JJJ

I do think he has the ambition to do right by the country and people because his father fought to death for Liang State. For him, he just wants the Pei family to survive. He is not interested in becoming the emperor himself. However, Madam Rong wants him to be more for his survival but also for her own revenge. She will push him into a position he doesn't want and eventually he will have to choose because his mother is basically putting the Pei family at risk.

Agreed, and it also shows that he believes in WZ's abilities but not JC's own abilities. That whole caged bird metaphor in full force again.

No, her marriage to PY fails because Madam Rong used that chance to kill her master. The marriage was just a ruse, Madam Rong and the emperor would have never let them get married. Madam Rong also plotted and shifted the blame to WZ. The porridge throwing scene was after JC woke up and questioned WZ. JC found out eventually though who set this all up but yeah, the main trio will all go through it with the death of her master.

Episode 29 is SVIP/express episode aka released early for those who purchased that package (you can find it on free sites). On official sites, if you only have the VIP package, you would only be able to see up until episode 28 (with episode 29 being released soon).

Yeah, she really took after her own name. 慈 (Ci) means to be benevolent and kind.

It was stated Jiang Ci was bullied by the other children in the mountains (made fun of her for not having parents) so she really only had her master, her cat (who later died), and her plants/herbs. And because her master tended to hide things/keep things in her heart + went down the mountains, she didn't really have anyone else to talk to. She even treated the cat like her own family. Due to these reasons, she would tend to speak to herself out of loneliness, and you see this habit of hers even now as an adult.

Don't know if anyone noticed here why Jiang Ci sometimes speaks to herself aloud (this was discussed on C-platforms, so I thought I did share it here):

In the novel (from what I have read from other novel readers), Prince Qi's son is Cui Liang which changes a lot of things. The Yan sisters portion would really only be in the drama because Jiang Ci's shijie and shifu are not really mentioned that much and had nothing to do with any of this.

He still shot that last fire arrow despite Jiang Ci not being out because he knows he can't let Lu Yu cross over the gate. He is willing to lose her if it comes down to it and in a way, that does make him someone fit to be a court official because he is willing to sacrifice the one for the good of all. There have been many times when he is shown at the last minute to "give up" on Jiang Ci because he has other things he got to protect like his army (example such as during that disease spreading in Yue Luo and Jiang Ci getting sick). On the surface level, he seems like he did risk it all for Jiang Ci, but he actually won't. And Jiang Ci has clocked this a long time ago.

I know people say Pei Yan is obsessed with Jiang Ci and that is risking his own ambition, but I do think he is someone who is pretty decisive when it comes down to it re: episode 29 during that gate scene.

No problem!

Someone uploaded on Douyin too (but they added music to it): https://v.douyin.com/ikodb5cB/

And here is one that was uploaded on XHS: http://xhslink.com/a/Cu3RHOJRk3IW

Pleeease, he was so upset about it too and about to destroy that clay cat but held himself back... look at him falling for his pawn. 🤭

Jiang Ci attempted to drug Pei Yan back in Yue Luo, but Pei Yan was on high alert/didn't trust her and didn't fall for it (the porridge). While Wei Zhao fell for it and ate that fruit without question. Oh Wei Zhao... you are in DEEP.

Hah, another difference between Wei Zhao and Pei Yan when it came to Jiang Ci:

There is actually a picture of it too haha.

I think people are feeling bad for Wei Zhao so they are defensive for him but to take it out on Jiang Ci of all characters... Jiang Ci is her own person at the end of the day. It would have been weirder for her to choose a man who she knew for 6-7 months over her own relative who she knew for 20 years. People would have then called her love-brained and what not, she can't win.

Funny too because Prince Qi is really handsome so people are joking that Jiang Ci inherited her love for looks from her mom haha.

Sharing a fanmade Douyin trailer video, it is so well-done: https://v.douyin.com/ikE3pRCn/

RJL's and LLD's duo interview: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1TQxKeXE4N/

-LLD's scene that RJL has the deepest impression of is the one where she slapped the porridge away (later episode). He said she was so absorbed in the acting and done so well that he was also sucked it.
-RJL said he felt lucky to have acted with LLD and they have tacit understanding/chemistry and that viewers would also be able to feel it. That the reactions are done just right (not too much/not too little).

-LLD said RJL is very detail-oriented so when they practice scenes, they go through the logic and try a lot of different methods and when they act, it flows naturally.
-Regarding their ship name being "Affairs CP": LLD said she didn't feel like that was the case when they were filming. RJL said they (the characters) were in an environment no one noticed accomplishing their business. And they laughed about how everyone feels like it was an affair. RJL said maybe that proves they acted it well since it came off as looking like an affair LOL. They joked about Jeremy not knowing what they are doing right now (since he isn't in this interview, so it also looks like an affair). 😂

-LLD spoke about the Loopy meme of RJL saying "Your Lordship~~~" and RJL didn't know about this meme until then.
-LLD said Jiang Ci's first understanding of Wei Zhao was during the sword dance. It was only after Nanling when they experienced a lot that JC slowly fell in love.
-They spoke about WZ bumping into JC scene and how people saw it as bit of a jealousy scene. LLD said by that time, they aren't purely enemies anymore and that bumping motion can come off as different compared to how WZ was in the very beginning.

-RJL spoke about reasons why WZ didn't give back the clay cat to JC (first to keep her hostage, then the whole broken clay cat scene)
-They spoke about the first meeting/stabbing scene. RJL said JC would have been fine up on that tree, but the problem was that she saw/analyzed Yu Lian (which was the main problem for him).
-RJL said both WZ and JC are similar people, both are kind. WZ's heart is actually kind, and JC is kind and free-spirited. And that she came down the mountain and just happened to meet WZ. But that thankfully, her strengths and wittiness allowed her to survive between WZ and PY.
-They talk about the characters' colors. RJL said WZ is black, JC is white. LLD said JC is rainbow color.

-They got asked about the characters' horoscopes and had no idea.
-They were asked to act as each other's character and RJL said not possible to act as JC because LLD's performance as JC can't be surpassed.
-LLD mentioned RJL love watching soccer so he would put his phone on her neck to watch games since her chair has this area near her neck where he could put his phone.
-RJL said he and LLD would talk about everything and when LLD has a lot of scenes, RJL would spiritually/emotionally help her.

-They were each saying how the other person has a lot of scenes and worked a lot and then laughed because now it seems like Jeremy didn't work a lot (which he did too lol).
-RJL was asked about Zhou Shengchen and he said WZ and ZSC are totally different characters.
-LLD said she has no regrets while acting as JC just like JC not having regrets. And JC is a lot more extroverted and smarter than she is. But she is a bit more extroverted now. Their similarity would be the courage to try things.

-LLD mentioned the words JC said to PY (amazing person to be carrying this responsibility) describes WZ too. PY treated JC like a caged bird to not let her experience any difficulties while with WZ, here is more equality and WZ believed her ability to solve things and willing to solve things with her which are also reasons why JC fell for WZ.
-They were laughing throughout the interview because they kept saying "Right/correct" to each other's answers haha.