MindfulWanderings

her mother died due to a hit and run 😢😔

lmao nope. I watched the whole thing, and trust me—the writing was fighting for its life from episode one. By the midpoint it was on life support, and the finale just waved goodbye. The ending was simply the bow on top of an already horrendous script—like gift-wrapping a dumpster fire.

A lot of people feel the script AND editing ruined this, and they’re not wrong. It was consistently bad from the jump. Between the weak script and the choppy editing, the whole drama felt disorganized and unnecessarily messy — without even the courtesy of a semi-redeemable ending. The actors were out here delivering award-worthy effort, while the writers were apparently scribbling revisions in a moving vehicle and tossing fresh pages at the cast like, “good luck!”

A lot of people are mad about the ending not just because it’s sad, but because it somehow managed to be even worse than everything that came before it.

(And btw, it didn’t even bother to follow the novel, which is another reason so many fans are frustrated. While some of the changes were better than the novel, ultimately there were too many nonsensical edits that completely wrecked the FL’s character and her relationship with the ML and the way the story all shakes out etc etc etc — for no good reason)

This had great actors/acting, and so much potential — but the weak script & poor editing ruined the whole drama. It ends up making no sense and honestly feels like a complete waste of time. It’s just not worth it imo, and the numbers back that up (not just on MDL): it pulled a 4.8 on Douban, making it one of the worst-rated costume dramas of the year.

Agree with you. Healer is top tier, I think his work in Samdalri was also good.

Not everyone likes plots built on brutality and moral corruption. Being able to enjoy something without needing constant grittiness isn’t a weakness. Some people simply don’t romanticize violence as entertainment. It’s not a virtue to be desensitized. 💁🏼‍♀️

yes save yourself

yes! it reminds me a little of agatha christie writing too with so many characters not being who they seem — but I see what you mean about Jane Austin too, like a chinese pride and prejudice of a type — its great writing!

I hear you — the mother-in-law tested every last nerve I had. She’s unbelievably insufferable, but don’t worry… she gets humbled on repeat until she finally wakes up at the end.

And honestly? Her chaos barely even grazes the main couple. She’s loud, she’s wrong, and she’s irrelevant.

Yes, it’s a slow burn with lots of intrigue that looks like they’re being used or torn apart — but the female lead is ten steps ahead of everyone, and the male lead is loyal even when he’s wounded. They’re unshakeable.

Totally worth it for the main couple, plus the side couples are adorable.

Happy ending. Karma delivers express shipping! 😏

it’s a pretty slow burn … takes six episodes for the premise to really even settle fully — but it is worth the ride

Xu Mother-in-Law has the rare talent of making everyone around her suffer because she refuses to use ANY critical thinking. Truly, no one clings to pride like this mother in law (MIL). Heaven itself could descend and show her the truth and she’d still say, ‘I remain unconvinced.’

Discovering everything Lianfang did under her roof should’ve humbled her into SILENCE — but nope. She just kept embarrassing herself on a loop. Getting proven wrong every five minutes and STILL doubling down! The humility? “Never heard of her!”

My God she is INFURIATING. She even caused the concubine’s miscarriage and then cried like she was so well meaning about it. The way her family tree is full of corrupt women suddenly makes sense — Lianfang didn’t fall far from that delusional branch. 🙄

Imagine being this proudly wrong for this many episodes. MIL watched evidence pile up like laundry and STILL folded nothing. Lianfang was literally rotting the household from the inside for ages and MIL was like: ‘She’s such a sweet girl.’ Ma’am… blink twice if your common sense was kidnapped. Clearly her sons logic and discernment came from their dad…

I adored this drama, even with the MIL trying her best to ruin my blood pressure. 😡The leads and side couples are utter perfection 💖✨. Thankfully MIL managed to completely arc in the very last episodes, but my God…talk about insufferable. Still a 10/10 series—karma came through beautifully ALL around. 👏🏼

you were smart to stay away!

LOL that makes so much sense now — Twilight is great. Very underrated.

LOL well said 👏🏼

At this point it really does feel less like “creative freedom” and more like “creative spite.” The plot was already wobbling, but that final choice was so aggressively pointless it almost feels intentional — like someone behind the scenes said, “If we’re going down, we’re taking the audience with us.”

Ren Jialun and Peng Xiaoran deserved better. The author and original source material deserved better. We ALL deserved better. 😭

BTS tea: turns out the actors were out here filming Love and Crown with three pages of script and a prayer. Entire episodes were being rewritten mid-shoot, with daily rewrites literally printed out of their bodyguards vans 😳LMAO. No wonder the plot crumbled into dust — the crew was basically building the plane while flying it. Actors deserve hazard pay for this.

It starts off terrible, briefly pretends it might improve, and then literally swan-dives into catastrophe. The script is unsalvageable — a total narrative collapse. It’s so bad it should come with a warning label. The poor actors put up a heroic fight, but nothing could save this. Honestly, a five-year-old with crayons could write tighter plot. Worst thing I’ve ever seen.

The ending is catastrophic — not tragic, but ruinous. Great actors wasted on a script that crumbles into pure nonsense. Avoid at all costs.

10x worse than O&O

makes it so much worse that the novel had a HE, for SHAME

No, honestly, giving it 1 star is generous. The ending isn’t just sad — it’s hollow, abrupt, and ultimately pointless. Let’s please spare potential viewers the utter disappointment.

Nope, sad and stupid

True!!