MJN

I love the pure innocence of this drama. No backstabbing, manipulations, evil intentions, etc. Just pure innocence of a growing love. I usually don't like overly sappy love stories, but this one doesn't make me feel that way. It is so nice and such a really healthy feel good drama. There are a few minor irritations (as in Jiang Ying), but they are insignificant in the greater story of this drama. It really is so sweet to watch. CZY has the best expressions during all their conversations. I love just watching his face when he is with ZLS in a scene, they really are so cute together. ( I still love her with Leo Wu more, but this is a very close second)

If your looking mainly for court politics. Here are a few I recommend (they do have a bit of love story in some, except for the first one, which is one of the best, imo).
~Nirvana in Fire (so good, first drama I ever watched Leo Wu in, and Hu Ge who plays the ML is amazing, love this drama, definitely all court politics)
~The Rebel Princess ( I like this one a lot as well, it mainly focuses on the FL, but the story is all about the court and corruption, etc. )
~Princess Agents (very intriguing, more of a spy type with a bit of court politics, ending a bit open ended)
~Joy of Life (I wasn't a huge fan of this one, but I did watch it, they are currently making the second season now, after several years)
~Stand by Me (I liked this one, but it isn't highly rated, has a lot of court politics as well)
~The Princess Wei Young (yes it is romance, but the political games in it are really well done as well)
~The Song of Glory (love this one as well, political, does have romance, I think it is good)
~The Rise of Phoenixes (this took a couple of times to get started, but once I did it was really really good, the romance is second to the amazing story and it is definitely intriguing)

Others that I love (but do focus on the romance sort of, but they are just as intriguing)
~The Story of Ming Lan (I admit I have probably watched this so many times, I can't count, I do skip a lot since I have seen it so much, but the story is still really well done)
~Love Like the Galaxy (I know you already saw this one, I absolutely love this, have watched it at least 3 or 4 times as well)
~The Sword and the Brocade (it does have a bit of court politics, but it mainly focuses on household politics, I guess you could say, but I love Seven Tan's character in this, how smart she is)
~General and I (The only reason I mention this, is because I love Wallace Chung and he is good in this, I do not like Angelababy but I got through it, the story is intriguing and political as well)
~Sword Snow Stride (there isn't much romance in it, and it sort of ends up being about the family going after their mother's murderer and it has wuxia elements in it, but the acting and story is really good and supposedly there should be a second season which should be more court based/focused)

The relationships in this drama are so well done. The friends, the family, the siblings, the love interests, they are so endearing and sweet and honest. It really is a very well done drama and to think I was hesitant about watching it.

Yes, I am loving the discussion and I am learning so much. I have watched so many ancient costume C Dramas and I am now wanting to get more into the history. That way I can finally get some reference when they start talking about certain areas, locations, people, etc.

Awesome thank you :)

I do too, I am crazy about details and I remember names and places. I am a huge geography and history nut as well. But I am mostly familiar with American History (growing up in the US) and a bit of European (mostly English) history. I love learning about all this stuff, so when familiar names pop up, I get hugely interested in learning about it.

Thank you for that info, it is really helpful. I get so confused sometimes, but I hear a lot of these cities and provinces, etc used multiple times, so I was curious.

I just hope we find out what really happened and just maybe her mom is still alive, like possibly Gu's patriarch is. But maybe they just wanted to kill off a lot of people since they are moving to a different region and other people will be introduced. I wish it had been the concubine who got killed instead though. She was definitely unnecessary.

Yes, she kept kind of slacking, if she had first taken off when the maid had said something, I think she would have missed the concubine coming and pleading to her and they would have made it out.

TY so much... perfect for what I am looking for.

I thought the same thing. I just can't remember which drama either.

I was able to find it on the Mango app, but the subtitles are so bad.

Ok Question from someone who doesn't know Chinese History.... All these provinces happen to be the same names of the provinces (countries/counties/whatever) as in Who Rules the World. Each province had its own leader (governor/whatever), then of course they were ruled by one King/Emperor who was over all the provinces. My question were these actual provinces in ancient China that is why we are seeing the same names and that is how they were ruled and governed? Just noticing the similarity in the names and was curious. **I really need to read up on all this so I can get a better understanding of the geography and who ruled and what not, so I can somewhat understand these costume/political dramas a bit more**

What I don't understand is the little boy, her younger brother has always been honest with Yuru, I mean he tattled on his real mom earlier, so if he was witness to the concubine throwing the mom off the coach, wouldn't he say something? or did I miss something?

It definitely has all the goods, bads, ups, downs, happiness, and sadness a really well casted drama should have. This really is a one of the top dramas this year and I definitely enjoying it.

If the subs were better, I probably could get into this. I will just wait til a better site like Viki or somewhere else gets it. It just isnt making any sense to me.

I will have to try that. That is what I was told with The Untamed as well, to skip like the first 10 or 11 episodes, I think that is what someone told me. That is another drama that was huge and I couldn't get into it either. I love both MLs in that one, so it was disappointing I couldn't get into it.

He is hot in Love at Night, lol I am actually rewatching it while I wait for other dramas for the 3rd or 4th time.

I really hope Love Never Fails airs. There are two Crystal Yuan dramas I want to watch, that one and the one with her and Wallace Chung, The Emperor's Love.
Liu Xue Yi looks so good in both modern and costume though, so I will be happy with whatever he is in. Especially if he is the ML.

I do too. And I heard they brought the ML from Season 1 back as well, not sure if the FL came back or not. I also read that there might be talks of a 4th Season. I was like Season 3 just ended and a lot of international fans haven't even watched it yet, lol.