. it doesn't take long to love shaoshang's character, I mean why else would she have 3 different men wanting to propose to her. the entire drama you're really just hoping she ends up happy and loved and protected. she eventually has her brothers and her father to protect her majority of the time, but what she really wants is for her mother to show her love as it seems the hardest to achieve at the moment. I understand it's hard for a child to understand their parents do what they do for their own good, but it gets to a point people!! she's 15 years old SHES JUST A BABYY.
one of the things I definitely didn't expect was for shaoshang to be engaged to Lou Yao. I really thought she would've kept firm with not reciprocating his feelings but after experiencing a tragedy together I guess that creates a strong bond. they were however in my mind definitely kindred spirits and should've stayed as platonic friends. shaoshang had mistaken their friendship and comfortability from that friendship for love, as she grew up without love and not knowing what it even meant to love someone as family, not to mention romantically. I feel bad he was still forced into a marriage he didn't want at the end, but I can see him and zhaojun eventually becoming a good couple, at least one that respects one another, though I hope their respect can grow into love, not sure if they'll still be mentioned in part 2. now for yuan shuanjian. this man is in love is totally going about it the wrong way. he belittles and makes fun of shaoshang for her character and upbringing - if this was an enemies to lovers and shaoshang was reciprocating that, hey im all for it but you can clearly see she's not having any of this. poor guy has so many ladies after him but has no clue what a lady wants. good thing this man gets his own popular drama later on (I love you li yunrui). MOVING ON to mr ling buyi. now if u asked me at the first half of this part why he's so deeply in love with our fl, I wouldn't know what to tell you. theres a big focus on shaoshang and general ling is a man of few words when it comes to his scenes. in fact I'll be honest, he was really boring to me, and you barely get any scenes of him and shaoshang together until her life is somehow in danger one way or another. it was definitely a bit of a jump between his short interactions with fl and then his sudden care for her. it only got more interesting near the end when he actually had more conversations with shaoshang, especially once she opened up to him. I will say tho it was definitely a red flag of him to ask the emperor to propose for him in front of everyone before even knowing whether or not shaoshang feels the same way towards him. he was basically trapping her in a marriage she didn't want, and it just proves his love for her was surface level and he didn't truly know her yet as a person. if he did he would know shaoshang would never want to be restrained this way, and now that she's involved in the palace, makes me even more worried for what she'll have to endure from this marriage. I do however, appreciate the character growth as he learned to respect shaoshang, showing her she's allowed to live the life she wants instead of having to follow rules. I do understand though, since he grew up in the military and he's always known to follow orders, so he's clearly a man of a strict routine with his life. that's how you get to know how much he likes shaoshang because of her defiance for rules. she's a bright start in his eyes and he truly lights up his life when he's around her. should've known better than to order her around in the beginning, amateur. he's so clueless with his social interactions with her family too, it was a little pathetic ngl, poor guy does not know how to act normal. I hope her family eventually accepts him and treats him like family too, I feel so bad he hasn't grown up in a proper family and I understand how hard it is to see the emperor as his father figure when he's well.. the emperor.
in terms of acing, ms lusi shines here. wu lei on the other hand was a little lacking. everyone else does their respective parts decently. mother was truly infuriating. good on her, I like this actress when she does the mother roles, that's her key thing now. in terms of the plot, I can't say im all that interested in whatever happened to gu city years ago, I think I'll remain more focused on the romance portion. it's definitely a decent drama and has some really funny moments - can't say it lives up to the hype it got though, but we'll see once I finish part two!
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