Liu Meng Li is a beautiful and kind goddess!

The Best parts:
1. Liu Meng Li, what a beautiful, smart, and kind character. She was so damn good, I'm glad she got the happy ending. Happy endings don't necessarily need to have romance, although I do prefer it in my dramas. I prefer to watch women like this in dramas compared to ones that are hell bent on destroying their friends over a perceived insult or a man. They chose the right actress to play the role, she breathed life into that character.
2. Yun Tian He, another lovely character that steals your heart. I must say the writers did a beautiful job with these two characters. It was amazing how he always thought good of everyone and this is something that should be protected but we rarely do. We tend to scoff at such naivety, but that's what all of us need. The bitterness is just dragging us all down.

The Meh parts:
1. The story lacked depth and I skipped through lot of scenes just to focus on the scenes with the foursome.
2. The romance was very low key. I wanted to see more of it.
3. A shitshow of a sect that was ruled by corrupt people who called themselves the good people.
4. I loved Xuan Ying, hoped he had a better story arc though. He was gone just like that.
5. I tried to like Ling Sha but she is too damn frivolous. I also felt that maybe had another actress played this role, it would have turned out better. Someone with more charisma. I did like the actress in Blossoms but this character was not done right.

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Brilliant Cast! Intriguing Characters! Worth the watch!

The best part about this drama are the leads, their witty & intelligent banter made me like them. In the beginning, I liked the ML more than the FL, because he was actually pretty kind and decent person. In comparison, the Fl was kind of foxy with her schemes. I also liked how ML was open in showing his affection and was very much in love with her. So, I was rooting for them & hoping that we would find out more about the FL as the show progresses so that I can like her. And she grew on me, at the same time I continued to like ML for who he was.

That changed midway, I started liking FL more because she was very consistent with her feelings and made better decisions than ML most of the time, not always, but majority of it. The ML wasn't bad either but his thinking was hampered by his need to choose a life away from the scheming. Their intelligence and strategies weren't to be questioned, but I questioned ML's feelings for her in the latter episodes. The ML feelings constantly wavered, in the beginning, he was quick to blame her and even nicked her neck drawing blood in a fight, this was when he claimed to love her. To be honest, he was the one who used her more to achieve his goals, and she didn't complain. Once his goals were achieved, he just refused to listen to her even knowing that what she said was valid. Even when he had concerns he refused to talk it out with her. The second disappointment was when she was sick and he found out too late. Even then, he didn't make much efforts for her. He always needed to be prodded by his soldiers to make a move on her & even then sometimes didn't. I don't much like MLs like that. The change in his character was so obvious. What was sad about their breakup in episode 29 was that even with how silent it was, it was violent, he treated her as if she had something to gain from asking him to be the crown prince, other than maybe a chance for him to survive longer. She is a warrior who was never really interested in the court & cared more about her soldiers. If it wasn't for him, her father and she would have probably come up with some other strategy to save their army from the likes of that cowardly & honestly silly emperor. Even with all the claims of loving her, his actions fell short.

Thank god for the final 10 episodes, ML was back to his earlier self where he seemed to care a lot about the FL. And I'm glad that it was that version of him that ended up with her. One thing you got to give the guy credit for, even though they fought a lot of time, he never once considered loving anyone else. Even when the emperor gave him a concubine, he was upfront and told her that he would never love her but all he could give her was the title of lady of excellency, Apart from that she couldn't have anything from him.

In contrast to the ups and downs between the leads, the relationship between the Tao Zi & Chang Er was very adorable and they were very consistent about each other throughout the drama. Chang Er was a warrior in his own right and still made sure to treat Tao Zi well. They understood each other.

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Had potential

The name Gen Z is just not well-suited for the drama. I disagreed with a lot of ways the things were handled by the grown ups in the drama. The whole concept of the drama was not for me. But I can say that the master-disciple relationship between the Xing Zheng and Sun Tou Tou had a lot of potential.

I'm not a fan of Tian Zhen and couldn't actually see him in favorable light once he left Sun Tou Tou drunk alone, where she almost drowned. He was too damn irresponsible at all times. Never stepping up when he made any mistakes, always allowing others to take the blame for him. Let's not forget that in order to alleviate his guilt about Meng Meng, he tried to keep her with him so that he could treat even knowing that it was beyond his expertise. I could only like him for the last part of the story because I chose to turn a blind eye to all of these things & because that's what Sun Tou Tou wanted.

I couldn't believe the way things ended for Meng Meng, what she needed was a therapist not Tian Zhen who wasn't capable of taking care of her. Her parents were even worse, trying to lock her up as if she was some monster. They all failed the poor child.

I didn't much care for how Ling Lan treated Sun Tou Tou, telling her to leave even without giving her the chance to prove that she wasn't guilty. Sun Tou Tou was a such a bright light throughout the drama, she was childish at times knowing that she would be kicked out even if she behaved, not really believing the whole thing about her being the descendant.

Zhao Lusi was the one who made the drama worth watching, her performance as an orphan who knew that she could be kicked out if she stepped one foot out of the line was marvelous. She is a joy to watch & it broke my heart every time she was blamed for things that weren't her fault. She got so used to it that she didn't hesitate in taking the blame & being selfless when she thought it would be better for her master's family.

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I was surprised to see Park Min Young & Song Kang Paired together.

I was intrigued by the actors playing the leads, which brought me here.

Ep 1: Having watched Cho Young Pil go crazy over weather forecast in Samdalri, I was happy to see another crazy forecaster in Shi Woo. I liked how he stood up to Ha Kyung when he knew he was right. I think him calling her out on her personal issues was a bit too much. Now, let's talk about the trashy ex. Moron got caught cheating, so he married the woman he cheated with. He took half of the expensive stuff as if it was his own, wants the FL to sell the apartment and split the costs (this maybe is fine, since they weren't married) But he wasn't remorseful about his actions at all. FL looked heartbroken when she caught him in the act. Gives me the eck!

Ep 2: What an horrible ex to have. Not only is he even a little bit apologetic, but he goes around flaunting his relationship with his new wife without even consideration for her feelings. Whenever him and his wife come on screen they spoil the whole watching experience for me. The leads have good chemistry together. I'm so glad that Ha Kyung finally spoke her mind. The guy didn't contribute to most of it. She was the one who paid for most of the stuff including the house they were living in. He wanted to go half when all he paid was for 7%. He had the guts to ask for those things after he cheated on her. So damn low. Shee Woo's ex isn't any better either. She keep pretending as if she is gods gift to the world.

Ep 3 to Ep 8: Both Shee Woo & Ha Kyung are gradually learning to trust each other. They are quite a few setbacks which include their idiot exes who can't seem to lie in the beds they made. Ki Joon is such a hypocrite, it was fine when he lived with Ha kyung before but he can't accept his wife's past because she lived with another dude before she got hitched to him. She isn't any better, why not be upfront about her past. I think she got together with Ki Joon because she thought he had money, but learning that he doesn't have much and that they both would have to work to earn a house for themselves seems to make her so uncomfortable. As if someone owes her a house. Now that they both have found out that their exes are dating each other, pretty sure they are going to go out of their way to tell them that they are wrong to be dating.

Ep 9 to Ep 16: This arc was very frustrating to watch. The leads kept dragging the same issue without resolving it. It was frustrating and painful to watch. Why suggest break up if you don't want to? You clearly have different ideas of what you want from life. One wants to be married the other doesn't. Why torture each other needlessly? Is there not going to be any resentment down the line? I was so upset with how Shee Woo was dealing with things that I wanted Ha Kyung to meet someone else at this point. Someone who wouldn't make her constantly doubt her worth. At the same time, I felt that Shee Woo was in need of a therapist. If after dealing with his issues he still felt the same way about marriage then that would have been more logical.

As much as I like them for a short arc, it wasn't that fun to watch. It was interesting but that's about it.

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All the couples are great!

I started this drama especially to watch Shin Hye Sun & Sun Hun together and they were so damn good. All the couples in the drama were so well-written. They were loyal to each other, cared for each other, and didn't give up on each other even during hardships. Many of them temporarily retreated but then came back strong in pursuit of their loved, which was so endearing.

I was bit afraid about the Sang Tae being a jerk to Mi Jung not just because of his dead wife but because of his chaotic family. There was that one instance in the beginning when he tried to put a wall between them, but it handled nicely by his father. His father was such a sensible person throughout the series. Apart from the part when the boys were hit on their calves, I really liked the way they handled parenting those kids. With so many of them under a small roof, it could have turned bad but they both handled it so well. Mi Jung's ex was deadbeat father even when he was given the chance to bond with them he always chose to be selfish. He had no business having more children who he might end up leaving in the future. I didn't like that Mi Jung held the children against him when he cheated. But looking at how the ex behaved majority of time, Mi Jung made the right decision. The kids wouldn't have grown up so well-mannered or even nice under his care.

Ho Tae & Soo Young were good for each other as well. Despite their past decisions, they grew up well. It was good to see Ho Tae growth from the thief who stole from his sister to a successful director.

All the parents in the drama were chaotic enough to give me a headache. From the parents in law who didn't want their son in law to move on, to the parents who thought their son were too good for the women they chose. That's the only part of the drama that I could do without.

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One of Park Seo Joon's best performances. And Kim Da Mi, never disappoints.

Jo Yi Seo was such a complex character that stole the show whenever she was on screen. It was honestly hard to look at anyone else with the kind of energy she brought to the table. There are things that I didn't like about her character, like her first instinct is to always look out for herself and who she values in a way that may harm others. She doesn't care about collateral damage at all. Initially, she is always intolerant of other beliefs and preferences (relatable for all I'm sure), saying cruel things to anyone who doesn't fit the mold. Which is quite surprising, since she is someone who doesn't fit it at all.
What I do like is, she does apologize and her apologies always appear sincere, even though they might be due to the scolding she has received from the ML. But what can you do, when your mother doesn't care about such things and just cheers you on no matter what you do. Even with her sociopathic tendencies, she had a little heart and she needed someone to guide her. While that be one excuse we can use to defend the character, its just that. Her character was fun to watch and kept things interesting.

Out of all the Park Seo Joon's Drama, this happens to be the one that I'm impressed the most with. It is easy to act all goofy, but the emotions he brought to his characters were simply great. His character was also pretty solid and someone who stuck to his beliefs no matter what. Surprisingly, he was one of the characters that was more open to change as well. What he didn't knew, he learned and wasn't ashamed of learning from someone younger that him.

The Romance:
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There were times when it seemed like it would be natural for Park Sae Roy and Oh Soo Ah to end up together, especially with the way he noticed only her even when Yi Seo was in the room and his stubborn insistence that the he liked Soo Ah, despite anything.

But being with Oh Soo Ah wouldn't have helped him achieve the success & revenge that he was so thirsty for. Without Yi Seo, he probably would have had a very hard time and might have taken additional years to achieve those goals. What Oh Soo Ah achieved through her years of patience is just as important. She was just as lonely as Sae Roy, so in a way, it seemed a bit sad that they didn't end up together. Rather than both of them spending their time apart and alone, they could have worked together, helped each other grow but they each made a choice that separated their paths, ultimately leading to different destinations.

Coming to Yi Seo, she was kind of saint when it came to the romantic aspect. She fell first and everything she did was for Sae Roy (Of course that doesn't negate the satisfactions she received from helping him achieve things no one else could). That is my problem with her romance arc. She was one that was more in love with him. It took him so many years to actually realize what he felt for her. While Yi Seo has sociopathic tendencies, she is not a full on sociopath. She has the capability of understanding & empathizing when taught. So, she must have felt the rejection time and again, especially when he chose to go to Soo Ah. Her pursuit of him was sometimes fun to watch and others just sad. The level of patience she showed for someone so young was commendable. But initially, her feelings were somewhat of a burden to Sae Roy. We did see him reject her, but from his face it was so easy to see he was conflicted and confused whenever she expressed her feelings.
Sae Roy needed to much prodding to come to his senses about his feelings for Yi Seo. Had there been a SML wo could have swayed Yi Seo a little, it could have been much more fun to watch. While Jang Geun Soo tried, he just was an adorable character that seemed a little too young for Yi Seo. Yi Seo was simply someone too old for her age. It was only before she was kidnapped when he was on a date with Sooh Ah that we were finally able to have a clear idea of his feelings for her. Even then, it took a kidnapping.

The worst part about this drama is the the final time skip to 4 years later. They just missed showing us the gradual growth not only regarding the romance but also the development of their brand (IC). It was such a missed opportunity. Even thought they had limited episodes to put that all in, they could have shown us bits and pieces of how things unfolded in those 4 years.

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A family of choice, abandoned by their mothers, raised by devoted fathers.

Relationship between the three friends who grew up together:
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From the get go, it was easy to see that Jian Jian clearly favored Ling Xiao over He Zi Qiu. She made Zi Qiu's life quite difficult and it made me a bit worried about what kind of man Zi Qiu would grow up to be, to always have to beg for affection. But thankfully, he turned out all right. Overtime, she outgrew the little jealously she felt about him becoming her brother and Zi Qiu's mother becoming her step-mother. But we could see that she took him for granted because he agreed to everything she wanted. And maybe that allowed him to have fun along with her, be a little naughty and forget that his mother left him to a stranger who could have treated him badly. Next, we have Ling Xiao, who was treated cruelly by his own mother, then later abandoned without much care. He had to grow up too early, compared to Jian Jian and Zi Qiu who were always lost in their own mischief. He was the mother of their friend group, who had look after both of them once he decided that they were his family. It was painful to see how life split the three apart, and for a moment I wondered if they would ever be the same.

The Best Fathers :
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Li Hai Chao: The best parent I have ever seen in any stories. Just how generous can a person be? There is nothing you can hate about him. He is made of all the good stuff in the world. Seeing that he lost his wife to childbirth, he could have become just as vile as Chen Ting and mistreated his child. But he was never that kind of person, he raised a daughter who was maybe a bit mischievous but all in all had a happy soul. He took in Zi Qiu and always treated ling Xiao well. He was both a mother and father to all three children who grew up to become the decent human beings they were. It was easy to see his genuine care for the children. He just eluded warmth. I was glad we had a character like that to balanced out the selfish mothers.
Ling He Ping: I wasn't a fan of him since he was more of an absentee father. Normally, it would have been understandable as he was the primary breadwinner of the family. But his absence resulted in the psychological trauma faced by his only living son who was neglected and mistreated by his mother. For far too long, He Ping humored Chen Ting at the cost of his child's mental health. I'm usually someone who is against violence and don't even tolerate excuses for slaps. But I didn't feel sorry when Chen Ting was slapped. What a poor excuse for a mother. Once she was out of the picture, Ling He Ping was finally focused on his child and became a decent father who started looking after his son.

Mothers who abandoned their sons:
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Chen Ting: What a horrible character. I wonder where the ideas for this character came from. I do hope people who have mothers like these have grown up at least as well adjusted as Ling Xiao or are holding on and trying their best to live their life. She first mistreats her son, then abandons him without looking back, she then goes on to marry someone else and have another child (wth was going on in her mind to have another one. She is not a mother material), has an injury so now all the adults in her life don't want to take care of her so Xiao has to, when he has no obligations to do so. But he is guilt tripped into doing so. Even after he has fulfilled his duty as her "son", she then forces him to stay with them for more years. When is able to get rid of her tentacles and come back to a place where he was happy, she finds it in herself to come play with his head. She is mad at the woman he loves, hates her because that woman cared more for Xiao than her selfish ass ever did, then she tries to set her son up on a date with another woman, as if that's not enough she tries to kill herself leaving behind a letter for Xiao to find. She never had any mercy on her son. (One of the ickiest characters I have come across)

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Would have been good if not for the serious lack of communication between the leads.

I don't much like Han Che at certain times, not because of his peculiarities, that in itself I did not mind. That made him an interesting character but he often threw tantrums without even trying to talk to Nuan Nuan about it. He found out that Fang Han Chen confessed his feelings for Nuan, so he ghosted her for a while, even though Nuan clearly said that she said no to the guy. Later, the incident with the cufflinks, she had a bad day at work, so while we all understand what needs to be done logically, she just wanted some comfort, instead he just made things worse for her.

The drama lacked conflict resolution, things were often glossed over. The entire concept was so flawed, it reminds me of the show "Well-Intended Love" in which the ML was a crackpot.

In "My Love, Enlighten Me", the ML was overbearing and made decisions that were not really good for others. The FL while fun to watch, wasn't really all there. The entire setting lacked the intensity required for the script and concept. They could have focused more on the emotions to make this drama more memorable.

The second couple were also so flawed. They again refused to directly communicate and resorted to tactics like using another person to make the person you like jealous. Too childish for me, so skipped most of their scenes.

That's not to say the entire thing wasn't worth watching. The leads had some chemistry and the FL was charming enough to stay on.

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Came Here To See Another Of Zheng Ye Cheng's Drama & He Didn't Dissapoint As An Actor

Zheng Ye Cheng was the reason I came here and I of course loved looking at him, but when it comes to romance in the drama FL was the one more invested in their relationship and it showed. It reminds of the saying, one person in a relationship is always more devoted, that's gotta be the Sassy Princess here. Although when I read the Synopsis of the drama, I expected that she pursued him first I also thought that he would fall a little harder but I didn't see the same kind of reciprocation.

He was one of the ML's that always need to be prodded by the secondary characters to take action. Left to his own devices, the FL would probably end up married to the another guy. Since I had just completed the sleepless princess before this, I already hated the trope where they marry someone else, so her marrying another guy didn't sit well with me. But it wasn't as emotionally charged as the scene in Sleepless Princess. Mostly because the marriage didn't happen.

Acting wise, all did a good job. Kinda hated the FL's father, his sacrificed his family for his ambition and still ended up being forgiven by his daughter. He pretty much held the gun that killed his wife.

Would I watch it again? Maybe.

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Terrific Actors. Riveting Story.

After watching this, I realized that Bai Lu is actually a good actress. I have watched her in two dramas before this and didn't really think much of her acting skills. Its not that she didn't stand out, she is terrific and charming, but the scripts just weren't right for her. Kunning palace was such a terrific script, with a lot of plot holes and missed potential, regardless it was riveting until the very end.

And after watching Zhang Ling He play the role of Xie Wei / Xie Ju'an, I have come to realize that he was made to portray historical characters. He is so unrecognizable from his modern day roles, where he reminds me of a teenager. In his historical roles, he bring us a different aura, just like he did with his role in Love Between Fairy and Devil. I'm going to check out few of his other dramas as well to see more of him. In some scenes in Kunning Palace, he kinda overdid it and we have to ask the directors what were they thinking. For example, the first scene where they introduced him, they gave us a close up of his neck. It just looked so damn funny. But apart from some of these weird instances, he did a phenomenal job with this character.

You'll Keep Guessing Who The FL ends up with until the last few episodes (Spoilers below)
Let's begin with the adorable Yan Lin, he brought light to Ning's life. While she never showed any romantic affection for him, she cherished him a lot.
With Zhang Zhe, the story was so complex that it wasn't fully explored. Even though it seemed slow paced, it felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities to make their story flow. After claiming to like him so much, Ning seem to have given up way too quickly on what could have been between them and so did he. Despite her being a stranger to him, he was attracted to her and we can see in his expression that it was not just because of her looks.
Xie Wei / Xie Ju'an, the reason I was glad that it didn't work out with Zhang Zhe. While Ning would have had a sort of peaceful life with Zhang Zhe, he would never truly have understood Ning as a person. He was a bit too rigid for her, sometimes that makes a good choice but the chemistry between Xie Wei & Ning was just too strong to notice anything else.

What really pissed me off was the story between Jiang Xuehui & Shen Jie. Shen Jie seemed like such a powerless character that it was hard not to feel sad for Jiang Xuehui and kind of curse Shen Jie for not having spine.

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The interaction between the main leads is just so adorable!

Loved all the moments between the main leads. Like the FL said many times, the ML could spout jokes with such a straight face and he was charming doing it. Chen Xiao was such a perfect choice for this character, he was a bit churlish but also sweet.

There that one time when you want to hit him on the head and tell him to go tell her the trust instead of hiding like a coward, but he just behaves like one for a long time. Thankfully, its not that long and we have a smart FL who figures it out.

All the women in this show were so powerful. It was beautiful to watch them focus on success of their businesses. They each had a dream and they found a way to achieve those despite all the obstacles standing in their ways. They even changed things for future.

The scene where the FL gets flogged is so sad, yet somehow added more more meaning to her fight.

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You might want to skip the subplot and focus on the scenes with the main leads

First in Broker and now in this, Luo Yun Xi seems to be a pro at leaving the viewers heartbroken. I do not like these kinds of endings, I kept hoping that he would reappear or be reincarnated so they could actually meet again but nope. If going into the drama I had known this, I wouldn't have watched it but then I would have missed out on a decent drama with leads that share powerful chemistry.

Of course there are many scenes that were too dramatic but the show kept things interesting. However after all the suffering these two went through they deserved to be happy together.

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Zhao Lu Si's Comedic Timing & Presence Made This So Much Fun To Watch

Both Zhao Lu Si & Ding Yu Xi's character looked so young. I never thought that these two would make good couple, but it was fun watching them. The chemistry while not explosive was subtle and heartwarming.

Ding Yu Xi's Han Shuo was such a green flag in the relationship (most of the relationship). In the beginning he wanted to kill the the third princess. And he was back to being his murderous self for a while because he thought the third princess betrayed him. But apart from that silly tidbit, he was kinda adorable.

They rushed the ending thought. They could have explored so much in the ending. What's more, the ending shed light on a major plot hole. When FL was transported into her story, she was quite aware that she wasn't part of it. However, ML was also transported into the story but he wasn't actually aware but went about the story as a character that FL could manipulate. When they both returned to the real word, claiming it was a dream, the ML didn't appear all that bothered but when the Fl caught on to him pretending he just gave in? That was too short of a time frame for all of this to be pulled of smoothly.

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Adorable Main Couple & No Annoying Characters

As i was watching the show, i kept waiting for any of the characters at the FL's workplace to turn into a cringy villain trying to humiliate her because I have been traumatized by those cliches. However, what i found was the colleagues the FL worked with were quite supportive and often looked out for her.

FL and ML were so adorable together. Storywise, they could have explored more of the villainous side of the ML so that the drama wouldn't have been so tame. Apart from that, it is a good watch. I'm not eager to watch it a second time but I know I didn't waste any time on this.

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