What was I Thinking when I Ditch the Second Male Protagonist Chapter 149 Discussion

This novel makes me feel like That Asian Mom. You know those times when you happily give your exam papers to your mother because you thought you did really well, only for her to say, "You could've done better, sweetheart"?? It's like that.

So much potential has been left untouched in this novel, and I really feel regretful about it.

As much as it's common to find stories that spanned for 300+ chapters despite the main plot obviously concluding itself before it even reached the halfway point, I find that this one is the opposite of that and what a shame, really. The first 100 chapters were paced really well. It's not perfect, but atleast the tempo and the vibes and the dialogues and characterizations were properly blended up into one cohesive arc that I truly had a fun time reading—then the climax came. Suddenly the funsies are over and it's not because all hell broke loose but because all hell broke loose. There's a difference, obviously. The first one means really bad or really important events surfacing at an all time high. The second one means the same set of events are falling off the spine of the plot like an overwhipped heavy cream.

Spoiler

The climax of the story starts at the big reveal, when Senior Minister Li revealed to Prince Duo that his biological mother is not the Empress. From here on out my gripes emerged one after another, and since this review is getting too long I'll just put it in bullets:

• As someone pivotal in the final arc, I find it weird that our first actual glimpse of the Empress (that isn't from flashbacks) happens 40 chapters before the novel ends. That scene where Prince Duo was late for his cuju game with Han Jiao because he got nagged on by the Empress? We could've atleast seen that just to expose us a bit with the vibes of that character and prevent us from being put off by the reveal later on.

• The get together scene of Han Jiao and Prince Duo is messy.. not in a "ooh they a bit controversial" way, but in a "why tf is this happening now" way. It's not pure tr*sh because I get the intention, which is to portray that the start of their relationship is unstable due to Han Jiao's ignorance of what Prince Duo is going through, but girl?? Are you sure you want to fit a confession scene, bed scene, the morning after, and an assassination attempt under a 4k word count??? In the good ole words of Pokwang, "Medyo naguluhan ako nak".

• The final 40 chapters were so hard to read because they dumbed down Han Jiao so baddd like... again, I get the intention. It's a prelude to the revelation that his memories will get wiped out in lieu of the sacrificial process his past self took part in BUT FOR PETE'S SAKE he has yet to lose his memories and yet he's already unable to think why Prince Duo's character took a turn for the worse?? Not even a single theory or assumption was made?? I really believe that the Han Jiao I've known for the first 100 chapters of this novel wouldn't just throw tantrums or attempt pillow talk like they made him do so in the final arc.

• The ending. Yeah. At this point I'm already tired with all the possibilities I've thought of in order to make this novel better that such a confusing ending didn't even phase me anymore. Who really poisoned the late Emperor? If Han Jiao's past self had an unrequited love with Prince Duo, why did he sound like he had a relationship with him during the get together scene? I'm afraid the answers for these questions are already flushed into the ether.

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Anyway, that's that. The latter half of the novel was one of the bumpiest rides I've been on this year, but I'm biased. I really had fun with this novel for the most part, and just for that I'd give it 5 stars (to be specific Prince Duan's mini arc is The Five Star worthy part here—hard carried the quality of the story if we're being real). Read at your own risk 😅