If you’re looking for a light hearted romance drama with a bit of a storyline, this is ok

This drama takes you on journey to seek out the true father of Yu Qing Luo’s son who she has no memory of. She was drowned by her ex husband as she was found to be pregnant with another man’s child, but was fortunately saved by a lady (Jin Liu Li) who is now her confidant.

My verdict: it’s an okay drama to watch to kill time / if you’re looking for a light hearted drama.

The plot is not overly complicated just imho, rather lame. Just when you find yourself invested in the fact that Yu Qing Luo & Ye Xiu Du are finally going to get married after resolving their differences and genuinely liking each other, the FL gets kidnapped by the bad guys and then the ML goes out to save her alone and they get cornered and jumped into their “deaths” to escape from them. Except, they didn’t die and the ML goes missing and when found, has no memory of him ever loving the FL.

A bit of and back and forth thing for romance between the FL & ML but it is a happy ending in the end. Also thought the addition of a son kept their romance rather cute (the banters between nan nan and ML is cute).

The fighting scenes were okay in the show but nothing spectacular to shout about. OST is almost non existent.

The acting of the actors are not too bad.

In all, I don’t hate this drama at all and was light hearted enough to watch. Just that if you’re expecting a deep storyline or plot, this is not for you.

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It didn’t need 20 episodes

This drama really didn’t need to be a 20 episodes one. Started strong with potential but became flat at the end.

It is supposed to be more romance-centric yet there isn't enough romance after the first half of the drama. The focus shifted to some weak power struggles and became unnecessarily draggy.

The last 6 episodes especially, the storyline really gets dragged out. Suddenly there’s an addition of Ha Kyung and her one sided love towards the king (whom she doesn’t know is a lady). The whole ha kyung + king story is really a bad filler, with no value adding to the whole storyline.

Towards the end, the drama tries so hard to inject more complications and depths by bringing in lord Wonsan (who wants the throne), forcefully putting back lord changun (who came back from afterlife briefly and died once again) and injecting more “power struggle” plot into it but imo has failed terribly. The petty little acts to expose the FL as a lady by lord wonsan and people around her just seem… lame? Instead of putting in more power struggle plays with bigger plots and schemes, they focused on the whole exposé of the FL’s gender.

The whole “evidence collection” to bring down lord sangheon also gets so dragged out and got very slow which after a while began to feel exhausting to watch.

The ending? I don’t even know where to begin. The writer could include pointless brief scenes like the dream of FL & ML getting married but they can’t even be bothered to explain why the FL survived the “poisoning” scene but her grandpa died. We can probably infer from the earlier scene that it most likely got to do with the pill she ate before drinking the tea, but isn’t it important to include a short explanation to bring the whole story to a full circle?

I also cannot grasp why they didn’t expand the backstory of ML’s dad (inspector jung seok jo) a little. Granted, the ML's dad is not the lead and this drama is to be more of romance but I mean throughout the drama, there were many parts where they hinted that there’s more to this than meets the eye regarding why the ML’s dad is so cold hearted and so compliant towards lord Sangheon? If they are not interested in expanding his character then those scenes were quite pointless. There were many scenes that hinted viewers about his past, where he mentioned about how the choice is only available to people born in nobility and not people like him. And how he showed sadness when his old friend commander yoon got killed (he even told his subordinates to stop firing those arrows)??? And the scene where he was dying, ML SAID HE HAS STH TO TELL HIS DAD THAT HE HAS NEVER GOTTEN TO, but there were go again, it stops there and the ML NEVER got to reveal what he wanted to tell his dad? What’s with all these little missing details???

The bodyguard character and his backstory also showed so much potential. Kim Ga On got close to the FL (&her father, the ex king) to assassinate them to revenge for his father (the royal preceptor whom the king and crown prince (FL’s twin brother) had loved back then) who was framed for treason and executed due to lord sangheon’s schemes. After finding out that the king and the FL’s twin brother had loved his dad, he ditched his assassination plans and helped the FL instead. The initial build up to him was interesting where there was some mystery to his identity but the final great reveal really fell so flat.

But then again we have time to go through Ha Kyung’s life as a commoner at the end… for? By this time I’m sure most viewers already forgot about her existence since she has already been granted leave from the palace after her dad has been found to have colluded with lord sangheon. But no, the writer HAS TO include her again where she mentions about why she prefer being a commoner??? This bit of airtime could have been used to help other stories develop / come to a full circle.

In all, the drama started rather strong and showed great potential with but ended up getting flat towards the end.

I did enjoy the first half of the drama though. The kid actors did well with their acting. The king’s chubby eunuch was a joy to watch too!

The goods:
- great main FL, they really casted the FL well. She’s a major girl crush! She can look so fierce and suave in male clothing and then so beautiful in her female clothes!
- good OST
- first half of the drama was well paced
- they managed to keep good characters like court lady Kim & bok Dong from dying
- consistent support provided by lord jaeun who stayed true towards FL

In all, if you Stan rowoon, and appreciate good acting and great FL, this is a drama that you can pick up but probably need to bear with some draggy parts towards the end.

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NOT for serious watchers. Super light hearted and bubbly drama!

Storyline is nothing overly complicated. If anything, the storyline is really simple and even the focus on the “big bad villian” wasn’t big at all. (Which I feel is a good thing for such a lighthearted fluffy drama)

The drama focuses more on the interactions between the ML & FL. I found the acting of ML very apt to his character - smart yet shy (and innocent) when it comes to love.

A refreshing change to the usual dramas involving the royalties is that, the Royal brothers are not vying for the crown prince nor are they fighting to kill each other. The emperor also loves his sons and harem rather equally.

In all, it was a great fluffy light drama to watch in between the usual heavier ones and I don’t regret watching this at all! I did wish the ML did find out that the FL was indeed poisoned and showed more love and concern towards her though! ?

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29 episodes of a dream

*Spoiler alert*

Loved Zhou ye from back from the brink and scent of time didn’t disappoint. While the whole story of it being a dream was interestingly written, I found the ending less than satisfying though.

Summary:
FL (Hua Qian) was misguided while growing up and slowly became somebody that was hateful and would do anything to achieve her objectives. This has led her to all her wrongdoings which eventually led to the downfall of her entire family, including herself. She lost what she had while trying to pursue what she wasn’t meant to have. While growing up, she has always loved ML (Zhong Ye Lan) who didn’t love her back. It was instead the second ML (Zhong Xing Wu) who has loved her since young and has been there silently protecting her. Despite all her misdeeds, he wanted to be with her. She fell into a coma while being pursued by the authorities and in her 26 months of coma, she was having a long dream which is what the 29 episodes are about. The dream shows what she would have done differently if given a second chance as she realises how wrong she has been and regrets all that she has done.

My thoughts:
This drama truly resonates with most as it tells you exactly what life is - that you cannot turn back time to undo what has been done but you can however, keep going forward and change for the better. The drama is more of a growth process for the FL, less of the romance. In fact, I wouldn’t say there’s much romance in it. Just some scenes that imply that and shows the silent love/protection from ZXW. Perhaps, the FL has always knew that ZXW has feelings for her but was clouded by the unrequited love towards ZYL to not “see” it but she must have felt it as seen in her long dream. Through the episodes you can always hear the FL talking about a weird scent which were hints that she did not travel back in time to re-live her life but was in a coma instead. The scent were from a concoction ZXW made to help her wake up. This was interesting and kept me going to want to find out what’s up with this. In all, this drama is worth a watch if you’re not looking for intense swoon worthy romance but more of well paced drama on personal growth and realisation.

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Strong female lead

Storyline: story is pretty straight forward, the usual female disguised as male to take up the position of a city’s lord. The usual inter-city feud and cliche loggerheads falling in love. While there was a misunderstanding between the ML and FL on how the FL has led him on, it wasn’t too much of a drag. The misunderstanding was resolved very quickly with more emphasis placed on resolving the cities conflicts. Throughout we can also expect lots of sweet romance and kisses ☺️

I enjoyed how throughout the drama, the FL remained smart and strong and didn’t fall into traps, and is able to escape from all the misfortunes on her own/with the help of her friends.

But I can’t accept how they really let zhi lan die like that but I guess there is no other significance for her presence so might as well let her die on a good note.

Overall: Pretty fluffy unserious short drama to watch if you’ve extra time or waiting between airing dramas but rewatch value is pretty low.

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Lighthearted period drama

This was a really delightful find for me! The storyline flows very well, nothing overly complicated yet has a bit of mystery factor injected.

I particularly enjoyed how some forensics are being incorporated into the drama which made the whole drama so interesting. It also has abit of a crime solving which was pleasant to watch.

The plot wasn’t overly complicated nor very scheming. Quite light hearted and enjoyable to watch! The amount of romance was just right too. This is a must watch if you love a light hearted period drama with some interesting factors (forensics)!

Ending was nicely done as well, yes it’s a happy ending!

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Fluffy well-paced light romance period drama

*SPOILERS AHEAD*
For somebody who absolutely can’t stand dragged out misunderstandings between the lead couple, this drama is really IT for me. Well-paced with light schemes and misunderstandings resolved within 1 episode and deep trust among the couples and friends kept me going.

Synopsis:
The FL was brought into her own novel and took the identity of Hua Qing Ge who was to become the consort to the third prince. Being the writer of her own novel, she knew this character would be killed by her own husband hence she escaped on the night of her wedding and was saved by her cousin who is the first prince and heir to the throne. Through a series of events, the FL eventually managed to “change” the ML for the better and her novel started to develop new stories she wasn’t aware of. It was also revealed that the empress was the greatest mastermind of them all.

My thoughts:
I felt that they casted the ML well. He was able to portray a slightly sinister appearance which had a hint of playfulness as well- which was his character in this show. While he appears to be cold, he is actually one who cares about his loved ones and would protect them. Felt the FL was a mismatch to him but overall still ok, after all it’s really just a light fluffy drama. No overly complicated schemes or plots, pretty straight forward. The costumes of the males in the drama looked really nice though. For some reason, the ladies had rather mediocre outfits. Lol

Overall, if you’ve some time to kill between those A-list dramas, this is one you can definitely catch. Something light and fast paced.

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Great light hearted variety show to watch

Edit: very sad to see KSH leave due to the scandal. Really enjoyed the HORAVI duo. They had so much chemistry as a team of 6 and to see him leave really Pains my heart.

The edits on ep93 were so heartbreaking where you can see ksh being edited out despite being in that ep. For now I’ve stopped watching 2d1n for awhile. Maybe I’ll continue again after I get over this heartbreak.

This is one great light hearted variety show to watch during your free time! I've watched a few episodes of S1-S2 in the past but always couldn't get around completing the subsequent episodes and eventually found myself dropping 2d1n completely. Until recently, I ran out of variety shows to watch and wanted to give the latest S4 a go and I wasn't disappointed!

The start of S4 was a bit awkward as the members were new to each other and probably only starting to know each other but the chemistry and synergy among the members picked up after the first 10 episodes or so. Almost every episode is so funny!

We have Din Din who's an absolute trouble maker who makes the whole show funny with his chaotic energy. And then there is also Se Yeon who's also a great comedian/entertainer who's able to inject funny notions here and there. I also like how the whole cast is almost family-like and share really great chemistry, you'll never see them disrespecting Jong Min and Jong Min is just so mild and random, haha. Ravi is probably one of the aces but you can spot him giving in (maybe out of respect?) during some games to the hyungs which I found was sweet and nice. Seon Ho is totally an eye candy and you really cannot get enough of how silly he is in the show? And then there's our cool dad Jung Hoon who's always so calm and cool about things.

In all I think they casted the right people for S4 and I really enjoyed the episodes so far!

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So far draggy and frustrating

Edit: DROPPED this in the end. Can't stand the FL at all. It just gets more frustrating as the drama moves along.

OMG I totally resonate with the many comments below on this drama. It might probably be too early to judge this drama so I’ll update once I’m done with it.

So far up till ep12, this drama is nothing short of frustrations. Not only are there misunderstandings after misunderstandings, the FL is being so dense and annoying, constantly lying and distrusting the ML even after him proving he’s trustworthy and loves her wholeheartedly. On the other hand, so far, the FL is so dense and preachy, always thinking about what’s good for herself and never once has she done anything for the ML.

Very tempted to drop this but also read conflicting reviews that this drama will get better so I guess I’ll keep pushing on and update again!

Their acting is okay though, not terrible. The side characters are good too.

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Great drama, great pace and good acting!

A MUST WATCH if you love YY and LS!

What can I say? The whole drama was well paced, covering sufficiently for every character. I loved how despite the odds against the ML, the ones who were by his side stayed true to him despite everything like ML’s elder brother who didn’t even share the same mother as him and always supports ML against his younger bro who he shares the same mum/dad.

I also liked how the drama didn’t focus on love triangle and Qiwu backing out of the “love triangle” and forming a great relationship with the FL.

The acting of all characters were good. OST a little weak as there were only 1-2 main songs played throughout the show.

The ending was done in a great way where it is a little open as we all know how there’s the presence of the magical flower. Hopefully a S2?

All in all, a great paced drama with no episodes of boredom!

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Captivating and a little heartache

Very well written drama that had my attention from start till the end. The ML, fang jianming (FJM) and the FL Fang Haishi (FHS) had great chemistry and the drama had a good coverage of all couples. The two ML, FJM and emperor Xu had a great bromance which was so interesting and heartwarming to watch. I liked how emperor xu always wanted to see FJM happy and would always “scold” FJM for being an inflexible person and liked how emperor xu recognised the ring on FHS and acted very swiftly to protect FHS for FJM. The bromance here is too good to be missed.

FHS was given the choice to be a female or a male by FJM which she chose the former. As a result she was raised among the secret troops of the emperor. They grew to love each other but due to circumstances, FJM kept pushing FHS aside but finally ended up together but to be “separated” by their statuses in the end, but I find the ending apt and not too sad. It was to be expected given that both FSH and FJM had the same vision of having a safe and peaceful world for the people. The last few episodes did have me cried a little though.

On the sidelines, I enjoyed how schemeless Tilan was and really treated the FL as her friend and her undying trust in the emperor.

In all, it was really a great drama to be watched and I really enjoyed how the writer didn’t ruin the plot by letting there be spies internally. I was worried that zhuoying would turn bad but he didn’t and was in fact a calculated planned move from the start which zhuoying himself had known since young.

OST was quite limited but very beautiful song as well.

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