Deirdre19

For us non-Chinese speakers, what are they actually saying? I guess it’s a short description of their role, but it would be interesting to hear what their take is on each role… I haven’t read the novel, so I’m a bit lost with all the names…

Yes, I hope they will lock Jeremy in the dubbing studio and not let him out until it’s done!

Why is this sad for her? She brought this upon herself. I’m not a big fan of the (Chinese) cancel culture, but anyone fiddling their taxes knows the risks. So when they get caught they get zero sympathy from me.
What is truly sad if that all the other people who put time and energy into this production are punished by never seeing the fruit of their labour because of one person who couldn’t pay her taxes properly.

Weaving a tale of love? This feels more like weaving a tale of endless setups.
After two boring episodes in which nothing happened other than all sorts of people trying to set up the FL (for no obvious reason whatsoever) had to drop this. What a waste of time!

Hmh, I'll take your word for it. I really didn't like the TTEOTM novel (and the bad translation didn't help) as I'm not a fan of the torturing each other and then falling in love trope. With all the chopping around on the drama version it was hard to tell if the script ever made sense.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the acting + production, but the story really didn't do anything for me.

They also filmed Game of Thrones before the books were finished. If the author has a general idea where he wants to go with the story a good script writer should be able to fill in the blanks deviating from the general tone of the story.
I trust they have a good script writer.

The one in Royal Rumours was pretty good, too but of course it was a different type of drama.

Tencent Starlight Awards red carpet presentation.
https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4979977729540122?from=old_pc_videoshow

That costume together with the hairstyle and make-up look very feminine. I had to look twice to work out whether it’s a boy or a girl…

I just hope it isn’t one of these idol-boys with toxic followers who will then spend all their time and energy insulting the FL.

You can count 3-4 months for filming. Dramas with a lot of fight scenes usually take longer than simple historical dramas. Then add minimum 9 month of post production (again, longer if extensive CGI required) and some more time for the licensing. So even if they started filming right away and the broadcaster doesn’t sit on the finished drama (as they usually do…) the earliest this could be ready would be towards the end of 2025.

What's with the ageism?
To me they look pretty good together...

In the novel Hua Liuli is 15 and the Crown Prince is 22.
Their age as indicated in the novel may be historically coherent, but for modern tastes it would definitely feel weird if they had made the FL look like an underage little girl.
I am glad that they used their creative licence to adjust the age of both of them to something more suitable.

Yes, I never liked him much before…and it turns out he was always in the wrong kind of roles (stiff, bland, boring - you name it..).
He is an absolute delight in this one!!!

Great idea, but you know that in C-dramaland this could never happen.
No matter how bad and incompetent an emperor is, he is still the representative of the highest authority which must never be questioned.
The real-life parallel is of course purely coincidental…

Are Tencent saving this for a special occasion? Like when humans land on Saturn or pigs learn to fly?
How frustrating must this be for all the people who invested time and energy in this!

It’s called the Peter Principle. Everyone is promoted to their highest level of incompetence.
Moreover, in today’s corporate culture there is a strong preference for “yes-people” which means that a compliant attitude with whatever bullsh*t ideas the bosses come up is more important than actual skills.

On kisskh it is listed as ‘coming 2024’… even though this is no guarantee for anything, there seem to be rumours that the producers want to ride on the wave of LYN’s popularity and release it soon. It wasn’t officially shelved, so anything is still possible.

Yes, it is because there are no “evil just for the sake of it” characters in this drama. People become adversaries because they have different goals, not because they hate each other for no reason whatsoever like we see in so many other dramas.
I love this setting because it is so much closer to reality. The world cannot be simply divided into good or bad.

😂😂😂😂
You should become an editor! Many dramas would be a lot more fun that way!