Krish728

When it was on air, I also didn't pay much attention to Miss Gu storyline, so I missed the part about her situation in her family. Only in my rewatch did I catch on to this.

Still, when it was on air, I could tell that Minister Gu and Miss Gu are only using each other for their own goals. Perhaps because I have read too many novels set in ancient china, or watched too many dramas set in ancient china, but when two people talk behind closed doors, they can shed all pretense and be themselves. Like FL and her father. If they are still keeping up their pretense up, like Miss Gu and her father, then I'm sorry to inform you, that is not how a real father and daughter would interact.

I guess, I should have put quote marks for "care", because it really wasn't "care". Sorry for my oversight. But you get my point.
He may feel pride, but not fatherly love.

It looks like you have really misunderstood this Minister Gu character lol. Sending in as the concubine could make Miss Gu's life miserable, and it did. No matter how much power Minister Gu has in the court, he can't extend his influence to the Eastern Palace to protect his daughter. He is basically letting her into a tiger's den. Thus, there's a significant distinction between sending her in as the Crown Princess and as a mere concubine.

I sincerely suggest you rewatch their scenes. Compare them with the scenes between FL and her father.

I also don't get where you watched these scenes where he attempted to "discourage" her. I do remember him asking her to be cautious, or educate her of some dangers. All this could not be construed as a father's care, instead it was him being cautious to not get caught if something goes awry.

No loving father, after knowing that their schemes were discovered, would not leave his daughter to her own devices. He didn't even inform his daughter that they had been exposed.

Yes, the Gu family had other daughters too. They were not shown, probably cut. But there were a few mentions of them. Like how some of them bullied her and got her sent to the Gu family's ancestral home to pray or something... this was basically banishment. And this was where she meets the ML for the first time.

Oh, no. It wasn't me who posted this on YouTube. I posted this link here on MDL before, hence my comment.

Minister Gu is always in it for himself. He didn't care for his daughter's life. If he really did care, he wouldn't scheme to send her in as a concubine. He liked the idea she pitched to him, so he schemed to make it happen.

It was mentioned in the first few episodes when the Gu girl was introduced. She's the 6th young mistress, if I'm not wrong. And Minister Gu only cared for her because she was intelligent and resourceful.

Yes, I agree that she was a quite well-written villain. The actress who played her also did a wonderful job. I even mentioned in my observations after my rewatch that the actress gave the most low-key best acting performance.

Oh, I'm not saying that the Gu girl won't try to harm the FL if she had the abilities.
The point I am trying to make is, the Gu girl can't touch the FL with her own abilities.

Yes, but we all know that it was ultimately Minister Gu running the show behind the scenes. Gu girl enticed him with "future emperor's father-in-law", and he started to scheme for it himself. The Gu girl passes him some information and he does the rest for his own goal.

I'm confused. I don't think the Gu girl ever tried to hurt the FL, directly or indirectly.

The treason thing was arranged by her father. Her father has his own motivations to do so; he did not do it for the sake of his daughter.
The aphrodisiac thing was arranged by her mother; the Gu girl even warned her maid to not use this method, as it would drive the ML further away from her. But her maid used it anyway, and the Gu girl even confronted her maid... saying that she ruined everything. This then prompted her to talk with her father, who then planned to kill the FL.

Imagine living as a shadow of a girl you like. Imagine that the only way out of the tricky situation you both are in (at least from his pov, where he is acting as her, and it would only make sense if they are married to each other) is to marry each other. Imagine suddenly someone else coming over and snatching the girl you like. All the certainty you had before is gone just like that... poof, and then you almost die saving the girl... then come back to see the girl getting confessed to by your rival while the girl is smiling like a silly fool. Add in a bit of obsession in all this, wrap it all up, and you have your answer.

I agree that LCF is the weakest character in the story, but I still understood where he is coming from. I'm also sure that a lot of scenes involving LCF were cut -- if you are not aware, this drama was originally filmed to air 50 episodes. Then new regulations had it cut down 10 episodes worth of content and only release 40 episodes. Why I'm sure a lot of scenes involving LCF were cut, you say? If you are familiar with this author/screenwriter, you will know that this author/screenwriter never wrote a character this shallow.

Here's a full album link I posted before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taniCra8HrM

00:25:49 8. 牢兰河水十八湾 - 陈雪燃 --- This will be the song

Also, answering your first question, yes, Gu Wanniang is obsessed with the ML, but it does not compare with the guy who is basically crazy obsessed with the FL.

Gu Wanniang is a very clever person. She knew ML is so in love with FL, so going against FL wouldn't benefit. Instead, she acts like she supports ML and FL's love. So, Gu Wanniang never had the courage to bully the FL. As for putting Gu Wanniang in her place, I don't know if it was done intentionally by FL, but there was one instance where it did seem like FL put the Gu girl in her place. But it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, because FL isn't someone who cares about petty backyard schemes.

Yup

The General, I agree that he loves his daughter unconditionally. The Prime Minister, I'm afraid, is only good to his daughter because she is intelligent.

They changed it to Chinese Paladin 6, since the title Chinese Paladin is a very famous IP in China.

He cried because he lost his brothers. As for Cui Lin's injuries on her hand, I guess it was cut. This drama was originally filmed for 50 episodes, so 10 episodes worth of material was cut.

I see WOL had a jump in ratings on Douban. It jumped from 6.5 to 6.8.
Considering that most of Xu Kai dramas (even the good ones) get downvoted by the haters, I think that is a very good score.