absurd

He kinda does dissappear in the middle there for like 3-4 episodes. And honestly, for the whole drama (except ML's backstory in the end) the focus is on FL. To me personally that in itself is not a problem generally. But I also did not like the story, was not a big fan of FL and felt kinda bored with the whole "f*ck the plot progression, let's go on a side adventure" type of storytelling, especially since most of those do not include ML. For me it was kinda weird, because "no relationship development", I'm just supposed to believe they are in love. If you don't have a problem with those, then ML disappearing from time to time might not be a big deal.

That Lejun girl looks kinda psychotic. It really would have been better for everyone, if she just married Eagle prince and went as far away as humanly possible. She's way too obsessed with her brother

I agree, it does seem very re-watchable so far. There are some twists that will lose the effect when watching for the second time, but they are not the only thing that keeps kttph interesting.

If they made it longer, what we'll get would probably be fillers, flashbacks and long winded boring conversations

About the biting, I think she was poisoned by the same toxins that made those man go crazy, the ones in the mine, but not as severely. Hence, the biting. As XWY doctor wife said they were almost out of her body, but her mother's death amplified the effects.

Seems like it will go in a different order, first Li Mao gets messy, then one of them gets the throne.
The only thing that makes me think that XWY won't go for the throne is FL not agreeing when Li Mao offerd her to move to the palace, but maybe they'll play the "she really loves him, so she'll do it for him" card

That's what I thought, no other candidates and also, he seems like he would be a good emperor, he knows how to navigate both politics and war

From my experience of c-drama comment sections, people will always find something to complain about: big age gap, too old, too young, fl older that ml, ml too old for fl, not how they imagined it, too much kissing, too little kissing... the list goes on.
As far as I'm concerned 17 is old enough to understand and portray romance and I agree with you, that she fits the character really well. As long as her co-stars and production team are respectful of her young age, I see no problem. And from what I've seen of HMH in bts or variety shows, he seems like one of the safest actors for that kinda situation, someone who's always very mindful and respectful of people around him.

It's a drama tropes are unavoidable, but if they are done well it works

How exactly is she planning to stop the wedding if they have already started the wedding ceremony? A bit late for that, no? Something doesn't add up

I love love love the gradual relationship development. Finally a drama that doesn't just go "here, they are in love, accept it". From "I hate him" to "he's ok" to friends, it all looks natural.
Also I'd say the number of episode seems perfect for the pacing. None of that talk talk talking that c-dramas love so much, they are actually showing what's going on and progressing the story instead of giving lengthy explanations that usually put me to sleep.

I am not sure, but I saw a snippet of the livestream where HMH and AM said it is. It was a very short part though, no context

Also if you make character death so dramatic that everyone's grieving, maybe make sure audience remembers or likes them first. Otherwise it's "wait who's that?" situation. Or, like with Luo Sha, the scene was so dramatic and I was like "finally, she's so annoying"

At this point the plot and characters just stopped making sense. She's like "Oh no, I killed him", then 15 minutes later "I'm going to kill him". He woke up, no he's the demon king. Characters appear and dissappear. Do shitty things "for greater good". Is Tongzhou a nice guy or an a-hole? I'm confused. And also the skipping. They spend like half an episode on useless talking, and then action comes along it skips from scene to scene.
The story needs to make sense not only to people who read the novel, but to an average viewer too

Older brother was acting like a child. It would be one thing if it was a simple competition. But to risk the whole country for his pride? Really stupid. And it's not just his leg, he was sitting home for years. So what if he was the one who taught Xie Wuyi? Things like these don't just self sustain if you stop practicing. So dumb

When I started watching, I was pretty sure he's not going to survive. He seemed to be either dying or going blind (not really sure what his doctor wife gave him 5 years for) and also seeking revenge, c-dramas usually kill characters like this. But, he also seems to be pretty good at reforms and a good leader. So, now I'm not sure. Either he becomes an emperor or dies at the end. Hopefully not both.

ML is kinda crazy, I kinda love it. Let's hope he will not lose his ruthlesness as the drama goes on. It's very disappointing when ML who's dark and bloodthirsty in first episodes becomes helpless later on, not just to FL, but in everything.
On an unrelated topic. Is it just because I'm watching on tv in hq, that everything looks kind weird? Did they make it 60 fps or something? Everything is just kinda just a little not movie like, like I'm watching bts

She's not his biological daughter. Her mom says it during the divorce talk, in, I think, ep 5 or 6. I was kinda confused at first, since mom knew Li Mao was his son, why was she pushing them together. But divorce talk explained it.

This is probably the first time I skipped like more than half of the drama and did not miss any plot points, it was so bad. Honestly you could watch the beginning and then last maybe 10 episodes, everything else was unnecessary and boring. No relationship development, they are just... in love, accept it. No character development, not even for SML, who seems determined to ignore the most obvious things thrown right in his face. ML is barely there, like literally, if you're watching for HMH, he barely has any screen time for a male lead. Most of FL's adventures are with SML, but then they don't really get much relationship development either.
And the ending is just dumb. What was the point of that fight, that ended in nothing? Ugh.
The only interesting part of the drama was their backstory. Both of them, I guess. So if you watch the beginning, two back stories and maybe small part of the ending, it's an ok drama

I am not the best at this, but I'll try. There are 6 realms and every year they have a competition to win the blessed rain (probably not literal rain, but who knows). Whoever gets it gets to be prosperous and live better. Only men with spiritual veins get to fight, women are forbidden from ever using their spiritual veins. Also (and this is the part that was not well thought out, imo) people with spiritual veins are the ones that get the most respect in the considered the most powerful. But people, without them also can do magic and also have some kind of power. So i'm not sure why they put it like that. People either have them from birth or not, but someone came up with the way to get them through by using two elixirs. First is poison, second one gets you the veins. And everyone thinks ML has the second one, so everyone is trying to get it from him. And honestly, that's about it. Everything else will be explained as you go, but for the most part, the plot revolves around those spiritual veins, and people trying to get more powerful.