SUNNY

It was very confusing. I had to take a couple of mental notes to keep up.
1. Starting with Rong Le, she is the biological daughter of the executed Qin family, one of the noble families in the Lin kingdom. Her father was the former teacher of Prince Wu You who write the book everyone was searching to find. That’s why she knew the hidden traps in the house as she searched for the book. Her family was framed. She lived and was taken away. She trained as an assassin. That’s how she met Rong Qi who was her martial brother and later lover. The evil Queen Dowager of Western Qi, Emperor Rong Qi’s mother, broke them up, erased Rong Le’s memories and made them fake royal siblings in the Qi kingdom. Her older sister also survived and was trained as an assassin as well. She is Hen Xiang, the seductress who caused the downfall of the silly crown prince.
2. I believe Rong Qi’s father is the previous emperor of Western Qi. His mother was given to the old Qi emperor by the Lin emperor when he saw her and wanted her for himself. She was also poisoned, so she chose to pass the poison to her unborn child, Rong Qi. I think her hatred for the old Qi emperor made it easy for her to dump the poison onto his child. They didn’t state it, but, I believe the evil queen killed off the old Qi emperor, gave her son the crown and controlled him like a puppet king ever since.
3. Note: the 3 male leads are brothers. Prince Wu You and General Fu share the same father. General Fu and Emperor Rong Qi share the same mother, the evil queen dowager. Also, Rong Le was a lover to 2 of the brothers, Emperor Rong Qi and Prince Wu You. She was formally married to 2 of the 3 brothers, General Fu and Prince Wu! Plus, her sister had an unrequited love with General Fu, Rong Le’s husband and later brother-in-law! It’s a hot mess of a drama!

This was more entertaining than expected for a costume drama. There were some slow spots, as usual. I just fast forward through the slower time wasting scenes. I did not lose interest in this while watching. Li Hong Yi was a scene stealer. His scenes with the bubbly Zhao Lusi were the best because of the great chemistry between them. 8.5/10

Lol! Ok, I’m out of ideas!

Have you seen Scarlet Heart (Korean Version)? It is similar with the ostracized 4th prince in a similar role as Qinyue. It’s worth watching.

See my reply

Try these below. The drama Kill Me Heal Me and movie Monster came to mind while I watched this drama. The first one is similar but not the same ending result. The main lead in the movie, Monster, has a similar rough background like Qinyue that made him hard., serial killer hard!
1. Kill Me Heal Me - Shin Se Gi is one of the split personalities of the male lead character. The adversities he encounters and his personality is on the same level as Qinyue. Both Shin Se Gi and Quinyue are handsome bad boys. Both have good relationships with the FL.
2. Monster - Is a movie starring Lee Min Ki as a serial killer. He’s the extreme bad boy with heartbreak like Qinyue and Shin Se Gi as described above. You have to be able to look past his actions to find sympathy for him. This is not a romantic movie. But, the chemistry between the leads is one of the best I have seen.

So true! They would make great competitors!

It’s another great one! It just needed a faster start and more scenes with my favorite pair. 9/10

Looks like Pro Seo will make his suffering and near death experiences payoff with a fat paycheck in a future Hanjo job! I can’t blame him. He knows how to play the system in and outside of the prosecutor’s office!

This is not at the level of the much longer drama Love and Redemption which is filled with fantasy and fight scenes. But, this was one of the better costume dramas of 2020. The romance was sweeter and the friendship was solid. The relationship between the lead characters was great! The skinship was plentiful and both lead actors are beautiful in their roles. Much praise goes to the male lead, Zhang Ling He, who debuted with a main role and he did well in it. Additional praise for his young sidekick/servant, played by the young actor Huang Yi, who was a ball of energy with great facial expressions, acting and timing. The storyline was easy to follow. The ending was predictable and in-line with the whole theme of the drama. I would definitely watch if they made a season 2. But, this drama is complete by itself. Good rewatch value for the romantic scenes. 8.5/10

I’m very surprised he got a lead role in his first drama. But, they made a great choice. So young and with lots of potential to be a great actor.

I agree. He claims to be so much in love with her and has no problems watching her suffer.

It took time for the seeds of doubts to grow in the king who has been paranoid since childhood, per Prince Su. Recall the head eunuch and the Dou’s were working to make the king feel the child wasn’t his. I’m assuming it took time for the rumors to spread. He got more doubtful as the baby grew.

You have to pass the halfway point to see it improve. I felt it was less than season 1 when I watched the early episodes. I have seen 14/16 episodes and it’s fantastic, now! The slow build is necessary to understand the details of the issues between the two organizations.

This does not look like a light drama after seeing 2 episodes and the into/outro videos. The tomboy second sister is bubbly and had a couple of funny scenes. The studious first daughter’s life looks tragic already. Plus, all the main and second characters are showing angst or tears in the outro video. We will need tissues for this one if it continues down this path.

I was thinking the same. He looks like he has on airbrushed makeup in the profile picture. This is a better pic:
https://images.app.goo.gl/9PDt5293dD4mt2RY9

I don’t even remember the details near the end. It’s been over 3 years since I watched it.

Choosing the young guy for love or the grandfather category old guy for money, lots and lots of money, is the choice the woman has to make. This could be interesting and harder than it appears at first glance. The trailer:
https://youtu.be/etHSGlMOcmw

The drama was done very well and that’s not often the case for gaming dramas. This one focuses more on the team building, competing and both group and individual triumphs. There is only a tease of a romance and nothing solid develops. But, romance is not needed in this one to make a good drama.
It’s a great drama to see the recent past when large crowds and group hugs didn’t invoke fear of dying. One has to imagine the future of esports challenge events with social distancing. Then again, it will be easier to pull off than full contact sports. It’s all online. 9/10

During the search and rescue I kept repeating “please, let him be alive! He’s worked too hard to die in season 2!” Then, to find out he just bounced down the hill, broke a few bones, was knocked into a coma and lived was bitter sweet. So much pain for an unkillable cockroach! He better get his promotion back to Seoul after all this!