NattyA

I’m a fan of Hou Minghao, but it turned out to be a really enjoyable rom-com.

My only criticism of this show is that even when angry, no one would kiss with their eyes wide open and staring blankly like that, while completely freezing their body and posture. It just looked entirely stiff. Even the camera rotation didn't help make it look romantic. That said, I'm still rooting for him [ Xiao Hou ], as he's probably gotten much better at kissing scenes by now.

According to the novel, the female lead is a radiant, dazzling beauty—the kind who looks stunning in vibrant, bold colors or a striking red. The male lead, on the other hand, is the reserved type—a brilliant and cunning strategist who lived a solitary life and never once considered marriage.

Their story begins with him investigating something, but as he finds her endearing and amusing, they gradually grow closer. He is quite the mastermind, though; he didn't just get close to her, but cleverly won over her entire family.

Once he is captivated by her liveliness and vibrant spirit, there is no turning back. He falls head over heels, becoming utterly obsessed and doting on her to the extreme. He pampers her constantly, wanting to shield her from any hardship—even though, when the situation calls for it, she is more than tough enough to handle anything. While she is hopeless at domestic chores, she is a formidable warrior with exceptional martial arts prowess.

They are truly a perfect match. He never feels that her straightforwardness or her bold, high-spirited nature is embarrassing; instead, he admires and takes great pride in her. She, in turn, deeply respects his scholarly side—his mastery of literature, poetry, and painting—only to discover that this elegant scholar is also a hidden master of martial arts.

In their relationship, he possesses every skill she has, plus all the scholarly talents she lacks. When she worries about being "suitable" enough for him, he reassures her:

"This is more than enough. In this lifetime, you shall marry only me, and only once. No one in this world is a better match for you than I am."
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Watching it as a rom-com makes you root for the male lead. You feel a sense of "playful frustration" for him because he’s fallen for such a spunky, feisty girl. In reality, Rong Xia (the male lead) is subconsciously bored with his lonely life. Despite his hidden agenda to investigate his family’s history and navigate the political shifts of the new Emperor, he secretly fell for Hua Hua almost from their first meeting.

As he grew closer to her and her family, he found her charming, funny, and refreshingly authentic. Beyond that, she is skilled in martial arts, resilient, and fiercely protective of her loved ones. If it wasn't her beauty that captured him, it was certainly her goodness and distinct character. Even though he usually maintains a cool and poised exterior, he is clearly amused and deeply endeared by her. The way he teases or tricks her—sometimes like an older brother playing with a ten-year-old sister—really highlights how much he adores her.

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the story keeps going in circles like this; it’s just too much to bear.

For anyone who feels it’s dragging, you could watch up to Episode 9 and then skip straight to Episode 19 until the end. You’ll still catch the whole story, as the earlier details are revealed in the second half anyway.

A little tease for Neo Hou (Hou Minghao)—if he’s not being stood up at the altar or having a ruined wedding, he’s getting a one-night stand only for the girl to run away. Poor guy! The fate of a Chinese drama lead is truly tragic. At least, luckily, no one died in his arms this time.

There were stretches where Hong Ye completely vanished—like, actually gone for so long it felt strange. Fortunately, Xiao Yao stayed present; otherwise, the connection would have been totally lost.

The plot is a bit too "muddy" (messy/convoluted). They could have cut out the parts that don't impact the main storyline. Honestly, this could have been a 25-episode series.

The leads did a great job, but it’s a shame the storytelling was unnecessarily dragged out.

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The audience was coldly betrayed, and the communication was totally unclear.

Let me tell you straight up: the male lead dies. He dies completely without reason. He didn't even put himself in any danger—he was just minding his own business, walking in the market. Despite his tall and large build, he was swarmed, captured, and killed just because they wanted to steal his camera. It makes absolutely no sense for a doctor on an international mission. Normally, they are well-protected by security agencies and would never go to a high-risk area or do anything risky.

The male lead's decision-making makes it feel like he practically committed suicide, but the drama didn't dare to tell the story based on actual facts.

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The best husband for both this life and the next is definitely Yan Chi.

I absolutely love his character. He's not naive, just incredibly straightforward—when he’s in love, he just says it. It's so fun to watch.

There's this one scene where Yan Li asks the male lead, 'Since you aren't interested in anyone and don't visit brothels, are you saving your virginity for your beloved?' The male lead just fires back, 'Why? What’s wrong with saving my virginity?' His younger brother was completely speechless. In reality, the younger brother doesn't visit brothels either; he just tags along to drink and pretend.

Another adorable scene is when the female lead rejects his love because she doesn't want to accept his feelings under a fake identity. But the male lead straight up tells her, 'I already know who you really are, so don't worry.' He then keeps looking out for her, gives her his command token for protection, and helps her with everything. In the end, she even comes to help him investigate a case.

The male lead says he loves everything about her just the way she is—whether she's doing autopsies, working as a doctor, being fierce, or being jealous, he loves it all. It’s truly so cute. Not to mention, Ao Ruipeng is incredibly handsome, and the female lead is both lovely and elegant.

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I feel like the male lead should have told the female lead more than this.

At the very least, understanding herself is important. What if he died taking the secret with him? What would she do if she ended up with a member of the royal family who turned out to be her sibling? Besides, if he died under suspicious circumstances, she would definitely have doubts, and letting her live with those doubts for the rest of her life is quite cruel.

"Honestly, with the male lead's capabilities, he should have been able to switch back to being the emperor and make the female lead his empress. There are plenty of ways to pull it off. Even if people doubted it, once he held supreme power, those non-believers wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. The real issue is that he just doesn't want her to find out she’s the descendant of the fallen dynasty. But it's so baffling why he has to hide it from her—she’s bound to find out sooner or later anyway."

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I would classify this drama as a comedy, romance, drama, and fantasy.

Actually, I really love this show, but I feel like the later part and the ending were poorly executed. I wanted a touching finale that truly cared about the audience, letting us feel the beautiful moment when the long-separated characters finally reunited.

Given his personality, Tian Yao is someone whose love is firm and unwavering. He is a man of few words and subtle expressions, yet he does show his feelings. He really deserved some time to just enjoy being in love. As for Yanhui, she is straightforward, bold, and has a bit of a tomboyish charm, so she doesn't need any pushing when it comes to expressing herself. I wanted them both to deeply immerse themselves in their love, but those moments never came, which is deeply disappointing. Other than that, everything else was good. I love this drama mainly because of Zhou Ye and Xiao Hou. Yanhui was so adorable when she helped Tian Yao even before falling for him. It’s no surprise Tian Yao fell for her once he realized that behind her harsh exterior, she was actually a good person. However, Tian Yao trapped himself in the mindset that love would only bring trouble, leading him to make wrong choices that he later regretted. Once he had time to reflect, he realized his past heartbreak was simply because he loved the wrong person—loving Yanhui would never be a problem.

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I am a fan of Xiao Ding, but this drama definitely has some issues.

The show tries too hard to keep the audience guessing who the villain is. Honestly, there are better ways to do this—like having multiple villains ranging from small fry to the big boss, or introducing different subplots to keep things interesting. It shouldn't just mislead the audience by throwing in a red herring villain who appears out of nowhere and then vanishes. It really muddies the waters.

The female lead is still a teenager, so it makes sense for her to be stubborn and headstrong. However, it's hard to understand why someone with no real skills is so unafraid of death. Where does her courage even come from? The drama should have given her an unusually strong motive for her obsession with justice. I say 'unusually' because she constantly takes pointless risks without even having any guards.

The male lead does a great job carrying all the drama, whether it makes sense or not. The part near the end feels particularly bizarre, almost like they just wanted to drag the story out for another 2–3 episodes.

As for the romance, the male lead should have guessed by now that the female lead is his childhood friend. The drama handled this subplot poorly by failing to drop proper hints for him to notice, causing him to find out way too late.

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It’s like a teen movie, just set in ancient costumes.

In this world, there are no sports or cheerleading teams; instead, martial arts sects serve as the sports teams, which is quite fun. There’s a sweet, youthful romance building in the background, and both the male and female leads are beautiful and lovely. It’s a bit of a shame that there are so many characters it gets a little dizzying. After looking into and trying all three series in the same universe, I found that Dashing Youth is the most enjoyable. The overall tone is bright, and the storytelling is well-paced.

Spoiler alert!
The storytelling isn't very concise. Given the 40-episode length, they could have covered much more content, especially since there are still many unresolved plotlines—such as the story of Baili Dongjun and Yue Yao, who ultimately didn't end up getting married. I guess they didn't know how to wrap everything up, so they just ended it like this for now.

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The show’s storytelling and visual communication are poor.

During episode 13, I understand that a soul blending (a deep spiritual intercourse) takes place, but the visual execution is confusing. When the female lead enters the male lead's spiritual realm, she touches his forehead while he is fully clothed. However, when she comes out, he is shirtless while she remains fully dressed. After that, the male lead wakes up, touches her forehead, and they both enter the spiritual realm together. Still, it remains unclear whether any physical intimacy actually occurred because the visuals fail to convey it.

The male lead’s acting falls far short of the female lead’s. His eyes are completely dead; he fails to communicate that he is looking at her with love and gratitude for saving his life. Watching a bit further into episodes 13 to 15, I understand he is supposed to play a cool, tsundere character, but if his eyes cannot convey his inner feelings, the audience simply won't buy it.

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Having watched about 10 episodes, it feels like watching Zhan Zhao endure mortal trials

it feels like watching Zhan Zhao endure mortal trials, with a beautiful woman as his reward.

But I'm not entirely sure; Linglong might actually die at the end since she constantly puts herself in dangerous situations. Also, while watching, I feel that the bromance/friendship between Bai Yitang and Zhan Zhao looks much more beautiful than the romance between Zhan Zhao and Huo Linglong.

I really want to praise Yang Yang for dedicating himself to the training and delivering such an excellent performance in this drama. Of course, there must have been accidents and injuries; I heard he even got injured during rehearsals before filming started. His postures and movements in this show are incredibly precise, showing immense physical training. Usually, men's bodies are quite stiff and not as flexible as women's, but in this drama, he is so flexible. His forms are beautiful and perfect, just like a man practicing yoga, yet filled with power. It’s absolutely gorgeous and highly enjoyable to watch, even though some scenes are pitch black. Why does it have to be that dark?

However, I don't really understand the script. They want to defeat the villains but refuse to kill them—instead, they wait for them to recover, go gather more backups, and then come back for another beating in the next scene. What's the point? It's like playing a video game where the difficulty just keeps ramping up. They could have just used lethal force and finished some of them off to save energy. I am totally against this kind of hero trope; it’s exhausting and makes no sense.

The female lead is cute but doesn't seem very smart. She blindly believes whatever tricks Zhan Zhao plays on her. She must be very young and naive; according to the story, she doesn't seem to be over 18. As for Zhan Zhao, I’d guess he is somewhere between 26 and 29 years old."
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Edit at EP 22
Now, the main lead and heroine have taken their relationship to the next level, becoming each other's special someone. Notice how he called her "Linglong" three times; it's a clear message to the audience. Given historical and cultural norms, along with Zhan Zhao's personality, he would never directly call a woman by her first name unless she was family or a childhood friend. He used to maintain distance by calling her "Lady Huo" or playfully teasing her as "Heroine Huo." But this time, he emphasized her name because after being apart for just one night, he missed her. Seeing that she had left and then returned, his joy slipped out. She wasn't surprised and didn't mention it, quietly accepting it.

It's a classic trope in historical Chinese dramas—the audience just has to read between the lines. It's truly funny but sad for this love line.

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The drama highlights the male lead's virtues much less, while Anong is more adorable.

In the book, the male lead has to go through many more hardships and prove his goodness far more than in the drama. To begin with, his family is not wealthy, and they do not live in a large house. He originally wanted to join the military but had to give up that dream to become a judge instead. He then works hard to support his younger siblings, redeems the inherited farmland for Choi, and even borrows money from others to buy a house for Chatchai to use as his bridal home. To make things more sacrificial, the woman Chatchai marries is Chanthon—the very woman the male lead secretly loves. Due to this heartbreak, combined with neglecting his own health, he falls severely ill.

While the series changes the story so that Khun Phra already loves Anong, the book depicts Anong being deeply impressed by Khun Phra's goodness. She volunteers to take care of his heart to match his virtue, which eventually touches him and makes him love her in return.

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this couple shares the same core values—such as contribution, commitment to justice, faithfulness

"I love that this couple shares the same core values—such as fair resource distribution, equality before the law, commitment to justice, faithfulness in love, virtue, and their care and kindness toward friends, and family. This is truly one of my favorite dramas.

Not to mention how perfectly their characters complement each other. Huge credit goes to the male lead for his love and respect, and for accepting her capabilities—even when she outshines or defeats him as her role demands.

Ji Bozai, the male lead, is someone starved of affection. It’s obvious he has never experienced love before, so he gives it his all while being utterly terrified of it. Once that trust is broken, he is deeply hurt and constantly doubts love, making him the most pitiful character. On the other hand, the female lead seems less starved of love, perhaps because she was too focused on survival at the time. In reality, she loves him deeply too. There are scenes where they beautifully share their love, sacrifices, and mutual pain with one another."
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This drama is highly focused on romance. For their relationship to successfully move forward, Ji Bozai deserves high praise. Notice that even after being betrayed, he still tries to find answers and is always ready to trust. There are scenes where he asks multiple times (3 to 4 times) if she is sincere, if she can be trusted, and if she will deceive him again. This is typical behavior of someone who is already deeply in love and trying to make excuses for the other person; naturally, the deceiver would say they aren't lying, but he just wants to hear that reassurance. As for Ming Yi, sometimes she doesn't even get a chance to answer before being cut off. The only time she does answer, it leaves room for doubt: "Right now, I am sincere." Although Ji Bozai seems aloof, distrustful, and acts like a villain, he actually helps everyone wholeheartedly. He sacrificed his life to save the Six Realms from the Heaven-Swallowing Formation, cared for the female immortal Ruo Shui, protected the people in the Slave Realm and the Abyss, and saved others from the demonic beast army. He possesses the true quality of a ruler—sacrifice. He is a very kind-hearted person who forgives everyone easily without complexity, including his lover, his master, and his mother.

As for Ming Yi, she truly deserves to be loved completely. The moment the male lead finds out she is Ming Xian and has been poisoned, he realizes that she has used her dwindling life force to save him multiple times, which is the deepest expression of love. The scene where he puts his neck against the sword and calls her a liar proves he knows she would never hurt him and is always ready to help. Even when he makes her believe he has destroyed the medicine, she bears no resentment or anger toward him.

How could they not love each other deeply? It is absolutely impossible, given how incredibly good they are to one another.

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This show is a quirky kind of fun; it feels like a parody that cleverly subverts gender roles.

If you were to swap the genders and the setting, it would be similar to the "obsessive CEO and his secretary" trope. But with the roles reversed, it’s hilarious. The female lead is actively pursuing the male lead, determined to have him as her husband even without an official status. Meanwhile, the male lead—despite his memory loss—retains his inherent pride and skills. He feels that being a "secret husband" is beneath him; a man of his caliber deserves much more.

I love the male lead because he’s so cheeky and adorable. Even the female lead praises him for being "cunningly cute." The beauty of this story is that they share the same ideals: she wants him to be a virtuous official who helps the people, while he wants to teach her how to manage her siblings and handle corrupt officials.

The drama is relatively middle to hard at the end but easy to watch at the beginning, though the massive cast can be a bit overwhelming—it’s like they brought in an entire army of actors. The charm of the show lies in the male lead’s sharp tongue and provocative nature. The female lead actually enjoys this side of him but often has to restrain him, saying, "Don't overdo it; others don't love you the way I do." She is ruthless and sharp-witted, not even fully trusting the male lead.

Having followed Hou Minghao through many of his dramas, I’ve noticed a massive leap in his facial expressions and eye acting in this series. Usually, our Xiao Hou isn’t the best at comedy; his attempts at deadpan often came across as just stiff or blank, likely because he was overthinking it.

But in this show, he’s genuinely funny because he’s mastered those cheeky, mischievous looks. Whether it’s playing innocent, teasing others, or pulling the 'Oh, really?' face (while clearly pretending not to know), he does it all so well. His provocative, teasing expressions are spot on and really fun to watch.
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I love the scene where Rong Shanbao changes her testimony.

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