Lord-Saint

Exactly my sentiments. It felt like the editor was half asleep while working on episodes 29–32.

My favorite series (NIF, TSOM, & JOL), I watched them only after all the episodes had already aired. So over the years, whenever people talked about how torturous it was waiting for new episodes of their favorite shows to drop each day, I never really understood or sympathized with that feeling.
Until now. It feels like I’ve been thrown into the desert and given a single drop of water once a day.

I think you went straight on the offensive there. That said, I do agree with you that people should watch a drama themselves and form their own judgment rather than rely entirely on someone else’s opinion.

Just to clarify the chronological order of events: I started the series, dropped it, and only afterwards came across AX’s video on YouTube. One of her points simply captured what I was already feeling about the show and why I decided to drop it.
By the way, I’ve followed Zhao Lusi since Oh! My Emperor, and she really solidified her place on my list of the most watchable actresses in the C-drama industry with Love’s Ambition.
If you want to argue against my points, that’s perfectly fine, just like the previous commenter did. We all have that one series (or in this case, an actress) that we’re a bit biased toward.

P.S. I could never get past the first arc of Love Between Fairy and Devil. I watched about the first 5 eps and then skipped to the ending, and that was enough for me. It’s just not my cup of tea.

These two characters could easily carry their own short series. I just hope the director doesn’t give them the usual “happy ending” that obsessive, possessive, destructive couples in mini-series somehow end up with.
The only happy ending I’d accept is Qi Min getting burned like he was supposed to from the start.

The book is definitely better. At least the story isn’t fragmented.

I dropped it as well. I might give it another try someday (if I have nothing better to watch).

I dropped it around episode 18 or maybe 20. I might give it another try someday (probably at 2x speed), mainly because I like the actors and actresses.

I agree that he’s clearly sick in the head. I actually appreciate how much more fleshed out his character feels in this TV adaptation, though that might also be a testament to the actor and director doing a fantastic job bringing him to life.
You can really see his paranoia and psychopathic egomania. The more he struggles (mostly from the shadows) just to stay alive, the deeper he descends into madness.

Beating a mad to death to scare your kid is acting evil? I think he’s already past the acting stage.

You really went all out with that spoiler 🤣
I actually prefer reading a novel a few months before its TV adaptation airs. That way, if the screenwriters or directors end up butchering parts of the plot, it doesn’t annoy me as much. By then, I can’t remember the story word for word or scene for scene anyway.

What a brilliant performance from Xi Wei, Snow, & Kai. The scene between Qianqian and Qi Min was especially powerful—you can clearly see the contrast between Qi Min’s ruthless, almost psychopathic egomania and Qianqian’s mixture of love and desperation as her son’s life is put on the line as a bet.
That scene really brought tears to my eyes. A mother’s resolve begins to crumble when faced with the threat to her child’s life.
Chang Yu’s fire/fight scene and her grief for the fallen were also very well acted and directed. And then there’s Ling He, simply doing his own thing.

At this point, I don’t think I have the heart to finish it. I feel like my disappointment will only skyrocket. Did you finish it? If so, what’s your take on it?

I read the novel a while ago, and I kept trying to remember what the issue with the Prime Minister was. It didn’t click until I noticed that his wife always addresses him as “Prime Minister,” never as her husband. That small detail suddenly reminded me how the story ends.

I regret not checking the director before starting this series. None of his previous works have impressed me so far. The script often feels mishandled, the plot becomes scattered, and the transitions between scenes feel stiff and unnatural. His directing approach seems to rely heavily on amplifying drama rather than maintaining narrative coherence.

Honestly, someone should tell these screenwriters that if they can’t improve a story during adaptation, they should just follow the novel faithfully. It’s embarrassing to turn an average story into a mediocre and fragmented narrative. Simply chopping or omitting scenes and dialogue doesn’t make the series stand out from the original… it just weakens it.

Though, is he really dead?

Is it just me, or does the execution in the final third (narrative, acting, and directing) feel markedly more refined? The performances become more nuanced, and the storytelling flows with a confidence that was only hinted at earlier.
Most importantly, the ending doesn’t feel abrupt or disjointed. Instead, it brings everything back home.

Good premise, tragic execution: disappointing, truly disappointing!

With a shaky beginning, it wasn’t until episodes 6–7 that the storytelling and acting finally started to tug at my heartstrings. Glad it didn’t take longer, or I would’ve lost hope and turned as cold-hearted as the ML (novel/donghua fans, if you know you know).

Rubber can be stretched, but not past its breaking point. The tension worked at first, but the prolonged hesitation drained it dry… by the time they got together, the spark was already gone.