Great First Quarter, Fell Flat Towards the Ending
Ye Li from Lishan Academy is ordered to descend the sieged mountain to fullfil the Empress Dowager’s decree to marry former-general-now-crippled Prince Ding, Mo Xiuyao, after her past bethrothal to her childhood sweetheart Prince Li, Mo Jingli, fell through. Treated coldly by the brooding Mo Xiuyao who is the only survivor of the battle of Suixue Pass with her brother the general branded as rebel and sentenced to death, Ye Li is adamant on making his life better by secretly dealing with the officials who have been treating him badly and insisting on curing his legs. Her strange behaviour only increases her husband’s suspicion but her crafty nature finally manages to break Mo Xiuyao’s emotional defenses. Both needed to traverse around each other carefully and they each have strategical moves brewing behind them, although unbeknownst to them they actually had the same goal.
Although the story is incredibly slow paced, it managed to keep my interest on as the mysterious backstory of Ye Li took ages to surface. Most of the plot is really flat and the major of it focuses on the growth of the mainleads’ relationship, a typical romance story. Although I did not expect much action, I did anticipate political struggles and manoeuvre but even this fell totally flat. There was not much strategy going on, no backstabbing drama or plot twists, the political play was really flat and straightforward, almost nonexistent strategy like how they had it on Fated Hearts.
My heart goes to Bai Lu’s Ye Li though. As usual she excels in crying scenes, that arc of her life in the academy was really heartbreaking and incredibly sad. This is also the third of Bai Lu’s show that I didnt drop, I am glad she finally came across a good script this time. Her character is the only thing that kept me going to the last episode depite me starting the show solely for Cheng Lei. The plot went rather uninteresting and mundane in the last quarter, and Ye Li was the only thing that made me stick on to it.
My hat’s off for the writeup that despite being more than 50% love story, they managed to exclude erotic bedscenes that is usually a staple for such genre. Even the kissing scene is very few and they ended it as quickly as it started. I really appreciate the modesty in displaying the physical intimacy as many other shows wouldve opted for spicy sexually explicit scenes to cater larger number of viewers. This is what i call an almost real asian values untainted by western style. Gotta give an extra star for that effort.
Basically I can say this is a story of a couple that heals each other, Ye Li by curing Mo Xiuyao’s physical disability and Mo Xiuyao by healing Ye Li’s emotional scars. Despite being portrayed very cheery and sassy as Princess Consort Ding, Ye Li is actually the most pitiful character of all, keeping it all inside while appearing to be normal to the people around her.. The show isnt for those who are impatient, because the writer made sure to take his time peeling the layers of the jasmine flower petals one by one for the audience’s consumption. There are no back-to-back fighting sequences or dramatic arguments to keep the heat up, but instead many uninteresting things that couples do while on a date, generally to show the buildup of their romance. Good thing that I feel the chemistry, so I dont mind those boring scenes and didnt use the FF button much.
Although this isnt my kind of preferable genre, I am still glad that I stick to the end and not drop it midway. For once, kudos to Bai Lu for making Ye Li so mysterious and alive for me to stick on. I finally managed not to drop her show. Hell yeah.
Although the story is incredibly slow paced, it managed to keep my interest on as the mysterious backstory of Ye Li took ages to surface. Most of the plot is really flat and the major of it focuses on the growth of the mainleads’ relationship, a typical romance story. Although I did not expect much action, I did anticipate political struggles and manoeuvre but even this fell totally flat. There was not much strategy going on, no backstabbing drama or plot twists, the political play was really flat and straightforward, almost nonexistent strategy like how they had it on Fated Hearts.
My heart goes to Bai Lu’s Ye Li though. As usual she excels in crying scenes, that arc of her life in the academy was really heartbreaking and incredibly sad. This is also the third of Bai Lu’s show that I didnt drop, I am glad she finally came across a good script this time. Her character is the only thing that kept me going to the last episode depite me starting the show solely for Cheng Lei. The plot went rather uninteresting and mundane in the last quarter, and Ye Li was the only thing that made me stick on to it.
My hat’s off for the writeup that despite being more than 50% love story, they managed to exclude erotic bedscenes that is usually a staple for such genre. Even the kissing scene is very few and they ended it as quickly as it started. I really appreciate the modesty in displaying the physical intimacy as many other shows wouldve opted for spicy sexually explicit scenes to cater larger number of viewers. This is what i call an almost real asian values untainted by western style. Gotta give an extra star for that effort.
Basically I can say this is a story of a couple that heals each other, Ye Li by curing Mo Xiuyao’s physical disability and Mo Xiuyao by healing Ye Li’s emotional scars. Despite being portrayed very cheery and sassy as Princess Consort Ding, Ye Li is actually the most pitiful character of all, keeping it all inside while appearing to be normal to the people around her.. The show isnt for those who are impatient, because the writer made sure to take his time peeling the layers of the jasmine flower petals one by one for the audience’s consumption. There are no back-to-back fighting sequences or dramatic arguments to keep the heat up, but instead many uninteresting things that couples do while on a date, generally to show the buildup of their romance. Good thing that I feel the chemistry, so I dont mind those boring scenes and didnt use the FF button much.
Although this isnt my kind of preferable genre, I am still glad that I stick to the end and not drop it midway. For once, kudos to Bai Lu for making Ye Li so mysterious and alive for me to stick on. I finally managed not to drop her show. Hell yeah.
Was this review helpful to you?
