Kate

when the warm undertones started to seep in i was honestly in awe.

I write reviews of everything I watch 😅 But I only write them after finishing the show.
It's always good to know a great novel gets a great adaptation. Did not read the novel, but I heard a lot of good about it.

But Qi Min being in touch with his emotions makes him more dangerous in my opinion. < I don't think he is more in touch with his emotions. I think he feels more than his brother, but he is clueless of what he feels, why he feels it and how to control it. But yes, it makes him more dangerous for sure.

I can definitely picture how good (and angst inducing) such a game could be. < yeah... this tells me this is truly a good movie, but bad game adaptation. There was not angst in the game, just a lot of frustration 😂 Compared to the movie, the game has literally no plot.

Whenever something is a toxic romance or nor truly depends ALL on how the woman in that relationship reacts. That's what establishes how viewers will preview it too. If the woman does not show true fear, more anger, annoyance, frustration - we as viewer will also not feel scared for her. That's how the toxic romance rolls - viewers feel safe to indulge in that fantasy because it's established by the female character's emotional reaction that there is no truly danger she is facing.

But here it's CEARLY showed over and over and over again how scared Qian Qian is. We understand that there is no romance here not because he is unhinged, but because she is scared of him. Her reactions are the guide for the viewers.

I like some toxic romance myself, these are always entertaining to watch. But there is a really firm line and boundary between what is a toxic romance and what is not (in dramas, movies, books etc. in real life - unhinged man always means real toxic, no romance, no matter how the woman reacts to it, obviously).

ep 19, talking about war and a bit about colors.

Now for the depiction of war, last time I felt this way was when I watched My Dearest. That show and this show know what they are doing - focusing on the horrors that normal people face, not on the fancy battles of the armies.

I loved how long the attack on the village lasted, how much detail we've got, how there was no censoring how truly awful it is. People getting slaughtered, keeping no one alive. This is the horror of the war. Not hot generals doing backflips on the battlefield.

We've got to know the supporting characters so now that they faced such a horrifying death it hits us more. This is why the proper set up, taking your time to establish the world the characters live in, to develop the characters leads interact with is so important - it adds emotional weight.

I also love how consistent the writing is and how past actions, even if small, have bigger consequences later. For example: Granny Kang and her death. Initially she was introduced as a small villain in female lead's life - one that spread rumors and was always nasty towards Chang Yu. And then we had that one scene in which Chang Yu could make two choices - show kindness or seek "revenge". She chose kindness and invited Granny Kang in for Xie Zheng to write her wishes. During the attack scene she first risked her life to hide Changning and then sacrificed herself to keep the kids safe. One act of kindness led to change that eventually saved Changning. I know it's not as simplistic, but I love the progression of that storyline so much.

Similarly the daughter of the minister - yes she did not want to tell anything to Yuanqing because he killed her parents, but she could still want to harm Chang Yu if she was truly evil. But she saw how Chang Yu is in fact a good person, she did not want to harm her in the process. The way she articulated that "I don't know" was honestly so brave and strong. The way she lied in a way to make sure he knew and understood she was lying and she did not want to tell him the truth.

I love how faced with danger and life or death situation it truly shows who the people are. Just because someone is spoiled, or ignorant, or at times acts with full on pity party, does not mean they are bad people at heart. These small meaningless disagreements do not matter in situations like that. Are you selfish or selfless. Would you let someone else die to safe yourself? We witnessed both cases in the drama.

And then as a sidenote - can we talk about how well this drama uses light and undertones for scenes? When Chang Yu goes to the town and is faced with the death of all the people she knew and cared about, how cold the undertones are, how everything is in that blue hue. And then when Madame Zhao shows up with some survivors, how the sun comes out, and everything starts to have this warm orange hue, how them surviving literally brings back home and warmth to FLs life. PERFECTION.
Pic to show how good it was: https://i.mydramalist.com/AB5eLX_3f.jpg

But when he did, it wasn't they way I was expecting. < exactly this. But that was also yet again to make sure that there is nothing romantic about this relationship, there is no love nor care in that man. There is just his obsession.

Qian Qian and Qi Min - thoughts after episode 19

We were long enough in delulu hoping they would be toxic in the "traditional" way, but no. This is just toxic. And I appreciate that. Now that I finished episode 19, I appreciate how they are not really romanticizing ANY of the "toxic" relationships. Let's chat.

At first they might have food us. Right at the beginning of the drama Yu Qian Qian did seem more angry and fearful when reminded of Qi Min. They also did a good job to give a toxic passionate vibes from their first meeting - the hands touching in slow motion, the way he looked at her, the fact she did not yet seem scared. But the pretty picture shattered quickly.

The more episodes I saw, the more clear it became that this is a horror story, not love story. It's not toxic angry exes meeting again and playing push and pull game. This is one man beating a woman down to submission. It's gross. And scary. And sad.

The scene where he first threatened her with loves of the servants and then his own son? Made me feel sick. But the directing was so good in it. Literally 1.5 second shot, but they made sure everything during this scene conveys how awful it was. How tragic sad and horrifying, that even the maids were holding back tears. That one shot from the maid was just everything. Because it conveyed how this moment looks like for the viewers, how it should be viewed.

What's more, you know how the "enough" Qi Min said when Qian Qian started eating from the floor had completely different feeling to it than in usual "toxic romance". Usually the "enough" would indicate that he wants her to stop, because he is actually horrified of what he made her do, it would shock him how much he broke her. But here the "enough" was just an indicator he is pleased with what he achieved, he is glad to see her this broken, that he achieved what he wanted and has her where he wanted.

That said, he is a psycho, but he is really a broken psycho (compared to his younger brother who is just a psycho, period, no more adjectives to use). He does have tears in the eyes. I am sure he would be willing to kill the child, but this whole situation and the rejection does not only make him angry (and oh boy it makes he so angry), but also kind of scared and hopeless. He is obsessed with creating "family" with her, to the point he actually feels scared of not being able to do that. And that's how the "so scared of losing her, so obsessed, he is willing to do anything" truly would look like.

I love how there is no vagueness in this relationship and how it's portrayed. There is no hope, no passion, no desire, no love. Just obsession and fear.

pics to illustrate how good the scene was in ep 19:
https://i.mydramalist.com/DkQzLp_3f.jpg

Pretty sure he is a prince, but not Crown Prince. He is trying to gain power and get the position of Crown Prince, that's at least how I understood it.

Can we talk? Coz I'm having mental breakdown 😂
Yu Qian Qian is the woman that makes me go: FUCK YEAH FEMINISM.
And Qi Min is the man that makes me go: FUCK FEMINISM.
🤡 I need help.

Jokes aside, omg this man... he is so obsessed and it's so delicious 🔥😂 I am so curious what's their story is. Coz I feel like they both kind of see the other as the villain here 🤡 Obviously whatever happened they had a different perspective on it.

well, glad they did age them 🤡
Honestly I prefer when they don;t really state the ages so I can just assume the age that feels the most appropriate myself 😅

it totally was 😂😂😂
I need him to lead a few times more towards personal tho 🤡😂

They were for sure somehow involved in the massacre that happened 16 years ago, and were silent because of that. But we don't really know any details yet.

Loved episode 10-11.

So.. I somehow thought female lead was like 21 or something, baby girl is 18 😭Still badass, still amazing. I appreciate how she is naive in some areas, but more mature in other and it's clearly based on her life and experience.

For Xie Zheng - this episode I loved how while he is at times led by his emotions, he is not overwhelmed by them - he can stop and focus on what's truly important (aka Chang Yu 😂). He is not blinded by his rage, anger, fear.

Qian Qian is such a girl's girl 🔥 And her scenes with Qi Min? Tension is tensioning and they barely touched and were on screen together for like 3 minutes 🔥🔥🔥🔥

As for Qi Min, he gives me hot psycho vibes and I more than welcome that. Love how we get the whole range of hot dudes in terms of romance and pairing and potential. Proper minister, reserved scholar, fucking hottest bitch in town ML, might be psychotic but we love it merchant.

Same for the ladies, they are all so loveable. Good natured, but strong female lead. Her bestie with some mystery and secret who might bring solid tension and angst with her partner, when her past story is revealed, and the driven and determined princess with her silly shenanigans.

Anyway, I still love it. Cannot wait for more angst to it, cannot wait for Female Lead to be in actual danger so Xie Zheng can lose it 😂🤡

I'm just gonna go and drown myself in holy water, R.I.P me 🪦👻

I need it to be good till the end. Just checked the airing schedule and las episode literally drops in my bday 😂 how this drama goes till the end will literally break or make my bday 🤡

literally same reaction, I went: fucking assassins, what a fucking timing 🙄

9 episodes in, the quality of production and the beauty of aesthetics still surprises me 😭

You know what I enjoy this drama?
Many things 😂

I love how the vague themes are well known "cliches", but the details is what makes it more interesting. We get the structure of the genre that we enjoy, but also some refreshing presentation.

Female lead not being either delicate wallflower, nor crossdressing tomboy. She faced many setbacks and tragedies, but her life is not trauma porn, she does have a great social support system around her.

Male lead is neither this completely cold lead manhandling FL, nor the pushover trampled by "strong female lead". He plays his game well, strategically, but also lets his emotion lead him when needed. He uses both his brain and his heart.

The second male lead scholar is not this self-rightious weak annoying asshole who cannot even be taken seriously as a second male lead. While not as "cool" as male lead, he still commands the attention when he is on screen and honestly could be a valid option (btw, I am not even completely sure Li will be the typical second male lead lol)

Up till now the little sister was not shown as obstacle and prop to cause troubles and create external issues (like constantly being in danger etc.). She is fun and well rounded character and that's humor and heart to the story.

Even though not much, I also love Yu Qian Qian. She is for sure Girl's girl and that's great. Cannot wait for her friendship with female lead.

For the plot itself - I love the slow pace in how the story is unfolding. We barely started to get scenes about the court politics and the whole "big picture of the schemes". We still do not really understand the complexity of the fractions struggles for power, who is on whose side and why. They are still slowly introduce characters. And that's great. Coz I have time to process what I am watching. I'm not bombarded with 487568496 characters, I get to know 2-3, and the we get a few new ones. I love how slowly the are expanding the world.

The fighting scenes? Fuck yeah. Also, the fact we do get as many if not more scenes of female lead fighting over male lead? Fuck yeah. Why is this more like Legend of the Female General than Legend of the Female General? 🤡 And the choreographies are actually good. The filming hides the stunt double well, and they are doing a decent job with wire work. Also, blood looks like blood. And wounds heal in a proper manner and length. Ain't no one getting slashed and stabbed and being fine 30 minutes later.

ANYWAY I FUCKING LOVE IT I CANNOT 😭😭😭😭😭