Nothing much to rave about but certainly an interesting wrap-up

This is a sequel to the Alchemy of Souls with an open-ended and frustrating ending. At the end of the first series, Jang Uk was killed but was resurrected by the Ice Stone. Three years later in this sequel, he becomes a soul shifter killer, hunting down the remains of those who had escaped in the first series. While hunting a soul shifter, he runs into a beautiful woman who is held captive by her mother and begs him to help her escaped.

This sequel pales in comparison to the first. There are not much to look forward to. The identities are all revealed even that of this new Jin Bu-yeon is revealed to the audience. I thought the writer should hold on a few more episodes before doing that. I guess it is all to quickly allay the frustrations of those who watched the first series watching MuDeok died.

It becomes a bit of a drag - the identity of the new Jin Bu-yeon is known to the audience but not the characters involved. Jang Uk is in the dark and so are a lot of people in the drama. So the story revolves around them finding out one by one, and also how the 'righteous' people turn to the dark side.

I watched it as I wanted to know how it would all ends. So if you have already watched the first series, you would want to watch this one too.

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Comedy and political conspiracy in one - Amazing is the word befitting.

This is yet another amazing drama released in 2021. The male lead is one of the most handsome Chinese actors I have come across. He has this refined scholarly look which I am sure mesmerised a lot of female fans, and for the male viewers: many pretty actresses. I was drawn into watching the drama because of him. He and the female lead both sang the theme songs as well - truly multi-talented. The soundtrack is sentimental and melodious - one of the best Chinese drama soundtracks. The two leads had this amazing chemistry - making the romance and courting scenes sensational. The pace was good with hardly any lull moments. The costumes worn by the lead actress were outstanding.

The first half of the drama was about how the two lead characters met and sought to get closer to the other with ulterior motives and for political reasons. They fell truly in love in spite of their differences in talents and interests. As they struggled through self-denial, jealousy started to emerge as other parties stepped into the picture. The humour and funny scenes really cracked me up. The video clips at the beginning and end were too much of a give-away on this - should have left some suspense on who the duchess would eventually chose.

Tension however built during the second half as the conspiracy and fight for the throne intensified and it became chaotic, although with humour interspace throughout. The two went through thick and thin to save the Ban family and help the crown prince.

The story is quite run-of-the-mill in Chinese dramas: love triangles, fight for the throne, jealousy, misunderstanding, rejecting the other in the belief it was for their good, tripping and falling into the arms of the other, saving the damsel in distress - all the common themes and tricks. It is the acting that makes this drama good. Of course, these are common emotions in real life with fight between princes for the throne a common historical occurrence in Chinese history.

The regret the drama left was the crown prince continued to look incompetent even at the end, which seemed not worth the fights to help him re-gain the throne. Somehow, I felt that the throne really should go to Rong, for he was the truly capable one. But this would be very much against the Confucious teaching of loyalty I guess. The writer could have given it a twist here.

With the ban on filming due to the pandemic lifted, loads of good Chinese dramas are released and we will see loads of it and this is one of them.

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Power-struggle, romance and jealousy

This drama will capture your attention within a short time into the first episode. The usual hygiene factors rolled in: handsome actors, beautiful actresses, good acting skills, great on-screen chemistry between the leads, exciting story, lovely cinematography and lovely ending theme song. I certainly put it among the top dramas I had watched.

54 episodes is a good length for this story – sufficient to cover the story in sufficient depth with only a few lull moments. I had seen worse ones with draggy time-fillers.

Tiffany Tang and Luo Jin had this amazing chemistry and on checking the Internet they were married in 2018, no doubt falling in love while acting together in the numerous dramas they shared.

In this story, there were two classes of villains – the totally evil like the ChiYun family and the deceptive third sister whom you would hate throughout the drama, and those who showed a bit of conscience like the Tuoba Yu whom I empathised with at moments.

Storyline was quite sensible and realistic – no far-fetched scenes, at least none of those magical cure by internal energy transfer kind of crap, although there was a couple flying scenes in the first episode but the 'flyer' was aided by someone. These are interesting in fantasy dramas but spoil a period drama.

There were a few lovely music pieces like the ending theme song but the melody in the opening theme song is a little lacklustre.

However I must say a lot of similar themes were repeated over and over in Chinese dramas and in this – heros/heroines got framed again and again, disguise was so good they fooled everyone – wonder why no one picked up the difference in the voice, the villains were always lucky in their evil ways, and of course revenge which is a beaten to death theme in Chinese drama. If a couple of the framing scenarios were removed and the drama was shortened, it could work better.

I have a bit of a spoiler here – it had a sad ending although I cannot say it is a tragedy. The prelude of each episode gave away too much of how the story concluded although not the entire final ending.

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Don't be cynical about love

Overall, I rate this drama very well. An interesting story, a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music.

The story centred around Ren RuYi and Ning YuanZhou. The former was the leader of the female spy ring of the Kingdom of An, who was presumed dead. The latter was the newly reinstated head of the LiuDaoTang, the spy ring of the rival Kingdom of Wu. King of Wu lost the battle with An and was captured and imprisoned. The King of An demanded ten thousand ingots of gold for his release, to be delivered by a Wu prince.

RuYi was running away from being captured in the Wu kingdom and ended up hiding in YuanZhou's residence. Meantime, Yuan Zhou was appointed the leader of the delegation to deliver the the gold to An. The only prince capable of travelling to An was also the Regent ruling in the absence of the King of Wu and it was deemed too risky to lose him. Motivated by promise of rewards, Princess YangYing volunteered to be the 'Prince'. YuanZhou engaged the help of RuYi to coach YangYing on the ways of the An. So this delegation of people oddly thrown together had to make their way to An and rescue the King. How many would return safely?

What I like about this drama?

1. In a way, this story was along the similar theme as A Journey to You, a theme of a spy in the opposite camp who developed a Stockholm Syndrome. But the story development was a lot more interesting and the ending was a lot more appealing.

2. It was sad and cheerful at the same time - it spiced up your senses. Who could say that the world is perfect. Therefore we don't expect a perfect ending for everyone. Many did not make it back to the Wu Kingdom. But we rejoice that some found their own happiness eventually.

3. The story was interesting and original in its own ways. No plagiarism observed. and certainly different from 'A Journey to You'.

4. There were a lot of philosophical lessons in the drama. Many were very in tuned into human nature. I laughed at the lessons in relationship that ShiSan was teaching Chu Yue - somewhat crappy, somewhat wise. And in episodes 18 and 19, the lead characters were trying to sort out where they would eventually settle after their missions. This is so apt even in contemporary real life settings.

5. Chemistry between YuanZhou and RuYi was very well played out by Liu ShiShi and Liu YuNing. When RuYi insisted that YuanZhou was her choice of the father of her child and insisted on only a physical relation with him with no emotional attachment, it was hilarious.

6. The second male lead, Allen Fang, YiLun also brightened the drama a lot, acting as ShiSan. He was hilarious. It is the first time i saw him as a comic character, a departure from his usual stony face character. Hope to see him as first lead in a good drama.

6. All the hygiene factors were there: a good cast, excellent chemistry between leads, lovely backdrop , beautiful costumes and melodious music. And the opening and ending theme songs were beautiful.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. While there were some wise lessons to be taught in the drama, there were also some crap. RuYi was name calling her disciple as the illegitimate child when this was his Achilles' heels. Yet he accepted her ill-treatment and fell in love with her - I could not understand this. So one was masochistic and the other sadistic? And they complement each other? No compliments and encouragements - no wonder there are so much anger in some people. Imagine being criticised, beaten and name called all the time.

2. The final pretence was not convincing. How did someone surrounded and stabbed by the enemy soldiers survive?

For the last two points, I took half a point away from a perfect 10 but highly recommend this drama.

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A lovely combination of fairytale, romance and adventure

This is a very entertaining fairytale drama (xianxia in Chinese terminology). And the kids will love it with the mix-in of cartoon-like and half-animal characters.

What I like about this drama?

- Story is interesting. Although it does not have that extraordinary surprise or twist, it does conceal a lot of mystery which are revealed as the drama progresses.
- The bad guys lose and the good guys win. This approach always work for me as it appeals to my strong sense of justice.
- Good looking cast. This is likely the most prominent drama that Neo Hou acted in since 'A Girl Like Me' which was hilarious. He is undoubtedly the best looking actor in this drama. Zhou Ye is very pretty too, she is outstanding when she is dressed as the dark aura master. Acting as a Taoist girl, she is more like the girl next door - a bit plain.
- CGI and special effects are very good. Costumes are good too although not too elaborate but befits the characters.

What I do not like about this drama?

- The selection of actors for the various roles are good except for Zhang Lan and Chen Yi. Kenny Kwan who acts the parts of these twins is very good looking and does the part well. In age, he is old enough for the character, but in looks he appears younger than his son and daughter. It looks a bit weird when his son addresses him as father. Perhaps the roles should be reshuffled. He is better acting Lu Mu Sheng who captures the heart of SuYing.

- The on-screen chemistry between Neo Hou and Zhou Ye as leads is good but not as endearing as between him and Guan Xiao Tong in 'A Girl Like Me'.

- The ending is not properly explained. How did the new dark aura master vanish and then resurrect?

I am deciding whether to give it a 8.5 which is what I would usually give to a drama of similar quality, but decide to give it a 9 instead for its overall production.

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Wow... easily the best Korean drama I have watched to-date in a modern setting.

I have always a bias towards a period drama - falling for their beautiful costumes and ancient architecture. So when I started on this drama, I was kind of sceptical and it was more of a time filler while I waited for other period dramas with excellent rating to be release online. But wow.... I was carried away. It is intense, with all the elements which made it exciting and interesting.

As instructed by the third generation Vice-Chairman, Yoon Hyun Woo retrieved a slush funds kept overseas by the Jin family who controlled the Soonyang conglomerate. He was killed while on his way back. He woke up back in time in the body of the youngest of the founder's grandchildren, Jin Do Jun. He was able to capitalise on the memories of his previous life to become exceedingly rich investing and divesting at the right moment and won the attention of his grandfather who had been very cold toward his father, mother and their children as he disapproved of his father's marriage.

What I liked about this drama?

1. The story was very interesting - a mix of family rivalry, commercial competition, corporate takeover, collusion of money and politics, romance and rejection - all worked in for the perfect effect. And an excellent lesson in the post-World War history and economic development of Korea.

2. The cast was fantastic. Some of them acted multiple personalities in the drama. The lead actor, Song Joong Ki, of course did very well, first as the subservient Yoon Hyun Woo and then as the daring Jin Do Jun, which brought the story alive. The second lead, Lee Sung Min acting the grandfather was absolutely outstanding. He first acted the charismatic, domineering, ruthless business leader, then the feeble pitiful confused old man very convincingly. The support actress Kim Shin Rok was excellent too - acting the overbearing Jin daughter then a drunkard when she lost all her money.

3. It was very dramatic and there were hardly any dull moment and it was jammed packed with happenings. There was perhaps an episode when things seemed to get a bit dull as we witnessed Jin Do Jun succeeding in investing and divesting as he ride through the economic boom and bust - with more of the same happening. But that was quickly turned around and the pace of the drama resumed.

4. The ending was brilliant. I was wondering how the writer was going to deal with two of the same persons living in the same era and it was very nicely handled. There was the sadness of someone killed and someone living again. It was also brilliant how a revenge turned into a case of justice.

5. The music was very mysterious and dramatic to match the development of the drama.

What I did not like about the drama? Cannot recall any - definitely going to watch it a second time and come back to fill in, if any.

Further thoughts about the drama: The grandfather Jin Yang Cheol's insistence on primogeniture, the passing of inheritance to the eldest offspring definitely triggered the intense rivalry in the family. Parents have to be careful not to invoke feeling of jealousy among their children. If grandfather Jin had treated his children more fairly and encouraged a feeling of win-win and interdependence, there won't be such intense rivalry to the detriment of the family. Perhaps it was his sense of indebtedness to his eldest son who went to prison to save the business and his bringing up the eldest grandson which nurtured the closeness, that brought about this.

Thumbs up all round for this drama.

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Excellent production

In all measures: story, cast, acting, costumes, backdrop, architecture, fighting, chemistry between the main leads, were all first class. To add, very good looking lead actors and actresses, and the music was good.

Inspired by this drama, I checked on the history of King Jeongjo (Yi San) - hopefully Wikipedia can be trusted for historical accuracy. There was close resemblance to the real history. His grandfather did kill his father who had a mental problem and went on a killing spree. There was a Noron faction who opposed his succession to the throne because his father was against them. There were attempted assassinations. He did have a concubine who he loved dearly. This concubine died the same year as their first son, the first crown prince, while pregnant with a baby. Because of his mother's memoirs, the reigns of his grandfather, himself and his son were well documented. In this drama, nothing was mentioned of his Queen Hyoui; the real queen was not Hong WonBin who was a noble consort - the English subtitle referred to her as queen. As for the details, the drama disclaimed any adherence to real history; since who would know the real minute details.

What I like about this drama? For all that are listed in my first paragraph some of which I will detailed further:

1. The story was very real - you could feel the flesh and blood in the character - and the story was made very interesting. Of course, since this was based on historical figures you may say. But this drama was able to present history in a very interesting manner.

2. In this drama, Yi San grew up fearing his grandfather who had a violent temper. Yet he had a mind of his own. You can see how Lee Jun Ho played this character so well - the conflict of fearing his grandfather, wanting to do what he thought was right and yet playing the filial grandson. His grief at the death of his beloved concubine was absolutely heart rending. You could see his expression changed when he was telling his mother that he would only marry women of aristocrat families and then realised that the humble maid kneeling behind the blind waiting for him was his crush.

3. The chemistry between Lee Jun Ho (Yi San) and Lee Se Young (Sung Deok Im) was excellent. Yi San would express his love earnestly for her and Deok Im would stare back with her big expressive eyes.

4. The cast was excellent and acted well. An example: King Yeongjo, the grandfather was very acted by Lee Deok Hwa. He looked scary yet was a loving grandfather. The second lead, Kang Hoon (Hong Deok Ro, Yi San's childhood companion) did a marvellous job and so did the rest of the cast. There were no let down.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. This was more a conflict with my opinion and the behaviour of Sung Deok Im. She was consistently pushing away the King because she did not want to be his concubine as she feared losing everything. Something might be missing in the English translation. Because of this, they wasted so much chances of enjoying each other's support. A bit too cliche. What was the everything she was referring to? Her personal freedom? That the King would never be faithful? I could feel her pain in these later in the drama. But she could have been more open about this, especially since she was such a bold character, instead of leaving the King in pain earlier in the drama.

2. The drama gave a twist at the end, which gave a temporary relief to the heart rending - that they might live happily ever after. But that was short lived once I checked the historical account. Nevertheless I think it was a nice twist had I not checked.

3. Although the drama was very well produced, I did spot a mistake in the background towards the last few episodes - a split second of someone walking towards the King Jeongjo and Sung Deok-Im when they were on the bridge hugging, - looks like an image superimposed on the video by mistake.

All in all, I enjoyed this drama tremendously. I placed it in the top league of dramas I had watched. Highly recommended.

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Thumbs up all round - intense emotions, humour, lessons in relationships, portrayal of personalities

Three kids lost their mothers through three different circumstances - deaths, abandonment, divorce. The two fathers combined their efforts to be both mothers and fathers to the three. They grew up in the solace of each other and became closer than real brothers and sister. Unfortunately, their biological father and mother came back to claim them when they were teenagers and tore them apart. They re-united nine years laters but became strangers with their own careers and interest. How were they to deal with their new relationship? Watch the drama to find out.

This drama takes you through a lot of heart rending moments, especially when the little He Ziqiu (acted by Li Zhen Zhen) looked so adorable and so pitiful when the mother left him. I literally wished I could give him a hug and tell him everything was going to be alright. When one of the fathers started pouring out his grief that outsiders kept reminding him he was not the real father, it was so heart-breaking. I don't cry easily but find myself wiping off tears at a number of moments. And how the siblings and fathers were there for each other at times of trials were heart-warming.

But there were also a lot of short comic relief and hilarious moments like the sister gave each brother a red underwear to wear to their university entrance exams and insisted they showed her they were wearing it for good luck. When the brothers started fighting for the affection of their sister and became jealous when she dated someone else, it was quite hilarious.

This drama was outstanding in portraying different characters and personalities. You also get to see the mums and dads in modern China and their different characters. There was the tiger mum who plans everything for their daughter only to have her daughter secretly defying her plans. There was the scheming mother who wanted to win back her son only to harm him further. There was the self-sacrificing mother who kept her secret from him so that he could have a good upbringing. There was the pair of parents who wanted their daughter to become a celebrity actress only to end up sabotaging her career.

I could see shadows of Chinese mothers I had encountered in these characters.

Then there were the fathers - a motherly loving one, a busy policeman with no time for his family, a selfish money-minded father who turned out to better than expected, a seemingly loving father who actually was a conflict avoidance personality. Of course, there were the minor characters - the nosy and gossipy neighbours.

Aside from the portrayal of different characters and personalities in modern day China, there was also the portrayal of its culture. Money was quite openly discussed - unlike the Anglo-Saxon culture which avoid talking about money. There was also that filial piety culture which made it really difficult for children to shake off the domination of disastrous and troublesome parents - in a western culture, the children likely leave home after 18 and ignore their parents if they are tiresome, or parents might just chase their children out once they become adults.

This drama was also quite philosophical. In the conversations and discussions, there were also lessons of parenting - when to be there for the kids and when to cut some slack, as well as advice for interpersonal relations such as friends, siblings and lovers.

All the actors and actresses portrayed their characters perfectly and the story is very realistic.

For all these, I give this a perfect 10, one of very few dramas that I awarded this.

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The essence of good Chinese dramas - must watch if you are new to Chinese dramas

Excellent cast, amazing on-screen chemistry between the leads, beautiful costumes, lovely ending theme song - pretty much sum up the drama. The story is especially interesting if you are new to Chinese dramas. But if you watch a lot of Chinese dramas like me, you might find some elements in the drama are more of the same.

This is the first drama I watched lead by Yang Yang and I am VERY impressed by his acting. He is one of the very few Chinese actors with slitty eyes, who is very handsome. If you have noticed, most Chinese actors and actresses tend to have very big eyes, with the exception of a few like Deng Lun.

The story started from Bai Feng Xi and Hei Feng Xi, two well-known celebrities in the martial arts world, being at loggerheads with each other. Their rivalry was interesting and amusing to watch. One day, Bai rescued Hei from nearly drowning in the river and discovered he came from a complicated family. Her sympathy for him changed her attitude towards him and romance started to blossom. You can indulge in the romantic scenes.

The drama has a lot of feel-good factors as the good and righteous always win, even when placed in a very disadvantaged situations and might at time be badly hurt. The evil and underhanded always eventually get punished. The drama at parts reminds me of Royal Nirvana where the crowned prince was always punished and hurt and eventually committed suicide in the sequel, But this drama was quite different. Feng LanXi was too clever and smart for his rival brother.

However, the story did not end as well as I wish it would. Although I would not call it a tragedy, I think it is a poor compromise. Chinese dramas do have a lot to work on regarding its ending. Time to change the approach that the righteous and capable eventually retire early - if they do, they place the evil and less capable in power. Although in this drama, the alternative to the throne was also capable and righteous, he was obviously less capable. Some dramas try to come up with clever endings but often end up with lousy ones instead.

In spite of some of my negative comments about the story, I would still recommend this drama.

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Star-studded drama

This is a star-studded drama. Aside from the leads, the attractive Guan Xiao Tong and the handsome Song Wei Long, you will see a lot of familiar popular faces, including Xu Kai, Bai Lu, Wu Jin Yan (Wei Ying Luo from Yanxi Palace) and the handsome Merxat Yalkun (Mi Re Xia Ti).

Unfortunately, this drama does have some glaring flaws. Episodes 1 to 16 are fantastic as the story is original and different from most Chinese dramas I had watched. Guan Xiao Tong acts the arrogant, promiscuous Princess ChuYu who is the emperor's favourite sister as well as Zhu Que, a look-alike assassin trained by the Tianji Sect. Engaged by the princes who are unhappy with the Emperor Liu Ziye of the Liu Song country, a cruel and psychopathic youngster, she is assigned the task of assassinating the emperor. The Tianji Sect plots to let Zhu Que impersonate ChuYu. ChuYu has a harem of male attendants which Zhu Que has to deal with; one of them is the shrewd, perceptive and mysterious Rong Zhi. These episodes are full of suspense as Zhu Que attempts to get close to the emperor while avoiding discovery that she is an impersonate, as well as hilarious as she returns to her palace to be surrounded by men trying to serve her.

The only complaint I have in these episodes is ChuYu's weird hairstyle which looks like an oversize sweet potato sticking on her head - the only competition is Medusa's hair of snakes. ChuYu's hairdo would have been more appropriate in some fairytale stories for the fairy godmother and not quite fit for a period drama.

From episode 17, the story suddenly takes a turn. From this point onwards, the story changes its setting in Liu Song to Wei, a rival country which is often at war with Liu Song. Here, ChuYu (Zhu Que) arrives as the princess sent as the bride to forge a marriage alliance and brings about peace between the two countries. As it turns out Rong Zhi is the Prince Regent in Wei and he marries both Prince ChuYu and Ma XueYun acted by Zhao LuSi on the same day. Neither Rong Zhi nor ChuYu seems to remember their past encounters. This has prompted comments on YouTube that it is a repeat of the Goodbye My Princess story. Also, ChuYu (actually Zhu Que) seems to have suffered a setback in intelligence and a personality change from a trained assassin to a clueless princess.

The only link between the first 16 episodes and the rest of the story is the lame appearance of a story-teller who says he is going to send ChuYu to Wei as his audience are unhappy on how he ends the first part of the story. This transition is very awkward. The cast is almost entirely swapped and from this point onwards, the popular stars appear: Xu Kai, Bai Lu, Wu Jin Yan, Merxat. All the momentum build up during the first 16 episodes are lost and the story starts anew. It is almost like there are two separate stories with some very loose links between the two, and ChuYu's harem of male attendants have all disappeared except for Rong Zhi.

There should have at least been some explanations why ChuYu and RongZhi do not remember the past but it is lightly glossed over. The drama seems to have been written by two different writers. Other than this awkward turn in the story, both stories are quite interesting. And the second part is quite unlike Goodbye My Princess although the theme is similar and therefore lacks originality.

The chemistry between the leads is great. Song WeiLong looked very mature for his age in this drama - I was surprised how young he was when this drama was produced. And you have Wu Jin Yan as the cunning Empress Dowager befitting her previous role as Wei Ying Luo in YanXi Palace. Of course, the star-studded cast does outstandingly well. Zhao LuSi acts a psychopathic woman driven by jealousy, a departure from her usual characters.

Additionally, the Wei costumes for the ladies are pretty but rather monotonous - they are all the same with a stiff shawl and wide skirts. It is almost like the production budget has all been spent on the stars and they have to save on the costume design budget.

So if you overlook these awkward points, this drama is quite interesting to watch. I have given this drama a 8.5 for its star-studded cast, excellent acting and an interesting part 1 - higher than its current rating on mydramalist.com.

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Gosh... nearly every key individual dies

Initially I thought this is an abridged version of the Royal Nirvana and did not pay attention. Then someone mentioned this was an epilogue that would explain who was Xu Chang Nian. So I started watching it to my regrets.

The prequel, Royal Nirvana ended on a positive note - the Crown Prince was entrusted to go to the border to calm the situation as his uncle was assassinated. Lu WenXi was happily pregnant awaiting her baby and presumably the return of her prince.

Gosh, in this sequel nearly all the key people died. If you enjoy an emotional torment, go ahead and watch this. For all my ranting about the pessimistic story below, it was a good production. You can stop here if you do not want to know the rest of the spoiler as I am going to spell them all out.

Encouraged by the head of maids Jiang, the empress feeling sorry on how she had neglected her youngest son, the fifth prince, killed herself in an attempt to help and keep her youngest son stay on in the capital. The fifth prince turned evil, plotted against the Crown Prince, was set up by WenXi and was caned to death with the emperor not attempting to save him. Zhang Shao Yun was shown in a positive note as an anticipating uncle as his sister was expecting but was killed by Feng-en's soldiers when delivering medicine for the Crown Prince. Li Ming-An was killed by Feng-En. Gu Feng-en, embittered by the assassination of his father wanted the Crown Prince to overturn the emperor and claim the throne. When the Crown Prince instead plotted against him and decrowned himself to declared him a traitor, he committed suicide.

The Crown Prince returned to the capital disgraced, depressed and committed suicide. His son was born an orphan - the mother WenXi committed suicide after giving birth to join her husband in the next world. Xu Chang Nian as it turned out was the son of the Xiao DingQuan's uncle, the former crown prince who was forced to kill himself. The emperor put all hope on his grandson and appointed Xu as his tutor - I am surprised with his suspicious nature that he would appoint him as tutor knowing Xu was actually his nephew and had possibly a claim to the throne.

Actually, I blamed WenXi for all the trouble (or more correctly the writer for crafting it that way). If she had not misinformed the fifth prince to set him up, all the sequence of events would not be sparked off. She could have shaken off the control of the fifth prince by simply telling the Crown Price that the fifth prince had captured her brother to control her. In the earlier sequel, her father and brother was imprisoned because she failed to pass a message as she went searching for the lost seal and were eventually killed. Her interfering did not end well in both instance.

In the previous sequel, while it was a sob story but at least it ended in a positive note. In this sequel, the good turned evil; the evil who started to show their human side died. The Crown Prince after all his effort to safeguard his position killed himself. I would rather have kept the positive image of Feng-En and the fifth Prince as righteous people. Also Shao Yun and Li Ming-An did not deserve to die as they were good people. This sequel practically killed all belief in the humanity and the fight for righteousness.

Also, while explaining who Xu was, it created more mystery - why the fifth Prince said that if Xu was indeed the son of the previous Crown Prince, then he (the fifth Prince) was as good as dead was incomprehensible.

This sequel was certainly one of the most tragic story I had watched so far, beating Nirvana in Fire in being tragic. Nirvana should not be used in this drama - this is supposed to be the ultimate state of bliss and final goal of Buddhist - in this drama, it is the ultimate suffering.

I applauded the cast for their excellent acting but condemn the production team for being masochistic and taking pleasure in pain. If I were the writer, I would have crafted this sequel to focus on the story behind the death of Xu's father as that would have been sufficiently tragic and more interesting.

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Ancient Terrorism

I think this drama is underrated on Mydramalist. It is an excellent production and a very enjoyable drama.

A father and his daughter tried to approach Baili HongYi (acted by Wang YiBo) to report a conspiracy and were killed in a back street of Luoyang. HongYi's father was a commoner who rose to become the Minster of Works. Subsequent to the event, HongYi's father was murdered on HongYi's wedding night. Were the incidences related?

Gao BingZhu (acted by Huang Xuan) grew up in the Ignoble Ghetto where criminals and their descendents were condemned and placed under restricted movements. Seven of his mates who were his best friends were killed by a group of mysterious masked attackers when they left the Ghetto with him on a stealthy fun trip.

Wu SiYue (Victoria Song), an imperial guard and niece of the Empress regnant and therefore a nobility, was escorting Princess YongChuan when armed fighters tried to assassinate the Princess.

These three different individuals from vastly different background were investigating these three different crimes. Their paths crossed and they realised that the crimes were linked to the same terrorist group - the Spring-Autumn organisation. This terrorist organisation was supposed to be exterminated years ago and the head of the movement was imprisoned and had gone insane. Who was now leading the group? And what were they up to? In his insane babble, he mentioned a Hidden Phoenix.

The style of the drama footage and cinematography reminded me of the 24 hours in Changan - with the crowded narrow streets and rather dark background - a very realistic portrayal of an ancient China city.

The drama would keep you intrigued as each investigation led to dead ends as the people involved were either killed or committed suicide, or there were more than met the eye every time it seemed they had found the 'mastermind'. And there were always the unexpected attacks as the culprit tried to fool and kill HongYi and BingZhu.

The final revelation of the Hidden Phoenix was a surprised although I had suspected he was associated with the terror group earlier in the drama but did not expect him to be so high in command. As BingZhu said to him at the last episode, he hid himself well.

The theme songs were alright. I particularly like 天机 (Heavenly) - the melody and the lyrics very aptly set the mood and described the story.

What makes this story more appealing is it is realistic and probable. The madness that drives a group of people to kill individuals and mass murder resembles the terrorist movements today. The emotional riots that happened in many cities, that were either politically motivated or instigated by rumours and conspiracy theories, and hijack suicide flights into buildings are all examples of the modern day terrorism. A group of people who believes they are marginalised by society or the enemies, or has ambitions beyond reality can all fall victims to extreme actions. Also, there were no flying swordsmen or ridiculous strange energy transfer remedies for a change - these add more interest to fantasy dramas but look rather strange in historical dramas.

I watched the drama a second time before I wrote this. I must say that I appreciated the story and cinematography more. However, since I already knew the real mastermind and what was going to happen next, it took the suspense out of it. And without the glamour of beautiful sceneries and backdrop, it did seem a bit more dull. The head dress for the Empress regnant was also a bit dull.

The cast portrayed the character they acted very well. As for the popular Wang YiBo, he did very well acting the serious nerdy engineer who was very bright in science and analysis, but did not quite know how to handle social situations. He was however more glamourous as the the Lan WangJi in the Untamed and more handsome in the Legend of Fei where he smiled a lot more.

Aside from the lead actors/actresses, the support cast was really good too. Bai Lang (Jiang Long) who was the friend and sidekick of BingZhu was funny and added a lot of humour to the drama. Prince Dong Chuan (Liu Duan Duan) was the most upright, well-meaning and capable out of the bureaucrats but was always undermined by the terror group. They were among the outstanding ones.

However, the last episode is a bit of a let down. I think they killed the wrong person - someone capable and righteous. I would have chosen to kill the mastermind or the whiny feather-head who always got into trouble instead. And the idiotic murderer got away from death sentence - it was all so wrong.

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A refreshing difference

Xu FengNian is the astute heir apparent to the fiefdom of Northern Liang (BeiLiang). His father Xu Xiao is a powerful general and outstanding strategist who conquers six countries for the LiYang Imperial dynasty and is conferred the title of King of BeiLiang. Although the LiYang emperor honours Xu Xiao with great titles and a huge fiefdom, the LiYang court is wary of his powerful cavalry and distrust him. The last thing they wish to see is another powerful successor.

To secure Xu FengNian's succession to his father, his siblings are sent away by the father to help secure his position, while FengNian has to act as a playboy to avoid an arranged marriage to the bitchy Princess Sui from the imperial family, besides hiding his capabilities. Internally, Xu Xiao's numerous foster sons who hold considerable military power and younger son are also potentially rivals to FengNian's succession and the Prime Minister is trying to wedge division within the family.

The scattering of his siblings all over the empire has saddened Feng Nian. This drama is centred around FengNian's trip to visit his siblings and bring them home, while his father schemes to secure an imperial decree to pronounce him the official successor amid a court that is not friendly to him. Not wanting to destroy and kill, Feng Nian has refused to train in any martial arts from young. Setting out with only a few highly skilled bodyguards and a small troop, he faces numerous assassination attempts and is injured on a number of occasions by enemies of unknown sources. Behind the trip is a huge conspiracy awaiting FengNian, not only from his enemies but his father as well. Very much a strategist and schemer himself, FengNian pit his wits against his enemies and his father. Will he survive his journey, what will he achieve and will Xu Xiao succeed in getting him named as successor?

This drama does not contain triangular love story and rivalry among brothers for the throne, which have become the common themes of a lot of Chinese dramas. After watching many Chinese dramas, these themes have become boring. So this drama is refreshing for a change.

And of course there is the outstanding acting skills of Zhang Ruo Yun. He livens up the drama. I would not place him among the top 10 best looking actors but I would certainly place his acting skills among the top league.

The pace is quite moderate and at parts quite slow moving, but you will be riveted in front of the screen waiting to find out who is behind the various assassination attempts and what is going to happen next.

If you are reading this to figure out whether you should watch this, I give it a thumbs up and recommend it strongly. This is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pf392nvj2_E.

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Extremely well produced

This was a Korean version of grand settings and fabulous costume, and smoking hot actors and actresses. The story was well written and the acting was superb. The drama was intense with moments of humour to lighten the tension. It invoked a whole range of emotions - anger, suspense, sadness, laughter, romance, joy... It featured betrayal and loyalty, love and hatred, and jealousy - the common emotions in life. It was almost like the drama Nirvana in Fire but with the key strategist a woman (a slave girl) instead of a man (a former general).

The story centred around Empress Ki who became the empress in the Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty which ruled China and Mongolia. Although of Korean descent, she rose from a tribute slave girl to the highest female position among the Yuan nobilities. Many of the characters in the story existed in history, but of course the story was twisted to make it highly dramatised - otherwise who would watch it.

The story was very well woven together and very complicated. The story centred around Ki Nyang (the empress), Emperor Toghon Temur of Yuan and King Wang Yoo (Korean King). The Korean King struggled to keep his throne while the Yuan are scheming to take over the kingdom to make it part of the Mongolian empire. Emperor Temur grew from a frightened teenager living in the shadow of his ambitious regents to become an emperor who won the respect of the various feudal lords and commanded an empire. In the middle of it all was their rivalry over Ki Nyang's love.

Empress Ki (Ha Ji Won), Emperor Toghon Temur (Ji Chang Wook), King Wang Yoo (Joo Jin Mo), Tanashili (Bake Jin Hee), Dowager Hwang (Kim Seo Hyung) and Tal Tal (Kim Ji Han) were all smoking hot. What particularly left an impression was Kim Ji Han (Tal Tal). Although he was only a support actor who spoke very little during the drama, he left a strong impression. Instead he spoke with his facial expression - the disbelief, suspicion, concern for the empress (with perhaps a hint that he was in love with her as well but never expressed it)... He was dashingly handsome, certainly the most handsome of the lot, and acted his part with dignity and carriage. In this drama, he was a strategist and general who was calm, collected, knowledgeable, observant, inscrutable, intelligent and rather scheming. It's a pity I did not see many of his dramas where he was the lead actor, listed in mydramalist.com. Hope to see more of him in lead roles in outstanding dramas in future.

Of course, like a lot of dramas, some parts were a little unrealistic - for example, the Emperor on intercepting love letters between King Wang Yoo and Ki Nyang did not confront her. If he had, the entire scheme of the cunning would fall apart. What husband would not say anything and suffer in silence, much less an emperor.

Watching Korean dramas is a refreshing break from Chinese dramas - there are some distinct differences in the way things are interpreted and approached. But you have your eyes glued to the TV so as not to miss the subtitles.

If you know the Yuan dynasty history, they were eventually driven out of Southern China by the Chinese, and Emperor Toghon Temur ruled during this period. Although the story centred around Yuan and Korea with China being left out of it mostly, you should expect what the ending would likely be.

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The turbulent life of Wu ZeTian, the one and only Empress regnant of China

This drama is about Wu ZeTian, the only empress regnant (meaning reigning as opposed to consort) of China. It tells the turbulent story of how Wu became a minor consort of Emperor Li Shi Ming, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty, and went through sabotages and betrayals. She met Li Zhi, the future emperor, went through several life threatening encounters with him and helped him became the crown prince amidst the rivalry for the throne. Li Zhi fell in love with her. When his father passed away, he insisted on making her his consort, then his empress and eventually his co-ruler, against strong opposition. Li Zhi relied on her help against his uncle and the aristocrats who controlled the court, while he was plagued with illness. After Li Zhi passed away, she became the empress dowager and regent, and took over the throne when her son messed up on the throne. Wu was and will be the one and only Empress regnant of China - past and future, since monarchy is now dead in China.

Of the 3 dramas I had watched about Empress Wu through the years, I must say, this beats all of them.

The on-screen chemistry between Li Zhi Ting (Aarif Rahman) and Fan Bing Bing was absolutely amazing. I could really feel the love, the anguish and the sorrow at the ‘younger’ emperor’s death. This is one of the very few dramas which managed to make me cry – I am very immune to crying scenes. They are excellent actor and actress, and mega stars. You can see a transition of the emperor from a vibrant young lad to a feeble old man. It is a pity we do not see much of them since this drama in 2014. Aarif also wrote the music for one of the songs in the soundtrack. Aside from excellent acting, the make-up artists deserve our applause - although I think it is slightly overdone in their 'old' age since they were just about 50s - Aarif looked 80 or 90. Aarif’s performance in this drama far exceeded that in Princess Silver; I think largely due to the chemistry between him and Fan.

The costume were absolutely the best of the dramas I had seen over the last few years, especially of Li Zhi and Wu during the last one-third of the drama – there was only 74 episodes in the version I watched instead of the 90+ indicated on Mydramalist. All the actresses in the drama were all beauties.

The opening and ending theme songs were very well written especially the lyrics; it aptly describe the dramatic life of Wu.

If you leave historical inaccuracy aside, this is a mega epic. I think the romance between Li Shi Ming and Wu was made-up and fictitious as there were no historical evidence that they were that loving and the drama was draggy during this part. But between Li Zhi and Wu was believable as historically, Wu did become his empress and co-ruler – evidence of the love and trust of her, aside from her beauty and intelligence. Wu arranged to be buried next to Li Zhi, farther evidence of her reciprocating love. If I were to rewatch the drama, I would likely start from the latter. Also, there was a wordless stela on her grave – I had the privilege of visiting her grave during a tour in China.

Putting aside the historical inaccuracy, I give this drama a perfect 10.

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