Alice_01

Exactly what i was thinking as well! Why not have her leave the country cause of her work? It could work all the same since they only knew eo for a month...Plus with her "leaving" that way makes it all the more traumatic and memorable, so even more difficult for him to forget her...So when FL kept asking in the next eps ”Still can't forget her?" She sounded so dumb to me and also kinda insensitive...
Actually looking at spoilers it's not very soon I hward they become a couple around ep25 so we still got furure lol

Currently on ep 7 and I hate how dirty they did poor ML here...Even if his love for her was only for 1 month and mostly "superficial" this was his first love and having her "die" in front of him must have left quite a big scar for him...It's really not ethical or funny IMO.
And sure he did act a bit like a jerk and had a blunt personality at the start with FL in her true form but most were actually caused by misunderstandings lol

張笑安〈Always Home〉電視劇

So you think FL's father who is the head of the family had/has no knowledge of his concubine's actions and schemes or his daughter's hardships in the countryside?? He is just a well 2 faced snake that never lets his mask fall off (at least so far)...Even though we did get to see a bit of his true cruel face on ep6 with FL's mother's backstory and how she came to marry him.
As for ML as of ep10 that I have watched we really know a few things about him and his backstory...Which I hope will change in the upcoming eps.

True and that's my concern as well...I hope they can just keep the current quality of the script and don't have to resort to rushing things later...

I really hope they will soon cause so far he is really not giving much and he is just there when needed and the shoved to the side again...And with the romance still not progressing much, he really comes off a bit flat so far...We really need to see more of him and to help us that way understand him better. I mean with only 30 eps on the table I was expecting his story to have been shown to a level at least by now.

Currently on ep10 and the FL has had more chemi with Chai Jing than the ML himself...Also as 1/3 of the drama is done I really hope we get to know more about the ML and his backstory cause so far it's been lacking to the point that C-netz have been making multiple edits using MLs from the double/blossom as the ones with HanYan lol
But with that being said in all other departments the drama has been serving so far! So I hope it picks up on that department soon and will be perfect!

Currently on ep10 and Chai jing's love and loyalty for FL had me in stitches 😭 My doomed yuri 😭

True...30 eps do seem too little for a historical cdrama like this one to unfold...But if they were planning for a part 2 shouldn't they have informed us before hand? The reason I haven't watched TFP yet is exactly cause of the part 2...If I knew this was the same case here I would let it marinate way more...

I see...Thank you!

Are there any novel readers here? With the way this cdrama is progressing, which ep do you think they will get married? I don't want to catch up with the latest eps yet and wait for their married life era...Especially with the daughter, I hope we will get more scenes of FL x their daughter cause this is something not usually seen in cdrama last time I saw a drama like that was in The Sword and Brocade ( highly recommended ^^)

Hmm I am only 4 eps in so I can't say much about her chemi with ML but the one with Chai jing is really giving ><
Honestly, ML so far from the eps I watched doesn't seem to have much of a presence and his supposedly "cold military official" demeanor didn't get me sold either...Hopefully the future eps will give us more of him and their love story.

Before I went back to catching up with the eps today I scrolled through X and apparently Chai jing x Zhuang hanyan cp ranked 1 on the Chinese side, surpassing the actual cp lmao
I guess I am not the only one who catched on Chai jing's feelings and their deep bond ><
https://x.com/yuenings/status/1902513085153472716/photo/1

Maybe I have read too many Cnovels/manhua but back then it was quite normal (or on the very least it's not a rare plot) to 1. Have a sister marry the husband of her sister if she dies, especially if they had children left behind because they think that only a step mother with blood relation to the kids would treat them well plus that way the 2 families can keep their familial connection and relying on one another in the future.
2. It also isn't rare case for a man if high ranked to marry a Di (legimate daugter) as main wife and also bringing her own Shu (illigimate) sister as his concubine, because when the main wife is pregnant and can't perform her duties, the husband sleeping with her shu sister instead of another unkown woman was less of a threat to the wife.
So by now after reading and watching all sorts of crazy plots from the ancient times this doesn't phase me in the least lol Though I do guess that from a modern person's perspective these all sound wild af...

Btw I am currently on the 4th ep and the air around FL and Chai jing is really giving yuri vibes >< At least one-sided by Chai jing for sure lol The way she smiled when FL said she doesn't want to get married and how she has become her shadow and is ready to throw her life away to protect her...But with how these cdrama usually go and knowing the top is FL x ML I am sure Chai jing will sooner or later have smth tragic happen to her while protecting the FL and scriptwriters will get her out of the picture...Also based on ep 4 I can already tell they might fight or strain their relationship the more FL starts to care about the ML...They even almost already had a fight after the house burning incident...Things are clearly changing. And after FL loses her "blade"/shadow guard she will have to become one herself I guess...
Cannot wait to watch the rest eps >< But I was also not planning to catch up lmao

Just started this, currently on ep2 and omg the vibes are so dark in here...It seems even darker than The Double honestly! Cannot wait to see our FL working as an underdog until she rises to power!
I am interested to see how many things are hidden in the Zhuang fam...I am sure the concubine is definitely not as nice and kind as she tried to show herself as...From the fact alone that she talked in front of her maids like that and delayed their salaries supposedly cause of FL was a way of making the maids hate on her and making them gang up on MC and blame her for it! Kinda getting them to do all the dirty work while the concubine can keep her kind persona and give the medicine after the maids serve the pain... If anything her birth mother seems the most reliable to me here...Though utterly broken and mentally distraught as she is after all these years in that house (it could also be just a front for protection who knows)
As for the ML his introduction was kinda mild for me he was not all that scary...More like trying to show a cold front but didn't convince me enough ><

You're welcome^^

Hm...Personally I think the whole swift of their relationship was done well in this one! ML finds out since ep8 and he ever since you can see subtly treat her differently and the FL also starts having some questionable and conflicting thoughts ever since the eraly 20+ eps so I didn't find the build up problematic >< I also liked their subtle moments before officially engage and I found their chemi nice!

around 27-28 i think

The way the rating keeps going down in this one lol
Truly an unseasoned and overcooked kdrama this was... It had a big budget, beautiful actors and sceneries with sports cars and still it could not propel this drama to the level of others that share the same tropes. It's just too badly written/directed beyond saving...