Reviews

Heavy but beautiful essay on life

Sometimes, life sucks and keeps throwing rocks at you. I can understand why this is difficult or not satisfying watch for a lot of people but I wouldn't want them to film it any other way.

I believe no show is for everyone and I deeply appreciate when instead of following trends and creating generic scenes, they try to go deeper, riskier, to get their unique vision across.
This drama to me personally feels like an essay on life and the loss in it. The beauty of people relying upon each other, the struggles of both reaching out to each other and being reached out to. One never knows what can happen and everyone's life can look completely different within span of few years if not months. The characters are mostly very real, I won't say the writing's quality is master class, yet the genuinity gets across.

This drama centers around the connections between people, especially the one between the two male leads. They don't kiss or progress anywhere else with physical intimacy.
While part of me had hoped for something, by the end I really appreciated the way this show presented love. There's SO MANY scenes that show their love. As an audience we understand the depth of their bond, their care, and why they make the choices they do.
The tragedy in their lives had to do with a lot of other things, rather than picking anything specific, I'd say it seemed the weight of life was crushing everyone, gay or not, which is why to me it didn't seem like the typical trope of tragic BLs, just a story about life that happened to include some queerness.

I put rewatch value at 1/10 and it doesn't affect my final rating. I don't know why we're so obsessed with adding rewatch/replay value ratings to experiences like this (games included). I enjoyed it once and that's great enough for me.

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The Story Line

William Chan’s character fits very well and feels exactly like the role he played in The Mystic Nine. His portrayal is familiar and consistent, which I really enjoyed.

Joseph Zeng’s character is also interesting because his behaviour and mannerisms remind me a lot of his grandson, Wu Xie. However, this is where I started having problems with the story. The plot feels off and doesn’t seem to tally properly with the other stories in The Lost Tomb series.

The part that confused me most is Chen Pi A Si. His grudge with Er Yue Hong had already been settled in The Mystic Nine. Chen Pi was also the one whose actions led to Ya Tou’s death. On top of that, the story of how he became blind doesn’t seem to match the established storyline involving Xiao Ge (Zhang Qiling) and the treasure at Banai.

There are too many inconsistencies with the characters’ histories and the timeline.

Overall, the story is a mess. 😅 As someone who follows The Lost Tomb series, I find it difficult to connect this story with everything that was already established. The actors and characters may be enjoyable, but the storyline just doesn’t add up.

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When Love Becomes an Act of Rebellion

There is something inherently tragic about a character who has to spend their entire life pretending to be someone else. The King’s Affection takes that premise and turns it into a romantic historical drama about identity, duty, and a love that becomes increasingly dangerous the closer it gets to the truth.

At first glance, the drama seems to have all the familiar ingredients of a palace romance: secret identities, forbidden love, political conspiracies, ruthless royals and a handsome scholar who falls for the wrong person. But beneath that familiar structure lies a much more interesting question: what happens when the person everyone expects you to be becomes a prison?

Lee Hwi is forced to live as the crown prince after the death of her twin brother, hiding not only her true identity but also the fact that she was never supposed to inherit the throne. Park Eun-bin carries much of the drama’s emotional weight, and her performance is particularly effective because she doesn’t simply play someone pretending to be a man. She plays someone who has learned to suppress every visible trace of vulnerability because showing the slightest crack in the performance could mean death.

And then there is Jung Ji-woon, played by Rowoon, whose presence brings warmth to what could otherwise become an overwhelmingly bleak story. His relationship with Hwi is built around a delicious irony: he falls in love with someone without realizing that the person he loves is hiding an enormous secret from him.

The romance works best when the drama allows the two characters to simply exist together. Their stolen glances, restrained affection and constant proximity create a tension that is often more effective than grand declarations of love. There is something wonderfully frustrating about watching two people fall for each other while both are unaware of just how complicated their relationship actually is.

But The King’s Affection is not merely a romance with a gender-swapped twist. Its strongest theme is identity.

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An Ancient Love Song — Beautifully Complicated, But Not Easy to Follow

Some love stories begin with a meeting.
This one begins with an ending.

An Ancient Love Song follows Shen Buyan, a modern historical novelist who unexpectedly travels through time and encounters Lu Yuan, a woman remembered by history as a notorious “Enchantress.” What makes their story different is that their timelines move in opposite directions. The more Shen Buyan falls in love with her, the less she knows him—and the moments when Lu Yuan loves him deeply are moments when he has yet to understand who she is.

And that is where the drama gets both beautiful and confusing.

I actually liked the story.

The concept was clever, especially the way the drama slowly makes you realize that what you're watching isn't a conventional time-travel romance. The story deliberately presents their encounters out of chronological order, making you piece together their relationship from different points in their lives.

But for me, this was also the biggest challenge.

While watching, there were moments when it felt like the story was resetting itself every time Shen Buyan returned to the past. The characters would meet again, circumstances would change, and I had to constantly recalibrate where we were in the timeline. Eventually, I understood what the drama was trying to do, but I wouldn't say I always enjoyed the process of figuring it out.

The shorter format definitely helped. With only 14 episodes of roughly 30 minutes each, the story doesn't drag and wastes very little time.

What I appreciated most was Lu Yuan.

She isn't simply a tragic woman waiting to be saved. She has her own convictions, responsibilities, and understanding of what she has to do—even when Shen Buyan desperately wants to change the fate he has learned from history.

And that makes their romance particularly heartbreaking.

This isn't a love story about two people simply trying to be together.

It's about two people who keep reaching for each other at the wrong point in time.

The drama also does something interesting with the idea of fate versus narrative. We know Lu Yuan's historical reputation from the beginning, but as Shen Buyan discovers what actually happened, the difference between history and truth becomes increasingly important. Several reviewers also praised the drama for turning a seemingly familiar time-travel premise into a reverse-timeline love story.

What worked for me:
• Unique reverse-timeline concept
• Short and tightly paced
• A strong and memorable female lead
• Romance that feels tragic without relying entirely on melodrama
• The mystery of Lu Yuan's true history keeps the story moving
• The ending gives the earlier episodes a different meaning

What didn't work as well for me:
• The timeline can be genuinely confusing
• Some transitions feel like you're watching another “reset”
• It requires paying close attention to understand the chronology
• The emotional impact didn't completely hit me the way it seems to have affected other viewers
And perhaps that's the biggest difference between appreciating this drama and completely falling in love with it.

I can recognize what makes An Ancient Love Song special.

I can appreciate how carefully the story is constructed.

But personally, I wasn't as emotionally devastated by it as some viewers were.

Still, for a 14-episode mini drama, it manages to tell a surprisingly ambitious story with very little room to waste.

It's not a perfect watch for me, but it's definitely one of those dramas where the concept stays with you after the ending.

Final verdict:
An Ancient Love Song is a beautifully constructed reverse-timeline romance that asks you to experience a love story backwards. It may leave you confused along the way, but once the pieces begin falling into place, you understand why the story had to be told this way.

A love that keeps moving through time—
even when the two people in it never seem to arrive at the same moment.

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Fairly Fiery

While not my ultimate favorite of the 4 Elements series, this drama did snuggle its way into my heart with its loud charm.

The setting of The Fire wasn't as warm as The Earth, as solid as The Water, or as grand and encompassing as The Air, but did provide some unique opportunities for peril, daring rescues, bickering, and making amends.

What it lacked in scale, it made up for with its FLs with serious personality! These two could argue like nobody's business, and I was there for every entertaining minute of it! And when actual kindness/wooing came into play, it was even more hilarious to watch them struggle to play it off/naturally put on the charm.

Yet again, though, I was let down by the way they chose to wrap up years of family conflicts with a pretty bow. As if parental neglect was something to be acknowledged but not truly reflected on, and obsessive love, while unhealthy, required baby gloves and personal sacrifice before they saw the error of their own ways.

But, overall, this was a fairly charming and passionate/tender enemies-to-lovers.

With this final installment to the series, I am left feeling a little sad it's over. Complaints as I did have and nothing managing to match, let alone top The Earth, I really did enjoy myself as a whole. One of the highlights across all the elements definitely being the relationship between the cousins. Twas iconic!

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Misunderstanding

This drama was heartbreaking, and for me, the most interesting character was the ML, Fu Zheng. He is definitely not an innocent character, and I cannot excuse the pain he caused Wen Liang. But I also don't believe he never loved her. His biggest problem was that he didn't understand how to love her until he had already destroyed the relationship.

Fu Zheng spent so much time being cold, stubborn, and allowing misunderstandings to control his marriage. Wen Liang loved him for years and continued hoping that one day he would finally see her heart. Instead of protecting that love, he repeatedly hurt her.

That is what makes his later regret so painful.

Once Fu Zheng finally understands what Wen Liang meant to him, he desperately wants to undo everything. But some wounds cannot simply disappear because someone finally says, "I love you."

I actually appreciated that the drama didn't make Wen Liang immediately forgive him just because he regretted his actions. She had reached the point where loving Fu Zheng was hurting her more than leaving him.

The ending, however, completely broke my heart.

Fu Zheng ends up in a coma, and Wen Liang ultimately chooses to walk away. Normally, I want the ML and FL together at the end, especially when the ML genuinely realizes his mistakes. Part of me wanted Fu Zheng to wake up, apologize properly, and finally have the opportunity to love Wen Liang the way he should have from the beginning.

But that isn't the ending we get.

What made it even sadder for me was the feeling that somewhere inside his unconscious state, Fu Zheng understood that he had lost the right to ask her to stay.

He had spent so much of their relationship holding onto Wen Liang while simultaneously hurting her. In the end, his final expression of love was the opposite.

**He let her go.**

He didn't wake up and ask her to wait for him. He didn't force her to remain trapped beside a man who had already caused her so much pain. He remained in his coma while Wen Liang finally walked away and chose herself.

That ending stayed with me because Fu Zheng wasn't a man who never loved his wife.

He was a man who realized **too late** that love without trust, tenderness, and respect can become another form of pain.

I was happy that Wen Liang finally found the courage to leave, but I was also incredibly sad for Fu Zheng. His punishment wasn't simply losing her. His punishment was finally understanding exactly how much he loved her when there was no longer anything he could do to change the past.

Sometimes loving someone means fighting to keep them.

But sometimes, after you've hurt them too deeply, the last loving thing you can do is finally stop holding on.

Fu Zheng loved Wen Liang the wrong way for most of their marriage.

**In the end, letting her go may have been the first time he truly loved her the right way.** 💔

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Loved the mystery more than less

General Remarks

I love how the mystery made me click to the next episode as each episode ended.

I love how mysterious and concealed certain characters were. In my opinion, it created intrigue about certain characters, particularly the villain. I felt the villain was the most compelling character of them all. He got me thinking about his motives and goals in taking the main character's identity. It evoked sympathy, and I loved that he chose revenge instead of wallowing in agony over his lover's death. I loved how the show manipulated the audience using flashbacks from different characters' POV. This tells you that seeing isn't always believing
.
The start of this was strong; I believe that made many of us click for more as the episode went by. Ryu Jun Yeol really put in effort in portraying every bit of frustration, fear, and despair in his character Je Mun Jae. I love the close-up shots of him, hinting at his frustrations. He also portrayed another contrasting character, namely the mouse. It was a fantastic portrayal

Sul Kyung Gu's character, No Ja, has a menacing and dangerous look, like a thug, but deep down he has a kind soul, as he refuses to kill his enemy. Though it angered me that he couldn't kill them when he had beaten them down, I thought it shed more light on how he is moving away from being a thug. His kind heart also extends to helping Je Mun Jae.
It irked me at the way No Ja was begging his enemy not to bury him alive; LIKE THAT DOESN'T EVEN MATCH HIS CHARACTER. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I thought some mysteries were better not shown, as some seemed too unrealistic for a non-fictional show,

I liked the friendship between No Ja and Je Mun Jae, although it came too fast. It was realistic, as No Ja never completely trusts him, as there was a seed of doubt in his mind that sprouts at any word that can make him easily distrust Je Mun Jae.
I didn't like the main character; why was he always hasty every time, and why did his panic disorder come at a critical moment?

I loved the open ending, as we can all make our theories and deductions (for season 2)

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Interesting, but wardrobe so bad it detracted.

Really wanted to like this, but the wardrobe was SO bad it was distracting. Didn't know what era it was cast in from scene to scene. Were we in a flash forward or what? Clothing from the 60's to 90's eras were just bad. Vhicles from the 50's and other items that were not yet invented in the 1930's. Would love to see a remake with greater attention to wardrobe and greater historical accuracy.
The trope of the strong woman who becomes weak and needs rescuing constantly didn't age well either. Women are the backbone of society. Need depictions of how the strength, tenacity, courage, devotion, love and just pure cussed grit of women has made civilization survive!

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A Rivals-to-Lovers Done Right

Even though the rivals-to-lovers trope is practically everywhere in the BL universe, this particular Japanese series holds a genuinely special place in my heart.

What makes it stand out so much is Zen’s consistent character development from their high school days all the way to their adult years working side-by-side. One thing I consistently admire about Japanese productions is their casting dedication: When a story spans decades, they actually cast younger actors who look convincingly like the adult versions, rather than keeping the exact same actors across a 20-year time jump like so many Thai dramas often do. That attention to detail paid off brilliantly here. The younger counterparts didn't just share an uncanny physical resemblance, they captured the exact mannerisms and soul of Ryo and Zen, making their transition into adulthood feel authentic, grounded, and thoroughly earned.

So why can't I give it a top-tier rating? There are still narrative flaws that hold it back from perfection. I haven't read the original manga, so I can't speak to how faithful an adaptation it is, but the writing around Futami felt noticeably weak. If Futami was supposed to be an established high school friend, the show really needed to introduce or foreshadow him earlier in the story. Instead, he just suddenly drops into the plot out of nowhere to trigger conflict that ultimately felt rushed and overly simplistic.

Despite those structural hiccups, the emotional core between the leads is undeniable. The chemistry, nuanced character dynamics, and grounded tone make this an easy contender for one of my favorite BL series of the year!

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A fun time with a couple of misses

A lighthearted watch with short, web-novel-like episodes that make it all the more bingeable. I recommend this to everyone into the BL genre, because it doesn't present the criticisms surrounding BL online media and culture at the expense of their creators and consumers. On the contrary, it humanises such people through a lovable MC like Euijoo.

And because I might be too deep in that BL shit... Was I the only person thinking the show was hinting at an actual romance between Mr. Ga and Mr. Yoon? There were a couple of scenes which I interpreted as foreshadowing a relationship between the two, but I dismissed such thoughts and the show, indeed, did not end up going in this direction.

Not that I didn't like the plot! But I wonder how the story would've been different if two of the teachers had been actually dating. For one, Euijoo's novel would've actually put a queer couple at risk of outing in front of the whole school. This would've added a whole new layer to the disciplinary committee scenes and the teachers' individual decisions regarding her punishment. On the other hand, I think it would've made Euijoo reflect on her interest in BL in a productive way. Her character obviously satirizes straight girls/women who fetishize gay men and self-insert in stories they write and consume among themselves. It would've been a nice touch to have an actual gay couple react to her novel, recognize the true feelings and dynamics that inspired it, but also how its existence could be harmful in not one or two ways. Basically, Euijoo could've been shown the reality of queer life and how it differs from the BL she is writing. I would've actually loved for the story to unfold this way, but for that I guess I would have to write my own fanfiction :D (Besides, that would've completely switched the focus and tone of the drama)

Other than that, I wasn't the biggest fan of Euijoo's dynamic with Mr. Ga, but I don't think I need to go into detail about that. I am happy the show made it (mostly) clear that he rejects her feelings, but it definitely had a couple of moments where I had to google whether there is teacher x student romance in the drama before continuing. Thankfully, that didn't ruin the overall experience all that much, and the show is still one of my favourite recent watches!

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Wasted Potential

Storytelling has so much potential that it’s frustrating to see how it hasn’t been fully utilized. All in all, the series itself isn’t that terrible, but there are some serious weak points. I find the parallel between peach and relationships interesting; however, at a certain point, besides feeling repetitive, the story of the two protagonists that accompanied it honestly didn’t make sense.

For example, when Po decides to take some time to reflect—okay, but what motivations led him to reach that decision? Not to mention how the reappearance of Sasom’s ex was presented with a sense of pathos that finally makes you think there will be some drama, and once again it falls completely flat.

Let’s talk about Sasom. The character and his role are completely disconnected. He’s an actor, he has a strict family that forces him to associate only with famous people, and he leads a double life as a porn star. THE POTENTIAL. In all of this, as we can see from his brother’s wedding, everyone already knows—yet we don’t even get a single episode where the truth comes out, the family finds out, or a scandal happens? His storyline is simply left to chance.

Don’t even get me started on the secondary couple—again, WASTED potential. A story with no sense or logical thread. Included just to fill time. Who is Inn? Who is Meen? We have no idea.

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Confusing?

This series has done nothing but confuse me. The thing that gave me the biggest headache was realizing that Lu Feng had good intentions: all he wanted was to show the world that there was nothing wrong with his love. The problem is that he really couldn’t do anything right. The only time Lu Feng managed to explain himself even a little was when Yi Chen’s mother ended up in the hospital. “You always put me last,” and maybe that’s the problem: Lu Feng even gave up his family for the sake of love, while Yi Chen was never truly able to take that step. Instead of hating his mother, even though she despised him so much, he ended up pushing Lu Feng aside—the only one who never received even the slightest bit of understanding, not even from Yi Cheng. In the end, Lu Feng’s pure love for Yi Cheng did nothing but wear them both down. The wedding scene deeply moved me; it showed just how deeply Yi Cheng loved Lu Feng, yet for some reason they still couldn’t be together. And then came the disappointment. Lu Feng locks Yi Cheng up and does everything he can to make him suffer. This is the point where Lu Feng’s genuine love turned into obsession and possessiveness; his younger self would be disgusted to see him treating Yi Cheng like that. I’ve always tried to defend him as a character precisely because I know that all he wants is to be free to love Yi Cheng, but I just couldn’t get past this toxicity. But seriously, why does one of them always have to end up in the hospital before the other can forgive him? 😭 I still have the last two episodes left, but honestly, I don’t know how this situation can possibly be fixed. I don’t even know if I really want them to end up together anymore.

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If It Walks Like a Duck

The series opens with a poorly executed in medias res: within minutes, we are shown an apparent death, only for the story to retreat into flashbacks layered inside other flashbacks. The result is not complexity, but confusion. Eventually, you find yourself looking at a character without knowing which timeline you are in, whether he is still alive, whether you are watching a memory, or when any of this is actually happening.

The tonal incompatibility makes things worse. You cannot open with an apparent murder and, fifteen minutes later, expect everyday problems at a music school to carry the same dramatic weight. The tension the opening worked so hard to create simply evaporates.

What initially looks like a story about talent, competition, privilege, and the world of classical music quickly becomes the usual blender of family hierarchies, an authoritarian grandfather, parental debt, loan sharks, humiliation, romance, trauma, and melodrama. The piano, meanwhile, is almost incidental.

And that is particularly frustrating because there is a much better story hiding underneath all of this: two exceptionally talented young men, one with every resource available to develop his potential, and another who cannot afford the luxury of pursuing his talent because he actually has to make a living. That conflict alone could have carried the series.

Instead of exploring it, the drama keeps adding complications.

If I need a flowchart and a notebook just to figure out which timeline I'm watching, the writer has failed at one of the most fundamental rules of storytelling: clarity.

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deze serie verdient iets

het is echt de beste bl serie van het jaar ik zal jullie aan raden om te kijken man van ep 1 tot met ep 11 is echt Woooow❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰1 ding ben ik zeker dat ik deze serie opnieuw zou kijken ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️🤑🤑🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️danku wel aan de mensen die mee heeft gewerk en aan de schrijvers voor zo mooi verhaal. ik miss deze serie nu al

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A beautifully heartbreaking and healing drama in every sense ❤️

"....When did a piece of my heart go missing? Flickering on and off, as if hope had been lost...." 🎶
"...you don't have to keep chasing anymore... You can quietly watch the sunrise, learning to be happy on your own.
You don't need to piece together a map of love anymore.
It's not as if you need to go somewhere specific to warm your heart." 🎵

~ The lyrics to 'See Happiness,' Ye Li's theme song and which perfectly encapsulates the feeling of this drama. ❤️

A beautifully heartbreaking and healing drama in every sense. ❤️

There's simply no easy way to put how The First Jasmine made me feel from Episdoes 1 - 34. It's a long, devastating, but mentally healing drama. It's gentle, grounded, quiet in it's tone and atmosphere. Yet also has a firm grasp on how it tells Ye Li's story.

When you meet Ye Li, you start off thinking she is a clever and shrewd woman who readily wants to help Mo Xiu Yao and rid him of some pesky enemies. This is not an uncommon trope in Cdramas, and certainly not untrue for Ye Li. She ruthlessly plots her way and destroys several of her new husband's enemies within only a few weeks of being married. She could literally be an assassin in the dark taking her form of perfect revenge whilst disguised as a non-threatening, soft spoken woman.

But actually here's the twist - and something which is hugely unique for a Cdrama - you start to think something is definintely wrong with Ye Li. Something doesn't sit right with her story and how her maid 'Qing Shuan' seems to appear in this ghostly white form whenever Ye Li is alone. The unreliable narrator technique is very interesting in this regard and one of my favourite elements of the whole drama. Should we trust and believe Ye Li? Are the things she is saying about Li Mountain all adding up? Soon enough when she is mentioning Li Mountain a lot of the time, you begin to wonder more about the reality of the place. But you never find out until the crucial time, the drama does a brilliant job of hinting to you, but NOT actually telling you just so it can keep up the whole mystery.

This is a very female centric drama, but I never thought Mo Xiu Yao was hugely left out being the Male Lead character. He had equal importance to the plot. His character equally mirrors Ye Li, he was like her counterpart in every aspect. She patiently heals his leg and to stop mentally torturing himself of his brother's death. Whilst he patiently heals her mental illness and to accept the new reality. This drama starts with a sense of duty, but gradually they end up doing everything for each other out of love and care. Like the level of commitment she has to retrieve the late Emperor's edict to help absolve his family of any wrong doing. And how he went through the political system to go find her on Li Mountain.

Ultimately this was a drama about trauma bonding and healing. Indeed just as the lyrics to their theme song says, "Love is not just a romantic thing, maybe the world doesn't understand my devotion." 🎶 Helping to treat each other might have been exhausting and possibly as unromantic as can be, but they form a love that makes them connect with each other. This portrayal of 'love' worked fine for me. It was comfortable.

This is also why I have really admired the dynamics and chemistry between this couple; quietly subtle and gentle. Very quickly into Ep 4 & 5, Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao just reminded me of an old married couple, as they come off as if they had been married much longer than they really have. They had a mature level of understanding between them, as well as a gentle, comforting kind of chemistry. Mo Xiu Yao's POV of her early on in the drama was just so lovely, quietly observing everything she does because he is obviously very quickly intrigued by her. Their chemistry is not overflowing with sizzling passion and skinship, but that is not necessarily needed in this drama. I feel they deliberately kept it understated, which actually works to a huge advantage because the focus is more on their healing instead of physical intimacy.

By episodes 15-17 it's obvious Ye Li has a deep rooted mental illness which is now known to Mo Xiu Yao. Even then, the psychological aspect of this drama is very well written to the point they still don't spell out EXACTLY what happened to her ghost friend Qing Shuan or the others at Li Mountain. It's a psychological play for Ye Li as well as for the viewer. They don't tell you anything, instead they show you signs throughout that you can put together, and part of the puzzle which several of the characters have to work out.

Whilst I thought the unreliable narrative, their relationship, trauma and mental illness was well portrayed - the overall plot was weaker in comparison, and I felt part of the plot and character arcs was very much just filler. A lot of the negative or gray characters were well portrayed, the Dowager Emperess, Consort Qin, Mo Jing Li, Marquis Muyang and both his sons. But for example, what was the point of Marquis Muyang going off on a whole rant to Mo Xiu Yao revealing that Ye Li's mother was the one who took the late Emperor's edict 8 years ago, leading to Mo Xiu Yao's elder brother being killed? Why would Mo Xiu Yao agree to listen to whatever nonsense the Marquis had to say?

Simply put, it was just a way to forward the plot - because that is what led to the divorce, which is what led to Ye Li leaving to Li Mountain, which is what led to Mo Xiu Yao going there and finally discovering the reality. I think they could have executed this better, it seemed to come out of nowhere with Mo Xiu Yao having this HUGE brain fart and blaming the past problems on Ye Li. Even if he didn't know everything to the extent the viewer knows - he ALREADY KNOWS things are not all okay with her mental state, yet he is still okay with her leaving to God knows where. It doesn't even seem as if he even bothered to find out where she went, not until he had to find out the truth from her senior brother about her actually being severely mentally ill with hallucinating a whole crew of ghosts. Maybe they could have with a better script, or more episodes to have this make more sense and less rushed. But alas, we only have this drama.

Another aspect of the psychological impact here is when Mo Xiu Yao's hair turns white. His hair goes white overnight due to extreme sadness and worry for Ye Li - that he might never see her again and that she is all alone. I appreciate that Cheng Lei was not portrayed as this sublimely hot ML with white hair as often happens in Cdramas. Although I usually love the visuals of our Cdrama white haired men, Cheng Lei's white hair deliberately making him look less attractive was well done here. He needed to look unkempt and devastated, not a visual eyecandy for the viewer.

When he does find Ye Li, she is in an even worse mental state compared to before, which was just heartbreaking to watch. You could see the sorrow and emotional difficulty seeing her suffering brilliantly emoted through Cheng Lei's eyes. I don't often cry for dramas, but I was SOBBING along with Bai Lu in both Ep 31 at the divorce part and again at the start of Ep 34. When it goes back to the time when she lay in her own makeshift grave, after having buried possibly dozens and dozens of her dead acquaintances....Damn, I just felt so devestated 😢.

It was then that I knew this is by far the best acting I have seen from Bai Lu in any drama, and I have watched several of her other ones. This has to be her career BEST for me. Further proof of this is how she portrays Ye Li as a mentally ill and dissociated character overall. Whenever Ye Li dissociates, she looks dazed and her eyes have no light in them. Her voice even takes on a much softer tone. Compared to when she is hurt and upset and broken down - her crying scenes were just so compelling. Bai Lu is so utterly convincing in this role and perfectly casted.

Some have also said that Mo Xiu Yao only went to find her because he felt guilty, even if he did I felt he still definitely loved her overall. He already greatly missed her *before* he knew of her living by herself with her ghost friends on Li Mountain. It was just he needed that info to have a wake up call and to go find her himself. And the greatest thing here? He did not care if she even loved him back anymore. All that mattered was that HE loved her, and that he knew she was mentally vulnerable being all alone so needed a lot of care. This is *true love* above all.

I loved Cheng Lei's portrayal of grief striken Mo Xiu Yao here. You can see every bit of his grief in his nuanced expressions when he goes looking for Ye Li, and finds how she has to survive all by herself on a deserted mountain. Yet you can also see his love for her and the tenderness in which he cares for her - VERY nuanced. He takes it slow and goes at her pace, explaining things to her in a gently soft manner so her mentally deluded mind could understand. And actually he had always been doing this at some level, like when he had been trying to take Ghost Qing Fuan's place as Ye Li's companion who is closest to her (apart from the divorce part when he then left her alone, still serious eyeroll here 🙄).

Other characters also felt like they had bigger potential but then ended nowhere. Like the way the Princess of Cangbei is suddenly killed...just why??? She was such an interesting character, a powerful Princess who changed the fate of her own homeland, and cross-dressed as a male whilst travelling and in order to meet her lover (poor Feng Zhi Yao 😢). Yet she is taken out within a single second by her evil maid Su Zui Die stabbing her. Hugely anti-climatic to say the least. I get why she couldn't have a fake death though, as Marquis Muyang's illegitimate son Qin Cang surviving from the same kind of stab wound was already used as a twist. It couldn't have worked twice! But still, Princess of Cangbei's character could have had a much better emotionally impactful death. Instead her exit just felt rather fleeting and almost non-existent to everything else, and the aftermath was really only felt by Feng Zhi Yao.

Another character I thought could have been dealt with better is Ye Ying, FL's half-sister. She had 0 character development throughout the whole show. What was the point of her character besides being Mo Jing Li's wife and the spoilt, childish younger sister of Ye Li? At one point it seems like she wanted to do better for herself by pursuing other things, but she ends up still going back to Mo Jing Li who (predictably) abandons her again. He briefly seemed to have developed a kind of fondness for her in Ep 38-39 - but the drama does not explain why/how he develops this new feeling for her, so it just seems very empty and fleeting. This couple had no depth or character development between both of them.

These aren't the only thing that was poorly written parts though.... Episodes 35-40 felt like a different drama altogether. They feel like it must have been written by someone different from who wrote the rest of the drama, or a huge part of it was edited out so we are missing like 10 episodes or something. The plot only goes on about Mo Jing Li's rebellion and the war, which I was fast forwarding through. When Mo Jing Li finally dies in Ep 39 it just feels like a big Aha! moment, it was all very predictable and almost dramatic IMO. I just couldn't care about these episodes and it would have been a better drama if they stuck to the plot and tone of Ep 32-34. Where is all the love and angst? Why has the comforting, soft vibe and tone that was there completely shifted? The drama almost forgets the leads are even together for God's sake.

I also hated that this last part of the drama just completely leaves out the topic of Ye Li's trauma, which was the central part of the drama until then. Once she is seen back at home after Ep 34 it doesn't delve into the topic again, almost as if she's magically healed because she has stopped hallucinating her dead maid or the others who died on the mountain. I understand that Mo Xiu Yao brought her back into the land of the living, but this is not how such severe trauma works - certainly not overnight as was portrayed in a single episode. It literally gave me whiplash with how fast they took her healing arc out and changing the tone massively.

Neither do they delve into Mo Xiu Yao's past trauma. His issues mostly revolved around the Late Emperor's edict which would have saved his late brother having been taken by Ye Li's mother, which he was depressed by and led him to divorce Ye Li. But is there really no trauma over having been stabbed in the leg and crippled for 8 years? Maybe it's because unlike Ye Li, he keeps his sanity intact over time, and further that Ye Li helps him by getting rid of the superstitions causing him emotional/mental trauma very early on. So the drama doesn't really go into it again in detail. It just sort of wants you to assume he was traumatised mostly before Ye Li marries him, and he gets better by being with her and falling in love with her. But still, it's a little bit surprising the topic never comes up again in the next 35 episodes. Just a little nagging thought.

Episode 40 - the vital finale in every drama. I didn't hate this ending, but neither did I really love it. Most this finale episode went on these little side explanations for what happens to all the supporting characters, which I appreciated as it's not uncommon for dramas to forget the other cast altogether. Only some things are missing I suppose, like they never addressed what happened to the Ye family? We never saw Ye Li's father for a long time now, neither are the other family members mentioned. Which is weird because they were responsible for the late Emperor's edict being taken, but they are never remembered again apart from the half-sister Ye Ying getting a brief show for 2 seconds.

Neither are the leads given very much screen time together. I was literally relieved at that point to see Ye Li come out of her depressed, dazed state to actually run away from home to see Mo Xiu Yao. You almost worry they will never see each other again when there's only half the episode left. I wish there was more shown for these 2, they didn't get much screen time from Ep 35 onwards and it still isn't solved in the finale.

The final episode's last 10 minutes also veers very much towards Ye Li, and it comes full circle to her saying a goodbye to her dead friends and family on Li Mountain. This was very sweet and emotional. It was further very sweet to see Li Mountain Academy brought back to life again, cleaned up and opened for more talented scholars. I think this part was needed especially because it figuratively showed Ye Li's healing - she was broken and deserted just as Li Mountain was back then, now pieces of her have come back together just as Li Mountain Academy has been brought back to life again. A perfect mirroring and representation.

The soundtrack fully delivers in this drama. The songs are emotionally connecting and always the perfect bgm to whatever scene is going on. Most of all I loved that the OST was usually these quiet, comfortingly sweet songs. When they were centered on Ye Li alone, or Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao, the bgm matched the quiet atmosphere that was typical throughout the drama. This is also why the most emotional scenes felt so heartwrenching.

My favourite was definitely 'See Happiness,' which was Ye Li's theme song and I had quoted some of it at the start of this review. Just so, so beautiful and this song playing when Bai Lu cries is such a heartfelt combo ❤️

I also loved Cheng Lei and Bai Lu's duet 'Within a Square Inch,' I was delighted to have recognised their voices when this song played. Also their other maybe-theme song, 'Love is More Than This.'

And last of all not to forget the running theme throughout the drama, 'Heart World' as the Bhuddist scripture chanting at various points of the drama was so riveting.

Overall a mostly excellent and heartfelt drama until Ep 34, and I have very little complaint about the episodes until then apart from the little things like Princess Cangbei's death, and Marquis Muyang being a plot device for the main lead's divorce. This could have possibly been atleast a 9.5/10 drama if it kept going at this kind of tone and pace. If only if it wasn't for the poor last several episodes, 35-40 could have been a lot better.

I would rate this 8.5/10 which is still very good, I really enjoyed about 90% of this drama and don't regret watching it. I will absolutely be rewatching parts of it in the future. Both Cheng Lei and Bai Lu did an amazingly convincing job, and not to forget this being an acting masterclass from Bai Lu 👏👏👏

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