mukkanna

No...that was just what made Anle decide to reveal her identity to the entire court. Then since everyone knows the fake is not even a Di, how can she marry the crown prince?

I'm not caught up yet, but if the fire just happened in ep 18 then we're still at least one major event from the scene where Anle decides to reveal her identity to Han Ye. In the novel this doesn't include a confession of her feelings. Novel Di Ziyuan's words don't always match up with her actions, to say the least.

They do have some very smart opponents...which is why everything goes to hell in a handbasket later. If characters are always in crisis mode, viewers will just come to the conclusion that they're not very capable.

The downside of having really smart, capable characters is that they can avert most disasters just using their brains, which looks pretty unexciting. It's only when there's something so unexpected or terrible that even they can't outmaneuver it that we get some real action.

Most of the classic events in the novel still remain to be seen, and from the opening/closing videos a lot of those exist in the drama. Looking forward to seeing how they bring them to life :)

Anle's plan is to become emperor herself. Her great-aunt Di Shengtian also was the head of the Di family and led their armies to war, conquering what is now half of Jing. This isn't a completely patriarchal society. Even though Di Yongning (Anle's father) was around, Di Shengtian was still the head of the family.

She's using him as a cover to enter the court for her revenge scheme. He clocks on to this pretty quickly, but he also uses her for his own purposes (it's mutual using? haha). She never wanted to be crown princess.

Anle and Luo Mingxi are plotting revenge against the Han family, of which Han Ye is a member. This is why Luo Mingxi treats Han Ye like he does, even though Han Ye treats him like a friend. But how remains to be seen.

Ah, yes. The major plotlines still seem to be there. They seem to have combined some of the characters and shuffled when others appear. I enjoy looking at variations on a story and how they affect the outcomes, so for me it's good fun :)

Not if your purpose is to read about the bodyguard's relationship with Di Chengen

Maybe he's used to making gloomy faces when talking about the supposedly dead kid he was supposed to be looking after? Old habits die hard!

Suspect he just hasn't had a reason to show them yet. We know drama Wen Shuo is a crack shot and expert rider who can jump extremely long distances to catch women falling off horses. Add in that he was essentially raised by an expert martial artist, and it'd be weirder if he didn't know martial arts :)

Novel HY's reaction to discovering that there was no scar on fake DZY was equally underwhelming. I haven't watched this part yet, but I imagine maybe his eyes widened a bit and maybe his hand shook a little, and then he walks off like there's nothing to see there.

MORE SPOILERS:




Novel HY then proceeds to act like everything is normal, to the point where you can't even pinpoint exactly where he's realized the truth. Real DZY doesn't even know he knows for a while and only finds out when she decides to reveal her identity, and he stops her...

For me, this is where the story diverges from the usual C drama plotlines. HY not only doesn't want her to reveal her identity, but it turns out he's been actively burying all evidence of it and deflecting suspicions by continuing to treat the fake DZY as the real one.

Di Jinyan was 4 and at the time was a "guest" (read: emperor's political hostage) who was housed in the East Palace. Around the time of the Di family's fall, he became severely ill and died. This made it unnecessary for the emperor to have him executed with the rest of the family.

Wen Shuo is an orphan from an orphanage in the city who famously saved Han Ye's life as a child, and so Han Ye brought him to the palace and adopted him as his ward. Wen Shuo coincidentally was also really ill when he was a child and lost all his memories from before he was five. While he knows Han Ye lied about how they met, when Han Ye (his savior, brother, teacher, mentor, and father figure) tells him to lie, he lies. Han Ye spoils him in many ways but also ensures that he's taught well in everything so that at the beginning of the novel, he's already one of the top scholars and martial artists in the court despite being a teenager (15, at the start of the novel). Even the emperor sees Wen Shuo as one of the future pillars of the country.

Basically, in the novel, there are only a few people who know Wen Shuo's true identity. Han Ye committed a capital crime in faking Di Jinyan's death and hiding him, and not only his life but everyone who helped Di Jinyan back then is at stake if the truth comes out. So Han Ye, even after "Di Ziyuan" returns, continues to hide the truth--especially since he's still feeling out how she's changed during her 10 years of imprisonment.

Could you imagine the chaos if Han Ye were a less calculating and careful person and blurted that out during the first meeting with Di Cheng'en?

The novel is billed as a "romance on a grand background." I think they're doing a good job establishing the relationship, so that when the revenge plotline gears up it hurts more :) At this stage in the novel, FL is still investigating what happened and who's the mastermind. Only after that can she start maneuvering for revenge (because well...who to get revenge on? FL isn't the "I got hurt so I'll destroy the world" type, she very much wants to target her vengeance only to those who deserve it). There are still lots of opportunities for all the blood and tears people are wishing for!

Di Ziyuan in the book was never morally gray. Scheming, conniving, brilliant--yes. But she always stood on the right side of things, especially in her broad-mindedness and generosity. The other things may still be coming--we're still pretty early in the novel.

Novel Luo Mingxi does most of the court scheming for their side, so it's not much of a change (I actually don't see that it's different from the portrayal in the book). He's her agent in the court, and his job is to consolidate their control of it. Di Ziyuan in the novel doesn't really show how deep her hands are in everything until the last half. She's a long term schemer, but the court is just one of the pieces she's controlling. Since she has a capable agent in the court, why micromanage?

I'm just saying, if you didn't watch her acting in this drama, then no need to comment on this drama page about her acting since your opinion may be outdated. I'm happy to engage in discussions about this drama and its actors and actresses, as you see. It certainly doesn't bother me that people have a different opinion from myself, but since I'm also a person who forms opinions for concrete reasons, I just like to share why I think something in case it's something the other person maybe overlooked. Probably a side effect of my real life job, hah.

I suspect because she has millions of fans. Her weibo apparently has 70 million plus followers? Regardless of whether she's a good actress or not (and my opinion is that her acting is pretty good so far, as opposed to some actors who basically just turn their heads in different directions to act out emotion...I just had some unpleasant memories of the 2000s, haha), she will bring the viewers.

The only other thing I've seen her in is The Long Ballad. That character drove me a little nuts, actually. She's supposed to be so smart but she's so inexperienced that she's messes up a lot and causes problems--she doesn't know how to wait for the best opportunity, or to hold her horses and think things through before acting. There are people who died because she messed up. It's like she had the opportunity to be awesome but she keeps blowing it to just be "pretty good, for a woman."

Anle so far isn't like that. She's waiting, watching, gathering ammo for the big reveal. She won't be snuffed out in the dark or run out of town, she's going to make it so flagrant and unassailable that her opponents have no choice but to just EAT IT. Can't wait :D

And that right there is the crux of the matter. What's a girl to do? Should she choose love or revenge for her family? And what's a guy to do? Should he choose love or protect his family?

Respectfully disagree. She's doing a great job. Her acting is nuanced and layered enough that you can tell when Ren Anle is saying and doing one thing but thinking another; when she's actually sincere vs when she's pretending or feels that the person doesn't deserve respect. There are lots of actresses in C-drama that don't do as good a job.

Also, if you haven't watched this drama, I don't think you should comment on how her acting is in it and whether or not she ruined "everything." The "trash" that you watched her in is already years old; even this drama was filmed 2 years ago. People grow and change, and you shouldn't off-hand discount that her acting may have improved from whatever it was that you saw. If you can't be fair in your assessment, then it may be best to not say anything at all.

Just finished episode 13, and I have to say...the development of Anle and Han Ye's relationship is so far probably the most mature and believable I've seen in a C drama in recent years.

It's so rare to find a drama where the characters don't just randomly fall in love, but have an actual progression from appreciation to admiration to a feeling that the other person is precious. Can't wait to see it progress to "irreplaceable," while simultaneously moving the plot forward to the angst.

Anticipating the burn so much!