Reviews

Tests and treats

I am watching on Viki with 8 rather than 18 episodes. There will be spoilers if watching the 18 episode version. Yuan Bao gets candied Hawthorne from face swapper because there is a red tie attached. Shi Qi gets the candies and swaps them. She meets and tells her she knows what the prince had but that since the matter did not concern her (Shen Qin), that she would handle getting the item to the prince. She meets with her friend who saw her go with the prince. She lists off every injury her friend received and convinced her she was her painter friend in spite of her face. She gets a note of when to meet the prince and takes the pendant with her. Prior, the military advisor left it as a test under the guise of looking for a slingshot for Yuan Bao. When it is gone he tells the general that no matter what his heart is saying, the pendant is gone. Whe Shi Qi meets with the prince he is surprised at what the item turned out to be and mocks the sentimentality of it. She she tries to get information from him, he becomes physical. She is not the one he thinks so he can’t make out why she is reacting this way. She tells him no and then gets the hairpin out. First she breaks pearl jewelry in him and then holds it to her own throat. He is still relentless in his pursuit til a general’s knife discourages him. 😝🥳 The general makes it very clear that Prince or no Prince he better not touch his wife again. When they get back, she surprises him with two things, a divorce contract and the pendant. She said she gave them a copy of it and this was the original and that she would go where she should go after they divorced. He tries to get out of her the second thing she is hiding but she still refuses. He also refuses to divorce her. He tears up the divorce papers and is gleeful she is who his heart says she is.😂 she catches him with paper confetti all around looking happy. She gets her hairpin and leaves while he feels he lost cool points getting caught.😂🤣 The next day he gets more candied hawthorns to watch his two girls enjoying a snack. The military advisor mocks him, but even he is changing his mind about the woman who is married to the general. The episode ends with him smiling from the sidelines at them. I am still enjoying everything, the story, the pace and the music.

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Yuan Bao the matchmaker with firefly ambiance

I am watching on Viki and series in 8 episodes rather than 18. There will be spoilers if watching the 18 episode version. Shi Qi puts off louse prince reminding him of the dangers if caught. The general notices but chooses to say nothing. The louse prince is acting like just another impromptu love making location to notch on his belt😝 Shen Qin can have him. These two deserve each other. Too bad he is too acquainted with her face.😝 This episode we meet Yuan Bao, a precocious young lady who was orphaned young and adopted by the general. She examines Shi Qi quite closely and laments she doesn’t have the features her father would find appealing. 🤣 She is ditching school and wants the new wife to help her out. Shi Qi is surprised, but she sides with the little miss and is now labeled mom. That evening new mom and little miss are camping out in the yard with firefly lantern. Shi Qi is just saying they need to let the fireflies loose when the General shows up asking about the tent. He is surprised at the scene that greets him and is going to leave when Yuan Bao pulls him in demanding a story. She is quite the instigator as she crosses their arms over her and touching each other. 🤣🥰 The little one falls asleep with the story of fireflies and surprisingly so does Shi Qi. It is a sweet moment with the family shoes outside the tent.🥰 There is another meeting with the face swapper. She is demanding an item to be found that was held by the crown prince. I guess the red on her arm is a magical pregnancy test and she knows they have not consummated their marriage yet. She puts a spring poison in their wine. I do not know if it harms as well as excites but I think is just super potent aphrodisiac. I am glad that the prince seemed to have a line he wouldn’t cross about being young girls as courtesans. However, he was interested in the 17 yr old Shin Qin and the wine made him extra amorous. However, a friend of Shi Qi’s recognized her face going in with the prince. The magistrate spilled the love concoction for general so their evening was different. Her shoulder scar and words have convinced him she is the one he has dreamed about for three years. The face doesn’t match but the mole and scar do. She has not explained her situation, but for this night, they are throwing caution to the winds and consummating their marriage in a loving way🥰❤️ Yuan Bao will be very happy. 😂This story continues to be well told with no extra filler. We are given what we need to see, the machinations at work and how they fit with no filler. The music is also nice. Kudos to the cast and production team .

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Couple fated

Viki has this series in 8 episodes so there will be spoilers if watching the 18 episode version. The general is honorable. He knew that Shen Qin had been forced and he was willing to take the hit to call things off. There is a flashback and we see the general has a jade pendant of the crown prince. I do not know if they were personally close or if simply mutually respected, but the death of crowned prince has haunted him and he refuses to stop investigating. This is why his father pushed a marriage alliance on him. He wanted his son out of the political machinations of the palace and to keep with national issues through the military and alliance with the prime minister. The louse prince is with the “brother” who irrationally assumed his sister’s death would please him. He thought he was assisting not realizing the extent of Shen Qin’s relationship to the prince. The brother is threatened to be sure nothing happens to his sister or two coffins will be needed.😝 A magistrate has arrived at the general’s door to read a decree. Unfortunately it requires the presence of the couple and he believes Shen Qin has left for good. What actually happened is she was further blackmailed with her sister and to stick around til an heir was produced. She arrives late but timely to receive an honorific title from the emperor. He is reminded of the girl he saved by the same phrasing coming from his new bride. The face does not match the quotes and is puzzling him. He feels the same attraction for Shi Qi as she does for him, but he now finds himself married with no way out. The next day she is signalled by her nemesis to show up at the bidding of the red ties. She sees someone in the pool who has the peach blossom on her shoulder but not the face. She sees her maid dead on the floor and told how she was helped out of a bad situation with brother and maid trying to kill her. She is told she should be thankful.😝 Shi Qi has been surrounded by blood and death since she entered the general’s mansion. The only thing that resonates with her is belief in his character as her savior. That remains unflappable even with all the weird circumstances.The louse prince is trying to win favor by bribing the general. That’s not happening but the treasures are accepted for the border troops. He bumps into Shi Qi with Shen Qin’s face and believes it to be his lover. He now very inappropriately grabs her and is expecting reciprocation to his embrace. Can’t wait to see what Shi Qi does. Episode ends. It is again fast paced covering multiple side stories. These are given with just enough clues to keep them interesting and integrated.

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Surprise! This is him!

I am watching on Viki and the episodes are set up differently. There are only 8 in total with 20+ mins on most and a few with 30+ mins. So these will have spoilers if watching the 18 episode version. The story begins with a painter (Shi Qi) painting a group of courtesans. She is looking for her sister who has a peach blossom on her shoulder. A wealthy woman (Shen Qin)arrives and wants a painting done. She promises to give location of sister once painting is finished. It’s an odd situation because the meeting is set up at night and while the materials are there, something feels off. She sees Shen Qin being intimate with a prince and thinks she is mistaken to be there. She is told if she leaves there will be no help finding her sister, so she reluctantly stays and follows the directions she is given…..to paint what she sees. The prince wants his lover to marry a general so he can have sway with the military. He has plans for getting her back eventually, but even saying she is pregnant has no sway with this louse of a prince. When the painter is getting ready to leave she feels she has been swindled but accepts her loss. She finds Shen Chin in a lavish pool asking her if she loves anyone and wants to be by their side. Shi Qi doesn’t respond but someone does come to mind for her. When Shen Qin disappears in the pool, she thinks she is harming herself so comes close to the side, where she is forced into the pool. She is carried to a bed where a strange cloaked magical type person with bandages except for her cat eye is all that is seen. When she wakes, she finds she has the face of the rich lady, and in the general’s mansion getting ready to be married. She is in completely shock and is rambling about to find more mirrors. In her search she does find one, but it reveals an interrogation room where the general is killing someone. She faints from the blood and shock. She keeps trying to convince anyone she is not the person with this face, but who will believe her? Someone claiming to be her brother refuses to talk with her and actually sends a maid assassin to kill her. The maid is not cut out for this and is interrupted by the general who rescues Shi Qi and swaps out what is probably poisoned wine. Here is where Shi Qi sees him for the first time and it’s the general that rescued her. He is her savior and the one she always wondered about. When she sees he is to be her husband, she still tries to tell him she is not Shen Qin, but he quiets her and has her make the wedding toast. I did not see him drink but he then has a different look and locks her in the room. Assassins are planted and making their way into the mansion when the episode ends. This was an interesting introduction to the story. It is clear there is a backstory we have no clue about yet and somebody wants the general and Shen Qin dead. How does Shen Qin know about her sister? An interesting fate for the general. He gets the one who will really like him. I am enjoying everything about this episode including the music. It is fast paced and tells a good story.

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Character Development

This was honestly kind of a filler episode where we gained many insights into the various supporting characters and the leads themselves. We see how concerned the lady general is about her little brother. We see how caring the ML is as he helps her to manage her troublesome little bro. We learn about the doctor’s crush and we see her rejected harshly. We see more of the ML’s vulnerable and desperate state as he craves the FL’s blood.Funny bit—The two lady guards at General Li’s residence were funny in ep 4, when the subordinate guard kept repeating the questions that the head guard asked, then Jin’an said, “Where’s that echo coming from?”—Had me rolling

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Becoming the abuser is not growth or justice.

I’d have been totally okay with the case that the woman in the episode abused her abusive husband after taking the pills and having the outburst. But to knowingly do that many times? Taking medication so you can do that? Because you were abused does not give you the right to become an abuser. And portraying it as feminism is just so wrong. It’s not about whether the man deserved it or not but what kind of person she became. This episode was just so problematic. They have totally normalised the thing that women slapping beating men is some sort of feminism. Abuse is abuse. Self defence is something else. One time outburst is still okay, she endured so much, I understand that. But after that, she could have totally chosen to use law here, divorced him, make him go to jail, they had the proof of abuse anyway. She was not in any sort of circumstances where she couldn’t leave him. One crime doesn’t cancel out another. I hate the way feminism has gotten a bad name because of things like this. I really like the show, this episode really ruined it for me.

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