sweet_dream

Is it just me? I've already watched episode 24 three times

Well, I see it a bit differently. Chang Yu has always blamed herself for the ML marrying into her family and then going to war. She wanted to repay that debt through divorce and by giving him money for his future. She liked him, of course, but fully committing herself is a different matter. If you had read the novel, you’d understand what I mean. The drama isn’t different from the novel in this regard.

You can clearly see she’s a proud person. If she knew his identity from the start, there wouldn’t be any romance at all—the status gap is simply too big. Even in the novel, when she finally learned who he really was, she struggled a lot with accepting that difference. Honestly, now is the right time for him to tell her. Any earlier and we wouldn’t have gotten any romance or drama. You know what I mean.

Of course, the ML or anyone else isn’t underestimating her. Things are just unfolding in a way that makes it look like that. I’d say the writer is intentionally making the FL a bit naive in this area. She’s normally a smart person, and she should have figured out his identity by now. But if the writer doesn’t want her to find out yet… what can you do, lol. Let’s just enjoy what we can.

All of the above, of course — but in terms of priority, it’s 1 > 2 > 3.

"Little villain" and "Big villain with white hair"— haha, I love the names Changning gave them

I wanted him to tell her in today’s episode, but I also think it might not be a good idea. There’s a huge status gap between her and the marquis. She needs to be sure of her own feelings first. Before, she wasn’t fully certain, but now she knows she loves him. She’s naive, but she’s also proud. If she learned his identity today or before, she wouldn’t accept her own feelings and might leave him for good. Still, the ML really should tell her as soon as possible —maybe tomorrow. But he might not get the chance. In the end, everything happens for a reason. We wouldn’t get this romantic tension if she had already found out the secret.

I saw that teaser too. I think this happens after the 108‑whip incident. Xie Wu and the FL were helping the ML. In one of the interviews, they mentioned that the FL learns about the ML being lashed right away, unlike in the novel where she only finds out a few days later. I also don’t think there will be a second breakup in the drama. I don’t see any broken‑heart hints in the calendar. What seems more likely is that they’ll both be sad and avoid each other for a while, but without an official breakup. That’s my guess

I can’t believe the director and scriptwriter chose to go down this route. It makes no sense. The hostage isn’t just anyone—he’s a key figure in the entire war. The Shi army isn’t attacking precisely because of this hostage situation. They have a huge numbers advantage, yet they’re holding back. Thousands of lives and multiple future outcomes depend on this one hostage. This is just so dumb.

Ep 25 preview: Chang Yu is trying to trade a high‑profile hostage for some food. Really??? I hope she didn’t actually mean it and won’t hand him over to the enemy. They seriously can’t make the FL this dumb. I really hope there’s some explanation behind that decision.

So, Tang Pei Yi is dead. I liked him in the novel. I’m curious who will be the FL’s superior in the drama now. Will she stay in the Marquis’s army, or will she be transferred to the He army? They might change a few things.

I think this will be in ep 26, when she discovers his identity as the marquis and they confront each other.

Hope it reaches 9.3, but that will be hard. And 9.4 is basically impossible for any Chinese drama. That kind of rating would only be possible with K‑dramas that have 50k+ votes. A higher number of votes does boost the rating to some extent. Chinese dramas will never reach 50k+ votes.

My guess, 2 episodes. Most likely ep 31 to ep 33

It could be ep 25 or it could be ep 32-33 when they get together after 110 whips. From Chang Yu's dress and style, it doesn't look like it is from ep 25. In their interview, they mentioned that Chang Yu would know about whip incident instantly, unlike in the novel where she realizes it a few days later. So most likely, this scene is from episodes 32-33.

I just finished the drama. Overall, it’s a good watch, and if you haven’t read the novel, you can definitely enjoy it. But honestly, I’m a bit disappointed. As a novel reader, it fell way below my expectations. I fully blame the screenwriter and the director for this. I’ll probably avoid any future projects they’re involved in. How could they mess up such a great novel this badly? The romance was minimal, there were barely any emotional payoffs, the editing was choppy, and they added so many illogical plot points. Most importantly, the scriptwriting was terrible. Why did the screenwriter change the plot on her own instead of following the novel? Seriously? And about Cai Pingshu— I absolutely loved her at the beginning. Wan Peng was phenomenal early on. But mentioning her in every episode, showing her too much, and making everything revolve around her made me dislike her character by the end. That’s just bad writing and poor directing.

Still, there were things I genuinely liked about the drama. Even though the romance missed a lot of potential, I still enjoyed their relationship, and I absolutely loved Zhou Yi Ran in this role. Bao Shang En was great too. It’s just unfortunate that the screenwriter and director failed them so badly. I’ll definitely follow their future dramas—they have a lot of potential.

I still recommend this drama to new viewers. If you haven’t read the novel, you’ll enjoy it.

Haha, no I haven’t. I need to watch that. Heard good things about that drama.

Unspoken rule of C‑dramas: nobody ever dies from falling off a cliff. In this drama, we already saw Xie Zheng survive. Now it’s time for Sui Yuanqing to survive again.

Well, as long as they give us a happy ending, I'm good. Ngl, a little bit disappointed as the drama was below my expectation. But, it's fine. It's a good drama overall. Could have been better, but all good. Let's wait for tomorrow.

Well, I know what you mean. I’m not actually comparing them—I’m just disappointed. If you’ve read the novel, you’d understand how underwhelming the last two episodes were. They could have been great episodes. They changed parts of the story, and whatever did match the novel was executed terribly. They could have done so much better, sigh. On the other hand, Pursuit of Jade is actually doing better than the novel, in my opinion. Well, nothing we can do. Let's just hope they can end this drama on a good note.

Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed. Maybe because I’m watching it alongside Pursuit of Jade, I can’t ignore some of the drama’s weak points anymore. It had so much potential, but I don’t know what happened. The last 2–3 episodes were so underwhelming—maybe due to poor writing or poor execution. Sigh. Hopefully, they can at least close it well and give us a good happy ending.

It will reach 9.1 with the next rank update. It’s currently sitting at ranked #48, and the nearest 9.1‑rated drama is ranked at #44. No doubt it will get there sometime today.