Platinum Fox

I am not really sure what you mean by a beautiful story. This is a beautiful story about love, discipline, power, and autonomy, especially for women. This story is by far not your typical drama. In fact it takes all the typical tropes and turns them upside down. This is especially true for the five year breakup.

My suggestion to you, if you can stand it, is to watch every episode carefully. Watch how the ML looks at or doesn't look at the FL especially when he pulls her from the fire and then how he holds her when the girls try to push her into the broken glass. This is very deliberately done.

Also, if you like Zhao Lu Si and want simple beautiful love stories, watch Hidden Love, I Hear You, Dating in the Kitchen, Prodigy Healer, etc. Don't watch Untouchable Lovers or Better Than Immortality. The fact that you are mad that it is not a simple love story means everyone did their job.

Yes, she loves all three. You need to watch this show carefully, especially the first 27 episodes. Everything from the dialogue, to the facial expressions, the film shots, to even the position of the people in the scene are important to the story. This is one of the most well thought out filmed dramas I have watched. All others pale in comparison. I have watched this show several times and am still finding clever things that enhance the story.

I agree. Zhao Lu Si has played this role many times and this drama did not add anything new to the genre. The only reason I think she took this role is for the part where she can say that the son is not like his father and the promise that the ML's mother made is not written in stone and not the wish of the son. The societal norm seems to be if the father is corrupt then the son is as well which is not always true.

Yes, she loves Ling romantically, but is that all there is to love? Can't she love Lou Yao and Yuan as well. What is love and who can love whom? That's what this drama is asking. When Lou Yao and NiaoNiao end their marriage agreement there are no flashbacks to show that they were ever physically involved, but they did love each other. They gave each other what they needed at the time.

I have been watching this again as well and discovered other things as well, such as General Ling being referred to as a ghost by NaioNaio and the prince Xiao.

You're right. At the beginning she uses the excuse that she can't love someone because she has never been shown love herself. However, when she is with each male, they define what love means to them as a couple. She only becomes physically involved with Ling Bu Yi (kissing, hugging, etc). She loves all three of them in her own way.

As for the scene where Ling Bu Yi is being punished by the emperor, that whole scene is to make NiaoNiao confide in people about when she is being bullied instead of taking her own revenge. However, her personality will not allow her to do that as she feels she can do something on her own about it, instead of relying on someone else. In the dialogue it is even discussed as his and her ways of revenge. Ling Bu Yi just uses her revenge as a way to further his own agenda. NiaoNiao brings this up in later episodes and it is part of the reason why they break up.

As for the love issue during this scene, in the translations that I have watched, it appears that both the emperor and Ling Bu Yi are blinded to the fact that NiaoNiao loves Ling Bu Yi and that she has already decided to give him her heart. She changes for him, but Ling Bu Yi does not change for her. He doesn't change until he dies and comes backs as his true self.

Sorry for the long explanation. I love this show and the intricate details everyone put into the writing, acting, and directing of this show are amazing. Are there flaws in this show yes, but I can overlook them because there are so few.

You're right. Her character was not meant to be a warrior. Her character was meant to be a free spirited girl who protected citizens with her martial arts. Her character wanted no part of politics or power. She only got involved to save her people and because her family, the rulers of the country, had died. The minute the threat to the empire was over, she gave up the throne and spent all her time with Black Fox, who after seeking power, gave it up to be with her.

The fact that you recognize her character not being a warrior means Zhao Lu Si did her job in portraying this character the way it should have been portrayed and did it well. If you watched this drama in hopes that Zhao Lu Si's character was going to rule the world, then yes you would be disappointed because that was not her role.

Spatina, I know that you wanted someone else in the role. Visualize that woman in that role and tell me if it would have the same feel. A different actress would bring a different feel to the production. What would your actress bring to the character that Zhao Lu Si did not? For me, the banter between Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si's characters is spot on. I think both actors grew in their profession from having worked together as their next works, especially Zhao Lu Si's.

You're right, but each scene is there for a reason. Once you piece everything together, you understand (even if boring) why it is there.

No, only the audience knows that it was QiQi's grandmother who wrote a letter to the mother. However, I think mom knew from the start that it was NaioNaio. It's why mom sent NaioNaio away with the aunt. The mother wanted to get her out of that environment.

Yang Yang is seven years older than Zhao Lu Si, but Zhao Lu Si held her own with him. As matter of fact, I think Zhao Lu Si helped Yang Yang become a better actor. His character actually had a well rounded personality which I have not seen in his previous roles. His next character in Fireworks of My Heart is also more well rounded. Only Yang Yang can pull off a 15 to 17-year-old in looks and acting and turn back into a 32-year-old with just a hair change.

The second season mirrors the first season, but at the political level. For those of you who dislike the mother, you have missed the point of her character's actions. In this drama you have to pay attention to everything from the camera angles, facial expressions, body position of characters, dialogue, and story structure. It is very carefully put together to tell a wonderful, engrossing story with great messages about love, discipline, and power. The only questionable episode is 55, which to me after all the build up, is very unrealistic and anti-climatic.

Also, I almost didn't watch this because of the slow start, but then realized why all the build up. Since I have to read subtitles to understand the dialogue, it makes it hard to catch everything else. It's why I've watched it several times.

She actually loves all three of them. Two become friends and the other her lover.

I agree with you on historical dramas and the horses. My first response is always, "Don't hurt the horses. "

I agree. Zhao Lu Si played out the maturity growth in this character to a T.

I would like to respond to both RilakkumasBubbleTea and Spatina. Who Rules the World was my first Chinese drama ever, so I had no experiences with Zhao Lu Si or Yang Yang's acting before this. Afterwards, I watched all but one of Zhao Lu Si's dramas, because of her acting in this drama. Still working on all of Yang Yang's.

Since then, I have watched numerous other Chinese actresses of Zhao's age or a little older and none of them can compare with the grace, beauty, and acting ability that Zhao Lu Si possesses at such a young age. For instance, Xuan Lu has worked with Yang Yang before. Do you think she could have played the role of Bai Feng better?

Her hair is the whole point of the drama. There are many scenes that focus on her hair as a male and female.

This was my very first kdrama. I don't know why I started watching it, but it got me hooked on Asian dramas. I can see why it received the awards and international acclaim that it did with the topic, OST, and acting.

I did not see the poster.

Even film critics disagree with each other sometimes. It is all subjective, but everything in the work has to work together. For me four of the best filmed shows are Flower Crew; Love Like a Galaxy, the first 27 episodes; Who Rules the World, and The King's Affection. However, I can find flaws in every single one these, but they do not detract from the story they are trying to tell.

I loved the whole premise of Gen Z. I have always been interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine. My favorite of Zhao Lu Si's is Love Like a Galaxy. It starts out slow, and almost didn't watch it. But once I hit the episode where they go to the lantern festival, it becomes more interesting.