Surprisingly Delighted

Well I was delighted when I watched this series a week ago. I find it cute and funny. I normally don't get pleased watching teeny bopper shows but hey I liked it. Alright the female lead is slightly awkward. Another reason why I wanted to watch this was probably due to the main lead. I was curious. He portrayed Lao 'Ai in The Legend of Haolan and I found him great there - though short screen time.

This is a very light-hearted series that focuses on the story of a lady who became a eunuch. Eventually directly serving the emperor. And obviously the emperor found out and fell in love with the female lead.

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I've been trying to watch this series since 2018 and I kept putting it off. I watched the first two episodes and I dropped it because I was irritated with the female lead's acting. Then I decided to watch it again and finally finished it. I wouldn't recommend it but the plot is fantastic.

First off I like it that the creators chose this whole bunch of cast with the exception of Angelbaby. They all looked the part. What I meant is that they are not the usual teenagers or in their early twenties which seems to be the trend now a days in Chinese dramas. I noticed that even though the role calls for a mature actor instead its being portrayed by younger actors/actresses which makes the drama being farcical.

I don't find Wallace Cheung to be physically attractive but I find him to be good actor. I first noticed him on Too Late To Say I Love You and I fell in love with him. He did an excellent portrayal of his character. He is not so good here might be due to the bad script or story. However Wallace's acting craft enables you to charm and like him. He has a way of wanting you to follow him.

Now here comes the female lead. I don't understand how the creators decided to cast Angelbaby. Don't get me wrong I love to watch gorgeous faces on the screen but if that person can't deliver the goods forget it. She looked like a blank board all the time with her wide eyes and unnaturally perfect and surgically enhanced lips. I really did my best to disregard this but damn it's too distracting. Not all gorgeous face has the skill to act and I believe Angelbaby is one of those. They could have chosen Yang Mi or Cecilia Liu for this part. They have more gravitas.

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Well I was rather impressed with this series. I understand its the same creators of Story of Yanxi Palace. This is one of the few Chinese series that I'll give a high score. The cast did a great job I believe it has something to do in choosing the right person to play the character. Lately most Chinese dramas I've seen is such a miscast of characters or they're either too young or too old for the part. They all looked age appropriate for their portrayals.

I actually binge watch this series for two days because I can't wait to find out the next episode. I was captivated by the characters. Though I don't really find the lead actress to be beautiful but I'll definitely give her performance a two thumbs up or even for everyone.

The unfolding of the plot was done well and the twist and turns was delightfully anticipating. Also, there's not much fillers in this series which normally dominates any Chinese dramas. I would say Bravo!

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Surprisingly Delightful

Unexpectedly this series cracked me up. And it was rather a delightful experienced to watch this drama. Though there were some annoying parts here and there, but hey what drama doesn't. It's refreshing to watch all these male leads without extreme interruption of possible female mate. Others say that this is some kind of BL story. For me it's not. It's about friendship who happens to be all male species. It's about working in collaboration with a male specie. And this happens to us a lot - the female species. We have deep friendships with our female friend, childhood friend & etc. When there's misunderstanding we are bothered and it threatens our sense of belonging.

Now Tang Fan is a very annoying character at the same time funny. I believe that's the intention of the creators. And Kudos to them for coming up with this kind of character. Darren Chen for me is extremely thin. I wish he could bulk up a bit. His portrayal of a young, intelligent scholar who happens to work in the police bureau at the same time with penchant to good & tasty food was spot on. But his voice tends to sound whiny at most which is very irritating.

Sui Zhou's character is a matured, melancholy one who happens to suffer from PTSD. In other words he's a veteran of war. Fu Meng Bo was actually good with his acting. He displayed a serious demeanor as a police officer and as a person.

Furthermore, Wang Zhi's character is full of nuance. And the actor Liu Yao Yuan was excellent in his portrayal. Playing as an orphan eunuch who happens to possessed a lot of courtly powers as endowed to him by the emperor. A eunuch who investigates crimes and sometimes an envoy of the emperor. Very good.

Lastly, Dong'er's character is good - not the typical whiny female teenager. Excellent idea that she's bright and has photographic memory and assisted her friends in the investigations. I love this teen-age actress' portrayal. She's brilliant.

I hope there will be a season 2 since the last episode ended with purportedly black death epidemic. I would definitely rewatch this series sometime in the future.

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Great Great Drama

Ah! Where do I begin? I've watched this series last year and my overall rating was 8. Few months later I've watched it again. Well it 's really known that the most autocratic dynasty that ruled China was the Ming Dynasty. And this affects the lives of women due to neo-Confucianism and among other things. The rigidity and strictness that was being imposed on women was really designed to oppress the female species. Well I can go on and on about this. This drama is a story of a young woman who's desire in life was to learn to be a physician and heal patients. Of course she encountered mountains of hurdles along the way as men's mindset at that time was extremely primeval. The story is set during the Ming dynasty and the Oirat's several attempts to bring back the Mongolian rule. How the eunuchs' influence on the young emperor brought him his ruin that led him into Oirat's captivity and losing his position as an emperor to his brother. In the midst of it all is our heroine.

This drama made me shed barrels of tears. First time I've watched it I sobbed plus it's exacerbated due to it's beautiful and heart-rendering OST. And it had the same result the second time around. Every time the OST is played on the background with Cecilia &Wallace on screen - knowing that the love is there but it can't become into romantic reality made me burst into tears. Others say that emperor Qi Zhen (Wallace) had unrequited love for Yun Xian (Cecilia) but I disagree. She loves him with all her heart without realizing it at first. Or it might be because she already committed herself to Qi Yu and the emperor had an empress. Such complicated relationships for these characters involved in the story.

Great choice of cast specially the leads. I've admired the works of Cecilia and I find her a good actress. I've watched her on Sound of the Desert, Scarlet Heart & Lost Love In Times. Oh God! All the mentioned series made me cry but they're all FANTASTIC. She is somehow great in finding chemistry with her on-screen partners. She makes you fall in love with her character and the men she's with. Except for Qi Yu. Ahhgghh! Hate him such an asshole. The actor is great but I never warmed to him. He is not handsome nor charismatic. Compared to Ye Xian (Mickey Yuan) I don't find him endowed with good looks as well but he has charisma. And Cecilia was even able to connect with him on screen. There were times I wanted to scream at Yun Xian to show more strength in front of her nemesis like the empress. But duhh...

Now, Wallace's acting is spot on. This is the first time I've watched him but damn his portrayal was superb. I love how his character has grown from being frivolous to a matured person. From a young emperor, to his captivity, to retired emperor. There were many instances that I wanted to find the director and scream at him. Good God! Ask him to hug Yun Xian or kiss her. What's wrong with more physical intimacy on-screen. So annoyed.

Critique: I really don't know Chinese Traditional Medicine and I did a little research since I'm curious. There's a lot of criticism about it in the medical field such as claims of purportedly healing efficacy. But hey every culture and tradition has its own idiosyncrasies. But what I can't fathom is the use of chicken dung and its effects as medicine. Eewww disgusting! And there were a lot of other dodgy medicinal ingredients featured in the series. Plus it was made worse with the subtitle because of the translation.

On the other hand, this drama is superb. I love it. Highly recommend it. How I wish the Chinese drama makers will make more of this kind of dramas - meaning serious with good cast appropriate to their characters. There's really very few of this category, there's mostly these teeny fluffy historical rom-coms.

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I definitely love this series. I like how the story progressed. The story is well written and the cast did an incredible job.
I've seen several of Cecilia Liu's series and I like her acting because she always has depth in her portrayal of the characters. Though as always there's this typical Chinese style of acting - to be childish. But she only does it either on the start of her series or very minimal.

This is the first time I fell in love with Hu Ge. He's so handsome and excellent in his portrayal of the character. And he always look more stunning in historical outfits.

Eddie Peng - well I was surprised! He's incredible in this series and this is the first time I've seen him. I find him charming actually.

Now the female antagonist is so annoying which means she's effective. But I did not like her.

With regards to the background music, most of it were alright. But I detest the piano background because it sounded more westernized. The creators could have chosen the traditional Chinese sound to have more of an exotic appeal since the story is also unique.

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I like this series that I've already watched this three times this month. Probably due to quarantine but I never get tired of rewatching this fantastic series.

In fact this is one of the few TV series that I'm satisfied with the main leads and supporting cast. They're a fantastic team. Also, so far what I've seen in Bai Lu's acting doesn't involve any of this stupid, childish girly type that seems to dominate the Chinese screen. I've seen her on The Legends and I find her really good in that series. Since I'm a perfectionist - the only thing I didn't like in this one is Bai Lu's wig when she wears it as a girl. They could have chosen a better one.

Toby Lee was great also in this one. I love his portrayal and there seems to be depth in the way he portrays his role. Xu Cai as always the chivalrous rascal. He's good.

How I wish they didn't dub the singing portion of this show so it would look more realistic. This is what I hate about Chinese series. Let the actors or actresses sing live for sure they can sing.

Also the men's make up is not bad - it's more realistic. It's not like the rice cake vampy look that I see most of the time.

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I love this TV series. Set during the Chinese Republic era in which the country was ravaged by constant war among the so called "War Lords". Amidst this time two people fell in love from completely different backgrounds. One from the military family and the female lead is from the rich family. A story about marriage of convenience or forced marriage always leads to life of misery. An always common theme in a Chinese drama is a female antagonist who is passionately in love with the the male lead and would do everything to force herself to him. Thus conflict and disaster ensues. It seems like that Chinese women are hell bent once they set eyes on a man. To which I find ridiculous but I believe it's the culture. LOL!

I believe it's a well written TV series and the cast were great. Fantastic chemistry between the leads. Tragic story and illogical blaming of another family's ruin on which got nothing to do with the protagonist's family. It's really sad to watch how the old mentality prevails and forces a child to marry because they like the prospective mate without any regard on what their daughter feels.If you like romantic story with tragedy it's a must watch. It's a heart wrenching series.

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Though I hate the fashion during the Qing dynasty, specifically the men's hairdo but this drama allowed me to overcome that hurdle. Absolutely amazing story and great choice of cast with exception of the 4th Prince. I didn't warm towards him and I find him too wooden with his acting. I understand that the character being portrayed is supposed to be cold-hearted in appearance. However instead he appeared to be robot-like.

I like the romance between Ruxi and the 8th Prince. I was heart-broken when it ended. How I wish they ended being together. He was still the virtuous prince in the end.

This is a heart-warming drama. The beginning was such a delight to witness how the female lead discovered that she had time-travelled and occupied inside a 16 year old body. Plot wise and how the story progressed was great, the same thing with the character development. It's such a heart-wrenching show that dramatizes a woman's life living inside the Forbidden City. Once you're in there's no way out unless you're dead or you've been disgraced. That's why I always love the Western civilization for giving us democracy. Thanks to Greece the birthplace of so called democracy. Women in the olden days were treated more like of an object instead of as a person.

I've also seen the Korean version and it was also a tear-jerker. But this original version has more depth and development of the story.

Critique: What I hate about Chinese dramas is it's always infested with fillers though this one is not. Bur how I wish when it comes to performance like singing of an actor or actress in a drama they should perform it live to make it appear believable. It shouldn't be lip-sync or dub.

Overall I was satisfied and in fact I've already watch this twice.

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What a captivating story! But the female lead's face ruins my watching enjoyment. Where do I begin? I understand the female's character vision of the story but still the creators could have chosen a better looking actress. She has nice abundant hair though. She has such an annoying face and no range of facial expression. She always displayed a facial expression that she detest or smelled some kind of bad odor. I watched this because I was bored. I don't normally watch modern Chinese series only the period dramas but I guess I ran out of something to watch.

If you're an extreme feminist perhaps you won't be able to handle to watch this series.It's the BDSM of television drama that touches your psyche. If you want to torture yourself at the same time having the pleasure of watching on how this series unfolds - this is how you will feel about this story. Kudos to the writers for creating such an excellent stupidly moronic female character. Yes she is an ABSOLUTE moron in this story. Indeed there are some people in this world who would allow themselves to be dominated and manipulated by others. I extremely abhor this character because as a human being you're responsible of what happens to you.

If it were not for the story I won't be able to finish this series. Damn! None of the cast in this drama are good looking except for Harwich Lau. Even him is not really outstandingly handsome. His supposedly wife looked so matronly that she could have played his mother. Come on! What's wrong with the creators? Perhaps this is an extremely low budget project. Even the other love interest of the female lead looked like below average. What's the point of watching a movie or TV if they're not pleasing to the eyes. Instead they're an eye sore. Indeed good job to the creators for creating this fantastic series despite the lackluster appearance of the cast. Except of course of the male lead and his acting skill is superb. Bravo! Most of the time you would loathe him at the same time he can successfully make you feel pity for him.

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I was excited to watch this series as it has great reviews and high score feedback. However I had a hard time finishing it. I pushed myself to finish it but I really couldn't do it. The show has a great plot which is obviously inspired from The Man Behind The Iron Mask. However this series lacks the execution of the intrigue and drama. The flow is too slow and the cast are all boringly portraying their characters. The empress looked too old for the emperor who only has two facial expressions. And the emperor looked looked like a twelve year old choir boy who had one facial expression the entire show. None of the women here are exciting. They are too bland. The only great thing in this series is Elvis Han. I guess he portrayed his character well.

I'm sorry but I was really bored watching this show. Not great at all. I wouldn't recommend it.

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