JJJ

1) Their first meeting: She was wet from swimming her way in
2) That umbrella scene: Got pushed and landed on the ground with the rain pouring on her
3) Face washing scene: Got Wei Zhao spell bounded

Kind of funny that some of these Wei Zhao and Jiang Ci moments happens when she is wet. 😂

Yup, it is pretty ironic because having her not know any martial arts was probably the best way to "protect" her. People would just think she is some regular country bumpkin and let their guards around her.

Can't wait to find out more about Prince Qi, Yan sisters, etc. (since this already deviated from the novel).

I saw some discussion questioning why Jiang Ci's master didn't teach JC martial arts, but I can't find it anymore, so I am just making a separate post to list some reasons I think why:

1) Her master seemed to shelter her /a lot/, it is likely that her master thinks she would be able to protect her for her entire life (which she isn't wrong in the sense that she managed this for 20 years at this point).

2) Jiang Ci has stated her master tried to have her learn things, but she would just run off and go play (and probably why her master didn't force it since Jiang Ci didn't really care for it much).

3) Jiang Ci does know the basic of that beast technique (which seems to be more for healing), so it is not like she doesn't know anything (she probably knows enough to just heal herself a bit).

4) Her master might had tried to keep her as a "regular" girl to hide her identity/protect her from danger because when one knows martial arts, they tend to get more mixed up in situations. Pei Yan for example in the beginning only let his guard down around her because he checked that she is not a martial arts artist. If she was, he would probably have put her in prison to interrogate her since it would make more sense that she is in cahoots with the assassin.

5) Depending on what kind of wuxia verse, innate talent is usually required to eventually become advanced in martial arts, maybe Jiang Ci just doesn't have that LOL.

6) Knowing martial arts require one to become worldly and know the ins and outs of the martial arts world + things that go on with the kingdom. I think if her master was trying to keep her as a "regular girl" who doesn't know much, she probably won't want Jiang Ci to learn too much about that kind of world (as she would then learn way earlier the conflicts between these states).

7) Martial arts are often signatures and reveal identities. Especially if you have a master, people can figure out who your master is and the origin of the moves you know so it is probably another reason why her master won't be teaching her anything that would reveal her identity.

They setting up that angst BIG TIME. It is a ticking time bomb because if something happens to her master... welp.

Jiang Ci whenever she sees pretty people: 🤭😍🥺

This drama is actually getting quite a bit of drama fans (aka viewers who are non-fans of the cast, just tuned in for the drama).

In addition, typically, sites like Bilibili have these reactors who get paid to react to a drama (whether positively or negatively depending on who is paying up). There is this one reactor who did a reaction video (and you can tell he was paid to hate on it since things he was purposedly trying to hate on was either already explained in the drama or just not accurate). And comments for this video on Douyin and Weibo were full of non-fans saying they don't agree, and they know he was paid but come on. It is nice to see. 🥲

The flowers used for Bitterless Porridge are also grown near graves. 💀

I don't know if the drama production knew this was going to happen and leaned into it but the way Wei Zhao and Jiang Ci look like they are having an affair while Pei Yan is the "main wife" is hilarious. 😭 If you didn't know the plot of the story and the actual dynamic between the three of them, you did think Pei Yan was trying to catch those two in action LMAO.

Welllll, I am not going to spoil anything LOL. Politics will always come first though.

Heyyy, based on the drama summary, it will happen sooner or later. Let's go character development!!

Another funny meme spreading on the C-side: Pei Yan's title is 剑鼎侯 (Lord of Jianding) and they have been calling him 煎饼猴 (which sounds the same in Chinese, but it means pancake monkey). 😭

Yup and also because she is literally his servant right now LOL. She lives with him and has to serve him on the surface. And on the surface, Pei Yan hasn't done anything "bad" to her, it is not like she can be cussing him out for his "wrongdoings" (which again, from his POV, is not "wrongdoings", he is just "bending the truth" in order to protect what he thought was important to him aka the Pei family and their lives at this point after what his mother did).

None of this is black and white. These characters constantly shifting with new changes and their dynamics changes too.

Even Wei Zhao said he might not have handled it any better if he was in Pei Yan's position. He acknowledged that they are only opponents because they have difference stances. It is also why they can read each other's moves.

She is not "supporting" him. She is under his custody not able to escape. She only "supports" him because he is in a position of power which she viewed would be able to help the famine survivors and Ayan. And to his credit, Pei Yan probably would have, if it didn't turn out his mother had a whole involvement in this, and it did drag the whole Pei clan in especially after the He father-son pair threatened him.

Yup, back in earlier episodes too (when they had that crab feast with the crown prince where she pretended to be drunk), she already knew he was using her to draw out Wei Zhao), she just didn't know the whole letting her escape too + the prolonged torture she went through from Wei Zhao (when Pei Yan could had ended it early) was part of the scheme.

She also told Wei Zhao she doesn't trust either of them and walks a different path from them both earlier on. Jiang Ci has always been clear headed. She is mainly thankful to Pei Yan because despite all the schemes, she knows he /did/ save her at the end of the day through 2 poisonings and 1 stabbing caused by Wei Zhao (because yes, she would have died without Pei Yan's miracle pills + Cui Liang being there to keep her in stable conditions).

I don't think she is gullible nor naive. She has questioned Wei Zhao why he acts like she trusts Pei Yan when she doesn't trust either of them. She has also clocked him using her, but she just put it aside because she also acknowledged that he saved her several times in the process of using her. She just thought that despite it all, Pei Yan might still be a "good court official" who did put justice of the common people over his family (which wasn't the case, and she again clocked this during the boat ride when they made their wishes and again with how he handled Ayan's case).

For him, what he is experiencing is "love". We know it is not love, but to him, that moment was when he "fell" for her.

Yup, a lot of the times the boldness FLs have against MLs is because the script has already decided that the MLs have a soft spot for FLs already and that the FLs is already special from the start.

Jiang Ci's actions during the first 10 episodes have all been to save her own life and stop harm from coming to others (within the knowledge she has). If it isn't Wei Zhao trying to end her, it is her knowing she did be executed if Teng Rui dies.

Plus, she also doesn't know Wei Zhao's position then (whether he is "right" or "wrong"), she can't just let other regular citizens die especially when she knows her revealing the truth would prevent a war. Jiang Ci is like this from the beginning and continues to do so with the famine survivors, Ayan, etc. She sees and thinks of the people that someone like Pei Yan (and Wei Zhao then as he is more focused on Yue Luo over people from these other states) might not care about (atm) and that's what makes her character great. Aka she sees the "little people" beyond just pieces that make up a state/nation.

Jiang Ci is probably the first person who acknowledged and praised him as someone who shoulders such heavy responsibility and how he is amazing for it because not everyone can do that (his mom for example just says it is his role as the heir of Pei family and I don't think any other women would have that boldness to have such deep conversations with him then). I forgot the episode number, but it was during the birthday banquet when they had that convo under the stars. That speech Jiang Ci said to him made him tear up and you can see he became really attached after that.

Pei Yan essentially just doesn't want to let go of the one person that acknowledges/praises him directly and so sincerely. Jiang Ci viewed him as a "good person", and he relished in that.

Jiang Ci is also "refreshing" in the sense that she seems so sincere and full of love unlike him who grew up in a stressful environment and had to constantly plan 10 steps ahead. She is basically the first one to "see" him.

He feels "good" when he is with Jiang Ci so he doesn't want to let that feeling go and even want to keep her in a cage like a bird so she can't go anywhere else.

He did underestimate her thinking she won't uncover the truth about Teng Rui. He was shoooooook.

Tbh she did save lives in the sense that it prevented an all-out war between Wei and Liang state. Regular civilians would have died. Pei Yan also did say if Teng Rui was dead, both him and Jiang Ci would have been executed so she was also saving herself.

Lmao yup. I think that's what is great about this drama too. None of these characters could see into the future and made decisions in the present they thought was the best and to their current knowledge.

A lot of these drama tend to have characters do things like they knew what would happen later on in the script.

Random ML who usually has a bad rep/ruthless suddenly decides to save random FL because gasp... the script said she is the FL. Random FL stands in the middle of stairs blocking the way with wind blowing her hair in that exact moment because gasp... the script said random ML was secretly watching her and fell for her then LOL. Just a lot of examples.