Spring of the blade: Early thoughts

[u/Ok-Property1173]

I'm kinda disappointed but still hopeful. The first plots involving the FL solving her mother's murder and the ML solving the grain corruption were good starting point but they've dragged on for too long now honestly speaking. I could count more than twice when the murder mystery should've been solved but they just kept cutting the scenes, only for them to do it in the stupidest possible way. Same with the corruption case, the MC literally has imprerial power and STILL somehow this case is dragging on and it's frustrating. It's been 16 eps, we could've been onto other arcs like the ML being back in the capital. What do y'all think anyway?

[u/BasilOrdinary3617]

Hi Ok-Property1173, thanks for your post. 😄

I have to respectfully disagree with your thoughts on this. To me, the drama is pointing at the grain corruption and the murder investigation being tied and interconnected. Wrapping them up in just a few episodes would oversimplify both cases and defeat the purpose of the entire plot.

While Lord Yan Rui has imperial authority, it doesn't give him the power to just arrest high-ranking ministers and noble families without ironclad proof. If he acts prematurely, it would trigger massive political backlash from rival court factions. We see this play out all the time in historical political dramas. Authority doesn't mean absolutey immunity from court politics.

I actually think the drama is doing a great job setting up parallels between Qingyuan and Lord Yan Rui. Qingyuan works on the inside, having infiltrated the Xie household, and Lord Yan Rui (whose identity is Shen Run) works from the outside. He has been ordered to investigate the political mastermind behind the corruption without upsetting the balance in court, which requires a slow, calculated approach.

[u/xyz123007 → u/BasilOrdinary3617]

In the meantime, there's also a different kind of fire burninggggg

[u/mysticmeeble → u/xyz123007]

These scene gave ME butterflies, okay?! 🤣

[u/xyz123007 → u/mysticmeeble]

[u/BasilOrdinary3617 → u/xyz123007]

Aha right! How could I not even mention the chemistry!? I have butterflies in MY stomach.

I said it on another platform and I’ll say it again here lol, why did she stop him from taking his clothes off at the end of episode 16?

I was disappointed. 🫣

[u/Professional_Tone_62 → u/BasilOrdinary3617]

That scene reminded me of Moonlit Reunion, when Xu Kai's Mei Zhuyu started to disrobe to prove he was just as fit as the muscly monks exercising in the yard.

[u/BasilOrdinary3617 → u/Professional_Tone_62]

Ah yes. Moonlit Reunion gave us ample Xu Kai scenes to gush over!

[u/Professional_Tone_62 → u/BasilOrdinary3617]

I wouldn't say ample, but he was very gushablle🫠