Anne: Happy Tuesday again everyone! I survived another audit and feel so much more relaxed this week. I plan to make sure we have a better process in place so we don’t have to work so hard, and last minute, next time. On top of these normal frustrations, I find myself getting more and more frustrated at work, sigh. Well…with all this stress surrounding me every second of every day, I actually do a lot of DIY crafts.
In the midst of my work and DIY, I also watched a bunch of shows. But only one has broadcast recently.
Fight for love
I started on Sunday and went through the first 7 episodes because I couldn’t stop. The story begins with a very confusing scene that led to the annihilation of an entire family/clan. These were FL’s (A Mai) memories of his adopted older brother killing his father and leading to the demise of his family.
In the present day, A Mai is posing as a man who is in the capital and trying to track down the head of a spy organization in order to get information about his adopted older brother. While trying to infiltrate the brothel where she has information that this spy boss is located, she inadvertently encounters an assassination attempt by Yi Zhi, the eldest son of a general and his wife, the Grand Princess, who is the older sister of the current emperor. The Emperor has systematically killed all young men born in a given year, because he wants to eliminate any possibility of descendants from the previous crown prince (he tries to kill any nephew of his ex-crown prince brother). And guess who Yi Zhi really is? His mother told him about his birth on his father’s deathbed, a condition also caused by the emperor. The Emperor reminds me a lot of the Emperor of Legend of FuYaothe one who always hung around like a useless old man but knew everything and had plans upon plans for the world to follow his plan.
In order to prepare Yi Zhi to protect himself, his mother asked three master martial artists to teach her son how to fight. And these 3 masters are the head courtesans of the brothel in which Yi Zhi often spends many days and nights. Now, the night A Mai saved Yi Zhi from the assassin, she was able to meet the spy organization she was. I’m trying to find because this person happens to be Yi Zhi’s master. The brothel had obviously been “discovered” by the Emperor and he had sent his deadliest killer to wipe out the entire nest. Now… our ML finds out that A Mai has been a girl almost from the beginning, and it’s not because he’s smart or wise. He just saw her taking a bath (don’t ask me why this girl forgot to close a window/door when she was trying to protect her secret).
Yi Zhi’s mother managed to get him assigned to a military base where his father’s former comrades can help protect him. Meanwhile, A Mai goes to another town after the spymaster tells her to look for someone else there to find information about the person she is looking for. A Mai arrives in a town where Yu Qing, the general of the opposing country, comes to take over to find a weapons designer. Yu Qing is a great character and the actor (Wang Rui Chang) played him very well. He is a ruthless killer with principles. This is one of the few dramas where FL is completely separate from ML for several episodes, and not only was I not bored, but I was actively engaged in all of its adventures. After escaping from this situation, she then meets Yi Zhi, who has been hiding in the forest for a few days, avoiding assassins… sent by… guess who?
It’s been a while since a drama really captured my interest. I love A Mai’s character, and yes, even though her “masculine” outfit doesn’t really make her a “man”, it certainly isn’t “girly”. So if I maybe had one eye closed, I could probably believe it’s a guy. I also like the character of Yi Zhi, a boy who really didn’t understand the danger that his parents spent their whole lives, and even now, protecting him from. So far he’s just beginning his growth journey and his silly “happiness” every time he “meets” A Mai is super cute.
If this drama stays at this pace throughout 36 episodes, it will be the premiere of my favorite shows of 2024!
The Case Solver (1, 2 and 3)
I don’t remember how I came across this drama. I mean I think it’s because I was looking for other dramas starting with Gu Jia Cheng which started to become one of my favorites because of the romantic comedy, fantasy and historical dramas that he has played in recent years. It was the other series I watched. The only weird thing about seasons 1 and 2 is that they both ended with a teaser for the next season that never came to fruition. The following season never continued the storyline.