* This is my first Cheng Yi drama. I clearly see why he's so popular. Phewwwww boy. *heart eyes* for SURE.

* I don't see the fuss with Zhang Yu Xi as Cheng Ruo Yu. She acts just fine.

* Cheng Ruo Yu's character here at the beginning is insolent, stubborn, naive, and pig-headed. By episode 4, she's already invaded the Emporer's personal space, directly defied him multiple times, refuses to offer a greeting/parting bow, gives him attitude, and even TEARS HIS SHIRT SLEEVE OFF before throwing it on the floor and defiantly stalking off with an attitude. GIRRRRL WHAT. I've watched enough palace CDRAMAS (lol) to know that any of those would have been enough to execute her. Her hard-headedness astounds me. Naivety is one thing, but completely passing off all decorum is suicide in that type of world. At the same time, it seems like that's already their rapport - the physical closeness and bluntness. They've gotten fairly comfortable with each other in a short period of time and they've already established a bit of chemistry and had more skinship in 4 episodes than I've seen in most CDRAMAS put together. Totally not mad about it from the perspective that it usually takes like 35 episodes for 1 handhold in these types of dramas, lol.

*I'm looking forward to seeing how this drama unfolds, especially the dynamic between Duke Qiu and Qi Yan. I'm admittedly a big whump lover and can already sniff out the conflicted tortured soul vibes from our pretty Emporer. He's done a lot of terrible things as shown in his flashbacks, and I'm hoping for solid explanations or proper atonement.

* Holy bananas, Qi Yan with his hair loose and in his red robe. I can watch that all day. A__A

* I've seen some remarks from other commentators about the plot not making much sense- not seeing the fuss. I'm following it just fine. It's really not complicated and it's held my interest very well, so far.

* I've read that Cheng Yi is known for "spitting blood prettily" - 11 episodes in and I haven't been gifted with that sight yet, lol.

* Qi Yan was (and still is) a filial and loving brother to his older brother, the previous Emporer. That much is and has always been clear, but even more so with the few flashbacks, we've been seeing recently. I like the relatively morbid tokens he's kept from the people he's cared about and feels responsible for. That he keeps them close to his heart still, and talks to them as if they're in the room. He's a very lonely person.

*Duke Qiu really is an insidious bastard.

* Those oopsy-daisy trip & land in your arm moments crack me up since it's already been used like 3 or 4x. Still not mad about skinship, lol.

"Note it!" HAHA.

* I don't trust Qi Yan's uncle, Prince Guang, for some reason. Not at all. I worry for Qi Yan.

{{{ Episode 18 Update: }}}

*Still following the plot very easily. I like the moving pieces and the backstory that's unfolding for our main characters.
Lots of BIG moves in these latest episodes that are exciting.

*Only qualm so far is the OST is a little sloppy and its disjointedness can break an otherwise emotional or passionate scene. That's been a little frustrating here and there. Not that the songs in and of themselves are bad, but they ebb and flow in a jarring way sometimes, instead of using smooth or more organic transitions.

* I'm not a fan of Qi Yan's Eunuch Huai Zhi. It might be the dubbing, but I'm really bothered by his acting and his crocodile tears

*I like Qi Yan's fortitude, both mentally and physically. Even when injured, he tries not to show it and tries to push through instead of creating dramatics out of it.


{{{Episode 35 Update}}}

* Never mad about a Qi Yan scene with his hair loose. My goodness, gracious, is he beautiful.

* His cry face is gorgeous.

* Whump. Whump. Whump. Yum.

* Still hate Eunach Huai Zhi. I can't pinpoint if it's the over-dub, the facial expressions, the crying sounds, or a mixture of each (probably the latter). He really, really, takes away from the gravity of any scene he's in. He's horrendously cast and it's frustrating because he's often paired with Qi Yan in scenes, so I'm forced to bear through it.

* Still like Cheng Ruo Yu.

* Plot is still good, although I'll be honest, I've skipped through a bit (a lot...) here and there to get back to Qi Yan. These later episodes have so much exposition and plot movement, that the many players overload the screen and sometimes take away from what drew me in the first place (Cheng Yi). Despite skipping through, I'm still easily able to grasp the many machinations of the plot.

* The romance is cute, I like how in-tune they are with the other; although, they're not immune to miscommunication and crossed signals (the good ole "shes better off far away from me to keep her safe so let's say the opposite of how we're really feeling to push her away" trope came in a few times. There were also moments that were very clearly meant to be romantic but Ruo Yu misinterpreted the meaning - I don't know HOW but she somehow manages). Still, any miscommunication is typically quickly squashed so we're not having to deal with a ton of wasted time between the two pining for the other.

* OST is pretty. Still jarring at times in the way it is edited, but I like the OST between Qi Yan and Ruo Yu.

{{{Episode 42 update}}}

* I've grown pretty impatient of all of the continuously moving plot chess pieces throughout but I'm still mesmerized by scenes with Qi Yan and his awful godfather, Duke Qiu. There is a scene in Episode 42 that is especially profound in its intensity between the two. I think this scene is acted gorgeously with abuser vs victim being the main mentality that came to the forefront. You can see young Qi Yan here, afraid of Duke Qiu - a frightened boy in Emporers clothes. I really liked this scene and watched the physical intensity between them several times. The way he pulls at Duke Qiu's clothing desperately. It was all very heartbreaking to watch.

"You cannot let me suffer the pain of heartbreak alone."

{{{Episode 44}}}

* I don't even know what's going on anymore. LOL. Not because the plot is hard to follow, but because I lost interest in it and just skip through for Qi Yan's scenes. It really doesn't help that I was watching this simultaneously with The Rise of Phoenixes and literally every aspect of that show is better than this one. Production, story, acting, plot, cinematography, set design, etc. Literally everything. Still, I'm not mad about the whump with Qi Yan all the time- I live for that all by itself.

* Cheng Yi and the bloody lip. Came in around a quarter of the way through, and never left. Yeaaaaa. :)

* I like the voice actor for Cheng Yi.

*At some point, probably around Ep. 41 or 42, I became less impressed with Ruo Yu. Her emotional scenes aren't as impactful or convincing. It honestly might just be the overdub or the editing. I don't think it's wholly the actress's fault.

{{{Episode 49}}}

* Tissues. Have them.

*Strange ending because it's a bit....open ended?

* I was pleasantly surprised by 1 or 2 major characters at the end. I was wrong about them and it was fun to catch myself in the mistake (even though I sorely lacked in knowing the full context of the plot after having skipped through the last quarter of the series, lol.