JJJ

Heat index shows how popular a drama is currently. For Tencent, 30000 would be when a drama is getting really popular, 24000 is a rising number so if it can hit around 30000 or close to it, it means it is hitting its status as a certified popular drama. It was around 20000 on day 1 when it aired. It is now around 24000 on day 2.

This drama makes me so tense because you just know any decisions they make will impact the lives of regular citizens. Be it those from Liang State, Wei State, or Yue Luo. Be it they reveal the truth, or use lies to cover up the truth, regular citizens will be the one to suffer.

Same haha, especially for a female character too.

Episode 8: Aw, Jiang Ci can no longer stay as pure as like she did when she was in the mountains. Wei Zhao has shown her that the world is not black and white. That the things they have done can't be defined as simply being good or bad people at this point, they have all lied and done despicable things. Love that Jiang Ci is not willing to live in ignorance and is making an effort to find out more about Wei State, Yue Luo, etc. beyond what she thought she knew from books that were dated.

Also haha, Wei Zhao really underestimated Jiang Ci this time.

Dubbed by a voice actor.

Episode 6: Madam Rong/Pei is so shady, I kind of like it. 😂 Her ability to just lie like that on the spot with tears falling?? Amazing.

I am enjoying it. FL being hurt like this repeatedly in the beginning of the drama by the ML is a big risk especially because a lot of drama viewers are women and the trend in C-drama land recently has been more about refreshing FLs who take revenge/career-focused. This novel is a pretty old one so "acceptable tropes" have changed a lot. But this drama is doing a good job IMO to showcase FL as someone who doesn't just take the hurt (will get her lick back) and she isn't some saintly person who did forgive everything the MLs do (for now).

The political aspect of this drama is decent too and all characters so far have their own motives and reasons for doing things. They are not just there to push FL and ML to fall for each other lol.

Acting-wise, everyone doing their jobs.

Drama hit 24000 heat index, let's see if it can get close to 30000.

She really is a little sunshine in their type of world.

Jiang Ci to Pei Yan: "There are plenty of people like me who doesn't have any lofty aspirations but there are also people who have lofty aspirations who aspires to fulfill their duties diligently. To me, shouldering responsibilities is extremely tough and requires a lot of courage to do so. Not everyone in this world possesses this kind of courage. But your lordship, that's the kind of person you are. It is precisely because of the existence of responsible people like you who prioritize the bigger picture that I can join in the fun out there and drink on a tree without worries. Everyone has their own lives to lead, just like the stars in the sky, each has its own path of brilliance. Even so, they don't hinder each other from shining."

How can anyone NOT fall for Jiang Ci when she speaks like this. I love her so much.

Omg makes sense because I didn't remember that from the novel. Madam Pei is something else too. I read somewhere she had an affair with the emperor in the first place to protect her husband. Every single of these characters got like 10+ layers.

Oh WOW! I did not remember this from reading novel snippets so I don't know if it was in the original novel or it got changed but I came across a clip about Pei Yan's background (preview for some upcoming episodes), spoiler below:

Slowly rising, it is getting attacked A LOT from YXH (marketing accounts) on Weibo and Douban but that is typical. A lot are just trying to say it is boring or coming for their looks. I even saw a post coming for Li Landi's voice acting but that post was commented by non-fans saying "Now... you got to be kidding" LOL.

On Xiao Hong Shu, I see a lot of people actually discussing this drama and excited for new episodes (it is more positive on that site).

Heat index is rising too.

I think it will depend on how this drama market itself for the next few days + whether drama commentors would pick up on this drama and have positive things to say about it to spread.

Yes, this was filmed about a year ago.

Cui Liang is one of the more normal male characters here. 😂 Gentle, kind, and caring.

I agree, she is great!!! It has been a while since I really liked a Chinese actress for just acting alone. Her roles have all been quite different from each other too. From Yetan to Li Mujia to An Zhique and now to Jiang Ci, she really is able to present these characters in their best light. And she just has really great ship chemistry with her co-stars, even with Wang Yang who is 20+ years older than her in "All the Way to the Sun" (that ship got really popular with C-netz).

Yeah, this drama didn't really full-on start promoting until a week before it air and only confirmed air date the day before it aired. Bilibili usually have ppl introducing upcoming dramas and most didn't even mention this one because there weren't enough clips + they had no idea it would drop soon.

I adored Seven Tan in "Go Ahead" and I was able to finish TSATB but I could see why so many ppl criticized the ML in TSATB lol. The production wanted to push a "pure" ML whose true love is FL while he already has many wives and kids lmao.

Points of conflicts as of the current 5 episodes just so I can keep track because it is a lot:

Jiang Ci vs Wei Zhao vs Pei Yan
Wei State vs Liang state
Pei family vs imperial family
Yue Luo vs Liang state
Teng Rui (his past identity) vs Wei Zhao
Jiang Ci's master (Yan Qiao Shuang) vs the king/internal court
Andddd more to come...

Yup, a lot of them are also fans of other actors/actresses and it is just part of the C-industry to keep each other in checks like this so I wasn't surprised (having others do better is bad for them since it means more ppl competing for good gigs). I do think this is a pretty decent drama with engaging plotlines so just leave it up to time for more neutral ppl to check out this drama and make their own decisions.

This team behind this drama isn't really hardcore selling this drama either (barely buying hot trends either) so a lot of ppl didn't even know this drama existed or would be airing. To promote on places like Douyin, drama production usually hires professionals to make edits that would attract viewers, but this production team was lacking in that area.