Sunbath12

Yup, that's it. Li Mao, you are done for.

This one is actually politics-lite. The classic palace/court politics that make up many a historical Chinese drama can be way more 4D chess than this. It may not be your cup of tea, which is totally fine, but this is why I like period Chinese dramas.

A good Korean sageuk is truly hard to come by these days. I miss the classic ones from a bygone era.

I heard September

I've decided I can never trust him again.

Li Mao doesn't even know what he wants lol. He needs help.

Lots of things happened quite quickly in Ep 23. Implementing something like the spring examination definitely was not as easy as this episode made it seem, lol, but I love seeing Xie Jiayu and Xiao Wuyi working together.

As for Li Mao, the character is bipolar. I don't trust him to be a leader of a nation at all. If guided well, he could go back from straying into a darker path, but he just doesn't seem that bright to me. So easily swayed by emotion too.

And what is that preview for Ep 24??? Yikes...what is going on?

It was a very forgettable and non-essential role in my opinion, unfortunately.

I have to agree. It’s a tricky role to pull off, but perhaps it is this unsure performance that is making me crazy trying to figure out the character. The actor should have in mind what is truly going on inside him, but I kind of feel as though it’s being performed here from scene to scene. Like, here I’m going to act mean because it what the script says, but here I’ll be unsure/conflicted.

Don’t know if that makes sense. At least I can actually sort of watch his performance here. The other drama I saw with him recently (Fate Chooses You) I just couldn’t watch his scenes (though that character set up was really poor in itself).

Every time I think Li Mao might actually snap out of his love-brain, power-obsessed mode fueled his delusional father, he disappoints me. Also, I wonder if Lejun will actually do something useful by the drama's end.

Time for express, please!!!

I'm glad he actually has an interesting role here.

It’s pretty much set. Deng Wei’s fan club has started preparing for drama start up, should be in August.
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5322439880083763

Yeah he's definitely heading to a bad end in my view.

His character features more toward the end, but yeah, the script for this wasn't great. Zheng Shi's scenes with his grandfather were definitely a highlight for me.

I submitted an edit - essentially just for grammar/clarity but basically the same synopsis. Not sure where the synopsis came from originally.

Sigh, get ready for obsessive SML to strike if the previews are anything to go by. I'm still undecided how his story will end up. Surprisingly, the writing of this show keeps me guessing. Li Mao certainly feels like he's chosen the dark side, but perhaps he could also regain his senses and choose to be a better person?

Nah, I think he's a goner.

He's complicated, but yes, mostly antagonist so far in this.

I’m 10 episodes in and I’m overall kind of bored. At least the ML’s scenes are more integral to the plot, so I’ve been watching to see him maneuver things to get after the truth of who poisoned him. I don’t feel much chemistry between the leads, so yeah there’s that right now, so I’m struggling to finish this.

The second couple at least has been entertaining. The actress is really good, pretending to be a man. Also, whenever Jeremy Xu shows up, things get interesting, but his character is stuck in obsessed grief mode right now, so as a watcher, I don’t know if things pick up in episodes 11-20?

But everyone is different. If you’re not into the 2nd couple, that’s totally fine.

I tried before based on what was available on iQiyi and Douban, but it was rejected since there was a translation already. I think we’ll have to wait until it actually releases maybe.

Or I can try to just edit this synopsis. It’s not terrible but it definitely feels like AI translation in parts lol.

All right, let's go! Ep 16 was wild - what will ever happen next?

Exactly!