Qwertyuiop

Just finished! Loved the friendship - despite all of them finishing the series single, it didn't feel like a sad ending! It was open-ended without feeling unfinished.

To me it somewhat is shown by him unable to really show emotion and running away from people he could have relationships with.
Was he incompatible with the 1st boyfriend or running from a good relationship? The second one (the religious guy), he knew he shouldn't go with him and in the end that guy was indeed very toxic. The third one, ended weirdly, moving to China was Ko Yeong's excuse to break up, while still smiling (even if they seemed ultimately incompatible). He says he cannot cry to "flush out" emotion - is it because he suppresses his emotions until he doesn't know what they are.
Indeed the relationship with the mother was complicated (the biggest betrayal by a parent to be thrown into 'religious prison' by the one who is supposed to protect you), she was supposedly accepting but was happy not to meet his boyfriend and in the end never truly apologised.
The flashes show how many experiences a person can have who "supposedly had it easy" because you don't see them destroyed under the weight but fighting for happiness.

Love it so much!! The full-length episodes, high production value, finally starting to show non-hetero stories as something normal instead of people having to make media almost if not truly underground. Korean BL with 8-minute episodes drive me crazy - at least make it a movie...

Can't Wait!!!

Ha ha guess "it [wasn't] the next Game of Thrones"...

Isn't the ending always sad also to show the people "no matter how much you struggle you can't change anything so just don't try"? But why is it stupid?

Does anyone like the ambiguous endings of Chinese dramas because I feel every one I watch has a stupid ending that makes no sense.
I can understand if a movie is 90 min and the ending is 30 seconds and weird, trying to be "elevated" or some shit but just being stupid but to have a story 1,350 minutes (22.5 hrs) / 1,800 minutes (30 hrs) and not to make an ending/conclusion that takes 10 minutes and make sense... I just don't get it.
To the audience, the FL self-heals from her mental break and "chooses a stranger" as the dream and the reality ZXW are practically different people, we never see how her experiences in the story impact her life now in the real world... just nothing.
Why is there so often a need for some tacked-on "bonus content" instead of doing it in the real story?

I love the drama and then the ending leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The problem was never the acting but the weird at times cinematography, constantly looking at the camera, overdone sound effects, and weird directorial choices about the acting; the thing that let me finish and enjoy the drama despite the sometimes gimmicky 'situations' was the great acting of the whole cast.

Yes, the last episode almost didn't make any sense - and the uselessly ambiguous ending, what was that... That episode should have been at least two episodes - most of it was voice-over...

Don't focus on the age (in the novel her soul goes in the body of the real Jiang Li) but because Chinese dramas don't allow soul swapping or because they wanted a more mature actress that was changed with a plot that didn't really make sense; as she had been married for several years and was pregnant at the time she is killed...

Yes, dying in the last seconds of the last episode....

Looks interesting!!!

He is a true tragic character who cannot move past the tragedy of the past life (which was horrific) and in making the 'wrong' choices moves towards having the same ending...
He loves her but if she was a helpless bird who cannot do anything while PWX wants her to grow and harden her wings (which makes one of the biggest differences for me in which male character I like).

Yes, most/all of their problems in the previous life stemmed from lack of trust and not lack of love. For this life to be different they have to learn to trust.

I think he is concerned about her life/well being and maybe had a childish crush, but realised too late he loves the princess, and had already imploded his marriage. (Guess I didn't make it clear). While the princess hates a man who would 'love' multiple women and growing up in the harem watching her father the Emperor and her mother and other consorts...

Evil. Main lead is Pei Wen Xuan.

He was young and stupid the first time and didn't tell her his feelings because she would not accept her husband having feelings for her and another woman so she wanted divorce. I think her realised the moment she said we are not husband and wife anymore but allies, but it was too late. So he lied because wanted to stay married and thought things would get better in the future or staying like that is not that bad. In the end their first life was a lot of lost time and opportunities....
Curious to see how everything is portrayed in the drama (only on ep 3 at the moment).

Can't wait (in the novel their relationship was so cute).

Yes, when he says "everyone in the 'fu' was wearing the pouches, you caught mine because it was new and the smell was the strongest" she realizes SRQ killed her and her brother the Emperor.

Half a year post reading the novel and now starting the drama I finally realised - in this life they get divorced (for a time) but are still of one heart while in the previous one despite staying married - were not...