Sakan

We have the first outdoor kiss scene and I think they kiss beautifuly. It's actually the fourth kiss scene for our main couple in terms of filming order, but CZY and WCR still seemed a little shy haha maybe because it's the first time they're doing it outside

Both, a fantasy, time-travel drama with both republican and historical setting

You can buy it from Chinese sellers; I got mine from Xiaohongshu (XHS). You can have draft scripts for other Chinese dramas the same way too, but the accuracy of the draft script might differ for each cases. I think the draft script I have for Fusheng is about 60–70% similar to what was actually filmed

There are a lot of changes between the draft script and what’s actually being filmed for the Tang Dynasty arc, which makes me quite worried because I really liked the draft script for this era. The love line also seems to be weakened (though I’ll wait until filming for this arc ends to be sure). I’m also concerned about director Yi Jun’s storytelling and cinematography abilities, since his past works have been just so-so and the new trailer for Overdo feels quite bland compared to Reuters and fails to capture a Republican-era atmosphere (the filter is too modern). Fusheng has a large part of the Republican era too but since it has fantasy elements, then viewers might give it a pass, I hope.

But I think the novel is still a good read. The plot in drama is chance but the personality and essence of Sha Lou and Ao Chi is quite similar to the novel

There are many beauties here. I see many WCR fans prefer the Sha Lou-Zimiao pairing over the official couple. But don't worry, CZY won't lose out either, while Sha Lou only has Zi Miao as a second CP (I'm only considering BG couples). Ao Chi has many scenes with all the beauties (including a dance scene with Liu Mengmei (Hanikezi) with a rumor of marriage, a "blind date"/"marriage-arranged meeting" with Du Heng (He Qiu) or having an engagement with Chu Jiang (Chengxiao)... During the Song Dynasty, CZY also has another character: Canghui, who is in love with Princess Chang Ping (Zhang Wen Xin)... A lot of CP for everyone, and I haven't count subplot CPs; bromance and sismance here are also good, with Ao Chi has 2 brothers in different eras and Sha Lou also soft with female characters

Additional cast members have been confirmed based on leaked photos:
Republican era:
Hanikezi - Liu Mengmei

Song Dynasty:
Zhou Jie Qiong (Kyulkyung) - Su Jianyue
Zhang Yun Long - Su Linchuan
Zuo Ye - Jiang zhen

Tang dynasty:
Linziye - Bai Yu (Also has a part in The Great Wilderness)
Liuchang - Mr. Song
He Qiu - Du Heng
Tang Zhenchao - Xiuzhi
Wang Jiaxuan - Li Xiangyan

Warring States:
Chengxiao - Chu Jiang

The Great Wilderness (大荒) and Primordial Era (上古) are basically the same period with 上古 being the time and 大荒 being the place/ the wild land of that time. They'll film Cangzhu's part here, plus the scenes when Sha Lou just obtain her human form and learn magic. But CZ and SL won't share any scenes in this era (at least not in human forms)

Mostly different

ChengXiao is rumored to played a character at Warring States arc, so she will join filming at late July

There's no official still yet. The photos in this gallery are reuters photos taken by fans, so CZY has some dedicated fan accounts that buy or shoot filming photos, which is why there are more photos of him

One interesting thing I noticed is that if we focus solely on the romance between Sa Lou and Ao Chi, we can still connect the TV series to the original novel (from modern times onward), even though everything else has changed. The novel is set in modern times, while most of the TV series takes place in an earlier period, only briefly touching on the modern era at the very end. The logic of their love line still flows smoothly when we make that connection since the events that happen between the leads right before the modern-time of the TV series are quite similar to what happens right before the modern time of the novel, and their stage of love is also not much different.

Tang Dynasty has a lot sweet scenes between Ao Chi and Sa Lou

I heard they’ll shoot the modern-era scenes at the very end of the shooting, but I don’t think they can finish everything by the end of July. They still have the Tang Dynasty and the Warring States period left, both of which are slightly shorter than the Song Dynasty, which took about 20 days to film. So, combining the Tang Dynasty, Warring States, and a bit of the Great Wilderness Era should add up to about a month. They also haven’t completed the Republican-era scenes yet (there are still a lot of important scenes). According to the rumored script, the modern part is quite short; unless they add more plot, it's probably only a day’s worth of filming. Still, I really hope they expand the modern storyline, since the more screentime it gets, the better the happy ending will feel for us viewers

Zhang Wenxin will play Princess Changping, and she has already been listed on this site. I can see there will be a lot cameo for this drama.

As I have read both the original novel and the rumored script, the drama only retains three characters from the novel: Sha Lou, Ao Chi, and Zi Miao—along with the demon-related setting. The rest of the story is original. Here are some key differences:

Original work:
Over 2,000 years ago, the water god Zi Miao created a demon tea tree named Sha Lou. Around the same time, the evil dragon Ao Chi appeared and once kidnapped Sha Lou. After discovering that she was merely a stand-in for Zi Miao's first love, Sha Lou decided to leave Zi Miao. The main setting of the story takes place in the modern era, 2,000 years later, where Sha Lou runs a tea house called Fu Sheng to resolve issues for demons. In truth, Ao Chi and Sha Lou had developed feelings for each other over their 2,000-year journey together, though neither had ever officially acknowledged their relationship. Later, due to an unforeseen incident, Ao Chi went missing for a period. When they reunite in the modern era, they finally officially marry and have children. In terms of structure, the original work is formatted with Sha Lou serving as the narrator so she only appears at the beginning and end of each individual story involving different demons. The main storyline is only occasionally interwoven, resulting in Ao Chi having limited screen time.

TV serie script:
The film retains only the character settings: the evil dragon Ao Chi, the demon tea tree Sha Lou, and the master Zi Miao and also Fusheng tea/coffee house. In the original work, Master Zi Miao had long passed away and appeared very rarely, but in the film adaptation, this character is always by Sha Lou's side, accompanying her all the way into the Republican era (the series's primary era). Meanwhile, the evil dragon from the age of desolation, named Cang Zhu in the TV series setting, died (unlike the ancient Ao Chi in the original, who does not die) and later, upon reincarnation into the Republican era, takes the name Ao Chi. The TV series's structure revolves around Sha Lou and Ao Chi meeting in the Republican era, and as they work together to resolve demon-related cases, Ao Chi's true identity is gradually revealed (in the Republican era, Ao Chi exists in human form). From there, the two travel across parallel timelines: the Song Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Warring States period, both to resolve demon affairs and to uncover the secrets of their past hidden within those eras.

2ML is not the first love for FL in drama setting. It changed

His main character: Ao Chi only has Sha Luo as love interest but he plays another character: Canghui, and that character has one side love for the princess

Not so good but I can watch engsub and ignore small mistakes

I'm done with 3 eps and liked it. Put aside that i'm ZWY's fan, the directing and music are really good.