Why is this drama not more loved??

I never write reviews but I just finished this drama for the second time and I loved (almost) every minute of it and the bits I hated were because of intentionally hateable characters. Re-watching and remembering the character progressions to come just made it even better! The characters are all complex, nuanced, and interesting. Everyone has their true self hidden by the appearance they carefully aim for, except for our FL Ningzhi who has no mask. She is all sincerity, compassion, and kindness, but she ends up in a place full of façade, ruthlessness, and hunger for power - the royal palace. She's honestly stupidly selfless at times but it's her complete lack of hidden motives and devotion to helping people that makes her the titular phoenix.

I think part of the low reviews are because people expect more conventional romance plots. The ML, Wei Guang, feels much older than and more "above" Ningzhi when they first meet but they grow together to become true partners as equals. There isn't much "romance" after the first few story arcs. Their relationship is loyal, committed, and full of a deep understanding of each other. Due to Ningzhi's consort status they spend most of the drama in a platonic relationship and eventually become part of a group with 2 others who share their loyalty and beliefs, and can I just say - squad goals! I love all the main characters (except the emperor he can choke). All the "good guys" are running around trying to save the country and its people from the incompetent fool in charge, which is a little too real... The main 4's friendship may be my favourite part, especially Ningzhi and the Empress. They all bring out the best in each other and fight for what they believe in together.

The only big issue I had was with the pacing. Years fly by without much explanation and no one visibly ages so it's hard to tell how much time has passed. Maybe it's due to budget or episode cuts, but there is also a lot of big events like battles happening off screen but since our main characters are usually separated for some reason or another, it doesn't feel like exposition dumping when we are caught up on off screen shenanigans since everyone is always getting reports on what the others are up to.

Overall I just really enjoyed this drama. The characters grow or regress so naturally, and feel like real people, even the bad ones except for maybe some of the explicit villains who we don't learn much by way of motivation. but I think they are meant to act as a plot device for the real villain which is power for the sake of power and seeking a good reputation for the sake of your ego. The show focusses on the dangers and responsibility of power, and the importance of true compassion and devotion to the common good. It also sees loving someone as support for what that person values and wants to do. And it focuses on more than just romantic love in this sense. It's also just really engrossing to watch for the story, acting, and costumes, and there are lots of varied fight choreographies to enjoy as well. Ningzhi and the Empress have some seriously beautiful outfits and accessories!

This is definitely a unique take on romantic/harem/political intrigue/historical dramas. The relationship is definitely more of silent longing and yearning. Think Mr Darcy eyes, but without explicit confessions because the emperor has just gotta marry everyone...

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They had us in the first 29 episodes I'm not gonna lie

This review will cover up to the last episode, with a rant about the ending at the end. I'll avoid spoilers until then.

This drama is a unique twist on the currently popular trope of "I became a villain in a novel," except here our FL, Hua Qiang, isn't a self-aware book character but the villain herself who has a chance to redo the 2 years of her life that originally led to her and her family's death. She basically was the cliché antagonist in a c-drama who devoted all her efforts into an unrequited love, Zhong Zelan (who is a block of wood at that), and is overthrown by him and the "true" perfect female lead, Mu Yao, (who has such resting evil face it's hilarious, and also is super skilled at martial arts because she is our perfect wronged main). Her jealousy along with her father's greed, her brothers rampant misogyny, and her mother's coddling of him, lead to everyone dying.

But then she wakes up 2 years earlier, just as she's been married to ZZL. The past her tricked him into marrying her, but she knows now that he ain't worth it and her only wish is to live a safe and happy life with her family, but the problem is that they haven't experienced the death of everyone they love so they basically brush her worries and desires off .

HQ is so likeable. She's strong and ready to own up to her mistakes, and also find out who she actually is outside of her decade long obsession with a man who was not worth it. She's flawed sometimes but trying so hard, and mostly feels like she's fighting alone since no one else knows what the future may bring.

Everyone in this show is morally grey. Her family would be 1 dimensional villains in most dramas, but here they are loving parents and siblings even if to the outside world they're evil. MY and ZZL took u way too much screentime and honestly if your husband treats his ex the way ZZL treats HQ please run.

The surprise ML, Zhong XiWu, is the lord of the business HQ's dad works for, and he sort of is in the shadows watching this new and improved HQ, until he's a proper love interest. Then he becomes controlling, overbearing, and dangerous He basically makes decisions for her and about her with no consideration for her wishes, constantly talking about just wanting to "have her by his side," treating her as someone with no autonomy.

Then there's my boy Hua RongZhou. I fell in love at first beggar-y sight. He's an adorable cinnamon roll/puppy dog and must be protected at all costs. His trauma dump backstory is a little much but his devotion and silent bodyguard protection and small smiles and true support kept me going.

This drama kept me guessing, I never knew where it would go and I loved that until....

SPOILERS AHEAD

...it was all a dream. She never went back in time but was in a coma for over 2 years while ZXW cared for her. The major problem is that we don't actually know anything about him then. We just know he's the lord and he loves her, but we know nothing of who he actually is or why we should root for him as endgame. We never see more than a couple of scenes of what he actually was like, and honestly caring for someone's comatose body who barely knew you existed with so much devotion and expectation is kinda yikes for me. Just leave out an endgame romance if you want to stick this weird ending where HZR DOESN'T EXIST

That is the second huge problem. they wrote our boy HRZ as a dreamed up hallucination because HQ felt no one could love her. The show is basically saying, "see this sweet boy who is super devoted and supportive but also is learning to stand up for himself, and who can give her the free, happy and simple life she wants? Well, that is obviously just a figment of her imagination and she needs to wake up to the harsh reality" that ZXW (who we basically know nothing about in the real world). She decides to treat HRZ as a piece of herself that wanted to love and support herself.

oh, and the grand princess (ZXW's mother) is amazing until the twist where she becomes the typical matriarch villain, as opposed to a complex character of an older woman torn between her appreciation of HQ as a fellow woman trying to forge her own path who she genuinely likes, and her own responsibilities. She's so kind and interesting until the twist ending and I hated it.

Apparently this ending was shoved in to get through censorship, but they didn't change the story enough for it to make sense... I loved the story until this ending twist. Everyone was growing, and a lot of the "dream" endings were bittersweet and felt realistic. But now this was all a dream to make herself cope? So much shit still happened, and she worked so hard for the happiness, peace, and freedom she wanted. Almost everyone was learning and growing, and finding a world away from greed, money, power, and revenge. If this show ended where apparently the book ended it would be basically perfect imo.

SPOILERS OVER

This drama really moved me and made me feel and think (and binge watch it so quickly). I really do recommend it. It has such a unique take on reincarnation as a villain, and to me did a beautiful job showing why women (and and vulnerable group) need to stick together for all our sakes, and how important it is to choose kindness and compassion over selfishness and greed. I just really really loved the first 29 episodes, and it was pretty much a perfect drama until then for me.

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