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I keep seeing this getting recommended to those who watched nirvana in fire. I've been very hesitant though, because I tried watching a couple of minutes and already frustrated with the number of the characters. If I had zero background knowledge on this drama's historical aspect, will it still be enjoyable? or what historical setting i should google?

you are really everywhere lol I truly didn't expect that you're watching this kind of drama too! now since you said it's good I'll definitely give this drama another try.

the latest ep with aespa (410) is really fun! they're doing game outdoors! is doing stuff outdoors now a fixed segment?

ep 1 was promising! (even though i can't shake off lee seyoung's image as lady uibin from red sleeve. the fact that they casted the same young actor in red sleeve as the younger version of the characters also didn't help)

the novel recap said xw killed himself at the end after everything.

maybe bcs of the controversial fire extinguisher scene?

so in jiang xuening's first life, xiewei presented her a dagger not for killing herself? does it ever explained how he fell in love with jiang xuening in the first life?

so how they end things are different with how they did it in the novel? this ending is satisfying but compared to novel ending it's a bit.. meh. I wonder is some different choices is done to appease the censorship board.

i mean.. the choice to not making the emperor secretly crazy and power hungry. The fact that all this scheming is secretly supported by the ever generous and humble emperor... an implied message to believe in authority?

also the choice to leave zhou yinzhi's wife out of jiang xuening's revenge, is it to avoid putting the female lead too much in greyish moral area?

i also feel a little bit iffy in how they portray the punishment for xue shu versus the punishment for his father and brother. i know audience probably found xueshu is more hateful because we see her evil ways more often on the screen, but the fact that they had her drinking poison while the males are only exiled. I mean, there has been a lot of discussion about how female antagonists are often punished more on screen compared to their male counterparts.

Yes I know it's probably me thinking too much but I just can't turn this criticizing part everytime I watch drama (a.k.a. the curse of studying film at school).

ep.36 : i'm so used to clothes after 'night activities' in cdramas lol i can't believe bailu's bare arm could shock me to this extent.

i was stunned by xiewei's armpit hair for a moment lol. CMIIW but i don't think body hair are something that we see often on dramas with shirtless scene lol

just got to the part where xxxx stabbed his own hand and got an epiphany on why we enjoy this drama so much. unlike other dramas where the 'good' always win and come out unscathed, in this drama there's no such thing. for a high reward, high risk must be taken, that's why we're hooked till the end. this drama does not belittle us audience with 'divine intervention' or something similar to win.

i'm still amazed at bailu's (or her team's) skill in choosing projects.

watch that and you most likely will ship jiang xuening and zhangzhe much more than before.

probably story of minglan? the main leads are also not as pristine as what is usually expected from cdramas. the only downside is that drama needs patience as it's very long and even much more slow burn than this.

just got to that scene where jiang xuening stabbed xie wei. before this i don't think xie wei was crazy, just determined. that scene changed my mind lol

the opening jingle is such an earworm lol i found myself randomly humming that tune out of nowhere

ahhh it's over already? T_T

i'm just worried that the plot is actually not there yet and we'll get a 5 year gap somewhere in the next 6 eps.

pls correct me if im wrong but in the novel, isn't there a five year gap after the princess was sent to rivaling countries? and on those 5 yrs, xuening built her business empire to fund her schemes. are they skipping that part in the drama?

watched that kissing scene and honestly... girls like bad boys* but girls also like consensual kisses.

*who is actually a man hell-bent on avenging his mother's grief while also protecting his family and friends

yes, out of desperation.