What I really loved was the part about her posing as the ghost, it was hilarious and cute. I would hate to not enjoy watching Shuang Er and it would be a pity since I had loved seeing Zhang Meng as Shen Xian Jie Jie. It was bugging me at times with the inconsistent appearances like how it bugged me with Jian Ning’s appearance too early. Then later, she stayed to assist Xiao Bao from time to time. They went all out and made her somewhat of an undercover agent at the king’s uncle’s place. It wasn’t the first time they switched up Shuang Er and gave her more stories. What else? They got creative with her character. Whoever thought it was cute to do that to her hair must be crazy. Well, the back part wasn’t as bad, but the front part would be better off as curls, not that hideous bit. I rather watch her at parts where she posed as the guy since I wouldn’t have to see the hair. It made it even worse because I could say it was the angle of the pictures at times when they released the stills.

YES, even if it was on screen, I can’t even get over it.

Wei Xiao Bao’s 7 Wives: Yeah, he has 7.

I also liked how he sort of still treated Jian Ning as his sister and pleaded with the empress to spare her, telling the empress he would have some sort of solution to the situation so Jian Ning wouldn’t go storming in to keep bothering her (the empress). One of the most touching scenes with him was the part where he got to see his father again, talking a bit and saying goodbye for the last time. He could also be humorous when the time called for it. He indeed exuded a very royal image in here and was charming as Kang Xi at times and strict enough as others for the role of Kang Xi.

Wei Qian Xiang as Emperor Kang Xi (康熙).

He was just too slick and amusing on many levels. At other times, you couldn’t help but want to side with him. It made you want to smack him in the face too. And oh yeah, I just loved his taunting expression. Yet he was sincerely helping her and trying to protect her (after the initial con), not just wanting to lure her away to save the king. I like how he handled the situation with Jiu Nan Shi Tai, whether she deserved his pity or not. There was a mixture of seriousness and humor–like it was appropriate at times. Sure, he had his moments, but it was like the essence of the character from the novel coming out in here. Then there were also some of his behaviors, not so over like how he was seemed so upset the majority of the time regarding some matters. (Even knowing what scene would take place next, it was still addicting.) What got me laughing so much was how they changed some of his styles and made him used some deeper words to mock the people who came to cause trouble at the Shaolin Temple than his usual obnoxious self would use at other times. It was like addicting for me in that sense, trying to see what else he could do. But the rest of the time, I can’t stop laughing or keep watching on to the next episode. I will admit that he sometimes exaggerated with the humor.

So when I got past with looking at age and height, I was totally blown away with Han Dong’s portrayal.

So yes, after a while, I have to abandon the novel and just focus on him.

So I don’t think his acting was terrible because his character in here was indeed like Xiao Bao in the novel on some levels, but considering the age of Xiao Bao in the novel, it just didn’t cut. Yet Han Dong did make it bearable at times and enjoyable at others. Because he was far from ‘xiao’, both age-wise and height. I just feel that I’ll just watch him but his own version of Xiao Bao or more like Da Bao (大寶), lol. After the first episode and then eventually the second, third, and fourth episodes, I decided to give up on him being Xiao Bao. (Okay, bad example since in other adaptations–or the ones I did actually watch, they showed the events unfolding as well but only some glimpses here and there.) Main Cast: Like how it was with the Zhuang family’s tragic event, they actually let the scene unfolded with how Ao Bai actually went through the whole process of presenting the case to the king too, not just some side discussions and then there were recounts later on. This one actually continues the trend from DGSD in that it captured the story by the active participation of the characters during the actual events instead of playing on the recounts of other characters. Besides, I was curious about what else was placed in. After all, I did wait for more than a year so it was hard to just let go. Like I said in the other post, one has to get past the first episode before deciding to actually continue or not.

Leon lai yan jing xiang lu xing