sekichu

Oh gods NYZ initiating the kiss in E23 was so passionate and ✨✨✨✨✨✨ Really enjoyed the tender and intimate moment between them.

Especially this boy suddenly all flirty, saying RY can shut him up anytime with kisses.

When she drank from his bottle and his eyes were watching - I was like, bro. Get a room, your thoughts are all over your faceeeee.

I think A tier? So not as low as B (which is the lowest, iirc).

I haven't logged in to comment on drama in a long time, but I never thought they would let this drama out of whatever airing purgatory it was in.

Somehow only 10 min in and it feels much higher quality than I expected (my expectations were low, given all things). Evoking kind of the first wave of modern romance dramas I first loved as a young adult, and though it is low budget, it still feels solid so far (sets, camera work, music, editing). I do think the skin blurring/make up is a bit heavy for my preference though Cheng Yi doesn't need that much foundation to look good, haha.

The mess in her apartment when she cleaning - MY GOD I FEEL SO SEEN. It is peak #relatable.

Honestly, even as a fan of both leads and knowing this was a low budget drama, it is better than it has any right to be.

I skipped around the first time I watched this, and recently wanted to go back and re-watch the subplot with Xuan Ye and Ran Qing - does anyone remember which episodes that was?

There's some guilt as part of it, for sure. But guilt is not the only thing. I think the mother is afraid of failing/facing her own failure, and is so caught up in her own emotions that she totally neglects her daughter's feelings in a rush to correct perceived failure.

Yes, in fact, although I empathize the most with our FL and love our protagonists, to me the casts of the older generations genuinely outclass the younger. LOL. Both our leads are doing a tremendous job, even the less likable princesses and young ladies vying for LBY are doing a good job, but this older cast... they are all clearly experienced and very talented, they know what to do with their experience, and how to layer complex motives and emotions with expertise.

But I doubt she raised her sons the way she raised/is trying to raised CSS. She was FURIOUS when one brother tried to gift CSS with his old desk without gifting one to their cousin - when that desk was specially made for that brother by HIS older brother. I do not imagine she flew into a rage, tearing up her younger son for accepting such a gift, or the older son for not making two of such desks and gifting them to both younger brothers?

Also.

She did not abandon any of her three sons to two adults she knew had bad intentions, with highly questionable motives, and let strangers abuse and neglect them.

So even if she did raise three pretty good sons, I don't see her applying any form of good motherhood with Shao Shang.

I do think it is wrong. Because these are not actions of love. They do not come from a place of love. Love requires trust, engenders faith. These are actions out of fear and lack of understanding, from a person who is essentially moving blind through the shadows because she hasn't taken any time to understand her daughter's needs, desires, and pains as person and not a broken project that needs fixing or a fresh recruit that needs to be BROKEN IN.

This is not to say XYY does not love CSS. Or that there XYY does not genuinely believe she feels love and care for CSS. But her actions? Her actions are not of love.

Love is not an excuse for abuse. Abusers use "love" as their reason for beating their spouses, their children, and partners all the time. They might even believe it when they say it. Abusers are often tender and caring after a bout of extremity. They are and can be extremely sweet, gentle, even, all while never taking responsibility or blame, because "if only you hadn't misbehaved, if only you hadn't talked back, I was only doing it because I loved you."

But they are abusing others out of their own rage, their own fear, and the own need to exert control over other people.

The emperor is truly A+ in this drama, lol.

I've seen a lot of comments thus far on the relationship between Xiao Yuan Yi and Chen Shao Shang and finally had to add my two cents after waiting to see if there was any redemption to be had in the first 24 episodes.

I actually do think the mother is in the wrong. Both are stubborn and strong of will. Neither like to yield, or lose. They are similar, yes. They both view one another through pessimistic and skeptical lenses, seeing often the other in a bad light rather than giving the benefit of the doubt. But YY is still the one in the wrong. Because if one wants to be a parent, and chooses to parent, they have a responsibility to the child, not the other way around. The child doesn't actually owe the parent anything - CSS did not ask to be born, to be abandoned, to be mistreated and abused and neglected. As the adult and the one with power in the dynamic, it is more of the responsibility for the relationship shifts to XYY. (For the record, I am intimately familiar with the idea of filial piety and obedience as love.)

Also - the reason CSS sees things with a jaded perspective because her mother left her behind, uncared for, with people she already suspected and knew would be cruel and unkind. She was not blissfully unaware of what sorts of people she was abandoning her daughter to. She just thought it would be easier or less risk to leave a daughter to ill intentioned caretakers than it would be to leave her son. Every single adult in SS's life up to this point has meant her ill will. Her peers have never treated her like a human with dignity. She has been trod upon and ostensibly left to die.

Yuan Yi is responsible, to an extent, for that, even if she was reluctant or regretful. Which means, while I do understand and can see WHY XYY is treating CSS the way she is, I can say without a doubt in my mind, that it is ethically and morally wrong (within my paradigm of ethics and morality). Love is not an excuse to abuse, in a rush to shape and force someone to adhere to your unrealistic expectations. Love is not an explanation for neglect to be weaponized. Love is not and cannot be the source of this kind of consistent, persistent, unrelenting denigration of another person's humanity.

I am aware of the contextual nuance here - of the strong culture of filial piety, the fears YY has re: what has and will become of her daughter, her paralysis of both guilt and rage. But CSS does not deserve this kind of treatment from anyone - much less her mother. Even in historical context. We can say, and say with authenticity, that there is the cultural weight and expectation of one's time, surroundings, and environment. We are using somewhat modern perspectives to view and judge something we might not have lived through in precise duplicate. But I do not believe that absolves YY or even the cultural context itself of critique of its shortcomings. Tough love is one thing, holding someone accountable to their wrongs, encouraging them to be better by facing their failures, is not the same as constantly tearing someone down. Even the actor of XYY says that this is her understanding and portrayal of a character and a mother who takes every small misdeed or flaw, no matter how insignificant, and magnifies it, making it and its consequences disproportionate. She is literally playing a mother who gaslights her daughter.

It's true that open communication between the two would be the first step to building a healthier relationship, but honestly, that is on YY. She is the adult. She has the power. She has models of what that looks like. CSS has never had a healthy relationship with any adult with power over her before. They have always been abusive. The burden is not on her, even though she has taken MANY steps to openly state her thoughts, her feelings, and her perspective, her mother has never once responded with anything other than anger, disappointment, and punishment.

To the point that even a single smile in passing was a wonder to CSS. She dared not believe that YY would ever smile in her direction. That is the extent of contempt and disdain YY has conveyed.

I do feel bad for YY. I understand her plight, her emotional turmoil and internal conflict. And I do think she is very much so in the wrong.

It really is interesting to watch an actress grow like ZYX, even as a fan, I can see her weaknesses, but her acting has indeed been developing. This drama and role allowed her a more complex and interesting/real character and she is certainly doing well.

omg, yeah ML's desire for her is incredible, hahahaha

Hahaha omg, I thought the same, but slowly I am finding myself convinced? The ML is a bit confusing for me - he's not her boss, so much as a high ranking manager/director from a company invested in her company, and he definitely puts himself in her path a lot. Probably because he is a playboy (but he is also the cold and domineering type?) so he has some bad habits (it's pointed a few times in the story by other characters that he has a bit of that nature/history). Later I think he does realize he's stepping way over bounds and making her very uncomfortable, so he tries to respect the line that she draws.

Personally, I understand the FL a lot in this position. It is really very hard to have a love for 10 years and have an image in your own mind of what or who someone is and then have to figure out how much of it was real and how much was not. SML could have been better developed instead of so one-note-evil-manipulative. It is a confusing and emotionally tumultuous time for FL. Very vulnerable position.

Re: chemistry I feel like I didn't see the "sparks/sizzling" until episode 8 or 9, but I did definitely feel the pull/attraction between them. Agree with another commenter further down that usually with ZYX, her chemistry with costars is off the charts in comparison, and it is a lot subtler for me in this drama.

My interpretation is that he did not direct or order them to do so - it seemed to me that there was a disconnect between what he wanted and what his supporters wanted from him. In the end, he didn't even want the throne, and his support/the one who threatened Yu'er with Yanzhi's body was shocked and very upset. Qi Chen basically told him to shut up and gtfo, and expressed his loyalty to Qi Yan, which is why in the end Qi Yan decides to personally pass him the throne.

I am enjoying her work a lot too.

I was so hyped to start this, but 20 minutes in, it just sounded so much like Love Lost in Times that I started rewatching that instead. XD

Qi Yan the "Emperor" died, but Qi Yan the man, the human, is I think who we get to see reunite with Yu'er at the end. It definitely believe that Qi Chen helps him fake his death, and gives him a new identity to live out the rest of his natural life with his love. Qi Chen fulfills his promise to Yan Zhi. Qi Yan fulfills his promise to Yu'er.

For me, I see this as a happy ending.