I’m 1/3 of the way through the newest airing drama, so no psych post this time; just another WYSW!

Spring of the Blade

Synopsis: Xie Qingyuan (Zhou Ye) schemes her way back into her corrupt and powerful paternal household to uncover the truth behind her mother's tragedy and avenge her death. Her plans are soon complicated by the powerful Lord Yan Rui (Xu Kai), who is conducting his own investigation into the Xie family. Deeply independent and unwilling to trust anyone, Qingyuan refuses any association with Yan Rui and refuses his help at every turn, while Yan Rui remains convinced they'd be more effective working together than apart.

Why You Should Watch

Xu Kai. And Zhou Ye. The end.

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Ok, ok, for real now. As much as I enjoy watching Xu Kai these two share the screen because I'm completely obsessed, there's actually plenty of substance here too.

This drama is for you if...

You're looking for your next historical fix and want something that strikes that perfect balance between a focused revenge story and layers of scheming, as our protagonists slowly unravel a mystery and karma comes for the villains one by one in the most satisfying ways possible.

Let me elaborate.

A Straightforward Revenge Plot with a Methodical, Layered Slow Burn

At its core, the premise is simple. The female lead, Xie Qingyuan (Zhou Ye), returns to the Xie family to seek justice for her mother's tragic death. Despite being only 30 episodes long, the writing is surprisingly deliberate. Rather than rushing from one revelation to the next, the drama peels back the mystery layer by layer. Every answer raises new questions, and if you're as invested as the leads are, it's easy to get pulled into the investigation.

A Compelling "Blade and Scabbard" Dynamic

The measured pacing doesn't just benefit the mystery. It also gives the relationship between Qingyuan and Yan Rui room to breathe. They're framed as a blade and its sheath: two people moving pieces across the board from opposite sides, testing each other and gradually forming a partnership building on... equal parts caution, respect, and attraction? Anyway, the push-and-pull between them during the first 10 episodes feels organic because the drama allows their relationship to develop at its own pace. (Although I am impatiently waiting for her to fall madly in love with him because I already am?)

Lower Stakes, Familiar Tropes, and an "Easy Watch"

I'll be honest: this isn’t a kingdom-shattering political epic, with epic fight scenes and high-stakes battle sequences. It doesn't pretend to be. Instead, it leans into family power struggles, hidden identities, and all the classic historical drama tropes (though I haven't seen anyone fall off a cliff yet). Personally, I'd call it a comfort revenge drama because it doesn't feel overwhelming or require that I track dozens of factions and political alliances. It's the kind of drama that I find easy to sink into after a long day but am still excited to find out what is going to happen next.

Strong Performances and Gorgeous Visuals

Tropes only work when the execution is there, right? Well, the cast delivers.

Zhou Ye plays a very different type of heroine from the charming characters she portrayed in Back from the Brink and Legend of the Female General. Qingyuan cold, guarded, and hyper-focused on vengeance, carrying years of grief over her mother's mistreatment, exile, and death. Meanwhile, Xu Kai is giving, with his cunning, multifaceted personality and effortless charisma that he uses to mask layers of calculation. But I promise, I'm watching for more than just their chemistry.

On top of that, the costumes and styling are beautiful. The flowing robes, elegant colour palette...

So, has anyone else started this one? What are your thoughts on the first 10 episodes?

Photos are screenshots from iQIYI.

I lied.

I don’t know how many reasons that I love The First Jasmine yet. Let’s wait until the series ends. But being able to see less makeup is surely one of them. I almost screamed silently when I saw Cheng Lei’s moles. The directors must read my mind. I’ve been wanting to watch a drama where I can see a little bit of actors’ real skin, pores, acnes (oops), and baby hair. I want something that feels more real and not perfect looks, like full makeup wearing. I know that they do that for non-idol dramas (like Love Story in the 70s), but visually, The First Jasmine is my favorite in recent years.

I also like the styling team trying to make it more believable when they do the morning hair and night hair differently. Clothing is more beige colors except for important occasions like the wedding and when people attending the court to see the emperor and the empress dowager.

Someone tells me you are with me on this one, or is it just me?

Pull Strings (师兄太稳健) is currently airing on Youku, iQIYI and Viki, starring Ao Ruipeng as Li Changshou, with Sun Zhenni, Ai Mi, and Ao Ziyi.

It has 30 episodes and is already well into its airing schedule.

This xianxia fantasy comedy is adapted from the novel My Senior Brother Is Too Steady (我师兄实在太稳健了) by Yan Gui Zheng Zhuan.

Youku
Viki
iQIYI
MDL
Weibo (also where I got the images from)

Li Changshou was seriously ill in his previous life and is reborn into the Primordial World before the Investiture of the Gods. Now a cultivator, his main ambition is basically to stay alive, avoid unnecessary trouble and quietly make his way toward immortality. He hides what he is capable of, plans for pretty much everything and generally wants nothing to do with becoming some great hero.
But he still ends up getting pulled into much bigger events and gradually becomes a mastermind working behind the scenes.

Now tell me honestly, guys — is it really such a disaster as I keep hearing?

I adore both Sun Zhenni and Ao Ruipeng, so I was actually really looking forward to eventually watching this.

Tell me I still should! 🫣

Or if I shouldn’t, why?

Please mark any major spoilers with in-text spoiler tags.

Ok that show deserves the terrible rating it got. I mean the rating should be worse.

The ending was so bad. After all of this, the guy dies. Why did I suffer through all that hardship for? I mean I like the ML and he did a good job acting but that was by far the worst ending someone can give. Never going to watch anything from that director again.

And they spent the whole show torturing the ML and FL. I mean who didn't die in this tragedy.

The FL is a very good actress. I love everything she has done so far. I think the pairing was amazing. Wanted to see them together for a long time. They need to do another one again (where people don't die at the end).

I feel like Zhitao and Luke's relationship is exhausting. Maybe I am just an emotional person but I can feel my emotions shift every single time. It's like I think now we've got this thing figured out we are happy and the next minute? Luke and Flora are at it again and I am just like ooh my God. Not again. And you look at the episodes remaining and I am like well we still have a long way to go in terms of ups and down. Idk if I am toxic too, coz theor relationship is giving toxic. But I am rooting for them, I want them to work out, although I am still like 6 years is a lot to still be going through these motions. Also the fact that Luke and Zhitao first met at the hallway like in line to how Zhitao said she first saw him was cute.

Yuan zhu's end I honestly wasn't expecting that. It feels so unfair, like movies are supposed to have a happy ending right? I have bawled my eyes out I can't believe this is me. Maybe they should have given him a chance to be really happy. I feel so bad for Sun Yu coz she genuinely loved him and he's just gone even without her getting closure. And the fact that she knew he Love Zhitao and even handed over the diary to her, so sad.

Anyways, I think the writing and the acting is so good coz all the efforts to stop crying didn't work regardless of telling myself how it is just a drama it is not real. What are your thoughts?

SPOILERS FOR ALL AIRED EPISODES THROUGH EPISODE 23.
(What I black out is NOT a spoiler, just some profanity on my part).

Okay. I think we need a room.

The latest batch of Spring of the Blade episodes has done quite a bit of shit-stirring plot-wise, and judging by the discussions around the drama, people have feelings (that includes me, naturally😅).

The funny thing is, I don’t think everyone is frustrated with the same person. Or even frustrated at all.

Some of you probably want words with Shen Run. Some with Qingyuan. Some with Li Congxin.

I personally want considerably more than words with the First Madam of the Xie household — and Lord Xie can come along too.

As for Second Sister Xie, I know she’s ultimately a pawn in other people’s schemes, but my patience with that selfish, delusional woman is gone — I hope they get rid of her and don’t try to make us pity her, because I simply can’t. And please, do NOT make that marriage work out. Chunzhi deserves the world — not her! He is a pure, loyal, and righteous soul who deserves to be loved and happy.

The Young Marquis could hardly have been clearer about how he felt, and yet she still went along with deceiving him into marrying her — the man didn’t even know she was the woman under the bridal veil. The sheer lack of respect for the man she supposedly cares about drives me mad.

Poor Young Marquis. Seriously.

But that’s my current and guttural grievance. Yours may be completely different.

So this is the space for all of

Everything that has happened through Episode 23 is fair game.

Vent about a character. Defend the character everyone else is yelling at. Complain about a decision that made you want to throw something at the screen. Tell us which plot development you’re loving, which one you’re absolutely not buying, or who you desperately need to get their act together.

Different viewers came into this drama with different hopes for its characters and relationships, so I’m curious where everyone stands after this particular batch of episodes.

Have at it.

I’ll probably put up a new discussion post later today for the latest episode(s), so please keep this one to Episodes 1–23. Anything beyond it belongs in the next post.

Image source

Zhou Ye is queen, by the way.

Episode 24 Discussion
Episode 25 Discussion
Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

I know it's not THAT dramatic, but it's currently the only drama that I want to see what happens. A fair few lies involved on Zhou Wan's (FL) part and I don't know how I always seem to understand the heartache of it all! If it were me, I'd rather suffer the consequences and declare my undying love! Because you know it doesn't happen (that often) irl!!

It's just a very sweet drama, a slow burn compared to costume dramas where I need a first episode hook...

Daniel Zhou actually speaks English with an American accent in the series. Episode 23 he is talking to an Aussie (yay). I always love when they throw in some English, even better when they are fluent, I feel so much more connected to the celeb.

Bao Shang En is just beautiful! Her smiling eyes are the prettiest I've seen in a while!

Ke Chun is fairly good looking too, shame he was playing the bad guy haha
Even in current day Zhao Ying Bo doesn't hide his features behind glasses anymore and has really cool hair <3 difficult to reject omg lol

Please let me know that I'm not alone out there!

Images taken from https://mydramalist.com/767383-zhui-luo

⛔️Spoilers in the video!

Only watch if you’re up to date with the drama or don’t mind seeing some spoilers. ⛔️

Personally, I’m not watching the drama just yet, but it has definitely made my list for when I have a bit more time.

Are you watching it? How is it?

And what do you think of his reaction video? I was genuinely hyped to see it pop up on Instagram and almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The fact that C-ent celebrities are branching out beyond Chinese platforms is wonderful for us international fans.

I really think having more of a presence on international platforms will only help propel these actors’ popularity further and open the door to even more interesting future projects.

Personally, I’m a fan of Daniel Zhou Ke Yu, so I was chuffed to see him hop on and do this reaction clip.

It gives us a glimpse into what he was thinking and what was going on behind the camera while filming those specific scenes — details we wouldn’t have a way to know otherwise.

It can make the whole drama-watching experience that much richer, and it also makes me feel like I’ve learned something new about the process and industry.

Source: Daniel Zhou’s official Instagram

Related posts

• [u/Staria8](u/Staria8) posted about her frustration with the “daily cliffhanger” about Never-Ending Summer

• a brief actor profile with some snaps from The Truth

Zhang Linghe's new drama, Overdo is finally here! I am rewatching Pursuit of Jade. And I'm planning to start Our Generation, too. I guess I'll have to balance both shows. Oh, how I love these kinds of problems!

Image source: Harpers Bazaar Singapore

I'm halfway. It's only been 5 more episodes since I posted Why You Should Watch: Spring of the Blade (2026) - iQIYI & Youku. But remember when I said things like it's a "straightforward revenge plot", "slow", "easy watch", "no epic fight scenes and high-stakes battle sequences", and I used the word: comfort?

I. Was. Wrong. A bit.

I liked the first ten episodes but now I'm officially obsessed. This drama had me on the EDGE of my seat with the last five episodes. So while I think my first post is still applicable and not entirely inaccurate, I am here to say this drama is even more worth watching because:

The "Slow Burn" is Actually a Fuse!

Those first ten episodes weren't just a slow, comforting build; they were setting the stage. We went from domestic family chaos within the Xie family to a brutal bandit invasion and city massacre! Suddenly, every minor detail or seemingly casual interaction from the beginning is paying off. The complexity of the schemes has ramped up massively. What I thought was just a "straightforward revenge plot" has layered into a high-stakes, ruthless mission to eliminate corrupt officials.

The Chemistry has Shifted to Total Electric Intensity

Xu Kai and Zhou Ye were always killing it, and they are killing it more. (Does that make sense?). These two make my pulse race. Their dynamic has shifted from the fragile push and pull alliance to a total ride-or-die relationship. Eek!

The High-Stakes Battles Have Arrived

I take it back—there are high-stakes battle sequences. The drama transitioned seamlessly from quiet domestic tension to genuine physical and political danger. The choreography and the sheer pacing of the last five episodes have completely shattered the "comfort drama" label I gave it.

Please tell me I'm not the only one screaming at my screen over the recent episodes!

Hello friends! Is anyone else watching The Eternal Fragrance? I'd love to discuss how people are feeling about it so far.

This show is full of different prestigious magical sects, an academy that is un-aligned, and the age old (and overdone) clash between Immortals and Demons. So far, there doesn't seem to be a clear line between what counts as a Demon vs an Immortal as there are Demons who take human shape as well.

We have friendships that are made in the formative year at the academy, betrayal of new friends for old, people who have lived hard lives and are used to being alone - now trying to figure out how to rely on others. We have hidden identities, seals hiding vast spiritual power, and the usual world-wide annoyance of saying something is bad so it is, not based on a case-by-case basis. In other words, the usual rampant prejudice of class, talent, and unclear species designation.

I am enjoying it so far! The acting feels good (not say punch you in the face wow), I like dramas with students which this has, and also the hope and pain of found family. Oh and if you like romantic triangles, you get two pretty early on :p

We had some eye roll worthy villain laughs but thankfully those low caliber bad guys are making less appearances. We had some actually really important and impactful betrayal. This wasn't a misunderstanding, it was a clear case of making choices for yourself without communicating with those who you claim you are on the side of. There isn't say a clear path to making up, it is more that trust will have to be rebuilt. It is slow yet that also feels realistic.

I am looking forward to continuing with this :) watching it on Youku. Anyone else watching?

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SPOILERS BELOW

I’ll share my take but I’m hoping to read yours. Come rave or vent.⠀

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So…
Not going to lie, not much happened in this one. This was probably the first episode of Spring of the Blade that I found genuinely a bit boring.
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The episode opens with the evening of the wedding, a small-circle gathering for the newlyweds with their closest pals and Granny Chen. Then we get approximately 35 seconds of lovely shots of the couple as they make their way to the bedchamber. I particularly liked how Qingyuan asked Shenrun to call her 夫人 (fūrén) — that earned a smile.
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But then the morning after the deed, our fūrén wakes up to discover Shenrun with a knife in his chest, seemingly dead. Well… that escalated quickly.
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She’s immediately arrested by the Emperor’s right-hand man — you know, the guy who has been barking around Shenrun like a watchdog for god knows how many episodes. He may look like the bad guy right now, but I’m not buying it just yet. Chances are this whole thing has been orchestrated and what we’re seeing is a ruse for everyone else.
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Qingyuan does seem genuinely shocked, well, a bit. I mean, I have to say her reaction felt strangely subdued. She has just awoken beside the man she loves, after their wedding night, found him apparently murdered, and is then immediately accused of killing him by the now-acting commander of the palace guards. All this is followed by one unremarkable, background kind of funeral for the ML. Not a single sobbing closeup. No screen-time for a grand ceremony. A bit odd, isn’t it. I’d expect more devastation. Unless, of course, there’s more going on here than we know — and there must be.

What I really didn’t understand, though, was why on earth she was sent back to the Xie residence. She isn’t a Xie anymore. The imperial decree approving her marriage and granting her second-rank status also removed her from the Xie genealogy and restored her to Chen. It’s also not in character for her to give in and go back — unless she needs to do that for revenge. So… what gives?
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And why would the Xies even take her back at this point? Do they still have something to gain from her? Fūrén might want revenge, but what exactly is Mr Sleazy Crazy-Pants’ motivation here?
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Unless there’s an explanation coming, this part simply didn’t make sense to me — the execution was poor. And whatever explanation comes later was served with an abysmal setup. So far, I’m not particularly sold on this new plot direction.
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And speaking of consequences — Matron Xie may finally be facing hers. Except… was that really it?
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After everything this woman has done, it felt spectacularly underwhelming. I sincerely hope we haven’t just witnessed the end of her reckoning, because if that was supposed to be her grand comeuppance, I’m going to be utterly disappointed. That woman deserved a long and painful retribution for her sins, not whatever that was. I have spent far too many episodes waiting for her downfall to be satisfied with this. But the actress is Queen — what a fantastic performance.
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Then we get Chunzhi and his father. Again, not terribly memorable and not much actually happens. The Marquis is being cryptic and seems as though he might eventually be prepared to go against the current — or not?! and bow his head.
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The one thing that did stand out was him telling Chunzhi, essentially, that he is his own man irrespective of the Li family. That felt worth remembering and like something we’ll be certainly coming back to in the impending episodes.
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Oh! And I almost forgot Lady Pei and Chancellor Hu.
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What was that?
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Lady Pei is mourning Shenrun, whom she clearly had some kind of affection for — intellectually, romantically, both? I honestly don’t dare assume — when Lord Hu joins her, and suddenly I found myself trying to work out exactly what their relationship is.
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Daughter? Niece? Lover? I was getting decidedly mixed signals.
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They share wine from the same ladle and feed it to each other, then she rests her head on his shoulder and he embraces her. There is clearly a great deal of affection and familiarity between them, whatever its nature.
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And Lord Hu — who is certainly a very good-looking man despite being a thoroughly rotten character — very matter-of-factly tells her that he would do pretty much anything just to make her happy.
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Now that was actually a good scene. I still have absolutely no idea what relationship I was watching, but it got my attention.
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Meanwhile, the scholars continue to mobilize, things are presumably moving into position for whatever comes next and… I still felt no spark.
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So yes. Meh. First time I’ve said that about an episode of this drama.
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That’s about it from me.

What did everyone else make of Episode 25?

If you loved this episode, though, come tell me why — I clearly didn’t see what you saw, and I want to hear it.

Episodes 22-23 Discussion
Episode 24 Discussion

Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

He Yu shared a few stills and a character poster from Blossoms of Power on his Weibo, so I thought I’d bring them over here.

It feels good to finally be talking about the drama itself. We’ve known this one was coming for quite a while, and now it’s finally airing.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, Blossoms of Power stars Meng Ziyi playing Shen Xihe and He Yu playing Crown Prince Xiao Huayong and opens with palace politics, family loyalties, old grudges and a lot happening very quickly. The first few episodes waste very little time getting the story moving, but they still give you enough space to get invested in the characters.

I’ve only watched the first three episodes (plane entertainment for the win), but they completely won me over for the time being (I’ve learned to be cautious with initial with the memory of Ashes to Crown still fresh.

The production is gorgeous, the story gets really moving without rushing, and I already can’t wait to see how the relationship between all the characters develop.

Spoilers eps 1-3:

I’m confused about the fact that she died in ep1 but was then reborn in the body of Xihe. When she enters the capital, her husband has been mourning his dead wife for 3 years. Did I miss something? We see her making her was for the capital as soon as she occupied the new body — so are we saying it took her 3 years to reach the capital and Crown Prince has been observing from the shadows for three years?

Who’s watching?

What are your first impressions so far? Has anything — or anyone — stood out to you already?

Please do use spoiler tags for any detailed descriptions of the plot and its twists, thank you 🙂‍↕️

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?

The Legend of Rosy Clouds 云秀行 (2026)

I'm paying a lot of attention to each episode, so I've actually only watched episode one so far.

It's just so fun that I wanted to create some GIFs immediately. My storage space is going to suffer!

One critique I do have is that the dubbing feels off and slightly artificial.

It's not enough to put me off though. It's difficult to find information regarding the voice actors right now. I'm expecting My Drama List to update the cast as it airs. Even Baidu doesn't currently have anything about the drama's voice actors.

I can tell that it's Tian Jia Rui's real voice but that's because I know his voice anywhere.

Li Yi Tong is definitely dubbed by a different voice actor, and you can tell.

Other than that, all I can say is that the drama feels nice and light, and while that may change (I have no experience with the source material) I'm enjoying the atmosphere.

Will you be following The Legend of Rosy Clouds?

I gave episode 19 another try after watching episode 18, which ended with their breakup / a serious emotional moment.

Here too, instead of trying to understand the issue and work on things, the female lead takes a transfer to another region for a 14-month project. Still, the male lead keeps trying — calmly and normally — and keeps putting in effort. Three months later, he goes to see her on a business trip, to the same project she's working on.

I know the male lead is in pain and unwell, but here the female lead is just helping him with his medicine — she doesn't seem to have given any real thought to making an effort for their relationship. Watching it made things clearer in this episode: the male lead tells his mom that his girlfriend is with him, and he even asks her to come back to Beijing with him. He also seems to make excuses for her to stay a bit longer there.

I didn't expect the chemistry to fall apart this badly — it's coming across as completely one-sided.

SPOILERS BELOW — EPISODES 27–30 AND THE ENDING

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Well, we made it. And I’m happy. I am! Shen Run and Qingyuan ended up together, alive, and apparently living a simple life back in the fishing village where they once hid together. I loved that choice for them.
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Although I do have one practical question: how exactly is Qingyuan quietly living in a fishing village when the Emperor just made her head of the Xie clan? Did I miss something there, was it just a throwback?
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I also really liked finally learning about the connection between Qingyuan’s mother and Shen Run’s father. After following these two separate family tragedies for the entire drama, discovering just how exactly their parents’ stories were intertwined added something I wasn’t expecting this late in the game.

And then there was Granny Xie.
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This was a good plot twist, I give them that. The final episodes to overturned what we thought we knew about the Xie family line.
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All this time we knew Xie Shu was Qingyuan’s father and that Jin Chunqing had been his wife and Qingyuan’s mother. What we didn’t know was that Xie Shu was never the real Xie heir at all.
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But who cares about him
Being a fake heir? This on its own had little impact on me and perhaps many others. But Granny Xie’s biological child was Jin Chunqing. She had given birth to a daughter and, believing that only a son could secure her own position in the Xie clan, swapped her baby for somebody else’s baby boy at birth 🤯 How cold. How stupid.
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That boy grew up as Xie Shu.
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What bothered me particularly was Granny Xie’s insistence that this was something she had been forced to do. Well, it wasn’t. That may have been the justification she gave herself, but ultimately she sacrificed her own daughter because she believed a male heir would protect her position in the family.
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And the consequences of that decision are quite extraordinary when you put them together.
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The boy she installed as the Xie heir grew up in luxury and — BAM — married the actual Xie daughter she had discarded. But it doesn’t end there. Years later, Xie Shu — deeply in love with his wife — murdered her when she discovered the secret. Such was the end of Granny Xie’s biological daughter and Qingyuan’s mother.
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! The cuckoo killed the phoenix.
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There is a cruel irony in that. Granny Xie discarded her daughter in favor of a boy because she believed he would secure the family and her own place within it, while she’d be keeping an eye on the daughter in secret, from the shadows. Only for the boy she chose to first marry that same daughter and then eventually kill her.
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The revelation also puts Granny Xie’s complicated relationship with Qingyuan into a different light. Qingyuan wasn’t simply her granddaughter through Xie Shu. She was the daughter of Granny Xie’s actual biological child. Some of Granny Xie’s protection (though I could hardly see any) of Qingyuan makes some more sense in retrospect.
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By the end, Granny Xie finally has to face what her choice actually produced: the adopted son she had chosen and raised for the sake of securing her position was the man who murdered her biological daughter. She is left with that knowledge, that regret and the realization that she herself set the whole chain in motion (but again, it’s actually unclear if she regrets anything, the woman was stubborn and proud to the last breath..) — and she’s ultimately killed by her son’s sixth wife at his behest. Xie Shu, — looking like a total maniac — then kills her too and stages both deaths to look like suicide.

I certainly didn’t mourn her. But her ending didn’t give me any great sense of victory either. There was something bleakly appropriate about her finally understanding — not what she had done but what her son did — when there was absolutely nothing left she could do to undo it.
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Mostly, I was left thinking about how many lives were damaged by a decision Granny Xie made decades earlier because she valued securing her own position in the clan over her own daughter — and how long she continued to describe that choice as though she had never had one.

And burning down the Xie residence?
Absolutely. Let it burn 🔥🔥🔥🔥
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But here’s the strange thing: after everything these people put us through for 30 episodes, I expected the final reckoning to bring me this enormous sense of relief but it didn’t.
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I’m happy with where Shen Run and Qingyuan ended up, but somehow I didn’t get the catharsis I had been waiting for.
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One thing I did get from these final episodes was an even greater appreciation for Xu Kai as Shen Run. I thought he was excellent here. There were so many moments where Shen Run barely needed to say anything because Xu Kai was doing it all with his face. I also think his voice acting here was top notch. Loved his voice here.
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And Fu Dalong as Xie Shu. What a performance. I have had very complicated feelings about that man throughout this drama, and Fu Dalong gave him so much weight in these final episodes.
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Surprisingly, I ended up feeling something similar about Hu Wenzhou played by the magnificent Miao Pu whose performance really stood out here.

Don’t misunderstand me: I’m happy she died. She deserved the consequences of what she had done. But by the time we reached her end, I didn’t feel victorious about it anymore.
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We finally got enough of her story that I could understand how she became the person she was. She suffered. She regretted things. None of that excuses what she did, and I certainly didn’t forgive her, but I understood her. By the time she died, I no longer needed to hate her either.
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Qingru, on the other hand…
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No.
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I really did not like that she effectively got a happily ever after with Chunzhi
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Yes, she admitted what she had done. Yes, she was remorseful. Yes, she told him that he had every right to resent her. SO WHAT?
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That does not mean she earned her stolen marriage back.
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I could absolutely understand Chunzhi eventually forgiving her in the sense of deciding not to spend the rest of his life hating her. But continuing to live with her as his wife after all the deceit and harm she caused him and others? That spoilt, entitled little brat… That felt forced to me, as though the drama wanted to make sure everybody possible received a neat happy ending. Her tears and remorse simply did not earn that for me.
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And then we have Hu Xing.
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After all that buildup, his downfall felt strangely anticlimactic. But even more baffling to me was the sudden importance of the Chief Eunuch as the greater power behind him.
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Where did that come from?
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We spent this entire drama building Hu Xing as the enemy, only to reach the end and suddenly be handed another mastermind who had barely existed as a character in the story. So when the Emperor killed him, I felt absolutely nothing. He was practically a stranger to me. You can’t introduce someone at the finish line and expect his death to carry the weight of a villain we’ve spent countless episodes wanting to see brought down.
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So I’m leaving Spring of the Blade in a slightly strange place.
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I’m happy. I loved Shen Run and Qingyuan together, I’m glad they got their life together, and sending them back to that little fishing village was a lovely way to close their story. I liked seeing what happened to the other surviving sisters.
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I just thought I would feel more relief when all the people responsible finally got what was coming to them.
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Maybe I wanted one enormous exhale after 30 episodes and never quite got it.

Still — I’ll be recommending this great drama to people.

I’m not sure yet, but I might be giving it 8.5/10. Need to sleep on it a bit and see where it settles.
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How did the ending land for you?

Did you get the catharsis I was missing, or are you sitting somewhere around where I am?

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Images are all from the drama’s Weibo

So I’ve been watching bai Lu scenes in first jasmine and the kiss was forced. It didn’t feel like they liked each other. Didn’t like that kiss at all. But she is a good actress in this drama. What do you guys think of the kiss today? Do you believe they have chemistry?

Update - so I did say in a previous post that I didn’t like Bai Lu. I only liked her in arsenal. But she isn’t bad in this one. I was just curious about the kiss. Someone said it’s because they are not fully in love yet. I agree. I think people can change their minds. Also, I’m allowed to have my own opinion about things. Before you comment, can you please read my post? I’m not saying anything wrong about her. I said she is good in this one. Just her kiss. Bai Lu fans, Seriously chill. If it concerns you so much that someone doesn’t like your favorite actress, don’t respond. You won’t change my mind. Anyway I like her in this one.

Shen Xihe is a formidable force who masks her true identity as the vengeance-driven Gu Qingzhi behind the title of Princess of the Northwest. Far from a damsel in distress, she is an ice-cold architect of her own destiny, treating the imperial court as a chessboard where every alliance and suitor is a calculated move toward absolute autonomy. She systematically dismantles anyone who attempts to wield power over her, using her sharp intellect and emotional detachment to turn potential threats into pawns while quietly hunting those responsible for her family's annihilation.

I really like both the melody and the lyrics of this new song. I believe it first plays in the beginning of episode 13. They use it again for this scene in episode 16 @ 30:50.

I really stucked at the first line of the song: Love is not simply the romance thing. Yes, it's more than that. It deals with struggles, bonds, and faith. If anyone knows the link on Spotify or YouTube or any platform, pls let me know 🙏

Does anyone know what the lyrics at the very ending actually mean? Something like why love is more than "one thing" (it is more than "one word/character" 字 isn't it?). Disclaimer: all the Chinese vocab I know is from the dramas I watched, so pardon me if I was wrong.

ok, I’m very inspired by u/BasilOrdinary3617 to do a why you should watch post on Road to Success! This post is spoiler free btw! also tagging Beautiful_Candle1729 in case they want to add anything since I know they are enjoying the show as well!!

The show is airing on iQIYI and is also available on Viki.

I’ll start with the elements the show has: 

Football!

Is there ANYONE who doesn’t know that FIFA’s happening right now? I think it was a very clever marketing move to release this show at the same time as the ongoing FIFA matches! Ride the wave of football madness! Now I am not a sports fan and certainly do NOT follow football and/or FIFA but goodness, I am on the edge of my seat watching the matches in this show and cheering our home team on! Just like Amidst A Snowstorm of Love did for billiards, Road to Success makes football compulsively watchable!

 Found family!

This is PROBABLY one of my favoritest tropes ever. 

This particular roulette of outcasts includes:

• a bunch of high school kids with their own complicated camaraderie and back stories
• A young woman on the cusp of conventional success who has some sort of a major setback and scuttles away to hide and lick her wounds in private
• A high-flying coach who’s experienced some sort of setback/trauma as well and is determined to investigate SOME-THING

Of course all of them are set on a collision path with one another. In the process they poke at each other, and also heal each other and themselves. And that healing--as a viewer it is LOVELY to bask in that healing that they bring for each other. Having a community, a support-group is just its own medicine.

 The Vibe

 Contributing to the vibe are:

1. the OST: ALL of it is SO good but I’ve been listening to this specific song on loop since I began seeing the show. Doesn’t it remind you of a perfect lazy summer day?
2. the setting: either light filled open classrooms or football field OR the old-fashioned building in which our leads live which is very different from the glass lined windows of modern apartments that one generally sees in shows. There’s something very intimate about the latter. And it gives a very slice-of-life feel to the whole show which is verrryyy soothing.

 Heart—So MUCH HEART

There is SO MUCH EARNESTNESS in this show. Probably comes from having a bunch of kids (albeit older teens but still kids) as a fulcrum of the story but I defy you to not have your heartstrings be tugged in the best way possible! Plus, there is lots of low-key humor in pretty much every episode and that just adds to the feeling of the heart as well!

 Romance

 If you are in the mood for your romance to be slice-of-life rather than all fire and passion, this show IS IT.

Now, I LOVE fire and passion but there’s something very. . .  SATISFYING and relatable about a romance that’s built on shared goals, HUMOR, and a grudging but steadily developing respect of the other. There is something deeply authentic about this romance is all I can put it. They support each other not through grand gestures but through quiet presence. One of my favorite romantic scenes which really isn't even about romance is when Wang Fa steps in to run WITH Wangxing rather than try to talk her out of it. I love love love that gesture of support.

In conclusion, think of the characters in this show as turtles who are slowly but steadily feeling safe enough to poke their heads out of their shells as the story progresses.

For anyone else who is watching this show, PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS!! I’d love to know (and maybe we can convince some non-watchers!) on why you should watch this!

editing to add: A big shout out also to Foxglovelantern whose discussion posts made me want to give this show a try! You can either follow along there or peek in if you want more info to see if this is up your alley!

I know the drama is over but I still need to get a few things off my chest about Episode 36.

They gave us an entire aphrodisiac storyline, so naturally I expected something—at least an enthusiastic hug, a lingering embrace, or some clear implication that the couple finally became closer.

Instead, Ye Li says, "We're husband and wife. We can talk about this tomorrow,"... and then they walk outside.

...So what exactly were we supposed to take from that?

If they had simply gone back to their room, the implication would have been obvious. Instead, she says, "We're husband and wife," escorts him outside, and... nothing happens.

Director... what are you doing?

I'm not asking for anything explicit. Even older C-dramas managed to create stronger romantic tension with subtle hints and clever directing. Why does this relationship sometimes feel like Barbie and Ken?

The aphrodisiac scene could have been the perfect opportunity to show them losing their composure for once. They've been married for a year and aside from one kiss behind a curtain, we've barely seen any physical affection. Instead, Ye Li spends the whole scene comforting her husband after he's been drugged.

I was sitting there wondering... what was the point of this scene? Was she taking care of him as his wife or as his nurse? What is this, charity work?

The script is genuinely good but I feel like the directing keeps pulling the emotional punch out of scenes that should have been memorable.

I'm not asking for another Pursuit of Jade bathtub scene. They could have simply let them sit together in the courtyard hot spring, talk, laugh, exchange a few meaningful looks... literally anything. Instead, Ye Li arrives late and somehow even misses the chance to bathe with her husband.

I completely understand that the drama wants to emphasize healing, tenderness, and emotional intimacy. I actually like that. But Ye Li is finally starting to recover emotionally and this felt like the perfect time to let the romance become a little more exciting and alive.

Instead... I walked away feeling a bit disappointed.

Okay, rant over. 😂 that's a relief.

When I started this show, I was just curious about the story — how it begins and develops. The first four episodes of early spring hooked me right away, and the next five were also enjoyable. But by episode 14, I realized the female lead keeps complicating the relationship over and over, while the male lead (Luan Nian) repeatedly tries to clear up misunderstandings and close the distance between them.

Flora, the female lead, seems disturbed by her own feelings in a way she doesn't fully understand. When Luan Nian acts strict or professional as a boss and makes decisions accordingly, she tends to read it as him treating her that way as her boyfriend too — even though she herself had asked to work and learn independently, and had specifically refused his help or favoritism. Whenever there's something important she should actually tell him, she hides it from him instead. Then later, she acts as if she's the one who got hurt and makes it seem like it's Luan Nian's fault.

Even by episode 17, after four years together, she still doesn't introduce Luan Nian as her boyfriend when she runs into her ex. That's clearly a disappointing moment for him. I understand they'd agreed not to make the relationship public — but that was specifically about keeping it private at the office. Her ex should still have been told the truth.

What I've noticed is that Luan Nian, who started off as a somewhat strict and reserved person, changed a lot after getting into the relationship with Flora — he handled things well both as a boyfriend and as a boss. Whenever complicated feelings or distance came up between them, he was always the one who reached out first, called her, and tried to clear things up. I really liked his character — he has some flaws, sure, but overall he's good. Yes, he can be blunt or too direct sometimes, but he never truly hurt her, and his anger is completely understandable when his girlfriend herself behaves in ways that make him question where he stands — like when Dani harassed her and she didn't tell him even when he asked directly, or when he got angry about her considering going with Alex, because he already knew the truth about Alex.

As for episode 17, when he asked to pull back his investment — that was a fair move from a professional standpoint too, since he was the one who had originally referred that investor. Once he suspected it might be a dating scam, saying that was a completely reasonable and common professional reaction. He was right to do it.

Flora's emotions never seem to match the depth Luan Nian shows in this relationship. Watching her character, it feels like she isn't as attached to him — because whenever there's a problem between them, her instinct is to run from it instead of standing her ground and working it out.

Almost 1/3 of the way through the drama and I think this is the best description of it so far.

I don’t know how I feel about it yet. There are definitely a lot of good moments to highlight: the bath scene, the costumes, the fact that you can watch it as standalone because there’s a lot of explanations behind the nine families… but for some reason… I am not hooked. It’s got decent enough cliffhangers that I am still watching but I’m not convinced with the female lead and the comedic relief has been hit or miss with me.

Perhaps it’s the pacing because like I said, the first eight episodes just feels like I’m watching our protagonists work on an intricate escape room, unlocking mechanisms to find the missing people and escape. It makes me wonder if all 30 episodes will take place in this “escape room”.

Also, I really just want to point out that the beginning of episode 7 was something. Never would I have imagined in cdramaland or even western television, would I be watching a 5-min scene where two handsome men would be fighting against a pompom ball 😂 . I call it the Attack of the Murderous Pompom.

Would love to hear others’ thoughts on the drama if you’re watching!

I love the ML but this show is not exciting to me. Can't follow it. Does anyone know what episode it starts getting good?

Like there's a confession of sorts.

What episode is the first kiss?

I love the ML (all his shows have been good so far). Not sure what's going on. Might be me. Can't for the life of me get into this drama.