A slowburn worth watching

Needless to say that I’ve re-watched this drama for a ridiculous amount of times. It’s a slowburn drama of a love so selfless, I’m rather surprised that many of the reviews seemed to hate the ending to this really beautiful story. A warning though that this review will contain mostly specific rants on specific characters. I may sound biased of course but at least you know that I am so take everything with a bit of salt of you will.

Let’s get one thing straight though, the story is also flawed especially one of the characters. I specifically felt little empathy for the role of the Emperor for his atrocious behavior towards Tilan. You may defend him all you want saying he’s just really heartbroken and traumatized because of what happened in the past but that it is of no excuse whatsoever to treat Tilan the way he did and you can’t convince me otherwise. It left my tongue a bitter taste when they gradually had a better relationship but I’ll never forgive him for the things he’s done to this poor girl who was most likely forced to be his consort for political reasons and was caught in the middle of every problem towards the story. I’m not saying he’s not someone to forgive but tbh, if I were in Tilan’s shoes, I would have just killed myself rather than suffer the way she did. She didn’t deserve any of it really.

But anyhow, I’m glad their’s is not the main focus of the story though they played a big part in the decision making of our main couple. I read a lot of comments saying they dropped this drama because they felt frustrated especially towards the latter episodes. Let me give my two cents about this though: I think the frustration we felt is only natural and I would like to explain why I think it is starting with the character of Fang Jianming.

Fang Jianming has spent most of his life being right hand man and bestfriend of the Emperor. He’s his best man and he shared almost all his life serving him not only as an official but as his closest confidante. Hence, it’s not farfetched to say that he hadn’t taken any considerable amount of thought for other relationships especially with girls though he has been promised to one by his parents. He was young and with a promising career as the then potential Emperor’s right hand. He also cared deeply for Emperor Xu since they grew up together. And so when the time comes when he felt attracted to a girl he really likes, it’s only natural to see him struggle between wanting to be with her and maintaining the quality of service he’s always given his bestfriend. I honeslty only saw his seemingly selfless attitude as him being very calculating as he has always done his entire life. He’s one of the highest ranking officials in the country mainly responsible for the military since they had to go to war very often to protect their territories. I doubt intimate and serious relationships will be something he’s up to par with while he battles state enemies and rebelling tribes. Ergo, when he found himself falling for his disciple and her reciprocating his affections, it’s bound to be a really difficult journey for the both of them. As for his condescending attitude towards people, well please remember that the story is done in a traditional setting hence as a master of his own pavillion and a high ranking official from an affluent family, he would have been raised with a temperament of a man who can have anything he wants and not be questioned for it. He is arrogant yes but he backs it up with great combat skills and dignified and fair leadership. He enforces discipline towards his subordinates as one would expect from a high ranking military officer.

On the other hand, there is Haishi and her passionate attitude towards people she really cares about. I really like her character as she’s so honest with her thoughts and feelings which poor Jianming probably envied a little since he’s never been given such liberties. Many wanted her to just leave Jianming since he seems to only play with her feelings and always has an ulterior motive in every decision he makes towards their relationship. But I don’t think she’s exactly clueless about those motives though. She’s of a quick mind but she’s also very biased so she tends to assume things, getting ahead of herself more often that she cares to admit. Since she’s grown up treating Jianming as her master, I didn’t really expect her to have full confidence in making him fall for her charms. He also didn’t fully really realize his own feelings until he sees Haishi getting attention from another man. I oddly find it cute that they both share the same trait when it comes to dating lol.

In any case, this is actually the first time I felt truly understanding of a drama’s ending. It concluded the whole plot really well and to the best it can be. Selfless but still relying on each other till the end. I would be honest though and say that I would rather they end up together but I don’t think making them selfish towards the end would be the right way to go. They had to do what they had to do. They chose to do it because they know that many lives depend on it. They both share a passion of caring for people and they fit each other well because of it. And so I say, it’s a fitting ending for a selfless love.

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