Hmmmmm.... its all out???? Wow....haven't watched the last 6 but from my experience (ie.g. And the Winner is Love) when iQiyi suddenly and generously drops all episodes at once and for free it means the back ones are a disaster... Hope that is not the case here...
Excellent review (which is literally a surprise to no one). It was so well written and I read it till the very…
Ah thank you - you made my day with your generous words. The thread was fun and I must admit my bar has gone down after a month of social distancing. The drama gradually deflates until the end so I am sure your eyeballs thank you for making the right call!
Jingling urges Pengcheng not to despair. The vindictive bastard Wang Mian's confession which names Lige as a co-conspirator (she did try to kill Pengcheng on their wedding night) puts the emperor in a difficult position. The emperor is in a quandry - he knows how much Lige means to Pengcheng and he recognises her/the Shen's many contributions. Yet he cannot punish Wang Mian without consequences for Lige as well. Pengcheng understands this and he cryptically tells Jingling to step up and assume a bigger role in sharing their brother's burdens going forward. He means to beg the emperor to exile her instead and he means to leave with her. Initially I thought he intended to flee with her but that is not the case, there would be too many consequences for the Shens and realistically they would never get away. He lies to her (because he hasn't secured the emperor's approval) and tells her he is taking 3 months off so that they can spend time together. The fact that they are taking no servants strongly suggests exile. Of course he does not tell the emperor he intends to exile with her; otherwise the emperor would not agree hence his somewhat cryptic conversation with Jingling.
Meanwhile Lige figures out what is going on. She does not want him to sacrifice so much for her and she retrieves her chime as a goodbye message to him. She drinks wine, not poison and by the time Pengcheng returns with the formal edict, she has already left the capital. Yes, the writers were trying to be cheeky, I didn't appreciate their sense of humor but there is nothing else that suggests she is dead. In her voiceover (which was probably a letter to Pengcheng) she urges him not to let her be the reason he does not continue with his reforms, that the people need him and this is his life work. Three years later, Jingling shows Pengcheng that they are pretty much done, the reforms which is what the real Pengcheng wang/Liu Yikang was so well known for are done. Pengcheng goes to their place, hangs her chime back to signify their imminent reunion and tells Lige soon (they will be together). He also goes for family dinner with the Shens - he is saying goodbye. And then he joins Lige in exile in the new home she has made for them. * They spawn a terrifying band of assassins and live HEA.
The end.
* Note Lige goes into exile to their countryside home. It was her surprise for Pengcheng wang when they were visiting Consort Sun (around episode 50) for her birthday. She tells him she knows he is close to his foster mother so she wanted them to have a place near her. The location is where people (e.g. Consort Sun) get banished or exiled to.
Jingling urges Pengcheng not to despair. The vindictive bastard Wang Mian's confession which names Lige as a co-conspirator…
Agree completely - the ending does redeem the show a bit but still the writing was not great at all.
Still thinking what to watch next. Love and Redemption maybe but its so long I am gonna wait a bit in case it goes off the rails like this one did after 20 episodes. I checked out Sleepless Princess it is kind of funny but the FL is so naive I was rolling my eyes so much I almost went blind. I may go back to it in the absence of something else. Heiress is also another possibilty...
I rewatched it this morning because on my first watch I was distracted by a lively whatsapp chat with my girlfriends. I am now very sure what happened - I summarized it above in a long spoiler. This is definitely not another TROP/FZW.
The ending is a pleasant surprise and IMHO very well done so if you are hesitating over whether to continue to…
Jingling urges Pengcheng not to despair. The vindictive bastard Wang Mian's confession which names Lige as a co-conspirator (she did try to kill Pengcheng on their wedding night) puts the emperor in a difficult position. The emperor is in a quandry - he knows how much Lige means to Pengcheng and he recognises her/the Shen's many contributions. Yet he cannot punish Wang Mian without consequences for Lige as well. Pengcheng understands this and he cryptically tells Jingling to step up and assume a bigger role in sharing their brother's burdens going forward. He means to beg the emperor to exile her instead and he means to leave with her. Initially I thought he intended to flee with her but that is not the case, there would be too many consequences for the Shens and realistically they would never get away. He lies to her (because he hasn't secured the emperor's approval) and tells her he is taking 3 months off so that they can spend time together. The fact that they are taking no servants strongly suggests exile. Of course he does not tell the emperor he intends to exile with her; otherwise the emperor would not agree hence his somewhat cryptic conversation with Jingling.
Meanwhile Lige figures out what is going on. She does not want him to sacrifice so much for her and she retrieves her chime as a goodbye message to him. She drinks wine, not poison and by the time Pengcheng returns with the formal edict, she has already left the capital. Yes, the writers were trying to be cheeky, I didn't appreciate their sense of humor but there is nothing else that suggests she is dead. In her voiceover (which was probably a letter to Pengcheng) she urges him not to let her be the reason he does not continue with his reforms, that the people need him and this is his life work. Three years later, Jingling shows Pengcheng that they are pretty much done, the reforms which is what the real Pengcheng wang/Liu Yikang was so well known for are done. Pengcheng goes to their place, hangs her chime back to signify their imminent reunion and tells Lige soon (they will be together). He also goes for family dinner with the Shens - he is saying goodbye. And then he joins Lige in exile in the new home she has made for them. They spawn a terrifying band of assassins and live HEA.
The ending is a pleasant surprise and IMHO very well done so if you are hesitating over whether to continue to watch, you should not be afraid to continue. Since there may be some ambiguous bits, I will explain the ending in a spoiler below:
I just love Lexuan. He is the only one that knows exactly what is going on and his is really enjoying himself... they way I would too!!! My evil old soul just loves his subtle little slightly cruel cheeky little pokes.
No I am pretty sure she did not kill herself. She left. I think she only drank wine - she was sad and you know she is pretty lush. She realized Pengcheng intended to give it all up and escape with her. So she took her red tagged chime and left. It was her way of saying goodbye to him. He arrived too late with either a pardon or a stay of execution, I am not sure exactly what but she had left already. Someone says the emperor didn't really want to kill her either she means so much to Pengcheng but it puts him and Pengcheng in a difficult position in light of what they are trying to achieve. There was no body and no mourning tablet and c'mon even the dumb ass writers know Lige will not kill hersel because of some stupid imperial edict. She wants Pengcheng wang to finish what he set out to do in terms of pushing through reforms and not give it all up for her. But they have a bargain to go once a year at their place to hang the chimes. She must have come back the following year because Pengcheng wang has her red tagged chime. 3 years later, they are pretty much done with their intended reforms. She is waiting for him in their new home. He leaves with her and they live HEA. I was only half watching but that is what I think happened I don't think it was ever made explicit she drank poison or died. I mean the extra drama in 53 was not needed they could have ended it at 52.
On somethings, I felt a level of ROTP pissed... you'll see where I'm coming from.
Actually I watched it half heartedly it was a HE I am not sure why everyone is so upset... think I must have missed something I need to rewatch it tomorrow.
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Meanwhile Lige figures out what is going on. She does not want him to sacrifice so much for her and she retrieves her chime as a goodbye message to him. She drinks wine, not poison and by the time Pengcheng returns with the formal edict, she has already left the capital. Yes, the writers were trying to be cheeky, I didn't appreciate their sense of humor but there is nothing else that suggests she is dead. In her voiceover (which was probably a letter to Pengcheng) she urges him not to let her be the reason he does not continue with his reforms, that the people need him and this is his life work. Three years later, Jingling shows Pengcheng that they are pretty much done, the reforms which is what the real Pengcheng wang/Liu Yikang was so well known for are done. Pengcheng goes to their place, hangs her chime back to signify their imminent reunion and tells Lige soon (they will be together). He also goes for family dinner with the Shens - he is saying goodbye. And then he joins Lige in exile in the new home she has made for them. * They spawn a terrifying band of assassins and live HEA.
The end.
* Note Lige goes into exile to their countryside home. It was her surprise for Pengcheng wang when they were visiting Consort Sun (around episode 50) for her birthday. She tells him she knows he is close to his foster mother so she wanted them to have a place near her. The location is where people (e.g. Consort Sun) get banished or exiled to.
Still thinking what to watch next. Love and Redemption maybe but its so long I am gonna wait a bit in case it goes off the rails like this one did after 20 episodes. I checked out Sleepless Princess it is kind of funny but the FL is so naive I was rolling my eyes so much I almost went blind. I may go back to it in the absence of something else. Heiress is also another possibilty...
Meanwhile Lige figures out what is going on. She does not want him to sacrifice so much for her and she retrieves her chime as a goodbye message to him. She drinks wine, not poison and by the time Pengcheng returns with the formal edict, she has already left the capital. Yes, the writers were trying to be cheeky, I didn't appreciate their sense of humor but there is nothing else that suggests she is dead. In her voiceover (which was probably a letter to Pengcheng) she urges him not to let her be the reason he does not continue with his reforms, that the people need him and this is his life work. Three years later, Jingling shows Pengcheng that they are pretty much done, the reforms which is what the real Pengcheng wang/Liu Yikang was so well known for are done. Pengcheng goes to their place, hangs her chime back to signify their imminent reunion and tells Lige soon (they will be together). He also goes for family dinner with the Shens - he is saying goodbye. And then he joins Lige in exile in the new home she has made for them. They spawn a terrifying band of assassins and live HEA.
The end.
Still not finished. Totally not motivated.