narnianfairy

I actually would have loved 2 or 3 seasons... the length of the book is 600+ chapters...

I think I liked the book better... that's not to say the drama's bad

actually what feels like about 40% of the novel is not in the drama

fan-following 😅😅😅 so true

actually the changes in the female lead and in the prince's sister are that part I disliked - it truly departs from the novel. In the novel the FL is ruthless. When needed she schemes with the best of them. She gets agents from the security bureau to beat up her aunt's husband when he's unwilling to divorce her and there are at least three instances when she is attacked and injures or kills her attackers. Shao Yao, on the other hand, is a poison master, not just a doctor, and a badass agent of the security bureau and her face is heavily scarred in the novel. She's pure and innocent in some ways, but also extremely sensitive to people's character and attitude and easily sees through them and has mad martial arts skills.

I agree with that assessment

😂😂😂

Not entirely. But he probably pushed things along.He certainly questions Pei Wenxuan in terms of what decision he will make if his wife rebels, indicating that he would expect him to kill the princess. He pushed Su Rong Qing in doing it... there were very few people - around 4 - who knew about the particular poison that was used on her. One of them was the emperor (because it was used to kill concubine Qin Zhenzhen), another was Pei Wenxuan because of the same reason, and two were the Su brothers since Su Rong Hua discovered that poison in his travels, but the older brother was already dead. It was a two-step poison that required a catalyst - the poison was administered earlier (possibly by Su Rong Qing / emperor) if we consider who had the opportunity and who Li Rong would trust without fail... and then the catalyst triggers the poison... in the novel Rong Qing gives a sachet to Wenxuan before he enters the princess' room... But in the novel there's another poisoning that occurs and there seems to be a suggestion that the sachet contained an antidote or something that kept the poison from progressing?

I needed something to read or watch 😉 to help pass the time until I decided what to watch next

Yes, but it's also connected to the death of concubine Qin Zhenzhen, Pei Wenxuan's former fiancee. The emperor Li Chuan loved the concubine, not his main wife / empress who was actually his cousin Shangguan Ya. So much so, that he refused to sleep with anyone else in the harem. So the empress' paramour had the concubine poisoned - it was actually meant to kill he concubine's son, but Qin ZhenZhen tasted all the food she gave to her son, so the son survives, but she dies. Li Chuan goes crazy as a result of that and becomes ruthless in dealing with the Noble Clans, because he realizes what had happened and why. The Noble Clans wanted to retain power, and the struggles within the Court and within the Inner Palace reflect that.

that's already revealed in the first six episodes actually...

It's ok, don't fret. He's matched with a petty queen. They both give as good as they get...

They might be smart in terms of scheming and manipulation and seeing through people, but not in terms of emotions. It hits too close to home and they can't be rational and objective and impartial. They're not perfect. But they're perfect for each other.

they're like magnets... there's attraction if you put them together the right way (THIS LIFE), but they repel each other if the right poles are not aligned (PAST LIFE). So they've learned their lessons from their past life, they should do things the right way now. But there's likely to be lingering trauma and a bit of m/distrust perhaps too and some misplaced trust?

in the novel it is well-written, let's see how that translates on the screen

I am totally enjoying it

maaan, that acronym / abbreviation for the title is cracking me up ASSOL 🤣🤣🤣 shouldn't it be ASL to avoid the humorous effect?

I actually enjoyed the experience of watching while the drama aired. First time I did that was with Joy of Life 2 (after waiting for so long the level of impatience... I was antsy and it was unbearable, so I started watching as soon as it aired). The second experience was with The Double, because I was in withdrawal after JOL 2 ended. And this is my third, because I was in withdrawal after the previous two. I have to say, though, I am also a novel reader. In all of these three cases I had read the novel before watching the drama. So my experience may be different. I anticipated and hoped and was anxious too, but mostly I just wanted more episodes to binge as opposed to how others might have experienced the wait from one episode to the next. But what I enjoyed most was coming to the comment section on MDL after each episode to see how others perceived what we had all watched and becoming a part of the community for each of those dramas.. delving into deeper meanings and figuring out motivations as well as *eyes twinkling* how the text was adapted into image and the changes implemented (some needed, some for censorship purposes, some to contract, others to expand, others yet to gloss over or to add informatoon or characters or background). Before these three dramas and watching them as they aired, I could count the number of comments I made on MDL on the fingers of my hands.

Yessss, but his response to that made my day. 🤣🤣 Just as her response to princess syndrome made my day.🤣🤣

and acts as if he's 10 years old, too. 幼稚
(Yòuzhì!) Why do I remember this word in Chinese, but not others? (not the characters obviously, those are courtesy of Google Translate)
But Li Rong's reactions are not far behind... she acts at most 11 when she holds a grudge against him (like when she gets him to eat lemons even after the chess game ends in a draw and they now know they've both returned from the past life 😂😂😂)