Eleison

I watched the episodes this morning, but I am finally able to share some highlights.

I enjoyed Gong Sun Yin who was very offended to not have heard about the marriage. It was fun to see how Changyu exploded all of his exaggerated fantasies about what Xie Zheng's matrilocal wife was like. Once he saw her his expression read, "Ah, I get it now." 😅

He seems to genuinely care for Yan Zheng, and was a funny addition. They were convincing as friends.

Enjoyed how fakeout session #2 became a heart to heart and then ended in the most dramatic way possible. (Did he fake being more wounded than he actually was so she would hold him? 🤔)

Also, so looking forward to seeing our Marquis show what he's capable of once he stops almost dying every few episodes by getting fresh wounds or reopening old ones.

Curious to see how the restaurant owner will feature as the story progresses (and I'm wary of Li Huai An) but my favorite scenes are still the ones with our leads in them. ☺️

They've had to do TWO fakeouts now (but I honestly don't think either of them actually minds that much... 😅).

But I'm enjoying this way more than LOTFG because the writing, editing (dare I say acting?), and production is significantly better. Even Prisoner of Beauty, which had some great scenes and was acted well by the leads who also had great chemistry, had some poor editing, production and continuity issues. At times the writing left much to be desired.

Is Deng Kai the one in the trailer with gray hair?

So far, I find it well-balanced. Many of the locations it's filmed at are obviously sets, even many of the shots "in nature," which is kind of a bummer, but besides that it feels well-paced. It has serious moments, and some hilarious moments, and some very heartwarming characters already. Both the ML and FL are very likable (and very beautiful 😅), and I appreciate how many conversations and moments of connection the leads have that shows their friendship grow and their affection deepen.

It isn't rushing the story, and is slowly drawing us into the larger game that is afoot that our leads will be joining soon. Right now it's building the basis for their love which will set the stage for all the things they'll struggle to overcome to be together. So far it has me fully invested in their story.

A nice plus is their chemistry is chemistrying. 😉

What do you mean by "fake popularity"?

So are my impressions correct about Li Huai An that we don't really know where he stands in all this maneuvering? I'm having kind of a hard time tracking who he's truly working for. His grandfather? Chancellor Wei? General He? It was unclear to me.

But despite the confusion, I have a feeling he will not be a friend to our leads in the grand scheme of things...

Then whoever made them did not understand humans. 😅 If there's a will, there's a way. 😉

So, you're saying they built a sort of behavior expectation into their clothing? That's clever, but also seems pretty manipulative. I was thinking that it would require you to carry yourself carefully if you didn't want to look silly by wacking people if you turned too fast or got too close to someone. That was the only thing I could think of for why they'd exist. But a gossip deterrent I did not think of. 😅

Oh wow, interesting!

They AI'd his face?! Sometimes Chinese actors have uncanny looking faces from plastic surgery, so I didn't even guess that it wasn't his real face. Are there articles about it?

😅 They are SO long, and honestly a little hard to take seriously. The Korean version of these ministerial hats look like beaver tails sticking out of each side, but those in this Cdrama are silly-looking in addition to be impractical. Did no one think of the impractical nature of these hats? Really? 😅

For me in PST it released in the wee hours of the morning. But I looked up that it airs the same time on Netflix as it does on iQiyi, I think? So unlike other dramas where the platforms air at different times, I think they're all aligned on this drama. It's kind of nice that some aren't ahead of others on the comment thread. ☺️

Injured again!? Poor guy can't catch break! 😅

Yeah, cause he's dubbed some of his other dramas, which must mean they think his accent is fine.

That accounts for how different it sounds when I hear people speak Mandarin in person. I've wondered why it doesn't always sound the same, even though I can tell it's Mandarin. 😅

After watching Nirvana in Fire I realized that Jack Black voicing Po in Kung Fu Panda just absolutely obliterates the pronunciation for 'shifu.' 😅 (Also, the fact that Master Shifu is just saying the same thing twice also strikes me funny!).

I've noticed the same thing with other actors, too. It's concerning!

I anticipate that happening, too (they'll join her in the army).

People probably love wouldn't k ow the emperor if they saw him either. Probably just members of the court, nobility and the military would know his face.

Two a day is still vastly better than two a week. 😉😅