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508 pages, Paperback
Published December 30, 2025
The only reason I read this was that I believed there would be some answers given to some of my questions, which did not happen, but I still kept reading because I wanted to see how the story ends. Now, after reading it, I still think that this would've been better as a standalone novel. While the first volume was decent, even if not memorable, this second volume was all over the place and more often boring than not.
Me not liking the MCs was just another bonus. Surprisingly, Wang Xiaomie became even more insufferable than Wen Fengjin in this volume. He constantly criticized, ridiculed, and humiliated Bai Yu. Mostly for his dark skin colour, which could have been a bit more understandable if Wang Xiaomie really were from ancient China, when people's worldviews and beliefs were different. But he is from the present day, which makes his comments blatantly racist and off-putting. And it just pisses me off that Bai Yu not only does not get offended but even laughs it off, and everyone just treats Wang Xiaomie's comments as a joke. It's basically used as comic relief every damn time. Kind of rude for someone who claims to be his friend. And I haven't even mentioned Wang Xiaomie ridiculing Bai Yu for being afraid. I didn't like Bai Yu, but Wang Xiaomie was even worse. Instead of pitying Bai Yu for falling in love with someone who turned out to be his grandfather, he laughs at him and gloats over him. What kind of friend does that? Oh, right, someone who would ridicule you for your skin colour.
I just couldn't get to like An Xie, either, and felt that he went overboard by killing everyone around the emperor; not only his children and concubines, but also the maids and eunuchs serving him. Even Wang Xiaomie realizes that his obsession makes him similar to Wen Fengjin.
Wang Xiaomie constantly being called wife, madam, and even mother was extremely weird. At least he openly rejects being called mother in the extra chapters, but weirdly enough, he doesn't say a damn thing when An Xie calls him wife and madam several times, even though he is a man. Really weird. It was also weird that most of the time, characters who are beautiful in this novel were always described as being "femininely handsome," as if men can only be considered handsome if they look feminine. And why do they even have to look feminine in the first place? This is beyond me.
The extra chapters were even weirder sometimes than the whole volume itself. For example, Bai Yu turned out to be just as weirdly obsessed as the rest of the cast and decided to make a puppet of his grandfather and live together with him in an illusory life they could have but didn't, instead of letting go of the past and starting over. An Xie's past was mildly interesting to read about, but unfortunately by that point I just wanted to finish the story. Wang Xiaomie and Wen Fengjin adopting a daughter was okayish, though I felt much of it was used for comic relief, just like Bai Yu's dark skin tone.