Not a romance drama

This drama left a very bad feeling behind after I watched it. The FL was spineless and subservient, and the ML was abusive, violent, and had mental issues. I fail to understand how a woman can fall in love with someone who threatens to kill her just because she bought fish and wanted to cook something special - I skipped the entire scene because it was too violent for me to watch. If this was a dream sequence of the FL, then it just leaves me flabbergasted that she still believes she is in love with the ML!

Each episode is of 3 minutes and the whole drama somehow feels as if it is incomplete. Why would the mom suddenly become so avaricious that she sells her daughter to the rich? How can the daughter not have any clue of her mom's nature? You cannot be so dumb in life. And even after she realizes this, she just forgives her mom as if it is an everyday event.

So many negative characters in the drama starting from the ML, FL's Mom, her work colleagues, and her sister-in-law - who was a b***h from hell. Not to talk of the ML's father who thought it right to buy a human just so that she does not get sold off to some other rich household. For a man who has reached a ripe old age and himself a father of a girl, he appears to be singularly lacking in morals, is selfish, and ruthless - he chooses to "buy" the FL (as if she is a commodity) from her mom instead of taking aid of the law and reporting the matter to the police and getting the women arrested for human trafficking.

In the end, the writers even introduced a teacher who is supposedly in love with the FL and is willing to wait for her until God knows when. Our blind & dumb FL however chooses to stay in a toxic relationship with her so-called husband just because .........I am still wondering why??? Romance? Love??.... I say BS.

To the writer of this drama (if you are reading this review) : stop encouraging and selling abusive relationship stories in the name of romance or at least write something that inspires all those women out there who are in such relationships to find the strength and willpower to fight back.

For those who do not want to spoil their mood - please stay away from this drama - there are better and more pleasant things to do in life!

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Predictable & boring

The story lacks originality - it has a car accident, amnesia, kidnapping, attempted murder, a psycho stepmom, a perverted stepbrother, a jealous stepsister, and finally business rivalry. I can openly say that I skipped through the whole drama but continued watching simply because I hoped for some improvement.

Overall, the drama is boring. I also disliked the ML - bad acting, stiff and expressionless, poor posture. He was completely unsuitable for this role. The kissing scenes were blah - this is the first time I am watching a show which has a fair number of kisses, but you cannot see any chemistry between the leads -kissing for the sake of kissing bcoz the script demanded it...... I actually fast-forwarded them.

Needless to say, re-watching this drama is out of the question.

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Plot holes

Before I start - let me say that Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu make an awesome pair and I definitely will look forward to their future collaborative ventures.

The drama overall was poorly edited, had inconsistencies, and lacked logic. The cinematography/Direction was awesome. Now for the rant -

The king greatly favored the ML character (Ling Buiyi) and treated him as his son. Had Ling Buiyi informed the King about his real identity and the person who killed his family and clan, there is no way the king would not have supported him in his quest for revenge. Moreover, Liang Buiyi himself revealed to the King in the last episode that he had so much power that he could easily usurp the Crown Prince. Why did Ling Buiyi decide to avenge without informing anyone and choose to abandon his relationship with FL (Shaoshang/Niao Niao)? This in itself was the biggest plot hole in the drama.

The main characters had very good chemistry, but this was not properly explored in the drama. I thought Shaoshang forgiving Ling Buiyi was rushed and almost emotionally forced - she was too upset over the fact that he did not survive the fire. There was angst in their separation, but I felt that Ling Buiyi did not make any attempt to regain her trust. This meant that even though he was dishonest in their relationship, he was still forgiven without any effort on his part to forge and build trust.

Too much screen time was given to the actress playing Empress Xan - the scene where she requests the king to depose her, and her death scene was exhausting to watch - the scenes should have been cut short to less than 5 minutes instead of almost 30 minutes of airtime.

Ling Buiyi literally falls from the cliff edge and STILL survives and lives to see another day. How? Magical wings...I mean strings?? A pregnant woman (He Zhao Jun) in labor falls almost 10 feet below - no harm to either her or the baby. It felt like I was watching an old irrational movie.

The story dragged in part 2 - Unnecessary plots such as Lou Ben's crime and subsequent death and the last episode where Shaoshang saves the Guo village - she would not have survived had her family not come to save her. By the way, how did they know that she needed help??

Why they had to show that Shao Shang gives up her family/friends for 5 years and lives a secluded life with the ex-Empress? Her character was that of a strong woman who never backs off from a challenge that life throws at her. I hated to see her mellowed and lifeless. To top it off, wasn't 5 years of separation way too long?

Throughout the drama, Shao Shang's character is that of a smart, intelligent woman but after 5 years of living a lonely life, she loses all her senses and brain cells - she travels with Luo Jitong and Lady Lou on 2 separate occasions even though she knew that one lied about her relationship with Ling Buiyi and the other bullied her in the past.

Last episode - I would have preferred if the drama had ended at episode 51. However, in order that Shao Shang forgives Buyi, there were unnecessary last-moment illogical tracks. Not to mention, the main characters gazing at the stars and gushing long boring dialogues made the last couple of minutes a drag. There was no display of passion when they meet again after 5 years of separation.

On the acting front, they could have got some good actor playing the role of Lou Yao (the actor looked like a kid who is obsessed with his teacher), the Actor playing Crown Prince Yuan - whether it was the actor or the character, he was irritating to watch - no personality at all - maybe it was intentional, but I did not like both the actors and hence skipped through their scenes. Many did not like the character Yuan Shen as he was the third wheel - I thought the actor played his role well. I read some comments on the ML having a blank expression throughout - I agree he does carry deadpan expressions in a few scenes, but I believe he made up for the shortfall with his body language. Kudos...for such a young lad, he sure has a bright future and time for improvement.

I would have normally given an overall rating of 5 or less. The only reason I scored it 6 was because of the main leads.

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Overrated drama

I was constantly putting off watching this drama as I am not a fan of ML. Having nothing better to do, finally found time to watch. This drama is so overrated.

There is absolutely no respect for any of the female characters. FL's character - she was so pathetic, lacking in self-confidence, had a huge inferiority complex, and was so desperate to get into a relationship - it was embarrassing to watch. When FL came to know the real reason why her fiancé dumped her, her reaction was cringeworthy - she ran straight to her parents and started crying loudly. She is supposed to be a 32-year-old woman, but that scene made me wince because she was acting like a teenager going through her first heartbreak.

Pray, does life really end for a woman if she does not have a partner?? I DO NOT think so!

The amount of alcohol that these ladies are shown to be drinking throughout the drama, it is a wonder that they still have a liver.

The ML had no interest in the FL in the first instance - he mistook her for his ex-GF and carried out revenge that ruined FL's happily ever after love life. Apart from his work, the ML was neither physically good-looking nor had any remarkable character that could attract a normal female. I am still wondering what made the FL fall in love with him so that she makes a fool out of herself again and again.

All said, the worst drama of all times. If I could rate it zero or negative, I would.

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Disappointing

Finally found the time to watch this one - after such high reviews. If you are expecting drama similar to Legend of Fuyao or Princess Agents - do not watch. I happen to love strong female characters and was looking forward to this drama. What I got to watch was poor acting - especially by the FL. This actress is better suited for modern dramas or where there is not much action or emotions involved. In this drama, she was supposed to be a trained warrior - there was a scene where she was being chased by soldiers and she is running to evade them - it was actually comical to see her running.

The writers I believe got confused about what exactly they wanted to narrate. FL's character initially wanted revenge - she is supposed to be a strategic thinker, but I never got to see it. I found her dumb, and easily lead/manipulated.

The ML had a very strong screen presence but unfortunately appeared very stiff in the scenes with FL. This could be bcoz he is too young, but he definitely is a promising actor.

Overall, I liked the actor playing Young Khan/Ashile She Er and Zhao Lusi - playing Princess Yuouyan. The actor playing Hao Du has been praised immensely @MDL but to me, he appeared constipated most of the time.

Such a waste of time watching this drama. I am amazed that this show has been so highly rated in MDL.

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An illogical conspiracy story

This drama started off well but then somewhere mid it derailed. Family members of both the leads conspire with the FL and inform the ML that she died in a car accident. The FL then pretends to be someone else and flaunts her supposed fiancé to test the ML's love. The ML on the other hand after hearing his wife died in a car accident does not bother to check with the local authorities but tries to look for her body (which is missing along with the car!) in a forest that does not have ANY evidence of the mishap.
Not to be left behind in the art of scheming at the end, ML pretends to be seriously ill and gets admitted to the hospital. A deeply regretful FL declares her love and then when all is fine, the ML continues to remain in the hospital (even though he is hale and hearty) instead of accompanying the FL back home. You wonder why?? Well, it is for the psycho #iwannabeyourgirlfriend SFL to kidnap and then attempt to kill the FL.
Apart from the nonsensical predictable storyline here are things that I disliked about the characters -
1. ML is dependent on his parents financially and does no work at home or anywhere else. Spends his time pondering about his lost ex-love. Even after his marriage to FL, he is lying (literally on the sofa) around the house doing nothing. How irresponsible.
2. FL is supposed to be a chirpy, innocent character - she was annoying. Maybe it is the way she delivers highly intense emotional dialogues... I detest a screeching female be it an FL or SFL or anyone else.
3. Too many interferences from the family in order to get the lead together especially brainless plans by ML's sister
4. ML's ex-girlfriend's psycho sister #iwannabeyourgirlfriend - such characters exist in almost ALL Thai dramas.

Personally, I like to see romance where the ML is possessive and jealous (which he is) and therefore would love to see a remake minus many scenes that I skipped through - e.g., the romance between the house helps... and since I did not like the ML's sister's constant scheming, I skipped through her scenes as well.

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Good story but poor acting.

Well - drama has a good storyline but the actors have no skills to pull it through. Both the leads are bad actors - FL is so OTP in most of the scenes that it is almost cringe-worthy instead of funny or amusing. She also makes all sorts of facial expressions that I absolutely detested. Long story short - I did not like FL. ML is supposed to be cold and serious but the actor playing the role has no strong scene presence and as such comes across as someone who has been given too much power but does not know what to do with it. Other actors playing mafia roles are also laughable and therefore not believable.

Hope some other producer in Korea or China picks up the story and remakes it with better actors and preferably with a better Director.

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Disaster

Once again, an overrated drama at MDL- do not watch if you value your time! This drama has, I am sorry to say a very stupid, dumb, annoying FL - sorry ZLS not even your pretty face is going to make me write kind words....and a ML who imitates the Leaning Tower of Pisa to a tee - what is wrong with his neck?? Excuse me for being harsh but it is better to be honest than write false praises - ML if you are reading this - you need to improve your posture, reduce the amount of white powder you apply on your face as makeup and put on some weight and build your physique if you want to appear horrendously scary and imposing.

I also thought that the leads had an incest relationship in this drama - I have grimaced whenever they kiss and then called each other brother and little sister - no amount of "oppa" reasoning has helped.

None of the male actors had any scene presence - this includes the ML, SML, and the actor playing the SML's best friend. I will happily skip any of the dramas that they deem to act in the future.

The story - what in the world were the writers trying to narrate? It went round and round in circles over some fake longevity pill!

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Overhyped drama

This drama was on my watchlist due to its high scoring in MDL. I, unfortunately, was not able to connect with it at all. The story (that I watched) was interesting but what made me lose interest was the FL. FL's character is of a psychiatrist and yet she screeches, yells, and has anger management issues. At no time did she behave as a psychiatrist and most often came across as if she needed to visit one.

I really tried to ignore the actress playing the character and shift my attention toward the ML, but I reached a stage where I just could not stand watching her gimmicks.

Dropped out as I was in no mood to be accommodating.

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