Michelle Topham

You're right. I just started Ep 11 and, yep, the last couple of eps are even better. 😀 Rating should be higher!

Not usually a big fan of Bao Shang En, as she's very much "same of the sameness" in just about everything she's in, but she's decent in this, and great in the fight scenes.

And yes, I'm only on Episode 8 but, like others, I don't understand the low-ish rating at all. Went into it thinking it may be a drop for me, as the rating suggested it "may" not be particularly good (although I don't really pay attention to MDL ratings :) but, so far at least, it's been a rip-roaring, fun watch.

Excellent fight scenes, loads of intrigue, the characters are interesting, even though it's a bit of a struggle to keep up with all of them as there are many :), the cinematography is pretty, and the plot is well-written, fast-paced and engaging.

Deserves to be an 8.2 or higher, at least based on the eight episodes I've watched so far.

I know!

I watch a lot of scenes in many dramas on 1.25 or 1.5 speed as I just don't have time to get thru all the dramas I want to watch and I read fast :) Like you, I have not watched ONE scene in anything but normal speed, and I've watched many scenes several times.

I also don't watch many dramas a second time, but I've found 3 in the last few months I'll be watching again, but THIS is the #1 on that list :)

Hahahaha, he's just so funny. :) And I laughed so hard at that scene, especially when, if someone watched it out of context, they'd think they'd just stumbled on a Boys' Love drama where the top was just taking the bottom to task for cheating on him. :)

Hahaha, it's great isn't it? I replay those scenes four times as I'm still astounded every time he gets his ass kicked and then comes back for more :)

And you can tell how much I'm obsessed with this thing. I went off to handle the MASSIVE amounts of work I have to do with a plan to "save Ep 26 until I went to bed". Lasted about an hour and a half then came back to watch Episode 26. ROTFL

Now I'm pissed I have to wait for tomorrow for Episode 27. :)

Hahahaha, I keep thinking "Bless him" too every time he fights CYY and then goes along with what he suggests anyway :) Poor guy. Always trying to stand up for himself then failing miserably :)

That was the funniest thing about it. He's a 10-pound weakling who had to resort to getting a weapon custom made that fires poison needles because he can barely hold a sword, let alone win in a sword fight. Then goes after the ML, while waving his sword around like it's a floppy piece of spaghetti. ML has him nailed to the wall 3 seconds later :)

Love the character, but he really should learn who he can attack with his needles and who he should probably avoid with his sword -- hahahaha.

Alrighty, I'm caught up to Episode 25 and now I'm going back to work (after watching 8 episodes today LOL), and leaving Episode 26 until I finish work for the day and so have something to look forward to. :)

Couldn't have said it better myself. Sometimes she's incredibly irritating, silly and stupid with her quick decisions about things she misunderstands, she treated her mother terribly right up until the end (with a few moments of being nice and kind to her), and she's sometimes too rigid with her decisions, when bending slightly to someone else's request would give her a better result.

Other times she's 10 steps ahead of everyone else she's so smart, as she sees things others don't see.

And remember, she's only 18 or 19 at this point, and only 15 when the story first started, I would love to see how these holier-than-thou people criticizing her acted when they were her age. Probably a lot worse, I would guess :)

She's one of the most complex and superbly-written FLs in Chinese dramas in a long time, IMO, and one performed phenomenally well by Ren Min, who obviously understands the character perfectly.

I loved her in The Longest Promise, but IMO, this is her best performance yet.

Thanks for this :) And I'm happy he has a talented FL for his next drama. Ancy Deng is always amazing :)

And a very cute video of him and Ren Min :)

Oh thank you so much - for the praise about my site (it's new, but I'm hoping to make it a major one eventually :), and for the offer to answer questions. I might contact you sometime :)

And yes, I agree with you. I always thought Winwin was handsome but never really thought of him as a "good actor" but he is superb in this. I hated Ye Xian to begin with, but the way he is written and the way Winwin has played him, I feel sorry for him, and I am now a big fan of the actor.

Can't wait to see any new roles he takes, as he has really shown how talented he is in this.

Somebody else said they had read he had been taking major acting classes to improve his acting skills, and it shows :)

I'm sorry but "whataboutism"? The minute someone uses that term that requires no thought and means nothing, I know I can't have any kind of discussion with them. Moving on.

1,000 percent agree. The writer has written an incredibly well-thought out script, with every little moment that seems to be inconsequential at first look meaning something.

That scene where she grabs the lantern and then, minutes later, first sees him in the hallway, not 10 minutes into the first episode, is spectacular -- both acted and filmed. It's a while since I've seen the first few minutes of a drama that has not only grabbed me massively, but that also sets up the drama perfectly for what's to come.

Oh I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. And I knew it wasn't written by you, so don't think I was attacking you. I wasn't :) I wasn't attacking the author, either, just saying their thought-process was a bit delusional :)

Like I said, it's beautifully written and I always enjoy a well-written post (so many of the Chinese posts I read are written by incredibly intelligent, obviously very well-educated and thoughtful people - you can tell how good the Chinese education system is), I just think the person's reasoning about the relationship between the two is a bit "off" :)

But it's probably written by someone who likes Winwin (and who probably should separate the character from the actor :) -- an actor who is doing a fabulous job.

The actor is doing a fabulous job as well. A superb performance by someone still so very very young.

OMG, DYING laughing at the set-up in Episode 23 designed to bring disaster to certain people in the government, only for it all to collapse because Chen Yan Yun, and especially Gu Jinzhao have a brain :) Brilliant writing.

Hahahaha, Yep, for one second I thought I'd misread the labels and I'd stumbled on a BL drama instead. Wouldn't have had any complaints if I had have done either :)

It's quite a bit later IMO before things really start moving but, like you said, a slow cook. And honestly I'm not a big fan of slow burns most of the time, but this one is hitting ALL the spots :)

Best thing I've watched all year. Brilliant cast, superb leads, as everyone else said, gets better and better. If you like it now, you'll love it a few more episodes in :)

I especially like it because all of the "problems", "misunderstandings" and "major political schemings" are dealt with and come to a conclusion very fast. I don't like dramas that drag political scheming that puts character's lives at risk for most of the drama. It makes me too anxious :)