Reviews

Finally reaching Yunzhong

Zhao finally reached Yunzhong! Her reunion with her father was very emotional—she cried, her father cried, even A'Jiu had tears. It was beautiful, yet everything around it comes with its own bitterness—her father's fast-progressing illness. And it gets worse by the day, for me only raising the same questions as Zhao—Why? What’s different in this life? Was he already getting poisoned before that? I know they are galloping towards General Chu's death, because his and Zhao's conversations are mostly about her childhood memories—tricks she played, times she didn't listen to him, and many more... It hurts. More than one can imagine. When she recited that poem while sitting next to his bed, I was afraid this was it... and then he coughed up blood, and I was even more afraid. I really don't want him to die, but I think at this point it really is inevitable. I know Madam Ge's arrival raised questions for Zhao, but I am not sure if it was the right call to go through her private belongings. Anyway, what's done is done and now she knows that Madam Ge is Mu Mianhong and her father's wife, her mother. I can only wonder and wait to see how their next conversation will go. I think there must be a serious reason why the mother's identity has been kept hidden for so many years and her previous ones are "deceased". The mystery of the Wei Village keeps resurfacing. Now I have questions—Why was A'Jiu in that village? Did someone from the Cangmu Stronghold save him there? Why does Xiao Xun keep reminding A'Jiu how he had wronged Xiang (I believe that's the boy he saved)? Why was the village burned down in the first place? At least we know now that Xiao Xun started the fire and it happened five years ago, but that's pretty much it... or have I forgotten something?

Read More

I am kind of satisfied with the ending, but it felt incomplete

In the end, everything feels like it has come full circle—their journey started at the Futu Pagoda and practically ended there too. Bu Yinlou was supposed to die there as a sacrifice, and now, a year later, she actually died… at least in the eyes of the Emperor. It was a relief to see even General Yu Zhu stepping into his morals and letting Yinlou and Xiao Duo escape in the end.What I didn't understand was—did Murong Gaogong die or just collapse after learning of Yinlou's death? Either way, it’s quite ironic for him that it happened on the Lantern Festival, knowing what lanterns meant to him. They were his hobby, he put his soul into them, and he was talented at making them. Of course, a lot of credit for even starting such a hobby goes to the fact that he was saved by the lantern in Yinlou's hand back then, when he was just a scared, bullied child hiding in a dark corner.But am I satisfied with the ending? Kind of, I guess. It was a happy one, but I would have loved to see what happened to the country and who became the next ruler. Was it Prince Liangxu and Wanwan? What happened to the other people I cared about? Yeah, not knowing those bits leaves the ending feeling a bit rushed and incomplete—not for the protagonists, perhaps, but certainly for the other characters.My overall opinion on the drama is very positive, despite a lot of romance scenes being cut. At least I checked them out after I finished the show. I really enjoyed the fight scenes, I loved how clever our leads were, and I loved our second and third couples too. The chemistry between Dylan Wang and Yukee Chen was great, and Peter Ho played the psycho Emperor perfectly. I hated the character so much, which is sign enough of how good Peter was.

Read More