Frost_edelweiss

I don't even believe Yu Chi had a cure; he was just trying to lure his way out with that hope. He was not a doctor and had made sure all the notes from the witch doctor were destroyed since he could not use them... Besides, even the witch doctor was not sure he could find a cure.
Like for terminally ill cancer patients, he could only offer palliative meds. Yu Chi's ultimate goal was to destroy Yan Zijing.
But surely Yu Chi got his own death sentence first, although we weren't offered the show of his execution.

Come on! A miraculous cure would have just lowered the story to fairy tale romance, and that was not the gist of the story.

I prefer that Duanwu travels on, probably incognito with YZJ after the exhibition, to his final and private resting place, without us having to endure more of the ineluctable agony. The final tacit agreement to let go, when she begged him to stay and he was almost swayed, is enough. It's true it is left to our imagination how to soften the blow, but that's a good thing too, that a drama makes audience so involved that they look beyond the pictures.

What was important, was the journey and the growth to independence of Duanwu. Perhaps, like in The Tale Of Rose, the script could have had her meet other important men for her life, but she was never going to be dependent on them or on love only. It is not a random ordinary romance.
I found it very logical and details were interesting, so I did rewatch already.

And it reached top spot again in viewership in China for the past week (as reported by Marcus in his Top Ten of the Week regular Sunday feature) For second time since airing.

I liked your notes and especially the clear explanation about the end, and by the way thanks for the reference to the UFO (a quip by LYN in a live stream, that got followed up by a funny fan video crafted by his admirer). ;)))
But your review feels almost like a detailed synopsis (spoiler squared: readers can turn to this section of my sprawling "companion piece" to decrypt the initials ;) :
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/zhu-lian-yu-mu/131556-the-story-of-pearl-girl-companion-piece?pid=3164216&page=1#p3164216
Anyway, I trust those who will read your review will still dive into the drama, appetite whetted, and enjoy it to fullest.
... You forgot to comment on the music. The songs which accompany this drama are very good too.

But Lady Huan was not a villain!! She was a victim of her awful adoptive father who used here as cash cow until Huan Lang retired at 24, at the peak of success, from the songstress/courtesan business, to go help Duanwu establish her Clear Mind jewelry house. She was also a victim of the Zeng, since it was Zeng 4 who killed her, albeit by accident, after luring her into an isolated house to serve as bait for the "annoying" competitor young woman.

Perhaps you meant Lady Bai niao, played by Zhu Rui. She was a rotten apple, with a rotten fate too, since she ended up driven to insanity, cared for by the help company set up by Duanwu.

posting a review with some links including to the OST music sung by Liu Yuning, Curly Gao and "Abby" which you can also listen to here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80bobz97yFM (total time 13 minutes)

of course it is Deng Hai's, he is supporting the expectant mom Xiang Zhong at his side while they all stand on the balcony watching magnolia flowers bloom in the end.
Once his credibility was destroyed in university, Gao Ping had gone to (Guangxi?) with his aunt, which was rather surprising to me since the aunt had a son in Changchun if I am not mistaken.

I wonder too, after all the missing the date to sign final document :)
Anyway if they did not, it looks like they married again after he changed his ways and the awful mother in law was tamed by her brush with death
The other two were far worse.

yes

Those who post 1 or below 5 are definitely in haters sects.
8 to 9 I can understand because some are not forgiving of (some) p(l)otholes and real inconsistencies, but they were too few from my pov to shoot the drama down. So, in keeping my lenient streak, it's a 9.5 rounded to 10 for me although I still prefer LLTG in Rosy's ancient dynasties drama filmography.

Yes, but his name is Yan Zijing 🥹
You can look up names in the MDL drama cast, or, for more, with snapshots from drams, in my "companion piece" : https://mydramalist.com/discussions/zhu-lian-yu-mu/131556-the-story-of-pearl-girl-companion-piece

next one, fear not, she is the healthiest fish in the pond!

adding one, since I'm still up!

with you, 😁 !

Although I agree that tragic or realistic final end is not a reason to downvote a drama, I don't agree with your claims about xenophobic or colonizer mentality, because there are indeed many people in China who get tired of repeated somber ends to dramas which they hope will lift them out of their own bad mood for any reason.

I agree with your last paragraph, but I think that it is up to audience to like or not a more realistic and complex drama, like this one, or The Tale of Rose, or Angels Fall Sometimes, in other genres.

It is not our place to scold audiences here or there with over-the-top accusations that they "want to westernize the cultural production of a country where >>> etc.
In China, families don't mourn tepidly their passed ones as if death was 'just a matter of fact', not touching sensibility, nor are they indifferent to injustice and death of others. It's rather in western countries that the sense of family weakens to the point that elders dying alone or in sometimes abusive retirement homes is just something ordinary and no need to feel bad about it. Or that young girls can get beaten, raped, knifed or torched to death not raising eyebrows more than cats who get run over by a vehicle.

It would be a welcome change, yes.
He shouldn't be forever stuck and typecast as the tragic, expendable, character. Unless he wants to. But that'd be a pity.
His songs are almost always lit, even though I read... did he need a vocal chords surgery, recently? I can't fathom how he could belt out for hours in live stream and talk non stop around his recent 5 drama OSTs, which are all good, including the surprising change of style one for FOF.

mmm, yeah, many like that yes these days : Rose riding her bike into the sunset, etc. Or worse ones like The Double which needed a 1/4 saving episode bonus to make sure people did not find it ending like an AJTL copy (mind you, I liked the finality of the ending in AJTL, despite half wishing the riders in the end were not figments of imagination from sun stroke hit lady).
Dramas get stingy on weddings, and if there is one, the qipao gets ruined by bratty sister in law, and the spouses are... mmm... awfully imperfect like in Our Days --- which I am halfway through with: TSOPG took up too much of my attention to focus on much more, and I am unsure of when I'll get back to the two others, that I left technically on hold. The many spoilers about bad end are not very incentive for me: as long as it is undecided, it is more exciting for me to watch on.
Even hard fluff short Embrace In The Dark Night (6 on Douban!!) deprived audience of a proper wedding.
But I don't mind open endings too much if they remain logical.

our HE... 💕

Good old series, yes 😄

You sure need a vacation in some quiet place then.
Time to splurge on hotel and a temporary change of scenes for real, instead of on Black Friday or Singles Days special offers to fund drama platforms ?