Giving it an 8 because it ends on a cliffhanger for the overall story. It has an unsatisfactory ending for the lead couple that we were following closely until the last quarter of episodes, and then it just sort of forgets about them a bit for the larger conspiracy and the second couple's tragic end. I went into the show completely blind to the point I didn't know that there were 2 actresses playing the FL. If they actually plan to have a season two I might raise my rating(8 is actually kind of low for me), but the fact they didn't actually tie anything up at the end after 32 episodes with no word yet on a season 2...yeah...i'm not holding my breath.
Lead couple have 3 pecks and 1 kiss. that kiss is in episode 21...so pretty much after that they heavily focus on the second couple's interactions because apparently once a couple is together they are regulated to chaste interactions in front of people who tell them to tone down their love. aka looking and speaking to each other with warmth. *side eye...bombastic side eye* The last five minutes of the show is spent reminiscing over those they lost...and finding out the big bad is in fact NOT the BIG bad. I'm just going to immediately jump into another show and hope the bad taste leaves my mouth.
thankfully, kdramas haven't spent multiple eps on childhood for many years now. so i'm hopeful they'll only focus…
I think I've only seen maybe one or 2 set photos of them outside of high school, so I really hope that they just have a nicely locked down set and that the adult teasers will come out closer to the air date. Poor man's been playing a teen for over a decade now. 🤣
If you wait a day the translations get done by a human instead of AI and they make more sense.
Sorry my dyslexia filled in transLATION instead of transITION when I read the comment. But yes the transitions are a bit rough. To the point where I'm like, I know I'm tired, but I swear I didn't have a long blink. Also the slo-mo is so random to me...like what was the reason? I feel like the production is a bit disjointed. I'm still enjoying the show, but I can definitely see the quality difference of other productions.
I'm hoping we get a good chunk of the show with them as adults. With only 16 episodes...I'm not sure how they are going to split them. I haven't seen any teasers post ML's mother showing back up. It might come later, but I just hope they we don't have 14 episodes of them in high school.
Could someone please explain the Jinxui Workshop case to me? Maybe its because of the translation but I didn't…
Embroidery makes things personalized and depending on rank and class you can and can not have certain designs. Like how dragons are only for the Emperor...etc. Even certain colors will denote rank within a family. But the Royal family is very strict with it's ranking in jewelry, color, design, and even the material the fabric is made of. A lower ranking member was wearing something dedicated to the highest ranking member of the royal family. Big no no. Aka can been seen not only as a slight, but as saying they, the lower person, sees themselves as equal to or better than the higher ranked person. It's like wearing white to someone else's wedding in Western culture times a thousand. Because when someone in a lower rank in the royal family sees themselves as "better than" the current ruler it could mean war. (But yes a lot of the time it was petty as all hell)
I've seen similar storylines in other productions both in Chinese and Korean period pieces. And extra talon on a bird nearly ended a whole family line. Same with one too many cranes on an official's robes. Textiles and embroidery were taken very seriously. And could be narrowed down to the specific person who made it. Each color, plant, flower, animal, and number of each has a specific meaning. It's one of the many reasons noble ladies embroidered so much. They were the ones responsible most(not always) of the time for making their husbands and other family members official robes that they would wear to court.
Sidebar/tangent: With a "cheaper" production like this one....it's honestly harder to tell ranking from a glance unlike other productions who pay extra attention to it. A lot of these period piece shows are set in make believe times so they get fast and loose with their hair and clothing styles. I personally enjoy the shows were you can from just looking at how a character is wearing their hair/clothes how old they are, whether or not they are married, class/rank...etc. It becomes an easy short had so you don't need full exposition dumps.
Upon rewatch, I find ZWY very suitable with the conflicted, agonising look... It's those eyes.. The whole face...…
Throughout the first time he was having to leave her and the second time. When he thought he was going to have to follow through with the marriage to his cousin, and when he was being called to the northwest for war. The silent longing, anguish, heartbreak that he conveys with his performance...top tier acting. Some words were never spoken, but you could see it in his eyes/face.
Not too sure about the rules during that time, but isn't it inappropriate to have both sisters as wife/concubine…
Well spoiler for Episodes 33-34 He isn't bringing her in to marry her. He is bring her in for a reality check/slash boost to his Empress' self confidence. AKA your father is moving weird and I don't like the way your family has treated you so let me let you have a moment to flex a little. He pretty much says once the sister is done looking at all the gardens she can go, and she doesn't need to come back...in fact let me help you find a husband for her...far far away from my wife who is my only source of comfort and happiness. (So ZiYu gets to live another day...still got my eye on him though)
I am not a big fan of Ziyu. But clearly he is the better king than that toddler king and his vicious mother who…
he literally sent CXZ to war when CXZ was farther from the front lines than a lot of others. He kind of sent him on a suicide mission & is withholding backup.
I like the 2nd couple. But the ways he love Liu miantang & have so many consorts really turned me off. I hope…
If memory serves, history buffs please correct me if I'm wrong...But in the entire history of Chinese Emperors only ONE Emperor hand a singular wife who was his Empress. He had a peaceful reign and then his heir messed everything up again. For the life of me I can't remember where I read this. So do not take this as 100% truth.
2 
1 
I went into the show completely blind to the point I didn't know that there were 2 actresses playing the FL.
If they actually plan to have a season two I might raise my rating(8 is actually kind of low for me), but the fact they didn't actually tie anything up at the end after 32 episodes with no word yet on a season 2...yeah...i'm not holding my breath.
Lead couple have 3 pecks and 1 kiss. that kiss is in episode 21...so pretty much after that they heavily focus on the second couple's interactions because apparently once a couple is together they are regulated to chaste interactions in front of people who tell them to tone down their love. aka looking and speaking to each other with warmth. *side eye...bombastic side eye* The last five minutes of the show is spent reminiscing over those they lost...and finding out the big bad is in fact NOT the BIG bad. I'm just going to immediately jump into another show and hope the bad taste leaves my mouth.
But yes the transitions are a bit rough. To the point where I'm like, I know I'm tired, but I swear I didn't have a long blink. Also the slo-mo is so random to me...like what was the reason? I feel like the production is a bit disjointed. I'm still enjoying the show, but I can definitely see the quality difference of other productions.
A lower ranking member was wearing something dedicated to the highest ranking member of the royal family. Big no no. Aka can been seen not only as a slight, but as saying they, the lower person, sees themselves as equal to or better than the higher ranked person. It's like wearing white to someone else's wedding in Western culture times a thousand. Because when someone in a lower rank in the royal family sees themselves as "better than" the current ruler it could mean war. (But yes a lot of the time it was petty as all hell)
I've seen similar storylines in other productions both in Chinese and Korean period pieces. And extra talon on a bird nearly ended a whole family line. Same with one too many cranes on an official's robes. Textiles and embroidery were taken very seriously. And could be narrowed down to the specific person who made it. Each color, plant, flower, animal, and number of each has a specific meaning. It's one of the many reasons noble ladies embroidered so much. They were the ones responsible most(not always) of the time for making their husbands and other family members official robes that they would wear to court.
Sidebar/tangent:
With a "cheaper" production like this one....it's honestly harder to tell ranking from a glance unlike other productions who pay extra attention to it. A lot of these period piece shows are set in make believe times so they get fast and loose with their hair and clothing styles. I personally enjoy the shows were you can from just looking at how a character is wearing their hair/clothes how old they are, whether or not they are married, class/rank...etc. It becomes an easy short had so you don't need full exposition dumps.
He isn't bringing her in to marry her. He is bring her in for a reality check/slash boost to his Empress' self confidence. AKA your father is moving weird and I don't like the way your family has treated you so let me let you have a moment to flex a little. He pretty much says once the sister is done looking at all the gardens she can go, and she doesn't need to come back...in fact let me help you find a husband for her...far far away from my wife who is my only source of comfort and happiness. (So ZiYu gets to live another day...still got my eye on him though)