SerenityShimikaBlack

It's also the historical setting that tends to limit any 'sizzling tongue action' 🤣. In general if you watch a lot of historical dramas you will notice that compared to modern setting dramas the kissing action is limited and more pretty/pure looking. I've seen some hot and heavy scenes in a few modern Chinese dramas, although not to the extent Western viewers would be used to.

😂 You're not alone! I'm so invested in this story.

To be fair, XFF is 'dead' so I don't see why he would have to hesitate as he's already pretty much been forcibly glued to the princess' side whether he likes it or not.

I largely saw her being overly familiar as her way of showing her interest and forcing her attentions on SYR, but yes it's a suspicious scene and we'll have to see how things unfold as what's going on in Huaixiang is starting to become revealed in the upcoming episodes. :)

Lol yeah, my guess is the kingdom she was sent to probably lost a battle or something and had to send her back. She's honestly a terrifying crazy person so maybe that's another reason why she was sent back.

Yeah that scene for me felt like even though she said she didn't want him to murder his wife, she really wanted him to still do bad things to XFF which in the end would and could have just amounted to death in the long run as the princess I don't believe would have ever constituted her husband having a second wife. I think SYR probably recognised this insanity of her's so he chose the extreme route of murdering his wife. But yeah the reasons as to why he did this are still not completely unclear and how much he's involved in the princess' schemes are to be determine.

The emperor, I think isn't as oblivious of all the scheming going on around him, it's just he seems to have so little political power for some reasons - probably the Dowager empress (?), the princess, and some of the official's families are all allied so it makes it hard for him to do things - but yeah he just looks plain incompetent.

The Duke it looks like has his own revenge he's looking to complete, which just happen to coincide with the FL's revenge too.

The drama is halfway done 😱 so hopefully they reveal all these loose ends satisfactorily.

I keep meaning to only write a little but it seems like I get carried away because I'm just so intrigued by the drama 🤣

Yes he has the power to stop her, but at the same time he absolutely doesn't know that his current wife and her family killed his first wife; the baby she 'lost' to frame Jiang Li was also not his; she's also the reason his eldest daughter is dead; etc. These crimes, if he ever knew would have completely allowed him to divorce his current wife and he would do it cause she'd be a disloyal wife and to be married to her would also ruin his reputation. He's not like SYR, cause he already came from a wealthy official's family and becoming prime minister later on in life was relatively easier for him than SYR could ever hope for. He's willing to overlook on purpose the scheming his current wife does cause he largely thinks it's just small stuff between the women of his household, but also he trusts her cause she's made herself appear, both in public and private, to be a loving and loyal wife. The wife is truly clever in that she has made absolutely certain that anything she's done is so well hidden behind a mask of benevolence. To be honest the father is just plain stupid and not the type to scheme, even though he's the prime minister. Like it's not till his mother reminds him that he seems to realise and acknowledge that the whole 'rape' was a set up to ruin Jiang Li by his other daughters and wife. Also most likely he considers the business of the women in his family to not be something he wants to be concerned about, as he has a job to do as an official, which would be time consuming, so he has left the management of the household to his current wife. So yes in the end I largely can only see him as being extremely negligent and not another version of SYR, unless the drama reveals otherwise, which I doubt.

lol the negligence is bad, but the fact he's so completely oblivious to what a snake his own current wife is, just makes it even worse

It's cute but also a threat and I still think it's hot... I feel conflicted lol

Yes and I totally suspect the other guard is the one who put the wooden bucket of water there :)

That's exactly how I read the scene too as the actor did a excellent job of portrayed his interest in her as something more than just mere attraction, but since the Duke hasn't personally admitted to this yet in the drama, I am reserving judgment and just calling it simply interest/attraction at first sight. I'm not much of a believer in love at first sight. lol I'm a cynic who loves romance.

My analysis of the murder scene when he says he can't protect her, implies one he does love her, but he is powerless, because he's from a poor family and has no influence in politics, to ensure that the princess in the future won't torture, and toy (and ultimately kill her) with her so it would be better to kill her and let her die cleanly. But also killing her ensures that his family's involvement in ruining her reputation won't be revealed thus it also protects him and his standing in society. He's definitely portrayed as more of a complex individual with multiple motives for why he chooses to murder her instead of maybe leaving the capital and withdrawing from politics to live quietly with his wife away the princess - although if he did this one he would be out of a job/income as he's only a scholar with no real skills other than working as a court official and more importantly I think the princess is vindictive and psycho enough that she would probably have just killed his entire family and kidnapped him to be her boy toy.
I think that scene of SYR meeting the princess for the first time isn't so much showing that he notices his wife after the princess, it's more like the princess shoved herself in front of him and he kept looking towards his wife. Especially as he's walking out of the palace the camera shows his head is turned in the FL's direction and he seems to have been staring at his wife while doing so. He only stopping because the princess basically comes over and plasters herself to him. The suspicious part is the princess touching him and speaking to him so familiarly - which she could have done on purpose cause she's interested in him - but it could also imply he was maybe already having an affair then. I'm more inclined to believe it's the former rather than the later, but we will have to see how the drama unfolds as his character is very different from the book version.
In the drama at least, it seems to be implied that SYR didn't kill her family and instead this was all the princess' plot to have him demote the FL from the main wife position to only a secondary wife or concubine, not kill her, which would have only happened if the fl's reputation were ruined. So until the drama shows SYR having a direct hand in the fl's family's death, I would say it's uncertain if he was actually involved with the fl's families death. Also I am not completely certain he was willingly looking to hook up with the princess as a lover to gain more influence and power.
I saw him sleeping with the princess as more out of anger and just giving up and finally giving in to the princess. Also it was maybe a little bit trying to take her attention away from looking into the FL's identity, not so much to protect the FL, but more so because he wanted to forget about the guilt/depression he's been feeling from constantly seeing a woman who looks exactly like his supposedly dead wife. So I wouldn't consider him open to multiple partners as he doesn't seem to have any interests in a lot of women beside his wife and the princess to me seems more like he's being forced to accept her attentions. Of course, this could also be an act all on his part to get the princess' attention.
To me, his is definitely remorseful and based on the flashbacks it looks like he was very much in love with the FL, which is why he's tortured and depressed, but he is also paranoid and worried that if she isn't dead than all the business of murdering her and ruining her reputation would ruin him and his standing in court. The actor has done a really good job at keeping us all guess to his motives and the scenes of him being tortured over what he's done are very well done. The drama seems to have characterised him as an upright and morally good person who has been force and tempted into choosing to murder his wife because of the princess and his own ambitions, instead of like the novel version which shows him as a purely cold and calculative man.

Divorcees can remarry, it's just that they may or may not find a 'good' husband due to their status, especially if they are not from a wealthy family.
I agree, taking back her original identity would honestly be both detrimental to her and Jiang Li's reputation. I think in the end it would most likely be an open secret type reveal where select few individuals know who she is but in public she would probably never be allowed to use her original name. We'll have to see what the drama does as it's different from the novel.

He's suspicious of her identity cause he once saw Xue Fengfai on the streets. He's pretty sure she's not Jiang Li and since XFF was Shen YuRong's wife, he's interested in what happened and whether or not that information can be used against the SYR and the princess. He's not stalking her simply cause he's attracted to her and yes he is the main love interest. Also his job is basically being the head of the secret police force for the emperor so yes he basically has all the power with no oversight, except towards the emperor.

No rape - there's just a plan to try in ruin her reputation

no idea but I whole heartedly agree - the audience was all crying and all I felt was removed from the scene by the cgi. The cgi felt so misplaced and out there that I was thinking about whether the cgi department was high when they made it lol
I did appreciate the scene of her fingers bloodying the string while she was playing - only wish it was real cause then it would have had more impact

I don't have to wonder lol - poor grandma having to put up with all their shenanigans

Am I the only one that gets such satisfaction from being able to see how mentally wretched the FL is making all her enemies, in particular, her former husband and his sister? Kudos to the actor who plays the former husband, his scenes of guilt and anguish are very well done. I might not completely sympathise or empathise with his choices, but I do enjoy watching him be tormented and struggle with the FL's presence and her clever words that just hit home the injustice he's committed. The dichotomy between his public image as a up-righteous court official and the reality of him being nothing more than a cowardly and selfish person who would choose to kill his own wife is truly well done.

Essentially Cheng Yi inherits his father's surname because it's a big/powerful clan and his mother married into the head family. Gong Jun's father on the other hand is a nobody so it's most likely he married into the Dongfang family, therefore Gong Jun would go by his mother's surname and have the right to inherit his grandfather's place as the head of the Dongfang family.

I've caught up with the latest episodes as well. I'm not surprised there is so much backlash cause there's been so many changes made to show when compared to the donghua. I'll try not to give away any major spoilers in case you ever want to watch the donghua. The biggest thing that I'm sad about is the lack of more lighthearted humour although to be fair they are starting the drama in the past which is a more serious plot line in the story. Another things I dislike is the huge changes they've made to characters like Yaya and Yuechu. For plot purposes, I can understand the changes to Yuechu, but Yaya's characterisation change is honestly the worst in my opinion, especially in an industry where we already so rarely have strong single non-romantically inclined female characters. It's like when Disney tried to girlify Merida! But I'm willing to be open minded about it and see where things go. Also the biggest complaint as well, I've heard is they've change things about the world building like with the Bitter Love tree, which is rather important to the entire series (but I think maybe this will be changed back with a plot twist or something in later episodes). I think the hardcore donghua/manhua fans are just terribly disappointed in the amount of changes, which have to be honest somewhat ruined their beloved characters and the fox matchmaker world . Nonetheless, I am looking forward to seeing what happens and hopefully the pacing picks up a bit more. I just have to completely divorce my expectations from the donghua, which is a struggle as I was rewatching it before I realised this drama was coming out haha.
I think the problem with Cheng Yi, for me, is that I have yet to be able to get through an entire drama with him as ml. I'm not sure if it's the lack of a good script or his sometime blasé expressions or lack of chemistry with his fls or if it's just me not being into him. I honestly am just not sure. I did like him more in Lotus Casebook over Love and Redemption and Immortal Samsara.
Yes series three, Love in Pavilion, is about the parents of the ml (played by Cheng Yi) in the second series, Sword and Pavilion. My advice is prepare tissue in advance for series three!

Yuechu (1st series ml) and Fugui (2nd series ml) are cousins - their mothers are sisters both from the Dongfang family. The third series is about Fugui's parents.

Ahh yeah that's the same for me. I'm not sure about Gong Jun or Cheng Yi's acting so both one and two of this series might be hit and miss with me. Yang Mi should be alright, I think, for this show cause people have mentioned that her personality is like Hong Hong, so I don't think she'll do terribly bad. It will be interesting to see if she can pull off the kid version Susu though, without making me annoyed and that might be the deal breaker for me whether I will finish this drama or not. I really want to like it though, cause I like the donghua! Honestly most of the main cast gives me trepidations cause I am not sure if they'll be able to bring the characters I like to life properly. Fingers crossed :)

My guess is the first and maybe the second episode will be free to watch on the iqiyi YouTube page, but after that ofc you'd have to pay membership to watch on YouTube. You can also try watching it on kisskh.co.

Of course since I don't know how the drama has adapted the donghua, I can't say for sure how things will turn out. But I would recommend still watching these all in order to your friend though as there are plot points that are all interconnected across all three stories that are highly interesting and kinda important. But if your friend is watching purely for the romance then yeah picking and choosing which ones to watch I think would be perfectly okay as the storyline for each couple is distinctive and coherent enough on their own.