An intelligent person can be seen in the eyes

That's how the main hero of The Advisors Alliance can be characterised in one sentence. He reminds me of a simplified version of Mei Chang Su from Nirvana in Fire with elements of humor. I liked his “eagle” eye. Probably, many smart people have a similar eye, which is impossible to hide, just as it is impossible to hide their intelligence. But such people are not liked in society, and if they are also decent and principled, they are just hated.

You might be wondering why I was so worried, as if for myself, about the main heroine of a Chinese historical drama called The Imperial Doctress Yun Xian when I watched it. Not only did I have the same vulnerable heart and soul as she did, but I also experienced similar bullying in both the male and female teams because I was beautiful, intelligent, talented, and most importantly, honest and decent. Those wenches who were plotting against her were not even kikimoras, but rather worse — a solid serpentarium with vipers. And I cried tears for the man I loved no less than Yun Xian did, maybe even more. But he could hardly be called a man. He is an unscrupulous pig, just like the character he has performed in that Chinese drama.

Si Ma Yi, the protagonist of the historical series The Advisors Alliance, also had a difficult fate. He has been through a lot: ridicule, mockery, threats, prison, tortures, and the list goes on. I should immediately say that the title of the series does not correspond to its content, at least not the title in English. That's how could be called only the first few episodes of the drama, as well as the events that preceded its first episode. In my opinion, this is not a story about some alliance of advisers, but about the main hero, what he has done for his country, and about his family.

I understand Si Ma Yi's reluctance to get involved in politics and serve as a courtier. Very few decent people want to be involved in politics, because as we all know, there is probably no dirtier business in the world than politics. But he still had to become a courtier to protect his family, and choose a side. I was happy about that, because such people should serve the nation and the country. Only those people who don't seek power, but perceive their authorities as a duty and responsibility to be fulfilled, are able to really change something for the better in their state and society. Those who seek power, on the contrary, should not be allowed to hold high positions, because such people usually use their power only for the sake of profit, in their mercantile interests.

I think Si Ma Yi has chosen the right prince. Of all the princes shown in the series, he was the most qualified to be the crown prince, and later the ruler. This, of course, does not mean that he is the best human being of them all. There was another prince who was very much loved by his father because he was kind, and so he wanted to make him the crown prince. That prince reminded me of the Chinese actor Huang Xuan: the same lover of poetry, “hovering in the clouds”, who surrounded himself with scoundrels. If you gave such a jerk the reins of the state, he would destroy it in a week. He didn't listen to anyone, just got drunk, when he should have been watching his every move and not making mistakes. As a result, what happened happened. We can and should be kind, but we have no right to be naive and foolish, because Christ commanded us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

There was a male character in the drama who was completely opposite to the protagonist: a sycophant even better than Huang Xuan, with huge ambitions. He was licking the King's ass so much that I had the impression his tongue was going to get stuck there. The end of that male character is logical and just.

I would like to emphasise that I watched episodes of the drama with English subtitles posted on YouTube by China Zone. I evaluated the series based on them. Everyone chooses where to watch dramas. For me, it's more convenient to watch on YouTube. So, the first two episodes of the series posted on YouTube have very cool opening and ending screensavers. They are long and fascinating. But in the following episodes, they were shortened, and in the later ones, the opening sequence was changed altogether. It was done in vain. Full screensavers are a pleasure to watch. I have returned to the first two episodes of the series more than once to watch them again. Later, I looked on Rakuten Viki, and there were full screensavers in the episodes.

But I'm not going to focus too much on the screensavers. A much bigger problem of this drama is the same problem that exists in the Chinese historical series Shang Yang Fu — the lack of normal artistic design of the episodes' endings. The episodes were cut short in various places without any logic. But I won't waste your time and dwell on this topic either. If you want to know how in my opinion the endings of drama episodes should be, watch the South Korean series Arthdal Chronicles. There are such endings in the episodes that are breathtaking.

By the way, I used to recommend the viewers to take a closer look at one character in that Korean TV series named Eun Seom. Now I want to reveal why I have paid attention to him. In my opinion, Eun Seom, aka Aramun Haesulla, is the prototype of the Lord Jesus Christ, his twin brother and complete opposite, Sa Ya, is the prototype of the antichrist, and Ta Gon is, accordingly, the prototype of the devil. Watch that series and you will understand why I think so. This is an addition to what I have written about in my review of the Chinese drama Marvelous Women.

In The Advisors Alliance, I also saw familiar words and phrases. In the first episode, one of the characters says about a pregnant woman in labour that she can relax. But in my opinion, by the word “relax” in this case he means that she can get worse, that she can become paralysed, because in the Bible, people who are sick and paralysed are called relaxed.

In the ninth episode, one of the male characters says his subordinate the following: “I dare to say no armies can compete with my tiger calvary”. According to the Gospels, Calvary was the name of the place where Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross.

In the twenty-eighth episode, I have heard from the royal eunuch a famous phrase that has long since become a catchphrase, which I think many people know, namely: “Rome is not build in one day”. However, the more correct English spelling of this expression is the following: “Rome was not built in a day”. 

That’s the usual English translation of a medieval French phrase “Rome ne fu pas faite toute en un jour”, from the collection Li Proverbe au Vilain, published around 1190. The expression is given in English in John Heywood's A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue (1538). Nowadays, this expression is one of the most commonly used English idioms.

The undoubted advantage of this series is its cast. I have no complaints neither about the selection of actors for the roles nor about the acting. Wu Xiu Bo revealed all the facets of his character. Si Ma Yi turned out to be a strong, colourful character who was interesting to watch.

Yu He Wei performed even better. He has been, as they say, “on the horse” here. His character, as well as his acting in Shang Yang Fu, did not impress me. But he is much stronger here. After watching Shang Yang Fu, I thought his character there was a dangerous schemer and usurper of power. But after watching The Advisors Alliance, I realised that in comparison to Cao Cao, that his character was just a cute, harmless hippo. :)

I particularly remembered one scene with his participation at the end of the fifteenth episode, a dialogue between his character and one of the ministers. That minister beautifully, calmly and concisely told Cao Cao who he really was. Wang Jin Song's acting in that scene, as well as Yu He Wei's, was top-notch.

I could give my brief description of Cao Cao: a vile, distrustful, bloodthirsty intriguer, a cunning fox, a cruel and bloody tyrant, a despot and usurper of power who deliberately provoked a feud between his sons. Not a character, just a “bomb”! And you will feel it from the very first episode of the drama. In appearance, he reminded me of a pheasant: I wanted to pull him by his long beard. I was glad that before he died, he finally understood that the one who wrote poetry well had to write poetry, and the one who was best able to rule had to rule.

The male cast is good, but the female one is even better. All the actresses in the series are tall and slender like birches. However, for me, Liu Tao is beyond competition. I suppose that's how it happens in life: the actress who resembles you the most in real life is the one you like the most. At least that's how it is with me and Liu Tao. That was her third acting work that I watched, and I was not disappointed in her.

I still remember how in Legend of Mi Yue Liu Tao has shown a smooth, logical and consistent transition of her character from good to bad. This is real acting talent and skill. Sun Li, with her bad acting, can't stand next to her. Liu Tao knows how to choose roles for herself. One is better than the other, and all are so brilliant. The role of Zhang Chun Hua is no exception. Besides, she looks great in armour.

I advised Huang Xuan to act a love couple with her in a historical drama, but that fool never listened to me. Because he has no understanding of real female beauty or female moral qualities, not to mention real female acting talent. Instead, he acted with his mistresses in one zombie-disgusting and one moscow-disgusting. My reviews didn’t go down well for him. Because you can't build your happiness on someone else's misery, especially on someone else's tears.

What is the artistic and literary value of the dramas he has acted in instead?! That's right, none. And what were Andy Lau and Janice Man thinking when they were filming in that moscow “poop”?! They have slipped from first-class historical dramas to that kind of crap. Although Andy Lau, with his brains like in a seashell, and Janice Man, with her figure of a surfboard, are only too happy to appear in such an abomination.

You know, maybe it's better that Huang Xuan hasn't acted with Liu Tao as a love couple in a drama. If he had, that drama should have been called “Beauty and the Beast. The Chinese version”. I think everyone could guess who would be the Beauty and who would be the Beast. But Huang Xuan thinks he is the first handsome man in China. Just look at his walk: he doesn't walk, but shows off for everyone. This is especially evident in the films and TV series in which he appears, because only on the stage can he be himself without damaging his reputation.

Returning to Liu Tao's character in The Advisors Alliance Zhang Chun Hua, I would like to say that I liked her the most out of all the characters in the drama. She and her husband are the best couple in the series for me. At first glance, they had nothing in common: she was direct, hot and fearless, he was shy, modest and silent; she was a martial arts master and he was a scientist. But in fact, they complemented each other perfectly, becoming a single unit over the years of their marriage.

The scenes with the participation of Zhang Chun Hua were the brightest and most memorable for me. I remembered how she effectively “returned” an arrow to one general with her foot, so that his eyes almost popped out of his head (it was a pity that arrow didn't hit him in the forehead, at least the lives of two innocent people could have been saved). In another scene, she kicked the zither so hard that it overturned. But the most spectacular moments were when she threw a powdered shade at her husband's forehead and then scratched the face of his colleague, who was mumbling to her about traditions, rules of conduct and other bullshit. Well done, a real tigress! Respect to that tigress from the blue water tigress. :):):)

What choice did she have? She was saving her marriage. Imagine, after twenty years of living together with her husband, having children and raising them, the Emperor has interfered in her family, pushing another woman to her husband by decree. In the end, she accepted it nevertheless, but her marriage was destroyed. That was what I disliked the most about the series, as well as its ending.  

I would like to explain why I think so. You see, from the very beginning of the world's creation, God has intended that there should be only one woman and one man in marriage. By entering into an intimate relationship with one woman, a man unites with her and becomes with her one body.

This is a real marriage, when a man and a woman become a single entity. If a man betrays that woman and enters into an intimate relationship with another woman, the connection with the previous one is severed, and thus the marriage is destroyed.

That was why Jesus Christ didn't recognise any other reason for divorce between a man and a woman than adultery. I will quote to you His words from the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 5, verses 31, 32: “It is also written: “If anyone puts away his wife, let him give her a letter of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who puts away his wife except in the guilt of fornication commits adultery. And he that marrieth her that is put away committeth adultery”.

In the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 19, verse 9, we also find the following words of Jesus: “And I say to you: Whoever puts away his wife, except for adultery, and marries another, commits adultery. And whoever marries a divorcee commits adultery”.

However, Christ recognised adultery as the only possible reason for divorce, understanding that marriages were concluded by sinful people, so there could be divorces between them. But at first, from the beginning of the world, according to God's original plan, there shouldn’t have been neither fornication and adultery, nor divorce. Even in the Old Testament, in the Book of Malachi, chapter 2, verse 16, the following is written: “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, God of Israel”.

That's why I almost cried when I watched how the Emperor destroyed such a beautiful couple and a wonderful marriage with his damn decree (I wish he had eaten it). This drama also shows that no man can truly love. Even the most devoted monogamist will still betray his wife if a beautiful “Barbie” is slipped under his nose. As they say, “where there is a spark, there will be a flame”. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Only One who truly loves, pities and sympathises with all women.

I personally want to address men who like to go to prostitutes and tell them the following: men, when you have sexual intercourse with a prostitute through whom many men have passed, you also unite with her and become a single one. Think about whether you like such a perspective and whether you should go to her.

Despite what happened to the marriage of Si Ma Yi and Zhang Chun Hua, I would like to dedicate to that couple of some songs by the deceased Greek singer Demis Roussos, which very much suited them. Those are the following songs: 1. My Friend The Wind. 2. Forever and Ever. 3. My Only Fascination. 4. My Reason.

When I was a child, my mother had a cassette with songs by that singer. I almost listened to it to the holes, so magnificent were those songs. They had not only good lyrics, but also real emotions and feelings that Demis Roussos was able to convey with his excellent voice. I also advise you to listen to his other songs. You will definitely not regret it. So many years have passed since my childhood, but I still remember them and listen to from time to time.

Besides Zhang Chun Hua, I really liked another female character. That was Zhen Mi, portrayed very well by Zhang Zhi Xi. Oh, Cao Pi, Cao Pi! He was not married to a woman, but to an angel, however, he didn’t understand it. That is how it is in life: if a man doesn't love a woman, no matter how wonderful she is, he will never see or appreciate it.  

I was disappointed with the plot and the story of the series. I expected better when I started watching it. Its creators tried to reach the level of Nirvana in Fire, wanting to repeat the success of that drama, but they failed. The Advisors Alliance turned out to be a complicated, politicised historical series with a bunch of characters, almost each of whom had two names, some of whom could have been removed from the plot without affecting it. The female character Bai Ling Yun was definitely unnecessary.

Of course, I liked many scenes, especially the scenes with humour. I became interested in the kung fu exercises that the characters did in the series. I personally practice Chinese Qigong and do eight of its exercises called Ba Duan Jin, which translates as The Eight Pieces of Brocade. 

I liked the shots with the turtle. I often walk by the lake, where there are also turtles. I often see them there. For me, these walks are another outlet in these difficult times for my country  and for me personally. In the drama, I was also glad to see one of them.

I was impressed by the fact that two ministers sacrificed their lives to ensure that a worthy prince would become the crown prince. And I really remembered one phrase that sounded in the series: “The heart of people is like a jade. Once it’s broken, it’s not the same piece if you glue them together. No way it can go back to what it was”. It’s like it was said about my heart. It had also been broken. God has put it back together, but it is a different heart now.

Despite the good frames in the drama, there are gaffes and unnecessary scenes. For example, the series didn't show what happened to the protagonist's older brother. In addition, the scene with the shamans was disgusting. The Bible repeatedly emphasises that we cannot turn to sorcerers, shamans, fortune-tellers, cast spells and summon the spirits of the dead, because this is an abomination to God. This can lead not only to problems in life, but even to mental illness. So for me, such scenes are unpleasant, to put it mildly.

Even though I'm disappointed with this drama, especially with the ending, I don't like to give up halfway through, so I plan to watch its sequel, Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon. I still want to know how this story will end.

And now I'm going to tell you something interesting. Recently, the staff of Huang Xuan's studio wrote on Weibo that of all his characters, he was most similar to Huang Xie from  Legend of Mi Yue. To be honest, after reading that, I couldn't help but laugh. What a brazen liar Huang Xuan still is! Apart from the fact that Huang Xie gets drunk out of grief in some scenes, he is nothing like him. On the contrary, if you don't count his drinking, Huang Xie is the male copy of me. 

He has the same sharp, tough mind of a scientist, philosopher and politician as I do. He is honest, decent and fair, a true fighter for the truth. He has his own opinion on everything, which he is not afraid to express to anyone. He is hot and boiling when he sees injustice, lawlessness and lies. He even thought of running away from his own wedding to be with the woman he really loved, because instead he was forced to marry a stupid schemer. And where is Huang Xuan here? O_o

God loves such hot people like Huang Xie the most. It is better to be cold than to be nothing, because the cold can still become hot. And Huang Xuan is like nothing, neither cold nor hot, neither sweet nor salty, neither fish nor meat, neither this nor that. His whole life he lives by the principle “to please everyone”. Where it was necessary, he didn't show principle, but where it wasn't, he “rested his horn”.

God hates people like Huang Xuan. Jesus has said they are like salt that is not salty, and you cannot use it, but can only throw away. And I haven't told you the main thing. Huang Xuan did to me exactly what Mi Yue did to Huang Xie in that drama: he wiped his feet on me and gave me false hope.

Don't think I'm attacking Huang Xuan. I'm giving him back all the bad emotions, feelings and pain I have received from him. As happy as I was when I watched the dramas with his participation, as unhappy I was when I faced with the real him. I thought I had met someone like me, who had suffered a lot, just like me. For more than ten years, the black streak in my life didn't end. But as a result, I got caught up with the worst of the goats, who mocked me.

When I started writing reviews for his dramas, I didn't hope for anything at all, not even that he would ever read them. I just felt sorry for him (I should have felt sorry for myself), fell in love with him, and decided to help. But one day, I felt a connection with him from a distance and realised that he had read my reviews and comments (I wish I hadn't known that).

Imagine, a connection has been formed between us even when he hasn't seen me and I haven't touched him, but I have loved him! What can we say about the connection between a man and a woman who have had sexual relations?

At first he even put likes on my reviews and comments, but then he didn't like something and he stopped liking them. After that, he was critical of me. What was there not to like? I was praising him and his acting talent! He should have been more critical of himself. He sometimes wrote such things in his Weibo pages that without a bottle of vodka you couldn't figure out what he meant.

And I continued to write him praising reviews, putting my whole soul into them, sometimes until two or three hours in the morning, and after that, later I went to work, sleep deprived. At the same time, I also wrote a few reviews of other dramas without his participation in them that I had watched and liked very much, more so that no one but Huang Xuan would know that I loved him. I wrote him about my feelings for him in my reviews between the lines, hoping that he would guess. But he didn't understand anything.

And then a brutal, unreasonable war was launched against my country, which turned the lives of all of us, Ukrainians, upside down and opened my eyes to everything and everyone, including Huang Xuan. I kept trying to reach out to him, but nothing worked. He did the opposite, to spite me, but in fact to spite himself.

Taking advantage of the fact that I wrote him praising reviews and the good luck I brought him, he became more arrogant and despotic. He has begun to shut up not only his followers on Weibo and dictate what they can post and when (how can they stand it?!), but also the users of this site.

He forced the moderators to cover with a spoiler tab the comments he didn't like on his personal page, as well as on the pages of his dramas and films. In that way, he has hidden my two comments on his page on this site.

Then I realised that God had sent me to Huang Xuan to help him understand who was really to blame for all his problems and troubles: he himself. In more than one interview, he complained about how lonely he was, how he would like to find a woman who would understand him, and in the end he found someone who would put up with him. And she puts up with him: his drinking, his mistresses, etc. When they get married, she will show her true character. Because she is not like me. Chinese women are cunning, they are brought up that way. But I all my life was straight as a rail and said what I thought.

I've always disliked lies and hypocrisy. Jesus Christ hated the same things. Because the “father” of lies is the devil. Jesus most of all denounced lies and hypocrisy, which is why He was crucified. After all, no one wants to hear the truth, especially about themselves.

I have a favourite passage in the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew. In it, Jesus denounces the lies and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes. Be sure to read it. No one could have said it as concisely and emotionally as He did. I also recommend watching the film adaptation of this Gospel, namely The Gospel According to Matthew (1993).

Unfortunately, many Christian priests, patriarchs, and even popes are the same Pharisees, only modern ones. They also pray in public, hiding behind Christ, but they are more sinful than others. I saw enough of that when I visited an Orthodox church. That was one of the reasons why I changed my denomination from Orthodoxy to Protestantism.

Moreover, I got the impression that if Christ came to earth again and preached the same messages, He would be crucified again, only by modern “Pharisees”. People have changed not for the better, but for the worse since then, and few of them want to hear the truth.

Huang Xuan is mired in lies. I felt a connection with him and realised that he was all on fire. He is already in hell and almost dragged me there. But he was lucky that he didn't see me. According to our compatibility horoscope, we are very sensitive to each other's appearance; it will be hard for us to forget each other. And we also have a similar emotional background.

At the end of 2021, when I was watching footage from the filming of Feng Qi Luo Yang, I watched one scene a bunch of times. There was a bang on the set, and Huang Xuan jumped up and down in fright. I laughed at that as many times as I watched it, because if I were in his shoes, I would have jumped up just like him.

Perhaps that's why I still can't forget the “unhappiness” called Huang Xuan. I always thought that one could love a person only for something, not just for nothing. But God has showed me that love is almost always in spite of, not thanks to. In addition, mental wounds take much longer to heal than physical ones. But I hope that I will soon forget that beast (literally and figuratively), find my soul mate, get married, have children and live happily ever after.  

By the way, Liu Tao's first marriage didn't work out. But she did not give up and got married for the second time. Now she is raising two wonderful children. If she was able to improve her personal life, so could I.

Besides, I got the impression that Huang Xuan's parents hadn't taught him anything: neither how to be a real man, nor that a woman should be treated with care, like the most delicate vessel, as the Apostle Peter said.

I would like to point out that the character of Huang Xuan Huang Xie is kind of mysterious. All the other characters he has acted and I have seen remind me of the actor himself. But this character only reminds me of me. He seems to live on his own, in a parallel reality. Perhaps if I had seen Huang Xuan for the first time in another role, not as Huang Xie, I would not have paid attention to him at all. But I leave him this character. I don't need him anymore. Because I don't want to live all my life with false hope. I will move on to a better future.

You know, Huang Xuan has acted a long time ago in a film called Blind Massage. In that film, his character rejected the love of a beautiful and decent woman for a prostitute with whom he fell in love. A similar event in a certain way happened in the real life of Huang Xuan.

In this regard, I would like to address him personally and say the following. Prostitutes are your level, Huang Xuan. You don't deserve anything more. All your life you complained to God about how bad your life was and how much you wanted to be happy, and when He sent you that happiness, you trampled on it. I could have made you not only very happy, but also very popular, considering how many unrealised talents I had. Now suck the paw, “teddy bear”! No matter how many advertisers, artists and PR specialists you hire, it won't help you.

In conclusion, I would like to dedicate to the “tigresses” Liu Tao, her character Zhang Chun Hua, and the blue water tigress (i.e. me) three music tracks from the South Korean TV series One the Woman that I like the most, namely: 1. Who Am I. 2. Burst. 3. An Old Joke. 

And to the Lord Jesus Christ I dedicate the song from the South Korean drama Arthdal Chronicles, The Poem of Destiny, because it is really about Him.

I give you all a homework assignment for our next meeting: try to guess who the blue water tigress really is. :)

See you at Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon.  And thank God for everything!