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The only reason they think this is because this drama doesn't have traffic stars. This drama has TONS of non-fan viewers watching. It is a combination of timing, luck, and this cast. There is no direct competition with any other period idol dramas right now and the visuals alone were enough to attract people to check it out.

Fans of these traffic stars have been trashing this drama and trying to say iQiyi brought out all these independent data tracking websites and be for real, iQiyi is not spending money like this for anyone when they are trying to make a profit. The stats for this drama matches on all platforms and has continued to rise. These fans were trying to say there aren't as "much discussions" but the only reason is because this drama has limited traffic due to production saving money and not paying up protection fees (the videos/discussions are there, they are just not showing up on people's FYP at the same rate if protection fees were paid). You can tell how big this drama has gotten just based on the ship supertopic alone. The irl ship of the mains went from 2K to now 21K in a span of less than a few days.

Fans of these traffic stars were using sites like Yunhe or Lighthouse to trash this drama on the first day saying it is low and now this drama has been topping those sites now and they changed their tune to say those tracking sites are trash. It is even #1 on Douban with just how much these forums are talking about this drama (bad or good). This drama's number actually matched way more than some of the numbers of the dramas starring the traffic stars.

Yup, in the novel. They never showed his face for a reason in the drama. It is foreshadowing.

The Empress knows. It is already hinted in the drama that she is pushing for the Crown Prince to ascend "for the people".

Yes, in the novel, they were twins. The drama might be making some changes though.

Got to thank C-netz' eagle eyes. 🤭

Yup! I thought it looked familiar, and C-side confirmed it with the side-by-side pictures.

In the novel, Yan Chi killed the princess's favorite horse to send her a warning. There is nothing much they can do since she is still a princess of another nation. They can't exactly beat her or kill her; it did erupt into a whole war.

Yeah, current Empress and Consort Su are not his wives. The kids were the former emperor's. Prince Sui is his child though.

Yan Chi is so down bad that he even wore the clothes Qin Wan wore when she stayed overnight as his inner garment the next day: http://xhslink.com/m/26PLfRXiTRB

Also don't know if anyone noticed, but the mask Yan Chi wore during his New Year's performance in episode 21 is the mask of the same character (Xiezhi/Symbol of Justice) Qin Wan wore back in episode 4 and that's how Qin Wan knew it was him.

It drops when the amount of people watching in real time decreases. Heat index is not stagnant; it goes up and down based on the live views/activities.

The cast is hilarious. Here is a video of Ren Zhong (actor for the Emperor) dropping a dance video to celebrate 10K heat index: https://weibo.com/1296947890/5191650886291902

Oh the Qin Wan x Yan Chi shippers are celebrating haha. Another kiss added to the collection (and an intense one too).

Yeah, it is definitely okay to release it just for the fans as a gift (and not try to edit it back in into the actual episode). ✨

Yeah they cut it, and I am glad they did because it is kind of OOC for the characters in that setting. It is one thing for them to already kiss outdoors (in secret), but another to kiss in front of others (with the eunuch just steps away) especially with Qin Wan. She is an unmarried woman at the end of the day in a period setting.

I love seeing the breadcrumbs they are already dropping in these episodes leading up to the final case.

The Crown Prince who doesn't want to be the Crown Prince.
The Empress who needs the Crown Prince to ascend the throne for the people.
The 9th baby prince scared of the Emperor.
Etc.

The new episodes 25-26! He hasn't outright talk to her about it, but he spoke to the Qin family about it. Whether he will get his way though is around story.

It might go even higher! Still has 12 more episodes to go!

Yup, romance is okay in xianxia drama, but it should not be the core of the story. These characters are immortals too, so it is just silly when it comes down to it. That these 1000+ y/o gods are beefing over romantic love and you have humans dying from this.

Yup! Traffic stars' popularity is very tied to their fans since some of these stars do use their fans in proxy wars. Fans then get invested and feel like they have a say in their careers.

She does some variety show when the episode is to promote her airing drama. But she stopped going on variety shows as a member (aka more than several episodes) after what happened with "The Inn Season 3". That show got her and Wu Lei dragged to filth due to the editing and they were like 18-19 years old back then. But this year, she came out of her shell a lot more so maybe she will try doing variety shows again.

The drama is now ranked 13th on iQiyi's highest heat index dramas! It hit a new peak of 10,100 heat index.

Yeah, if you are new to the genre, then it is still fresh and interesting. But for C-viewers who have been watching these dramas for like 20-30+ years now, these genres always go the same way. It is very predictable, and it is always about romantic love now. Older xianxia type dramas used to be a lot more about love for the world and love for the common people (and not just slogan wise aka characters saying it, the plot actually focused on those aspects so there were a lot more depth and character development).