Meari21

She's actually what a strong female character should be imho. Not everyone should be a feisty, headstrong, and rebellious warrior princess. In fact, she's one of the toughest FLs I've seen in an idol drama. She may be softspoken and undeniably feminine, but she's a master tactician and doesn't back down easily. She has to deal with political plots, threats to her life, slanders, and the ire of her husband's entire clan, but she faces them head on and eventually earns their respect, love, and loyalty. She's also selfless, sincere, and compassionate, never asking anything in return for her help. How can a woman like that be fragile?

They were talking about Bogong and reminiscing about their youth. I suspect the jade ornament Wei Shao wears was Bogong’s. She was married off to Bianzhou’s lord for political reasons, she didn’t leave of her own free will. She had no choice because Bogong died and she can’t possibly marry a child. Remember Wei Shao was just a few years older than Manman when Bogong, his father, and grandfather died. He was too young for her.

She’s not his first love but his brother’s, Bogong. She was betrothed to him and was supposed to be the future Lady of Wei. But Bogong was killed by Li Su when the Qiao’s betrayed them so Wei Shao became Lord and they considered betrothing her to Wei Shao who was still a child. They were just close because they grew up together but as far as I know, she is older than him and was like an older sister to him. Manman became jealous of her because she was nearly engaged to Wei Shao and Wei Shao’s mother favored her.

I wonder if this will be acquired by Netflix for worldwide distribution.

Not quite on the same level but very close. It's basically the next best drama to watch if you like highly intelligent MLs, lots of scheming characters, and political machinations.

I didn't think I'd become an even bigger fan of this man. He's already my most favorite Chinese singer, but now that I've watched A Dream Within A Dream and Prisoner of Beauty, he is now one of my top actors.

She’s indeed exasperating. But she’s designed to be like that. She’s basically the combination of all annoying and frustrating FLs in idol C-dramas who like to assume and judge the MLs without giving them the benefit of the doubt. She knows all the usual tropes in dramas and wants to avoid them but she herself is a trope, a perfect archetype of a toxic FL, while Nan Heng is the ultimate long suffering misunderstood ML who gets stabbed and abused by the FL and those around him. Chu Guihong is the very representation of all the irritating second MLs that we all love to hate. This drama is a satire that pokes fun at C-drama tropes by using exaggerated versions of them. The FL evolves into someone likable later on.

I hope the streaming rights to this will be bought by international streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, or Prime Video for worldwide release.

You took the words out of my mouth. I am not liking any of the female characters so far and I happen to like Cheng Xiao, so I thought my bias for her would overshadow my distaste for her character. But kudos to her for making me dislike her in this, her acting has improved a lot for sure.

This plot device kinda turned me off too. Amnesia subplots are so overdone and cheesy, very soap opera-ish. But I hope they use it in a more creative way and would only last for an episode or two.

I don’t normally ship or support CPs but they’re the exception, along with Ao Ruipeng and Bai Lu. I mostly like them because their chemistry extends to real life and I don’t mean romantic chemistry, they just appear to like working together and they genuinely like each other.

You’re not alone. I last saw him in Fangs of Fortune. He had a small part but he was great there too.

Yes! I always felt Neo was prettier than his FLs, no offense to his other FLs of course. 😁 It’s just that Neo is prettier than many Chinese actresses imho. But that will soon change with Gulinazha and Ai Mi. I like him best with Zhou Ye because they looked like they had so much fun on set and while promoting the drama. They ended up being quite good friends in real life. I would love to see them reunite for another project.

You are shaming and judging. Have a nice laugh.

And so what?! I enjoyed the cooking scenes and secondary characters. I could say the same for you, you rated K-pop Demon Hunters 8.5 but I didn’t like it as much. Are we shaming each other’s taste now?

That’s why I thought they had great chemistry because I felt something even though there weren’t enough kisses. Great chemistry to me is when they’re just sitting next to each other and yet you can tell they’re in love. No need for I love yous, hugs, or kisses, or even them staring longingly at each other’s eyes. Their pairing, to me, is akin to Tsuchiya Tao and Yamazaki Kento’s chemistry in Orange. Those two didn’t even have a single kissing scene in that movie.

Not a fan of the FL either. She’s quite manipulative and scheming, very similar to Lu Yuxiao’s other role, Shangguan Qian, which I also wasn’t fond of.

Agreed. I also dropped that drama. It just wasn’t for me.

I preferred Minghao with Zhou Ye though. They have great chemistry on and off screen. They’re also just a year apart. But this drama has a more interesting premise in my opinion. The first episode got me hooked and intrigued immediately.

Wait, this is based on Colorcloud Palace?! I'm looking forward to this! I really hope they'd make a live action drama of The Apothecary's Diaries. I really enjoyed the anime because it felt like watching a historical C-drama.