Aramintai

Fk me, the brothel story was "Epstein Files" case #1, now we have a cult and babies story case #2 . Maybe that's why we have 6 episodes less - they got censored for being too similar to what's going on irl 🤣. Did Winnie the Pooh visit the island too?

The bully was killed and Karen's face was disfigured, so she lost her favor with the emperor and had to leave to some country palace. Getting justice by the law here is tough though, as everyone's either is too influential or hurries to kill themselves.

So with all that, if he was threatened, he would have married her off and sent her to some far away province. But he's not doing any of that and is allowing her to roam free. Likely meaning he wasn't directly involved.

Not all women are good, there was a plot just recently about a nasty Karen who killed another woman because of perceived reputation danger to her son. And there was another one in the first plot who was a nasty bully.

But this drama's focus is on lack of rights and women's plight in that era.

Not according to the novel, afaik.

Yea, realistically an unmarried princess roaming around the palace playing detective is unheard of, even in the drama people are often icredulous of this. The emperor def is sus, and it likely is guilty conscience that he dotes on her so. However, it remains to be seen whether he's directly involved or covers up for somebody.

More silly to think they finished filming without verifying whether the script had any issues in pre-production.

I thought datura was used as a potent poison. But there's a lot of medical bs in this drama, so I let it slide. Especially funny how everybody spews rivers of blood when they're unwell/poisoned. And don't even get me started about acupuncture.

Yes, but it's slow burn.

No, I'm really thinking it's just some stupid bs like airtime conflict with other shows/programs. Cutting whooping 6 episodes is just too much to be believable.

It's laughable to think there are whole 6 episodes of problematic content that should be cut. Especially, since it's not an uknown script, but a popular novel adaptation. Somebody simply fked up and filming studio likely lost a lot of money by not having those episodes aired. If everybody did business like that there'd be lots of closed studios.

What is there to censor here? It looks like they filmed full 40 first, then it was cut. I doubt they don’t check scripts for any issues before production, it’s too costly otherwise. Someone somehow decided it has too many episodes, maybe due to air window issue.

FL even joked that the palace prison is empty, lol. What is even the point of having it if everyone gets away scott free or offs themselves?

Man, just when I thought at least one female character will get a good ending in this drama, she goes and offs herself. F. I guess that touted support role was overblown. At least inspector Gu has returned...

Will inspector Gu return? They've been mentioning him, but he's been absent since that brothel case.

So, have you read it? Did it have a good ending? Romance?

Lol, you haven't heard about the Epstein files then. It's cult related.

Yea, looks like interactions between characters that are not investigations related are cut to a minimum. It's not as jarring as some other c-media where scenes change very abruptly, or filming is confusing in general. But still, I can see some of it here.

The only disappointing thing about this drama is that it clearly shows at times that some things were cut. Abrupt scenes here and there and some plot points clearly hinting that something more happened behind the cut. They cut it from 40 to 34 episodes, I hear. I wonder how much was already filmed and then cut, and how much was cut during script writing. Feels more like it was filmed and then cut.

Case 1: 客星出婺女 Guest Star Emerges in Weaver Girl Mansion (Sudden Star over Wunü)
1-3 (or 1-4)
Princess Ningyuan/Wanshun's fiery "death" at a wedding banquet during Lantern Festival; omens, gunpowder, and faked demise.

Case 2 壁上花 Flower on the Wall (Wallflower Corpse)
4-10
Corpse adorned with flowers found in palace; links to loan shark murder, Han Xiao (含笑), Xiu Hong House brothel trafficking palace maids as "flowers."

Case 3 弦上婴啼 Infant's Cry on the Strings
10-15
Eerie crying in Han Liang Hall; ties to dancers, supernatural elements, and infant-related horror (starts transitioning in Ep 10).

Case 4 血色天资 Blood-Colored Talent (Crimson Prodigy)
16-20
Cases involving talented women, blood rituals, or prodigy murders in the harem.

Case 5 吉时秘闻 Auspicious Time Secret
21-25
Time-based mystery, perhaps wedding or ritual murders with hidden auspicious omens.

Case 6 所信非神 What is Believed is Not a God (Belief Not in Gods)
26-30
Deception involving false gods, sacrifices, or cults in the palace.

Case 7 七星错 Seven Stars Misaligned
31-34
Climactic case tying all conspiracies; astrological misalignment leading to major revelations about the Li family massacre.

The drama uses these cases to explore women's fates in the Tang harem, while gradually revealing the Li family tragedy and conspiracy from 15 yrs ago when Li Peiyu was 9 yrs old.