littleberry09

I was always impressed that Tan Songyun was around 30 in real life playing a 16 year old in the first half of the drama! She was so convincing, I would never have thought she was actually double that age and considerably older than Song Weilong

Same! WIFTY is more rewatchable for me, and it stays a 10. This one went from a 10 to being 8.5 for me.

Funny because my original rating when I first watched it was 10/10. But now I think it's more of a 8.5. I don't rewatch the first half/atleast not the first few episodes as much.

Because MDL only goes off popular ratings, and this was a popular drama. That doesn't mean the rating is realistic - as you said anyone can dislike it as preferences are entirely subjective. I rated it 3.5 personally.

They are probably his birth and courtesy names. As far as the original story goes he only has one role

Yeah I knew it would be an identity swap somewhere. The synopsis saying both ladies look alike is telling for a Cdrama

Marquis is a noble title, like Earl or Duke, etc. They don't necessarily mean a man has to be a fighter. He was only the comnander/general of an army which is why he was on the battlefield, but we don't always see General's have many fight scenes. Changyu stands out because they wanted to also make it about female empowerment. I don't think fight scenes necessarily mean more screen presence. She had more fight scenes whilst he had more political intrigue scenes.

I thought Qi Min's character was actually highly unique and felt new, and other directional choices with ZLH added certain charm to it too (ie. His unique head piece)

Fr I came looking for his other stuff thinking he must surely have main dramas where he is the ML. But I'm very surprised he hasn't! Like wdym someone who played Qi Min like THAT isn't already a main ML? We will have to wait ages for more standard dramas of this level from him now 😕. I see he's only just got casted in more from this role which is well deserved though

Agreed ZLH peaked with his aura in this drama. Truly his most memorable yet. I'm also sat for future Deng Kai and Snow Kong...someone pls cast them in another drama, either historical or modern would do. I just want to see more of them. Deng Kai especially deserves more historical or fantasy dramas as ML, how he rocked his white hair as a possessive nutso was so good here 👌

It's a drama, it's not going to be highly realistic in the first place especially with such major fight scenes. If we went by this then FL should have just died on day 1 of the war. Instead we are supposed to assume the FL does well because she is an exceptionally good fighter even if she had no war experience before. She was taught to fight by her father who was a strong fighter himself, and he had also taught Changyu techniques he learnt from General He. The ML is also a general because that's what the plot requires, after his father died he inherited being one of the most powerful men in the land as a Marquis and head of an army.

MDL isn't meant to be accurate as a whole, it only gives the popular international rating. Many have rated this highly hence a rating over 9.

Pine Minister Wei Yan is the ML's maternal Uncle who is evil. That's why he and ML do not get along. Wei Xuan is the Uncle's son and also ML's cousin. Wei Xuan isn't evil, his character just wants love from his father.

As someone else said you might want to look up a relationship diagram. There may be some on reddit or tumblr somewhere.

I think a 9 - 9.1 rating is perfect. It has very good pacing, an easy storyline to follow once you focus on it, interesting characters all around, and definitely amazing chemistry and aura between both couples! If it dragged or had things lacking, I would have fairly put it in the 8 range.

Really? I've always thought she is very recognisable and she looks like she does back from Mr Queen. I think she has lost weight but nothing so drastic to say she looks different.

Also no need to insult others who disagree with you

Yeah I also find it fascinating that people keep justifying this as if there's nothing wrong with a literal minor being a lead in a romance drama with an adult a lot older than her. How many would let their child, whether boy or girl, do the same at 16-17?

It's not about mental age - you seem to be missing the entire point. Anyone could say that even a 15 year old has mental age of 18 year old. The difference is under 18 they are still a MINOR under the LAW even in China. That's what the other user had been repeatedly saying too. **Once a minor crosses 18 they are legally classed as adults and then they have full right to choose.**

Oh SHIT I didn't realise that 😩 2005 feels too young even for me (2000) it's weird seeing these actors getting younger and younger but still drooling over them

This mindset is how kids get taken advantage of unfortunately. Just because the parents are not guiding her properly and the agent is pushing her into adult roles, doesn't mean it's right and that we as an audience shouldn't care.

I think just an okay drama. Not terrible, but I did take a few breaks inbetween. A good concept but maybe just my type of drama or tropes?The timeline really messed with me because it took me a long time to understand that the young boy in 'Zhang San's diary' was the ML/ our Emperor. Even when I suspected he was, they uses the *same child actor* as the son of Xiahou Dan. It also didn't help that the Queen Dowager looked exactly the same both in ML's childhood and then in the current timeline with the same child actor 15+ years later. I know they wanted to create some mystery, but it confused me rather than making me more invested in the drama.