I'm so happy this got good ending & they even got married. ❤️

The ML also says he is the top and is the husband of the relationship so he needs to take care of his "wife". The ML also forces kisses MC many times like pining to a wall and won't no for an answer. I guess it's supposed to be depicted as "hot", but nonconsent is never hot. The first s*x scene occurs in chapter 89 and it is dub-con since the MC never explicitly agreed to do it, but ML was a h**ny simp and wanted to do it asap. ML often treats the MC as the bride calls the MC a police flower and thinks the MC is like a girl because he likes sweets. Come on man, liking sweet doesn't mean you're a girl. The amount of times MC is described in a feminine and weak way, made me want to drop the novel since MC is a capable policeman, not some delicate flower. The ML is also described as some top alpha male with male hormones wanting to dominate his mate. It's already disproven there is no alpha, beta, omega in wolfpacks. It felt like I was reading omegaverse at some points of the story. The first 3/4 novel was ML being a h**ny teenager for MC while proclaiming he is a straight alpha male chasing his weak feminine wife.

The novel redeems itself when MC was forced to work with the Spade King and Qin Chuan, making the story engaging since they are complicated villains. It switched to MC's perspective and it was a blast to read about MC's capable nature to be cold-hearted and stand his ground. Reading how he straight-up kills people while playing mind games with the villain was a blast to read compared to reading what ML's brain was cooking up. I kept reading for the MC since I enjoyed his character. MC is a capable guy and trying to make him feminine or weak to force the hetero relationship of there need to a female or male in the relationship, invalidates MC as a person. Human relationships are complicated and don't fit in those molds. It felt like the author was justifying the relationship because MC was like a female so he is fated to be with the epitome of masculinity ML.

The female characters were overshadowed by most of the male characters and often described with stereotypes like females are weak and cry. It felt uncomfortable to read ML's unhinged rants about his views of females while trying to project the MC with feminine traits. Other than the problematic characterizations, the mysteries in the novel were solid. I'm getting flashbacks of the Seizing Dreams's couple dynamic. At least Jing Ting is a capable MC who doesn't need to rely on the ML to get things done.

The plot begins from the very beginning.

Cuz in this story villain dominates throughout.

MC wanted to investigate and find the mole from years ago. However, his body is weak after his coma so he has to wait for it to recover. Due to a crime, he meets ML and gets involved in solving cases with ML.

The cases are somewhat connected to MC's failed operation. Throughout more questions are slowly answered.

BIG SPOILERS...

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...

- MC did not kill "Rivet" the undercover cop.

- MC and the drug lord King of Spades, Wen Shao, were friends when they were kids. They were kidnapped and MC had saved WS life.

SUPER SPOILERS...

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- MC was adopted by the King's dad, Ace of Clubs, Wu Tun.

- MC was the Queen of Hearts. WT had MC become a police officer to support his drug trade. However, from the beginning MC actually wanted to take down WT and WS.

- Rivet was actually the mole. Rivet was played by two people, one of them was WS. The operation was doomed to fail from the start since WS knew that MC had gone to the other side.

at a certain part in the plot, the ML is revealed as a villain. However, the author writes the MC being heartbroken over it. IMO, it's more psychologically reasonable if the MC had just struggled in denial a little bit more instead of instantly throwing himself into despair. There was just one moment in his mental struggle that I thought was a bit overdone. The rest of the events were well-balanced. A very small nitpick.

ch148

“The flames in the distance were still on, and Qin Chuan’s face, which didn’t look like that of a living person because of excessive blood loss, was flushed red, and his eyes were shining brightly. At this moment, they stared at each other, and across the thorn bushes and rocks, both of their eyes reflected the youthful figure of each other.”

This part got me bawling my eyes out. I kept wondering why the review in Swallowing the Sea kept saying QC is their fav character and now I understand it. I feel like he’s one of the best morally grey characters out there. This paragraph shows just how much he misses his comrades and was willing to die to save them - even if know one knows or care about him in the end. I can feel the reluctance that he feels. He didn’t want to part with Yan Xie, the person who still call him brother even after he poisoned YX with his own hand. I wish things turned out a little bit differently for him. I wish he also find someone/something he loves. Someone give him a hug please.

The only character who made me waver in between a cloud of understanding, pity, and infuriation is that bastard Qin Chuan. This dude was not totally villainous or totally with justice, maybe that's why, I'm not quite sure, he made me wanna curse every time he appears. It is a love-hate relationship I do not want!!! Seriously! He could have at least been a little dumber, so that my hate scale could have been weightier, but obviously not! Freaking infuriating. (Yes, I did rant about a fictional side character, Sorry about that😭)