absurd

Hm, I'd say, if they are really airing it soon, June is more likely. Long ballad still has three weeks to go for free users. Unless it will be just Hunan first and then web after...

There's romance, but it's not the focus. No love triangles.

It's a technical thing. The ratings went up for all dramas. Don't know if it's temporary or permanent

For me personally, Wei Shuyu's main character flaw is not that he makes those sometimes bad decisions, it's that he does not stand by them, he lacks conviction. So he decided to work for the new Emperor to protect his family. Good, I can understand and even respect that. But then along comes Chang Ge and tells him what a disappointment he is and he just deflates and starts to doubt himself. But then comes Hao Du telling him that he's useless and there we go again. I'm not saying people can't change their mind, but with him there's just constant back and forth of "who was the most convincing today".

I think you are spot on with the "kindhearted uncle who is taken advantaged of" and agree that there is a big possibility that he will be made into a sacrificial lamb, characters like him often do.

Maybe it depends on the actions LOL

Well, if she was older, maybe the "not using words, but actions" tactic would have worked, but on a fifteen year old who knows nothing about relationships... definitely not.

That's actually true, somehow... Which is amazing considering his personality

You are not wrong, that there is a lot of politicking in the beginning of the drama, but I think it's there to introduce Li Shimin's character as a wise ruler, rather than the brutal murderer who killed MC family. Later on (not much, I'm only on ep 13 now) it focuses on Chang Ge and the way her worldview changes as she gains new experiences. I can see the changes already, but obviously they won't happen overnight.
But it's , of course, all personal preference. I actually like when the story is not very emotionally dramatic and even a bit cheesy, because I don't think fantasy or heroic stories are a place for brutal realism.

I think this is more about personal growth of the characters, rather than politics, they are shown just enough to make the story interesting, without turning it into a documentary. MC is purposely shallow minded in the beginning, she is a sheltered princess after all, even if she knows how to fight and some military tactics. As she goes through the story she will change.

I am not very far into the story, so I have not seen a lot of him, but it seems like he does not actually understand that it's wrong, what he's doing, so it will definitely get better as he learns. It looks like there might be some bad history with his father, that made him like that. But I'm just guessing, by his violent reaction when someone mentions his dad.

While they are hugging he says he was looking for her very hard. And she asks if he traveled all the way from Grasslands to here looking. He says, "sorry, I should not have blamed you" and she replies that "she owes him a lot", he then says something like "don't worry, just slowly return that favor". The second part is too difficult for me, sorry.

I know everyone is probably much further than me, but just in case someone is waiting until it finishes airing, putting this under the spoiler.
So, while it's not exactly a complaint, but I really need to let it out. So Hao Du left a helpless princess in a remote post office (or whatever that was). Alone. And came back like a day later surprised that something happened to her? I feel like this character has a problem with some basic human concepts. Well, that usually makes for some very funny situations.
I was kind of apprehensive about Liu Yuning, but he's doing well so far, good for him.

I'm only up to ep 12 and it looks pretty good so far. I don't even have anything to complain about, now what do I do? LOL But seriously, very dynamic and interesting, I have to restrain myself to watch at a pace, instead of just dropping everything to binge watch everything that's available.
Kind of reminds me of Akatsuki no Yona (Japanese manga and anime) with it's premise, but so far this one is much better executed and more grounded in reality.
Oh, remembered the one thing that bugs me. The amount of filtering on the faces, seriously wtf, they look almost like porcelain dolls.

Hope you like it! ^_^

It's funny how reviews and comment section here are full of people saying the Legend of Yunxi was better, so after finishing this I went to try the LoY and the comment section there is full of comments saying the Ruyi is better LOL
I'm not going to compare, just going to say, I loved this one. All the characters are interesting and the story is very dynamic. I liked how their relationship progressed and have to say, so far, this is one of the healthiest relationships I've seen in c-dramas. Also their chemistry is through the roof. Yes, FL (the character) is a bit childish, but she is a child. They don't state that anywhere, but all things considered she's probably no more than 15. But even though she can be childish, she also readily admits if she's wrong and takes responsibility, I liked that about her. And she is smart, I don't see where people get that she's stupid. Just because she did not do as ML told her and did not stay out of things? Well, surprise surprise, he's not the boss of her and she was actually right in the end.
The second half does get a bit repetitive, but I don't think I've seen any over 30 ep c-dramas that don't have that problem. First... about 25 episodes just flew, they were so easy to watch. It's funny, doesn't really go deep into the "drama" part and most of the issues are resolved quickly. Very easy to watch. All in all this is now one of my favorites.

50 ep is a general placeholder put for any new drama. Until it goes through filming and editing, I don't think even they know how many episodes there will be.

I don't see why not, it's 3 -4 days a month. It's like other artists who, for example, record variety shows regularly, they just build their schedules around it.

Yeah, I saw a comment here about how this drama should be more popular with all the promotion it had. And I was like Lol, what promotion? Press conference with no actual press and a photoshoot not even in the magazine? Idk, why, maybe they decided there's no need to waste money on it since XZ fans will promote it for free?
Omg, the smile. It was exactly what made it for me. Though it was the one when they boght a rabbit lantern, it was in that video I mentioned. I could not believe a real person can literally smile like that.
I decided to check out Immortality because I saw one of the actors in another drama and thought he was good, even though I dropped the drama. That's basically my way of looking for what to watch. I didn't read the synopsis, it's based on the novel and they will probably change a lot. But, gosh, that comment section is a cesspool, definitely avoiding that. I got attacked for saying that the date on mdl is not an official one. What will happen if someone criticizes it? Scary...
I think douban is not much different from here, there are just a lot more people rating. I kind of had to get used to 7 being a low score on mdl, because on myanimelist 7 means good and 8 is either "wow, masterpiece" or "only fans of the genre rated this". And I think the same goes for douban, unless it's a big IP that did not live up to people's expectations or actor hate.
Haha, it's so hilarious when there are cries about the ratings, especially here. Production companies in China don't even care about douban scores, let alone here. It's not like high scores bring money, views do. You'd think low scores would affect views, but fans watch anyway, so no one cares. Not sure why someone would buy ratings on douban in that light, but who knows.
Oh, no, you're right. Definitely nothing to blame actors for. Entertainment industry in general doesn't seem like the healthiest of places and Chinese one looks especially toxic, whith all the "no dating, no eating" and those endless lists that have different names, but are all basically a popularity contests. They even measure endorsement sales and then compare artists based on them. Talent? Who cares? Now monetary value... *facepalm*

Nope, 2 hours it's for Chinese audiences. For us it's: "oh, sh*, it has been airing for two days already!" Lol

According to schedule it's going to be 3 day monthly performance in different cities. Though it might be that part 2 is a different story which he won't be a part of, 8 hours is a lot.
Proud of him, theater is very different from acting on camera and very demanding.