Lan Ling Wang 《兰陵王》 - Feng Shao Feng, Ariel Lin, Daniel Chan

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Originally Posted by panda-pop

Nope, not going to work, Lan Ling Wang. The previews for the next 3 episodes tell me that you're going to remain in the dog house, at least until episode 25.

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Haha, I couldn't have put it better myself! In the preview for EP 23 LLW says "I am a prince. Even if I wanted to have concubines, you have no right to say anything!" I know he only said that in anger, but he's just creating room for more misunderstanding... Now it just seems like the screenwriters are adding unneeded drama... Am I watching one of Yumama's palace dramas?

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Originally Posted by AcrossTime

I'm currently on the Xue Wu Yu Wen Yong - ship. Please have some of this awesomeness along with Daniel's OST song for the drama :love: :inlove: :luv:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtVU1...-RD2_Y311Ju_UA

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Eeeeek, I can't wait until we get to the YWY and Xue Wu scenes in that MV. Though it seems to me that Xue Wu seems to also have feelings for YWY by the way she looks at him. And does YWY say something about protecting both Xue Wu and the child? My guess is that she's pregnant with LLW's child but YWY is passing it off as his child to protect her.

Watching today's episodes, I just wanted to slap llw at times plus just having watched the preview for Ep 27, I think I am going to switch the ship for a while. Well, so I am going for ywy-yxw for a while now, yuwen yong is so awesome. Daniel is really a great actor, afterall I am a FSF fan and here I am all drooling over ywy^^

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Originally Posted by Thuchen

Watching today's episodes, I just wanted to slap llw at times plus just having watched the preview for Ep 27, I think I am going to switch the ship for a while. Well, so I am going for ywy-yxw for a while now, yuwen yong is so awesome. Daniel is really a great actor, afterall I am a FSF fan and here I am all drooling over ywy^^

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Totally agree with you! So all aboard the XW YWY - ship to Zhou guo! After seeing LLW's pathetic behaviour in the last few episodes with Zheng Er, I give a round of applause for Daniel's YWY appearance again! How can you not love how far he's willing to go for his loved one. Take a moment to appreciate the preview:hooray:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbdeliH2L_8

I'm also onboard the YWY-YXW ship. LLW's behavior in today's episode is completely different than LLW from previous episodes. I does not make any sense for him to believe Zheng er instead of Xue Wu. That scene just makes me want to smack him in the head :mad:

Acrosstime, thanks for posting the MV for Daniel's song on the OST! There's so many scenes in there that we haven't seen yet, looks like there's lots more Xue Wu/Yu Wen Yong moments to look forward to. (By the way, xia0yuer, I think I've seen the scene where Xue Wu begs Yu Wen Yong to save her baby in one of the trailers. From what I could piece together, after Lan Ling Wang is forced to drink poison, Zheng Er [by this point the queen] has her soldiers hunt down a pregnant Xue Wu. Xiao Dong dies trying to protect Xue Wu, she gets away, and somehow Yu Wen Yong finds her and brings her back to the palace. The doctor says that because Xue Wu's been hit with an arrow, it's likely they'll have to make a choice between saving the mother's life or the unborn baby's life. It seems unlikely that Yu Wen Yong would be able to pass off the baby as his own given the timing of things, but I bet he doesn't even care. He's awesome like that.) Valchan, I'm not sure where you can download or buy the OST, but I've been listening to it on my phone through this website: http://www.xiami.com/album/576642968.

Lovedramas, glad you registered! I always see the "there are # users browsing this thread" text on the bottom on the thread and most of them are guests. It's more fun when there's more of us chiming in :beerchug:

Episode 23 was a quick breather between the yuckiness of the last two episodes and (from what people are saying) the yuckiness of the next two. You know, despite certain individuals-- especially Lan Ling Wang-- acting out of character recently, the show does redeem itself somewhat in my eyes by having Xiao Cui complain to the Dowager Empress about what's been happening. After a particularly ugly fight between Xue Wu and LLW, Xue Wu orders Xiao Cui not to say a word of their marital problems to the Dowager Empress, LLW's doting grandmother. Xiao Cui promises, only to blab it all to the Dowager Empress in the next scene because she is awesome. The Dowager Empress comes up with a plan to reunite the couple: have Xue Wu pretend to be sick so LLW can feel guilty and apologize for upsetting her. It's a flawed plan, way too easy for Zheng Er to foil (and she does), but it's also very in character for the Dowager Empress; this is the kind of passive-aggressive "battle tactic" I can imagine court ladies using in the king's hou gong/harem. For the five minutes in real-time/one day in drama-time that the plan works, everything's peachy. Lan Ling Wang frets over Xue Wu's well-being, admits that it's all his fault, decides to have Zheng Er's stupid jade pendant sold to raise funds for the poor and promises the Dowager that he'll marry Zheng Er off to a nice family within a month. He also looks SO happy when he thinks the Dowager is finally going to let him see Xue Wu:

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But sure enough, Zheng Er "accidentally" helps him uncover the fact that Xue Wu isn't really sick and he gets mad again. This time, I'm more understanding of why LLW is mad.. but isn't it obvious that this kind of scheme is something only the Dowager Empress could dream up? Xue Wu doesn't have a deceptive bone in her body. And of course, Xue Wu gets sick for realsies after their fight. Couldn't you have timed that better, kids? At least the episode ends on a comforting note. Zheng Er offers to play a game of chess with a very bummed out Lan Ling Wang to take his mind off of things. He rejects her and says, "To play chess, you have to understand the other person's heart. The only person's heart I want to study right now is my wife's."

It's not surprising that LLW is acting like (for lack of a better word) a dick. He's been pretty good up until now and I was completely expecting it - especially since he and Xue Wu have grown up in vastly different environments.

I think that when it comes down to it (I hope it does) LLW will be redeemed from this rather awful behaviour - at the moment he's making YWY look like a godsend.

It's a typical drama trope to create unnecessary drama when you've got nothing else, at least i've found. I think this will set up the secondary ship - and then eventually something will go wrong with that to bring us potentially back to the first.

Part of me (as a LLW/XW shipper) hopes this is the case - however I also want to see a change in dramas, someone push the boundaries and really make the characters work for their relationship and learn from their mistakes, rather than just shove it under the rug.

If I wasn't so invested in this first ship (because I really do find them gorgeous in their good moments) I would totally be on board with YWY and XW - I really look forward to their relationship development and then comparing that with LLW/XW. I think when I see that, i'll probably be fully on board with either all and be able to argue why.

Regardless, this drama is keeping me hooked! I look forward to seeing what's next and I love reading everyone's thoughts! :D

anyone know about the ratings? I've heard it a sky-rocket in China, is that true?

Redenzione, I'm barely clinging on to our ship after episodes 24 and 25..

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If Yu Wen Yong knew Lan Ling Wang made Xue Wu cry like this, he'd probably toss the peace treaty and declare war the next day :hmph:

It's no fun to cover what happened in the show when it's just drama for the sake of drama. If you're really into Lan Ling Wang and Xue Wu, skip episode 24. Definitely skip episode 25. Lan Ling Wang volunteers for a stupid mission to capture some stupid bandits and takes along stupid Zheng Er with him. Xue Yu gets tricked again by Zheng Er and ends up ruining Lan Ling Wang's plans. Then stupid Lan Ling Wang believes that Zheng Er is some saintly martyr, even when Xiao Dong AND Xue Wu tell him that she's a liar! He even kind-of-sort-of-pretty-much promises to marry Zheng Er. Granted, it's only out of a sense of obligation (she whines that no one will want her now that she's spent time alone with a bandit, and he feels responsible for putting her in that position), but no buts! You promised Xue Wu you would only love her, only marry her! When Xue Wu tells him, "if you can't keep your promises, you shouldn't have made them in the first place" before leaving, my heart broke for her. It was the first time I really felt like Lan Ling Wang couldn't make it up to her.

The bright spot in all this crazy is how quickly Lan Ling Wang realized his mistake after Xue Wu left, and who directed him to the truth. Out of Lan Ling Wang's whole posse of close friends/generals/advisers, Shi Shen was the only one who didn't warm to Xue Wu quickly. He was peeved at her for convincing Lan Ling Wang not to set fire to the village where Yu Wen Yong was hiding, and he blamed her for when Lan Ling Wang got wounded by the poisonous arrow. But it's Shi Shen who logically breaks down reasons why Zheng Er seems suspicious. It's Shi Shen who urges Lan Ling Wang to investigate before placing the blame on Xue Wu. And it's Shi Shen who helps Lan Ling Wang devise a trap for Zheng Er, one which she falls into. By the end of episode 25, Lan Ling Wang finally realizes that he's made many, many mistakes, but Xue Wu has already been abducted by the bandits.

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Random, but I thought this scene was (unintentionally) hilarious. Xue Wu and Xiao Dong, I don't think that tree's wide enough to hide either one of you..

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And a picture of An De Wang because we could all use a little cheering up and George Hu is very pretty.

I'm not too invest in either shipping, I much rather see Xiao Dong and Xue Wu together!
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Can't wait for the next episodes, the previous one have been sooo dreary-

Aww Panda-Pop don't lose the faith!

But to be honest..I don't really blame you. I watched the episode despite your warning because I'm the kind of viewer who can't stand missing episodes, but I agree - LLW making Xue Wu cry like that, not good.

However, it stands to reason that no couple can be perfect - what's the point in watching if it's smooth sailing the entire way? Then we wouldn't get much of the delicious Daniel.

Actually I am quite sad after the preview of ep 28; seems like ywy has gone back to Zhou Guo (no more scenes of him so soon...) and xw has pretty much forgiven llw. And the preview of ep 27 doesn't show anything which convinces me why she should forgive llw besides him ridiculously starting a fight with ywy and letting xw getting held hostage by the bandits AGAIN. Anyway, I hope he does very many things so that xw will forgive him.

Ha, I feel I never really have to comment much. Panda-pop parallels my views so much that it's that side of eery. Even to the writing style.

Yes, there is lots of stupid in the recent episodes. Stepping back, it is very much contrived. I understand why LLW allowed for XW to help him at the start. He was getting interested in her and she was a capable stranger. LLW allowing ZE, a state criminal and maid, to assist him with his job is a bit far-fetched. Why she would get precedence over the head maid is beyond me. Xiao Cui is pretty witty herself and loyal to boot. Further, what happened to Wu Ge? His other advisors? Do they pale in comparison to ZE? The guy was doing pretty well before all the ladies came on the scene.

One thing I cannot stand is hypocrisy. The way LLW is going, he seems to have this in spades. He claims XW doesn't trust him, but when YWY was being kind to XW, it was ok for LLW to be suspicious and jealous? LLW also said that he would never have more than one wife, in memory of his mother who had to suffer from being the woman of a king that had too many wives. Then he turns around and proclaims that a man naturally has "3 wives, 4 concubines". Even if they were angry words, he didn't later on claim responsibility for the hurt they caused. He chose to pridefully convince himself that he was in the right.

The whole fake sickness fiasco was also very revealing. It sounded like LLW got more angry that his pride was hurt.

"Everyone laughing at him for appearing a fool of when he begged to see the sick XW".

If being genuinely worried about someone needs to have anything to do with pride, it wasn't very genuine in the first place. Also, major pride issue dude.

When LLW said he would grant ZE a "status" (ming fen = married status), I was like: "Good for you! You two deserve each other." But Ariel's parting performance in that scene was pure gold. Understated and powerfully tragic.

ENDING SPOILER

This is for Panda-pop :D.

click to show/hide spoilers

XW enters the palace to assassinate Gao Wei/crown prince/new king and ZE/Feng Xiao Ling/new queen. LLW makes it into the palace in time to see that XW is safe and hasn't carried out any killings yet. Gao Wei sets his sights to shoot LLW with a poison arrow. XW realizes a split second before LLW does, and takes the arrow for LLW. With her dying breath, XW asks LLW to raise their son, Ping An. Further, she encourages LLW to forget her and find another good woman to be his wife. She doesn't wish for him to spend the rest of his life a lonely life. LLW declares that XW is the only woman he will ever love and have as wife.

Gao Wei shoots a second arrow and kills ZE. He then takes poison - that ZE was giving him in dragged out doses anyway - and kills himself.

One big Shakespearean tragedy.

This may not be the absolute ending. There are differences between the series and the synopses. For example, when YWY was having his weak moment, the synopses said that XW dances for him to cheer him up. I was like: Cool! Want to see that! It also ties in with her name 'Snow Dance'. Obviously, that scene didn't happen. I was actually quite disappointed with the heart-to-heart. It seemed kind of rushed to me. Pacing didn't match the gravity of that moment. Ah well.

Shipping YWY and XW all the way! And Daniel in his current outfit and hairstyle is so handsome :D.

And I'm a bit slow. Just realized Xiao Dong is also Daniel's Chinese name. Also more than noticed the guy who plays Shi Shen is a bit of nice eye-candy. Generally grumpy eye-candy, but eye-candy nevertheless. Reminds me of an actor from 90's Justice Bao.

So much pretty in this series :D.

How do I see the spoilers??? It doesn't come up when I click it!!

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Originally Posted by CuteBabyAngel17

How do I see the spoilers??? It doesn't come up when I click it!!

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I've had that happen to me, too. Not sure if it's the browser I'm using or if it's just a finnicky feature on these forums? Anyway, the work-around I use is to click "reply with quote" on the post with the spoiler in it. In the reply box, you'll see the text of the spoiler. Hope that helps!

NuDaFu, thanks a bunch for sharing the (possible) ending with us! So dark, dang. Ariel's period dramas always have bittersweet endings, don't they? Though if I had to choose between Xue Wu or Lan Ling Wang staying alive at the end.. Xue Wu all the way.

I am currently watching ep 26 and when I see ywy looking for that dancing grass and Daniel's song was played, I was all awww.....I think I am gonna stay a bit longer on ywy-xw ship.

Okay, I am now at the end of ep 27, whose heart has just broken in pieces like mine seeing ywy's backview walking away from xw and llw. His injury was much more severe, and his heartbroken face when xw only cared about llw. Now I am even angry at xw, how could she just let ywy walk off like that?!

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I thought that scene was really cute. Yu Wen Yong, a lovesick puppy, was criticizing the drawing of Xue Wu ... "Doesn't look like her.. Not bright/intelligent enough.. she should smile more.. wiser.." :D:D

Sad ending indeed. Where do you read this? What happened to yay? Currently I m sailing yay ship too.

Thanks panda-pop for the "click spoiler" trick, I've been wondering why I can't click it. I think other than the "Ah Gwai" segment, I'm going to add episodes 26 & 27 into my favourite parts. Despite seeing Yu Wen Yong all rejected and hurt, he's finally learned to truly love someone, which I don't think Lan Ling Wang understands. Seeing him go through all the trouble to find the herb for Xue Wu and how he sacrificed and self-inflict that wound on his arm was touching. The sweetest moment was when he stood up to provide shade for her, that was a très 'aww' moment seeing how '细心' he is. I'm just so sad that Xue Wu only has eyes for Lan Ling Wang even though through the whole drama hasn't really given up anything for her, other than taking the arrow in one of the earlier episodes. He hurt her so deeply by falling for Zheng Er's innocent act to the point where everyone around him noticed except himself. For being portrayed as the perfect, citizen-loving, caring general, Lan Ling Wang is truly flawed.

Which brings me back to my Yu Wen Yong obsession. I'm never getting off the XW YWY-ship, ever. And points to Daniel for acting so well despite the allergic to the make up or glue on the hair! I look forward to seeing more of his interactions with Xue Wu in future episodes. Honestly the perfect ending for me would be Lan Ling Wang dying and Xue Wu lives on, finally falling for our handsome Yu Wen Yong. But obviously that's not how dramas usually go, never give me what I want :sigh:

I wish Zheng Er was successful at her suicide attempt, darn crown prince to come in and rescue her. I rage.

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Lan Ling Wang and Zheng Er get married!

Hehe, just kidding. It's easier to joke around now that we know Lan Ling Wang's brain is functioning properly again.

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Originally Posted by AcrossTime

Honestly the perfect ending for me would be Lan Ling Wang dying and Xue Wu lives on, finally falling for our handsome Yu Wen Yong. But obviously that's not how dramas usually go, never give me what I want :sigh:

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The only time I've ever seen that happen was recently with Wang De Nv Ren/Beauties of the Emperor (Chen Qiao En, Ming Dao & Luo Jin formed the love triangle in that one) and though it felt like a narrative cop-out, it was really satisfying. Everyone wins! Well, except the guy that dies. But he had the girl's love and devotion for 40+ episodes, so let's call it even.

The show works super hard to make us swoon over Yu Wen Yong in episode 26. No point in fighting it, even if you're the most hardcore Lan Ling Wang/Xue Wu shipper. Not only does he buy Xue Wu from the slave auction (love the pragmatism-- why bother fighting a bunch of people to rescue the girl when you can just pay for her with a crystal ball that changes color?), he takes care of her as her illness gets worse and gathers hard-to-find "dancing grass" herbs to feed her. Speaking of Xue Wu's illness, I'm still confused how/why she got to be so sick, but by this point I've accepted that this drama will occasionally (fine, often..) take narrative shortcuts to get us to the emotional payoffs. I've made peace with that. And it's easy to forgive when it gives you scenes like this one:

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Those eyes! :luv: Does the look of this scene-- Xue Wu's red head cloth, Yu Wen Yong lifting it slowly-- remind anyone else of a marriage ceremony? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I'd like to think that the show did this by design. This is the wedding ceremony that can never be, because Xue Wu has already married Lan Ling Wang. But Yu Wen Yong also doesn't need a wedding ceremony to continue loving Xue Wu. Daniel Chan shared his thoughts on his character's feelings for Xue Wu in a promo video which I found pretty insightful. He described Yu Wen Yong as someone who's never known how to love or had the freedom to love. When he falls for Xue Wu, it's not just a king crushing on a cute girl; it's a boy pouring all the love he has into one person.

Okay, before it sounds like I'm giving the show too much credit, I'll share a few LOL/WTF moments from this episode.

- I get that this episode is supposed to show us how much Yu Wen Yong cares about Xue Wu and will do for her, but holy geez, that's a lot of bruises for a herb-gathering excursion. He's plodding through the rainstorm, falling off the side of mountains and getting his face scratched up. I'm surprised they didn't throw a bear attack in there.

- Lan Ling Wang, after chasing in the wrong direction for two days: "Could it be that the black market salesman misled us?!" Yes, Lan Ling Wang. I think there's a high likelihood that the guy who sells women at a slave auction probably lies once in a while, too.

- I'm not a fan of the Zheng Er rape scene. What I mean is, I've seen scenes like this one in way too many Chinese dramas growing up. It's usually an antagonist who gets raped, and it usually makes her even more crazy/evil/pitiful than before. Rape as a plot device makes me really uncomfortable; I feel like it desensitizes people to a horrific act because the act happens to "bad" characters who we want to see punished.

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Originally Posted by panda-pop

The only time I've ever seen that happen was recently with Wang De Nv Ren/Beauties of the Emperor (Chen Qiao En, Ming Dao & Luo Jin formed the love triangle in that one) and though it felt like a narrative cop-out, it was really satisfying. Everyone wins! Well, except the guy that dies. But he had the girl's love and devotion for 40+ episodes, so let's call it even.

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Ah yes I remember that, it was quite satisfying despite the mediocre drama. What are the chances of that happening here T_T. And how do I attach images and make them appear in the post as is instead of an attachment link. Someone please help !