Gone

That scene was so brief but I feel like we missed a few another episode because she originally was supposed to meet his mother too but the show wanted to wrap things up so I can't blame them.

It's like, "Oh my god, this is so funny." Tang Qi actually grieving. "Oh shit... This is not actually funny.... this is fucked up." Then again, "LMAO they killing the 2nd persona by saying she healing." Tang Qi goes colorblind. " Wtf.... I actually feel so sad. Why are y'all doing this to him?"

Tang Qi is fine but he will never be XL reincarnation for me. He doesn't have a lick of his personality even in modern time standard. Feng Long definitely studied women for this lmao but this actor hasn't gotten the opportunity to truly shine.

The most exciting part of his life 😂 he never had fun before

Since childhood to adulthood IJBOL. She been traumatised since the 2000s.

The amount of LYF reference started to make me curious if they are doing it because the actor is in it or because the writer is the same?

I assumed otherwise because she saying she didn't know there were military intel inside and he still doubted her and almost choked her but I guess he thought she was manipulative and was trying to ward off suspicion off her. Thank you for your clarification.

Currently on ep 7

Need someone to confirm this because it was not explicitly said but the scene when she opens the box for him... he didn't know what's inside the box either, right? I'm assuming he doesn't because he never opened the box and it seemed too complicated for someone like him who lives life so solider-like, without doing much calculation or academic knowledge. If I'm way off, let me know.

Oh my god... I can't even tell if this is a horror story or a rom-com. At one point, I'm laughing because of how they have literally one plan/solution for everything but another hand, they actually traumatizing my man. This is how rom-com shows should be from now on.

I figured they removed a lot of his scenes but they removed so much... What were they thinking? I guess they really wanted Tushan Jing to be final option so they removed all these scenes. It's as if she never loved Xiang Liu because she immediately married Jing.

Currently on ep 6

Oh my god... So far this show a gem. I love the female lead, she is my favourite. She is a sacrificial bride but is quite manipulative with a heart of gold. I felt for her when she tried so hard to gain his trust early on at the cost of herself.

The male lead is also very charming. He feels like a man. I look at him and I think, yea, he is manly. Was raised as a soldier his whole life and never had the privilege or opportunity to understand women. He is trying to adjust to that life in which he understand that she is not another soldier of his. She is a woman who's dress keeps her steps short, who needs to be delicate and elegant, who can't gung-ho everything or out of any scenario.

His little group are also funny. When they thought that when a man or woman get close it means she either wants his salary or is spying to get military information... *Raise a red referee card.* Time out.

But in a way, it also the sad reality that young men may only know the life of war and training. They struggle to perceive a life outside of that until they meet the girl that opens up their heart.

I genuinely need a week because it's been 3-4 days and I finally decided to give my final thoughts on how disappointed I was. I'm not going to re-watch it either.

Came back to say you were soooooo right to say this ending was disappointing!

I noticed how the wedding was delayed further despite no issue and I thought it was funny. I knew her heart was for Xiang Liu but someone already spoiled for me in S1 that she ends up with Tushan Jing so I was viewing the show through the lens that she will end up with Tushan Jing no matter what. I knew she was in love with Xiang Liu! I was like, she had to like him with all these scenes but in the end, she just wanted stability and control and Tushan Jing was that person for her. I was wondering if the show forgot about the lover's bugs because they were not utilising it well outside of heart break but this is the confirmation that they loved each other.

So in the book she screamed in anguish for Xiang Liu but CX killed TJ? So like is this before or after he killed TJ? I'm assuming before if he wasn't revived or anything of that sort.

Man, what an awful ending in the novel too. This is so ass too. Disappointing in the drama and novel? Enough.

Thank you for giving me the spoiler heads up. That was very kind of you.

He seemed like an interesting character and everyone in my family loved him.

Loooool I'm like a nobody editor on Tiktok with flopped edits and I believe if people liked it, they will come across it one day.

Xiang Liu: My man is sooooo wise. Saving her for life.

Omg don't break my heart like that. What you mean the last answer to deviate him from that path.... Now I hate the ending!

Jing: his fans had been on my Cang Xuan edits, talking about he deserved her more... The narrative that he sacrificed more just because Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan had higher stakes and people lives were involved OUTSIDE of themselves. If anything, they sacrifice more for her. Cang Xuan took care of him for 37 years for HER and even sacrifiiced his life and body for her while Xiang Liu spent 37 years saving her life and even killed three his heads for her... Like I was annoyed his fans comment under my Cang Xuan edit for a character idgaf about.

I don't know what Wei Junzi means but I was amused. I believe I agree.

Fenglong: omg I saw his ending and wow, I can't believe I actually felt sad. Not over his death but over how hard her wanted to save his sister and the length he went throughplus mistakes he did to ensure her safety. It's actually made me teary up a little bit. Especially when his sister cried and realised how much of a dumbass she was.

I didn't mind the approach with Haoling. It felt refreshing but I didn't like the lack of big consequences.

To the person who said this show ended disappointingly... they did not lie. I already made a million post last season so I'm going to just express my overall disappointment in this writing. One of my biggest grips have to be the censorship and lack of focus on the characters background and actions. There is so much telling and less showing. The show continuously summarizes big events and focus on the very useless love triangle-quadrangle and they are not even doing a great job at that. There were 62 episodes, there is no way this is all they can think off to fill in the time? To help people understand my point, this show needed to take the approach of the Korean drama, My Dearest but if My Dearest had three leads with their own storyline and 62 episodes to fill. (I'm currently watching a cdrama called The Prisoner of Beauty and that can also be a good candidate) That show is a great example of well-placed censorship that they don't sacrifice big events. There was not enough bloodshed and this strange World building writing of wanting to make things seem positive. Like it had depressing events and emotions but also seemed out of touch with reality. A weird mix of the two. Again, I'll give examples to help.

Depressing events: War, death,
Out of touch with reality: The whole world is saved because Cang Xuan's sacrifice and every decision he makes, in fact, had positive impact almost 90% of the time.

Or the one where the uncles, who spent 300 years trying to kill him, chose to gave up almost immediately after he was crowned. It's like the writer is in touch with reality while simultaneously being out of touch. I don't mind this delusional type of writing because that's what I'm here for, let's worship my man together, but give me the negative consequences too and show me it.

Let's talk about the leads that I LIKE.

80% Xiaoyao: Amazing character. Very consistent and her trauma connects to her behavior. She would have been one of the best characters in cdrama IF the writer knew what to do with her outside of her trauma. I feel like the writers had no idea what to do with her so they kept playing back into her trauma response. It's not a bad decision. Her character is very compelling to watch but again, with the world building suffering and revolving around her, it feels lacking. Like she is missing something essential because of the 62 episodes long gap. I'll say though that, as a character, it didn't affect my viewing experience.

90% Xiangliu: Glorious ending for my king. He looked so good and majestic, but he didn't deserve it. I felt nothing. Granted I was spoiled but it felt like they slapped together his conclusion. This is crazy to me because the show had many strong writing points and plot progression but then... we get this? They did good in foreshadowing he cared about having a mother figure back in season 1 so by default, these hints help you understand his character and thought process but it keeps telling us and summarizing. I'm actually annoyed because his character could be way better than this if the writer gave a shit? We could have had more from him because XiangLiu isn't a want.... he is a NEED at this stage. Jian C is now my husband. I've started Filter and I might start Go East too.

90% Cang Xuan: No. No. Give me that fking pencil. Who asked you to write? How should I explain his section. Because I liked him the most, I had higher expectation for him. He is not ruined enough for me. He needed to be destroyed. He deserved the brutal ending the most. There were so many great opportunity that this show keep missing. One of them was during the war arc, Nian should have attempted to take his life at ANY cost. Nian character development would have been elevated, she would be so much better as a character and this ALSO would enhance his "rise to the throne" storyline as a bad consequence to a decision that was made for the betterment of the world. What a missed opportunity because the consequence of this plot point is endless and all of them would have been entertaining to watch regardless. (Think about it, if the person he pampered so much attempted to kill him and actually hurt him, what do you think he will feel? How will he solve it? How is she handling it? Etc, endless possibilities.)

I want the dark, the nitty and gritty part of the throne. Censorship played the biggest role in his story because part of that had to be sleeping with multiple women he didn't want. I want to see the disgust and emotional suffocation, not just yearning for Xiaoyao because he was a prositiute for this throne and Xiaoyao. Bring me that dark consequence. What it took to make the world a "better place" while sacrificing his mind and body! To keep that peace for everyone. I heard in the book he regresses. He is a great character candidate for a well done character regression so give me all the book spoilers. He is that character that have a wound ,and it started to swell, spread and grow bigger after he took the throne. He was still able to retain some of his positive qualities before the throne but time and CONSTANTLY being put in the worst decision, definitely started to affect him mentally and I want to see it. He was not manipulative and ruthless enough in the drama version.

I can go more on but I rather just end my review here.

All it takes is mentiom Jing or use him to make Jing jealous and he switch up so fast on her. She suddenly sees Xiang Liu. They are the same person, I'm not buying season 2 trying convince me they two different people. They are one person who just deceived her well enough.

Lmaaaao what's your percentage for Tushan Jing? In the negatives? I was wondering if he will go there.

Actually, I see it, I think I mentioned he is selfish in season 2 comment but I don't want to bring it up because none of the male leads are innocent enough for me to target him like that 😂 they all kind of have this quality.

That fraction is right. He gives off the female lead type of writing from 2000s but it makes not sense to have that in 2025.

Me either actually. Fenglong was the best one for her lol

I'm definitely curious about Cang Xuan because it does feel like he loves the Crown more but also, he does mention he did it all for her. Need a deep dive into his character analysis to actually understand him better but I believe he is selfish. He wants both and he wants things his way.

Currently on ep 50

Show saw the word Yearn and it's definitition and ran with it. I can't do with this show anymore. Wrap it up.

Man, I need to say that I LOVE her dad. The Haoling king??? Love him. He chose to get her out of his family registery to keep her safe. Such a dad 😭😭

Before I talk about the leads: I need to share my sister commentary. I made an edit of Xiang Liu on Tiktok on the scene in which Xiaoyao says she rather die than kiss Xiang Liu and my sister commented saying this:

"And she dare to speak while falling in love with someone who broke his promises a millions. Bro made her wait generation after generations. Passed all Gen A to Gen Z and She dare to speak like that to THE ONLY MAN who actually can save her and did saved her, went through hell for hell and pain."

She really hates Tushan Jing after that last season IJBOL

Back to the ratings of the male leads.

90% Xiang Liu:

I think I need to kill Xiang Liu actually. The scene.... Where he wore RED clothing to symbolism that he loves her and wishes/imagines that he married her while she wore her wedding dress TOO waiting for HIM to come get her.... So close yet so far apart., across two different worlds.

Why are we doing this????????? I hate miscommunication trope. It was like the most romantic scenes while also being the most horrendous scene. She was right, he have the most insulting way of doing things. Waited last minute to save her but....

I can never hate my man LMAO I mean he wanted her to do something and he realized she NEVER will so he DID it for her. He used his OATH to save her. He could have ASKED for anything, he could have used it and forcibly asked her to marry him... But he chose to save her from her OWN CHOICES using the one ADVANTAGE he had over her.

Like how are people doubting his love for her??? I wanted him to speak out before but I get it now. Even if he communicated he liked her, he knows deep down that she loves Tushan Jing. That's why he wanted that one last confirmation by hypnotizing her to hear her real thoughts and she wanted to marry Tushan Jing before but when he wanted to know how she felt currently, she couldn't answer. (This is just a writing tactic btw to keep y'all assuming that he may have a chance and if the writer wanted to make her with him, this hesitation is supposed to be a "proof" that she actually liked him all along but if she didn't, it's also just "proof" that she didn't know what she wanted.)

In the end, he just wanted her happy. Her happiness mattered more than him.

0% Tushan Jing:

No, he is not getting out of the zero. There is a much improvement since last season but he is not getting out of this rating because his writing is ruined for me. I'm sure people won't like what I say but he lets people walk all OVER HIM which means they are also indirectly walking all over Xiaoyao. I was giving him so much grace but the reality is, he prioritized Fangfeng Yin Ying reputation OVER Xiaoyao, he prioritised his grandma OVER Xiaoyao. The show just did a great job in deceiving the audience that he is such a "nice, perfect gentleman" even though he was pushing her aside over and over again while also selfishly holding into her as if his actions weren't the reason why his marriage with her didn't happen sooner. You don't see how insulting it is because the show spinned it so positively that you don't realize how much he was insulting Xiaoyao. That's why when Xiaoyao took charge, she solved it immediately. It didn't take much thought because she knew EXACTLY what needs to be done while he had no backbone for multiple episodes because he is too busy being a people pleaser, sacrifiicing Xiaoyao for it.

I don't mind red flags, I clearly like Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan who are big red flags but at least be entertaining. Don't make me bored and unfortunately, he is the most boring character in here.

60% Fenglong: What a useless man. He was busy playing chase than getting his girl loool He is funny in a way. Clearly he have the best qualities out of all of them because he is such a simpleton. I feel like if there was deep feelings from both, he would have been perfect for her. He wanted to get married to her fast because he wanted to keep her safe from the attack on Haoling as his wife. Of course, it didn't happen but I like his attitude. Even with his sister, he tells her not to do it, he can't help it when she doesn't follow him so he follow his sister, he watch her insult other, gets a taste of her medicine and remind her WHY he told her not too. His wise in a way but mischievous because he won't object for long.

100% Cang Xuan: "Who do you want to be your queen." "You..."

He ate that but then it followed up with the horrible realization that nobody cares about what he thinks.... so by default, he doesn't care anymore. He doesn't have the option to choose like everyone else, while he kept everyone happy, he will be the only one miserable.

The more pain he is in, the more I enjoy it LMAOOOOOO although he waging war on Haoling... And the dad was like, "I'm so proud of him." Made me laugh because what??? I guess dad like the fact the skills he taught him was put to good use even though he is coming from his neck. Haoling king is the best.

Thank you for the crown and when I told my aunt she got people here, talking about her, she laughed at what you guys said.

Once you understand why he does things the way he does, it's so easy to predict how he thinks.

I'm so glad you see it! He is literally just meant to be a love interest and that's it. He have no other purpose which why he have no passion, dreams, outside of being just her obedient lover who will do "anything" to her. So even though he is abused he doesn't do anything about it. His wife? He won't even curse her out because he is the "PERFECT" lover so he have ZERO negative emotions about anyone even the ones who want to kill him and his lover!!!! And that's why he sucks because he is not real. He is just a plot device.

Cang Xuan useless? Ironic considering his plotline connects to everyone in the show from Xiaoyao being lost because of him, to getting back to Haoling, to bring a princess because of him, to get stronger because of him, etc and Xiang Liu is sort of an enemy because of Cang Xuan too, he wants to kill him, etc. Cang Xuan risk his life for Xiaoyao but also for the people, he have ambition and dreams and is stuck. Even Tushan Jing, in order to get to Xiaoyao, he tries to appeal to Cang Xuan because he connects him to her. But I don't expect much from users in here. They usually prioritise romance overall and as long as the romance is good, nothing else matters.

Of course, shipping discourses always exist in all fandoms.