AH

This contains a LOT of spoilers.

There are basically two novels, one inside the other. It's a "novel-within-a-novel" set up.

In episode 1, the FL is tasked with creating a pitch for her company to adapt a transmigration novel (titled "Transmigrated: The Devil's Beloved Consort") into a drama and to present the pitch the very next day, so she has to read the transmigration novel very quickly.

In the transmigration novel, the protagonist is a university student who lives in a fictional version of the modern world. In that fictional modern world (where "City A" is the capital of the country that the protagonist lives in, and Beijing does not exist), the protagonist of the transmigration novel reads a historical novel (titled "A Thousand Trees Blossoming at Night in the East") from cover to cover. That historical novel tells the story of the love triangle / political schemes involving the Emperor (Xiahou Dan), Prince Duan (Xiahou Bo), and one of the Emperor's consorts (Yu Wanyin). Xie Yong Er is also a character in the story, but she was just a minor cannon-fodder character who died in the crossfire of the main characters' plots.

After reading the historical novel, the protagonist of the transmigration novel transmigrates from her home world (a fictional version of the modern world) into the world of the historical novel and takes over the character of Xie Yong Er. Even though she read the historical novel to the end, she transmigrates into a point of the story that is near the beginning, and because she already knew how the events of the historical novel originally played out, she was able to use that information to her advantage so she could change events in a way that transformed Xie Yong Er from a minor cannon-fodder character into the main character of a new / changed version of the story. In the second version of events created in the transmigration novel, Xie Yong Er and Prince Duan are the main characters and Concubine Yu Wanyin is a villain who harmed countless people before she was executed by the leads (Xie Yong Er and Prince Duan) even though she was devoted to Prince Duan and always turned down the advances of her husband, "the tyrant" Xiahou Dan. Xiahou Dan was also killed (assassinated) and he and Yu Wanyin were buried beside each other.

After the FL quickly skims the transmigration novel all the way to the end in the real world, she transmigrates into the world of the historical novel and takes over the character of Yu Wanyin. Like the protagonist of the transmigration novel, the FL transmigrates into a point in the story that is near the beginning, and her choices (as well as the choices of the ML who also transmigrated into the story from the real world and took over the character of Xiahou Dan plus the "choices" of the SFL / the protagonist of the transmigration novel who transmigrated from her original fictional world and took over the character of Xie Yong Er) change the events of the historical story again, to create a third version of events. This time, the events are changed in a way that turns Yu Wanyin into the main female character and Xie Yong Er becomes the secondary female character.

Because the FL skimmed the transmigration novel (which tells the story of how the protagonist of that novel transmigrated into the historical novel and changed the events of the historical novel world) to the end, she has some information about the original events that took place in the historical novel AND some information about how the protagonist of the novel went about changing those events to make Xie Yong Er the main character in the second version of the historical story.

Whereas the protagonist of the transmigration novel (the SFL / the transmigrator who took over the character of Xie Yong Er) only read the historical novel, so she only knows how the events of that novel originally played out and she is not aware that she is a fictional character / the protagonist of a transmigration novel. She thinks that the world she transmigrated from is the real world.

The ML did not read the historical novel or the transmigration novel. He only got a notification on his phone about the transmigration novel and he immediately transmigrated into the historical novel world after clicking on that notification, so he only knew the title of the novel and *maybe* read like a one-line description of the novel or something in the notification, but that's it.

At points, I found this drama was incredible. The scenes where the leads were getting to know each other, fell for each other, and exchanged senses where phenomenal. I also loved the OST. Chen Feiyou's voice, some of the likeable side characters, and many of the costumes were also great bonuses.

But there were also a lot of subplots and narrative choices that I found really boring or unsatisfying, and so while some episodes were amazing, others were... not. Which makes this drama difficult to rate.

For now I'll go with an overall 8.5/10.

I've finished this drama and I feel like the English title is referring to the fact that the FL was born a spirit and became the Sovereign of Spirits (sometimes translated as the "Ghost King" or "Ghost Queen") who rules over the void where spirits reside. In short, she is from "beyond the grave".

Without the experience of full human senses, she lived a half-life. Once both her parents died and she forced herself to leave the mortal world to take on the burden of being the Sovereign of Spirits, she stopped writing in her journal and it was like she stopped living even a half-life. Like when she entered the void, she stepped into her grave. Which is ironic, since she was the only being that could not die.

And yet she falls in love with a human who fully experiences all five senses, lives every day to the fullest, and resides in the mortal world very much on the "living" side of the grave. So her love for him has, in a way, come to him from beyond the grave.

Also the original title is completely different and just translates to "Carrying a Lantern in Broad Daylight".

Lol, thank you! Visual aids probably would make it a lot easier to understand 😄

By that point (the day the FL transmigrated into the historical story world) the ML had been inside the historical story world for 16+ years. For many years the ML desperately searched for another transmigrator (e.g., he planted the SOS flowers when he was still a child) with no results to show for it. Because the only information he had was the title of the transmigration novel (Transmigrated: The Devil's Beloved Consort), the ML thought that the transmigrator he was looking for would likely be a woman and would be, or would become, a consort.

When the ML became Emperor and was forced by the Empress Dowager to marry consorts and concubines, it seems like the ML had zero interest in sleeping with them (they were all just empty fictional characters who were controlled by the Empress Dowager and designed to hurt, control, or fear him to fit the narrative of the story) so the Empress Dowager arranged for the ML to be drugged and raped in order to produce a legitimate heir that the Empress Dowager could control and use as a back up in case the ML ever stopped acting according to her wishes. Presumably after he was raped, the ML was even less interested in spending time with his consorts and concubines than before.

Then, a few years before the FL transmigrated into the story, the Emperor of the neighbouring country and the Empress Dowager each played a role in having a holy maiden of that nation (who was originally sent on the pretence of only dancing for the ML) become one of the ML's concubines so that she could get close to the ML in his bedchamber and attempt to assassinate him (she was doomed to fail and to be executed for this crime, and to have her actions and execution serve as the justification for war between the two countries by design). After this assassination attempt by one of his concubines in his bedchamber, the ML would have yet another reason to not want to spend any time with any of his concubines or consorts.

So (as Eunuch An mentioned in episode 1), when a concubine or consort visits the ML to "serve" him, the ML normally finds an excuse to berate them and sends them away almost immediately. However, because he still wanted to find another transmigrator (and he expected that the transmigrator he was looking for would be, or would become, a consort), the ML instructed his attendants to give him a heads up if any of his concubines or consorts acted strangely or dressed unusually.

By the time the FL transmigrated into the historical story, the ML seemed like he had pretty much given up on looking for another transmigrator, but (as was revealed in the post-credit scene in the last episode) Eunuch An remembered the ML's previous instructions and (shortly before the ML met with the FL for the first time) Eunuch An gave the ML a heads up that Yu Wanyin had been dressing and acting strangely that day.

This explains why the ML used a modern phrase (which the FL quickly picked up on) when he first met the FL even though he had been living in the historical story world for 16+ years by that point, and also why he didn't send the FL away immediately like he normally would when one of his consorts or concubines came to "serve" him. Because of Eunuch An's heads-up, the ML was hoping that Yu Wanyin might turn out to be the transmigrator that he had been searching for. It turned out that she was a transmigrator AND she was very quick to willingly reveal her status as a transmigrator to him.

You're welcome!

Hmmm, sort of? You're correct that she's not from the real world (she's a fictional character from a fictional world), so she isn't the same kind of transmigrator as the ML and FL, who both came from the real world.

But she is still a transmigrator in the sense that she isn't originally from the historical novel world and lived in a fictional version of the modern world (where she was a university student) before she transmigrated into the historical novel world and took over the character of Xie Yong Er.

The SFL (a transmigrator who took over the character of Xie Yong Er in the historical story) is a fictional character. She was the protagonist of the transmigration novel that the FL read in the first episode. That transmigration novel was published in the real world sometime before the ML transmigrated into the historical story in 2016. In episode 1, which takes place in 2025, the FL was tasked with creating a proposal for her company to adapt that novel into a drama and to present the proposal the next day, which is why the FL was forced to read the novel so quickly.

The transmigration novel's story begins in a fictional version of the modern world (one where Beijing did not exist, "City A" was the capital city of the protagonist's fictional country, and maglev trains were not a thing), where the SFL read a historical story and then transmigrated from that fictional modern world into the world of the historical story.

The identity of the crown prince's biological mother is irrelevant and is never specifically revealed. The only thing we (the audience) need to know was that the person who raped the ML in order to become pregnant and give birth to a legitimate heir was acting on the Dowager Empresses' orders. If she survived giving birth, she was likely killed by the Dowager Empress in order to tie off loose ends.

If you were wondering, the dancer / holy maiden of the neighbouring country (Shanyi) is NOT the crown prince's biological mother.

You're welcome!

Yes and no.

The FL and SFL did not transmigrate from the same world. The FL is real and she transmigrated from the modern real world (where Beijing exists and is the capital of China) into the historical story. The SFL is fictional and she transmigrated from a *fictional* version of the modern real world (where Beijing does not exist and "City A" is the capital of the country that the SFL lived in) into the historical story.

There are three versions of the historical story. The SFL existed in two of them and the FL existed in only one of them.

In the first version of the historical story, there were no transmigrators and Xie Yong Er was just a canon-fodder character of no consequence who died in the crossfire of the main characters' conflict. In a fictional version of the modern world, the SFL read that version of the historical story to the end before she transmigrated into the historical novel.

In the second version of the historical story, there is only one transmigrator. The SFL transmigrated into the story and took over the character of Xie Yong Er and (armed with the knowledge of what happened in the first version of events) changed the original events so that this time Xie Yong Er became the main character. In the real world, the FL read a transmigration novel that told that story (i.e., the story of the SFL transmigrating into the historical novel and changing the original story so that Xie Yong Er became the main character) before she transmigrated into the historical story world.

In the third version of the historical story, there were three transmigrators (the ML, the FL, and the SFL). The SFL took over the character of Xie Yong Er and the FL took over the character of Yu Wanyin. In this version of the historical story, they both changed the original events so that Yu Wanyin became the main female character and Xie Yong Er became the secondary female character.

In the third version of the historical story, it seems like the FL and the SFL transmigrated into the story and took over their respective characters around the same time / the same point in the story. Whereas the ML transmigrated into a point in the story that took place 16 years before the point in the story when the FL arrived.

You're welcome!

She's an immortal spirit who has lived 400 years already and expects to continue living for eternity, even after every other being (human or spirit) leaves her behind through death or ascension and only the eternal void remains. Eternity (or even "just" 400 years) is an insane amount of time. Imagine how boring, tedious, and lonely that existence would be. Then amplify that massively by taking away all of the extra aspects of the five senses that make life worth living.

Touch - She can't feel the sensation of fingers brushing or lips touching, the warmth and pressure of a hug, or the soft texture of a small animal's fur... She can't feel cold or hunger or pain, which might seem like a good thing, except that it means she can't fully understand the experiences of people who can feel those things, and she also can't experience the coziness of warmth after being cold, the satisfactory feeling of being pleasantly full after being very hungry and then eating a big meal, or the pleasant, satisfying ache of your muscles after a great workout. Instead of interesting ups and downs, she only has monotony forever.

Smell and Taste - She seems to be missing these senses entirely. Imagine never being able to smell anything ever again. Never smelling flowers, or trees, or that earthy smell after it rains. Never getting to smell food ever again, let alone taste it. Consider all the people who fell into a deep depression after they lost their sense of smell (and, by extension, their sense of taste) during the covid pandemic.

Colours - Imagine only living in a greyscale world for the rest of your life, never seeing any colour ever again? How miserable that would be. The temporary darkness and greyness of winter is bad enough to give many people depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder). If that darkness and greyness was amplified (no colour at all, just complete greyscale) *and* made the permanent state of things, for 400+ years? Pure misery.

Music - Imagine being so completely tone deaf that you couldn't tell one musical note from another and could never properly experience and appreciate any music ever again. It doesn't sound *that* bad at first. But to be condemned to live for an eternity without any music of any kind at all? Again, I think that would be pretty miserable.

And the FL is the only being in existence who was born a spirit without the ability to experience these things and, consequently, without the ability to fully understand those who have experienced those things. Her own mother was human. And the spirits who surround her in the void were previously humans before they became spirits. She is curious and has a special interest in trying to understand the human world (and everyone else in existence who is experiencing it, or has experienced it, more fully than her), but her lack of senses makes it impossible for her to ever really do so.

So the FL basically has nothing to lose (even death, if it were possible for her, would be a kind of relief and release) and every reason in the world to take advantage of this once-in-400-years opportunity to fully experience human senses.

I wasn't sure at first if the murder mystery games aspect of the story would work for me, but it ended up mostly being very enjoyable. Especially the game with the pocket watch in episode 8/9.

Overall, very enjoyable. 9/10

I do think it would be nice if the users who make such comments just to rage bait and stir the pot would find somewhere else to spend their energy. 🙏

I'm loving this drama, but I disagree with this take. The comment section is for everyone. Ideally, all commenters will follow MDL's terms of use and avoid being rude to each other, cover spoilers, etc. but they don't have to only comment about the things they like about the show. It's actually helpful for users who are trying to decide if they want to watch the show (or if they should keep watching the show if they aren't into it at first) to see comments that reflect the full spectrum of viewer's thoughts on the drama.

If you only want to see comments from users who love the drama, I recommend creating a discussion topic for that purpose and avoiding the main comment section.

You're welcome!

Among people that are perfectly capable of hearing there is a big range in ability to discern different notes. Some people have perfect pitch. Some people are completely tone deaf. Most people are somewhere in between those two extremes. My understanding is that He Simu can hear (just as she can see), but she cannot hear any difference in tone (just as she cannot perceive any difference in colour), so she cannot properly hear and appreciate music.

You're welcome!

Yeah, it's consistent with what you observed with the other senses. Not a complete inability to sense anything, but rather a very limited ability to sense only the bare essentials without being able to feel and distinguish between the "extra" aspects of each sense (colour, tone, texture, etc.) that are so key to feeling alive and enjoying the experience / not just feeling detached and forever bored.

For touch, it seems like she has enough of an ability to feel the presence of an object that she can sense by touch when a pillow is removed from her grasp and feel around for a replacement object (e.g., a hand) until she finds it while her eyes are closed and she is either partly or fully asleep.

But she can't feel the weight of things (including her own limbs), she can't feel / distinguish between different textures, she can't feel / distinguish between different sensations (like the different sensations caused by light raindrops vs. heavy rain hitting her skin), she can't feel / distinguish between different temperatures, and she can't feel pain or hunger.

Episode 10? 10/10! What a performance from both leads!

"What does that Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor look like?"

"Have you seen "My Journey to You"? He looks a lot like the actor who plays Gong Ziyu in that drama."

This is too funny! .·°՞(˃ ᗜ ˂)՞°·.