AtsukoM

The ice bath scene was not supposed to be romantic in the novel as well. It was a mixed of pity and obligation for her at that stage of their relationship.

This story is very predictable even in the novel with lots of common tropes. The bread and butter of this story is the gradual developments between the leads. Drama has been deliverying that well with good execution imo.

No. Da Qiao and Bi Zhi stay loyal to FL.

As we have seen in the drama, Bi Zhi regards FL as his benefactor for life with great reverence because FL helped them eloped.

Novel is HE

This is like romance focused with politics and military sprinkled throughout.

Marriage takes place early but no love at all. Instead, there's irreconcilable blood feud between the two families. Hence, there will be harsh treatments especially in the earlier parts of the story. So, basically enemies to lovers trope.

Good chance you might like this drama based on the examples you provided (because I love those dramas as well hehe xD). Give it a try until ep 5 I would say.

It is indeed quite fast. Already covered like 1/5th of the story in 7 episodes partly due to the added pre-marriage intrigues. But, better they rush the prelude than the later parts of the story.

I also love how they turned the Wei generals into such lively characters. Those guys are like stones in the novel. lol

Ikr. Tang costumes are the rave in recent years' dramas, so it's also kinda refreshing to see costumes from other eras.

Hence the title. xD

But I ended up not minding about it that much as the push/pull and tension along the way was entertaining.

That was a good one as well. Really looking forward to the drama.

Feels like it's Zhu Yu (Chasing Jade)?

Now that you reminded... hehehe

I also agree drama Xiao Qiao is more cunning and proactive with her agenda. It's more fitting for the screen that way.

Aside from the story and leads, I'm absolutely appreciating the costumes and styling in this drama. Especially SZE's costumes are so elegant and easy to the eye.

Agreed! So far I'm quite satisfied with the adaptation. The drama additions and changes fit very well to the main story as well, not annoying like some other adaptations out there.

And the wedding scene and wedding night as well. Perfectly portrayed each character's state of mind. So much tension, and so much context at the same time.

Almost the entire middle part of the novel. Soooo many spicy scenes to count.

Ep5 is my favorite so far.

Absolutely loved the novel and was anticipating the drama's release. While the drama is slightly different from the source material, it's working out really well so far. Blasted all 5 episodes in one go.

Though we can't expect the spicy stuffs from the novel, the tension between the leads is absolute fire. So, I'll content with that. hehe

Romance is minimal, and there's only some towards the later part of the story. The dynamic between the main leads is awesome throughout the story however, even in pre-romance era. Revenge is awesome and MC here took the least amount of assistance from the ML among the author's novel despite her low social status (she's just a commoner here).

No, there are no explicit scenes iirc.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll check it out.

I'm a bit lukewarm by the end of the drama. If I have to pick out a specific example, while the twists were definitely interesting, couldn't help but feel the script glossed over a lot of the events so I was not that emotionally invested to anything by the end. Middle of the series was the peak for me, and ending was just okay-ish. It definitely got to do with the limited episodes count for sure.

Anyhow, it was a good watch. The current score 8.5 felt appropriate to me.

Lol yeah, that chapter was really funny. The entire story, ML knew FL is sus, but can't do anything about it due to lack of evidence. She's basically lapping around everybody and their mothers. lol

About the adaptation, there's an MDL page for it so likely the license was already bought from the author. But yea, no way all those good stuffs will make it past the censorship sadly.

Exactly! Despite the lack of romance in majority of the story, I finished the novel because FL character is amazing. Doesn't even bat an eye at the notion of killing or being killed. She's so unhinged lol.

I initially thought Shen Miao was the most ruthless FL among the author's novels. But, Lu Tong changed my mind. She's borderline psychopath, both ruthless and crazy. It was so refreshing to read due to that. 😂