Reviews

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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

Read More

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.

Read More

Five Stars

Too much stress. Minister Guo was arrested cause Li Yunrui shifted the entire blame on him when she was interrogated by the Emperor and CPP deliberately asked her questions so she would confess that she knew about Yan Bingyun's secret mission in Beiqi, She coveted the Investigation Bureau. The Emperor hated this the most, the Bureau worked directly under the Emperor and only him and the Directors knew about this top secret mission and she made it certain that there's traitor. She even involved Fan Xian in the matter, but CPP explained to FX that she has already lost the moment she mentioned that she knew about the top secret mission, the priority now is to find the traitor. Yan Ruohai told Zhu Ge about his plan to go outside the city and capture the man from the Beiqi team and asked for a few men. But when he actually went outside, the men he brought turned against him and Zhu Ge came out and revealed that he is the follower of Li Yunrui, showing his true colours. That is exactly what they wanted. It was funny when Yan Ruohai said "If you don't come out now, I'll really be dead!" Chen Pingping laid a trap long ago to capture the traitor and finally the day has come. Zhu Ge mentioned that his spies are keeping an eye on all the key figures, but FX and CPP came out from behind the trees. Shadow must have been standing outside an empty room for the plan. Zhu Ge is really one of the best and useful people from the Bureau, he meticulously prepared a plan, and CPP mentioned that even for him it was hard to find the spy in The Black Knights, which ZG mentioned later was in the army provision battalion. Let me be honest, Zhu Ge is a capable man, he has worked in the Bureau for years, he really is calm even when everything he did was already in their plan, he just calmly asked them Questions about everything he doubted. And it seems to me that Whatever he has done till now is just because of different ideals, the different Idea of Righteousness, and Li Yunrui took benefit of that. Ahhhhh just as he was about to kill himself Eunuch Hong Sixiang landed from the sky. But he still died and offered his last advice to CPP to not make FX the next head. He didn't want to be humiliated, he served the Bureau all his life, that was least they could do for him, by letting him die. The head's eyes were teary when he saw Zhu Ge's corpse. Eunuch Hong told the Emperor everything, and Li Yunrui was already kneeling outside his study. The palace's atmosphere was eerily quiet at this time. And the Crown Prince was almost running to the Study of Emperor.

Read More