TheMoonEmpress

I just want a good happy ending for the couple. They've been through enough.

FL does call him cousin, and he also calls her cousin

Blossom had much better direction and storytelling. I was a passerby for that drama as I am for this one, I'm not a fan of any of the actors (except I have a soft spot for LYN). But overall narrative control and storytelling was tighter in Blossom.

I like that it's not only him being enchanted by her beauty, even she is feeling the flutters because of his actions.

True. And going by some comments in this thread and even other comments on this page, I'm not the only one. At least there is some chemistry which makes it worthwhile for now 👌🏽

There is a dearth of good period kdramas. The only ones I liked in recent years were Alchemy of Souls and the Red Sleeve

I get what you're saying and I'm having a similar experience with the drama. Some plot points are head scratching moments for me , like when she is kept outside the city in the rain for days (so you're telling me the generals who were standing outside with her didn't have any other work for 2 days?) or even like the FL's sudden pivot to childlike behaviour when till that point she was acting like a completely different character, in fact her cousin seemed to have more feelings and emotions than FL seemed to have in the beginning. Usually Cdramas do have a problem with logic but I didn't think this one would be the same. FL's acting is a hit or miss for me , I think I'm finding her particularly underwhelming because she gets many praises for her acting which made my expectations too high I suppose. Thats why, like you, I'm finding her character and their relationship to be unclear. The acting and direction is a bit wonky but it's another one of those dramas where you will have to turn off your brain and not scrutinize too closely. Sigh, we have plenty of those kind of dramas, don't we? I am enjoying the romance aspect of it at least. They have chemistry and the banter is also at an acceptable level. I love enemies to lovers trope so I'll soldier on. Going by the comments, I should probably read the novel, at least that'll be a spicy adventure 😉

Where are they getting these magical aphrodisiacs that work instantly and why don't we have them in our current time? 😉 It's even their incense sometimes. This trope was parodied by Romance of Tiger and Rose. It was done very well there.

In the drama, the ml clearly mentions that it's been two days since the rituals so we have to assume that she was left outside for 3 nights at least. Even the FL later mentions they left me out for 3 days. That plot point was a bit on the nose. What's funny to me is as the original commenter mentioned, the generals also stayed there for 2 days? They didn't have any other work? 😂

Ashes of Love was S+? I am baffled, it looks so cheap lmao, fake flowers everywhere 🙈

Yeah that plot was a bit of a head scratcher for me😶‍🌫️ also the resolution was so drawn out, I had to use fast forward liberally. The cousin looks beautiful but is really a piece of work.

Not clear in terms of what she is trying to emote through her dialogues. Hope you continue to enjoy it too.

I don't know if I can find it again. I think it was on bilibili. Will try to find it

Like I said, I am talking about too much breathiness in her voice, not about her chinese diction of which I know nothing. It seems too contrived for my taste, I thought I was in my journey to you for a second. Everyone else around her is speaking in a normal tone, so I guess that's what's throwing me off. That, combined with everything else I mentioned in my comment, is giving me a very hazy image of the kind of character she wants to create. In fact, I am able to clearly get what LYN set out to do, although I've seen his work before and he has played similar characters before. Like I said in my other comment up there, I think I set my expectations too high after watching the trailer and reading the synopsis. I'm 3 episodes in and still hopeful that I'll enjoy it. I just have to get used to her acting, I guess.

She looks so beautiful. I get confused between her and FL

The direction, costumes and set designs are really good in this drama. The styling is soo good, both ML and FL look amazing in these costumes. Even the mid age range actors look amazing.

I was surprised in the first episode that she was acting like that even in her own home, also with the cousin to whom she is supposedly so close that she is willing to take her place in a dangerous situation. Her acting has not yet convinced me about her character's foundation and motivation but I'm sure it will get better further along the story and has a purpose in her character arc.

Mostly on facebook, bilibili and weibo

One fan asked Liu Xue Yi a question in his livestream "did you join for the reshoots just to film the kissing scenes?" Huhu
He said "how is that possible?"🤣

Hehe I picked it up too. I couldn't wait. I started watching it, the first episode was okay for me. I hope it picks up in the later episodes