AleksandraSucur

The drama certainly succeeds in narrating this story from women's perspective. No wonder, both director and chief scriptwriter are women and there are even several refreshing povs, motivations and relational explanations which make watching the drama so compelling.
But after ep 18, I start to notice a certain lack of "men's" perspective, both in power/politics and in family environment. Where the hack are ML's father and uncle during this false epidemic? We have no clues, not even hints who are the main villains, those who determined the tragedy of Shens, Lins' infringement of FL-ML's engangment, ML's marriage with a Zhao girl, Zhaos' real source of power, connection between regular army (those who were apprehended by Yuan marquis, who apparently commands the navy and ML) and Wo pirates, strong power behind Dus siblings betrayal etc.
For 18 eps (almost a half), the plot is heavily pending towards events happening within "inner quarters" of the Lin family without providing sufficient infos on general political/power/conflictual frame of the story to the audience. I hope this imbalance will soon be addressed

You are right but she said herself that only a dangerous path can lead her to freedom, money is not enough, bc their joint "market worth" means nothing to Lins, they must feel so much grateful to her (or her parents) as not to deny theur freedom when they ask.
(That's why she withheld to answer ML on question "what kind of reward" she wanted for discovering that Lu pirate)

Ofc, it was a calculated move: she is looking for a chance to earn a merit as great as to lead to freedom for her and her adoptive parents. She knows she can't earn it serving at the tea kitchen, while in his study she has the opportunity to learn what's going on and elaborate a plan/path out of slavery

An entertaining makjang which would have been excellent if it had a better beginning and ending, bc the basic plot is very good and addictive with a lot of action. It's a classic story that never ages, performed mostly by really great actors, it's a pity the opening arc was a bit dragged and it had certain flaws in direction and editing from time to time. Anyways, for me, it's 8/10

we must rewatch and catch a special effect

I still haven't rewatched it, I am sure we can catch new clues - like you just did - each time we rewatch it. And if such details pop up only if a person is very attentive, that means the authors put a lot of thought into every singular scene.

If he plug it to avoid a pleural effusion and die suffocated, he can't breathe and dies. As simple as that.

his martial arts are not that great: in fights, he used his arms, his internal strenght in mastering the metallic fan with removeable posioned ribs from a sitting position.

He doesn't use his legs and when the palanchin was debalanced and he risked to be thrown on the ground, his "instinctive move" revealed he made use of his upper arts (again), catching a pole of the palanchin like a monkey, flying around the pole in order to avoid to touch the ground. Facing an attack with flying weapons, the first move of a fighter with normal ability to use and quickly reach a stability on his legs, would be to protect his face and breast using a fan as a shield, and wouldn't care to desperately maintain his stability on a trembling palanchin bc. such a fighter knows (subconsciously) that even if he lands on the ground - it's fine, it's just a simple jump. He can't do that, to me it looked like his degenerative illness affected his lower limbs as well as muscles of throat and upper thorax, like it happens to patients with ASL.

As for "levitation", images we've seen through Pingping's eyes were too distant, translucent and vibrant to be "truly physical" (his body feels different in last eps). They could have been a result of some ancient "special effect" (eg. his image painted on paper or silk hanging on a roof under a scorching sun) or even an image the girl created sensing his presence around. The heat itself produces optical illusions (mirages) and one can never be too sure what he or she sees.

You're welcome.
As for the PGB's reference above, I also believe Minghai is the Nether Sea but don't think the reason Tang Zheng doesn't cross it is due to his fear of the space between living and dead. He said he avoids ANY water, so the reason can only be: a) it is cool while he needs warmth and b) in case that palanchin capsizes and the water enters his tracheostomy - it will end directly in his lungs (people with tracheostomy cannot cough it back) - he'll die for sure.
I don't think details in this drama were shown just for show and he is not depicted in such a terrifying way only to create theatrics. His presence gave us a better idea what ZLY had to endure when lived as a guinea-pig of this twisted person, affected by a severe degenerative illness. We don't know why exactly he has that tracheostomy but we have a vague idea when it is required: when small muscles enabling the respiration and/or swallowing are paralysed for some reason (eg, neurotoxins, degenerative deseases of brain and nervous system etc)

yes, numerous poisons, esp. neurotoxins (many snakes, pufferfish... bc they mess with thermoregulation centre in brain) cause hypothermia, which is also an effect of certain hemo- and cardio-toxins causing hyperthermia first and later a sudden drop of body temperature. As ZLY also suffers from hypothermia after being affected by a hallucinogen (therefore, a neurotoxic - perfectly logical) poison, I think we are induced in this drama to think that one of the effect of poision in general is hypothermia.
And that we can also presume he doesn't touch water bc it is generally cold.

Beautiful

Looks interesting... I will, thank you. 👍

ok.

Found them! Unsettled Case has interesting synopsis but very low rating, small n° of people who've seen it, very few comments and zero reviews 🤔. I've seen Detective L (it is among those dramas I still haven't put on the list and rated) years ago, when I saw Miss S from the same Republican Shanghai period (I even remember you didn't particularly like Miss S).
Now I see that Narcotic Operation was already on my radar, we can try it when you're back in October. 👍Good luck for everything!

I'm passing directly to S2

Can't find the first two, maybe they are on MDL under different titles. I've watched Light of Dawn when it aired and got stucked at ep 5-6, not sure whether I'll pick it up or drop it in the future, the pace was too slow, as if the story was intentionally dragged and convoluted to make more episodes than needed and still lacked in providing proper hints.
The Light to The Night may be interesting but the investigation is in the present not republican era setting. I am not in a rush at all, currently I have dozens of historical classics I've watched years ago (and a few I haven't watched) to finally put on my list and properly rate. Last few months didn't offer much, so I thought it's better to rewatch smth I know was good putting it in order than to waste time. Don't worry, I won't complete them all before October and, once you're back, we can calmly decide...
Have a great vacation and good luck to your niece!

yeah, actually I am not a fun of mystic nine universe either, I've just noticed many of my friends watched it and some of them rated it well. As for Cases between Us, I was judging by the synopsis.
In investigative genre, which dramas got better ratings, maybe we can choose one among them and watch it together

I've checked both and neither grabbed me. Can't believe someone found similarities with this one and Silent Tides! They have practically nothing in common. Nanyang Archives looked promising, but alas... I've dropped even that one after a few eps.
Last good espionage/wartime story I was able to complete were the Guardians from 2025 I've seen only recently.
Cases Between Us looked interesting to me, but I still haven't check on that one, as I haven't on Mystic Nine. Have you seen these two, would you recommend them?

What you might have overlooked in Bancha-Puying dialogue in ep 9: that reference to Yuan general Köke Temür (aka Wang Baobao) as the owner of gold is clear homage to wuxia creator N°1, Jin Yong, rendered by the scriptwriter, adaptor and director of this brilliant drama. As in Gu Long's novel the treasure was a MacGuffin, it didn't really exist (novel readers, pls. confirm), Xu Bing thought "why don't I fill this small gap with Jin Yong?"

As I've rewatched Heavenly Sword And Dragon Slaying Sabre 2019 just three months ago, it flashed to me immediately. Wang Baobao there was a Yuan general with Mongolian name Köke Temür (interpreted by Sun Yifan), older bro of the extravagant FL Zhao Min (interpreted by Chen Yuqi) who loved her a lot but struggled even more to cover up for her and cope with the consequences of her jianhu hyperactivism. Fun fact is that this general was a real historical person (actually a member of Yuan imperial clan) and that their last fortifications were along the Hexi corridor westward of Gansu where this story takes place. Like Zhao Min who married Zhang Wuji ("Ming sect"), real Köke Temür's younger sister married, as primarily consort, the second son of Hongwu (the first emperor of Ming).

As a wuxia lover and a Jin Yong's admirer, I appreciated a lot this witty homage 👍And I loughed heartily at Pu Ying's difficulties to repeat "kuò kuò tiē mù ér" ("what, mr, mr?!" 😂😂)

I get your point, it must be distracting, probably even irritating for people speaking Mandarin. As I watch many Asian dramas, I am used to subs, but I remember a specific nerve straining feeling when I've watched Gomorrah in 2008 and later that year a series Romanzo Criminale, the first completely in Neapolitan and the second completely in Romanesco with subs. I've read original novels of both, great stories completely based on real persons and true events, but they were written in Italian with few dialectal words written in cursive and with the meaning in the footer... can't tell you how much those unfamiliar sounds and words discombobulated me while franticaly trying to catch what was written in subs in order to understand what the people on the screen was talking about...
But as a person who doesn't speak Mandarin, understanding less than 100 words, which I managed to catch in all these years, different accents in this drama add to my entertainment. I was so amused in today's Pu Ying-Ban Cha dialogue, recognizing certain Mandarin words like "shāle tā" pronounced by Bancha through the apocope of the final vowel (the apocope is so common in Central Asian and Caucasic languages, spec. but not limitedely those Turkic) and the Pu Ying's difficulty to pronounce "kuò kuò tiē mù ér" (what "mr, mr" 😂😂)... I've cracked despite not knowing the language 😂👍👍