Lush

Episode 12 was absolutely lit!!
The fight scene between Elder Hui and Wu Zhen was epic—well-shot, intense, and mesmerizing! I honestly wonder if this drama qualifies as an S+ tier production, because the makeup, costumes, CGI, special effects, and set design are all incredibly intricate, realistic, and beautiful. It looks extremely high-budget.

I absolutely adore the vibrant color palette. The world-building is phenomenal, and the costumes and makeup—oh my goodness! I’m completely mesmerized by Wu Zhen every. single. time. Tian Xiwei is breathtakingly beautiful here! Her hanfu is stunning, and I really appreciate how even the side characters get proper costume changes—something most dramas tend to neglect.

The makeup work is also outstanding. The wounds, especially Wu Zhen’s scratch on her cheek in Episode 12, look very realistic. The blood effects are convincing, and the set design is both grand and gorgeous, perfectly befitting the Tang dynasty and the grandeur of Chang’an. The demon market and its characters even give me Journey to the West vibes.

Wu Zhen’s characterization is spot on! I love a flirty, strong female lead who isn’t confined to the inner chambers and who fearlessly defies societal judgment. The dynamics between the emperor, empress, and concubines are refreshing, and the relationships in this drama feel like a true breath of fresh air.

The casting is also excellent—Tian Xiwei truly embodies a cat-like grace, and the Liu snake demon really gives off a snake’s aura!

Overall, this drama is visually stunning, the romance is a slow burn—sweet yet tinged with the bitterness of being forbidden—and the world-building is utterly mesmerizing. I’m in love with it!

P.S. Is it wrong to find A’Shu more appealing than Mei Zhuyu? I know stoic and cool is part of his character, but I’d love it if his eyes conveyed more emotion. Most of the time, especially in scenes with Wu Zhen, he looks a little lifeless. :(

Well, I finished it.

I did say that I adore this drama despite all its flaws but a few last episodes were... really meh tbh :/

How did the supportive emperor suddenly became like that? So easily manipulated by merely few words? And also, Yan He's death is so abrupt and unnecessary I believe that his death is just for the sake of 'death' in wuxia dramas, like it won't be a wuxia without death, and they can't spare any other character so they decided to kill him off.

I think Chu Zhao deserves a second chance at court politics because I think he genuinely cares for the people.

But to be really honest, I think they rush everything too much. The finale just isn't strong enough to leave any lasting impression. The final battle was not even as great as Rundu. I love how they set up battle scenes, the color grading improve a lot, the fighting scenes, but it was always too short and end up abruptly. I don't think the screenwriter or director knows how to properly make and shoot general dramas.

The romance is sooooo great, the chemistry between leads is top-notch but the battle part, the revenge plot, He Yan's personal journey, and the villains are just not strong enough for the title.

I actually noticed the subtle nuances of his expressions too, but then at the last few minutes of the last episode it was shown how much he struggled with moving on from his ex wife.. I hope they don't stretch it too far.

I don't think there'd be much progress with the romance between the leads, because all I can see is the ML still struggling to move on from his ex-wife. He's still too wounded to start anything new, while FL certainly is crushing on him, hard. We'll see if ML will finally open up a little bit in the end of the drama, or it will be an open ending in terms of romance. I don't see any chance of the ML returning the FL's feelings though.. their relationship is more like mentor/mentee

Oh yeah!! I forgot about the horse! It was totally mesmerizing!

I think it's 2 eps from 18th - 19th, but starting from 20th it will only air 1 eps per day

Okay, so I just finished episode 26. Before I watched it, I've accidentally read comments on MDL and they were divided into two polar opposites: either they liked it very much, or they hated it to the core.

Well, I LOVE IT! It was very detailed, mesmerizing, with beautiful action scenes (though, don't read too much into it), and make you on edge. The reason why people hate it is because they think, 'why would He Yan, a seasoned general, let go of her sword in the middle of the war to cry a river?' I tried analyzing this part while watching it, and came to a conclusion: it's all because He Yan experienced love for the very first time, thus, she lost any logic that moment.

So, the reason behind her emotional outburst was because she thought Xiao Jue was killed. She was a seasoned general, renowned as General Feihong, but during that time, she had no one she loved. She had no romantic interest. So the experience of almost losing someone she loved in the middle of the war, right in front of her eyes, was new. She never experienced such intense love and care for someone before, so she could remain logical and cool during her fight. But this is her first time falling in love, and the first time she almost lost that person right in front of her, so I think it makes total sense for her to have emotional outbreak in the middle of the war. She thought she had already killed the Wutuo leader anyway, and I think at that moment, she probably didn't even think of surviving anymore.

I believe, at that very moment she lost the grip of her sword and kneeled down, she was hopeless, spiraling into despair, and didn't even give an f about herself anymore. Like, she probably wanted to die along Xiao Jue. If she could still fight as if nothing happened, I think it would made her seem very cold and heartless. He Yan also showed that she is not very good at concealing or managing her emotion, as you can see during her several moments of loss prior to Rundu Battle, such as when she heard of her 7 generals died, and she immediately took action without much thinking. So she having an emotional outbreak is in character.

Also, I think Li Kuang is an absolute bollocks.

I guess you're new to Cdrama land, but it's been like this over decades. I'm not really sure myself about how to detect pulses, but chinese doctors can diagnose a variety of symptoms just from pulse-checking.

Just watched Ep 25, no matter how misogynistic Li Kuang is, I feel a bit sad whenever he called He Yan General Feihong :"(

Like I can sense how much he misses his brilliant and courageous leader. But Idk how he'd change after he found out General Feihong is a woman though :/ hopefully he's got some redemption arc on how he views women.

then the camera angles were crazily good! Because I too thought she used double in some fighting scenes due to different body proportion perception on the screen. Zhou Ye really is an amazing and versatile actress!

Yes! I think the ultimate antagonist of the He siblings story is their own father.

I don't think He Rufei was forced to dress and act as a woman, because they did show when Xu Jingfu went to the temple once and offered him a cure in exchange of seizing his sister's identity as General Feihong, it showed that He Rufei was 100% dressing and acting like a man. Maybe there was only a few loyal He butlers/subordinates who knew about this fact and take care of him all this time, the temple was also quite isolated and difficult to reach so there's no need for Rufei to dress as Yan because I don't think there'd be many visitors. I don't know if they killed off all the temple staffs but I think some would definitely be still alive for Yan and Xiao Jue to be able to get information about Xu Jingfu visiting Rufei once during his stay in the temple. Something that irks me is how amazing they can kept secret of Rufei's and Yan's identity swap so tightly but Xu Jingfu only visited Rufei once, and it's easily leaked to outsiders.

EPISODE 5 IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SATISFYING!!!!!!!
Halfway of the show I was so irritated I almost wrote a comment due to heightened emotion. I can't stand watching Hyomin stuttering and confused, but dang they wrap it up so perfectly and satisfyingly I have no protest at all, instead I'M IN AWE!!!!!

And I totally love how Hyomin's colleagues are so supportive of each other. No office drama needed at all, instead the drama is between the older attorneys. Woah, I love this drama so much! Such a satisfying 'backscratcher'.

regarding this, I knew that the He family was so afraid of losing the heir that when a prophecy / diagnosis showed that Rufei's life wouldn't last long, the family made He Yan became Rufei's stand in and Rufei under the identity of He Yan, was sent to the temple to recuperate (or, rather to die alone). It's all because of their father's greed imo. Well, to defy fate, turns out Rufei survived all these years and was given a cure by Xu Jingfu. There was one point in the episodes that the father explained, Rufei was taught everything Yan was taught: how she writes, how she fights, even her habit and hobbies, to make Rufei and Yan the same person, so that one day they can be seamlessly swapped had the need arises. That's why I hope the drama shed some light on his backstory. Maybe his grievances due to being born sickly and having to use his sister's identity to recuperate or something. It's too abrupt for him to suddenly show up and become an evil villain.

while I'm typing this reply, I actually kind of understand why he turns out like this. Rufei and He Yan are on the same situation. Both of them are forced to live under other identity, they were forcibly molded to feed their father's ego and selfishness. They just grew to be two very different people: one was petty and selfish, the other courageous and selfless. I just want the drama to focus a bit on He Rufei's childhood on the temple, not to gain the viewer's sympathy but to show a clear motive on his character.

yes! it breaks my heart that I can see how light has completely been snuffed out of her eyes the moment she heard about the death of her 7 generals.

I hope they will explain the reason behind He Rufei's antagonism, maybe his past, his motives. It just feels weird to see such evil villain to become evil without a clear reason. And he's also not the smartest, he just feels like killing all the time! For Xu Jingfu, he probably just wants to eliminate Xiao due to his military influence, and he's just a corrupt official that already exists for centuries and centuries. But He Rufei? His actions are just unexcusably evil and bloody.

I think most of the budget went to battle scenes because I think the battle scenes are impressive! Well shot and very detailed, almost feels like a battle movie. Unfortunately, I think the Jiyang battle is rather unconclusive, they just suddenly end the battle abruptly after He Yan drowned, it made me wonder how could Xiao Jue suddenly rescued her? I thought the riverbank was quite far or at least out of Xiao Jue's sight, how can he detected that He Yan had finished the fight with Heyatu?

Yes!! I'm so glad they found younger casts instead of forcing old actors to play teens

Now I know why they put so much effort on Liu Buwang and Mu Hongjin's past, even getting them younger cast to play the past. I didn't have much emotional attachment to his character but dang his death made me cry a river!

I'm a bit disappointed by ep 18, 90% of the episode is only about Princess Jiyang's backstory which I'm not interested the slightest bit :/

I need more of my Xiao Jue and He Yan :(