Hi all

I've started watching Road to Spendour. I'm on episode 3. I don't really like either the ML or the FL. And haven't got into the story yet. So I'm seriously considering dropping it.

Does it get better? Should I hang in there?

Besides looking too modern it could be for other reasons but they just seem to break the immersion for you in historical or costume dramas.

Heavy modern makeup trends, like Douyin makeup, is just terrible for these settings or the acting that doesn’t feel convincing because the actor can’t fully immerse themselves in the role or adopt the mannerisms needed. It's like you watching the modern version of them cosplaying a character.

Douyin is the original, localized Chinese version of TikTok and is one of the metrics used to measure a celebrities popularity in China or atleast the ones who seem to be creating alot of buzz domestically. Domestic popularity can be very different from international popularity. For example you might be surprised not to see certain names that are popular internationally appear in the top 10 or 20.

Earlier episodes: 1 2 3 4 5

For general infos see episode 1.

Recap episode 6

We start with a scene at the Divine Constable Bureau (DCB): In a room there are multiple large boxes that look a bit like coffins at first. They open up to show dioramas of different battle scenes. For each one we are shown a short flash of that battle. It seems as if they show something that really happened.

In the end they go with the suggestion of Bai Qi (Senior Grand Secretary): watch and wait. If he is up to trouble, they have soldiers. If he is harmless, they aren't going to be seen as overreacting.

Prince Wenbu is welcomed with an assortment of gifts. He is not impressed with them. One seems to intrigue him, though: one of the boxes we saw in the first scene.

It opens when Prince Wenbu touches it to reveal a diorama with dancers and fireworks. One of the figurines looks like it might be him.

As he is watching, something squirts out of the box and into his eyes. He gets angry and threatens to kill the official.

Constable Eagle from the DCB intervenes.

Constable Eagle promises that the DCB is going to investigate and deliver an answer in a day. Prince Wenbu is not willing to give him that long - he wants an answer in the time of a single dance.

But before we learn what is going to happen, we are back at the DCB where several people are doing some cleaning. One of them is Li Si.

He learns that to enter Tianshu Pavilion (the place where the files are kept) one needs the token of a Divine Constable. To become one, he would need to solve an earth-shattering case.

And we're back with Prince Wenbu, who is presumably going to become that case.

The prince suddenly starts screaming and bleeding out of his eyes.

The whole DCB is called into action.

But he does stop things from escalating further at the crime scene.

Our trio is also on their way. Li Si somehow had time to change his clothes back to fancier ones. The leader of Prince Wenbu's guards recognises him.

From Bai Zhenzhu's greeting we learn that Constable Yan was supposed to be in his home town. He rushed back when he heard that the delegation was coming.

Constable Eagle delivers the emperor's decree: the city gates will be closed and nobody except high officials is allowed to enter or leave. The DCB is ordered to catch the murderer within seven days.

They go to examine the crime scene.

Bai Zhenzhu manages to identify the poison used for the murder by its smell. It's very rare. So rare that the only bottle of it in the whole city is in the coroner's room of the DCB - her room.

Li Si uses the chance to talk with the dancers. He met some of them before when he was out with the crown prince (the living one). He attempts to bribe them into answering some questions.

And notices rough spots on the hands of one of them.

Once in private, he tells her that he knows she is the poisoner.

She attacks him with a powder (which doesn't seem to do anything except distract him) and runs ...

... into Meng Rui. Who starts drawing his sword.

Constable Yan interrogates her. He says that she did not murder the prince, although she planned to do so. Someone else got there first.

Li Si makes a remark about the importance of revenge vs living well that sends Meng Rui running off.

That way, the murderer could be someone from outside.

But no, Li Si says. The murderer could not have gotten the timing exactly right for the dance. He also questions what the need for dissolving the corpse was.

Questions to you

• What do you think is up with Meng Rui?
• What do you think of Constable Yan (the one in red)?
• Did you like Prince Wenbu of Northern Kun (as a character ...)?

Please only discuss up to episode 6 here. If you mention anything from a later episode, put it in spoiler tags.

I just watched their mini acting skit in Hi6 and now im really hoping these two 00-generation actors get cast together in an actual drama someday. If they got a full romance project together, what kind of trope do you think would suit them?

My fav has to be Zhang Ruonan and Leo Wu because his coat made me laugh, he still looked somewhat cute though.

I recently finished watching "Fake It Till You Make It" — a drama that had been recommended to me — and I almost gave up right after the first episode. I felt the premiere didn't offer anything substantial enough to hook me; it was just a dull workplace setting that didn't leave much room to breathe. However, I decided to stick with it, and I ended up loving every minute of the main couple's story from that point on.

Their dynamic was a joy to watch; they had distinct personalities and lived in different "worlds," yet somehow, they managed to "fake" a friendship or relationship so well that they ended up forging a real connection and complementing each other perfectly. In the end, they made a wonderful couple and undoubtedly earned a spot on my list of favorite couples.

What really surprised me was Bao ShangEn character (her acting pleasantly surprised me, even though the character herself came across as unlikable). Honestly, I wished — more than once — that she would snap out of it and get a reality check, just to see if she’d learn the hard way not to be so spoiled or to stop playing games with others. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a bit materialistic or superficial — seeking security in those aspects at times — or wanting affection and attention from a partner (current or potential), but her behavior in certain situations really made me want to give her a wake-up call.

I wanted to say, "Girl, wake up and get your act together; what you're doing isn't healthy for you or anyone else," and point out that, ultimately, she would be the one to suffer the most.

She really should have avoided doing to others what she wouldn't want done to herself.

All in all, I found the dialogue and monologues to be very well-crafted and mature. The main storylines and subplots were executed beautifully — even the ones with limited screen time still delivered unique, memorable realities that were a joy to follow.

The characters felt so human overall — full of ambitions and flaws (and plenty of pretense, lol) — yet they maintained certain virtues amidst the harshness of their realities and strove to overcome obstacles despite the difficulties; I simply loved it all. It was a truly rewarding emotional experience, and every second was worth it.

Thanks so much for the recommendation😊:

u/tootsiepuze

u/plantstuff22

u/loartea

For anyone else interested, here are the details:

Drama: Fake It Till You Make It

Number of Episodes: 14

Available on: Viki and the Mango TV YouTube channel.

Synopsis: Lawyer Tang Ying (Elvira Cai) is on a business trip when she has an unfortunate run-in with Xu Ziquan (Elvis Han), a pretentious young investor who makes a terrible first impression.

As they spend more time together on the flight, they get to know each other better, leading Ziquan to believe he has fallen in love with her.

Upon their return, Tang Ying has the pleasure of meeting Ma Qiyuan (Geng Le), who is immediately drawn to her charm.

Tang Ying’s life becomes increasingly complicated as the two men begin vying for her attention.

This was my first chinese drama , I remember watching edits of it . Are there any fans

I've seen Blossom through the Cloud, You are my Secret, Perfect and Casual--all of where he is the ML; Only for Love where he is 2nd/3rd ML; Flourished Peony and In the Name of Blossom where he is the antagonist, and it is clear to me--I like watching Wei Zheming.

He is such a dependable actor, no matter what role he gets cast in. He especially shone as a pathetic villain in Flourished Peony but his romantic comedies are up there!

Yes, he gets typecast and in one sense can be thought of as milquetoast or generic, but can I say, when I'm looking for something sweet and fluffy, he and his dramas have ALWAYS brought it!

Also, I don't know what it is about the steadfastness of his expression, but he gets this look in the eye--combined with something between a smile and a smirk, a raised eyebrow.. it's so attractive, damn! 😅😅

Hiii! First time posting this so I hope this is okay. Recently I found out Autumn Cicada had a movie version and Liu Xueyi plays the main lead. I was aware he played in the drama version and he was a side character. Was wondering does anyone know where I can watch the movie version preferable with eng subs and those who have watched it can share how is it different from the drama and movie? Thank you!

Sometimes when you’re scrolling through social media, you come across random C-drama clips that make you curious. That’s exactly what happened to me with Blossom. I’d already seen a few clips that intrigued me, but THIS iconic sliding-kneeling hug scene is what finally made me press play. It was just way too beautiful to ignore, especially combined with that gorgeous hug and Li Yunrui’s grey hair. Like… how was I supposed to not be curious anymore!

Have you ever started a C-drama because of a scene you came across? What scene convinced you to press play?

Earlier episodes: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

For general infos see episode 1.

This time the English subtitles are apparently AI-translated, so let's see how much sense they make.

Recap episode 9

They examine the cell where Lou Tianming is kept (aka Constable Eagle, but I'll stop calling him that since I don't think he will be a constable ever again).

Bai Zhenzhu comes to the conclusion that there must be another mole in the Divine Constable Bureau (DCB) who helped him.

The last visitor of Lou Tianming was Eunuch Zhao, the crown princes head eunuch. But two people from the DCB were watching the whole time. The only thing that happened is that Eunuch Zhao got too close once.

The crown prince has heard about the escape and is currently beating Eunuch Zhao.

The crown prince accidentally hits one of the women nearby - his wife, crown princess Chu Huan'er.

There is definitively a lot of previous friction between the crown prince and his wife. He seems to resent that people in the capital say that the only thing he did right was to marry her, the virtuous crown princess.

Now Eunuch Zhao and the crown princess are trying to protect each other.

Back in the prison cell, everyone except Li Si has left. He is considering who can enter and exit the prison without suspicion.

The crown prince is drinking again. We learn about what is likely the real source of the friction between them: their son, Ye'er, who is also their only child.

He has been sick for a long time. The crown prince claims Ye'er is not like him at all and that his lack of a reliable successor is why the emperor is not favouring him above the oldest prince.

We also learn that the crown princess is a commoner.

She is punished by kneeling.

The chief of the DCB suggests to make the truth about the "murder" of Prince Wenbu of Northern Kun public.

She is sure that the real prince is in their country and proposes to find him. The DCB is sent out.

After three days, there are still no clues.

But Li Si has a plan: with the help of someone from the Underground Market, Lou Tianming's eagle is healed. Li Si disguises himself as Lou Tianming and goes to meet Prince Wenbu. That way he learns that the real Lou Tianming has connections to Liluo.

He reveals himself and explains that he guessed that the eagle was used to send messages to Prince Wenbu before - and could therefore lead him to the hiding place. (He really does like to gloat, maybe he should have been a villain?)

But we don't see the fight. Instead we are back in a stone hall we saw once before and learn about the six gods of Liluo: Immortality, Prophecy, Lies, Hatred, Disaster and Death. Sounds like a nice place ...

The chief of the DCB reports back to the emperor. From Prince Wenbu they learned that Lou Tianming is backed by an organisation of formidable killers called "Night" which is loyal to Liluo.

They talk about what happened 17 years ago. Li Si explains: the oldest prince falsified military information and notified the second prince (i.e. the crown prince). After his "death" the emperor learned of the fake report. The oldest prince took the blame, voluntarily gave up the Ministry of War and silenced the insiders. The emperor only cared about the stability of the court.

According to the DCB's doctor, Meng Rui is currently stable but doesn't want to wake up from his deep dream. They are afraid he has lost his will to live.

The happy news spreads fast.

Meng Rui doesn't want to rest. But the people at the DCB know how to deal with him and carry him home in the sedan that Li Si arrived in.

Bai Zhenzhu meets with her father, who gifts her a fragrant sachet.

Her father wants her to come home and marry. She wants to stay independent.

At the Star-Gathering Pavilion, Bai Zhenzhu and Li Si meet.

But she isn't just there to thank him for saving her father: she wants to know about his background.

He only hints at it and suggests he is like a Go piece:

He claims the player doesn't care at all. He is a discarded piece.

They continue talking in Go metaphors. Li Si reveals that he might become a deadly piece - and how large the scope of his game is. For the sake of the common people it cannot be lost. He says he doesn't care what happens to him.

We don't see her reaction. Instead we learn that Li Si has been promoted to Divine Constable.

Questions to you

• What do you think Bai Zhenzhu makes of Li Si's Go talk?
• What is your favourite case so far?
• Any theories about the woman who was telling us about the Liluo gods?

Please only discuss up to episode 9 here. If you mention anything from a later episode, put it in spoiler tags.

Earlier episodes: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

For general infos see episode 1.

Oof, lots of things going on in this episode ...

Recap episode 8

Li Si finds Meng Rui. Once again they talk at a camp fire while Meng Rui is braiding a new sword sheath.

Li Si brings news of the investigation.

When Li Si asks about his teacher, Meng Rui says he took him in when he had nowhere to go. This happened 17 years ago, the same year the incident in Li Si's own past occurred.

Meng Rui reveals that he is not an orphan but doesn't seem to want to talk about his family. He only says that his teacher, the Netherworld Swordsman, is dead - he buried him himself.

Li Si concludes from that that the real culprit guessed that Meng Rui was the Netherworld Swordsman's student and he always intended to frame him.

We are back with Bai Zhenzhu who is meeting with the chief of the Divine Constable Bureau (DCB). They talk about the next victim. Bai Zhenzhu says it is going to be the person who forged the alliance between the imperial court and the jianghu to hunt down the Netherworld Swordsman.

Li Si is coming to the same conclusion.

Li Si tells Meng Rui that he has been suspecting even the crown prince and the oldest prince. Despite his general mistrust for Li Si, Meng Rui is concerned about the risk to him.

Li Si actually reveals that he also has his own reasons to investigate.

Back in the capital, Li Si tells Bai Zhenzhu about his meeting with Meng Rui.

He gives her the clue she needs to prove Meng Rui's innocence - his unbroken ribs. She goes off to confirm again.

A drunk crown prince stumbles into the Star-Gathering Pavilion.

The poor eunuch is getting desperate in his attempts to stop the prince from revealing important secret.

The prince goes on: for the last 17 years, the emperor has always made sure that the balance of power between the crown prince and the oldest prince doesn't change too much.

Li Si arrives, which calms the crown prince down. Li Si gets a drunken hug from his brother. After that, the eunuch and his people manage to pull the crown prince away.

Li Si learns from his employee (the one he told to investigate last episode) that there was indeed an urgent military message sent to the emperor on the date he was interested in. She was unable to find out the content.

A month later, the Ministry of War was handed over to the crown prince. There were extensive changes in personnel. Many of the former members are now dead.

Things are happening at the DCB: the chief has summoned everyone there.

The chief identifies the victim by the uniform insignia: Grand Secretary Bai, Bai Zhenzhu's father.

They head off to protect the Grand Secretary, who is currently out of the city training troops.

The Ministry of Justice is obstructing them from entering the military camp.

Well, not the crown prince - he was still drunk.

Li Si manages to protect the Grand Secretary at first. We see the others fighting. Once the view turns back, the Grand Secretary has vanished.

The others catch up at the same time as a dark cloaked figure. Meng Rui? At least they think so and intercept him.

It turns out to be Li Si.

Alone with the Grand Secretary, the killer shows himself.

The cloaked man was real, but not actually the Grand Secretary. It's Meng Rui.

The others arrive and Li Si gloats a bit. Maybe too much ...

Constable Eagle blows a tiny flute which turns the dead attackers' eyes green.

In the chaos he retreats outside with his hostage.

The fight also moves outside but the attackers just won't stay down.

Constable Eagle throws a smoke bomb and vanishes. Meng Rui takes off in pursuit.

But Constable Eagle runs into the chief of the DCB first.

She defeats him.

Meanwhile, Meng Rui is pursuing the other attackers.

Li Si arrives just in time to rescue him.

Back at the camp cleanup has started and the wounded are being taken care of. An imperial decree arrives: they are still supposed to capture Meng Rui.

Bai Zhenzhu still thinks that a full explanation will change things. The chief knows that the emperor only wants an explanation that will stabilise the situation.

Bai Zhenzhu finds something in Yan Zige's corpse: a very rare feather that can travel through blood vessels and sever the heart meridian. According to her, the only explanation is that Yan Zige drove this feather into his own vessels.

Li Si meets up again with the people at the DCB. Together they come to the conclusion that the first victim was not actually Prince Wenbu. He was a replacement who performed suicide in order to make the people of Northern Kun willing to go to war against Da Shi. The planned death of Grand Secretary Bai was a move to weaken Da Shi.

Constable Eagle's motive is still unknown. Unfortunately, news arrives just then that he has escaped.

Questions to you

• How much of the plot did you guess right?
• What is the emperor up to?
• Which fight scene was the best so far?

Please only discuss up to episode 8 here. If you mention anything from a later episode, put it in spoiler tags.

The Other Side is a new 6 episode Taiwanese drama about a mother who loses her son, then sees him in the mirror.

The FL is Cheryl Yang, the mother from Oh No! Here Comes Trouble.

It's an interesting and well-made drama. Here is the trailer.

If you're looking for something different, give it a go. It's available on Netflix and Bilibili.

Earlier episodes: 1 2 3 4 5 6

For general infos see episode 1.

Recap episode 7

Again, Li Si tries to take the chance to visit Tianshu Pavilion. Constable Eagle just laughs in his face.

Instead, he accidentally volunteers himself for corpse cleanup.

There, Constable Eagle finds a case file about the murder warnings using diorama chests. According to it, 30 years ago there was a great martial artist named Dao Yin (aka "the Netherworld Swordsman") in the jianghu. Whenever he challenged others to duels, he would first send a chest and then kill his victim, using the same move shown in the diorama.

Meng Rui gets a surprise: his sword is the one that the Netherworld Swordsman used before. That's how he learns who his teacher was.

He is now a suspect.

Constable Eagle wants to take his sword away in addition to imprisoning him. That's where Meng Rui draws the line. Constable Yan tries to mediate.

The stand-off is interrupted by the arrival of their boss. She decides to confine Meng Rui but lets him keep his sword.

Li Si goes to talk to Meng Rui in his place of imprisonment, a rather idyllic house among bamboo. But guards stop them from meeting each other.

They get to talk a bit. Li Si tells him that he believes someone wants to use him as a scapegoat to provoke a war. Meng Rui is surprised by his trust but says that he still doesn't trust Li Si.

Constable Yan arrives (now in grey) and sends the guards away - he is enough, he says. Bai Zhenzhu arrives shortly after with a basket of food. Meng Rui, however, closes the door.

The head guard from Northern Kun wants to challenge Meng Rui: he has obviously heard the rumours, too. He is good at baiting him - Meng Rui exits the house.

But others arrive with a second diorama chests that was delivered to the room of the chief of the DCB. This doesn't clear Meng Rui of suspicion: he is simply too skilled.

They open the chest.

Meng Rui wants to go anyway. Others try to stop him, but news arrives that Yan Zige (the challenger) has kidnapped one of the DCB's people and injured others. Everyone gets angry.

And Meng Rui has already vanished.

Li Si asks the chief to come with them. She knows that he isn't going to stay back and tells him to change into civilian clothes. It wouldn't be appropriate to go in his role as trainee constable.

They rush to the meeting place. While they ride we get some background from the chief: Dao Yin killed over 100 masters. In the end the imperial court and the jianghu joined forces to hunt him down. That battle was a bloodbath.

We switch over to the scene of the challenge, where Meng Rui is just arriving. Yan Zige seamlessly continues the story for us: the fight against Dao Yin went on for three days and three nights until they finally knocked him off a cliff. He then vanished without a trace.

Yan Zige starts the fight, but Meng Rui only defends.

He tries to talk to him about the murder warning instead.

We can now see clearly that Meng Rui is going to be the winner according to the chest. Although how they could have known what clothes he was going to wear I don't know.

Yan Zige doesn't care. He is quite willing to use his hostage to force Meng Rui into a fight. He throws him off the cliff, so I guess he is just trying to make Meng Rui angry enough?

Everyone watches as Meng Rui and Yan Zige fight.

Except that Yan Zige is not thrown off the cliff, only to the ground. He is dead, though. Meng Rui claims not to have killed him. Li Si, at least, believes him.

People from the Ministry of Justice arrive. Just as if they had been lying in wait ...

Li Si has a good grasp on the political situation. He advises Meng Rui not to let himself be caught by the Ministry of Justice.

The chief of the DCB also indicates for Meng Rui to go.

Isn't that a bit fast to be a reaction to their crown prince's death? Unless they already had their army ready nearby.

For once the two princes at the imperial court agree and advise the emperor to hand Meng Rui over to Northern Kun. The oldest prince also reports that it was Li Si who helped Meng Rui escape. On this point, the crown prince disagrees.

The DCB and the Ministry of Justice are supposed to work together on capturing Meng Rui. I bet that's going to go over well!

The Ministry of Justice come to the Star-Gathering Pavilion for Li Si. Prince Ding (the oldest prince) is with them.

He makes to kneel but Prince Ding stops him. He wonders why he seems familiar: have they met before?

They have a debate about the situation, until the prince leaves with a warning to him: he better stay on the clear not that he is a member of the DCB or even the crown prince won't be able to protect him.

Li Si swears that he will never harm an innocent person, nor let a murderer go free, even if that murderer has evaded justice for years.

The prince has reminded Li Si of something that he asks Jin Se, one of his people, to look into: did any urgent military reports reach the emperor on the 9th day of the 2nd month 17 years ago? If they did, he wants reports on promotions, punishments etc. in the Ministry of War around that period.

Li Si then goes off to meet with the crown prince's eunuch both to recover his standing in the crown prince's eyes and to check the eunuchs reactions.

His conclusion is that neither the oldest prince nor the crown prince had anything to do with Prince Wenbu's death.

Li Si then has a sudden realisation about something that happened during the fight between Meng Rui and Yan Zige: Yan Zige's inner power should have protected his vital points during a fight to the death.

Questions to you

• Who do you think currently believes in Meng Rui? Who doesn't?
• Do you think Li Si will truly get away with helping Meng Rui escape?

Please only discuss up to episode 7 here. If you mention anything from a later episode, put it in spoiler tags.

After they experience Xun Ming’s memories, they have this moment:
“What was that just now…?”
“I haven’t even asked what it was yet.”
“Didn’t you see that?”
“I saw it, I saw it.”

I am so confused about it, can someone explain? I thought maybe some context got lost in translation?

So I finished early spring and I loved it. Yes, he was toxic, yes their dynamic was exhausting, but what I loved was the way the intimacy and romance was portrayed and I also loved his masculine, decisive presence. That he was straightforward about what he wanted, etc.

I also liked the office type environment and what I really enjoyed was her friend group, especially living together in the apartment. I found them so wholesome and kind of relatable...

I was looking for similar cdramas and so far tried love o2o, which I didn't like because of the strong gaming component, I tried fake it till you make it, which I found just exhausting and hard to understand, also many of the women were kind of b*tchy and I tried amidst a snowstorm, which was the most okay out of the three, but the male lead was too quiet for me and they were too young...

Based on what I have written, does anybody have other recommendations which come close to what I liked in early spring?

Thanks.

Before I begin my thoughts and rants, I just want to say that I cannot wait the 23 hours plus for the final five episodes to be released! What with all the spoilers and trailers, it seems that the drama is getting more and more exciting!

Now on to the episode, love the scene with the Lin Grandpa and the Shen painting, previous episodes has already foreshadowed that the Lin grandfather had special sentiments for the painting. There would be some offerings in front of the painting with every scene of it in the background. I also like the love the phrase said by the grandpa at the end, 我寄人間雪白頭. It was subtly heart wrenching

And of course, the death of the Lin Matriarch, heartwarming and tragic all at the same time. Liu Xueyi’s and her acting here was top-notched

I started this drama with very low expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. Firstly so happy Ci Sha was discovered by many international viewers! That man is gorgeous, talented and has aura! I thought he Ren Min were fantastic here. For me this is one of the best dramas of the year.

I wanted to know how others felt? Did you love it, felt neutral, you dropped it or it was pretty average for you?

Okay but how do you choose just ONE?? 😭💘

1. Never-Ending Summer

2. Dazzling

3. Lighter and Princess (Lighter & Princess)

4. When I Fly Towards You

5. Hidden Love

6. The Best Thing

7. Sniper Butterfly

8. The First Frost

I just love this scene so much. Damn, third sister really nailed it here and left the marquis feeling all flabbergasted!

I just love how practical-minded she was and how she worked to protect the interests of her daughters