Krish728

I don't agree with you that FL can't match ML's intellect. The negotiations will still go through as usual, both sides will get their desired benefits. FL pulled this tactic to get even more benefits. As the person above said, this is war, and the both of them are at the opposite sides. And as they say, all is fair is love and war.

After watching this video -- No wonder, most of Jing Tian's horse riding scenes in the drama are faked lol. Some of Xu Kai's horse riding scenes are also faked... like when they were galloping in the woods near the stream.

The author/screenwriter of this drama had written quite a few toxic MLs in her novels before. I think you may recognize Li Chengyin (apparently, he's Li Xuanze's descendant, according to the author. Li Xuanze is the Crown Grandson who finally ascended the throne after Li Ni abdicated) from Goodbye, My Princess drama. That is a very good example of a toxic ML.
I'm glad that the author finally saw the light and wrote a good ML with a happy ending for this drama.

Interestingly, the drama Xu Kai shot before this drama, As Beautiful As You, was also an adaptation of a novel in which the ML had a friends-with-benefits relationship with a woman when he met FL... His relationship with FL also starts with a fully consensual one-night stand.

I think I veered off on the point I wanted to make in my previous reply.

When I said the people have a preconceived notion of how a strong independent woman should be, I meant that, for people, a FL can be a strong independent woman as long as she isn't stepping on ML or gaining advantage over ML. Let's not forget, the ML here is not suffering any real losses, rather gaining his own advantages.

And you say something about FL and ML relationship rubs you off in the wrong way. You also say that you have only watched until ep 17. If I'm not wrong, although FL and ML were flirting with each other as if they are already together, they are not really together at this point.

It looks like you are projecting yourself as those people who are being "attacked" by us here. You don't like FL's vibe here, yet you like AJTL FL. Cool! However, it's important to recognize that others who you think are being "attacked" by us may not share the same sentiments. So, if you are projecting yourself onto them, then I can see why you are so vexed about this situation.
As I have mentioned before, people have a preconceived notion of how a woman should be. People even have a preconceived notion of how a strong independent woman should be. But there shouldn't be any. Why are we even using the word "strong independent women"? Do we have a similar term for men? No.
All women are unique, strong, and independent in their own way. And I understand that just because you felt that you didn't like a female character who is "strong and independent" doesn't mean that you won't like other "strong and independent" female characters.

I guess people here have differing opinions because the FL here is a lot more nuanced and is someone you can find in real life. She seems like she has real feelings, not just a character created for a script. Yes, she does make a fool out of the ML a few times, but the ML is happy to make himself a fool as long as he isn't suffering any losses -- whenever he gives into her, he makes sure to get his own advantages out of the situation, if you did not notice this.

Yup.

Don't know where you got this from, but it is not true.

Yes, I remember your comments about Li Ni versus Li Yi. It was me who was engaging with you on this before.

I think, if you are posting your opinion here, or anywhere else on the internet, you are basically inviting people with differing opinions to engage with you in a conversation. I thought this was given?

Also, I don't see anyone being tagged as women haters.

Done with my re-watch of the drama on Viki.

I would like to make a note on the subtitles:

I had previously said that Viki subtitles were the best. But I guess I should have put a Terms and Conditions apply mark there lol. Indeed, Viki subs for this drama were the best... until around episode 20. After that, the subs, although were still good, but not as good as the WeTV subs. In the first 20 episodes, we had Shiqi Lang subbed as Seventeenth Young Master, which was very good. After that, it turned into Mr. Seventeen. Er Dou was Er Dou until episode 20, but it became Ear after that. Taozi was Taozi until episode 20, but it became Peach after that. All these I could forgive. But Li Ni changed into Li Yi, and also there were some grammatical mistakes in sentence formation too. So, for those who were planning to watch WOL on Viki, this is a reminder that not all episodes subs are great.

Now that I have finished ranting on Viki subs, I would like to point out a few findings that I missed or didn't care much about in my first time watching.

1. LCF and his romantic OST.

I only realized in my rewatch that LCF has an OST dedicated to his love for FL lol. It was fine if the OST was playing before he turned that hyper-obsessive fool. After that, I really hated it when the drama played that OST in the background while LCF was obsessing (yes, obsessing, not love. Li Ni also made this observation when LCF kidnapped FL the second time) over FL... I'm thinking WHY?? It was so undeserving. Anyway, that was my only gripe with the drama, so I wanted to get over with it first so that I can point out the positive things later.
I would like to point out that I did not feel grateful for LCF switching out the pill he gave to FL. Nor do I find that it redeemed him in any way. I'm glad that neither FL nor ML felt grateful for his sacrifice. Like he literally caused many innocent lives to be lost... he also almost got ML killed... got Lao Bao and group killed... schemed against FL's father and the entire Cui army.

Now, onto the positive things.

2. Low-Key one of the best acting performances in this drama.

Zhao Jiamin, who played Gu Wanniang, low-key gave one of the best acting performances in the drama, imo. I'm saying low-key because I see a lot of people praising XK or JT or Zeng Li (Consort Xiao). Yes, they were, naturally, great. But Zhao Jiamin did not get the praise she deserves, is what I feel.

3. Li Ni's father, the emperor.

A few days ago, someone here made an observation that Li Ni's father and his brothers were like the Biden family. To which I countered "No, rather, they are a lot more like Donald Trump and family. I thought it made sense then. And when I was re-watching the drama, I increasingly felt this observation was very apt.
Trump was someone who was (and is) easily manipulated by praises. If someone sang praises on him, then that someone would be his best advisor. If someone criticized him, even for his own sake, then that someone would be forever shunned. This is literally the emperor we have in this drama.

From this, I felt that this drama's scriptwriter was really bold to write an emperor like this. A few people were making comments like, "No emperor would be like this." "The Dumbest Emperor ever."
I say to them, we already have an example of a world leader in front of us who is almost similar to the emperor in the drama. And it was only because we have social media so advanced that we were able to witness this world leader's stupidity on display. Now, just think, the history was often written by those in power. Would anyone write themselves as dumb? No! So, to say that no emperor would be like this is not accurate. I'm pretty sure there were quite a few kings and emperors back in the day like Trump, we just don't know about it. We did hear about a few muddled rulers (even from China), but not to this extent. Maybe, they were glossed over and made them look just a little better?

And with that, I'm done with my observations.

My original rating stays the same 10/10. I wouldn't rate it down just because of that little gripe (LCF's OST) I had.

Not yet, sadly.

FL was angry because ML did not believe her when she said she wasn't behind the betrayal.

Then, ML did not come to save them until LCF "died". For FL, at this point, LCF is someone close to her heart. More closer than the ML, with whom she didn't even confirm any relationship. On top of that, ML is even holding her hostage, intruding when she is grieving the loss of her brother... this definitely is not a situation where she will be grateful that ML saved her. And I would be surprised, and disappointed, if she didn't lash out at ML. And I'm glad she did. Otherwise, it would be weak character writing.

I think XK only had one other drama that aired this year. And it was, regrettably, bad. But this one, I thoroughly enjoyed.
I can't speak for you, so that I can't guarantee you that you will surely enjoy this drama if you continue. You already have so many negative thoughts on this drama, so I feel that you will probably not enjoy watching this.

I don't think anyone is saying that people hate to see a strong independent woman. But rather, the issue is that people have a preconceived notion of how a woman should be. People even have a preconceived notion of how a strong independent woman should be. Hence all the discussions over FL in this drama.

I don't think there are any more misunderstandings after this. They did have differing opinions and views which brought them apart a couple of times, but no misunderstandings. Rather, they understand each other too well.

ABAY has a trailer, now even Story of Joy has a trailer...

Ah, the trailer: https://twitter.com/XukaiAlbum/status/1735519578795758054

It depends on your perspective.

In my view, both ML and FL love each other equally. I do see a few people having problems with ML being a "simp" for giving into FL a few times.... but I don't think so. He is someone who is willing to give into the people he loves and cares about, yet he upholds his principles to the end and does not give into anyone, including FL, when it concerns his principles.

That's the above two posters' opinions, not everyone's. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, they had great sizzling chemistry from the very first episode to the last.