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Watching Liu Yu Ru endure the finger-crushing punishment is brutal. And then watching Emperor Fan Xuan having to come to terms with the nature of his son is also painful. And is the Emperor being poisoned? Because he looks ready to cough up a lung at any moment and die.
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I'm mean, the pulled-out-of-nowhere magical drugs that precisely manage someone's moods and behavior are silly magic in an otherwise mostly grounded drama. I guess we just have to accept it as a plot element but it's frankly kinda comical and the show kinda waivers in credibility pretty much whenever Fan Yu is on-screen. Feels like they could have done this a lot better. Not sure I want to blame the actor entirely. The scripted lines of his character are silly already and would probably seem comical regardless of the actor.
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When Liu Yu Ru and Qin Wan Zhi go to the palace and briefly meet psycho-creep Lou Zi Shang, watch Qin Wan Zhi's face. Even before she knows who this guy is, she is giving him dagger eyes, ready to pull out her sword and cut him down. Gotta like her. Then, at the floral banquet, Yu Ru pulls out her elite businesswoman skills at assessing value by publicly declaring the extreme value of Madam Liu's hairpin - way in excess of her husband's salary - which causes other wives at the banquet to quickly try to hide their most expensive pieces! LOL! And then later, the skillful way the Emperor and Jiu Si navigate past the attempt to marry him to the Princess is excellent.
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We obviously saw signs of it way back when he got himself into deep gambling debt (that Gu Jiu Si saved him from). And then again later when he stupidly punished Jiu Si's fellow Yamen Runners, creating discord between them and Jiu Si. Now we see him stupidly falling prey to envy of Jiu Si and into the manipulative clutches of Lou Zi Shang.
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Ha ha! The scene where Jiu Si teases Zhou Ye about the three stages of going from reluctant marriage to sworn siblings to husband and wife!! He notes that Zhou and Ms Qin are already at stage 2!!! Later, we see that many characters in the Eastern Capital of course are starting to turn eyes towards Jiu Si's rising star, not all with good intentions.
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The first defense was pretty realistic in how it played out. Brutal, but effective defensive strategies by Jiu Si prove out and hold off Liang's forces, costing the latter a 5th of his men. The second battle did beg the question of why do a sorte' out through the gates to engage the enemy? Better by far in this.situation to stay behind the walls and defend the gate and walls. But it was still exciting action nevertheless. One last quibble is how on earth did Ye Shi'An morph into Legolas? LOL!!! Finally got a true, passionate kiss between the leads during the lull between the battles. And Zhou Ye returns just in time. Hopefully Qin Wan also shows up? Great if those two could finally meet on the battlefield.
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LIang is an ambitious fool who has started a rebellion he can't finish and has thrown the nation into chaos Old Mo is a stupid old fool who lets an evil creep out of prison. And General Zhou Gau Lang is a stupid fool for not respecting and trusting his son. This episode is aggravating to watch because these fools are the cause of so much trouble, undermining the brilliant efforts & competency shown by Jiu Si & others. And I'm so proud of Zhou Ye at the end of the episode, calling out and shaming his father!.
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The young Fan Yu, thinking he is protecting Jiu Si from bullying, ends up bullying all the other Yamen Runners - which is just going to make them hate Jiu Si! Ugh. What an idiot punk. No wonder he got into such bad gambling debt. He's stupid.
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It's nice to see that YuRu's two stepsisters are not stereotypically 'evil' and one of them in particular seems very nice. Both seem enthusiastic about working with YuRu.
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because he wants to be in a position of responsibility who can 'change the world" .... you could see YuRu's eyes light up. The maturity and ambition that he is showing is like a a love drug to her!. For a split second I thought she was going to grab him! Later, I loved the conversation between Zhao's uncles about Gu Jiu Si - what he wants, what his potential might be - and the bet they made on his future.
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It's so sad to see how sad she has become without her husband. She looks and sounds so defeated. She hands over all her responsibilities to YuRu. YuRu and JiuSi both are becoming more and more in sync with the way they think. Back in Yangzhou some interesting developments happen as Li Zi Shang plots to separate himself from Wang and avoid blame for the atrocities they committed ... but Ye Shi'An over-hears their conversation. He may turn out to be a real wildcard.
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This one at least starts out with some much-needed-cuteness and romance as Jiu Si and YuRu are rescued and finally have some peaceful rest together. But after finally reuniting with Jiu Si's mother, we get some intense sadness as first the latter copes with the loss of her husband and then YuRu finally, finally has to deal with the grief of losing her real mother. This series needs an episode or two that isn't stabbing us in the heart in order to give us an emotional breather.
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The aftermath is just as brutal as the prior episode as Yu Ru and Jiu Si learn about more atrocities and deal with their grief while on the run. Jiu Si breaking down over his father is heartbreaking.
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Wang Shan Quan and Lou Zị Shang's men brutally take over the city and murder hundred of people. The episode features some exciting - though ultimately futile - martial arts combat scenes but mostly is dominated by the bad guys winning everything including killing several important characters. This obviously creates a low point for the lead couple who somehow survive this together. Lots of heartbreak in this one. A pretty impressive 'final words' speech by Jiu Si's best friend..
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Things are too peaceful in this episode. The steps to move the Gu family all seem ponderously slow. Lots of conversations and waiting. The bad guys clearly are going to do very bad things soon and as a viewer, I just want the good guys to move with more urgency! One key reveal is we now can categorize Luo Zhi Shang as the stereotypical "childhood friend who grows up into psychopath obsessed with the FL". The kind of idiot who confuses memories of childhood kindness for some kind of love bond. Ugh. I hate this trope. It's one of the worst, over-used plot tropes in c-dramas.
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