HOP2020

Thanks for the explanation. Gives a much better perspective

👍🙏

In the Female General there was already attraction, with the way he looking at her and paying attention, before he knew (the water scene later on) and then in this show, he was already feeling attracted to her as a man (which was what he was struggling with initially), before the Crown Prince asked him to go find out for sure if she was male or female.

I have been scratching my head about this for a bit, but since this drama has similar themes, I can as well ask it here.
When C-dramas make a woman in disguise as a male, and then the guy/ml, even though not knowing she's female yet starts to fall for the lady, are they trying to imply the guy/ml is Bi?

I mean it's usually funny they write the shows like this. I am not sure if they actually put thought to it, except they are actually telling the audience the guy/ml swings both ways.

They did this in the Female General Drama and I found it strange. It is understandable if the affection only shows and grows when the guy/ml has become aware, even though not obviously.

Here, the guy in the drama is already fallen for the lady Bu Shilin as a man, even though he has not even been told she's a woman. 🙊

That I am not sure.

But her character is written just like you observed. She is meant to be that way. Her former husband even confirmed it was her (last episode) by saying she's still as cruel and unfeeling like in her past life. 🙊

Yes, unfortunately it is weird. But she has experienced life with support and that didn't work out well for her. Its understandable she wants to try something different - where she is not aloof and snobbish like in her previous life

Because she also wants revenge, and to do that she needs power. Also, marrying a powerful prince in her last life didn't work out well for her original Gu family. She explained these things to her 2 female confidants and why she's going to break up with the crown prince.

She doesn't care about love. Never did in her Gu family era. She understands the power play of the court and her Gu family got wiped. The prince who had power and was smart with court and powerful family backing didn't do much. Only saved her from getting killed which annoyed her. That was why she killed herself at the start of the show. She preferred dying with her family.

This time, she wants to wield the power herself. Marrying a prince without powerful backing allows her to be the main power holder and it won't be a struggle like in her previous life.

I am happy to announce that the editing seems to have improved after Ep. 1. I enjoyed Episodes 2-5. The FL’s character is interesting and I’m curious about the other characters as well.
A great plus to this show, so far, is its humour.

You don't understand my complaint. I am not talking about the story, I am talking about the FLOW OF THE STORY, HOW IT WAS CUT BY THE EDITOR. I understand perfectly what is going on in the scenes, I just have a problem, WITH HOW THE SCENES WERE CUT. One minute Eunuch is challenging her and they are staring at each other, in her house; the next minute he is kneeling and tied up on a cliff. It feels like something was missing of happened but was cut and it affected the flow.
Also, how did the ML suddenly know they were on the cliff? This was a random and instantaneous incident (the FL deciding to punish the Eunuch).

WTH! 🙄

So, he is essentially stalking the FL with nothing of his own to do. Even when the scenes don't require him to be there. Like why is he at the cliff, how did he know the FL will go there? The incident with the Eunuch just happened and it was unplanned too.

It is called continuity in film. Film cuts are supposed to be invisible to me and should not distort the flow of story.

Ok, what's with Ep. 1 of this show. This is not the place to cut out scenes from a show. It ruins the flow and understanding.
One minute the Eunuch is staring menacingly at her and acting all powerful, next minute they are on a cliff and he's kneeling/even get killed, the ML and his guard also happens to be just standing by. It felt so random.
Then cut to the scene of setting up a challenge to win a so called vine, like how. The reasoning behind that whole scene, plus the execution its so off.
I need to flog whomever was the Editor for this drama.
Anyway, I will watch the rest of released episodes before making a final call.

4 Episodes in and I can't imagine how good this show is. I have been randomly clicking C-dramas and giving them 2-4 episodes to see which clicks. This one is quite nice so far.

Managed to finish season 1. It’s largely a good show. Still don’t like the lawyer relationship arch for Mark Chao. I feel it’s unnecessary (like it was just put in there to give him a relationship) and I found the lady’s character annoying.

Another thing I didn’t like, was how everyone was gaslighting Mark Chao’s character to let go of his abandonment issue. They kept hammering of how long ago it is and that family is family. Meanwhile, I don’t remember the mother actually apologizing to him. She just made excuses for her actions and never took responsibility for leaving a little child and then making a whole new family afterwards.

But I guess China has to somehow promote family unity at all cost, and filial piety even if the parent is an asshole.
I however, did enjoy the medical cases.

Time for season 2.

🙄🙄🙄

If it makes you feel better, the drama is also terrible. Too childish for me. Happy, now?

The dubbing ruined this. Couldn't keep going. I know how Li Yi Tong sounds and the dubber voice is very distracting for me.

Awesome show! This is the first C-drama (funny it had to be a historical drama), where mental health and trauma is actually pretty well addressed. Nothing is glossed over. Even when it was said the FL had been cured, we still see her struggles, and that its not always easy for people who have been traumatised to move forward. It is also shown how she needs an anchor to ground her to reality (the scene she was always in a trance staring at a blooming Orchid? can't remember the name of the flower).
I love how the show also ended on a philosophical note, no rush off or abrupt ending. Everything was tied together. The sticking to their purpose and theme, is another great part of this show. The production team did a good job here. Even with the temptation, they did not turn it into a romance drama and I LOVE IT! Kudos to the director and production team for staying on track.

Overall, I love the cast here. They all did good jobs. Bai Lu shines when she takes on proper acting roles (cough cough Idol roles). Cheng Lei also was good here. The director really helped the cast members showcase the story well.

My only downside, is the artistic makeup. I know they are refined nobles and all, but the fake nails was just too obvious, doesn't fit that era. C-dramas have generally not mastered making their actors really look like what they're going through (cough cough FL's appearance during the flashback scenes of her suffering and alone in LiShan. She barely had strain in her makeup or look LOL).
Compare this to say, any HBO TV Series that has pain and suffering, you will immediately see and believe this person is going through hard times.
Over beautification is keeping C-dramas from being GREAT.

Anyway, enough now. I will miss the show. I always looked forward to its airing.