Sana

I genuinely don't understand how someone can justify some things for themself. Sure you can call it survival, but being surprised that not everyone is ok with it?

Did you memorize that from the internet? Impressive. Very edgy.

As in bending your back trying to justify what's inherently wrong? You're describing yourself.

I think I've seen snippets that suggest at least one of the two things will happen.

I think insulting real people for their different opinion about a fictional character is the real special brand of stupidity

And here I was hoping to see their team fight in the tournament with them somehow ending up recruiting Ming Yi (maybe Sun Liao breaks something in his body, so they not-so-reluctantly have to replace him)...
but alas

Of course she can. She's just not into fair trade. She wants trust but doesn't want to give it. Like the golden millet she wants it for free.

Of course, I can only share my personal take.
He went from rejecting her to suspecting her to trusting her.
He gradually realized that she's clever, strong willed and has a good heart.
She was constantly able to read the situation and help him out of trouble.
He's surrounded by scoundrels and greedy people. I imagine aside from his two companion beasts, who started caring about him out of gratitude, and his master, he's never met someone genuine.

He already has high respects for Ming Xian in his heart. Even if she's pretending to be someone else, her nature doesn't change. She's a warrior at heart, not just a shallow pretty girl.
It's not difficult to imagine he'd fall for her. But I've read some people didn't really get into the story till episode 5 or 6. Some are only starting to like it after episode 10. So it's up to you.

Hopefully. I doubt there will be any. He'll mistreat her horribly or she'll do a big sacrifice, and that'll be called redemption. At least that's how it's like in most Cdrama.

It's not about her identity. It's about what she did.
Think about it. He's a distrusting guy and for good reason. Every time he starts a conversation with someone, they ask him about the golden millet. People try to poison him, manipulate him, threaten him, for it.

Then she enters his life and he very slowly opens his heart to her. Only to find out, in the most embarrassing way, that she too was after his golden millet dream.

He already seems somewhat unstable after knowing half the truth. How do you think he'll react once he finds out the rest?

Boy is he gonna lose it when he finds out what she's really after.

Finally we got some proper JBZ

Same~

I know I should've clarified 😅
Saw your pfp and suddenly missed the guy's antics lol

Oh. I was joking because I can imagine Li Lun saying that to get ZYZ away from his friends.

I see. They're both softened up here then 😄
I'm curious for when he finds out too. He's gonna lose some faith in humanity for sure, but up untill now she hasn't irreversibly wronged him or anything.

Do you mean he looks sharper here? In FoF, he looked more like an elegant relic. But it suited Zhu Yan perfectly. JBZ looks closer to HMH himself.

Is that so? I haven't read much of the novel. Were they both much more ruthless or cruel in the novel? Or was it just JBZ?

I remember reading somewhere that this is one of the reasons they deviated from the novel, and I hope that’s true, because I share OP’s sentiment. In stories like this, balance matters a lot. Toxicity can work if it isn’t one-sided, and redemption arcs need careful handling. I find it hard to root for an unbalanced relationship.
So far they're doing a good job. Hope the writing maintains its approach.

Lead actor was in a BL (unaired, but trust me, even unaired ones matter) and then in a mega popular drama.