Chun Hua Yan (2024)

WHAT CAN I EVEN SAY. ABSOLUTE BUSTER!!

I'll begin with the story and tbh I feared it'll be disappointing when the ML, Jinghe Murong, stood in the bath tub. I knew he'll finally stand but I didn't expect it to be on the first episode. I started growing into the story and finally it was the most perfect thing to do after viewing the latter episodes. I'm very eager to see the next episode after every episode. I want to see how this revenge plot goes and how the leads unravel their path to love and romance if they get there and also their adventures and how they solve the critical moments and obstacles that will surely come. Smart story though not the smartest I've seen in C-dramas like Who rules the world, Sword Snow Stride, Joy of Life, just to mention 3. But still deserves a 9.5 rating as at episode 14. I pity the 2nd ML and FL though.

On acting/casting, do I even need to say anything. The characters are irreplaceable from the actors. It's call owning your character. Definitely a 10/10. The second ML and FL are just disadvantaged by the storyline of their characters.
Music is a 10/10. Carries all the emotion. The OST and the soundtracks are definitely awesome. You'll cry if you listen closely in the sad scenes and you'll be aroused in the happy moments.
Rewatch value is 10/10. You'll watch 1000x and not get bored. The story seems new every time.
Overall 9.5/10.

Leia Mais

The leads acting and chemistry carried this

I’ve been waiting for this for months, but was left disappointed.

I was expecting something different from the trailer and the first 3 eps, but I wasn’t that bothered, I actually liked the build up and romance between the leads.
I think it was a good thing FL knew early it wasn’t ML who killed them.

The good :
- costumes
- cinematography
- the fighting scene were well done
- some romantic scene were well done (and the romance made me smile) and some scene in particular I really liked (like before the village, the scene in the snow)
- we could feel the love (I think I felt more ML love…), very strong love
- the leads chemistry and good kissing scenes
- I think the acting of the leads was great
- I liked ML’s sidekick, why did he have to die :(
- I liked the eps in the village
- at least they gave us a wedding…
- the ost

the bad :
- seriously, the plot in SML country / FL “marrying” SML was just completely uninteresting to me. didn’t want to watch any of that. Boring at some aspect and nothing or no one interesting over there. it really dragged after ep 24. And why the hell did it take almost 8 eps for the leads to get back together????
- SML was a shitty written character, ad nothing going on expect obsessing and delulu regarding FL for most of the drama. He was completely uninteresting and pretty annoying. His love for FL made no sense, obsessed after one short meet 10 ago. Just like his sister who was annoying at time (and didn’t know when to mind her business), but she didn’t deserved to die, she was still a good person. I wasn’t that disgusted by the “romance” for her and the emperor. Like why not ahah being alone without doing you know, all of her married life… why not enjoy it???anyway that was the least problem here
- actually, the plot when down hill after CP was defeated. At first I was like, we need more eps because I was enjoying it, but no, it needed less eps.
- SFL and CP romance : well not gonna lie, they looked good together and I could feel some chemistry. but like, I still don’t feel the shift and don’t make sense. She had feelings for years for ML and I don’t get how and went she fell so hard for CP, maybe because she rejected him so many times… with some scenes we could actually feel maybe some development towards him, but I don’t know. Also, wasn’t interesting in this pairing or their character… like most of the viewers, but I think the acting was okay and I didn’t skip them. Still don’t know how I feel about his dead, that was such an easy and peaceful death that wasn’t deserved at all…. I think this was a miss, SFL could have been an interesting character
- kinda stupid and mad that they could have saved her no ? but no stupidity and they lost the flower…. All these eps for her to get cured and she didn’t in the end…

anyway I’m tired, but in general I’m disappointed in the writing of the drama and the writing of side characters. The ending was disappointing, after so many years of pain and suffering they endured… this is the ending? I know ML messed up and he poison her first, but like what is this? he suffered for 10 years and now he suffers alone in regret for the rest of his life. I don’t like sad ending and I almost never watch sad ending (if it’s sad ending and I’m watching, it’s because it was ongoing, I never start when I know it’s sad ending or open ending, feel like such a waste of time). The only one actually finished is “A journey to love”, we all know how it ends :((( but I still rated it pretty high

I wish I never started this, I’ve been disappointed a few times with Youku dramas

seriously, if it wasn’t for the leads, my rating could have been lower

Leia Mais

Outstanding drama - one of my alltime favorits

I'm usually more of a Xianxia fan and don't really like Wuxia. But this drama left me speechless.
I admit that I started watching because of the title and the hot opening scene. The two main actors blew me away immediately, even though I didn't know either of them. The story captivated me immediately and the costumes, the cuts, the music, everything captivated me so much that I immediately took out a subscription to Youku to devour this series. It's now also on Viki, but I don't want to wait. The development of the love between Mei Lin and Murong Jing He is told in a wonderfully coherent way. I think it's particularly nice that a camaraderie, respect and friendship develops before both realize that they love each other. The time when both disappear from the scene and hide in a mountain village - to recover and wait for political developments - is particularly important in order to understand the dynamics of the two and also to understand why both want to sacrifice themselves for each other. The adventures of the two are filmed brilliantly. The cameraman has a great sense of aesthetics and the landscape shots and locations are really well chosen. Baron Chen, as Murong Xuan Lie and Crown Prince, manages to stir up emotions very subtly. He is the considered villain who plans calmly and leaves nothing to chance. If he weren't caught up in his obsession with the beautiful General Luo Mei and thus rash and vulnerable - nothing would stop him. At the beginning I would never have thought that she would fall in love with him and stand by his side even when he dies. You almost don't begrudge this ice-cold murderer the opportunity to express a wish for the next life. You often forget that this person has the lives of tens of thousands of people on his conscience and that all just to defame his brother. This is even pointless, because he would have become the Crown Prince without any ifs and buts. The heir to the throne of Yue Qin, who loves Mei Lin, is a little pale but beautiful. This obsession is not entirely clear, as apart from gratitude for saving him, there is actually little interaction between the two and the love seems superficial. So I'll turn back to the bigger picture. I haven't mentioned the fight scenes yet, which are of course very good, very bloody, very brutal - so why does everyone somehow survive after such terrible injuries? Any university hospital of this decade would be overwhelmed. But a little imagination is needed. Contrary to my habit of fast-forwarding everything boring, I have made it to episode 24 without doing this. Chapeau. Record... Here we are now. The king is saved, the heir to the throne and the villain is dead. Murong Jin He has miraculously survived his enormous injuries and Mei Lin is on her way to marry the heir to the throne Yue Qin and on her way to another country... and now I am excited to see how my two beloved main protagonists will manage to turn things around and spend their holidays in the mountain village holding hands while the kids play... and woe betide them!!!!!

Leia Mais

Two Different Dramas For the Price of One but the Actors Delivered

(Edited rating and review) I wanted to watch this because of LXY and this versatility. Neither him, the FL, nor any of the cast disappointed. The writing was sloppy and filled with unnecessary deaths and plot holes. It literally felt like two completely different dramas in one with superb acting. But after thinking carefully, I had to amend my rating.

Pros: Every single actor nailed their role to a T. If it wasn't for them, this drama could have ended just fine at episode 24. LXY was absolutely amazing here though; each tear of his broke your heart and he cried a lot. The kissing scenes were well done by two adults. The first portion had everything; the frame job by the CP, the crippled and masochistic ML trying to clear his name and that of his army. Than the FL who lost her parents in the fire but was brought into what I called assassins creed to get revenge though the mastermind behind that was none other than the ML himself. The ML and FL worked very well together and the characters near them were fantastic especially YQ. As the main villain, the CP was narcissistic, cunning, and vicious. QY was necessary but not as a third wheel that hindered more than helped. The palace intrigue and winning against the CP and clearing his name was paramount. Falling in love with the FL was cool and their time in the village was awesome too but he shouldn't have done the nobility arc thing but kept her hidden and waited until the flower to detoxify her bloomed. Then he could have saved her and they would have married and the undying flower thing still held water. Though the second portion or what I consider a different drama altogether was messy, the ending though tragic was beautifully written and acted out by all. Costumes, sets, OSTs, fight sequences, etc were on point.

Cons: What was the point of 25 through most of 31? 32 was the poetic tragedy so I consider it a pro. Messy plot full of holes that was unnecessary, wasted people and characters and still FL wasn't cured because the flower was stolen. Why kill QY? Zilch sense. The reinforcements arrived just to scare off the enemy? Make it make sense. Regular civilians had to fight regimented soldiers was nonsense because the emperor for some reason didn't know his country and that city was under attack from the get go? How is that possible? And his relationship with Zigu was cringe at best; he was old enough to be her grandfather and they conceived a child but she died in childbirth because of her previous injury which was to her arms? How does one affect the other? Again plot hole.

The actress who played Luo Mei had way too much Botox because her face never moved on or off screen. None of her emotions were believable at all; she was totally stone faced. And how did she go from seeing ML as her unrequited love to whiplashing and loving that monster CP? It was so quick, you'd blink and you'd miss it. Another one was of FL knowing she only had an X amount of time to live but didn't reconcile with the ML until he dove into the river after her. She wasted so much precious time. For what exactly? ML only lived 13 years longer than she did and you'd think when you know you've got an expiration date, you'd want to spend every second with the one you loved. But he didn't even know she wasn't cured; that was a dumb plot move. He had the most masochistic role in the entire series. The entire second portion was totally unnecessary. Finish it at 25 episodes and it would have been an HE and matched with the book. Bringing all that nonsense in made me skip two episodes towards the end.

Would I recommend it? I actually would but for excellent acting and that first portion of the show. The rest you can just casually watch.

Leia Mais

LOVED it but tighter writing/less episodes would have made it a 10 for me!

I loved this drama and the ending was expected for sure. The only thing I would have changed would be that I think it could have ended in 24-28 episodes. (RARE for me to say because I watch ALL the 70+ dramas hahaha) BUT I feel like tighter writing from episodes about 18-32 could have been helpful. A lot of what happened after the Crown Prince's situation was kind of unnecessary and drawn out and even the scenes leading up to that starting at the "Hunting Grounds" episodes were kind of almost skippable. cut the last 12 episodes into 6 and the drama would have been much better. Not only that, but, the ending wouldn't have been as "surprising"? to some watchers... the hope was drawn out too long/over and over again only to have it dashed in the end. (imho) Tighter writing would have avoided that problem and maybe the same ending would have been a bit more acceptable and expected.

Leia Mais

The drama with so much potential (in the first few episodes), that didn't fully deliver.

A straightforward plot, with no real twists. A case of too much reveal too soon until there was nothing to hold unto.

Before I start with the pros & cons (I know I have long cons, don't judge), I just want to say if you are starting this drama, you will have so much fun in the first 3 episodes. It was like Cdrama grey ML was back with a mix of Tantai Jin + Xie Wei character, coupled with a Badass Assassin for FL. To top it off Liu Xueyi is an insanely good actor and WunJinyan - you can't mention revenge and a fight scene without her!

However, this show lacked the mystery, scheming and complexity that I was expecting.

Pros :
- Fight scenes : Well choreographed, looked downright dangerous. Best fight scene was of WuJinyan and the Crown Prince's guards.

- Acting of main leads: I might be biased here but I like Liu Xueyi, always seen him as a good and mature actor. His ability to deliver multi expression won't leave you doubting what he is feeling at any moment. His role in first 4 episodes as the unhinged Prince and shadow master (spoilers alert ?), was too good, with the lazy drawl and look. Its a shame they did a total 360 on his character immediately; cause the grey character was more in line with the premise of the story.
WuJinyan pulled off a determined, undying assas*in, whose purpose was to revenge her people's death. She outdid herself with the fight scenes, surviving her trauma and the danger lurking on the path to revenge. Both are beautiful actors who don't care how they look in a scene, as long as they deliver and I like such.
- The chemistry between leads esp. in the first episodes was sizzling and intense! The kiss scenes were good! However, the intensity fizzled out and the romance became more fluffy.
- Sound engineering was ok! I have watched recent shows where the sound is jumbled and messy, but here it's perfect.
- The way they filmed traumatic situations
were quite professional and mature. The leads had deep conversation and worked through their experience together. There was a particular scene where they were stuck in the forest; ML was injured and couldn't feel his nerves and had to relive his trauma. The ensuing incident that occurred could have been labelled laughable or embarrassing if it was not well filmed, but the directors, LXY and WJY outdid themselves in that scene. What came out instead, was a heartfelt moment.
- Cinematography and OST were nice
- MeiLin being a girls girl! Her friends also came through for her a lot in the 2nd arc ?
- Good premise.

Cons:
- The plot in its entirety was quite underwhelming (?SPOILERS, don't read) : The ML's 10 year revenge plan was to train a victim, as an assassin that will try to kill him inorder to reopen the case. All those years could have been used to lay traps and plan better but he spent it on just trying to reopen the case (like this is the reason he used poison on the FL). There were faster ways to reopen the case than that route. Then, after he got evidence, his plan was to tell his dad in the privacy of their Chambers that he is innocent and it was the CP. No backup or anticipated plans whatsoever. The culprit had better plans even though ML had a head start.
Also, when the FL had learned about the real culprit, ML stopped her from kil*ng him as it will be too easy and he wanted justice to be served. Well guess what, there was no real justice served, the culprit died peacefully in the hands of the woman he loved while only few court members knew of his crimes. FL never carried out her revenge directly; ML was sadly still regarded as the mass murder*r, until he had to go prove himself. With the initial setup of a grey ML, I was hoping for a scheming one that will expose the culprit on a wider scale & punish him publicly.

- Went downhill as it progressed: It was gunning for one of the drama of the year with the first episodes, until it wasn't. Everything was revealed too soon. From first scenes, it felt like the CP had a huge red alarm above his head screaming - "I am the culprit?." I didn't mind so much reveal at first, cause I thought there were more twists to come, but nope. The story arc from ep 24 took me ages to finish. I remember rejoicing when the SML left in the 1st arc, only for them to pull a 2nd arc with his obsession more prominent. No offence to the actor cause I love BWJ.

- LuoMei and CP romance: They bored us so much with their scenes. At first, it was an endless cycle of love declaration and refusal. Then all of a sudden, after a creepy aphrodisiac incident orchestrated by him, she fell head over heels and was willing to jeopardise her loyalty, morals and army for him. It weirdly took a nanosecond for such devotion. That was character death inmo. Would be understandable if they made her fall out of love with MJH and started getting a bit attracted to the CP (cause let's be honest, contrary to what too many drama show, no one stays in a hopeless unrequited love situation in real life). But to pull the full switch, to the extent of a general willing to betray her country was crazy writing. They never told us why she ..... the Eunuch; that scene annoyed me.

- Concubine Yan and granddad husband: On all levels its weird, I tried to ignore as they weren't all up on our faces with it, but they had to make her pregnant making us know the fact we were all trying to deny. Yes I know during those periods, such marriages happen blah blah, but that doesn't make it right. It wouldn't have been that bad if the lady's mannerisms were mature. But Yan was clearly portrayed as a naive, cute little girl, looking to live life. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed how cute she was throughout the show (esp. cause I love the actress since her role in 'To get her'), but when it came to the emperor situation, it's not cute!
- Ending: I won't rant about the ending to not give out spoilers, but whenever a show's rating suddenly goes low, you already know it wasn't what people wanted. We didn't power through 32 episodes just for all that to happen (Yes, no spoilers this time ?).

In general, it was a good watch that could have been great if they kept to the initial premise of the story.

Leia Mais

Soaring high before gliding down

The first part of this drama was phenomenal, the actors were absolutely amazing, the fighting-scenes breathtaking, the chemistry between the leads sizzling, the OST wonderful - I was clearly watching a 9 or 10-drama...
... that is until the death of villain nr. 1, the crown prince. From then on it faded away.
I had the feeling that the writers tried desperately to find a new villain but couldn't decide which one to choose, the story became a little dragging, some characters were overdone (as the King of Xiyan), some characters were just there to fill in whenever they needed someone to help/do something but noone was fit (Luomei), Mei Li died again and again (falling into a coma or else), leaving Jinghe heartbroken again and again ...
And why, just why did she deny him this long? I get the reasons, but at that point they were already clear about it. Some sidestories made it just boring.
The second part was no more than a 6.

It's such a pity, the acting was topnotch! The leads hat an amazing chemistry.

All in all I loved it none the less and absolutely recommend it. The first part is so good you don't want to miss it. Just make do with the second part.

Leia Mais

Almost Perfect

The first part with the crown Prince was definitely riveting and angsty. This is what the synopsis is about. The synopsis did not hint or give away the second part of this series which garner mixed feelings.

I prefer to divide this up to 3 parts. The first is about the revenge and how FL was trained by ML to be an assassin. Unbeknownst to the ML, his actions is what lead to the outcome of his punishment. I like that he had suffer consequences of his actions because I do not like happy endings for MLs just because they are written as some kind of hero with some redemption arc. He poison Mei Lin and he trained her to be an assassin in harsh conditions after she became an orphan. Why should he escape feeling real remorse. For people who did not like MeiLin’s ending. I mean she was a nobody orphan who became the love interest of two crown Prince and became a princess and a no-fault empress. I say this is more than most people got to experience. She outlived a crown Prince and an imperial concubine. I don’t think she needs to be cured of an almost incurable poison just because it makes for your typical happy ending.

The middle part was about the romance and courtship of Meilin from not just Jinghe but the Prince Heir. While most people were unhappy with the death of the crown Prince. I think he got what he deserved. An insignificant death for a madman who was living large in his delulu life. I am glad he didn’t have the magnificent death in combat that would have made him the talk of the history annals. He was poison in jail as a nobody by the woman he loves. Probably the only person her loves kills him. That’s just desserts for me. He fades into insignificance after his death in the series. So much for his grandiose large than life self esteem.

The last part was what I would say the redemption arc Qingzhou. All the main characters moved there. It was about rebuilding the city. It was reclaiming the reputation for the Webei Army and general Wei bei in Qingzhou. I liked how Meilin became a person of significance when she left with the Prince Heir to Xilan. It was good to see all efforts were made to save her and still it went wrong because life never goes according to plan. The battle with the Weibei Army to save Qingzhou was a great full circle arc. I feel like the budget went to this battle rather than the battle with the crown Prince in the great Yan.

I a, perfectly fine with the ending. Mainline opened her cake shop. Jinghe gave MeiLin her happy ending. They got married. Jinghe even gave her the wedding she wanted. He became the bride and househusband just like she wanted. They had a happy ending in bed. It’s not as if having kids was her end game. Or being an empress. She just wanted to run a cake shop with her live-in husband helping out her mom’s cake shop. She never mentioned wanting kids. Considering she checked off everything on her bucket list I don’t need much else. There is a reason why we don’t see ML and FL decades into a marriage. It isn’t all one big honeymoon. If Meilin became Jinghe’s empress. I am sure there would be some kind of concubine drama. He remain loyal to her after he became emperor. Overall, it was the best kind of happy ending to me. The alternative cute meet was throwing fans a bone.

If this is a new grand of doing ending. I like to see more.

Leia Mais

Love Liu Xue Yi more now!!

I don't think its spoilers just what some would like to know of this drama. Read at risk of maybe spoilers.

I will not say this drama is perfect cause it is not, and it did not do the red flag male lead that a lot of people were expecting to get. Maybe I'm a typical romance lover and the two leads did deliver on that. Seen people saying they changed the novel never read the novel but may give it a go after watching this. My main draw for this drama I won't lie is Liu Xue Yi I think he is worth watching if nothing else. Also love the FL to she did an incredible job even when they try to put her with prince Yue Qin for a bit, and she never falls in love with him. It does have a sad ending which is usually a nope for some so to answer that for them, but it does show a clip for a what if moment which I thought was kinda cute.

I really enjoyed this drama and I think the actors deserve more credit for what they did with the script they were given. The actors are the reason why I think this is any good at all and worth the watch. I also really think the fight scenes are amazing to watch really loved them. Also have to mention Liu Xue Yi's crying scenes they were really amazing and will make you want to cry with him.

Want to include at least one thing I really didn't like about the drama and that was the love story between the crown prince and the general. The general Luo Mei they made change to quickly and out of no where. She was in love with the ML since childhood and and crown prince was in love with her. She falls in love with a man that lied to her and deceived her not saying that he didn't really love her he did I just didn't see any truth of her falling in love with him and telling him that if he would of told her sooner it would of made a difference cause it wouldn't of. They also have her choose him over her loyalty to the emperor for awhile which didn't make any sense that is not the kind of person she is portrayed to be. Granted they did have her make the right decision in the end. I do like the girl who played the general I just didn't like that love story.

Leia Mais

Realistic, Suspenseful, Misleading, Always too late.

After waiting for the show since March and completing it, a review was inevitable. As a resident historical Chinese drama enjoyer, you have to watch the show since it is genuinely enjoyable despite its shortcomings. Could have been a 10/10 if not for some plot points.
Let me talk about the strongest features of the show first. There are no major spoilers in this review but still read at your own discretion.


The Characters:

The dichotomy of Murong Jinghe: We are introduced to our main character, The third prince Murong Jinghe, as an irredeemable villain both to the characters and the viewer. Not even a few episodes later, his demeanor completely changes, especially in front of the Emperor, his father. To which I presumed might have been a ruse, but he does not let my thoughts linger as his nature is shown. Not only is he not the mass murderer, but also he is not the red flag, bad boy, or a war criminal, as everyone might have thought. He is only a mischievous prince, someone who got through the rough end of life and ended up as a battered and broken version of himself.

Then again he is a Prince, someone in immense power, so in his head ends justify the means, to clear his name, to avenge the people, he can offer a few sacrifices without repercussions. So in that instance, he is not wholly free of blame, and he did not expect the consequences of his actions, since he is but a human.

Another prevalent theme is his mental condition and his response to difficult situations. We do not see him losing his cool very often in the beginning but when he does, its almost ugly, his humanity clashes with all he has been through, time and time again and although the show does not give much explanation on this, leaving everything on the watcher, his character holds so much more than he lets on.


Mei Lin and her ordinary aspirations and how that plays in her personality: Originating from a small town, Qingzhou, she is just a common girl wanting to live a normal life. But this all changes due to the Qingzhou fire, ultimately making her a strong assassin. We see her wanting nothing more but to kill Murong Jinghe, even training so hard, facing every tribulation just to take revenge on behalf of Qingzhou's fallen souls. But this all changes when she knows the truth, and it is her intelligence that allows her to quickly adjust and spare Murong Jinghe and even place her trust in him despite wanting to end him for ten years.

Now she is chucked into a power struggle, working with the seeming culprit despite everything, her fearlessness and grit surprising others. It is her strength that lets her blend seamlessly within the palace, even though she found support from a concubine and even a prince from another kingdom. That does not deter her, even the tremendous scale of the operation and the consequences of the revenge, compared to her, a common assassin.

But despite all this, her dreams are to live a calm life, from wanting to live with her parents for life to open a cake shop after her revenge is done is all that she wishes to do. This is exactly why her goals feel lacking as compared to others, her compassion and empathy despite her being an assassin is what distinguishes her from many others, especially in the cutthroat palace environment.
She might seem like a powerful, undefeatable, even an omnipotent person, but in the events of the story, she was just a pawn who was burning with the fire of revenge. It is only when we and the characters get to know her is when we know her personality and how she inevitably influences the people and the events around her, despite her lack of status.

Mei Lin and Murong Jinghe, and the doomed nature of their relationship:
Two people who were never supposed to meet got thrown into the eternal fire of revenge, their broken and bloody puzzle pieces fitting with each other in an unsightly manner. The assassin and her target, the wronged prince, and his pawn to conduct his revenge, but it all changes as they finally work with each other and let the other person mend them.

It is when they finally fall in love and expose their true nature to each other as nothing else but two young people who want a fair chance at life. Who also dare to be happy and innocent, despite the incessant torture in their lives. Despite them finally finding each other, the reality does not change, they have to pay the price for their revenge, pay the price for their actions, and continue their responsibilities. This is where we see that no matter what they do, it's always too late, they cannot save what is already broken, and love isn't a cure-all, despite what we have been told.


Murong Xuanlie, The Crown Prince: I was not going to mention other characters in my review, but his character stood out to me quite a lot. Amassing great respect and the status of crown prince throughout the ten years despite outwardly striving for a tranquil life since childhood is what makes him the perfect candidate in front of the officials and the public. He is the mirror image of Murong Jinghe in more ways than one, and instead of standing on his own, he always chases what Jinghe has, from the dagger to the throne of the crown prince, even going as far as to commit heinous crimes.

It is not just a power struggle for him, it is the culmination of all his insecurities, his jealousy, and even his apparent righteousness. The same show of righteousness is what distinguishes him from other antagonists, since he chants scriptures, feels for his partners and their sacrifices, and even dares to love but even the person he selflessly falls for should not belong to him, without any pushing and molding the reality. Despite being the favored child, all he wants to be is Murong Jinghe, and the ways through which he makes sure that he achieves his goals, unlike the third prince, is what makes him irredeemable.

The storytelling, the shortcomings and what could it have been:

In my head, I have divided the story into three parts, the strategizing, the revenge, and the aftermath, and despite its limitations, the aftermath was my favorite arc. In most historical shows, we only rarely see after the big events, of how the characters cope and how the world heals around them. Not delving into the plot a lot, one of my favorite scenes was the conversation between the emperor and the third prince after everything, it was not only between a father and son but also a judge and the accused. Moreover, the events following that, the rebuilding, the healing, and everything that was not mentioned by my fellow watchers became one of my favorite scenes throughout the show.

But here is where some things became a little uncomfortable, some loose ends remained untied, and somewhere along the way it gave too much importance to the second male lead, the writers trying their best to equate him to the male lead (nothing against the character or the actor).

Even though the end was anticipated by me at the beginning, some of the events near the end were just put there for the sake of it, which brings me to my biggest criticism, "The Pacing". The pacing at the beginning was faster than expected, which on its own, is not a bad thing, but it could have been better. More time should have been given to building up the main characters and their animosity which might have filled the gap at the end. The end did not seem to drag or mindless to me but nonetheless, it is a valid criticism and much of it could have been avoided.

Another thing that could have been better is to reduce the focus on other love lines, although one of the character pairings was historically accurate, and it was realistic, it became a big deterrent for future viewers. My advice to that is to ignore that whole thing overall as I did and did not feel too much for that.
As for the second main pairing, it was never romantic but only mainly manipulative and I have seen reviews being angry at the second female lead for falling for that person, which to me never felt like falling. It was manipulative and toxic, even when things showed their truth, she was far too gone in the big scheme of things that despite choosing the right path, she could not change her heart. Yes, it would have been better to not show that but then again I understood where they came from, but even then romanticizing it was not the best choice. I have a bone to pick with the makers about that, but if you only look at her as a victim of physical and mental manipulation, you might be able to understand where I am coming from.

Lastly, as I have not read the novel I do not have a frame of reference, so I cannot compare nor do I want to. This show is a separate adaptation and needs to be treated as such. This drama should not have been treated as a big hit, but as a substantial drama, something that only gets better as time passes, and that is only how it can be watched freely. Comparing it to other shows would not give justice to this show, as in my honest opinion, it is quite an intricate show that might not be for everyone despite its virality. The plot for most parts is solid, the acting is great, and even the music score complements the show greatly. Both Wu Jinyan and Liu Xueyi after getting hits in the first and second quarter of the year, have once again done their best to provide justice to their characters and bring them to life.

My final verdict is that this show is worth your time and brain space, but you do not have to be kind to it or find excuses to watch for a certain actor, or not watch it because of the events and other things, but to watch it as it is given to you, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Thank you for reading!

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