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As the Chinese saying goes, 'tiger head, snake tail'--it started strong and fizzled out. The first season was very well written, with great lines and well-rounded characters. I really enjoyed it. The second season dragged on and on, and the last four episodes were almost unbearable to watch. I don't know what happened, maybe the writer got bored or lost his muse or something, but the series definitely deserved a better ending. On top of everything, Wu Xiubo's performance as an old man was unbelievably cringey. He seemed to think old age meant only disheveled hair, a hunched back and slow speech. Perhaps he should've taken lessons from Ni Dahong who played an 81 years old man brilliantly in 'Ming Dynasty 1566'.

But however bad the second season was, i didn't have the heart to give the series a lower rating because the first season is really worth watching. 7/10*

There are too many unnecessary bows, and the actors' ceremonial gestures appear stiff, clearly a result of the director's self-indulgence. In crucial moments, such as when Cao Pi usurped the Han dynasty, Liu Xie performed the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows, yet Cao Pi turned his head away, ignoring it. This suggests that the Chinese people do not realize that the recipient of a ritual must also observe proper etiquette for the ceremony to be valid.

When Bai Lingyun's maid first appeared, she stared at Sima Yi with her big eyes-just like modern Chinese people, who lack any sense of propriety. Since China's reform and opening-up, capitalists of proletarian origin have gradually risen. Like monkeys wearing crowns, they are acutely aware of their lack of foundational roots. In an attempt to establish legitimacy, they praise Sima Yi's power strategies (which are actually mere clever tricks), hoping to transform their class origins into the new "gentry" of the post-communist era. However, they forget that Sima Yi himself was well-versed in both civil and military affairs, and that the scholarly traditions and private armies of the aristocracy are things they will never be able to obtain.