WM

In my opinion, cheers :)

Thanks for the links.

I'm just surprised that I can't find this show listed on both: haixingduanju and duanjubaike, I even checked both ML and FL.

Is it too early or what?

Well, for me, actually episodes 1-11 (?) were the best part, as they presented the female lead as a brilliant, powerful strategist, and it really went downhill from it, turning her into a run-of-the-mill matriarch.
If I stopped watching it after the female lead verbally destroyed her mother-in-law (which was amazing), I would only miss 2-3 things worth watching for the rest of the Drama.

Sounds perfect in both aspects ;).

It looks like after some very positive reviews of the FL, I had too high expectations. Except for the second part of Episode 4, when the older actors had their 5 minutes and the quality immediately went up, it's been a typical dross Idol drama, centered around a handsome and highly unlikeable ML, running circles around everyone, FL included.

Also:
1) I hate how she was turned into "Damsel in Distress", when she lost her balance (Weak Ankle Alert!) in the fight against ML, collapsed on the bed and suddenly was unable to do anything, besides cowering her head.
2) In episode 5, she told the ML that she hopes that one day he will tell her his real name. I have no idea how it came into play.

I will give it at least 5 more episodes, but I'm not very optimistic.

It doesn't help me that I recently watched a bunch of stuff from the various versions of the " Legend of the Condor Heroes", so all kinds of tropes regarding good sects vs evil sects fighting, with the latter winning almost every time, in big part due to inside fighting and stupidity of the former, are fresh in my head.

And the actress playing the FL was actually in one of them, playing a quite similar character!

Episodes 1-5 report

After "The Double" I really dislike the actor playing ML here, but I really like Bai Lu and your posts make me heavily consider it.

But, I've read posts claiming she is not sharp enough and too reckless, so I'm just not sure.

Did you re-watch it or what? :)

https://www.fanmtl.com/novel/i-became-the-cannon-fodder-who-died-early-and-i-angrily-married-the-villain_139.html

Well, with her brilliant mind, she should have. And there were so many occasions to do it more, much more, instead of turning her into an average matriarch, who, at the end of the drama, is only good enough to be pregnant. I would write "lol"; if it weren't so tragic, really.

And I would love to see her manipulative, instead of playing deaf and dumb when, for example, ML's brother was clearly sowing discord between them.
And then, moments later, being shocked that she was framed by her In-Laws family in a grain conspiracy during a major family event.
I will repeat myself - what is the point of building a brilliant female lead (Episode 1 was clearly doing it, with the way she orchestrated an exchange with her sister and the way her grandfather respected her intelligence and foresight), if after a few episodes her brilliance is turned into dust?

After episodes 11-12, it really felt like a different type of character with her.

你娶平妻？这侯府我说了算 (Huang Zi Jun) - the FL is way too capable, too eloquent, too ruthless and by far too rich, plus has loving and even more rich parents, to suffer so much in her original life for 10 years. She would definitely have chances and angles to improve her situation, even by offering life-changing money to some maids/stewards to facilitate her escape.
So, the rebirth was totally unnecessary here.

Also, I'm getting a little bit tired of the choking fetish the writers and directors obviously have in Chinese Novels and Dramas.
Choking also involved the lowest moment of this Drama, when the ML walked on his own legs (when he was still faking paralysis) from behind FL to surprise her, and then started choking her because she knows his secret? How about not coming to surprise her and keep your walking secret...secret? :)

If we exclude the above facts, it's a neatly done Revenge Reborn story with a typically terrible ML, who fortunately isn't stealing too much screentime and dumb villains (except for the father-in-law).
The kid was good though, and the Villainess looks really pretty without heavy makeup/jewellery (FL looks great all the time).

My short review:

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a pretty epic story on its own, but it's incredibly depressing - as the majority of the time we watch the "good guys" struggling, losing and ultimately, dying,

That's where "NiF" has one of its biggest strengths, as the tragedy happens before the Drama starts, and then it's one big ongoing Revenge (with blips here and there).

While in "Nothing Gold Can Stay", the big evil Prince's subordinate is telling that the Prince had a difficult few years, and we've seen nothing in the Drama about it.
While, we see plenty of him and his people hurting and destroying others.

"Yanxi" is IMO a different type of Drama, hard to compare.

"Empresses in the Palace" kind of fits, but it's also mostly depressing. However, it's amazingly well done.

So, so true.

I will take both Consort Jing and Ni Huang over almost every supposedly "smart" or/and "badass" female lead in modern dramas.

The list of female characters who are up to par with them is very short - possibly Meng Zi Yi from "Blossom" or Wang Chu Ran from "Are You the One?".

I don't even know if Ming Lan qualifies, as I'm currently in discussion regarding her character being dumbed down during the final parts of this otherwise amazing Drama.

Yeah, it was one of the rare examples of her usefulness after Episodes 11-12.

I finished it, overall rather disappointed, mostly because I had such high expectations of FL after the opening episodes.

She showed so much brilliance back then, but soon was levelled down to be just another run-of-the-mill matriarch (with a 1-2 exceptions).

"Blossom" is the well-known example and IMO is significantly better on almost all fronts - leads have better chemistry, there is no useless Love Triangle, the FL is consistently smart and useful until the end, and the final rebellion/war is like 100x times better.

It also doesn't have so many comedic moments, which IMO were really out of place in what was supposed to be a serious drama.

I liked her very much too; unfortunately, she was really toned down after Episodes 11-12 in strategic, forward-thinking abilities.

The moment when she opened the box in Episode 7, to show the ML she can do it without scratching it, and can help him if he forgets the combination, was one of the Drama highlights for me.

So much wasted potential later, ugh :(.

Also, the word "beautiful" continues to be heavily overused, even if I can accept someone having different taste/preferences.

Princess Agents was my first C-Drama a few years ago and Chu Qiao had so many names there. It was really confusing.

Now, of course, I learnt how to navigate this minefield a bit better ;).

Watch 1-11 episodes and then drop it :).

Yes, I liked it too.

But I'm still thinking zero preparation for childbirth was just out of character for her, aka she was dumbed down:
- She knew for quite some time that Aunt Kang has multiple bodies killed inside her family's mansion; Ming Lan even told it publicly during one of the family gatherings.
- After Aunt Kang orchestrated the poisoning of Ming Lan's grandmother and Ming Lan temporarily imprisoned her, she knew it's a full-on war.
- She knew how close Aunt Kang is with her mother-in-law, and how good her MiL is at manipulating people to do their dirty work.
- And her husband was away.

Is it really so much to expect from, clearly, a very smart and strategic person to do some preparations?
Instead, we got her maids not telling her anything about what's going on outside because she was in childbirth.

I wouldn't have a problem if Ming Lan were dumber on average; barely any female leads are on her level.
But if the writers decided to make her so smart for 2/3 of the Drama, then consistency should prevail.
There's no way that a person showcasing Ming Lan's abilities wouldn't consider things like above.

I will gladly exchange some dramatic moments and Cliffhangers for character consistency, both in strategic decision-making and Martial Arts.

Also, it's actually not about Ming Lan, but I hate how even the smartest MLs/Fls around can't find the right moment to reveal their hidden identity (or other important secret), because drama needs an extra break-up or angst.
I literally don't remember even one main character doing it the right way.

That's why I appreciate Lu Songli so much in Novel + Part 1&2 of the Vertical Drama, as it's a rare example of the female character done right from beginning to the end.