I last watched it a few years ago, and I've watched it a few times. Once even in chinese without subtitles, its so mesmerising.
And xiao feng, the poor thing, no one has suffered like her. That loser crybaby gu xiao wu, is all about how he lost his mother in childhood and so he decides to take all of the princess's family away. He's just like his adopted mother.
She was sweet and sprightly, trying so very hard to survive to her best in trying times and these gu cousins destroy her existence and her essence.
He's so superficial and stupid, gu xiao wu. He's telling her about the birds in his homeland, like a well built pretty palace is supposed to just erase everything. Is xiao feng some kind of pet, is she supposed to forget her homeland because of him?
It's ironic because he tells shifu that she's not a thing to be passed here and there, as if he's not treating her like a thing himself
So the forgetting waterfall. Alright, she's been spun so far there's no life left of her, but she stayed true to her word to jump in the lake. Its admirable, how hard she tries to be a danshi xiao feng, not a central plains one
She feels guilty for what has happened to her people. How can she not? She feels guilty for loving someone who betrayed her so wickedly.
Gu xiao wu is so strange. He expects her to skip here and there with her feelings, like he murdered everyone and she should immediately forget that, and not only go back to him, but also like him and even, it's preposterous, admire him.
The grasslands are always the most fun of the dramas.
Then there's shifu. I get they were trying to make it a second lead kind of story. From the start, it doesn't work on her part. He loves her, true, whilst she looks at him as a teacher, a person who's been good to her and its written for a few unnecessary moments as a sort of affection because she has to run away, but before that, did she think seriously about shifu?
Whilst with gu xiao wu, she doesn't have any kind of loyalty to him, any kind of story that connects them. There is a now and a future. A future she thinks she chooses. In that day and age, how lucky she must have thought that she could choose someone she loved, instead of some alliance that was forced on her.
Also that awesome grassland wedding? The way gu xiao wu could turn around from that. He has a split personality, seriously.
He always says Li chengyin with all this pride, like it's supposed to impress xiao feng, whilst she had been happier with a tea trader. She doesn't want the facade of the palace, all the power that comes with it. She would probably care more for her little red horse than ceremonies and ornaments.
They wrote him too harsh though. He hardly shows any affection at the palace, I get his doing it because of spies and whatever, its just that it's so long and then it's way too late.
Like shifu said, caring and knowing how to care are different things.
As for shifu, he's a bad guy. That's what he is, like gu xiao wu, only he doesn't have that much to gain from it. If he died, no one would care. He's sworn to his uncle and revenge and whatever, uses xiao feng for that, treating her awfully because of people who aren't even alive.
She doesn't love him, without all the martial arts and betrayal, he's like a second lead in a chaebol drama. Hey palace dramas are actually chaebol dramas, with different costumes 🤔 modern dramas, they wear western costumes and historic dramas, they wear eastern.
Strange, huh. One is taken to be normal, whilst its actually not.
There's these touches to this drama that make it special. When she falls in the fountain, and when she falls in the lake at that party, she's wearing those silky dresses that float. When shifu tells gu xiao wu, 离开 in the desert, then again when he's taking her away. When she can't read, and he doesn't tell her and then he leaves her the note, she reads a few letters. He thought she'd know those well enough. 三日见. Also the writing scenes are cute, okay.
And her red dress. The way he sees her first when she saves him and he sees all the red and gold. Epic.
Xiao feng is so sad and its a sad story all of it is sad and also, kind of love at first sight for gu xia wu?
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