AleksandraSucur

And how she cried for her falcon and was all happy when he returned! Pure sweetness (and fun for us, ofc)

Where did they find such an adorable little girl able to act so convincingly at such a tender age? I am melting every time I see this cuttie. ❤️

I'd like to adopt that white falcon. Poor creature, everybody is bullying him.

1. The face swap was known only to the strategist Yu and Nie Zhe, after they've captured Qian Xueshen (the swapper expert) and forced him to swap the sect's people with their own.
2. Not only this entire "infiltration operation" was unknown to the Man in Black, Nie Zhe and his strategist have never known the real identity of the Man in Black. That's why they've decided to swap even Qi Yunke with Qiu Renjie (who then stayed in seclusion all the time as not to reveal anything, awaiting the moment to inact his revenge and reveal Yin Dai's schemes against him)
3. Many people were probably confused by the fact one hooded man appeared at the moment MQY and CZ knocked out persons who detained Qian Xueshen when they found the abducted Fan Xingjia (the herb guy among the disciples). But THAT hooded man wasn't the sect leader QY but the Strategist (his upper part of the face was recognisible, but exposed briefly so maybe haven't noticed or paid sufficient attention).

Not only Nie Zhe but many person from the "righteous" sects follows the orders of the Man in Black - when he appears - but they are also free to make schemes on their own when he isn't around. They all follow his "orders" bc what he proposes to them are plans in their interest.

🫶

She cannot show her feelings, bc she doesn't know if she should take his words seriously or not. Does he show his true feelings or is he just showing off in order to have her by his side and have her help to find the Jade Sunflower (as he used her before to infiltrate her sect and later to dethrone Nie Zhe)? He often uses deception and schemes while she often sees through them, but must continously be on alert and is never sure about his true intentions.
They apparently share the same goals (Jade Sunflower, revenge chief Chang's death, finding out the Man in Black...) and have built sufficient trust in matter of actions to take to achieve them, but there's a great uncertainty if that trust is sufficient for circumstances in which their goals are different. They already have divergencies of opinions about her shifu.

Face swapping was planned by Nie Zhe's strategist. The man in black was unaware of this operation.

Yes, thank you, I've noticed and corrected it.
I've somehow managed to finish Whispers of Fate but it wasn't easy, actually. The change of her character/role in it would hardly be delivered well even by more experienced actresses and this one is only 23 now, how could she have played and inconsistently written character?

Oh, only now I see I've written Dashing Youth instead of Youthful Glory, I've ought to correct the title.
In that drama she also played a person who puts her interest first, but more that sophisticated lady and feminine type I found so unconvincing... Yes, I think she isn't cut for that

I didn't like her previous performances (Youthful Glory and Whispers of Fate) either. But maybe she just played unconvincingly written characters in those two dramas.
Cai Zhao's character instead fits the actress, I think she is very well cast to believably portray an intelligent, skilled, determined and righteous person, dutiful to her family and sect but also a young girl in her personal search of the truths of the world. The script doesn't ask from her to display a vast range of expressions, she is playing an upward and a bit aloof person, able to see through (such a blindingly stunning!) ML and his numerous schemes. And... hmm... also to resist (at least to this point of the drama, lol) his irresistible charms, glances and voice that would make another woman melt in a second.
As a drama, GtG has certain flaws, especially at the beginning (too many characters, sects... to many who's who and what's what to remember, with more than a few scenes brutally chopped or badly edited...), but it is still very enjoyable to watch connecting the pieces of the puzzle in 2-3 storylines of several generations.

Thank you, too. It's actually interesting to see there are aspects we see in the same way and aspects we perceive different.
Your point - "who would like sharing the fiancé with another woman?" - stands even in the circumstances of arranged marriage. But she didn't postponed the wedding because of this other girl: at the moment she told her fiancé she had her head in another business (finding out the Jade Sunflower, discovering the reason of uncle Chang's murder and possibly avenging him), she still has known nothing about that girl. So, in that moment, she was speaking for herself and wasn't weak at all. Breaking off in that moment would be totally ungrounded because it would implicate two families and reputation matters, beside breaking a promise made by her beloved aunt.
Now, lets' see why she doesn't break off the engagement after she discovered her to-be-husband is protective of another girl and intends to keep her in the household even after their wedding. Not having been romantically involved in any way, her engagement with her fiancé is a pre-contractual promise (made by two families) to enter the marriage contract between two persons in a future date and under the conditions to be defined and agreed later on. If her fiancé wants to keep another woman after their marriage and still wants to marry her, it is HIM who should be open about this arrangement with his to-be-wife. THEN, she can either accept or reject it, not before. That's why I don't see any incoherency with her logical character.

I also agree with you that she is giving too much credit to her Master and I also think this thing will create a lot of trouble. I've noticed that a few days ago and one person answered me it's probably because she loved her aunt so much and saw Qi Yunke in dispair after her death, so she takes him for good, rightful and just, just as her aunt, by default.

I am glad we agree that the FL is "self-sufficient, self-serving, pragmatic & logical". 👍
We disagree that her character changed (or became incoherent), bc. I don't see any weakness or dishonesty you perceived, imo, it isn't she who "keeps 3 men around" and her goal isn't to pair herself "with whoever in the end is still standing".
We also agree she deliberately adopted the "postponing tactic", but disagree on its purposes and meaning. Imo, she postponed the wedding for at least two reasons: 1. she has more important things to think about and to do at the moment and 2. she doesn't take her marriage romantically: for her, it's just a fulfillment of an obligation contracted by her aunt, so her fiancé having a "sidepiece" is entirely his business and problem to figure out. The "sidepiece" isn't related to her, but to her fiancé. If he wants to keep the sidepiece after the wedding, he must come to the FL with one of the solution: either to keep them both (and in that case, the FL has a solid ground to break off the engagement) or to keep only the sidepiece, de facto breaking off the engagement himself. Why should she condition his choice? In this, I see no weakness or dishonesty on her side and such a behaviour seems very coherent to her pragmatical and logical character. Having a backbone doesn't imply she is to make decisions in his stead.
And this logic applies to the Song guy as well. He never said he liked her or even implied he had intentions towards her different from their sect brotherhood, why should she back him off? That would indeed be illogical and out of her character.
Right, you didn't say the word "victim" but you've implied she was playing them in a dishonest way, while it doesn't seem to be the case imo.

I think you've missed the main PBG's argument: FL is a person who puts herself first.
It is true that the postponement of her marriage with Yuqi isn't the same thing as a clear break off, but a clear break off has its negative side-effects (as PBG explained above), so the postponement in this context is simply a WISER decision and I think we can all agree she is a smart chick. To you, it looks like she lacks guts and backbone, but to other people, she has chosen the right and smart tactic, unharmful both for her and for any other person.
Are the three guys you've mentioned really "victims" of this tactic? Lets see:
1. her fiancé is evidently entangled with another woman. He and not the FL is the person who must make a choice, who must decide what he wants from life and future. By procrastinating the marriage, FL is giving him a necessary time to reflect and figure out what he really wants.
2. ML is a person whose feelings for her are clear, but he has no plan how to be with her without her being forced to cut off her relations with her family, clan and sect. What he offers her - for the time being - burdens only her, not him. Tell me, why should only she sacrifice important things in her life?
3. Yuzhi. She doesn't play dumb with him. I think she is very clear Yuzhi is her senior sect bro. It is him who is constantly after her (bc he admires her and is grateful to her), not vice versa. He never oversteps - that's why she's fine with him being around. Why should she (or anyone among us) distantiate a valuable colleague who never annoys her/us? We'll make things clear if a colleague starts to be a nuisance, starts to plot etc., but the Song guy is not that kind of colleague, he knows how to keep his feelings for himself. They are his and it's ok that way.

I agree with your opinion. The wheelchair doc is subtley directing Zhao to suspect her Qi Yunke. That means he knows smth bad about Qi Yunke and is wary of him.

Yeah, what you say makes sense, tnx

Indeed, but I think that's only one of his multiple motivations. The other is his search of powerful techniques and objects, depowering of other sects' chiefs (we see how he manipulated them) in order to achieve total power.
He loved Cai Pingshu but married the daughter of a chieftan who came in power in dubious ways while Pingshu was still healthy and kicking.

After the dialogue between FL and her shifu, I'm even more convinced that the latter (Qi Yunke) is the Man in Black and the source of all the troubles.
FL is intelligent, why can't she see through him?

Yes, imo he is an ok guy inside the drama setting. Whilst you seem to be a very rude one when a person expresses a different opinion in a setting where persons exchange their opinions freely and politely. Sorry for not noticing, I'll certainly avoid to exchange my views with yours in the future. Good night.

You sus Qi Yunke, too? His behaviour isn't very normal, his wife said he was frequently out and none ever questioned where he had gone, he never trains his disciples and is often in seclusion to train his martial arts... and above all, he went incognito to the Demon sect, apparently after Zhao and Yuzhi, so he was there when they were attacked. And he certainly has many motives to disrupt both sides, more than any other person we've seen till now.

Ah, ok, but we know that person was Shangguan sent by NZ and was unaware of the real identity of MQY ad the time.

No, I was asking about the person who manipulated Nie Zhe (and probably NZ's father as well) to kill Master Chang, Qiu RenJie and who knows how many persons from both sides... That person must be an older generation and is skilled in a particular fighting arts, unknown to all other sects.

This person is crucial "plot-maker" for the remaining eps, bc all the ("old") enmity issues are connected to him. The story line will split in two, one following how the leads will "officialise" their relationship in circumstances which make a normal marriage and mutual family/clan relationship impossible and the second will deal with the mess stirred up by this mysterious man