absurd

He's not learning though, he's just going with the best presented argument at the moment. Doesn't seem to have his own opinion

The funny thing is that Xiao Wuyi talking him out of his decision last episode was what solidified it for me. It was a good thing that he saw reason, but it was so easy to sway him, c'mon.

My main problem with Li Mao isn't that he decided to fight for the throne. It's that he really can't think for himself. His sister, teacher Xie, Xiao Wuyi, even Xie Jiayu can talk him into anything and out of anything. He can't stand his ground at all. Birthright, whatever. But how can XWY consider him a good candidate for the emperor, when dude doesn't have anything he will not back away from at the first sign of a conterargument?

Good thing I'm watching this as it comes out. If I was binge watching, I would get no sleep until it's finished

Because actors said so in the livestream, while promoting. Both HMH and AM were like "don't worry, happy ending is waiting for you".

Are you sure you're paying attention? He wasn't trying to stop her, he was making arguments for her to make Eagle to stop trying to ruin everything

He needs to reform the army and adjacent ministries, they don't have resources, there's a lot of embezzlement and all the people hired for high positions are hired because of the lineage, not actual skill. So he needs 3 years of peace to make the reform work, so that even if he's not there as a commander, it would still be a capable army.
Eagle dude keeps making demands because he doesn't want peace, he wants them to refuse and end the talks

You do realize they don't need to show us how the kid was made in order for them to have a kid? It could just be "3 years later" here you go, happy family

Even though her mother is a princess, she does not really have much influence. And XWY is a grand general who commands the whole army, just broght a big victory and also has a high title, so strictly speaking he has a lot more weight than Xie family. He also asked for this marriage as a reward, so there's that. Being a second wife is not actually a low title, if they offered her to be a concubine then, that would be insulting. The other situations you're talking about might have been concubines. Translations is c-dramas don't always do a god job translating that. Second wife is basically the wife that he married later than the first one. Sure, the first one is above her in seniority, but it does not mean her position in the family is low. A lot of the time it's actually the first wife that gets put aside when the second one comes

How in world what happend in the beginning of episode 30 could be interpreted as Lifey colluding with demon king? The only thing she did was tell Togzhou to stop attacking because he's injured. What kind of shoddy writing is this? This drama started out so good, but now it's like they don't even bother to come up with something believable.

It wasn't unheard of to have multiple wives in ancient China, especially for rich noble men. They just have different titles. The princess is the first wife, XJY is the second one. I kind of missed what Ruisheng is, but considering her situation, probably concubine. You really should just be a little patient, they will explain later how they happened to marry XWY

You have a point. Honestly, XWY will make the best emperor, except for the fact that he does not want to be one and that XJY will not want to live in the palace.
But then, he is very self sacrificing, if there's no other choice, he might do it. And, considering, XJY is already somewhat disappointed with world traveling, she might also change her mind for the sake of staying with him.

Bloodline won't matter, unless they make it a public knowledge. But if they do, I'd say more likely is that some other heir adjacent person will come out of the woodwork, some kid or somethingl like that. But it's also not unlikely that A'Mao will get his head screwed on properly, after some tragic event. I've seen something like that multiple times in c-dramas, except characters like these usually die in the end.
As far as this drama goes, anything is possible. So far, it hasn't always been going for traditional anlgles, so I'm not betting on any specific outcome yet

So judging by what XWY said at the end of the latest episode, he does not want to be the emperor. But Li Mao currently is a horrible candidate for the leader of the nation. He's so easily manipulated, obsessed with the girl that he himself left behind and not in any way impartial.
Which makes this a second drama I've seen recently where the best candidate for the throne, both by birth and by character, does not want anything to do with it. Kinda curious how they are going to deal with it. Will Li Mao get his head in the right place later on?

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