AleksandraSucur

i've thought it was him!

the comparison was between bribery and alliance. That was truly unexpected, I've almost chocked in laughter.

A phantasy in the desert, but great cast. Zhang performed a doctor with no martial skills and that performance was impactful enough to me to remember him

Check Love in Between, I've noticed him in that (underrated) drama.

That family is a bomb!
Continuously on the brink, continously struggling between legal and illegal, wealth and poverty, knowledge (+ personal skills) and overall superstition, deception, bullying etc., they are all weaklings in front of the power, but their individual and collective power is exactly the power the painting (the Leitmotif of the drama) conveys.
Truly, this is a masterpiece!

My first time in life I enjoy watching opening and ending credits of a drama. They are not simply a decoration or homage to a masterpiece, but a vehicle which drives the audience into that ancient painting, a copy of the original with purpose to admire again, to glorify all the incredible details the original contains, to enchant the viewer by conveying the feeling of flickering and miraculous acts in ordinary yet extraordinary lives of the people.
The tension of the ropes mixed with the tension in the scream: Mast! Lay down the mast! - it's art, pure unforgettable art.

I truly don't understand people who downrate this drama, do they really not realise how high is the level of this production?

He is a great actor. That Di Renjie was so badly written that even the most brilliant supporting cast wouldn't make a difference, all characters and their interactions were horribly adapted.

As for Di Lun, I think he left sufficient clues ("a person who helped him take the imperial exam 20 years ago") and Gu Zhen probably already suspects who would have wanted his fellow general dead and defamed. Now that he has this "alliance" (btw, the comparison with bribery was... lol) with Zhang couple, he'll use them to investigate further.

The cast is all on spot, I like the production included Zhang Yao, haven't seen him since Love in Between which was a nice phantasy story with excellent cast

This is totally my piece of cake! A detective drama set in a real historical picture! Who loves investigation stories (and I do), can't skip it. Who loves history (and I love it), can't skip it, who loves art (and I do), simply can't skip it. "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is one of the most famous Chinese paintings, depicted by a Song painter Zhang Zeduan (more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Along_the_River_During_the_Qingming_Festival ), which contains "814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, 8 sedan chairs, and 170 trees." depicting a festival in today's Kaifeng, then "the Eastern Capital" of the Song. Bianjing.
It started thrilling, lets hope it remains so till the very end

the shift of tone actually happened before the wedding, around ep 15. It took 5-6 episodes to disentangle from one engagement and entangle in another. It was too long for such a fast paced storytelling. The focus shifted from its initial dark revenge vibes to (a bit annoying) family conflicts, I've noticed the same thing. At the same time, we've got only one ep x day, thing that negatively impacted on the tone.

It applies to others, too. The director is known for well-made short dramas, with episodes lasting 15 min cca. This is the reason why he doesn't waste time, each singular scene is short and impactful (no distracting multiple or weird angles), no slow-mos (with the exception of the leads'embrace on the ship, and it didn't last long), no repetitive flashbacks, no long melo-inserts... With the result: the audience's attention is constantly high and sometimes it's necessary to rewatch a scene, because the storytelling switched fast to a different subject.

Period dramas regularly follow unoriginal patterns and storylines, they are mostly watched because of the idol-actors involved, certainly not for the greatness of their script... I find period dramas interesting only if they contain elements of real history and/or are sufficiently original.
The production and trade of silk was treated in several dramas I can remember, Jiu Liu Overlord (trade), The Sword and the Brocade (that one was more about classical embroidery), The Destined (dyeing and trade), Marvelous Women (a hidden gem!), My Heroic Husband, Nothing Gold Can Stay... covering different periods of Chinese history and different regions. The payment in silk bolts (as a tribute, a tax or a reward for exceptional merit) is also often mentioned in other period dramas. There's a nice resumé of the history of silk (and other fabrics using silk, such as brocade, damask etc.) on China National Silk Museum site https://www.chinasilkmuseum.com/gwgk/info_4.aspx?itemid=26485#:~:text=Silk%20was%20one%20form%20of,bolts%20of%20silk%20as%20tax.
I've liked a lot the opening of this drama: FL as a young girl telling "her story" (story of her dad) while introducing the audience to the real history of Shu brocade. But it is still too early to judge, lets wait to see at least 1/3 of the drama, if they will be able keep this pace and authenticity vibe

yes, brocade is a fabric woven with silk threads.
I don't know about the museum promotion, but (till this point) I appreciate how the drama treats this matter, recently we've seen other dramas trying to appear (read: "promoting a drama as") "historically accurate" and failing grossly in that effort (The Story of Pearl Girl) and we will soon see one treating the history of Chinese ink. As a history freak, I certainly love these ideas but get very dissapointed when they turn out to be inaccurate.
In BO, I've notice only one minor inaccuracy (locust tree, mentioned as an ingredient for dyeing in ep 6, is native to North America, so it's impossible its flowers could have be used in Tang China), but this tree was probably just mistranslated...

yes, Shu Brocade from Sichuan (historical Yu province, Yuzhou, in the drama) was famous and highly valuable throughout the history.
The "silk" here is referred to coloured silk threads used to embroider-woven onto a satin cloth using a loom.
Silk already was precious, a commodity used for exchange as silver or gold, a luxury good traded across Euroasian continent (Silk Roads take name after it for a good reason), emperors from all dynasties strove to keep knowledge of sericulture secret to maintain the Chinese monopoly on the continet. Brocade is on a higher level of luxury, silk threads served not only to represent certain motives and scenes (of course the variety and stability of colours were crucial for this art) but also to thicken the textile.

exactly. In ep 6, FL instructs her friend to add "locust tree flower" and "saffron flower". Saffron is a great spice for fish, I wouldn't mind to eat already saffroned fish from that water. Locust tree flowers are also edible (and good for digestion, fish would probably be thankful for it), what we know as "acacia honey" is actually a honey from flowers of pseudoacacia or honey robinia (another names for locust trees), the only problem is that all its varieties originate from North America, so they were completely unknown in Tang China

well, at least the drama doesn't betray the title "pretty girl"

I think we can all agree the prettiest girl in this drama is the ML. If not for the Adam's apple, visible only when the camera takes his side profile, I'd mistake him for a girl myself.

I will, tomorrow.
I didn't change anything only because someone can read this nonsensical dispute: I did rate in a wrong way, I didn't know rating episodes on "ongoing" section would result in this mess, that's a fact, I admit it.
But if someone else reads this, it's better it stays like this for a day, than I'll change what I've done wrong

I don't feel embarassed at all. I've simply made my remark to @Fanchengchengkai's comment which implied the setting of this drama is during Taizong's era. It is not, the setting is supposed to be (roughly) in Tang (costumes, interiors etc. follow Tang-style) but if we refer to the persons and events of the drama - it is completely fictious.
After that, you've started to harass me.
I am actually glad you've noticed my rating so that another person in this discussion could explain me I was rating episodes in the wrong section, I'm not unwilling to learn from the others, sorry I've tought you'd appreciate learning from others as well.
What you'll do with the block button is up to you.

First I'll TEACH you something - you should use the verb "to teach" if you intend to make someone learn something. A person learns after being taught. No need to teach me how to use a block button, thank you, just get off.

you continue to be rude. First you've called me "a hater", which is an offence, and now you affirm I play a victim. Get off me, ma'am