TheMoonEmpress

Same I like this drama, I don't love it. I wish I had the wherewithal to hold out till the end of its airing and binged watched it in the end, maybe that would've helped, to consume it in one go. At this point, I find myself questioning things, not really thinking about this drama after I'm done watching the episode, it doesn't stay on my mind that much. In fact, I'm enjoying the discussions on this page more than the actual drama. The acting of leads is okay, nothing to write home about and it also doesn't help that their characters are written inconsistently. Can't get a proper handle on what are the motivations of the leads. Like you said, I'm finding it difficult to gauge the FL, some things I love about her characterization and some things make me roll my eyes in disbelief (especially when she tries to act cute). It's never convincing enough for me, even if I rewind and watch again. It's like the FL is trying to emote something and it reaches just halfway , never quite reaching to me and convincing me. Don't know if it's because of the acting or direction. The ML is more straightforward but I'm veering into boredom because of his character. I want to believe that he's clever as the drama wants me to believe, but he relies too heavily on his adviser and now his wife. Yes, he takes his own decisions in the end, even going against the advice of the advisor only to be proven wrong (like what happened in Boya). That sequence made me question him as this all too clever, ruthless warlord whom everyone fears. I think he benefits more from the people around him like his advisor, wife and grandmother....than his own merit. I wish the script and direction could have been better. Now I have tempered my expectations and I'm just enjoying the romance brainlessly lol.

Lol 😂

I was thinking the same thing. He is their biggest shipper lol

He was so pleased lol. Didn't like that she calls him his formal title in the letter later

The FL has said previously that she would use Wei strength to raise the Qiao flag in Boya. If the cousin had not done it in front of Wei Qu, Wei could have cried foul play saying they raised the flag behind their back. That's why the cousin suggested it in front of WQ. The reason the general returns to Bianzhou later is because he was stationed at XG and WS immediately mounted an attack on XG after the flag was raised in Boya. That's why the general returned to Bianzhou in a later episode, he was busy fighting the Weis in XG, not because he had not fully retreated from Boya. Be it anything to do with how army functions or how military functions or be it anything to do with right or wrong, there is no satisfactory explanation for WQ's actions as a general. Even if he couldn't have communicated first with WS, he could've at least said let's delay putting Qiao name on the flag. Otherwise why would WS reprimand him saying such big matter and you decided on your own. His hesitation in taking action or saying anything is a bit weirdly written and conveyed. All this mental gymnastics to justify the character, actions or decisions taken shows that the storytelling is not as clear and smooth as it should be.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BnEEXtg61/

Swoonworthy 🙈

Where can we watch the extra episodes?

Yes she acknowledged that he keeps work and personal life separate which is good and mature of her.

Many days had passed without a flag in Boya and the general had already retreated by then. Also when Fan suggested it, she didn't suggest it as a matter of urgency but rather a way of boosting the morale of their men and getting the support of their people. She only said that there might be trouble later, not that they don't have any time before the flag should raised. Nowhere in the dialogues or even their acting did they suggest that a flag is urgently needed there. If you have interpreted it that way to explain it to yourself, well and good. But the fact that you also had to fill in these blank unexplained spaces shows that there's something missing in the storytelling. Besides, the other general had already retreated. Even if he gets suspicious about there being no flag and would return, he would at least take a few days to observe and plan an attack and then attack. It wouldn't be the very next day at least. So WQ could have had some days to plan it better rather than just letting them raise the Qiao flag.

No, I'm not saying he should've gone against his military orders and let it be the Wei name on flag. I'm saying he should've known that something is amiss when they decided to raise Qiao flag and should've tried to stop them or at least said something along the lines of "this is a very big deal, let me ask our lord how to proceed" and stalled for a few days. But he hesitated, that's what even he said while repenting for his mistake later. He didn't even question the raising of Qiao flag, which given Bizhi's nature, might have even bought him some time for consulting with WS. At least WS would've been in the loop. There were so many ways an experienced general would've handled that situation. What WQ did was not it.

Agreed. It was at least okay when it was just wei liang (actually even that wasn't okay because he literally spilled their military plan to attack the territory neighbouring Boya, which should be forbidden to disclose even to their people, let alone the Qiao's. Common sense) but in the Boya incident even Wei Qu behaved dumbly which was a surprise and brought the quality of storytelling down for me.

No. That's why he nipped it in the bud right in the beginning. But something or the other kept happening to this production

I have been following this drama very closely since its announcement, because it has LYN in it and the premise was also right up my alley. From the beginning, this drama was riddled with challenges. Even during its shooting period, it was peppered with scandal. First there was the so called scandal of LYN's previous marriage and even some details of his personal life were made public. Of course that was handled masterfully by LYN himself within hours. Then there was the SZE tax scandal because of which this drama went on backburner for some years. And even now that it's finally airing , there are whispers of scandal about Lady Xu actress. It's like someone is purposely trying to sabotage this drama by creating heck ton of roadblocks. It's so good that this drama was finally aired.

That's what I'm saying, I don't need full blown spice or even kissing scenes, just need the scenes which are obviously meant to convey chemistry between the leads to be better executed.

Yes, just do away with the aphrodisiac scenes, they're so outdated. And yes ,if it were modern irl kind of context, I would agree with you that it's supposed to be uncomfortable. But that's not the intended purpose of this scene in terms of the story the director is telling us through his direction. The team obviously wants it to be a highly charged scene which at least piques the interest of the MCs in each other physically . But the execution falls flat and creates a different atmosphere altogether. There's an aphrodisiac scene in Romance of Tiger and Rose and even The Sleepless Princess, which, although having the same inherent flaws of typical Aphrodisiac scenes, doesn't make the viewers feel uncomfortable in that forced creepy way. So I guess there is a way to execute it in a non creepy way with good direction and better camera language. Like if he had made the FL at least a little interested in him physically then it might not have fallen so flat.

I haven't read the novel so my expectations are tempered. And I don't even mind lack of spice or kiss scenes in romance drama, provided they show enough intimacy and physical chemistry. Sometimes even touch hands, almost touching, hugs or even eye contact can be shot sensually and beautifully. Even that would have been fine for me . Well hope it gets better later. Dubious consent is very difficult to pull off visually, that's for sure. It can quickly go into the creepy territory which is what happened here for me.

Yeah that was satisfying to be sure but the rest was just uncomfortable. I've seen hand touches and even almost touches that are shot more sensually than that bumbling scene lol (like in bridgerton season 2 or even Pride and Prejudice movie). Hope the director doesn't do anything like that again in the drama.

Yeah , if they really wanted to go there, I wish they had fully committed to the the scene and thrown a few closeups in there as well 😂

I agree, costume and styling are the best thing about this drama for me.

Hehe I'm tempted to do that tomorrow and see if anyone takes me seriously. If you have to keep announcing your empress fate then girl, you're a long way from being an empress lol