A Feel Good Drama on an angst subject!

A modern title to an ancient costume drama was incongruous!
Spoiler Alert!
This is a short review on looking at this drama from the angle of a lighter vein on an angst subject-death. How to make it into a feel good drama?
Antithetically sprinkling the sets with modern props? Give the viewers a fun time spotting them?
Add lots of comedic relief support players?
Approach it from a Chinese idiom, the “Sai Weng Shi Ma” (the old man lost his horse) method? (learning Chinese!) Facing life challenges in equanimity and matter-of-factly as there may be a hidden silver lining.
The story was mainly on 2 characters, the FL and the ML.
The FL was a level headed and kind-hearted female head of her clan with an impending doom .She had inherited her family deadly disease which will kill them before the age of 25. However that fate can be averted if she can find the “Destined One”, a man with a mole beneath the eye (the ML).
The ML was a stoned faced head of a mountain sect with an anomaly of a warm heart. He was on a mission to steal a martial arts book which can heal his demonic rage when it surged suddenly. That can be found in the FL place.
The plot was a simple story for the 2 main characters to find their remedies. With such a simple plot the script should have been tighter! Supporting characters like the rival lover, his cousin, his mother, the bad guy’s duo, should had less screen time. The SML (ML’s brother} and his physician were the comedic relief couple. There was no need to add duos of the bodyguards and the bad guys; too many cooks spoiled the drama!
In the end, how did the FL avoided her appointment with death at an early age? Give her the “Sai Weng Shi Ma” effect! She was hit mega dose from the villain and collapsed. The villains, Ml, FL were practicing from 1 martial arts book which had been tore into 3 parts. Each part when practiced singularly was dangerous. The villain was stagnated; ML had demonic rage while Fl shortened her life. The ML, who by then had found his missing book and practiced it, gave his inner force daily to FL to keep her alive. 3 different “qi” slowly merging into 1, and she came back to life!
Re-watch? Yes! Watch list after watching a sad ending drama!

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Destined rendezvous under the plum blossom tree !

From all drama, I try to look at them from different angles !
The plum blossom represents persistent resilience and tenacious perseverance against adversity .It will flower even in winter! In this story, a love that will stay true to each other against all odds!
This is a low budget production nonetheless the production team strived hard to create an abstract painting feeling in a poetic, artistic, narrative style of storytelling!
Spoiler alert!
The OST was sung in a nostalgic way with tinge of sadness, which is palpable even without auto-translated lyrics! The whole drama was auto- translated; lots of emotions were lost in translation!
The plot and acting centered on 3 main characters, the FL, ML and SML.
The ML - he has that melancholic, dreamy handsomeness, the tragic little boy lost look, which once he found his salvation in the FL, will do anything and everything for her! He will sacrifice even his pride, reputation and ultimately his life. He first met the FL while he was injured and escaping from killers that had killed his father.
The SML – he has that peevish, pretty boy look, who will threw temper tantrums at a whim! A warped and spiteful prince who knew that he did not have the love of his father, the king, and the queen of his heart, the FL. Thus he will seek to destroy their loved ones. He was in a vicious cycle of one who has no love, cannot give or receive love.
The FL –on whom the story hinged on. A beautiful person with a heart that was always willing to help people, a “candle” to the dark tormented souls of ML and SML. With an unwary charismatic charms she drew them in, and in the end, they can’t let go of her. The 2 “moths” died and the “candle” was extinguished.
The light filtering affects that of a surreal, floating, flowery atmosphere as that tale was told in significant scenes in symbolic terms. In the first episode, the callous prince stabbed the FL as she was protecting him, means that he will not be steadfast, and will only use her for his selfish interest. She was Good Samaritan who helped him when he was beaten, thought he needed her and was proven wrong. In that last episode, when she was reunited with the ML at their meeting place, the plum blossom tree, she heard a voice calling from the other side of the tree (from the mortal world) She turned around to help but hesitated for a long .She then turned to the ML and said that she will stay with him in their world that they had promised, to be together for immortality.

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Refashioned classic in to contemporary drama.

This drama used a classic as inspiration and drew four main characters from it. Similarly, it has an open ending but uses that to draw an educated guess that this drama has a HE. From the first episode, clues were dropped metaphorically, and it became clearer when the leads spoke aloud some of the well-known, legendary lines of an all-time best-seller in English.

Spoiler alert.

"Why, land is the only thing worth fighting for and dying for, because it's the only thing that lasts. It will come to you—this love of the  land."Unforgettable and famous lines from the iconic and classic book "Gone With the Wind" It's an emotional, powerful battle cry to evoke strong and brave determination to struggle, fight, and win against all odds. Substitute "land" for "education," and that's the theme of the drama. The power of education to change oneself and one's destiny .

The plot is an account of a girl's battle to attend university to escape poverty.

The primary four characters were modeled after the classic: Scarlett O'Hara (SOH), Rhett Butler (RB), Ashley Wilkes (AW), and Melanie Hamilton (MH).
 
Lou QiQi (QQ) was a strong,stubborn, smart, quirky, rebellious, and irrepressible girl with a strong ambition to better herself through education. This seed was planted in her by her adored grandfather when she was living happily with him in the rural countryside. He encouraged her love of reading and turned her childish curiosity into an analytical, logistical way of thinking. When she was brought back by her estranged mother to live in town,she was often neglected as her parents poured their care and attention onto her spoiled younger sister. At school, her grades were poor. She was often threatened by her mother to stop her schooling and work in a factory. She had to study hard every day for her journey to university. She turned resentful and rebellious, a short-tempered girl. She received her emotional support from XiaoBo (XB), a boy three years older than her, whom she regarded as an older brother. They promised each other to go to the university to change for a better future. Like SOH, QQ had the tenacity and perseverance to study hard, to be the smartest in school, and thus gain entry to university.

Zhang Jun (ZJ) was a good-looking, popular boy who lived alone, abandoned by divorced parents. That was reflected in his attention-seeking tendencies bordering on arrogant recklessness. His devil-may-care attitude hid feelings of insecurity and jealousy whenever he saw the closeness of XB with QQ. Inadequacy when QQ grades started to improve. He didn't understand her goal of being the smartest girl in school. They hid their innermost feelings, fears, worries, and doubts and hurt each other's pride and ego. Their stormy relationship was marked by fights and reconciliation because they didn't know what made the other tick. Things came to a head when XB told him that QQ planned to go to a lower-tier university with him. He was under tremendous pressure to measure up to her level and felt undeserving of her. The final straw was when she took revenge on him by betting with another top student to be first in  class.A role reversal that hurt his self-worth and self-respect. Replicating RB, though he cared for her, he still left her. He cares too much for her to drag down a high-flying kite like QQ.  


XiaoBo (XB) was a studious, reliable, hard-working, and dutiful son who lived with his mentally ill mother. He and QQ promised to go to Beijing University together. He fell in love with QQ but hesitated to tell her. He waited too long and missed his chance. Time and tide wait for no man. The tide of circumstances turned against him, and he failed in his finals twice through no fault of his own. The second time was when he was hiding from the police because of a fight and didn't turn up for the exam. That was his turning point when he gave up going to university, as he didn't change himself into an intellectual who didn't fight with his fist. He turned himself in and went to prison. It also meant he gave up being with QQ. In poignantly heartbreaking scenes in which he played out his fantasy as a boy buying his girl a dress and dancing with her on the dance floor for the first, last, and only time, Afterwards, he cut off all ties with her, as metaphorically shown with the bulldozer breaking down their old club house and significantly on QQ final exam day. Like AW, who was unattainable as he was married, QQ was unattainable because he has no degree and has a prison record. He always wanted the best for her, and he was not the best.

XiaoFei (XF), the best friend of QQ from childhood. Sweet, kind, gentle, and demure-looking, but like MH, underneath the soft exterior was a hard, resilient interior. She had nerves of steel as she bravely pointed her rapist at the police station. Her rapists were caught and sent to prison. However, she had to drop out of school because of the scandal and move to Beijing alone to begin anew. She took on many different jobs to work toward her goal of hotel management. The iron hand under the velvet glove.

The drama ended with an open ending, educated guess based on metaphorical clues from the drama as its HE. (This cannot be done openly as its Chinese adaptation was OE.)
1) Going by the classic, Frank Kennedy was SOH's second HUSBAND, whose wealth paved the way for her to regain her land. Chen Jin/CJ, the genius childhood friend of QQ, paved the way for her to study faster and more efficiently by telling her his tips. When she wanted to quit school because of poor grades, he motivated her with inspired words and showed her that she had the same potential and level as him when they both solved a math problem on the board. They spoke the same language and were in the same world.

2) CJ was the first boy she met in elementary school. In romance books and dramas, the first male lead, the FL laid eyes, was the one they ended up with.

3) In the first and last episodes, her face showed a look of unexpected surprise. Expect the unexpected.

4) Also in the first and last episodes were scenes of land. In this drama, education is represented by Land and CJ. The FIRST is to LAST forever.

5) In the second last episode, the final few minutes of a truck and a train( which she was on) were moving in unison. The fast-moving train then shot past, and the slower truck left the highway to diverge on a smaller road and faded into the darkness. It's an allegory, as the truck was ZJ and XB diverging from her while she was on the train to Beijing to meet CJ.

6) The poster showed XB and QQ in an allegorical highlight of the drama, as both had dreams of going to university. QQ was holding a book. A book is a symbol of education, as is the walking encyclopedia, CJ.

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Of 2nd chances and power corrupt!!.

That's the themes of this drama as most of us have regrets for with hindsight we wouldn't have done what we did or would do it diferrently. There's always the"what if..." question.3 main characters, ML,FL and 2ML of the drama were given this chance; to change their losing fate into a winner destiny.
3 were given 2nd chances to be winners in life,
2 strived & gain while 1 made no effort, still a loser.

Spoilers Alert!
.
The drama opened with the ML, the PM who has the authority to even barred the empress from seeing her dying husband.The infuriated empress ordered one of her maid to inform /2ML to get ready. The PM entered and the emperor ordered him to kill his sister, the princess royal,the PM's wife who he suspected of being the head of the nobles. The PM went to talk  with his wife who was in falling health and living with her lover, 2ML.After their conversation ,she ordered him to be killed,while taking her medicine,.she collapsed and as she laid dying reflected how if things were different. She then woke 20 years back to the past.Same with the ML, they then allied together to find out who and why were tricked to be killed.

In order for readers to readily understand the characters, circumstances, and scenarios, the writer employed modern terms while describing the key characters. Additionally, during the drama, enjoyable and contemporary activities like portraying the damsel in distress, indirect kissing, and hard to get were explored! The ML and 2ML were referred to as "toy boys," men who gained prestige, riches, and influence by using their attractive appearances.FL is described as a pampered, pushy, forceful, and proud,woman with "princess syndromes," a strong sense of self-worth, and a position of rank, riches, and power. Given that even her name was Princess Pingyue, she was the embodiment of the Princess Taiping type—the powerful and politically astute daughter of Empress Wu ZeTian.


The theme of 2nd chance is linked to power corupts for it corrodes ibling love as the FL eventually discovered that it was her brother who ordered her to be killed out of fear that she would be the head of his enemies.Power corrupts the ethnics and moral responsibilities and obligations of marital bond,parental love, siblings love and government officials towards the people and country.The emperor viewed his wives and children as disposable pawns.A princess saw her brother as a puppet to control and not kill her, a mother could replace her dead son with a fake to become Queen Mother.A lover could stand by to watch his lover slowly poisoned so that his illegiminate nephew could be the crown prince; and friend killed a friend so that her illegiminate son could inherit the throne. Also a corruptor's visage can be benign, harmless, and unthreatening, similar to the 2ML, such that he bent and turned his lover into a adultress and a concubine into a murderess, killing the emperor. To curb corruption in the government the FL was appointed to head the Inspectorate Department which was an anti-corruption department. The nobles had siphoned money for themselves and will kill innocents who stand in their way.To weed out corruption was to choose a leader with integrity and incorruptibility, such as the 2FL, who will enforce the law inside her own clan should she discovered to be corrupt.

In the ending the writer also presented an intriguing, utterly improbable feminist dream for history buffs like me: what if Princess Taiping inherited thethrone like England's Elizabeth I ? !!

The flaws! !! The 2ML has too much screen time! !!!He even has a sorrowful, lost love song that is playing in the background that is just for him!! Its an overkill!! !! Just remark that he returned from the past and was sufficiently enough! The 2ML was to be a foil to the ML for he don't learn from past mistakes. He fallen for the princess during childhood and wanted to marry her. His 2nd chance came in the present time-line when she proposed to him during the Spring Banquent an offer he decline . His father cannot disagree as it was an imperial degree. He failed to see that as a consort he made himself strong enough to push through his older brother proposal to 2FL and subsequently no illegiminate prince hence his family will be saved.The frequent scenes between him and princess were totally uncessary, and showed the writer's flaw. She was supposed to be the arrogant ,proud and strong princess who wouldn't look twice again to a man who rebuffed her proposal and who conspired with others to kill her.



Aside from that, I enjoyed the drama ..My favorite artistes, Zhao Jinmai and Zhang Linghe are the major leads, and they did not disappoint in fact ZLH ' s portray as the epitome of a perfect princess consort was spot on.

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Anti-corruption and justice in a murder mystery, ancient drama

This review is full of spoilers, and this is an exploration of the hidden messages put across the drama. The drama itself invited the viewers to think beyond and interpret it differently, as in the scene when the FL said it was easy to get the meaning of the clue, in which the ML contradicted her, a hint that there were double meanings. Clues from the victim scenes were sayings from the Analect of Confucius, the moral and ethical teachings, as well as the code of conduct.
1. My principal is unified. Found on the body of the captain of the bailiff (polce), propped like a scarecrow on a field. The principal purpose of a bailiff (police) is to uphold the law and fight against corruption. Unifying his team to fight against corruptors was his mission. The theme of the drama is why the bailiff (police) was the first victim, as they are the vanguard against corruption. He failed to do all that was depicted as a scarecrow, which was to scare away birds from feeding the crops. Instead, he was a corrupt officer. the fox in a chicken coup.
2. Six or seven young ones This refers to the fourth scholar of Confucius, who only wants an easy life. Found on the body of the scholar, whose mouth was stuffed with a headless chick and whose head was buried under the sand. A corrupt official can have an easy life with an ostrich attitude of hearing and seeing no evil and doing nothing. with the principal that you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.
3. Standing by the river, the Master said, "Time passes like this." Time passed easily for corrupt officials as they were sitting pretty.
4. Such a person could only get such a disease. A person with no strong moral character can easily be tempted by the disease of corruption.
5. In youth, his vital force was unstable; he should guard against lust. In his youth, it could mean that when he got his post, he was unstable as he was new and had no experience. He should guard against lust for easy money (corruption).
6. Worship the wrong ghost. Worship materialistic things in life.
7. The last clue found hanging on a corpse was ”those who cannot serve the people cannot serve the spirits," which I interpret as the second theme: justice. "What is justice?” Like the coin, which has two sides (head and tail), if one is missing, it is counterfeit. Justice is to expose the guilty AND their crimes; otherwise, it is not justice at all. Power corrupts, as the magistrate became a judge, jury, and executioner, taking the law that serves the people into his own hands and killing murderers without trials. The spirit of justice was not served. Without trials, it was also an injustice to the families of murderers' victims who didn't know about their despicable crimes. It thus became, inadvertently, a cover-up. A cover-up is an ACCOMPLICE to the crime. One of the reasons Judge Song had no closure and felt injustice was because he didn't expose the chief examiner and his incriminating actions against him and his friend. Justice has to expose the guilty and their crimes. Another person, the Ml, used his position in the Yamen (police station) to send his fellow officers on a wild goose chase to allow the murderer to kill the magistrate, who he suspected killed his captain, to get “justice”.
The law was to serve the people, and the guardians were the judge the magistrate, and the bailiff. If they don't get what justice is, then it's like hanging and suffocating justice.

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Imaginative tale from parts of Lord Buddha’s life story!!

Really, had to applaud the writer’s inspiration on making an imaginative and fantastic tale out of Lord Buddha‘s story!
Spoiler Alert!
Imagine how would a ½ human and ½ awakened being of the 8 practices of Buddhism (right thought, right speech, right effort, right action, etc) be like? He would have the ambiance of serenity, spell-binding awe, nobility and grace while bringing enlightenment to every scene he was in – kudos to Liu Xue Yi! He played it to perfection!
Also to Li Hong Yi, as he had to play Lord Buddha story of the renunciation of the throne and from worldly affairs. He was great in depicting Xiao Se with a cool aura, dashing resolute and an air of detachment.
Lord Buddha was of course foremost in ESP powers so in the story Xiao Se was the principal in martial powers. Some of Lord Buddha disciples were famous with specific psychic powers like telepathy, transcendental, clairvoyance etc. Xiao Se had companions in Lei Wu Jie, Sikong Qian Luo and Tang Lian , each with specific weapons.
1 great disciple transcendental to the lower realm and saw his mother suffering. This started the Buddhist tradition of transference of merits to ancestors during the ghost festival. In the drama, Mo Yi and Baili Dong Jun went to other realms. Mo Yi met with his dead sister and Baili Dong Jun, his dead wife, both were then cured from their mental sufferings.
1 character cannot have a wedding night scene - "non returner" on the path to nirvana which is 3 lifetimes of celibacy.
1 blood related relative plotted to kill Lord Buddha many times because of jealousy and envy which is considered 1 of the 5 “poisons” in Buddhism.
There was no FL in the Lord Buddha life story ! Often Sikong Qian Lou felt out of place in the drama!
Some of the gems of Buddhism teachings- don’t associate with non-virtuous friends. In the ending episode, the eye-opener conversation piece of the Director to Lord Bai which must had been a replay to his old buddy, the emperor, about Lord Langya that started the mess.
Don’t blindly accept anything handed down – tearing up the scrolls.
Free to explore any practices/religions - sit on that throne, if don’t feel right, leave it.
Everyone has a Buddha within /Buddha nature – Sikong Chang Feng to Tang Lian on making difficult choices: “follow your heart”. The emperor had heart disease as he follows his Ego not his heart.
Overall the actors and actresses that were selected played their parts so brilliantly that when some of them left the story, their memorable roles still lingered.

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Blame game of twists and turns.

The story was centered on the ML as the scammer which Jing Boran played brilliantly.Five of his victims were notified to attend his will reading on an island. However before reading of the will, each have to tell how he scammed them. The five were a journalist (FL), who was his schoolmate, a rich businessman who was the father-in-law,a socialite who was the college gf,,a financial accountant, his exlover and a fund manager,his ex partner..Hence the blame game began with each shifting their wants and needs to become a frictionalized fact that excuse themselves of blame.
Like a coin that has 2 sides, when the ML was rescued and told his side of the story.It a story of how a straight A student with a bright future made poor judgments on a wrong decision on a wrong choice. He cheated on final exam for his stepbrother when he went for revenge. His father abandoned him and married his stepmother but later took him back when his mother died., This generated a number of problems, including hidden bitterness, wrath, and holding grudges. To fit in with the family, he put on the act of being a good-natured and obedient boy, but in reality, he hated them.It was a poor decision to pretend to go along with his stepmother rather than notifying his father about her attempt to make him cheat for his stepbrother. He was caught, sent to prison and thus destroyed his bright future. He played a blame game and wrongly vented it out on his father as he threw his money back at him when he got out from prison instead of the outsider, the step mother .His father's way of apologising and concern about his welfare for he wanted him back to be his true self, the smart boy with a bright prospect. Instead of forgiveness for his father in trying to make amends, he left home and vowed to become rich without his money. Without a diploma, its was difficult to get a high paying job to become rich in a short span. Hence the road to scamming began with entry to a university with a fake ID and a fake name,FeiKe.
Its more like a psychological drama, ,and the FL was the only one able to bring out each fact in the actual compartment. The ML lumped his facts together and couldn't separate the fact that his father treated him or his mother in the past was vastly different from the present. From the time he provided a home and gave him an education to the time he was on his side when his stepbrother fought with him, to the giving of financial support to improve his future.

Conclusion: It is a personal development of oneself, which includes letting go of negative feelings , forgiveness of past mistakes of oneself as well as others, not degenerating and dwelling on inner demons, to regenerate to be your true self, a better you.

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An eye-catching title in a thought-provoking drama

Cdrama seldom has legal drama, which is one of my favorite genres, and this drama is an underrated gem. It is a multifaceted public service drama full of subtle messages cleverly woven without ramming them down viewers' throats. There are life skills and legal points on rape, domestic violence, and child custody for abused wives. It's enlightening and engaging, with an excellent script and an equally excellent performance from its cast.
Spoilers alert.
The theme was sex assault in terms of life skills.
The plot evolves around a rape report and three main characters: the victim, the perpetrator, and the lawyer.
ZhouXun played the cool, calm, collected, ethical, and elite lawyer whose client is the perpetrator, a playboy tycoon. A role acted flawlessly by Liu Yi Jun as the elegant, eloquent, enigmatic, and egotistical boss. Jelly Lin was the conflicted, complicated, confusing, and imperfectly imperfect victim who kept changing her testimony.
The story started with a scene of a woman, petrified and terrified, sitting in a bathtub while below the apartment, a man was anxiously waiting. He had earlier seen her sleeping on a couch at a drinking banquet. He watched helplessly, waited, and waited. He didn't attempt to call the police anonymously; somebody else did. Juxtaposed was another scene of another drinking banquet,where the lawyer was facing a threatening and belligerent client when her assistant barged into the room, acting drunk to force the client into drinking with him. Thus, the lawyer could escape safely. It is a study of the enormous difference between people who have or do not have life skills of critical assessment, critical thinking, and creative thinking on the spot in critical situations.
___The core of the story started with a rape report by an anonymous third party. The police came, and investigations were started. The victim and perpetrator statements were recorded. It was revealed that the victim did not refuse and did not resist. No utterance of "No, stop, I don’t want "and similar spoken words to that effect The operative words here were REFUSAL and RESISTED for the legal system to operate to help victims. Without those SPOKEN words, it’s misconstrued as consent,  thus becoming a daunting onus for the victim to prove otherwise. If one does not help oneself first, nobody can, not even the law.
A major stumbling block was the victim's lack of life skills in critical thinking in critical situations. At the banquet, she had to lie down as she was too dizzy. That was the way out of that room, by making the excuse that she wanted to vomit and then making a getaway. The second chance was when she regained consciousness; she should have said no and wanted to go home as she was too tired, but quickly escaped. He could not chase after her as he was in a bathrobe. Her creative thinking on the spot was weak and feeble.
The most relevant and salient points were conveyed and woven into the arguments between the female policewoman and her male supervisors, the interrogations of the victim, and testimonies from co-workers and other employees of the company.
The perpetrator had baited her with a quick promotion to a high-paying job mere months after hiring her, which others took years to achieve. This provokes greed and ego in her and in others with jealousy, envy, and unfairness. A job that entailed working with the boss alone at night Most people would conjure up the dangerous conjecture of having an affair with the boss. A job that necessitated going to parties, functions, and drinking banquets. This aroused negative connotations of a suspicious girlfriend rather than a lowly assistant. She also accepted gifts of branded and expensive clothes, bags, and shoes. This awakens her avarice and triggers her vanity. For others, it’s substantiated evidence that she was having an affair with the boss. The living accommodation provided was a luxurious apartment, which her roommate took years to achieve as a top merit worker. Acquiescence and accepting them meant the victim was pliable to touching, hand-holding, or, in short, sexual harassment. Red flags were everywhere. Her life skills in critical assessment were practically nil.
Another limitation was her weak interpersonal skills, for she made no attempts to make friends with co-workers or the bodyguard who saved her from sexual harassment from their boss. Another of her downsides was her poor cultivation of friends, resulting in a lack of friends to help her. During one of the interrogation sessions, she admitted she had misgivings about that promotion. She lacked friends to support or refute those apprehensions and provide emotional and mental support. Friends to discuss and share doubts, fears, insecurities, and problems. To exchange views and experiences to widen and broaden perspectives, thereby enhancing problem-solving skills with a logical, analytical mindset. Friendship cannot be underestimated, as it's essential for everyone to make, keep, and have friends.
In an eye-opening scene after a talk with the lawyer, the victim finally plucked up the courage to change her testimony. At the end, the lawyer had to give up her license to change sides to fight for the victim as a friend. It's an unexpected, unbelievable, and unrealistic twist. It is the writer's way of saying; it’s tantamount to an impossible mission for a lawyer to win a case for an imperfect victim when circumstantial and substituted evidence were against her. Once a bait is taken, it becomes the fault of the victim. The legal system is too weak to handle such cases. Only a friend with knowledge of the law can win a defamation suit.
To summarize, it is preferable to avoid and prevent work-related pitfalls by learning and practicing some life skills. Otherwise, one may be crippled for life.  

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An inference to current affairs in guise of an investigation drama?

Was this an ingenious view by the writer on world affairs? A cover-up with a cover-up.
The title and initials LON are the same as League of Nations, an old name of the UN.
Spoilers Alert!
This hypothesis was mainly because the story had masks, man-made biological weapons, man-made balloon missiles, and man-made weather changes and mutated decoy empress.
The plot was simple a case of deception where the empress substituted her ill son to a healthy boy to safeguard her status.
There were 5 main characters:
The Bad Guys: FL, empress dowager and her son, Shulin, the 2ML. They started with deception and ended in extermination.
The Good Guys: 2ML ,Zhang Pin and Lan Yue and 1 2ML, the emperor. They were interlinked to their machinations.
In that supposition that the 5 main characters represented nations or aptly their leaders.
Zhang Pin: can compromise principles for the common good.
Lan Jue: fence sitter who can be influence to align to a side.
Shulin : seemly free on the surface but underneath is tyranny.
Empress Dowager: powerful and will do everything and anything, even sacrificing own countrymen to main status quo.
Emperor: rising power and bent on regaining lost prestige and lost territories.
The ending episode has a jerking, pulling the rug from under your feet effect. It was to highlight that the 2ML were abandoning their principle and goal.
The theme of the story was Justice. Was justice served? Yes, the criminals died. Was justice seen to be served? No, the criminals and their crimes were not exposed. What is abhorrence to justice is a cover-up. It’s a prime prerequisite and no abatement to the victims and the survivors of a crime if abetments were done. Otherwise it’s a pretentious and preposterous play.
The cast were exceptional good. 2 outstanding ones were Jing Bo Ran who played Lan Jue , the graceful, cool and elegant finesse official with panache for manipulative manoeuvres. Shi Yue Ling, who captured convincingly the imposing cold, menacing majestically empress dowager who spoke in a deliberately slow frost biting tone and a pair of sharp piercing eyes that can sent shivers down the spine.
The cinematography promotes a soporific, sinister, creepy atmosphere more potent in the hypnotic water vessels scenes. Fostered also by dancers covering their faces in masks or grotesque paints in primal ritualistic like dancing as though releasing inner demons into the air. At times the drama felt like a horror drama rather than an investigative one.
Re watch? Yes, control your inner demon. Don’t grade yourself to a lower

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“As You Like iI”, its a double win!

Congratulations to Wu Jinyan on her comeback drama in her forte of revenge-driven FL and Wang, Xingyue to his breakout drama as ML.Their hot chemistry, acting from them as well as other supporting cast with a story telling in fast paced and suspence manner contriburted a lot Without a doubt, Yuzheng, a producer and showman with a flair for building buzz, had this double motivation. He also no doubt believed in the Law of Attraction since, a few weeks after the death of the NFL star turned actor who was charged with the double killing of his ex-wife and her male friend , he announced the show's premiere. That was sensational trial dubbed “the trial of the century” with overwhelming evidence which he succeeded with an acquital; for the drama opened with a husband killing his wife, the FL.However there is no doubt of the writer's opinion for he demonstrated that in the court trial when the FL's glib -tongued and quick wit which was comparable to Portia , from Shakespeare “A Merchant of Venice”, successfully defended her father against corruption.The scene mimicked the famous speech of Mark Anthony from “Julius Caesar”in distinguishing the fake and real honorouble man for the hard evidence was in the assets.Anybody can swear and say 10,000 words but action always belied the words between the false and the true. ( The FL's huband ,SYR, was like Brutus, one of "Julius Caesar's" closest friends, a seemly honorable man who betrayed and killed ,out of ambition. The antagonists SYR and the princess were the “Anthony and Cleopatra”of the drama,,a love relationship using each other for their own ends and ended up in nothing) )

Uundoubtedly the writer like me admired Shakespeare for his abilities as a poet, playwright, and life coach who understood the value of effective communication. In "Romeo and Juliet," communication problems led to tragedy since he didn't realize the poison was phony. JL has miscommunication problems with her father .She didn't tell her father that she didn't PUSH her stepmom. .The father was also at fault for he didn't ask why did she push her stepmom? Specific asking will get you what you're looking for and specific answering will get you off the hook.

The value of support, whether it comes from friends, family, or immaterial possessions like money or power, is another lesson imparted by Shakespeare as life coach. Like Caliban in "The Tempest," support is the magic that will make everything work.Due to her lack of support from her family and the Ye family, her maternal family, JL was sent to ZennyHall.She mistook her stepmother and father for someone who loved her more, so she angrily shoved the Ye family away when they came for her. JL burned her bridges. The FL(/XFF) on the otherhand, when she took over the identity of the dead JL got the the help of Mdm. Liu, JL mother's friend and the ML (the emperor's strong right hand because he was modeled after the Black Prince, the formidable, extremely competent warrior heir to "Edward III"), she left Zenny Hall. Initially she make Tong,JL,'s maid her strong supporter whom she treated like a younger sister.She build bridges within the family with no outward display of hostility towards people who don't like her, the half sister, female cousin,and stepmother whist,getting in good books with the father, uncles,aunts, male cousin and grandmother.Sought out to the Ye. the estranged JL's maternal family and help with their problems,get assisstance of the ML when needed, build a circle of friends and not enemies for even her spurned blind date became her accomplice! For without support its walking through life on bare feet.

Interestingly, despite being a vengeance drama, this one will remain one of my favorites since I discovered the formulaic phrase "petty and pathetic," which I will use as a daily habit for forgiveness and letting go.When someone wrongs or anger you, you always want to be ahead of them like Octavius/Augustus Caesar of “Anthony and Cleapatra”.Hence when I read haters, antis or rude comments, they are wallowing in pettiness and being pathetic for I 'm moving forward as its difficult to help those who don't want to help themselves.

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Sript-writer wanna be another  Hans Christian Andersen ?

Watch this drama like a fairy tale for the main leads were like Cinderella, saddled with wicked families from step-mothers,half-sisters, half-brothers, and own father from the FL's side . Hans Christian Andersen may be the mainstay of the script-writer's bedtime stories for the plot started off with “The Little Match Girl” setting for the FL , as a poor pedlar with her nanny who eke out a living after being thrown out by her wicked stepmother and her own selfish father, the PM. She dreamt of warm and cozy home and saved her money to live that life with her nanny.,All that came to naught when the nanny was kidnapped and she was blackmailed to be the substitute bride for her half sister as the groom was a dead war hero.(ML) Naturally as with fairytales, the main leads fell in love when the ML returned home, as its was a false report spread by his enemies.
When the drama progresses into "The Emperor New Clothes" storyline, get ready for some entertainment. In an attempt to bring about enduring peace between the two countries, the half-brother of the ML, the Cang emperor, was scammed into having his military hero wed the enemy's princess. This is extremely wrong because in the original, a young boy pointed out the swindle to the emperor, who then became aware of it. .The writer should nevertheless be aware that viewers don't enjoy that the victim is still in the dark about the scam and that the plan work out for wrong side.
Fairytales typically serve as moralizing tales, and in this drama, the obsession with love is represented by "The Little Mermaid" arc. As in the original, tragic narrative, love cannot be forced because the prince did not love the mermaid. In this case, Liang, princess who was saved by the ML, believed that she and the ML were meant to be together. The Liang princess made numerous attempts to win the ML's love and affection, but in the end, she was more like the cruel and heartless "Snow Queen," who killed all who stood in her path and ultimately perished.(The production crew even selected a younger, more attractive love interest for her, but she refused to understand that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.)
The drama ended in the happy ever after both for the main leads and third couples.
Verdict? . It was enjoyed as a fluffy fairytale for the main leads and supporting couples all have chemistry Visual for main couple were good and it helped that I only looked at the ML as being someone in his 30s as per plotlines and the FL as much younger. Writer though has to reread HCA again to horn his skill.

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Ancient custom drama making reference to the Cold War !

This drama is a feast for those who like world history for it took titbits especially from the pages of the Cold War. New interest must had arose in the scriptwriter when in 2017, secret JFK records (US President John F. Kennedy, 1960–1963, assassinated on November 22, 1963—drama specifically aired few days later as remembrance of his 60th death anniversary) were made public by the National Archive.This gave fresh information to make historical conjectures about the past that precisely corresponded to the facts to expound on and comprehend why particular events transpired as they did. A captivating and illuminating drama results from combining some Cold War events with some of its colorful and charismatic characters, a masterful script, and the superb acting of all the protagonists and supporting cast members.
Spoiler Alert.
The ML, Ning Yuan Zhou, was a smart and visionary espionage chief who was demoted and sent to safeguard the Wu emperor in the war. He was the composite of 2 historical figures: JFK and the powerful Director of FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, whose 48-year tenure saw the assassinations of JFK and then his brother, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), who ran for the presidency in 1968.
The FL,Ren Ru Yin, a cool and relentless vice section head of An female assassin espionage group who was frame for killing her benefactor, the An empress. She had to defect to Wu with state secrets, seeked asylum and assumed a fake identity as a Wu princess She was also a combination of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, a benchmark for style and class among wives of presidents, and RFK, who, as Attorney-General in his brother's cabinet was known for his ruthlessness and toughness in combating organized crime.
The opening of episode 1, "The Central Plains was thrown into a century of chaos when the last emperor of the previous dynasty was killed, split into many countries; among them 2 were the most powerful, Wu and An."(The Cold War, which lasted 45 years, began with the competition and antagonism between the US and Russia after World War II.)
The An emperor seized 3 cities from Wu and the war with Wu started. ( Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were invaded under Russian leader.Stalin and incorporated into the Soviet Union)
The Wu emperor listened to ill advisers to lead the war and got captured by An, leading Wu to a state of turmoil.( JFK did not listened to security advisers not to ride in an open-air motorcar in Dallas,Texas and got assassinated which shocked and stunned the nation into national mourning.)
The Wu emperor was captured by an An general with a modern revolutionary principle of fighting to end all wars. ( Che Guevara, with his romantically Latin good looks and long, wavy hair , was a legend for freedom fighters and a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla leader, 2nd in command after Fidel Castro of Cuba in the Cuban Revolution.)
The standoff between Wu and An occurred when Wu emperor was taken hostage by An who wanted ransom for his released.( The Cuban Missiles Crisis ,the standoff when US demanded that Russian removed Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba )
The FL, as White Sparrow, and her friend LingLong were to seduce Wu officials for state secrets in a banquet.LL was betrayed by her secret An lover and killed. (John Profumo,  the U.K. secretary of state for war met a model at a party. Unknown to him , she has a secret KGB lover. When the affair was exposed, he resigned but the Conservative Party lost the general election the following year)
Prince Danyang sending his army to ambush and killed the Wu delegation, going to ransom back his brother the Wu emperor. Countrymen fighting against each other. ( The Bay of Pigs incident, when Cuban exiles funded by CIA, landed and attempted to overthrow PM Fidel Castro)
The stunning announcement of unlikely marriage between Li Tong Guan and Chuyue by the An emperor shocked them and everyone else. He was an illegitimate son of a princess, while she was a princess from a powerful tribe. (Jackie Kennedy shocked and stunned the world when she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, just months after the assassination of her brother-in-law, RFK. She was from the upper-class society of New York while he worked his way from telephone operator to tycoon.They lived separate lives, she lived months in America with her children, while he was in Greece with his children. She remarried for a variety of reasons, one of which was probably PTSD following another shooting death. She had sat beside her husband when he was shot,stood beside vice president Lyndon B Johnson, when he was sworn in to replace her husband and endured a two-hour trip back to Washington with her husband in a casket and her dress still smeared with his blood. The princess, depicted as a picture of forced composure with an interior full of agony and suffering, sat waiting for an audience with the emperor for hours on end in that scene, which was brilliantly enacted in epi. 22. )
The princess left the sheltered life of the palace as part of a delegation to An, where she witnessed the hardships and impoverishment her people had endured during the conflict.She was even occasionally thrown stones and rotten vegetables to help her comprehend the animosity and wrath, and she responded by promising to restore peace.(The involvement of US in the Vietnam War with actual landing of troops resulting in heavy casualties, contributed to a great deal of animosity and outrage that its leaders failed to anticipate. The scene where Qian Zhao held his mates' badges and forced the emperor to show respect for them was a poignant way for drama to honor the troops who lost their lives fighting in foreign soil. When Saigon fell in 1975, the Vietnam War came to an end. A few days before, there was a dramatic and massive airlift to rescue US citizens, South Vietnamese government officials,their families, and thousands of others by helicopters to the waiting US Seventh Fleet in the South China Sea.Depicted in the rescue of Wu emperor by aerial lift of cables from his island prison)
The drama dragged many episodes to rescue the emperor.From the tightly guarded pagoda prison with its many booby traps to an Alcatraz like island prison. (A parody of sharp contrast from the ridiculously easy fatal shooting of the lone assassin of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald, to killing him at close range from another lone shooter, Jack Ruby, when he was being transferred from jail to court in police custody! Done in 2 days after the assassination and live on national TV! Real life is much weirder than friction! )
Betrayal was the drama's theme. The motive of the ML was to clear the bad reputation that his espionage organisation had betrayed the emperor in the war. While the Fl was to clear her name that she betrayed and killed her empress.The Wu and An emperors exploited and betrayed their people for their own greed and ego trips. The An Empress who experienced treachery from her father, son, and husband. The crown prince divulging his father's collaboration with the enemy country.There were innumerable such betrayals in the drama. ( In ancient times the punishment for betrayal was to pull out the roots.The writer put forth brilliant deductive speculation coupled with rumors of a connection to Marilyn Monroe, as both brothers did died of gunshots and JFK's only son died childless with his wife in a plane crash. The 2017 files also established that the Russians was not involved in JFK assassination, as they awkwardly put their defence on high security alert for attacks. The files also indicated that there was more than one shooter, as bullet holes demonstrated that the gunfire originated from multiple directions, confirming the conspiracy theorists' long-held belief. Writer theories were presented regarding the conspirators who ordered extermination with extreme caution in the ML statements of “gains and losses” and Zhong Sang ,Wu PM .This historical whodunit murder mystery can be solved upon all releases of secret files once FBI and CIA lift their blocks.).

BTW, the drama has OE like the JFK files. Is the writer venting on the viewers, or is it an act of betrayal?!!

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