the themes of this show are honestly insane — surrogacy, epstein island, workplace discrimination, gender stereotypes and prejudice, cults, etc. i keep seeing news about these same issues lately. it’s crazy how realistic the show feels and how easily you can find parallels in the real world.
express package of this show is already available for purchase on Youku China! which is funny cuz the show has 34 eps, and we are only at 20 but Youku decided it’s time to start selling.. if the express package is purchased, we can watch the last 4 episodes on 22nd Feb! if not regular SVIP get to finish the show on 28th Feb while VIPs finish on 1st Mar. there will not be any episodes from 23rd-25th if you do not have the express package, not sure how it’s gonna work for Netflix though
visuals were great, and both the lead and supporting cast (female and male) looked really good. the plot was meh. the show kept jumping from 2019 to 2025 and back to 2019, which caused a lot of unnecessary confusion. there were random conflicts and climaxes, and some of the lines were weird and cringey as well. if you’re the type who can persevere for the visuals, you can give it a try. i honestly thought there was a bug in the timeline, which was quite funny. they were in high school in 2019, so they would have been around 15–18 years old, meaning they were born between 2001 and 2004. yet they were said to be 28 years old in 2025. the math just wasn’t mathing.
I think the romance develops so much more naturally when it's a subplot.. I wish more dramas did this bc usually…
exactly! some shows have really intentional romance scenes and it’s so predictable at this point, someone steps on something and falls, then they kiss, someone pushes them and then they hug etc. so it’s real nice to see a show without all these intentional arrangements. the scriptwriter has done an incredible job with romance scenes, and with the chemistry between the leads, we can begin our own shipping
So when will the Pei Yu character be introduced?? It seems she's the SFL kinda position as she's mentioned right…
she will be introduced today! the fourth case … I was looking at their titles in the intro clip, bai lu and wang xingyue are given the titles of “leading role”, yao an na is introduced as “specially invited/ guest lead ”, and zhao qing and zhao yiqin are given the titles of “lead”. so maybe like what the other commenter mentioned, yao an na was given this title due to her fame/ background etc., which led to her being placed in front of the other 2 on the poster. but her scenes might only be limited to this case, we don’t really know. because I don’t see how her role of a doctor is relevant to the rest of the cases, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to suddenly let her join the detective team
Exactly! FL even told the concubine, you found me a great husband lol! They both even without discussing with…
when I saw that scene, I was screaming, had to rewatch it to make sure I saw their expressions clearly! i thought it was pretty funny how they were both okay with the idea of getting married, I was genuinely thinking woah, y’all have chemistry … it’s so sweet to see all these signs of them falling in love, the slow burn here is so cute, and not annoying at all. the scriptwriters and actors did a great job, relationship development was very natural and did not feel forced :)
glad to hear that! because many c netizens are complaining about bai lu’s performance in this show, saying her…
yep, I saw that video of Bai Lu addressing this as well. i’m really glad the team felt her own voice suited the character better than using a voice actor. since the original VA is quite commonly used, some viewers might be reminded of other characters, which could affect immersion.
because Bai Lu doesn’t have a formal acting background, people often criticize her enunciation when she does her own dubbing, so comments like these aren’t uncommon. that said, it’s clear she’s taken the feedback seriously, the improvement is very noticeable compared to story of Kunning Palace, where her enunciation wasn’t as strong as it is in this current drama.
as for Wang Xing Yue, i’m not entirely sure how often he uses his own voice, but in the three other dramas I’ve watched him in, he didn’t use a voice actor. he’s quite the opposite, his line delivery has been praised by many netizens.
just watched episode 13, and OMG! when the lady (sorry seriously don’t know their titles in English) was explaining how she was able to put the poison in the concubine’s medicine despite being a palace maid, she said “if you like someone to the point you are willing to give up your life, naturally you can do it”, and guess what our male lead did? he gave li pei yi a sideways glance …. hmm xiao huai jin, did this sentence remind you of a certain someone
not a novel reader but pretty sure they will get together since I saw a BTS of their kissing scene
a tiny present for you, here is the kissing scene (first link) :) you can check the second link for a douyin creator who has posted multiple BTS videos of their scenes together. think that covers a good bit of their romantic scenes
tried watching this a couple of times, but never made it to the end. the last time I watched it, I dropped this show halfway through after 20+ episodes because the romance was annoying me. i am totally okay with ML and SML liking FL. but I got annoyed when SFL began to like ML (I think), and 3rd ML began to like SFL. and then 3rd FL began to like 3rd ML.
does this (the complex relationships) take up a large portion of the show? i really enjoyed the high school portion and found it a pity to drop it, but it was too much, the romance was too messy for my liking. i want to continue because I’ve heard great things of this show though, so I feel really conflicted …
to all those wanting a sequel, sorry no news of that yet! but we’d be getting a skit/ extra edition from the team. check this post from the production team, the schedule is out! 12 episodes from Feb 13- Mar 3. available on douyin, xiaohongshu, weibo official accounts of this show + the directors bilibili account.
but i don’t think we’ll be getting the entire cast, likely only those under the production company (Feng Bu Hai, Xie Jing Tang, Lin Han, etc.)
i am really enjoying this show so far. you don’t have your typical rabbit female lead x fox male lead combi here, (common in historical dramas I’ve watched, nothing wrong, but really common) li pei yi is the alpha! it’s more of alpha wolf female lead x omega owl male lead (??) combi, and it’s so refreshing to see this! i know for sure this show can pass the sexy lamp test, female characters are crucial to the plot, smart, capable, and irreplaceable.
Happy that this drama is on netflix. Currently on ep 9. Pretty good so far. Im glad there isn't any dubbing and…
glad to hear that! because many c netizens are complaining about bai lu’s performance in this show, saying her lines were not executed well, and she should have used dubbing instead…. I’ve watched many of bai lu’s dramas, and it’s always those with dubbing that makes me go eh? sounds funny, sure you’ve got a professional doing the job but the voice doesn’t match the face! so I’m thankful to hear them both in this show (I believe the side characters are using their own voice too)
just finished episode 11, really liking the third case so far, but it is heartbreaking to watch… the performer/entertainer was enjoying herself, playing music with her friend, (finding joy in their lives through music). suddenly, the emperor comes by and she is brought into the palace, left with no freedom, as she cannot leave anymore, unlike her friend, who can stop performing after reaching a certain age. and during her time at the palace, she never gets noticed by the emperor again.
you bring her in, enjoy a one-night stand, and she’s trapped there forever. it’s so pathetic. the struggles women face was portrayed in a very realistic manner in this show, and it’s this element that made the show stick out to me. i cannot imagine life as a female in this dynasty.
genuinely don’t understand how Shen Jun Shan became like this in the second half of the show, he was smart, capable, and trusted Xie Xiang from the very start, believing in her judgment during the bomb scene when the male lead was doubting her. Shen Jun Shan was there whenever Xie Xiang needed help, then all of a sudden, he goes out of character and loses his judgment. Questions Xie Xiang’s theory and stood by the villain’s side, like seriously, where was the logical, capable and trustworthy SML from the first 20 episodes? It’s like the scriptwriters just had to create some kind of conflict, to make it logical for the female and male lead to be together…. Have you forgotten what your characters were like in the first half? Seriously this was very disappointing and unnecessary
【海市蜃楼】小剧场02集，买年货。 如果古代人逛超市... http://xhslink.com/o/5HSb9l4O6eR
Copy and open Xiaohongshu to view the full post！
THEY ARE SO CUTE IN THIS VIDEO I COULD SCREAMMMMMMMM
link to the xiaohongshu video available: 【海市蜃楼】小剧场01集，登门拜访 http://xhslink.com/o/8YEVcoUa77X
Copy and open Xiaohongshu to view the full post！
because Bai Lu doesn’t have a formal acting background, people often criticize her enunciation when she does her own dubbing, so comments like these aren’t uncommon. that said, it’s clear she’s taken the feedback seriously, the improvement is very noticeable compared to story of Kunning Palace, where her enunciation wasn’t as strong as it is in this current drama.
as for Wang Xing Yue, i’m not entirely sure how often he uses his own voice, but in the three other dramas I’ve watched him in, he didn’t use a voice actor. he’s quite the opposite, his line delivery has been praised by many netizens.
3.07 复制打开抖音，看看【桃子姐姐¹的作品】看到他两吻戏，谁懂，天塌了~ # 白鹿 # 王星越... https://v.douyin.com/K3QYM9Nv19k/ 11/05 AGv:/ [email protected]
1- 长按复制此条消息，打开抖音搜索，查看TA的更多作品。 https://v.douyin.com/UCNGvsUMeTw/ [email protected] :8pm
does this (the complex relationships) take up a large portion of the show? i really enjoyed the high school portion and found it a pity to drop it, but it was too much, the romance was too messy for my liking. i want to continue because I’ve heard great things of this show though, so I feel really conflicted …
but i don’t think we’ll be getting the entire cast, likely only those under the production company (Feng Bu Hai, Xie Jing Tang, Lin Han, etc.)
【海市蜃楼】小剧场追剧日历！ 追剧日历来啦！小剧场... http://xhslink.com/o/DfIL0QGlwT
Copy and open Xiaohongshu to view the full post！
she dominates him in the show 🥵
3.82 复制打开抖音，看看【白鹿my的作品】# 唐宫奇案 我出双A https://v.douyin.com/9tkoufa2uaE/ 07/26 [email protected] cnd:/
you bring her in, enjoy a one-night stand, and she’s trapped there forever. it’s so pathetic. the struggles women face was portrayed in a very realistic manner in this show, and it’s this element that made the show stick out to me. i cannot imagine life as a female in this dynasty.