susuworld

It was ML's idea for her to be adopted by the Grand Princess' family - to prevent FL from being a political pawn in an arranged marriage by Qin family. ML can count on the Grand Princess to object to any arranged marriage against her will. It's not a power play - ML is shown he wouldn't use FL in this way - he only wants to protect her.

I've never felt so sorry for the ML's assistant in these C-dramas. Bai Feng is literally running around doing everything the ML can't do because of his higher status and he's constantly having to make sure he doesn't interrupt ML at the wrong time (he does anyways!) and he takes in all the social cues from ML to do stuff for him. He's so busy that he doesn't even get time off for sleep. Poor boy. haha

So refreshing to watch romance blossom in a natural progression - not forced and we aren't spending episodes of misunderstandings, manipulating and calculating each other to get there. The simple romance of working together, sharing minds, being each other's moral support when needed. Pair that with a good mystery case here and there. Goes to show you don't need a complex character power dynamic to drive a drama.

All very useful and practical gifts. Not just jewelry and paintings. Love him for it!

I love seeing him angry which is rare for such a character- it means he cares a lot about these injustices despite being raised in the army and enduring the harshness of securing borders.

I really like this drama. None of that childhood sweethearts, forced marriage to turn into real love, the common troupes. I love how it's a natural pace of deepening love as they work together to solve crimes and essentially fight for injustice. I especially love how perceptive ML is and when given the chance, he knows how to maneuver around politics which is rare for a character of his age and experience (growing up in the army and a strict father of a general). There is so much depth here that ARP is doing an excellent job - straddling the firm authority and tender treatment of FL.

He's not a crown prince - he is the Emperor's nephew but it's already hinted that he and his father are attracting enemies because of their esteemed reputation. In c-dramaland, a royal brother/son having highly regarded military accomplishments can be seen as a threat to the Emperor for potential usurp.

He was in Word of Honor- as Scorpion King (villain role) and had a greater supporting role there.

omg 1st episode...it's Groundhog Day with Final Destination

I laughed so hard because the way he pulled down his top hanging off his shoulder and he is in white with a hammer...it's like he is trying for the ancient roman's look. And I love how WS was just starting at his arm.

He remains quite remarkable in JOL. He seems to have this thing for portraying his characters with a side of lunacy.

The summary reads a bit like Nirvana in Fire probably without the limited life span of ML. I've been a fan of XZ since The Untamed but his last few dramas/movies for me were unremarkable. However, I am curious to see how he will portray this type of character - it is certainly a complex character with a lot of room for interpretation and creativity. Can definitely see this as a challenging role for XZ. Production looks amazing and with 40 episodes, enough room to tell a revenge story without feeling too compact - hopefully not too draggy either. I'm hopeful for this drama.

It's their own voices

I'm sure you can. LIP is prequel to RMP

I couldn't get into even 1st episode of Red Moon Pact but decided to give this a try - seeing as the story seems more interesting and the production quality is superb. Red Moon Pact did had a very good OST selection - remains to be seen about the OST here. Handsome Neo Hou gets the very first scene, the costume looks similar to his yet to air dramas - just a teaser for what we can expect.

Ep 6- they cut out a key scene between the leads. Fans will know which one I am talking about. So much for hoping the Japanese version may have more scenes that weren't part of the Chinese version cut.

There actually isn't a lot of shows with focus on Grand Princess/Princess Royal - I watch a lot of costume dramas -and to make them as villains is even more rare because they can't get far - The Double is one of the recent ones.

Not necessarily. Many are forced to be married off and they don't have standing to interfere with the royal court. Princess Royals hold no inherent power - often relying on the good grace of their emperor brother or the backing of a powerful husband. Usually, the Empress would assume the most power in the royal court on non state matters but here, she replaced the Empress with someone who has no family power to support her, no son to be a potential crown prince. So Princess Royal here manages to have so much power because she had plotted many years ago to ensure no woman can exceed both her power and the love her emperor had for her.

The reason why Princess Royals rarely scheme because by gender - they can never be the Emperor/Empress - and once married, they belong to their husband's family. For them to scheme that title, the only way is to essentially instill a useless crown prince by being a king maker. Or, be a regent. Regents by Empress/consorts are easier to swallow because they have a son to assume the title of Emperor when they come of age. But regent because as a Princess Royal when there are sons in line for the throne is almost unheard of. That's why in the preview, she calls herself Regent so that she can hold all the power and the Crown Prince only has title, no power. She can still rule the country as Regent.

I have to say, this is one of the very few cdramas where the villain absolutely outshines the leads. Despite how we hate Grand Princess/Princess Royal - she isn't doing anything that a man in her role wouldn't have done. Yet it seems to us so outrageous because we rarely ever see a Grand Princess have this level of power and display such ruthlessness and cruelty in a royal court.

It may seem short to us with Ming Yue's demise. Honestly, I think it was perfect. Her mother raised her to be this spoiled brat and if not for her, she wouldn't be able to do the horrific things she did. That being said, it was also her mother who sent her to her death by not saving her from this marriage arrangement that she recklessly got herself into. I had guessed her mother chose power over her and she did. Her mother feared the lost of trust she built with her Emperor brother that she spent decades on that if she did interfere, those years would have been for nothing. She was striving for a position of more power that ironically, is not what Ming Yue wants at all. She wants what she can't have. So once her mother no longer protected her, she died so fast that the meaning may have been lost. It was a slow death for her - first being stabbed multiple times experiencing grave pain only to watch the fire burn her alive - it is as slow and cruel as it can get. Then you throw in that it was her mother who sent her to her grave (indirectly) but still really her fault. Her father who attempted to do the right thing for the first time- who agreed to help her not get married only to be blasted by Ming Yue for never being a proper father to her is laughable. There was that one chance for her to turn back, she walked straight to her death. And to prove her character is extremely stupid yet horrible person - she continues to make threats to her now husband - she expected the same she always experienced- no one can interfere - she gets what she wants. Except she miscalculated that the man now her husband has lost everything and nothing to live for but revenge - which is the most dangerous person you can face.