MariaB

The one from last week was posted on Monday, so maybe Monday again?

I think they are getting better. When I was watching A Splendid Match, the subtitles were better on MangoTV than on Viki (they had more nuance), which is saying something.

They seem to be OK for me. Apart from changing the way people address each other, which is kind of standard.

Him smoking was the least of his problems.

It's a bug. It was set initially to have 2 episodes per day, but having only 1 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday messed up the calculations.
I know because I requested the edit on mdl when the airing calendar was posted on weibo last week, but I left the dates for the remaining episodes unchanged since we don't have information on them.

He goes to study abroad.

The problem with Mo Jing Li is that he plotted with enemy nations to destabilise the empire and start a war, making him a traitor and unfit to rule.

Maybe they knocked and she was working near the gates, so she heard them. Lol.

I'm giving the screenwriter the benefit of the doubt until I finish a rewatch where I can focus my attention on the details, maybe there was something that we missed.

The romance is there, but it's not the main focus of the story; it's more quiet, mature and nurturing/healing, as the main leads are two very broken people in very different ways.

For example, I consider romance to be non-existent in The Glory with Chen Du Ling, which is also a revenge-driven drama.

Maybe the only strong allies who could vouch for the edict that he trusted with his life and that survived were the ones who weren't in the capital when the coup happened.

We know the Eastern Palace was burned and the Crown Prince's supporters were eliminated. And so were the officials from Lishan.

I see you are annoyed by the general hiding the edict and playing into the Marquis's hands, I'm annoyed that I don't have a clear timeline of how things happened once the dowager started the coup.

Maybe we'll get a more ample explanation in the remaining 5 episodes, but I think it's unlikely because not everyone is digging that deep into the premise.

Bai Lu made the role of her career in this drama. The way she so effortlessly portrays Ye Li's emotional fragility and vulnerability on Lishan Mountain is absolutely incredible. She was always known for great emotional scenes, especially when crying was involved, but the depth she was able to convey through simple glances in quiet conversations with Cheng Lei blew me away.

In Chinese, "Mo Li" (莫离) means "Never Part," which sounds exactly like the word for Jasmine (茉莉). There’s also a beautiful saying: "Sending you jasmine, wishing that you never leave"

I specifically said he needed allies to argue his case in court and vouch for the validity of the edict - the Duke or the Ye Li's grandpa.

I'm not sure if you are being disingenuous on purpose. The 30k men would have helped if he wanted to lay siege to the capital, which we both have already agreed would have been stupid.

He also did not know what the situation was so he waited to make an informed decision.

She has inherited half of her father's genes. His family is like cockroaches.

One. He shows the edict. With no allies. The dowager empress/marquis start shouting that it's a fake and they can tell because they have been reading the emperor's writing for years. General gets killed. He needed allies to control the narrative in a court session and present his case before the other side had a chance to do so.

Second. When the emperor was dying, he requested the general to come protect the Crown Prince and Eastern Palace and asked Lishan Academy to send SML with escort to the Duke's mansion. Every piece on the board has its job and not necessarily knows what others are doing or can see the whole board.

Third. The general might not know that SML had already left Lishan. We don't know where he was when he found out about the death of the Crown Prince. His best shot was to wait for allies.

That was the one thing that raised her status from a concubine. Highly unlikely that it wasn't her child - she wouldn't have gotten to raise him otherwise due to her low status and he was ~ 6 at the time of the ciup, not a baby.

He wasn't accused of entering the capital without summons, but for leaving his post. It was too late to retreat.

The rightful heir was MJL, as the only surviving son of the Crown Prince, who died after the emperor died. The SML's safety was entrusted to the Duke, hence he was the only one to survive.

If the Crown Prince had died before the emperor and the emperor did not have time to name his successor, there wouldn't have been a rightful heir.

This is not the situation we are in, hence the opposition from Lishan Academy.

The empress used to learn at Lishan Academy. She was really angry the Master refused to accept her claim to the throne after her coup d'état and locked them all up on the mountain.

She used and betrayed everyone around her to reign an empire for 8 years.

You mean you wanted him to actually rebel? Killing civilians he swore to protect with his life when he became a general by attacking the capital would be out of the question.

Unless he received instructions from the rightful heir to re-establish the correct succession to the throne, he would not have been able to act.

Also there is a big difference between being accused of treason and actually committing treason to save your neck, especially for people who have morals and honour.

PS I don't know if without allies his siege of the capital would have been a threat since it is usually well guarded.

It's a very good drama, great acting, compelling storytelling. The directors and screenwriters took an unconventional story and made a masterpiece (speaking as of episode 35, but the ending is looking very promising).