surfinternet7

Very true. I come back to this a lot. Stellar cast, production and writing. Truly one of a kind.

I doubt it's possible. Major target audience has changed a lot. No patience to watch a slow-burn, slice-of-life story now.

You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.

which region?

It was beautiful, heartful and inspirational. I'm pretty sure I'll come back to this very often.

Not surprising to be honest. A lot of audience are looking for instant gratification and absolute perfection. Gu and Minglan are very compatible especially in terms of fulfilling each other's shortcomings and necessities they were looking for in a partner. The end of the show fulfilled their arcs with each of them achieving their own little dreams and desires.

There's nothing like this, but I would recommend 'Nirvana in Fire' and 'Joy of Life' for similar quality, production and performance.

Valid point.

Fact.

I'm still at ep 5, but the fact that people can just randomly eavesdrop and neither police nor prosecutor understand the concept of secrecy is absolutely stupid for a show so well written....

Some sites have split last few eps into 30 mins so it becomes 78. 73 eps if last eps are 40+ mins. YT has 73 eps.

He never used her affection when he never was aware of how much affection she had for him. Ming Lan always dealt with most of the things like it was usual business for her. Even when she gave birth, he wasn't sure whether it was him or the baby that let her display her feelings. Considering all these factors, he took the right call from his perspective to keep her in dark in case she didn't love him enough. This gives her closure as well as he had prepared separation letter so that she can live further without being tied to the Gu family.

Only when she informed him about their baby's name in prison he realized how much affection she had for him. This is why the Empress calls her and lets her know about it, since their could have been spies at prison listening everything.

This entire arc proves 2 things:

1. Ming Lan realizes that even during such dire moments her husband made sure he kept his promise (the promise to always protect her) by making sure she's NOT LEGELLY BIND to Gu's future if he ever to be executed/life imprisonment or any other punishment. This is enough for her to known that there's finally someone who would be true to her always,

2. Gu realizes how much affection and love she has for him as she went far enough to name their son remarking their evident union. It also makes him aware of how much he wants to live for himself, her and their future. This is where he forgoes his worries, but he can't really expose all the truth right there in prison...

I see this as a beautiful culmination to their arcs and as beginning of a new chapter in their relationship which is stronger than ever!

Viki

Based on Ming Lan's character, that's just impossible. You seem to have missed a lot of details over the course of the show.

It was a close-knitted plot by the Emperor. How, where and when would he tell her? She would never act that desperate is she knew about the plan. Her reaction was necessary to make other believe that there's a rift between emperor and GTY. Empress Dowager had spies everywhere even in prisons, there's no way GTY would risk the plan. Ming Lan understood the responsibilities her husband had and there's a distinction between formal and personal affairs. This arc also proves her affection and feelings towards GTY which was I believe was like icing on cake for her formidable character.

How much romance does this have? triangle?

The difference between her revealing the truth by her own accord and him finding through other sources is the crux of the progression that people are expecting. The second point is that the plot should not turn the ML whose entire 2nd arc is going after the FL who is reluctant to reveal her plans. The common sense for a character of his stature and personality should be doing his plans and let her do hers. And of course some of recent event are absolutely deviating from centralizing plot.

Hoping for a simple yet well executed show.

Oh you must watch Story of Ming Lan then!

It would be refreshing if ml can just move on and focus on his tasks. If jth wants to reveal she will. All this cat n mouse is just degrading their character.