Who Rules the World (2022)

I was fully immersed in drama from the start, as I was impressed by the introduction. Although wuxia elements were very typical but sufficient to keep me engaged, and the extremely likable female lead from the very start... mysterious male lead, action-packed sequences... everything sold it out. Then episode by episode I started to love all interactions between leads, development in their relationship, sizzling chemistry, cuteness overload moments, and before I knew romance was the only thing that kept me around... as apart from it everything become quite a lot of mess in the end.

Drama can be categorized into three parts politics, the martial arts world, and war. A huge ounce of the drama revolves around politics (of course its title has 'rule' in it) that shouldn't be a problem but it's not clever or even smart, kinda illogical at some points over the top, and repetitive. I was bored by schemes circling one after another with the most annoying, bratty characters with a lot of screentime. My most beloved part in the martial arts world (expect the tianshuang sect *if you know*), it has thrill, excitement, and interesting enough concepts to keep one stick but to the disappointment, it's too brief, I would prefer it over boring politics 100 times... then comes the war part: most condensed one, with choppy editing, dizzy camerawork, inconsistent transitions, and not bad CGI. Everything is rushed here, many things don't have proper closure... no explanation at all, we just have to imagine many things in our head to reach the conclusion given the situation.

Apart from terrible CG at some places, it's high budget production.. aesthetics, costumes were beautiful, and sets were extravagant. Keeping spinning fight scenes... cinematography was impressive, love the grandness... yet simplicity whenever needed.

Have to say Bai Feng Hei Xi has become my most beloved couple in c-dramaland... firstly they both are extremely likable as individual characters, they compliment very well, they are very well aware of each other's needs, and they have 'conversation' (damn isn't it very unlikely when leads talk with each other in dramas)... though their story has some stereotypical elements it stayed a mile away from stupid misunderstandings, noble idiocy, greater good... blah blah blad, thus romance brightens everything.

Nonetheless, drama is the victim of crappy writing in some arcs, screentime distribution doesn't give justice to everyone except Yang Yang, there's less Zhou Lusi in some parts, where annoying, spoiled characters get loads of time to annoy us to death but interesting characters whose arc should have been way more interesting with good setup given a pinch of screentime that they don't get flushed up. Some characters appear and vanish as per the convenience of the storyline and it is so bothering.

After a long time, I can really say that BFX is an example of a strong female lead, whose intellectual doesn't come and go as the story needs.. who is consistent throughout the drama. Lovable, carefree, bright as the sun, smart... and I love she's a foodie. Literally, there wasn't a single moment where I didn't like her.

I hoped they should have kept little darkness in HFX's character from the book... firstly it confuses as hell viewers BFH's attitude towards him in the beginning, secondly he's just too perfect, fitting in that 'I don't have any cons' mold accurately, which brings us two nothing but perfect leads which don't really lead to any character development in them.

And damn that identity reveal was so underwhelming considering I waited for it a long time, it was bland as water.

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At first i thought this drama would be full of cliches romance and boring political schemes. But it turns out to be different.

I really love ZLS and YY, they look good together and had great chemistry.
But i feel like the story doesn't do them justice. The genre is romance, but romance part took so long to surface. However when they got together they're unseparated. No useless dramatic break up or silly misunderstanding.

I also like how the female lead stayed strong from beginning to the end. That's really rare to see

Usually i don't enjoy political schemes/throne intrigues, but this one were done really well and i ended up liking it.

But the development of the story was kinda weird towards the ending. There's just too much time skip and death, which makes me had to rewatch the scenes several times to understand what's going on.

I feel like they're too focused on Prince Lanxi. I wish they also show the story of Princess Xiyun, rather than just squeeze her part of story in the last episodes.

The costumes and setting looks really eye pleasing.
The cinematography, and fighting scenes were choreographed nicely.
OST were good and it fits the drama.
All the casts portray their roles perfectly.




Overall
Who Rules The World is more of a political/wuxia drama with light romance. Which is actually not my cup of tea. But I'd definitely rewatching it for the leads.

If you like historical drama with more political schemes, I'll recommend you try this.

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Finally a wuxia with a wise, clever, badass FL

This drama has a lot of reasons why to watch, but I'll just focus on the ones that I loved most about the story, characters, relationships and ending. I didn't read the novel, so my review is solely based on what I saw in the drama.


Characters:
We have a very good character development of the main leads, but I just wanna emphasize the FL since I loved it so much.
In the first place, I LOVED how she's strong and badass (referring to the martial arts and wisdom) in comparison with other wuxia/xianxia dramas where she may know a little bit of martial arts but still portray her as a damsel in distress.
In this one, she's equally strong with the ML (maybe stronger, even though he is also very skilled). From beginning to end her character stayed like that.



Another point that I loved is Bai's and Qiwu's (2FL) relationship. They became besties since day one!
Even though Bai Fengxi hadn't acknowledged her feelings for Hei Fengxi when she met Qiwu, so there wasn't a sign of jealousy on her part, I loved how Qiwu didn't focus on the fact that she was meeting a love rival, but instead, she was mature enough to recognize and value Bai as a person. There weren't evil plots against Bai, instead, she recognized how great Bai is, complimented and lifted her. Hei even felt like a third wheel when they were together because of a meeting! Hahah! XD


FL and ML relationship:
Their communication was on another level. They always told each other everything, leading to almost NO MISUNDERSTANDINGS between them (meaning the dramatic ones we usually see in wuxia/xianxia dramas). They were such a mature and realistic couple.

Plus their chemistry was fabulous. Most people say is a slow-burn romance, but I think their flirting since ep 1 compensates it. XD With every look you can see how much they like each other, even though they don't express it with words, specially Hei. You can clearly see from ep 1 how he starts getting interested in her leading him to be head over heals around ep 10-13 already. Hahah!


Story:
I won't resume it, since you may know it from the plot description, so I'll just give my honest opinion regarding some parts of it.

Overall, is a great story about learning what truly means to live this life, knowing that love is more important than power (I'll elaborate on this later).
It starts really strong with a lot of action, which is what made me get hooked, but in the middle then gets a little slow, since they focus more on politics and the fight between characters to "who rules the world". I kinda get why they did it like that, is just that it started so hyped up and then suddenly dropped the intensity. They created a great expectation about the villain and then suddenly changed the subject, so that's a kinda let down. But I guess it was a strategy. First to get you hooked and second, to give context on the characters, specially the leads.


BIG SPOILERS AHEAD, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
About Lanxi's sacrifice and giving part of his lifespan to Bai Fengxi, I honestly loved how they explained it and things unfolded. Much people didn't like this part of the story, but I honestly liked it.
In drama land (especially wuxia/xianxia), they normally die to save each other: FL dies to save ML's life, but then when he recovers and learns the FL died, he just looks for a way to revive her, even if it means to die. I find this storyline pretty frustrating. She just gave her life so you can live, and you dying for her is like making her die in vain.

In WRTW, is not like that. There is sacrifice from both parts, but the reasons are different. She sacrifices to save her people, and he sacrifices to save her life because "he can't let her go".
I think these 2 quotes from him explains it better:

"They said you had to lose one thing in order to get another, but some things are too painful to let go. I can't let go of her no matter how hard I try. I can let go of all my mortal desires except for this one." (which is actually something he says way earlier even before been together as a couple)

"She showed me what's worth living for.
If I only have ten years with her, I'm already more than happy

He just couldn't let her go so following the logic of the drama it was best for him to die first. He said he used to live because he wanted to rule the world, but after knowing her and falling in love with her, his interest changed. There was no reason to live in a world where she wasn't in it. There was no reason to rule the world if she wasn't beside him.
I think this was the best and original way of saving her, he saved her but didn't actually die.

And another amazing thing about this, is that when they get to see each other after this event, HE EXPLAINS TO HER WHY HE DID IT. Apologizing for his selfish decision of leaving before her and that she''ll have to mourn him. So I think this is amazing. Not always you see the ML explaining why he sacrificed himself for her.


Ending:
It was a nice and simple one. Since he will only live 10 more years, they decided to live as commoners in a mountain. Which was actually Fengxi's long desire. She once told Pu (a child she rescued) that after the war, she just wanted to live as a commoner. And with this way, Lanxi was fulfilling his promise to his dad of prioritizing and giving time to family.

With this ending, they let us know that they lived his final years to the best, without regrets. They chose love above power, knowing that is best to enjoy life to the fullest, not having regrets and not thinking about the "what if's".

They would've been married for 15 years and altogether around 20 (just counting since they started to know and flirt with each other) But this is just my calculation and deduction from the story.
So, of course you'd like to spend more than a 100 years with your lover, but realistically speaking I think 20-30 years is fair.


Overall:
This is a drama very different from others, where you have a little bit of every genre, but without the cliches. I really recommend it if you wanna have a break from the typical wuxia/xianxia.

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selfishness and love are two different paths, but both have to be walked in the same manner.....

This drama is something that i have planned to watch but still put it on hold so as to watch all the episodes at once after they are aired completely, but two days back, i couldnt stop my curiosity anymore and started it. the romance between the male and female leads is clean and neat. actually i am not that much fan of zhao lusi and have watched only few dramas of her before this one, but truth and fact be told, zhao lu si is really pretty. yang yang too acted well but i really couldnt take my eyes of zhao lu si when she is on the screen. coming to the plot, it runs between six states which look to control and rule over the world. the political tactics and shrewdness shown in the drama are really excellent. also some times i feel it would have been better if they had aired the whole drama in a single go so as to satisfy my curiosity. however for the last 10 episodes i have to wait for 7 days and i think i feel sad about waiting. overall, this has been an excellent drama and i would prescribe this drama to you if you are willing to watch or wanting to watch a clear cut clean and neat romance and cute too, and also to those who are interested in watching political drama.

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BOOK AND DRAMA STORY DIFFERENCES

I would imagine Yang Yang is the modern Pan'An. Can't help comparing the drama with book, I copied the verses from the book, quote "Home and country, how to counterbalance? Love and hate, how to define clearly? Gratitude and revenge, how to repay? Beauty and world, which is more important? In this troubled times, there are many talented men. The chess game on the hilltop is between two people but to rule supreme in the world, only one person is needed!" end quote. This quote was where everything started...it began

Story Line: Score 7/10
Adapted from 2004 book with the same title and the author was Qing LingYue. The drama cherry picked part of story lines, made up new characters combining with original main characters, mix-matched individual for different roles as script-writer put them in randomly, story became less novelty. The most disappointment was Yu WuYuan who originally a kind, eternal godly, calm, heavenly man, the 1st Gentry of the 4, compose intelligent handsome reserve man, whom by the script-writer turned him into Soultaker Sect Leader and calculative mean-spirit Emperor aspired. gave score 7 because of some of my disappointments, but then the drama version of WRtW wasn't bad to watch all together although overwhelmingly full of fillers, the Creative Production Team managed to spoil well written book. The love story between LanXi and XiYun was a slow process, respectful closeness as they knew each other for over 10 years, although LanXi was always admire and love her secretly - he didn't approach her romantically - his love was beautiful and yet very sad. Only on the last chapter of the book, XiYun returned his love after so much misunderstanding, sacrifices and sadness.

Acting/Cast: Score 10/10
Both Yang Yang and Zhao LuSi are perfect for the roles, personality and appearance were matching their characters like on the book, no other actors/actress can play their respective roles/parts better than Yang Yang and Zhao LuSi for Bei Feng Hei Xi/Feng LanXi and Feng XiYun - the characters were likely designed/written just for them two. We felt our heart weak as the gazing look of Hei FengXi and smile wide when sees Bei FengXi grin, because of their amazing acting we're able to understand each other when the emotion they put into the action. There's genuine warm closeness and mutual 'attraction' on their personal level as both comfortable with their hugs/smiles/kisses/glances. Lai Yi was definitely Huang Chao, Zhang Hao Wei was great Yu WuYuan, besides all that every supporting actors did tremendous collaboration as well. The down low was dragging elaborate Bai LangHua (Book: She's a spoil princess from different state who thought highly of herself and love Xu JiuRen - XiYun's general) and all the students & master of TianShuang Sect, plus Queen BaiLi, Feng Chang & Feng Ju were just another fillers in the drama. The fillers were to avoid bloody war scenes and this drama wouldn't be well received because on the book from chapter 20 to 56 nothing but wars and strategies, yet just a love story of two beautiful most-influenced young people. Another disappointing was both LuSi & Yang Yang has stiff neck...like who has the prettiest neck among them.

Music: Score 10/10
The main theme song sang by Liu YuNing. Another multi-talented actor/singer who sang beautifully

Rewatch Value: Score 10/10
Because I've never have enough watching this drama, I rewatched few times over.

Overall: Score 10/10
The end story of episode was disappointing. Totally different from original book, XiYue wasn't her brother unfortunately he was her cousin who died young from sickness. Yu WuYuan wasn't inspired to be an Emperor - he died from his time up naturally - he even showed up congratulating the marriage union of Bai Feng Hei Xi . LanXi didn't have 10 years life span remaining. XiYun didn't get hurt from the canons. Han Pu didn't die, he was safely tuck in the mountain learning his martial art. The ending packed so rush...questioning why the producer thought putting Bai LangHua was more important than other iconic written in the book. Thinking LanXi had only 10 years to live by was other disappointment, true he turned 30 years older with grey hair because of saving XieYun. Honestly, I love the book way much better but I love the collaboration between Yang Yang and Zhao LuSi and I think they're the best asset of all. The impression of the book I was getting LanXi was a remarkable young talented vindictive most calculated man, he was emotionally saved by XiYun who's equally intelligent carefree happy go lucky charming girl, they knew each other for over 10 years with competitive standing between them creating respect, trust, misunderstanding, protectiveness (on LanXi side). He'd secret ambition to became the Emperor, not just a King of Yong State, his aspiration to unite 6 states as he thought he's the best person to lead governing country. He became so vindictive to get to where he wanted to be, to that XiYun despised him. His love to XiYun was inclusive, sadly he kept to himself, or She'd dumbfounded when he hint something. Elegant LanXi was sober; always thinking, careful, be part of XiYun, using manipulation and tactics. I felt sad for LanXi, with his secretive character, his father King of Yong abusive, his brothers competition to the seat of kingdom, he stood alone to face struggles and bear hardest consequences. Bai Feng Xi let him be himself without the strain of being a prince, she challenged his intelligent in charming ways, she's shown him the good side of life.

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I was very hyped for this drama before I watched it mainly because of the godly casting of Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si on the same screen! But maybe due to the high expectations I had, I was slightly disappointed with the show due to a few lacking points.

First of all, the good things - the romance between ML and FL was beautiful, no push pull or quarrels or immaturity in it. The show portrayed Hei Feng and Bai Feng's character as though they are meant to be together. Although FL is very good in martial arts she is unlike the typical strong headed and stubborn kind. ML who is as good as her, blends in with her very well and does not "act like a hero" the whole time. It's nice to see both of their soft side despite being invincible to other people. The plot also shows very well bromance between ML and the brother which I like. ALSO, Is anyone not gonna say their favourite character is Feng Qi Wu??? imo she saves the show from all the other supporting roles.

Ok here are the things I do not like - the no. of annoying characters in the show which are unbearable/hard to understand. First of all, Huang Chao. Someone that we all thought is the 2nd ML but more than half of the time, he does not have any scenes with FL/show any romantic scenes. The weird thing is towards the end, he confessed his love for FL as though he was really in love but i don't see it in the past 30 ep or more (random much). Second, the plot with the male villian was very lame too, he didn't seem very smart or anything and he actually died so easily at the end.. felt like most of his scenes can be skipped in the drama. Third, FL relationship with her sworn sister (her master's daughter) is something I cannot understand at all??? especially the scene she tried to accuse and kill FL when her father pass away. Other than the annoying characters, the ML and FL have to go through the die & revive process which is repetitive & not needed.


FINAL VERDICT: decent wuxia show but there are many better ones out there

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A lot of potential wasted for the female lead.

//SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD//

At first, I was really into this drama because of the plot & the idea of the strong, badass female lead. However, as time went on, I realized that this drama was never about the female lead, the only protagonist here was Lanxi, and the entire drama revolved around him, even though it sold itself as the story of both the female & male lead.

Romance
I was very excited to see how the romance between both leads would develop, but unfortunately it fell short for me. It felt way too fast-paced & I felt it could have been much, much slower. There was little development, more of a "I love you!" without any explanation at all. I think both characters are incredibly lovable and definitely charming, but I couldn't really see the bond between them, and it just became stale for me. In the end, their entire romance was about Lanxi being overly protective of her & being scared that she will be in danger, and started to feel quite cringy imo.

That brings me to my next point: Xiyun could've had a lot of potential as a female character, but it was not brought out in the story. When introduced to the female lead, she appears to be a strong, independent, smart character in the story, but every SINGLE time, every crucial moment or a moment where she was in danger, she played the role of a damsel in distress waiting for her prince charming, Lanxi, to come by. Even at the end when she was in a position of high power, it was Lanxi who kept on helping her and making the decisions for her. I got so pissed at this that every time I saw Lanxi appear, I simply wanted him to disappear or go away. Furthermore, when her "true identity" as the princess was revealed, it felt so... underwhelming, I felt like I was being scammed by the show at that point.

All in all, it felt like Lanxi's story more than Xiyun's, which was so disappointing to see with such a strong female character.
Otherwise, the actors all had incredible acting and lovely camerawork + video fx. Storywriting wise, there is much room for improvement.

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The War for Power!

At first, I was expecting low quality with cheap costumes and sets. Thats completely the opposite of what we got.

First of all, Lusis acting has expanded so much! I was so suprised to see her in the later episodes playing a serious, deadly character. Yang yang also has improved a lot. You can tell from his eyes in some of the scenes how much he loves the FL.

The story was a bit weird paced. I liked the government politics at the start, but it started dragging a bit. The last coupe of episodes really picked up though. I was happy to see action and fighting scenes.

I just hate the dubbing though. I have always hated dubbing, from the very start. As soon as I started watching the show, I could hear a bunch of other characters speaking.

Very high production drama, with elaborate sets and gorgeous, detailed costumes. Very well done in that perspective.

I also love the character development here. All the characters changed, some turned better and some turned worse. I love how they kept the actual antagonists in disguise until the end.

Over all I am very pleased with this film, and I am looking forward to see more of Yang yang and Zhaolusis dramas.

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Power for Good of the People! Thumbs up! 2022 Wuxia C-Drama!

So far, I have finished watching episode 40, the drama's last episode. The story is full of mixed emotions with tear-eyes-dropping moments at times. Episode 32 was my favorite part of the story in which both Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi gave in to their feelings. The kissing scene here was mesmerizing and breathtaking. Both talented artists, well-executed, beautifully done. However, in this drama, not only the love story is exhilarating, but also the martial arts performance is fantastic!

Overall, I gave it five stars because of the plot and the performance of Zhao Lusi. She's portraying the other side of herself. Credits also for the Director "Yin Tao" and all the supporting roles. They did a great job of making this drama appealing to everyone.

I recommend this C-Drama for everyone to watch because the story's twist is from different dimensions. The imperial issues, romance, and actions are well blended and balanced.

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A good mix of political intrigue, wuxia and romance

This series combines political intrigue, wuxia, and romance, three elements that I like in a costume drama. I have friends who recommended it, and it's one of the top 2022 dramas, so I dived into it.

Things that I like, which kept me engaged throughout the series:
• Political intrigue, strategizing, revelation of each mystery, and how the leads outsmarted their enemies.
• Smart and strategic ML and FL, who have connections in both jiang hu (pugilistic world) and chao ting (government/political world).
• Both ML and FL are very skilled in martial arts and fights really well!
• Yang Yang’s portrayal of Hei Feng Xi/Feng Lan Xi – overall, a very good performance by YY. The drama gives a lot of focus to HFX/FLX’s character development, since many of the political intrigues and actions happened in his domain.
• Zhao Lu Si as Bai Feng Xi/Feng Xi Yun – ZLS also did well here; however, I felt that YY had more room to show his acting ability. But thankfully, the drama eventually gave focus to her side of the story, and she really shined in the latter part of the drama.
• There is mutual trust and respect between the ML and FL, and I like that there is not so much drama and misunderstanding between them. I also like how they supported each other and faced challenges as a couple.
• Well-choreographed fight scenes and grand battle scenes.
• Great costume design – they’re colorful and there is great attention to detail, especially those worn by HFX/FLX.
• OST that fit the drama, especially the opening theme, “Unparalleled”, sung Liu Yu Ning.

Other comments:
• Chemistry between the leads – their romance is sweet and slow-burn, and I like their banter and humor, but it didn’t affect me in the same way (i.e., having that swoon-worthy feeling) as the other dramas where YY and ZLS were paired with other actors, e.g., Love Like the Galaxy, Love O2O, Fireworks of My Heart, etc.
• The last few episodes felt a bit rushed, but they still manage to wrap things up.
• The ending is more or less what I expected, so I wasn’t caught off guard too much, except for a few unexpected things.

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama, so I highly recommend it, especially if you like political/court intrigue, wuxia and romance.

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Pesky Details That Ruin It All

This drama had the potential to be so much more than it turned out to be, and I am highly annoyed about it...but it's still a good drama.

The first quarter of the drama was great. The world-building and tension between the characters paid off in every scene. Plus they had good pacing. The episodes were designed in a "problem of the week" format which helped with the pacing. This was done masterfully. It was engaging and kept the audience on their toes. We got exposed to all of the characters and events in a very natural easy flowing way. From start, I was enamored with the ML and FL. The two had a funny and entertaining love-hate (or more like love-annoyed by) romantic vibe and it drove the plot along. They both had an amazing background story way before it got revealed later that they were a prince and a princess of their own respective feudal kingdoms. I must say, I was very surprised by Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi's chemistry. It wasn't on the same level as the chemistry between Yang Yang and Dilraba in "You are my glory", but I think it's because that's how the script was written (historical romance can sometimes come off as stiff because of PDA restrictions but the actors made do with what they got). He does "distracted puppy lover" really well. The way he is both highly annoyed by her and in love with her, and would just follow her everywhere hearts shooting out of his eyes. Everyone could see that he was so in love with her because he would act so out of character when she is in question, except for him. Meanwhile, she is totally oblivious. Ugh...so good!

Then we start getting issues with repetitions. It's not that the plot dragged but more like it started to feel formulaic. It wasn't the worst, to be honest, because we still got exposed to new plot points that pushed the plotline along. It's just that it started to feel like ML and FL were invincible and there were no issues that they could not solve...and like...how realistic is that? ML did get knocked down real badly at some point. But then the script demanded that he regain all of his power in the most convenient way possible (he ate some magical flower that was growing in some old dude's sleeves for decades or something). So a few scenes like those did not pay off because of how easy the solutions were. Still, stellar acting, thus, the "really?!" moments were tolerable.

My two biggest issues with this drama reside in the way ML learns that FL was a "princess" in disguise...don't hold your breath, because we never get to learn how or when he "guessed" it. He just tells us and her "yeah I know" aaaaand that was it. That was so very frustrating because it felt like such a cop-out. One of the reasons we respect and love this dude is because he is so devoted to the FL despite not knowing that she is from a certain pedigree. He chose her over everything and everyone every single time. Even when everything and everyone in his life was pressuring him to pick someone who could be more beneficial for his goal to "Rule the world." So that was an important distinction between him and two other characters. BUT!!!...but they ruined that lovely feeling because we the audience and the FL will never really know if he actually "picked her" over the others despite her being a martial art vagabond or did he guess much earlier on than we thought and he was just being conniving as usually? Well, We will never know.

The second issue I had is with the ending...which also feels like a cop-out. So, we as the audience, spend 39 episodes and a half being told that ML is the rightful ruler. No one else would do and it had to be him. That's why so many people were so willing to sacrifice so much and die for him (shit, I sacrificed 40 hours of my life for him). And to be fair, unlike other dramas they gave him a good enough character development and arc to prove why he was the fittest for the throne. He truly cared for "the people" unlike all the other nefarious people from the other kingdoms. It wasn't a case of "Well he is the protagonist and he is handsome." There were other smart, if not smarter people around for the job, but he was the only one who actually cared about the people and wanted to rule with kindness. Like, one of the princes literally killed half of the court and their families because they "talked bad" about him. Like bro...? So you can imagine how frustrating it is when at the last minute THAT PRINCE and his greedy ass wife (and by proxy her crazy-ass dad) get to be the new rulers? Like WHAT?! And it's not like the ending couldn't work, but they spent the whole time proving to us one thing and then suddenly...not?! It feels so hollow. Had they at least spent more time on developing the other dude's character and showing his arc...maaaaaybe it would have worked. Because the way, I see it he is still not fit. Give my man's Yang Yang some Qi from somebody somewhere or some miracle drugs or something because that ish doesn't work bro. I GET why ML decided to drop out of the race, but I don't see why the new emperor deserves to be the one.

But that aside it was a good drama that got bugged down by weird details. Also, I must say, one thing they did very very well, was the dynamic between the kings and their potential heirs. Although the court drama was...typical, I love how they showcased and berated the ML's father at some point for his hubris and jealousy. Like this man was jealous of his own sons. He convinced himself and the audience (to a certain degree) that everything that he did was to keep the peace but really he kept pitting his sons against each other and used them for his own agenda and to keep himself in power. Especially the ML because he felt so inferior to him because unlike ML he is the son of a palace servant and he is not as brilliant. And ultimately that became his biggest mistake and stumbling block. The contrast between that royal family dynamic and FL family dynamic is so striking. It shows why FL turned out to be so well-rounded. She was raised in a kind and loving family. And therefore, she was able to serve as a guide to ML and a lot of people just by being herself...which is why in my opinion she would have made the best emperor even though the ML couldn't rule himself. They built us up for it. Whole-time they kept telling us that there as been female rulers before and they were actually better than their male counterparts...but oh well.

In conclusion, this is not a bad drama to watch if you have 40 hours to spare.

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Felt cheated

I loved, loved how the story began. I am relatively new to these types of dramas, I watch them purely and solely for the entertainment value.
What i loved....the story made me lol, it made me cry...it made me angry.. i was feeling all sorts of emotions throughout.
What i hated... Sometimes felt like he was more into her than she was into him, so relationship felt kind of one sided and well weird. Also, I didn't like the fact that even though she promised to marry him she still kept her identity a secret and offered absolutely no reason for doing so. Lastly, what the hell was that in episode 40?!!! Maybe because i felt he cared for her more than she did for him, i was shouting at the ML (as if he could hear me) "what the hell are you doing, she wouldn't do that for you." To me, i felt she was spoilt and entitled, maybe because everyone catered to her but it rubbed me wrong, because i felt after everything the ML went through in his life he should have someone who care about him as much as he did for them.

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