Isabitcliche

it was high time we had a cross dressing fl

oh...sounds intriguing. i was too quick to drop it ig.

One of the things that this drama is excelling in is the insane depth in every character they introduce. You can't help but root for them.

Bro this keeps getting better and better. I was so giddy these last two episodes. The ml is finally getting his long awaited character development. I'm sure he'll come around and we'll get a happy ever after... Right? Hehe 🔪

I looked it up and I actually did. I watched first few episodes but couldn't get into it because they were too harmonious together, and the premise didn't feel interesting enough. So I dropped it like I do usually. Though I really like this type of hurt/comfort dynamic the drama had, unfortunately, it felt predictable in a way.

this drama has brought back my love for cdramas, which had been pretty dead these past few years.

this has to be ragebait

The pacing is immaculate. as for the screentime, i don't think there's enough to call the romance the main plot, but it's definitely present. Idk how you'd define a decent amount of screentime together, but for me, it's decent.

yeah i love him as an actor too. funnily enough the only drama i didn't like of his was love next door (and this one too). i found it unfit for him given he had done some serious dramas before that. as for the dramas i liked from him are snowdrop and D.P. love next door started off strong but i couldn't keep up with it for long.

such a moving episode. only in this episode did i realize how incredible an actor ji’er is (idk her real name lol). i’d love to see her as the main lead in something in the future.

also, the music in this drama is SO good. i love every single OST, and it elevates the overall experience so much. i usually don’t even notice OSTs unless they’re really good, but here i actually found myself paying attention to them, and every single one fit the drama so well.

i might ruin the fuzzy mood of everyone here, but i guess this needs to be said. we had much needed confrontation in this episode. the ml really needed that reality check because I still don't think he fully understands why what he did was wrong. He seems to believe that what he did was justified simply because he wanted the marriage.
why are we praising a man for taking what he wants as some chivalrous act when getting what he wants is actively hurting someone else? Wanting the marriage doesn't automatically make his actions romantic, especially when the fl clearly didn't want to be put in that position.
The fl was absolutely right to ask whether he would have done the same if their social standings had been completely different. Maybe he would have(bcz its a romance drama at the end of the day), but I think he would've been far more careful and prepared to face the consequences if there had actually been consequences for him. Instead, he acted recklessly because there weren't any real consequences, and because he seems to believe that eventually the fl will fall in love with him anyway.
And that's why ml needs serious character development. which I'm pretty sure we're going to get, partly because the writer has already proven herself in previous eps. She has been very deliberate about showing how social dynamics and power imbalances actually affect these characters, rather than simply romanticizing them, and she has consistently made a point of challenging and overcoming those dynamics. 
Also, the poster is giving me hope. They're holding hands, and neither of them is positioned in the centre or in front of the other. There's no side hug or back hug that would reinforce those old romantic dynamics where one person is literally placed above or behind the other. It's just a simple hand holding pose, with both of them standing on equal footing.
So I'm expecting the story to make the ml confront not just WHAT he did, but the power and privilege that allowed him to do it in the first place. only then can i sleep easy.
for now, i think we can agree he is a red flag.

Unpopular opinion, but I didn't like the last two episodes.
Firstly, because of the forced marriage. Secondly, because of the ml, who is acting as if it wasn't that big of a deal. It's pretty clear that the fl doesn't want this marriage and feels trapped by it.
I don't think apologizing really does anything here because, for me, it contradicts his personality who forced a marriage in the first place. It is not like he had some character development in between that made him realise what he did was wrong. So the apology feels convenient. I would've preferred if they had picked one of two directions: either make him a red flag ml who forced the marriage and actually deal with the consequences of that, or have a ml who didn't force the marriage but still acts the way he does now. clingy and affectionate.
Instead, they kind of merged the two, and I'm finding that really hard to follow.

the consistency im showing in this drama is making my studies jealous.

To give the writer the benefit of the doubt, assassinations and political killings were far more common in historical china, so i suppose a crown prince getting killed at a wedding isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility lol.

the forced marriage was definitely a choice from the writers’ perspective, but from the plot’s perspective, it’ll definitely speed things up. I hate to say it, but this was coming, given that they weren’t going to stay unmarried for long lol. Either get married to each other or we would have another divorce arc. She would hate him fs after this.

that scholar Han needs to get away from them dude. the romance hasn't even started, and we already have a sml. let my ship sail for God's sake.

It’s not exactly new for the dislike toward the sfl to be so apparent lol, nor is it surprising that the “bad boy” sml is once again the more popular one with the audience. I do think the fl and sml have better chemistry together, but that doesn’t really discount the fact that the sml has some serious caricature tendencies. i can still see what they’re going for with the whole “two crazies together” dynamic, tho.
As for the sfl,i agree, she’s genuinely such a sweetheart. i don't think she even knows if he has a gf and even if she did, she hasn't done anything out of line yet. she’s very likable despite being positioned as a love rival, and I really don’t get the sense that she’s the type to willingly fight another woman over a man. if anything, she seems much more likely to step back once she realizes where his feelings actually lie. but only time will tell.

no way man. i had high hopes

absolutely. it's only going to go downhill from here.

Honestly, even if we put aside the ml's real feelings towards the sfl. It's still very ambiguous if you look at it from her perspective. He has not set any clear boundaries with her. I wouldn't call it flirty but there's just too much proximity between them that isn't entirely friendly. Even if he think of her as his little sister, he should atleast make it clear that he does. He hasn't. I would be utterly confused if I was the sfl. Like what are we really? For now, only the ml and sfl have sparks going around. Fl and the sml are still in their enemies zone.
It's only going to get more complicated from here. The emotional infidelity is going to be a big part of this drama fs.