KtzezFigtz

I agree that Sang Yan’s love wasn’t just blind devotion—he admired Wen Yifan’s resilience, and his feelings grew over time. But admiration alone doesn’t explain why his love became so unwavering that he waited years for her.

You mention his hesitation, longing, and regret, but these emotions were subtle to the point of being underdeveloped. Where was the turning point in his feelings? What moments cemented his love so deeply that he never moved on? The drama shows us that he loves her, but it never truly explores how and why his love became so absolute.

Subtlety is powerful, but there’s a fine line between being nuanced and simply leaving a character underwritten. Sang Yan’s love had depth, but his emotional journey was never given the same weight as Wen Yifan’s. And that’s the imbalance that makes his side of the story feel incomplete.

Like?

I agree that Sang Yan played a crucial role in Yi Fan’s journey. His presence, support, and influence were undeniable, and without him, the story wouldn’t have worked.
However, my point isn’t that Sang Yan was irrelevant—he was definitely important—but rather that the narrative structure placed him more in a supporting role to Yi Fan’s story. While we saw aspects of his life, they were often shown in relation to how he helped or affected Yi Fan. His motivations, struggles, and emotions were not explored as deeply as hers.
Since this was marketed as Sang Yan’s spin-off, I expected a deeper dive into his perspective—his emotional journey, what he went through all those years waiting for Yi Fan, his internal struggles, and how he dealt with his feelings. Instead, the story prioritized Yi Fan’s growth and healing, with Sang Yan as her pillar of support. That’s why I feel that, despite being the male lead, his role leaned more towards being a main supporting character rather than a protagonist in his own right.

I see your point, and I agree that Sang Yan's feelings weren’t completely shallow. The drama does show that he admired her resilience and kindness, and he was there for her during a difficult time in her life. I appreciate those aspects of their relationship.
However, my issue isn’t that he loved her—I understand that he did. My concern is that the drama doesn’t explore it deeply from his perspective. We see that he was always there for her, but we don’t truly experience how he fell for her beyond the typical 'love at first sight' trope. Did he struggle with his feelings? Was there a moment where he consciously realized she was 'the one'? What about her actions made him fall so deeply? The drama tells us that he loves her, but it doesn’t really show us those defining moments from his point of view.
In contrast, we get a lot of insight into Wen Yifan’s emotional struggles, growth, and how she moves past her trauma. But Sang Yan’s love feels more like a constant—he loves her, he waits for her, he supports her. His love is absolute, but it lacks depth in terms of how it formed and why it lasted so long. That’s what I wish the drama had explored more.

Yes , that's also what I am talking about. He was supporting in novel and more of main supporting character in the drama.

But still you can't deny the fact the story was about yi fan more than sang yan . Yeah they showed his workplace and other things but the prime focus was on yi fan , her trauma and how she dealt with it with the help of sang yan and they finally got a happy ending. I am not saying it is bad but yeah sang yan was more of a main supporting character in the story .
I expected it to be more about him while I heard that there was going to be a spin off about sang zhi's brother.

It is also one of my chief complaint. They don't really explore on why the ml falls for fl. It's like ok , he is the ml so it is obvious that he would fall for the fl. They show a tid bits of their first meeting and a bit of their interaction. But I want to know how he fell in love with her? What made him fall in love so much that he still unconditionally loves her for all these years. What was the reason for his resolve and dedication? I want to see it through his perspective.
Like the way the ml does things for fl that makes even the viewers fall for him, I also wanted to see things that fl does for ml that will make him fall in love.
Although it's a good drama but it would be better if they also explore on that part.

Thanks for all the replies 😊

Well then , does any of the concubines have any major role in the story?

Well you can't possibly be trying to tell me to read the whole novel, right? 😅

Can you tell me who are the concubines ? Are their name listed in the cast list?

Can you tell me who are the concubines ? Are their name listed in the cast list?

Does it have any Love triangle or any SML

I saw a clip where the FL was kissing with the other guy. What is the context of this? Do they have feeling for each other?

Are cui jiu and cui xing Zhou related?

Who is cui jiu?

Well most of them are watching it from the perspective of li rong and they sympathise with her character. Due to this they don't really care whatever shit is happening to ML or how his whole personality is now trying to get attention from FL because it makes them feel superior when the ML is trying so hard.

Well most of them are watching it from the perspective of li rong and they sympathise with her character. Due to this they don't really care whatever shit is happening to ML or how his whole personality is now trying to get attention from FL because it makes them feel superior when the ML is trying so hard.

And also first impression plays a huge role on how you will perceive the whole story. Maybe your first impression was good but mine was not such so I find the faults more highlighted when I watched the drama.

Well it seems our perceptions differ fundamentally. It is also not by obligation to convince you nor I am trying to. I just said what I experienced while watching the show just as you presented your view point. You felt it was a good relationship I felt it was not. You looked over the whole show as a happy ending, which it is actually but I gave more emphasis on their daily interaction ,her gestures to him in daily life activities. And I felt it was not so wholesome, that's it.