He lives far far longer than He Xian. I googled! The first TB vaccine is in 1921 so he should be just fine. This is good news. :D
They shouldnt scare me by saying the disease is terminal. It remind me of Jdrama JINN where the doctor travel back in time and made syphilis vaccine ahead of time and how remorseful he is for changing history lol.
The drama really didn't give He Xian and Co any rest lol. It was one intense arc after another. I'm enjoying the hell out of it immensely. ❤️
But the most impressive thing I get from this drama is how the Macau people actually protected the plate printing machine so the Japanese can't print their currency. Since if you learnt history, the Japanese did this to mostly all the countries they invaded and print money which crippled the economy and cause inflation. It was a bad time not only due to war but also lack of food due to this economy crisis. I love to learn about this tidbits on how a few people sacrifices did save thousand of lives.
Anyway, I enjoy the scene where He Xian managed to climb up his room and pretend to sleep when Sawa came and inspect his house. I love how he even managed a sip some Champagne to show how drunk he is. 😆 He used to be so nervous but now he is so calm, - - amazing character development.
And rip Wanqi. I knew when he keeps coughing it will be TB. 😭 I don't dare to Google at what year he passed away. I guess I have to find out while watching this drama.
Exactly, gold is king during wars time. My family has always kept gold to buy & trade houses, land or food…
Yeah, I really feel bad for her. She also very compassionate when she asked her hubby to save Yang Chang despite she didn't even know him at that time.
Also the head banker of HSBC. He appeared like 15 minutes in total yet so nuanced. His first appearance is when he called Runyu as 'not like the other Chinese' lol. Red flag, but makes sense. But then later we can see how he is unwilling to sign the bank notes. He later died due to torturing since he is unwilling to destroy Macau economy by revealing where is the printing machine.
Exactly, gold is king during wars time. My family has always kept gold to buy & trade houses, land or food…
I love it so so much. Probably the most well written CDrama I watched this year. I'm marvelled with how awesome is the writing. No filler scenes at all. Everything has meaning and reasons. Also, I love how literally everything seamlessly integrate into He Xian's life. At first, you think all this people just to show different perspective on different people during this era. But no, they all will have important roles later in helping He Xian with this financial warfare. The writer combined 2 things here, showing us different people and how war effect them while also at the same time writing all this characters to help He Xian in his cause.
And I also love how nuanced are the characters - - even the Japanese. They didn't show all British people as worthless or cowards since we have a few who actually die in saving the civilians' lives. Fantastic writing really. All characters just appear so human and complex.
And BTW, they should just ask me where is the printing machine lol. 😂😁 The moment they bring it up, I knew Yinwan's brother 99% most likely hide it at the orphanage behind statue of Mary. I wonder if this plotline really happen in history.
I love how the clues are scattered all over the drama. The writer also set stages for everything that is going to happen 5 to 10 episodes earlier. Like the moment Yinwan's brother accidentally spill water on the photo, I knew it will meant something later. Then when Yang Chang moving the printing machine, I asked what the heck was that since they never tell us. Then of course the hidden place behind Staue of Mary - - all of this will come out later. And also why Qiwen is one of the main casts of this drama - - she is not just there as He Xian's wife. She must have a much important role later in the drama.
I continue to love how this drama wrote their women characters. I knew the moment Yinwan agreed to see his brother, she had plan in mind and just saying all those hurtful words to He Xian to fool Hong Gongjie.
Thinking back when He Xian lied to her. If I were here, Im kinda glad that He Xian did that since to orchesterate my own brother's death is something that I can't do. Her brother already chose this road, so respecting it would be not only respecting him but also for the greater good as well. I would react just like Yinwan - - utterly sad and devastated, but understand the decision at the same time. The conflict is just so well written.
I also love how they wrote Mary. Despite the minimal screen time, didn't she left an impression on us? Isn't she? And I love how she thought Yang Chang the morse code, telegram and etc so it well help him to be a spy later.
Then Qiwen. She has lesser screen time in this few episodes but yet her presence still felt. I love how she always give space to He Xian and support him silently at his side. And when she need to intervene and salvage the situation, she did so ease his pain a little. I bet she will have more aggressive role later.
Exactly, gold is king during wars time. My family has always kept gold to buy & trade houses, land or food…
I had Soros in my mind exactly when I wrote my comment. He did managed to do that and destroy lots of lives when he speculate Thai bath over valued their currency.
This drama made me more nervous than watching costume historical dramas lol. The finance part of the story is so well written. The writer truly did his research right. The moment the Japanese forced Runyu to sign those bank notes, it's truly a red flag and disaster impending since we learnt in history how those bank notes will soon cause inflation and will become worthless like falling leaves. Then when He Xian bank keeps buying the HK dollars for his bank, how I screamed to my screen for him to stop buying lol.
And of course later the scheme to fool the Japanese. I love the fact that both He Xian and Runyu are genius bankers thus they know each other's tactics even without speaking to each other. The amazing thing about the whole scheme is that it's not that the Japanese are fools but they truly create a narrative that they wanted to buy the HK dollars and later dump it all back into the market before it closes. For tdlr version, they simply sell back all the worthless HK dollar to the market when the Japanese fool them initially by making them buy 30M HK dollars 3 days earlier.
It's actually interesting to see how forex exchange works during this era and how volitile is the currency. In todays' world, we can't do this anymore but during this time, it's possie since Macau is such a small market.
I’ve only seen two eps and wow… this is already one of the best starts I’ve ever seen in a drama. If it…
Each episode actually becomes better than the last. We are up to date to the latest episodes and I can confirm this. This is probably the best written drama I watch this year. So well written in every department.
I love He Xian little family. ❤️ I love how He Xian always tell his wife everything - - or even when he wants to make any business decision that will effect the family, he always tell her as well and ask her permissions.
And in last night episodes, you can know how Qi Wen was worried to death for He Xian. She always had her eyes on him before he leaves then when he comes back, she just burst to tears with how relief she is. Li Chun's acting is amazing.
Usually in Republican dramas, husband and wife always have kind of distant relationship but I love how the writer portrayed He Xian and Qi Wen as such affectionate couple. They always holds hand, they always hold each other's hands lol, reassuring each other and despite having 2 small kids, they still seemed like a newly married couple when they are alone together.
And even when they are with friends eating together at different table, He Xian will look at Qi Wen and smile at her. I just love all this tender and soft gestures they always reserve for each other. Their relationship makes the turbulence time they are facing at that time seemed bearable.
Everytime I see your profile.. I get reminded of my Dear Wei Zhao(Xiao Wuxia)...I still can't get over him ....…
I just rewatch Love of Nirvana again a few months ago. Good written dramas are always great to be watched over and over again since you always catch something new in your rewatch. 😁
Last night episode is just amazing. Everytime I thought He Xian can't go anymore low (like how his son got sick due to malnourishment), then the drama gave us another scene that makes us question the brutality of war and how it affect normal people.
When Mr. Ma comes to his house and see what his family prepared for New Year dinner, I swear my heart sank with him. 😢 He must feel very guilty how the small favour he asked from He Xian makes him hits rock bottom like that.
Then the scene where He Xian broke down in front of all his friends and family, I think many of us didn't realized how horrible the things he had to go through that day. Having to go through mass grave to find Xiao Yu, the girl who saved his entire family and later run away from his house due to his inability to provide for her and her mother is some crazy stuff you can't get over with. That kind of rock bottom place you reached in your life that basically kill all your desire to live. And that's whats war did to normal people.
It is an amazing writing. Seriously, one of the best Ive seen this year.
I love how everytime they show rock bottom scenes like this, the writer never fail to write silver linings to the whole tragedy and make the drama so uplifting and full of hope at the same time. Amazing amazing writing.
I'm happy since RJL is back with his usual quality script so I've been enjoying this drama to the fullest. So many things I love so far in the drama:
First, I love Republican drama in general. If it made right, it's usually full of conflicts and angst, different kind of angst but the ones where the stakes are always so high. I love the aesthetic during this era - - esp the buildings, decors and also the costumes.
Second, I love the conflicts! Everyone has their own worries, goals, and objectives. He Xian has his own worries that he faced with ensuring the survival of his family to staying true to his principles for clients that invest in his small bank. Then we have the brotherhood gang with their own goal to capture their traitors and He Xian seemed to unintentionally assist the said traitor. Then the officer who took bribes and was caught and his own way of seeking justice. Then we have the espionage side of the whole political sides of the Chinese people. Then add to the mixed of the neutral Portuguese government who in charge of Macau. And this didn't include the Japanese who is the biggest enemy of them all. While I understand He Xian, I also can't hate the brotherhood people as well. This is indeed a very good conflicts since it didn't involve black and white people but grey and complex people who are forced to be 'not nice' for their own legit reasons.
Third, I love how everything just seamlessly woven together between all these parties. The drama opens with He Xian applying for banking license at Macau and how his lives intertwined with all these people later. I like how the drama established from the first episode how brilliant is He Xian with the Forex Exchange scene since we need to know that and understand why he is able to open his own bank despite his unprevileged background. And I feel bad for him regarding the US dollar plot since it did paint him in bad light esp among his peers and all that efforts means nothing at the end. Then add the destruction of his bank which makes him penniless at the end with 4 mouths to feed. So many thing happened yet there are silver lining in all these conflicts since he touched people everywhere with his kind and good hearts. And the scene where the boat dweller people comes and saved them, how awesome is that scene? This is usually a very good indication of well written dramas where the writer mixed happiness and tragedy equally that made watching experience highly satisfying.
Fourth, I like how they show us the brutality of war and how it affect different people. Everytime I watch this drama, I keep getting new information about WW2. Like how the British people used prisoners to do really dangerous stuffs. Or how the banking people cope with the Japanese takeover of Hong Kong and their failure in destroying all the notes and it ended up with Japanese getting 100 millions of cash for free just like that. 😅 And how useless is the Portugal government when they supposed to be neutral. Then add the foreign businessman that only interested to get more profit in the war.
Fifth, I like how the women are written here. Okay, the main characters are still men but despite that, they are not written as simply in support roles but active roles. Whether it's FL; Ms Qiao and her help in getting funds for the war to He Xian's wife which is written as more than simply his backbone. Her worries, her attempt to ask him not to go for the last day to hand over the last deposits, to asking him to help her in preparing to move to Macau to stop him from going to work made her simply human with her own thoughts despite her lovely and supportive nature as a wife. And how she has her own money, it made sense why He Xian can affort to be 'reckless' since he has a really reliable wife to support him emotionally and financially.
I have more to write but I just stop here lol. But I think seeing this drama from Macau's POV is definitely very interesting. I love how open are the Chinese people in gathering war funds and their political parties even when Japanese is in the open. I used to see how they always have to hide their political standing so this perspective is definitely eye opening.
And the symbolism used in the drama made me laugh a bit like the revelation of the doctor and his code name 'Buddha Hand' with a literal Buddha hand painting and the back? 😆
We start with Ren Jialun as Wei Zhou. Wei Zhou is not really cold or aloof since he has no problem showing his emotions. He is calm, ruthless and very confident. But if you ask me one aspect that define him would be how restrained he is and Ren Jialun plays this to perfection. I never notice this but its more apparent as the drama progressed on how much he actually hide his feelings. He is so calm to a point that even Pei Yan can’t guess what's inside his head since no matter what is the situations, despite he's being caught red-handed, he never shows any emotion -- he is always calm and steadfast. Take example even when he is having nightmares, all he did is just grab his blanket tightly. It becomes more apparent esp at Yueluo arc when he needs to make many difficult decisions and while he is making that decision, he is cold and emotionless but we know how he really feels when he is alone -- just like when he is putting the names of his fallen people in the box -- how heartbroken and lifeless he is in those scenes -- the bottomless grief and sadness was portrayed marvellously. He only truly cried when he is alone where you can actually see tears falling down from his cheeks. He did let his guard down during the swing scene when Jiang Ci caught him crying but for the rest of the show, you can see how restrained he is, ALWAYS. Like he wanted to stop her from going to Pei Yan but he only clutched his fist in that scene. Or after her master's death, we know how much he wanted to visit her but he only visits her secretly since he knew she didn’t want to see him thus he's giving her space that she needed. He could hug her very tightly (like when he said sorry to her after capturing her master) when she reconciled with him during the last arc but knowing how he could die after the war, he always careful in showing his feelings towards her -- which very aligned with how the character is written in the whole drama. Notice how the many thoughtful things he did for Jiang Ci is secretly -- like taking care of her when she's sick, help her with her hiking equipment, the clay cat, bring Cui to visit her during her grief, the Lingjiu flowers or the house that he prepared for her where he remembers every details that she told him. Then you remember that even during his unhinged phase, how restrained he is -- he could make new wound on her but he didn’t. He just poked on the same wound to remind her. All these restrained qualities made his character more heartbreaking somehow. Like the only shocked face he did is when Jiang Ci hugged him at the reunion scene or when she saved him during the war -- its like his life has always been full of disappointments but she surprised him in ways that show him the beauty of life which made him wanting to live even more. Ren Jialun brought this character to life through this subtle and heartbreaking portrayal that hits deep into your souls. I love how he grew out from his prejudice and how he is forced to keep making difficult decisions each time -- by the time the drama reach its end, I probably never wanted a more happy ending for a character -- the writer shows it all in these little details.
Then we have Li Landi as Jiang Ci. While Wei Zhou barely shows his feelings, Jiang Ci is the complete opposite. She wears her feelings on her sleeve. That is why Wei Zhou can read her as early as Episode 3 while she took 10 episodes to finally understand him. What I love the most about her character is that she did what she believes in her heart regardless of anything or anyone even when in reality she is being used as a pawn by these 2 male leads. But what made her great is despite she is being used as a pawn, she proved again & again how no one can control her as she will take control of her own destiny. The 2 male leads figured out the hard way how they can’t use her and she proved them wrong every single time. Take example when she figured out Wei Zhou's deceit, she did not buy his excuse at all and left him even without saying goodbye. And she only comes back when she wants to save the Yueluo people -- her own decision -- not driven by 'love' but her own free will. The message of the drama is very clear, you can be used as a pawn, but it depends on whether you really a pawn or you move like a 'Queen' in a chess game. And Jiang Ci, until the last episode, even when Wei Zhou sent her away to protect her, she comes back to him regardless of that -- still doing what’s her heart tell her to despite knowing his good intention. Her character arc is consistent and until the end the writer emphasis how she’s in control of her own destiny. The writer made her character such a kick-ass that she achieved all these using her intelligent, wits and her iron-clad determinations. Her kindness also knows no bound that she touched the lives of everyone that she met.
Then we have Jeremy Tsui as Pei Yan, from his tragic childhood to his conflict of filial duty to his family and loyalty to his country, we have this complicated man that is full of layers. What I find very interesting about him is that while he is using Jiang Ci, he knew how wrong it is, yet he still doing it while caring for her genuinely. The only ‘love’ he knew is from his mother so he is trying to use the same 'love' towards Jiang Ci which is trying to control her and clipped her wings. I also like how he always turned the table each time no matter how at disadvantage is his situations. If he wants something, he will get it on his own and he doesn’t need his family support or anyone else to do it. Then we see how low can he go during the war at Yueluo, it adds to the depth of his character that he himself I believe do not know he's capable of. And since this drama like to do show instead of tell, during the stabbing scene on the boat, he is actually killing 3 birds at the same time. While we audiences see him as a man selfishly using Jiang Ci to further his political ambitions, he is actually did those act to save Jiang Ci from his mother -- to prove that she only pawn to him so his mother will lay off Jiang Ci. I find it brilliant on how he turned such an unfavorable situation around with that just 'one act' while achieving 3 goals which satisfy the Emperor, his mother and also protecting Jiang Ci at the same time. Then his amazing development during the last arc, I knew why Jeremy decided to act in this drama despite he is only a 2nd lead here -- this character gives him justice to his acting abilities and what he is actually capable of doing.
The sweets that Wei Zhou always carries in his pocket -- it is to remind him the 'sweetness' in life since his life is just full of tragedies. So, he carries them everywhere -- the fact he has to do that since he can't experience those feeling physically what made the whole thing so tragic. That is why he also offered the same sweet to Jiang Ci when Jiang Ci is having a hard time during Nanling sexual assaults case.
Aside from that, leaf and flowers are used as symbolism for foreshadowing of relationship between Jiang Ci with Wei Zhou and Pei Yan. How a leaf fall down on Jiang Ci's head when he is with Pei Yan but it is a flower when he is with Wei Zhou -- this is as foreshadowing of their relationships in the future. Also, Pei Yan constantly gives Jiang Ci his jacket to wear but the one that she didnt take off is when Wei Zhou offered his' -- where we can see her wearing Wei Zhou's white fur jacket for days.
Or the 'blindfold' Jiang Ci put on Wei Zhou at Yueluo. Its not simply to prevent him from seeing the surprise gift she had for him but also a point of time when Wei Zhou completely wear his guard down around her to indicate how now, he trust her fully. Then we have the next scene of him handling the Yueluo Jade Hairpin under her care.
The 'dagger' also served as a symbolism of protection when Wei Zhou gifted Jiang Ci the same dagger that he once stabbed her. The irony of the whole thing that the dagger that used to hurt her is now served as her protection showing how his heart has completely changed now after he met her. During this Yueluo arc as well, he can see Wei Zhou healed slowly from wanting to burn like a Phoenix for his revenge to actually wanted to live and survive this whole thing.
And the most important part is the Phoenix symbolism used in this drama to portrayed Wei Zhou's inner development and state of mind. Wei Zhou is written as the real life Phoenix Emperor in China history so the Phoenix is used constantly in the drama. At the beginning, Wei Zhou is ready to crash and burn for his revenge and you can see it clearly but later, the same Phoenix theme is used how he will burn and live a new life instead just like Jiang Ci suggested when she drew 'Phoenix' on his mask at Yueluo. Also, the same Phoenix reference is used at the end on how he revived and become immortal for his people. 💔
The drama also has so many subtexts in the script that once you got it, it just make everything extra heartbreaking. They cannot say I love you to each other so all they did are exchanged of gifts to convey their feelings -- they are the couple with the most gifts exchanged between them (around 11 gifts in total: Guanming guard token, cat shaped candy, pink pouch, Jiang Ci clay cat, sweets, dagger, kite, small red flowers, Lingjiu flowers, Wei Zhou masked clay cat, house prepared by Wei Zhou for Jiang Ci 😢). He enjoys her company so put more logs into the fire so she can continue her puppet show. He cant hugs her to console her so he gave her sweets to comfort her just like eating sweets did to him. Also, same food tasted different without her. And he cant show his feelings since he has big responsibilities on his shoulder so he did all the things to her silently -- hoping she didnt know it was from him.
For anyone wondering why they kept Qing alive when he supposed to die when Zhong Lin died -- due to their blood binding. It is because keeping him alive is more tragic for him rather than he died. This is the poor writing that got me the most -- the defy of logic that keep flopping -- also, the insistence of making everything so tragic and hopeless for the good characters. The writer is so nice towards her evil characters and always give them redemption arcs but not towards her good characters that suffers so much.
The climax happened in the middle of last episode so they actually dedicated another half of episode for the ending and resolution. Usually in other dramas, it is shown twist where it shows the ML actually survive and come back due to magical antidote or secret plan he has prepared or etc but no, not this drama. Here, they made sure it was made clear everyone tragic ending are explored to the max. So, instead of feeling sad about the ending, the overly insistence that the characters deserved the worst made you laugh and roll eyes instead. 🙄 This drama has achieved this kind of low with this ending.
The writer did the same in Bloody Romance. And its indeed a gift for being able to write something terrible like this over and over again. She also the one who wrote Song of the Moon and Sword & Beloved -- another terrible dramas.
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They shouldnt scare me by saying the disease is terminal. It remind me of Jdrama JINN where the doctor travel back in time and made syphilis vaccine ahead of time and how remorseful he is for changing history lol.
Thank you. Now I can watch the drama with ease.
But the most impressive thing I get from this drama is how the Macau people actually protected the plate printing machine so the Japanese can't print their currency. Since if you learnt history, the Japanese did this to mostly all the countries they invaded and print money which crippled the economy and cause inflation. It was a bad time not only due to war but also lack of food due to this economy crisis. I love to learn about this tidbits on how a few people sacrifices did save thousand of lives.
Anyway, I enjoy the scene where He Xian managed to climb up his room and pretend to sleep when Sawa came and inspect his house. I love how he even managed a sip some Champagne to show how drunk he is. 😆 He used to be so nervous but now he is so calm, - - amazing character development.
And rip Wanqi. I knew when he keeps coughing it will be TB. 😭 I don't dare to Google at what year he passed away. I guess I have to find out while watching this drama.
Also the head banker of HSBC. He appeared like 15 minutes in total yet so nuanced. His first appearance is when he called Runyu as 'not like the other Chinese' lol. Red flag, but makes sense. But then later we can see how he is unwilling to sign the bank notes. He later died due to torturing since he is unwilling to destroy Macau economy by revealing where is the printing machine.
And I also love how nuanced are the characters - - even the Japanese. They didn't show all British people as worthless or cowards since we have a few who actually die in saving the civilians' lives. Fantastic writing really. All characters just appear so human and complex.
I love how the clues are scattered all over the drama. The writer also set stages for everything that is going to happen 5 to 10 episodes earlier. Like the moment Yinwan's brother accidentally spill water on the photo, I knew it will meant something later. Then when Yang Chang moving the printing machine, I asked what the heck was that since they never tell us. Then of course the hidden place behind Staue of Mary - - all of this will come out later. And also why Qiwen is one of the main casts of this drama - - she is not just there as He Xian's wife. She must have a much important role later in the drama.
Thinking back when He Xian lied to her. If I were here, Im kinda glad that He Xian did that since to orchesterate my own brother's death is something that I can't do. Her brother already chose this road, so respecting it would be not only respecting him but also for the greater good as well. I would react just like Yinwan - - utterly sad and devastated, but understand the decision at the same time. The conflict is just so well written.
I also love how they wrote Mary. Despite the minimal screen time, didn't she left an impression on us? Isn't she? And I love how she thought Yang Chang the morse code, telegram and etc so it well help him to be a spy later.
Then Qiwen. She has lesser screen time in this few episodes but yet her presence still felt. I love how she always give space to He Xian and support him silently at his side. And when she need to intervene and salvage the situation, she did so ease his pain a little. I bet she will have more aggressive role later.
How are you enjoying the drama so far?
And of course later the scheme to fool the Japanese. I love the fact that both He Xian and Runyu are genius bankers thus they know each other's tactics even without speaking to each other. The amazing thing about the whole scheme is that it's not that the Japanese are fools but they truly create a narrative that they wanted to buy the HK dollars and later dump it all back into the market before it closes. For tdlr version, they simply sell back all the worthless HK dollar to the market when the Japanese fool them initially by making them buy 30M HK dollars 3 days earlier.
It's actually interesting to see how forex exchange works during this era and how volitile is the currency. In todays' world, we can't do this anymore but during this time, it's possie since Macau is such a small market.
And in last night episodes, you can know how Qi Wen was worried to death for He Xian. She always had her eyes on him before he leaves then when he comes back, she just burst to tears with how relief she is. Li Chun's acting is amazing.
Usually in Republican dramas, husband and wife always have kind of distant relationship but I love how the writer portrayed He Xian and Qi Wen as such affectionate couple. They always holds hand, they always hold each other's hands lol, reassuring each other and despite having 2 small kids, they still seemed like a newly married couple when they are alone together.
And even when they are with friends eating together at different table, He Xian will look at Qi Wen and smile at her. I just love all this tender and soft gestures they always reserve for each other. Their relationship makes the turbulence time they are facing at that time seemed bearable.
When Mr. Ma comes to his house and see what his family prepared for New Year dinner, I swear my heart sank with him. 😢 He must feel very guilty how the small favour he asked from He Xian makes him hits rock bottom like that.
Then the scene where He Xian broke down in front of all his friends and family, I think many of us didn't realized how horrible the things he had to go through that day. Having to go through mass grave to find Xiao Yu, the girl who saved his entire family and later run away from his house due to his inability to provide for her and her mother is some crazy stuff you can't get over with. That kind of rock bottom place you reached in your life that basically kill all your desire to live. And that's whats war did to normal people.
It is an amazing writing. Seriously, one of the best Ive seen this year.
I love how everytime they show rock bottom scenes like this, the writer never fail to write silver linings to the whole tragedy and make the drama so uplifting and full of hope at the same time. Amazing amazing writing.
First, I love Republican drama in general. If it made right, it's usually full of conflicts and angst, different kind of angst but the ones where the stakes are always so high. I love the aesthetic during this era - - esp the buildings, decors and also the costumes.
Second, I love the conflicts! Everyone has their own worries, goals, and objectives. He Xian has his own worries that he faced with ensuring the survival of his family to staying true to his principles for clients that invest in his small bank. Then we have the brotherhood gang with their own goal to capture their traitors and He Xian seemed to unintentionally assist the said traitor. Then the officer who took bribes and was caught and his own way of seeking justice. Then we have the espionage side of the whole political sides of the Chinese people. Then add to the mixed of the neutral Portuguese government who in charge of Macau. And this didn't include the Japanese who is the biggest enemy of them all. While I understand He Xian, I also can't hate the brotherhood people as well. This is indeed a very good conflicts since it didn't involve black and white people but grey and complex people who are forced to be 'not nice' for their own legit reasons.
Third, I love how everything just seamlessly woven together between all these parties. The drama opens with He Xian applying for banking license at Macau and how his lives intertwined with all these people later. I like how the drama established from the first episode how brilliant is He Xian with the Forex Exchange scene since we need to know that and understand why he is able to open his own bank despite his unprevileged background. And I feel bad for him regarding the US dollar plot since it did paint him in bad light esp among his peers and all that efforts means nothing at the end. Then add the destruction of his bank which makes him penniless at the end with 4 mouths to feed. So many thing happened yet there are silver lining in all these conflicts since he touched people everywhere with his kind and good hearts. And the scene where the boat dweller people comes and saved them, how awesome is that scene? This is usually a very good indication of well written dramas where the writer mixed happiness and tragedy equally that made watching experience highly satisfying.
Fourth, I like how they show us the brutality of war and how it affect different people. Everytime I watch this drama, I keep getting new information about WW2. Like how the British people used prisoners to do really dangerous stuffs. Or how the banking people cope with the Japanese takeover of Hong Kong and their failure in destroying all the notes and it ended up with Japanese getting 100 millions of cash for free just like that. 😅 And how useless is the Portugal government when they supposed to be neutral. Then add the foreign businessman that only interested to get more profit in the war.
Fifth, I like how the women are written here. Okay, the main characters are still men but despite that, they are not written as simply in support roles but active roles. Whether it's FL; Ms Qiao and her help in getting funds for the war to He Xian's wife which is written as more than simply his backbone. Her worries, her attempt to ask him not to go for the last day to hand over the last deposits, to asking him to help her in preparing to move to Macau to stop him from going to work made her simply human with her own thoughts despite her lovely and supportive nature as a wife. And how she has her own money, it made sense why He Xian can affort to be 'reckless' since he has a really reliable wife to support him emotionally and financially.
I have more to write but I just stop here lol. But I think seeing this drama from Macau's POV is definitely very interesting. I love how open are the Chinese people in gathering war funds and their political parties even when Japanese is in the open. I used to see how they always have to hide their political standing so this perspective is definitely eye opening.
And the symbolism used in the drama made me laugh a bit like the revelation of the doctor and his code name 'Buddha Hand' with a literal Buddha hand painting and the back? 😆
We start with Ren Jialun as Wei Zhou. Wei Zhou is not really cold or aloof since he has no problem showing his emotions. He is calm, ruthless and very confident. But if you ask me one aspect that define him would be how restrained he is and Ren Jialun plays this to perfection. I never notice this but its more apparent as the drama progressed on how much he actually hide his feelings. He is so calm to a point that even Pei Yan can’t guess what's inside his head since no matter what is the situations, despite he's being caught red-handed, he never shows any emotion -- he is always calm and steadfast. Take example even when he is having nightmares, all he did is just grab his blanket tightly. It becomes more apparent esp at Yueluo arc when he needs to make many difficult decisions and while he is making that decision, he is cold and emotionless but we know how he really feels when he is alone -- just like when he is putting the names of his fallen people in the box -- how heartbroken and lifeless he is in those scenes -- the bottomless grief and sadness was portrayed marvellously. He only truly cried when he is alone where you can actually see tears falling down from his cheeks. He did let his guard down during the swing scene when Jiang Ci caught him crying but for the rest of the show, you can see how restrained he is, ALWAYS. Like he wanted to stop her from going to Pei Yan but he only clutched his fist in that scene. Or after her master's death, we know how much he wanted to visit her but he only visits her secretly since he knew she didn’t want to see him thus he's giving her space that she needed. He could hug her very tightly (like when he said sorry to her after capturing her master) when she reconciled with him during the last arc but knowing how he could die after the war, he always careful in showing his feelings towards her -- which very aligned with how the character is written in the whole drama. Notice how the many thoughtful things he did for Jiang Ci is secretly -- like taking care of her when she's sick, help her with her hiking equipment, the clay cat, bring Cui to visit her during her grief, the Lingjiu flowers or the house that he prepared for her where he remembers every details that she told him. Then you remember that even during his unhinged phase, how restrained he is -- he could make new wound on her but he didn’t. He just poked on the same wound to remind her. All these restrained qualities made his character more heartbreaking somehow. Like the only shocked face he did is when Jiang Ci hugged him at the reunion scene or when she saved him during the war -- its like his life has always been full of disappointments but she surprised him in ways that show him the beauty of life which made him wanting to live even more. Ren Jialun brought this character to life through this subtle and heartbreaking portrayal that hits deep into your souls. I love how he grew out from his prejudice and how he is forced to keep making difficult decisions each time -- by the time the drama reach its end, I probably never wanted a more happy ending for a character -- the writer shows it all in these little details.
Then we have Li Landi as Jiang Ci. While Wei Zhou barely shows his feelings, Jiang Ci is the complete opposite. She wears her feelings on her sleeve. That is why Wei Zhou can read her as early as Episode 3 while she took 10 episodes to finally understand him. What I love the most about her character is that she did what she believes in her heart regardless of anything or anyone even when in reality she is being used as a pawn by these 2 male leads. But what made her great is despite she is being used as a pawn, she proved again & again how no one can control her as she will take control of her own destiny. The 2 male leads figured out the hard way how they can’t use her and she proved them wrong every single time. Take example when she figured out Wei Zhou's deceit, she did not buy his excuse at all and left him even without saying goodbye. And she only comes back when she wants to save the Yueluo people -- her own decision -- not driven by 'love' but her own free will. The message of the drama is very clear, you can be used as a pawn, but it depends on whether you really a pawn or you move like a 'Queen' in a chess game. And Jiang Ci, until the last episode, even when Wei Zhou sent her away to protect her, she comes back to him regardless of that -- still doing what’s her heart tell her to despite knowing his good intention. Her character arc is consistent and until the end the writer emphasis how she’s in control of her own destiny. The writer made her character such a kick-ass that she achieved all these using her intelligent, wits and her iron-clad determinations. Her kindness also knows no bound that she touched the lives of everyone that she met.
Then we have Jeremy Tsui as Pei Yan, from his tragic childhood to his conflict of filial duty to his family and loyalty to his country, we have this complicated man that is full of layers. What I find very interesting about him is that while he is using Jiang Ci, he knew how wrong it is, yet he still doing it while caring for her genuinely. The only ‘love’ he knew is from his mother so he is trying to use the same 'love' towards Jiang Ci which is trying to control her and clipped her wings. I also like how he always turned the table each time no matter how at disadvantage is his situations. If he wants something, he will get it on his own and he doesn’t need his family support or anyone else to do it. Then we see how low can he go during the war at Yueluo, it adds to the depth of his character that he himself I believe do not know he's capable of. And since this drama like to do show instead of tell, during the stabbing scene on the boat, he is actually killing 3 birds at the same time. While we audiences see him as a man selfishly using Jiang Ci to further his political ambitions, he is actually did those act to save Jiang Ci from his mother -- to prove that she only pawn to him so his mother will lay off Jiang Ci. I find it brilliant on how he turned such an unfavorable situation around with that just 'one act' while achieving 3 goals which satisfy the Emperor, his mother and also protecting Jiang Ci at the same time. Then his amazing development during the last arc, I knew why Jeremy decided to act in this drama despite he is only a 2nd lead here -- this character gives him justice to his acting abilities and what he is actually capable of doing.
The sweets that Wei Zhou always carries in his pocket -- it is to remind him the 'sweetness' in life since his life is just full of tragedies. So, he carries them everywhere -- the fact he has to do that since he can't experience those feeling physically what made the whole thing so tragic. That is why he also offered the same sweet to Jiang Ci when Jiang Ci is having a hard time during Nanling sexual assaults case.
Aside from that, leaf and flowers are used as symbolism for foreshadowing of relationship between Jiang Ci with Wei Zhou and Pei Yan. How a leaf fall down on Jiang Ci's head when he is with Pei Yan but it is a flower when he is with Wei Zhou -- this is as foreshadowing of their relationships in the future. Also, Pei Yan constantly gives Jiang Ci his jacket to wear but the one that she didnt take off is when Wei Zhou offered his' -- where we can see her wearing Wei Zhou's white fur jacket for days.
Or the 'blindfold' Jiang Ci put on Wei Zhou at Yueluo. Its not simply to prevent him from seeing the surprise gift she had for him but also a point of time when Wei Zhou completely wear his guard down around her to indicate how now, he trust her fully. Then we have the next scene of him handling the Yueluo Jade Hairpin under her care.
The 'dagger' also served as a symbolism of protection when Wei Zhou gifted Jiang Ci the same dagger that he once stabbed her. The irony of the whole thing that the dagger that used to hurt her is now served as her protection showing how his heart has completely changed now after he met her. During this Yueluo arc as well, he can see Wei Zhou healed slowly from wanting to burn like a Phoenix for his revenge to actually wanted to live and survive this whole thing.
And the most important part is the Phoenix symbolism used in this drama to portrayed Wei Zhou's inner development and state of mind. Wei Zhou is written as the real life Phoenix Emperor in China history so the Phoenix is used constantly in the drama. At the beginning, Wei Zhou is ready to crash and burn for his revenge and you can see it clearly but later, the same Phoenix theme is used how he will burn and live a new life instead just like Jiang Ci suggested when she drew 'Phoenix' on his mask at Yueluo. Also, the same Phoenix reference is used at the end on how he revived and become immortal for his people. 💔
The drama also has so many subtexts in the script that once you got it, it just make everything extra heartbreaking. They cannot say I love you to each other so all they did are exchanged of gifts to convey their feelings -- they are the couple with the most gifts exchanged between them (around 11 gifts in total: Guanming guard token, cat shaped candy, pink pouch, Jiang Ci clay cat, sweets, dagger, kite, small red flowers, Lingjiu flowers, Wei Zhou masked clay cat, house prepared by Wei Zhou for Jiang Ci 😢). He enjoys her company so put more logs into the fire so she can continue her puppet show. He cant hugs her to console her so he gave her sweets to comfort her just like eating sweets did to him. Also, same food tasted different without her. And he cant show his feelings since he has big responsibilities on his shoulder so he did all the things to her silently -- hoping she didnt know it was from him.
The climax happened in the middle of last episode so they actually dedicated another half of episode for the ending and resolution. Usually in other dramas, it is shown twist where it shows the ML actually survive and come back due to magical antidote or secret plan he has prepared or etc but no, not this drama. Here, they made sure it was made clear everyone tragic ending are explored to the max. So, instead of feeling sad about the ending, the overly insistence that the characters deserved the worst made you laugh and roll eyes instead. 🙄 This drama has achieved this kind of low with this ending.
The writer did the same in Bloody Romance. And its indeed a gift for being able to write something terrible like this over and over again. She also the one who wrote Song of the Moon and Sword & Beloved -- another terrible dramas.