Kaihua

Wow the second Youku trailer is so much better, it highlighted the cinematography and let the show speak for itself

My favourite part is FSG pulling off political stunts while pissing off his dad, and then every time he leaves his dad is like: "thats my son <3 im so proud of him" HAHHAH

YOU'RE RIGHT.. my desire has just waned 💀 there's really nothing wrong w cheerful fls individually but it gets a bit exasperating after a while to see the same type. MQG was different from the usual type of cheerful, and so charming aahh I'm so disappointed
Ty for letting me know ♡

To start with, if you're not familiar with cultivation settings then this is not the drama to start with for that because it just jumps right in assuming the viewer is already familiar with how cultivation settings and tropes work. I can also leave links to some glossaries of concepts and terms used in cultivation settings.

After a short narration the show opens in media res to where our mc, Mu Qingge, is teamed up against by the other sects and immortals, and her own disciple (the ml, Su Yishui). Everyone appears to be working to defeat her, as she is the demon's child mentioned by the narrator, the only one who can open the Spirit Well (just think of it as infinite storage pot of bad evil things for the moment). When she's finally defeated, she places a curse on her disciple and the entire Wester Sect that she created.
After this you see the title card for episode 1, and the show goes back to the story's proper beginning, so the scenes that are taking place are before the fight with MQG happens.
There is something to note about that opening scene however: the events as they play out in the scene defeating MQG, as you will shortly discover, are the events AS TOLD to and understood by everyone else. This is the official story that everyone believes happened. Beyond that, you'll understand by episode 7 or so.

The rest of the episode can tldr as such:
The ml SYS is the son of Prince Ping (who is the emperor's brother). He is his father's pawn to carry out his evil schemes to take over the throne - and the world - using the Spirit Well. Only the devil's child can find the Spirit Well, and thru various means SYS is for all intents and purposes the devil's child who is working on finding the Spirit Well for his father. His life sucks and he hates everyone, so he's planning on using the Sprit Well to take over the world himself when the time comes.

MQG steps in when SYS is being harassed by bullies. She's an independent cultivator in that she doesn't really conform to the standards that the rest of the world's cultivation sects adhere to, so she's regarded as controversial. She's in the area because she's looking for disciples to take in to her sect.

She has a longstanding aquaintanceship with SYS's royal half brother Su Yu, but she isn't helping him or getting herself involved in any of the palace's political intrigue, because the cultivation sphere is meant to stay out of such affairs. Su Yu is down bad for her.

MQG's sister is Mu Ranwu. MRW isn't a cultivator, just a normal girl, and she hangs around Su Yu all the time because she's down bad for him.

Su Yishui can finally sense where the Spirit Well is, but in order to get to it he needs a plot mcguffin cultivation technique that's a secret to the Eternal Sect. Prince Ping is like okay so we'll just kill the whole sect and take the technique scroll easy peasy; but SYS stops his dad and says he has a better way to do it by infiltrating the sect as a disciple. In reality, this is the first step in SYS's secret plan to be able to cultivate his powers so that he can basically get to a point where he can resist the evil Spirit Well bs magic that his dad uses to control him. A royal involved in power struggle shouldn't be joining any sect, so he using a cultivation technique to disguise himself as a completely different, unrecognizable person by adding a small beard.

MQG's dad also gave him an evil plan to-do list to complete while he's out there, which involves killing Su Yu's baby brother.
Since Su Yu's baby bro was kidnapped, he's worried and asks Mu Qingge to save his brother for him. MQG manages to find the place where he was 'kidnapped' and basically realizes there's some magic shenanigans going on which can be traced back to the Eternal Sect (since SYS joined the sect, he altered the scene using techniques he learned in the sect).

She's heading to the Eternal Sect when she finds SYS, the two fight and she realizes he has 5 spirit threads for all the elements (Aang is that you?) just like her, which is what she's been looking for in a disciple since it means he's powerful enough to learn all her techniques. She insists on making him her disciple no matter what, but he manages to evade her for a while. Finally, he breaks into the Eternal Sect's secret library to steal the mcguffin technique he needs to retrieve the Spirit Well, only for Mu Qingge to pop in like heyyyyyy and undoes his disguise, confirming he is Su Yishui.

Because she made a bet about this, by the rules of the bet he should become her disciple, but since he doesn't honour the bet she tries to take him back by force. He gets her to stop by offering her the location of the kidnapped baby brother, but tries to kill her while she's leaving. She thinks killing people is pretty bad and rude actually so he should learn a lesson. She exposes the fact that someone has broken into the library to the entire sect so that he can't complete what he came there to do.
MQG then leaves to where the baby bro is supposed to be and finds him alive, meaning SYS isn't completely ruthless and didn't follow through on his dad's orders to kill him.

the whole show?? T_T does she not get her memories back and return to how she was before at any point

Yeah, agree to disagree 👍 Dw I like hearing your thoughts, it's fun to talk about. The thing I do share some sentiments on are that the last 6 episodes were so plot focused yet not enough screentime went towards their relationship and sorting their feelings, or even giving more shipping fanservice screentime. Most of LJL's screentime was him literally mindblasted on fumes wth 😭 I know he isn't familiar with household intrigue the way LJL is but damn cut him some slack I don't want to spend the last chunk of the show watching him act so out of character without any break from it. Smth was obviously wrong but we had to wait too many episodes for that part to resolve, and the tradeoff was not getting to see LJL do anything else with his screentime. I wanna see him flex his skills! It only happened at the last second and even then it was still more about the plot reveal itself (for its themes) than RSB or LJL working together

I feel like the comment I just responded to elsewhere was also yours and was this same question lol so I won't repeat myself

god I already don't remember exactly which two plans this is referring to after the remaining eps but I'll try. The tribute gift dilemma was very risky and she said so herself. Even though she did rely on him for help she didn't completely tell him everything because if it all went wrong and he was in on what she was trying to do he would also be implicated. It would also retroactively put the validity Wei case outcome into question when a powerful family and a powerful official are so obviously working together with entangled interests. His shifu's daughter also points this issue out to him as a reason why him immediately marrying into the Rong family could bring bad consequences, since the Wei case was so critical and everything else that happened was also tied to the truth of the Wei case. It could all come undone if handled poorly.

I'm gonna die, first people complain RSB is too cold and should have shown more obviously that she loves him, but also now she's not cold and clear enough in drawing a line. this woman cannot win. cold mls in other dramas don't get anywhere near this amount of shit for their antics even when their behaviour is objectively worse

She doesn't have to leave her family anymore by the end though since she cleaned up her own household and got everyone to be sincere and cooperative as a family again. Why would she leave when it's no longer toxic? If her family never got fixed, then she absolutely should leave, but by the end of the show everyone in the Rong family was putting the work in to be better versions of themselves so RSB has no reason to leave. Plus with her power in Linji, LJL can do whatever he wants without worrying about political threats and assassination attempts while he tries to keep the local offialdom uncorrupted

She already sorted out her family into something functional though??? There is no longer any power struggle, allowing them to enjoy unity and prosperity together in accordance with the foundational principles of the Rong family which she aspires to live by. She has an entire life of her own with a fanily she finally gets to enjoy bonding with, and thousands of people under her responsibility, and you want her to give THAT all up? He still has a bright future, the point is his future is even brighter by living up to the person he wants to be - an uncorrupted official working for the people and making good change in the world. If he continued to pursue power he could eventually become corrupted and entangled with the deep webs of political intrigue, which already almost killed him once. So many people in power hated him in the capital because of his work and he would've spent the rest of his life having to fight off attempts on his life while being stuck in a miserable broken family that was beyond recovery, where the one blood relative he cared about there died and the love of his life far away. He'd be shackled to his role as a duke's heir, just like RSB was shackled to her role in the beginning of the show and not able to be her own person or have anyone to rely on because of her grandma forcing her to be perfect and forcing everyone to compete with her. Rather than 'intellectually dishonest', I would say it's media literate, and you missed all the themes of the show over your head

Thematically that wouldn't make any sense since RSB has spent the entire show trying to show people that power and ambition isn't worth it, but mutual support and cooperation is worth everything. She already knows how to handle her life. LJL didn't give up anything by the end. If it were him before he met her, then probably the title and wealth would've meant something to him because it would boost his career. But over the course of his stay in Linji, he realized how he can still make a difference and be true to his principles. We saw corrupt officials, a warped toxic grandma, a warped toxic dad, and all the people who are warped as a consequence of those people's actions. By the end, LJL is no longer the type of person to care about any of that. He literally had to be trapped in the ducal household to stay there. That was his prison, and being a smaller official in Linji that remained uncorrupt, being with someone he loved, that was the life he wanted and his freedom. RSB also knew it would be unfair to ask him to give up his title, his career, everything for her which is why she never once asked him to do it and left the decision as his alone to make.

Most definitely! Everything was consistent to the overarching theme of the show, so it's all purposeful but I think a lot of people see the events on a surface level and misunderstand. Not the perfect last 6 episodes but I understood what it was doing and why it was necessary. Kinda weird pacing, wish they gave it another episode or two for more character focused moments, but overall I'm satisfied

Yes, she's never been allowed to be her own person before but she can be around him! <3

Exactly this! The whole point was to show what he could have become if he had continued his original path before he met RSB. Throughout the show we've seen how power, wealth and ambition have warped people over time and strayed them away from their own principles they once lived by. BY the time LJL has the chance to get this powerful title and wealth which would've greatly helped his career, he'd already changed and affirmed for himself that what matters most is living by his principles and never straying. He's very satisfied with it, but it was a choice he had to make for himself and RSB knew that which is why she never asked him to stay with her. It would be unfair to ask him to drop everything for her if he did want this new family, title, wealth and career, and also if he followed her because she asked him to, then in the future if he did become warped he might blame her for ruining his chance at greater success in life. RSB seems cold, but she understood what was and wasn't fair or considerate and was willing to sacrifice her own happiness with him to let him live his own life. She was also convinced it wouldn't work out in the future because she's literally never seen an example of a healthy, long lasting relationship in her life so naturally she wanted to leave things at a moment where they were still both the people they loved in each other, so she could at least love him forever even if she couldn't be with him... In a way she's actually a big repressed softie

Yeah, I do get the point the narrative was trying to make with the last arc, since it was specifically for LJL's character arc to have closure and demonstrate in clearer terms than ever why RSB thinks the relationship wouldn't work, and what LJL could become if he kept going down his original path before he met RSB... But it was still kind of weird! LOL I think it was the pacing... The plot got all the screentime it needed. It was all necessary. But I think it needed to linger on character moments between RSB and LJL more to let the viewer simmer in what they might be feeling - and also, give us more sweetness oh my god I stuck thru all this way give me more screentime of them together! I think it could've benefited from maybe one or two more episodes to have those increased character moments padded in there, and more clearly tie what was going on to the thematic argument for LJL's personal arc and RSB's relationship with him. As it was, I think it was harder to get invested in what was happening with this family since we're here for RSB and especially LJL, but we don't even get to see much of them so it's harder for the viewer to emotionally tie the unfolding events to what it means for the two of them personally.

RSB has always been convinced the relationship won't work because they're both the type of people to put their career first (especially in the beginning of the show), and also because she's never had a good example of a functional relationship between parents in her life. she's seen what her grandma became over time, and basically she doesn't believe that relationships can last forever and that LJL won't turn into a different person warped by his amibitions (or lost ambitions, by feeling that he had to give them up for her and one day growing to resent her and blame her for it). However, the last arc is basically a kind of weirdly paced final example of how a family can corrupt over time due to power, wealth, love crumbling away, etc. but LJL still insists on being with her. She quietly gives him a way to pursue her by leaving a fast horse behind, but she never asks him to leave with her and only tries to break things amicably but will love him for the rest of her life. It's because the major life decision to leave behind power, wealth and ambition has to be a choice he makes for himself completely on his own. before he met RSB, he was a cold and ruthless person in his own words, and he was very ambitious and on the fast track to power. over the course of the show he's realized where his priorities are if he wants to be true to himself and his principles. He takes the fast horse she left behind for him to catch up to her, and specifically makes the choice to be with her and commit himself to living by his principles even if it means giving up the opportuntiy for power and wealth - he doesn't want it, he doesn't want to turn into someone like his father, or her grandma, etc. They happily go back to Linji together.

sorry I'm not the most articulate person so it wasn't clear; the spoilers part was in reference to people judging things RSB says or does after an episode or even saying she doesn't make sense, even tho those are all signs that there's smth else going on/she has a plan that will naturally be explained in an upcoming episode (if it wasnt obvious by watching her behaviour already). but such comments dont actually speculate on her reasons or give her benefit of the doubt, they just jump to her having a hot & cold personality, taking LJL for granted, etc. and then a few episodes later when everything is revealed, she clearly has reasons and doesn't treat LJL arbitrarily

Story of Ming Lan is one of my absolute favourite dramas ever, good taste good taste 😉
I just don't have a hard time reading RSB's emotions or why she does what she does. her upbringing was harsh and strict and required perfection from her and it already explains a lot about her. the last few episodes gave plenty, enough that i could guess what was really going on and what would happen especially based on everything else we've seen up to that point. But I do think the directing is totally a part of it, bc this show is not trying to be anything else but its own vision. the presentation keeping such a central character like RSB limited to outer presentation rather than spelling out her inner thoughts and such, i guess people get it or they dont, they like it or they don't

what im learning from the RSB hate is people can't read emotions or subtext without hearing a character's inner thoughts every second or spoiled on what will be revealed episodes later, and that people have a double standard for mls vs fls