ShortCircuit

I'm late to the party...

So... First scene. There goes a man who never had to wash his clothes himself. Going to a smithy to forge new swords dressed in a fine white silk shirt... I mean, it's already very hot in there. Clothing is definitely optional. Let's be more brave.

Second scene - there goes a frugal man who maybe sometimes had to patch his own shoes. I swear he has zero luck - first she pities him, then she's worried, then he's outed (AGAIN), it's a game of she-loves-me-she-loves-me-not with the two of them. I hope he gets enough petals.

Also. It's still very early in the spring. Not a lot of sitting water around but somehow mosquitoes abound. Particularly around ChangYu. I bet those mosquitoes also wear noble titles. Or something.

If you're interested, you can only give it a try, right :)?

Anyway - be warned. This is split into a past (3-33) and a present (1-2, 33-50) timeline. The set-up phase takes until around ep 15-17 to start building the backround, so it might look like it's silly in the first few eps (the "school" phase). It all has meaning though. All the characters are important, even those who seem to randomly appear and go away.

Despite the FX (it was a web drama, though they had a good budget for this kind of drama, it was obviously not enough compared to the S+ dramas of the day), if you're inclined to look past those, it might catch you with the actual plot and its extremely lovable characters (or the extremely loathful ones, LOL).

Another warning - this IS danmei. That is, a Chinese BL story. Despite being heavily censored, it doesn't really completely block off the actual relationship. You could take it as a great bromance, since they removed the heavier hints, but... if you don't want to take it as just that, it's kind of pretty obvious LOL.

I do hope you give it a chance and enjoy it. It's one of the best stories in cdramaland :) (and the novel it's based on is one of the best danmei stories, too).

To give you a general hint of what the story is actually about, there are some fan-made trailers (no spoilers) that to me at least look better than the official one :D (subs on)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ldvydu34Is

Have fun!

There's no question though, unless it's "how did it top the charts". It topped the charts (for so long) because it really is that good. And it's strength didn't sit in the CGI or makeup or other things, but in the strength of the story and characters.

Dramas you've listed had good budgets and were mainstream at the time of their airing. TU is a danmei live adaptation, immediately expected to be censored, maybe beyond all recognition, to its original audience (fans of the novel). It was censored, but the power of the story shines through. So it did have a lot of success.

It is quite different from same-era dramas that were using well-known actors, and TBH, it's also still different from current era dramas that are being produced and aired.

And it also topped the charts because watchers liked it and felt it had merit. Good enough to have a huge impact on Tencent Video itself (because it wasn't like what it became today). It still has an impact even now, eight years later.

Notice I didn't even mention HOW the plot goes yet. And I repeat, the plot and characters are the best part of TU.

Many people are still visiting this section, myself included, but most won't involve themselves into a separate discussion, particularly with someone who's making comparisons on why the drama is bad before even watching it. Not every drama is for everyone. Maybe this one isn't for you, for your own reasons. It's truly not that important why, you just don't like it and it'll be enough. A lot of watchers though - they DID and still like it. If you have more questions or need more info, ask them - there will very probably be someone replying.

He never thought further than an excuse to touch her again (and not get instantly slapped).

Nah, this reinforces it, he got his brains from the dad side of the family.

Thanks for the new info :)

Wait what... So the brother (WY) is a traitor, and she commits suicide then leaves her son in the care of her traitor brother?!

Like... Was she dropped on her head as a child one time too many?! Why would she trust the traitor with her son when the traitor knew she was aware of the secret, did she think he'd be merciful on her orphaned child?! After killing her husband, her kid's father?!

Anyway, what I took from his confession to his old tutor is that HE believes she killed herself out of devotion to his father. He might suspect something's afoot, giving he tested WY and WY failed the test, but so far maybe he hasn't linked it to his mother's death. Maybe he will in the future. Right now though, he was certain he wouldn't marry because he didn't want something like what happened to his parents to happen to his own family.

XZ might be the only clear-headed man in that family. Good thing he found a straight-thinking woman to have kids with, their family name has a chance to survive.

He's so sweet. I can understand why he wouldn't want to marry before and why he tried to keep her at bay a bit. His mother was so devoted to his dad she killed herself because she couldn't bear to be without him. He's afraid he'd act the same if anything happened to ChangYu, or worse, SHE'd act the same as his mother if anything happened to him.

But now all secrets are out and he's doing his best at grovelling LOL, she already forgave him. I don't think she cares as much as she says about the rank difference, she knows HIM. She doesn't know the Marquis, but it turns out in private he's still the same Yan Zheng.

Lao Tao comes in handy to build that bridge to not caring about their different social status for them. Though I expect her real family will count too, in the end. Even if they'd turn out to be Xie enemies. He doesn't care about that, he's all ready to basically go back to Lin'an and be a matrilocal husband again, LOL.

GongSun ya sneaky lil' fox! She fell for it and immediately found him out, LOL, he doesn't have a bit of luck in his life.

I'm glad Mandi is alive, who the freak is that little soldier? Why did he attack Mandi at that time? Will he be someone with a story in this?

I'm not so happy Sui the younger got out, BUT the next time the Pig Butcher Squad meets him they have carte blanche to do whatever they want to him. He should be afraid. Very afraid.

After the high of yesterday's ep, this was just the quiet settling of accounts I didn't know I needed. I didn't want heroics and protestations of regret or anything - they way they settled it and continue to talk it over is just right. Keep at it guys!! Jiayou!

ETA His proposal though. His sincerity shining on his face. The way he relaxed later when it was pretty clear she didn't really held a grudge anymore. Those little smiles.

Yeah the boy's gone.

Yes. This is how you solve it. Talk it out. Less slapping (she's allowed one because at least the frustration with his secrets. No more).

The guys are so green the spring came just because of them.

Recklessness only matters if you lose. Luck is also pretty huge in a battle - we waltz over it because we'd like to pretend things can be controlled and all. In reality, even a stupid bout of luck could change the fate of a whole army.

It all worked out - not without some effort and a LOT of luck - so all's well, technically.

I'd still bet he gets his ass handed to him though, for all the unspoken truths he owes her.

We did see him fight in an army formation though - before he ended up in Lin'an. It's not like we didn't get to admire him in his armour at all. And at that time it was a lot more dramatic what with all that snow and blood on it and the snow flakes falling in slow motion.

It's my one disappointment with the battle scene, the winter has passed and no more snow... At least they had amazing fire shots, too.

He only planned it all though. Even if he didn't do everything with his own hands, he set it all up and his generals are good enough to execute it without him supervising their every move.

They'd all be on her side anyway.

You forget he didn't just happen to be wounded and end up in a random town. He and his forces were ambushed by "friendly" soldiers, his bodyguards killed and if wasn't for the providential cdrama cliff over a river, we wouldn't be watching the drama at all. He couldn't just go back to the rest of his army - he didn't know if there weren't any more traps in the way. his wounds healed at a normal (non wuxia) pace, he thought he had discovered a thread of mystery around the Fan girls, and when the not-so-secret assassins appeared, he didn't know immediately they weren't for him.

He needed to stay for a while and see what moves in the water before acting again.

Mr Zhao can fix it when they meet again.

I think it's a bot account. They're writing the same comments supposedly praising another actress, no matter what the drama. It's sad, really.

Right? I mean, going only on your comments, ZLY MUST be pretty awful in her work if she needs someone like you to shill for her for real. There's no drama where you left comments that don't spill the same toxic waste.

I pity her because of you. That woman worked hard for her working reputation, and here you are, on an international forum, destroying it with every new comment.

I'm waiting for that one, too. But I'd give them all away (not PoJ, I need an express here) for 2ha LOL.

He meant to take the beating himself so she'd realise her actions impact him, too and never do anything like that again.

To which she said she'd never make the SAME mistake again and later proceeded to make amazing new mistakes LOL.

Yeah we all know you're a ZLY shill, I wonder what she'd say to an unhinged "fan" like you. I doubt she'd be grateful to such a toxic troll. Just stop.

What she did was so STUPID and DANGEROUS. In her defense, she didn't know her husband was the actual strategist in the whole battle.

Loved it when the General admitted that he was the pivot in this - he's the one who laid down the plans, who set up the trap, GongSun is already on the other side baiting the other Sui General, ChangYu's misunderstanding and actions could have destroyed their small pocket of an army.

I wonder if ChangYu asked for the drugs from Princess Royal and she gave CY something milder, so that XZ woke up sooner than intended.