WM

This category would be empty :)
Unless the ML is a brainiac without Martial Arts skills or a student of a female Master (Veil of Vengeance as an example).
But if he has a decent level of skills, he will always be stronger than FL.

No, she is not. She is getting more injured, she is saved by the ML more than vice versa and he kills much easier in fights. Nothing indicates she is stronger, even if Liu Shishi portray Ren Xin fantastically.
But writers never allow FLs to be stronger than MLs if both are strong.

Unfortunately, the FLs are never stronger than MLs when both are strong. Sometimes they are close (like in "Who rules the World" or "Journey to Love"), but never stronger.

It was somehow watchable for the majority of episodes, but the final arc felt like "Dumb and Dumber".

Female Leads who are OP are very rare, so I enjoy them very much every time I spot one. But going too much OP after rebirth is never a good idea, as it looks dumb that she got easily caught and killed initially.

Both FL and ML were solid - the FL reminded me Xin Zhilei from some angles, and I didn't want to kill the ML every five minutes, as it usually happens.

Is she? She is pretty dumb to allow He Rufei using her as the sword.

Chancellor Xu is clearly an awful person, but highly intelligent and patient at the same time.

There were a couple of episodes in the middle when I thought she starts to lose her IQ points in typical fashion for FLs (main culprits being her decision to go back to the father's mansion and her visiting Wu Shan in a disguise, both complicated a lot of things afterwards), but it was corrected soon after and after the wedding she was back to her best.

He just praised the Empress and mentioned her military background and her assistance to him. So, his misogyny also doesn't make sense.

Also, could we stop using Novel to explain things every damm time when someone does a critical post?

The viewers watching Drama as a standalone show also deserve logic and a good storyline.

For me, the worst angle in Dudu teaching her so much, is making her Shifu look useless. I know he is dead and all, but she seemed to rate him highly, so I would expect he teached her something useful.

Well, I know he convinced the Emperor using this angle, but it was very easy to attack it later by the opposition - chain thinking and potential obstacles waiting ahead should be an important issue in before making any decisions and plans.

Logically, he would also convince the Emperor by showcasing He Yan's military brilliance and her worth in helping to secure Wei State, while at the same time it would be much more difficult for the opposition to find an angle of attack.

Based on what you have written from the Novel - the Emperor needs Dudu to keep him and the country safe, but will kill He Yan because of her gender, despite her being very useful for him in achieving the same?
It doesn't make sense to me, Novel or not.

As much I like to look at Meng Zi Yi, and I enjoyed her role in "Royal Rumours", watching Yang Zi in "Flourished Peony" playing a very similar Female Lead directly after "Blossom", it shown me clearly the levels in acting.

I like the writing, pacing and the Rebellion of "Blossom" more, though.

Ant trying to attack the mountain is not a cliffhanger :)

As much as I appreciate Dudu's thoughtfulness in telling the Emperor about He Yan's gender before others could use it, using the angle of his love instead of praising her skills was clearly the wrong one. It's always easy for the opponents to turn it around using personal bias.

On the other side, I'm pretty sure the Emperor knew what the Empress would say when asked, so asking her was a very impressive slam dunk to kill the opposite's voices.

Also, for the first time in this series, Episode 30 gave me a feeling that He Yan is a main part of the drama, and the story finally revolves around her getting what belongs to her. Too bad it took so long and there were so many pointless detours.

I also really like the balance in tactical suggestions between He Yan and Dudu, it feels much better compared to the screenwriter's laziness and idiocy of him saving her on the battlefield multiple times.

Light years away from the one in "Story of Minglan" which remains unbeatable in my eyes (don't watch much Romance though),

You say "hater" about them, they say "blind or sheep fandom" about you.

I already know one mistake I did - I shouldn't have started "Flourished Peony" so soon after finishing "Blossom", as they have very similar FLs,

As great as both of them are, I should let myself digest the latter Drama first.

I never watched anything with her until now, but just finished watching "Flourished Peony" - what a great performance by her.

I always had in my plans to watch "Battle of Changsha", but now, knowing she is there as well, I really need to finally do it.

Just when I was hoping for a Cool Drama about the prettiest badass female assasin ever, then I read about nonsense like that. Ugh.

So, help needed - some time ago, I watched a clip on YT from the Drama with Wang Chu Ran about the Palace/Harem intrigues - I think Empress/Imperial Consort got poisoned, Empress Dowager was leading the inquiry. and Wang Chu Ran proposed a solution to find a perpetrator by looking for marks left by the poison visible only under some kind of substance/herbs.

Does anyone know what Drama it was? Nothing from her career works really fits.

Yeah, when I hear people calling anyone decent looking "beautiful", I kind of think "beautiful? The FL's cousin in "Oh my General" was truly beautiful. Then, I check how her career developed since then... and boom!!!

I hope to watch "Are you the one" soon.

I have to admit that my favourite scene was actually a non-military one, when the FL was trying to motivate the ML to start his official career, and the MIL was walking in, but after listening to it on the outside, she went back home very happy.

I also really liked the FL's Sister in Law, virtuous wife with great kung fu, sounds like a very interesting combo :)