Blossoms of Power Episode 17

Chasing love and a theory of looming danger

I didn't expect Huayong to get the Duke of Wei's approval so soon, but I am not complaining. They both looked so excited to get to fight side by side, almost like brothers-in-arms. 😅Oh, and I love Tian Yuan — he's the ultimate wingman for Xiao Huayong. He finally told Xihe everything the Crown Prince was hiding from her, how much he had risked his life for her and what he had done... and I can only guess that her heart has changed a bit towards him, right? 😏🤗Cui using his power to manipulate Lei into allowing his visits to the Heir of Marquis Shunan's mansion... I think this guy is taking notes right from the Crown Prince's playbook... 😅🤭But the backstory of how Changqing tried to save his wife and the Gu family kind of made me feel very sad for him. That scene made me look a little differently at him and his mother, which only leads to the realization that nothing is as it seems. And considering that, I start to wonder — if the Emperor really is as terrible as he is slowly being painted... Could that mean he marries his sons to the daughters of powerful families so his sons could get access to that power, and then marks those families as traitors and executes them so the power stays with his family alone? 🤔 If that is true, then the Shen family might be in danger after the marriage of Xihe and Huayong... is it not? 🫣

Read More

Tian Yuan's reminder & Prince Xin

Another enjoyable episode with good fun from Peter Ho, He Yu and everyone's favourite second couple. I just want to note down two highlights for me:

1. Tian Yuan sharing with FL about ML's love and sacrifices for her:
+ Yes, it's very nice and heart-warming...
- At the same time, it's full of... cliche and plot armours: ML is too OP for a sick person. His poison is supposed to eat his life span away. But damn, dude has a commanding physique, even a veteran general is impressed. If I'm that sick (let's say, his illness is like that of cancer), I won't be able to charge head first at the enemy troupe full of poisoned arrows OR run through the night up-then-down-then-up-again around some alley and mountain on a one-person search party OR climb up a snowy mountain at a dangerously high altitude without proper gears (is it the "chi" thing?) because I'd be out of oxygen and delirious before I get anything done. (Thinking to self: It's a fantasy. It's fictional. It's the grand gestures. It's entertaining. Logic be out the window, bye bye, it's okay.)

2. I'm still very intrigued with Prince Xin. This could have been a story with him and FL being the leads. But, I'm good with the current story too. Just being a little greedy. Some thoughts I have about him up to this episode: https://mydramalist.com/769787-dong-feng-xin#comment-26880116

Read More

Passing muster

The Duke of Wei’s visit was cut short and he was called away to handle some skirmishes. He was ambushed en route and was targeted by archers with poisoned arrows. This time there is no camouflage of his identity or ability. The crown prince shows up to boldly co lead the Duke’s squadron. They fight side by side and defeat the assassins. Even this display of courage and fortitude did not completely convince the Duke that the Crown Prince was the right suitor. He commended him on his abilities and then began interrogating him on his motivations for choosing his daughter. Here candor won over the Duke’s doubts. He then called out a toast to his father in law that was eventually accepted and cheered on by the rest of the group. After leaving, the word coming back to the Princess is that a very small group had interfered with her father and the Crown Prince was milking it for all he was worth. The Crown Prince puts on his usual show of helplessness and she finally calls him on it. His aide arranges to meet the Princess and gives him an exact account of the past events. He puts them in context and the degree of danger that had been invested on her behalf. She was assured that in spite of his appearance in her presence that he had sincerely put his life on the line for her several times. She sees the Crown Prince wearing the cloak she’d made for her father and she is not happy to have to acknowledge it. She let him know that whether or not he had won her father over, she was still unmoved about accepting the engagement. At a banquet designed for the princes to show off archery skills to significant others, the crown prince collapses from something added to the fruit that should not have been a danger to him. He has a chat with his father to have the princess administer meds for him. She is far from enthused with the task but accepts the duty she is given. She does now tell the prince he can drop the feint of heart act.😂Not sure who schemed for her to be in charge of the spring banquet but that was not going over with her peers. She did refuse it since not officially married and here the women could gossip that something was amiss about the engagement. The scene then goes to her ex husband who did everything in his power to plead for the Gu family. He left no stone unturned in providing evidence of their service and firm belief that a betrayal from them was not possible. As a last resort, he offered to exchange his life for his wife’s. The crown prince hears of an official retiring and ensures that the Princess’ maternal grandfather gets the position. She is not ready for his response that as part of her family that was simply his duty to her and not a power play with the court. Whether she lets her heart change or not she is now finally seeing his actions in context. Her ex is not giving up and has requested she show up for the memorial ceremony of his wife. He plans on confirming she is somehow the reincarnation of his lost wife. One thing is clear, her character somehow manages to get the utmost devotion from suitors. ShuLin is brought up on charges and finds herself facing Minister Cui. He has taken it upon himself to find every minuscule infringement from her past to air before him there. 🤣 He is not the least bit concerned about her outrage and I bet thinks she’s cute angry.🤣😂She recognizes that she has no way out and storms off to accept her job. 🤣 These two…are by far the best couple and characters in the story so far. 👏🏻The story is showing the gradual unveiling of the real Crown Prince. The Princess is already well acquainted with the worst judgments the powers that be can exercise. What she has to decide is if she can think about accepting a partner rather than pawn to deal with the corruption. She is given pause to consider since even her father was won over. However, she has all the graves of the Gu family to consider as well. I am not as worried about plot holes etc if more character driven and they maintain my interest above and beyond the flawed creative choices of storyline. For me, the main couple still holds my attention well and the secondary couple ensures I want to continue watching.

Read More