AleksandraSucur

you're right about so many things 👍
I've just tried to point out that someone brute like the Eagle King would be "mellowed" in real life as well. Your opinion is not only "subjective" ❤️and he is indeed still a human

I agree with you on many points and with a polite, honest type of discussion we all hope for. 👍

Addressing your "narrower point": placing a minor in romantic scenes opposite an adult man specifically, I have to observe that you are starting with a presumption all adults will take advantage of a minor. If we are talking about criminal offences statistics, I'd agree with you. But that's not the case in our discussion and I will immediately oppose a solid argument to your assumption: minors have a capabilty to manipulate adults, even a newborn baby manipulates his/her own mom: if I cry, she'll appear, will cuddle me, make the pain in abdomen go, give me milk..
Actually, as the time goes on and the knowledge accumulates in that minor, the manipulation impulse softens along with his/her achievements.
We can't exactly say when the maturity begins, the adult age is just a number, but in the individual person... it's hard to say. Certain persons reach maturity underaged (and in ancient times, it was certainly before our legal age of 18), some achieve it around 24, and some... die at the age 80+ and you will not define them "mature" or "adult".
At the same time, an older (or a younger) person can represent smth a person can love and care for, imo

We've talked about this relationship yesterday, lol. Like you, I was also surprised the drama SHOWED Eagle King's feelings towards Lejun in such an extensive way (usually, this type of drama would leave the audience guessing what kind of relationship they exactly had), but again, I came to a different conclusion.
I think we can all agree the scriptwriter of this drama (and it took many years to perfection it) put an extreme effort in closing all loose ends of several subplots. With primary goal to narrate an interesting story & to tell it well, observing human beings as "processes" (ie. in constant development due to the factors that influence them) & exploring different approaches to power and human relationships (friends, siblings, lovers...) in a way which will resonate with our sense for realism.
We don't know what exactly made the Eagle King the brute villain who treated enslaved people in that horrible way, killing them for pleasure, but we know exactly what attracted him in Lejun: an extraordinary courage she showed during their first meeting, when she stole the poisoned arrow. In that occasion, such a weak and traumatised girl, said to him with extreme calm and determination smth like: "now, you either kill me or release me". And given his envoy position in that moment, he had no option but to let her go. SHE WON OVER HIM in that moment and for a personality which is all about dominance, terror and fight like him, losing or feeling subdued is A RARE FEELING, it hit him hard. Besides, the courage she showed was bc of her love for her brother, she was capable of great emotions and he started to covet those emotions for himself. If she was less traumatised, smarter and married him at the Ye court cerimony, she could have manipulated him like a puppet. But we know her background story... her childhood trauma, combined with the ED harrassement, her exclusive trust in her brother and her (objective) horrible perception of Qin invasors made impossible for her to develop feelings for him. The Eagle King was stupid to expect she would ever ask him for help or mercy and in his eyes she remained that determined and brave woman till the end, that's why he cried so bitterly. Imo, this outcome looks completely logical and realistic.

Oh, I see. Thank you 👍

Indeed, the script provided practically all background explanations, although maybe not at the moment we wanted, creating diversions and keeping the suspence high

It was a great drama, very interesting story, honest execution and satisfying in every aspect... but above all, I'd say it easily enters under the skin and win your heart. The ending was maybe too sweet & too melodrama to my taste with that amnesia, her tears, his mask, drums and her endless running towards him... but it didn't ruin an honest, good and realistic vibe the story gave us despite its twists and emotional rollercoasters.
I don't know why MDL doesn't allow me to mark it as completed (while all other options work), do you also have such a problem?

Hahaha, his long jumps and easy landings pierced my eyes too. 😂

Indeed

Who holds soldiers equally accountable of the orders of their superior? Pls. don't twist my words. The responsibility of a general is huge and has been regulated by martial laws and strictly observed since the creation of the first regular armies. A well known concept is a "command responsibility" which holds a commander accountable even for the eventual crimes committed by members of his army even if he totally ignored those crimes. Ofc. a soldier doesn't hold such a responsibility.

I've said their lives are expendable but that doesn't mean they can be badly equipped or sacrificed en masse - the thing ED have done. Soldiers are tools for victory as well as their equipment - all together costs money of taxpayers. Lives of few soldiers sacrificied for a good military plan, such as infiltration into an enemy headquarter are completely justified, smth. considered as part of their job even today, and cannot by any mean be compared with the massacre that foolish selfish ED indirectly caused.

As for the FL... ofc she cares about the nation, but that's general patriotism and generic care for people. In ep. 26 she said herself (to Li Mao) she would have never approved their "foolish plan", so I can't see why you insist she would

ep. 26. shows the army didn't betray him. They were informed they were to fake the fight in a convincing way

There's no such a thing as "innocent soldier". It's a profession a person voluntarily chooses knowing he must obey orders without questioning the reason or moral ground behind it and is conscious he may loose his life while executing that order. If he doesn't kill, he'll be killed, so we can't talk about "innocence". But you're right their life is expendable. It is so bc they've generally traded their life security for the benefits connected with their professional carrier: opportunity to elevate their status, rewards after a victory, early retirement + pensions, economic security extended to a liftime compensation for their families in case they are gravely wounded, disabled or killed in battle. These benefits were characteristic for all regular armies, past and present, and in the past, no other profession offered such conditions.
As for the FL - if she knew, she would not have approved a plan, she simply doesn't share the same deep concern for the nation and the state. Her involvement in state or military issues was limited only to her personal interest and passion for innovation, while her patriotism is of a generic kind, between nation and her husband, she'll always choose her husband. Besides, even if she would have agreed, she is too candid person to put on a believable act.

You've put it as if there is a cause-effect relation between being a child actor and later psychological issues - there's no such relation and your presentation twists the truth of what really caused the psychological damage in persons you've mentioned: fame bubble, parental ambition, lack of protective mechanisms with the press, no boundaries set between private and public, lack of social and/or educational factors outside show biz, stalking...
To your list of "psychologically damaged" former child actors (and who were all exposed to a specific negative factor and not to the fact they've acted as children, which is totally neutral), I could make a list of former child actors who are more stable and psychologically stronger than actors who started after graduation: Jodie Foster, Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bridget Fonda... Among Chinese actors, one name of a strong, stable person is certainly Wu Lei. But I'd never assert child acting made them strong and stable, everything depends on sound environment, care of parents and operators involved, but above all, it depends on how naturally the child enjoys and processes acting, as a part of his/her growth and learning.
I personally dislike the idea of any child being engaged in working (of any kind, including sports!) but if the child is adequately supported in smth he/she truly likes and is able to play with it, expressing the creativity and innate talents... my disliking is just an empty prejudice

A very accurate description, I'd say. 👌

I've noticed the same thing, he underperformed in this drama. I've seen two dramas in which he played roles of obsessed and hypocrite persons: in Side Story of Fox Volant he perfectly nailed the character while in Unchained Love he wasn't in the character but that drama had bigger flaws than his acting...
I suppose the delivery depends on how well the actor understands his/her character in every single scene and how that precise action, gesture, line impacts the scene, the plot and reactions of other characters. His character in SSoFV didn't have the complexity and inner contraddictions of Grand Tutor and was probably easier for him to understand...

Eunuch Feng is my sus n° 1, A'Chun is n°2, one of these two certainly reports to the Eagle King and Li Mao is aware, so he pulls these stunts to make them believe his conflict with XWY is irreconciliabile, although he let them know he doesn't want XWY dead, only defeated... The hooded "magician" may be a part of stunt (the eunuch and the concubine were also there, a bit distant), how the hell could an unrelated person connect the question "can you treat a blood stasis?" with Xiao Wuyi's condition? And that horse hoof he was brushing was so ostensive and funny...

As for the GT, we've seen no evidence Xiao dad knew about that set up. It was GT's presumption, repeated by N. Qin spy faking Xiao dad. Besides, An and Lu families weren't angels, there was a permanent internal class strife and they've also killed numerous scholars from the commoners class. It was Wenxi emperor who convicted them, but the class strife continued for 2 decades, until XWY and Li Mao didn't end it by simultaneously restoring their names (=appeasing the noble class) and introducing the equal opportunity selection system (=appeasing the scholars).

1. YuanJi is one of the most adorable side characters we've seen in a while. The actress did a marvelous job overall, but the dialogue with ED was smth... to remember, it was epic, it reminded me great dialogues in classics like Advisors Alliance or Red Cliff, with the difference the topic of politics and their role in power games was completely from feminine perspectives, two opposite feminine povs. Xiao Yao still has to learn to use his brain to be worthy of such an intelligent and kindhearted woman. Ofc., the scriptwriter helped with the crime committed by the Pei/Liu guy she once loved and with his removal from the story, Xiao Yao still has a chance, imo.
2. As for the Eagle King... I must disagree with you. He is a ultimate villain in this story: he was behind false Cui case, he was behind the murder of GT with purpose to frame Xiaos for it (actually, he is plotting against people from Beifu army all the time, but that's somehow in his job), he inslaved Ye people and treat them like a sh*t. He may like Lejun but we are still talking about feelings of a sadist any normal woman would try to escape from. He is toying with Lejun, she is his trophey (remember the way he took her on his shoulder?), amusement and tool to (unknowingly) report things he wants her to report to her brother. Lejun indeed made a terrible crime, tasked with smth she was not up to (she is a traumatised person and not particularly bright) and out of blind loyalty towards her bro, but she also willingly went to N. Qin to atone for that sin, hoping she could help her country as a spy... For a man like Eagle King, she is an ant, a victim of his invasion as all the enslaved people he kills for pleasure btw., but she is an ant who showed incredible courage when they've first met (when she stole his arrow poisoned by the ED) and it is precisely what attracts and entices him in her. How could a treatment of a sadist be "too good for her"?
3. Li Mao's "conclusions" are too ostentatious to be real, so they must be a stunt for the spies of the Eagle King to make him believe the clash between him and XWY is definitive and inconciliabile

It's useful to rewatch such an episode, packed with new info, to spot details one could have missed at first.
Eg. Eagle King knows about Li Mao's origin. I think Eagle King has spies very close to the throne and my first sus is chief eunuch Feng. Maybe Li Mao put him in charge for the same usage Eagle King had with Lejun: to (unknowingly) report to the enemy court things he actually wants to be reported

The role of LiMao's character in the story is to confuse the audience, to release red herrings to mislead our thoughts and expectations, to distract us from important things and important details...

The important facts were: the end of internal class strife, the establishment of equal opportunity official selection system simultaneously to the rehabilitation of two noble clans and innovative flood prevention method they've used... These things were done JOINTLY by XWY and LM
and the Eagle King wasn't happy with such an outcome.

Now they must deal with that external threat, in particular with Eagle King, who - interestingly - knows about Li Mao's origin. Eagle King evidently has spies who are very close to the throne...

The emperor was the first person he asked the hooded man to save.
It's a very important detail which would indicate LM is not that obsessed with power as we may think given what we see

the second thread:
https://kisskh.at/790870-que-gu/discussions/153566-timeline-of-events

Read them to the end, people made other questions in it