The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (2020)

Way better than LOYX!!

I may be in the minority but having Ruyi is the much improved version of LOYX.
The plot is faster, funnier and the last stretch is less crazy convoluted.
The characters developments is clearer and more refined.
The cinematography and music is very pretty

This is a fluffy cotton candy filled with many laughter and sweetness that is enjoyable from start to finish.
The ML FL chemistry is crazy good, the politics/evil guys length & level of annoying in each eps is just right to built tension and not be draggy.

I saw many many many many complaints about lack of passionate kiss between the leads, but maybe we are just accustomed to western style kissing(?) such that we have forgotten that asians are much more restrained in showing their affection/passion.
With this pairing of FL/ML, they dont even have to kiss to generate butterflies - sometimes less is more you know.
for me, its not the passionate kissing that matters though, its the sticking through all the ups/down/crazy winding journey that is the gist of this story.
In their own ways, the FL/ML fight for their own beliefs, which is important, staying true for yourself first and foremost before becoming a good partner in your relationship.

Dont use your brain too much when digesting the plot (esp when it comes to the lightning scene in the last eps) and just enjoy the ride, because it was a really really really good one.

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Its Long But Entertaining.

I started to enjoy the episode at the beginning, so I decided to give it a try. The female lead to me was an immature, emotional, irrational and sometimes annoying. She was strong and smart but sometimes you question it. The male lead was cold and stoic military man but you could see he care and especially when he fell in love. At first I could not see them as a couple until much further into the episodes. Her dreams of what was going to happen I could not understand was it an important part of the story or not because it made little sense. Fu Xuan and Wu Baiqi the second couple became more interesting to me. I found there story funny and pleasant and more of a romance. I did not like Xu Ping/Prince An as a bad guy. (could be my prejudice because I like him as an actor and to cute to be a bad guy.) I could not understand that he could find all sorts of information but not the truth about his mother. If he really hated someone why not his brother the king instead of Prince Su. I could see his jealousy but he did not seem to love Fu Rong as a lover more as a sister. I did not like the last 5 episodes. I would have preferred a better ending for Fu Rong and Prince Su and to see Fu Xuan and Wu Baiqi get married. The bit about the future was a waste. better to have left it for 2nd season. The actors performance was great. I really got into all the characters.

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my two cents...

I was really anticipating this show after LOYX (which i felt was more heart-wrenching than this current plot). Was thrilled when they announced the line-up!! Finally finished the last episodes and hmm not sure how i feel about it?

I have nothing much to say about the acting and chemistry of the leads. ZZH & JJY are doing great, their chemistry's great + good looks and acting :) the second couple was cute too. However, i just feel that there can be more screentime for the leads?? The editing is kinda weird too? Like one moment you are just getting into the sweet scene, and the next cut is just some irrelevant scene LOL. And i think because they removed some scenes (the dreams), the story seems kinda disjoined... and also, i feel that there are alot of preventable misunderstanding between the main leads? I mean i feel that the heartbreaks are kinda unneccessary... but lucky they resolve those quite fast. Abit frustrated with the main villian Duke An as well? Like he is being overly obsessed with FL, and he didnt even check the real situation and reasons before he committed to revenge? And seriously i think the reason was kinda lame.... eitherways, he died in vain lol since his mum didnt even die in the end LOL. Sorry, while i am a JJY fan, her character is frustrating at times. She's too gullible sometimes, which leads to alot of misunderstanding with the ML, whom obviously devoted himself fully to the FL. At least, they had a happy ending, though it was kinda rushed? Just waiting for the modern epilogue which is rumoured to release when the series ends.

p.s i think it was kinda weird like FR was dying, but XJ and her were at the top of the tower?

all in all, i still had fun watching the show. Really enjoyed the second pairing between the leads. Just hoping there will be a third pairing for the two in a modern series... not sure if it's possible though.... hoping :|

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Started off strong, became a bit of a mess afterwards.

•I really enjoyed this show for the first half or so..it was very interesting up until episode 30 or so, where i realized this show was going to turn into a MESS. the story began to be nonsense, and it was a constant back and forth.
•I really loved the characters, but the main characters bothered me a lot. Their relationship is so toxic, there is constant misunderstandings between them, and it felt like I was attending a couple’s therapy session whenever they were on screen. Also, I just couldn’t sense any chemistry between Fu Rong and Prince Su... idk. They are interesting, at least ^_^
•I LOVE Prince An but his actions/psychopathy/literal downfall thanks to his obsession with Fu Rong made me sooooo uncomfortable like what the fuck is wrong with you. Just be gay.
•I am in love with Fu Xuan she was my fave shes so beautiful and smart and lovely omggg. I’m so happy for her and Wu Baiqi they’re too cute and I honestly enjoyed their “romantic” scenes way more than Prince Su and Fu Rong.
•Honestly all the side characters rock. Xu Jia and Mr. Ge are definitely gay for eachother. I loved those two so much <3 I also loved A’Xiang and A’Yuan, and I wish we had more closure on A’Yuan and Prince An’s relationship. I thought it was super interesting... Also A’Xiang and Wen Xing <3 I love them <3
•One character I disliked but grew to LOVE was Cui Wan and her final arc really made me so sad idk why. I felt so sorry for her and that marriage but I’m happy that it ended up good in the end and I hope she’s doing alright. She deserves so much happiness (fuck you prince su you heartless bitch)
•I wish the last episode ended 25 mins in. Fu Rong should’ve died but instead they fucking pulled a frankstein on us.
•The OST is literally AMAZING honestly at this point i’ll reccomend watching this show for the goddamn OST, it was beautiful. So memorable and lovely like wow. Speaking of which, they went HARD on this show the production quality is LEGITTTT.
I will still reccomend this show because there’s a god damn reason I finished 40 episodes in less than 2 weeks. It was definitely entertaining for my little monkey brain.

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Of course I had to watch this after The Legend of Yun Xi.
I did enjoy the drama. The male lead was really good to her from the start and always had eyes only on her. I was so glad for the fact that he never married someone else. I liked their casual confessions and their sweet relationship. Even though Xu Jin was a cold character, at the beginning there were many times where he was quiet playful. He wasn't completely serious.
Wu Bai Qi was also an amazing character. Its's always good to have someone like him by your side. To be honest I really liked Duke An as well. He did wrong but he just loved the female lead.
There were a lot of points they could have improved on (my opinion only).
The storyline between Wu Bai Qi and Fu Xuan should have developed more and they should have either got married or at the end their ending should have also been shown properly. It was like a sudden stop. I feel as though the last 6-7 episodes were quite rushed. I mean everyone went through a lot so we did deserve a more detailed ending.
Duke An's mothers secret was also out of nowhere. They could have introduced her earlier. I feel as many aspects of the drama were left half way.
Also the fact that I did cry means the drama was worth the watch and I have recommended the drama to many people already.

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I actually felt the love that the male lead character had for the female lead character!!!!

I wished this drama would have focused a little more on the romance between the female and male lead. Towards the end of the drama (episodes 30-40), the storyline became loopy (e.g. female lead keeps choosing the business over her husband, etc). I actually felt like the male lead character really loved the female lead character. The male lead acting convinced me of his role. When the male lead character hugged the female lead character, it felt very warm and sincere. I liked the second female lead character romance with the second male lead character but I did think their romance overshadowed the first leads romance. Why did they make the female lead skin look white like the color (vampire white)? It was hard for me to focus on the story at times because of that. Also, the female lead looks too skinny. Some people are naturally really thin but she looks sickly. Lastly, I like C-dramas because it doesn't show sexually explicit content. However, I wish they'd at least show the male and female lead characters kissing in bed after they get married to let us know that they consummated their marriage.

Overall this drama was good, but I think episodes 30-37 should have focused on the leads romance. Since episodes 1-29 was mostly focused on politics or R.P. business. Wait....as of episode 38 the two leads hadn't slept together as a married couple? SIGH. Duke An's initial reaction in episode 40 was a bit unrealistic when he made a mistake and stabbed the female lead character. If the female lead character would have died in episode 40 I would have changed my rating from 8.5 to 9.0. Sigh, she gets struck by lightening and that cures her from a poisonous stab wound that didn't have an antidote. THAT LITERALLY MAKES NO SENSE!

For some reason I found Duke Su attractive (because of his love for the female lead character). I also found Duke An attractive (he seemed very manly, although evil).

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When I read some negative comments, before I started watching the drama, I imagined it to be much worse than it is.
The script has many flaws in the coherence of the narrative. The characters are not well built and, in many moments, the story is tiring. The first female protagonist alternates between annoying, stubborn, naive and of dubious intelligence. The second female lead is smarter and more interesting. The first and second male protagonists are cute, however, for the first protagonist, the character is weak, as he is easily deceived and does not suspect the traps set by people close to him. The emperor's character is manipulated all the time, lacking intelligence but much authoritary. The villains are unbearable, everyone wants to kill the protagonist, but the foundations are shallow and, when defeated, they take action to redeem themselves and accept their fate with resignation because they know they made a mistake.
The manipulative uncle who had so much information, never sought the truth about the mother? How does a writer, and also a director, make a scene as nonsensical as the lightning bolt? What is the logic of a poison, which has no antidote, not causing harm? If the protective mesh was the protection, why the blood from the wound?
The cast performed satisfactorily within what the characters required, as composing such poorly written characters is heroic work.
The steering slipped at the start and went downhill towards the end. The mistakes are countless, both in editing and in the creation of scenes. The notion of time is quite impaired. The ending isn't even bad, but it focused only on the protagonist couple. Art allows writers and directors to create the impossible, but when the characters do not belong to the fantastic world (gods, demons or immortals), it is necessary to have logic and respect the limits of physics and biology.
The costume is appropriate and beautiful.
The soundtrack is pleasant.

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It can be better

Mine might be unpopular opinion. But I really have high expectations for this drama.

The main couple already have such great chemistry. But with repeated misunderstanding it make me frustrated. FL character not very consistent, I think she supposed to be smart but sometimes I doubted that. But they such beautiful creature I enjoy just watching them anyway.

The 2nd couple was so much fun and interesting to watch. This couple make me stay until the end. Their character also very consistent and grow beautifully, like they love story. I just love the way wu bai qi staring at fu xuan.

The villain are ok. I can understand why Duke An became such hateful and resentful person after misunderstanding about his mother death, but his closure was not satisfied. But I can't understand how fu rong ex-bestfriend can be so mad at her to the point she plotting against her. I mean, you two basically growing up together, being best friend for so long. And her brother death not directly related to fu rong.

Some of the supporting role just pain and irritating, like the emperor (keep repeating the same mistake, not very bright isn't it), the princess (nasib baik hujung2 tu jadi baik sikit even still annoying).

I hope the maids or guards can be on the funnier side, like in tiger and rose (they scene always steal the show). They are quite comical sometimes though but not at tiger and rose's guards level.

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Overall it was okay, watch with low expectations

This was somewhat enjoyable enough to watch (despite being strung together C-drama tropes) but I've just gotta say a few things. The acting was mostly pretty good, but I didn't really pick up on any chemistry between the leads. The ending "resolution" is one of the biggest BS moments and it's some of the laziest writing I've ever seen. I guess I'm glad it was a happy ending but it was such a cop out and I wish they had come up with better. Also the makeup on the main character made her look like a pothead, it was terrible looking (all red around the eyes) with what looked like spider legs for eyelashes. They seriously messed up her mascara. ?

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