DuoDuo, also named The Saint, also named Hai Tang also a very very powerful 9-level martial artist also princess of the grasslands also confident of Emperor Qi
I do not call this romance, but a drama. Plus the romance was never truly developed.... but no surprise with Allen: he hates kissing his FL partners. All his dramas have 1 kiss maximum and hugs instead of kisses
Thank you for your comment. I'm unsure which episode in season 2 would make sense after the fake death since it didn't happen in the novel. From that point on, the screenwriter re-wrote the story using elements of the novel to create new events and removed entirely some. The characters' personalities changed due to new dialogues, leading to new encounters not in the novel. As said, the tone changed to unnecessary comedy at times. But I understand the reasons which were to attract a larger public. The initial novel is not a romance, and here, as well, they added many romantic elements to please the feminine public. I get it. However, it is far from the novel initial story. How did they get S1 so close and S2 so far? I don't get it.
To truly enjoy season 2, you need to go with the flow. From my perspective, the main flavour of season 1, which focused on the cunning, manipulative, and arrogant personality of Fan Xian, was missed in season 2. Season 1 centred around him, while in Season 2, the focus shifted to the second prince, the emperor, his wife, the crown prince, the empress, and others. Fan Xian interacts and is the main character but is part of the story.
SPOILERS BELOW (those are collected from the novel) - the story of YE MEI and the DIVINE TEMPLE- Cheng PingPing…
SPOILERS AS PER THE NOVEL ************************************
STORY of YE QING MEI (FX mother) and DIVINE TEMPLE ============================================ The story of his mother was told by third parties. There are no chapters about her, only people or temple who lived with her and witnessed events in which she was involved.
The Chinese government constructed a Military Museum before the Earth was destroyed. It is unknown if only a few elites were saved, but given the nature of our governments, it is likely that some were chosen for their high IQ and genetics. Did they have time to save them, or maybe the museum maintenance people were saved because they were at the right place, at the right time? The Military Museum was self-sustaining and equipped with every military material of destruction.
Over hundreds of thousands of years, the planet went through several cycles of destruction, ice ages and rebirth with humanity. After Earth became habitable again, life started once more. However, the planet experienced several catastrophic events involving nuclear and neutron bombs. The radiation left behind each destruction became impossible to eradicate, and with time, the radiation mutated and affected some humans. After hundreds of thousands of years, the Military Museum, handled by computers and self-sufficient with sun panels, became an AI sentient being, guardian of the massive destruction weapons. We can also assume that the humans left inside the Military Museum evolved and died, leaving behind their DNA.
Created by humankind and now a sentient being, the Military Museum ( later called Divine Temple) began to control the development of humanity following its 4 prime directives (laws):
“The first established law was that the Temple must not harm humankind and only be a mere spectator when seeing humankind being hurt. The second established law was that the Temple should follow all orders from humankind but not break the first established law. The third established law ensured the Temple its own protection but could not break the first and second established laws…The Zeroth law established that the Temple must ensure that humankind’s interest as a whole is not damaged. The other three established laws were established under this premise.”
It is unclear what happened to the humans inside the museum/temple, but we can assume that they probably died; some became Tianmai (emissaries to the new world). Each generation of humans in the divine temple taught the next one. The letter she left in the chest for WuZhu clearly says that she was ALSO reborn, just like Fan Xian. She said in the letter: "Dad, Mum, I miss you so much!" Fan Xian assumed that in her previous life, she was a scientist and brought back her memories and knowledge to the new world. This explains why, at 4 years old, she had the brain of an adult and all her knowledge while living in a Military Museum.
Over the span of hundreds of thousands, the AI sentient being machine created an AI cyborg capable of movement and carrying out its directives but also able to make independent decisions, named Wu (武 [Wu] means martial, military) Zhu (祝 [Zhu] means shamman, prayer master; invoker; priest ). Over time, Wu Zhu evolved to become more human-like, except for his eyes, possessing an almost indestructible body and immense power. (after WuZhu's escaped, the AI sentient created another AI cyborg, possibly several). Every century or so, the AI sentient selected a few humans named Tianmai or emissaries (those were the ones who painted the walls of several temples). They aimed to help humans learn counting, reading, cultivating, etc. They were also devoted monks or people who were the Divine Temple spies. The AI established himself as the guardian of humanity. Humans saw him as a God. The place was revered and named Divine Temple.
After numerous nuclear bomb detonations spanning hundreds of thousands of years, the radiation persisted on the planet, leading to physiological changes in a small group of humans who acquired the ability to use 'zhenqi' and “yianqu” and culivated the laws of physics, granting them various destructive powers.
Quote
“For countless years, the Temple always observed the world. We gathered information and analyzed it, and then worked with the human body’s special biology, carrying out summarization and corrections. In the end, we obtained results from a few directions of investigation.”
“We are guardians, we are protecting human civilization’s last spark so that it will grow again. We want the descendants of humankind to exist in this world again. This is our mission.” “The Temple will broadcast some appropriate skills and knowledge to the world, such as knowledge about irrigation, crops, and martial skills. But, we will not try to forcefully influence everything in the world.”
“It was unknown if the Temple was an individual with self-awareness. But, clearly, the Temple calmly observed everything that happened in the world and prevented human society progressing to a higher level of civilization. Perhaps in its eyes if civilization followed the same path, it would be met with another calamity. Back in the day, Ye Qingmei stirred up a great deal of trouble in the world and led the production across the entire land forward and upward. Without a doubt, she had crossed the Temple’s bottom line. Thus, the Temple had chosen the Qing Emperor in the mortal world to be their representative to wipe out everything related to Ye Qingmei. However, the emissaries of the Temple were becoming more and more scarce. Furthermore, they were repeatedly dying to Uncle Wu Zhu’s hands. The Temple had no way to understand or control the situation. The Qing Emperor continued to use the palace treasury while he, the bloodline of Ye Qingmei, continued to live. “Regardless of whether it is good or not, you are still interfering in the affairs of the world. That does not mesh with your rules.” “The Temple will not bother with the matters of the world and has never forcefully obstructed the evolution of human civilization. We just try to fix this process. If an external power tries to forcefully accelerate this process, we will be sure to stop it.”
Unquote
To set up a time, FX died right before the first destruction of the planet. Hundreds of thousands of years is close to a million years. So FX came from the past, not the future, even if when he was reborn, it was a feudal society. He died at 30 years old from a decade-long illness that removed his capacity to move and talk. The only thing he could do was read. I believe the author, Mao Ni, was inspired by Stephen William Hawking. Fan Xian retained his memories from when he was 30 years old when he was reborn. So when he arrived at the capital, he was 16 years old but with the mind of a 46-year-old. It is possible that her mother shared many abilities when he was conceived and in her womb, such as photographic memory. She was, after all, a unique human raised by an AI-sentient being.
FX's mother was speculated to be the last human born inside the Divine Temple. Upon discovering the existence of humans like her outside, she escaped, taking with her 2 books about martial methods. Despite being just 4 years old with the mind of an adult with the goal of helping humanity faster than the Divine Temple. Nothing was explained about her birth and upbringing. Was she in a cryogenic chamber with knowledge being transmitted into her brain? Was she created in a cryo chamber? Given that she was only 4 years old, it is highly likely that some malfunction occurred. Feel free to use your imagination. There was no explanation provided regarding her time inside the chamber or how she managed to escape.
When she escaped, she met two men who wanted to enter the Temple. Because her body was not fully grown, she understood she could use them to escape. She tested them mentally, and one of them had the potential to become a great grandmaster (Hu Ke). She gave him one of the two books she stole about the ‘martial methods’ before she escaped. Once in safe territory, she decided to follow some tribe alone. She brought much improvement to their life, and she was adopted. It was a feudal era that had not seen any change for the last millennium. Her journey ended in the Dongyi kingdom, where she met another potential great grandmaster (Sigu Jian). How the third became great grandmaster was never explained (Ye Liuyun)
When she was a teenager, she left Dongyi and returned to the Divine Temple to take Wu Zhu, who became her companion and brother. It's unclear how she managed it, but she also stole a massive gun of destruction with him (the big chest) and another small case (guns given later to Cheng Pingping). From there, they travelled to Danzhou, where they encountered the emperor, who was then just a prince, Cheng Ping Ping, and Fan Jian. She decided to assist the prince in becoming the new emperor. When the old emperor died, the kingdom was chaotic. A short mention in the novel says that she used the gun to kill 2 pretenders to the throne. The prince became the new emperor mostly because of her. It's rumoured that they fell in love and married, but when he ascended to the throne, she refused to become empress because she didn't want to lose her freedom. Her goal remained the same: to provide tools, physical and intellectual, to humans to have a better life. Therefore, she established numerous industries and businesses and introduced many beneficial objects to help people. She created a government with systems and rules, such as the Overwatch Council and the revenue system. She changed the government to become more equal, aiming to erase poverty. She was not concerned with benefiting just one kingdom but all of humanity. Her vision was to create an ideal world where everyone was happy.
The emperor became increasingly greedy and developed a narcissistic, paranoid, and selfish personality. Despite loving her, he couldn't handle her growing wealth and popularity. She became the most powerful person, and he was just there for the ride. Unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Divine Temple chose to act. Its primary directive, since its awakening, was to refrain from interfering with humanity unless they posed a threat to themselves. Over time, the Divine Temple witnessed her using a mass destruction weapon (big box), becoming a danger to humanity. In response, the Divine Temple dispatched emissaries to the emperor. Pressured by his mother, wife/empress and sister, who all hated her, the emperor ultimately betrayed her. She was his first and only love, but he wanted to become the emperor remembered in the annals, and she was in his way. He did not want her to leave a legacy but his own.
She was assassinated soon after giving birth to Fan Xian. Everything was orchestrated by the emperor and the Divine Temple (who used the monk emissaries and the empress family and the old Qin general army). At that time, Fan Jian's first wife had just given birth to a baby boy. The babies were exchanged, and Fan Jian's new son was quickly exiled to Danzhou with the help of ChengPP and FJ, where his adopted grandmother raised him for 16 years (or mostly lived with her), Wu Zhu and Fei, the genius poison master from the Overwatch Council. ChengPP raised him in the distance; he sent Fei Jie to educate him at 4 years old to become a poison master but also taught him all the rules about the overwatch council.
EMPEROR and FX ============== The emperor was aware of FX's existence from the beginning. ChengPP provided him with reports about FX's upbringing and progress. At the novel's end, the emperor had a heart-to-heart conversation with FX and admitted that he learned to love him because of ChengPP's reports. This explains why the emperor favored him immediatly when FX arrived at the capital at 16.
During the conversation, the emperor mentioned that FX was his favorite son. FX admitted that they were very similar but with different goals. One wanted to unite all the kingdoms and become the best emperor in history, while the other cared only about himself and the people he loved. FX had a soft spot for the general public to live a better life but did not follow the utopian vision of his mother. The irreconcilable conflict stemmed from personal grudges: after the emperor killed ChengPP, there was no turning back for FX. His mother's assassination and ChengPP heartfelt public execution made it impossible for FX to forgive his father, the emperor leading him to kill many officials who killed his subordinates.
The emperor understood FX's power when he appointed him to the overwatch council and the revenue position, making him the second most powerful figure under the emperor's authority. However, when FX refused to apologize for his actions in taking ChengPP's body and causing the death of many people, it was seen as a clear act of rebellion against the emperor, which was unacceptable. Consequently, the emperor stripped FX of all his titles and responsibilities one by one, ultimately relegating him to a mere teacher at the imperial college.
The last Chapter 7, can be divided into two parts. The first part covers the fall of FX, while the second part involves the emperor's assassination and the plot leading up to that point. In between, he journeys to the Divine Temple to bring back Wu Zhu.
The reasons why he killed FX's mother were primarily twofold. First, the kingdom's evolution or revolution didn't happen because of him, but because of her. She was the most powerful and intelligent person in the kingdom, surpassing him in every aspect. Secondly, he aimed to unite all the kingdoms into one, even if it meant causing the deaths of millions of people. His ultimate goal was to leave a lasting legacy in the annals of history for millennia.
Add to that, the Divine Temple did not want the kingdoms to evolve into the industrial era, which could lead to potential destruction. Both were allies, and she was assassinated.
The emperor's character is complex, characterized by narcissism, egocentrism, cynicism, selfishness, and sociopathy. Despite these negative qualities, he is portrayed as a lonely old man. He made a conscious decision that in order to fulfill his ambitions, he could not have a family or friends. However, deep down, he still hoped for his favourite son, FX, to see him as a father. The emperor never truly trusted that this would happen because he knew FX was too stubborn and loyal. Consequently, he carefully planned for FX's downfall, leaving a slight opportunity for FX to apologize and reconcile their relationship.
Cheng Pingping's plan failed. He wanted Fan Xian to continue to be a hypocrite and use his power to become the next emperor. FX could not do it. The emperor became the murderer of Cheng Pingping, plus his mother., FX could not wait years for this to happen.
I found the emperor's ambiguity to be intriguing. He is a fascinating character and was perfectly portrayed by Chen Dao Ming in the drama. Overall, the author achieved an incredible task in the novel by making the emperor lovable and hatable. Both the novel and drama characters were perfectly executed.
After 24 house of nonstop discussion, it came to a dead end. FX bargained the lives of his family, friends, and subordinates in exchange for a few critical secrets that, without them, would put the Qin kingdom into chaos. The end of the agreement was fighting together fairly, father and son who became enemies.
The emperor was the most potent great-grandmaster. FX had achieved 99% accuracy just before reaching the great-grandmaster realm, but he could not defeat him. FX knew that his death was part of the bargain. They fought, and FX lost almost all his zhenqi and was severely injured. DuoDuo, her brother (seen in drama), Thirteen Wang from Dogyi, and the Shadow (who was a very loyal subordinate of Cheng Pingping since he saved him when his brother killed their family) tried to help FX by using their martial abilities to kill the emperor. They failed too, and everyone was injured. They escaped outside the palace only to be cornered by the royal guards and thousands of bowmen.
In the end, FX's sister Ruoruo, fulfilled Wu Zhu's request many years ago when he first met her at the Tainping Palace (FX's mother's former residence). Wu Zhu had taught her how to use a rifle and anticipate movements to become a skilled sniper with the sole objective of protecting FX. FX had no idea that she had these skills. When she came to their aid, he suspected the person helping them was extremely close to him. He guessed that it could only be someone very close to him. Ultimately, she used the rifle to save FX, DuoDuo, Lang Tao (DuoDuo brother), Thirteen Wang, and the Shadow. Grasslands, Northern Qi, Dongyi and Qin Kingdom's best 9-level martial artists. However, RuoRuo could only injure the emperor. The emperor respected the deal he made with FX to do not kill his family and subordinates as long as FX was alive and not collude with the emperor Qi of the north.
FX escaped and regrouped with DuoDuo and Thirteen. He decided to go to the Divine Temple to bring back Wu Zhu, which he did (see his story below). FX learned the history of humanity and its second rebirth, the reason of the martial creation (radiation), as well as who and why the Divine Temple colluded with the emperor and killed his mother.
While FX tried to convince Wu Zhu to follow him, the Divine Temple was destroyed by DuoDui and Thirteen. The Divine Temple had only Wu Zhu to guard the place. One year passed between the first fight and his return to the capital.
“Throughout his (FX) life, he was the best at battles of the heart. Naturally, his two best battles were the ones in which he targeted Hai Tang and the Emperor. In the end, Hai Tang had fallen to him while the powerful Qing Emperor could not rest easy wrapped up by Fan Xian’s intentions. Even though the father and son had quarreled, it still left wounds all over the Emperor’s heart and made him wish for it to just shatter as to find peace. Coming to the Temple again to try and wake up Uncle Wu Zhu was, without a doubt, the most authentic battle of the heart. It was also Fan Xian’s most difficult battle of the heart in his life because Uncle Wu Zhu was not a mortal. From his body to his thoughts, he was not mortal. He was a legend. He was icy coldness. He was a program. Most importantly, he had forgotten everything. He had even forgotten Fan Xian and his mother.“
“In Fan Xian’s opinion, Uncle Wu Zhu, who had feelings, his own thoughts, and a sense of self, had always been a living person. Naturally, he was much more advanced than the old man in the Temple who controlled everything but still could only follow the bullsh*t four established laws. It seemed like the Temple had some method of control that no one knew about over the emissaries it sent out. Otherwise, Wu Zhu would not have become a robot lacking in humanity, although Wu Zhu’s sense of humanity had never been particularly strong”
Note: The Divine Temple used the hologram of an elderly man to speak to him.
After leaving the Divine Temple Wu Zhu did not recover his memories but feelings/emotions and remained at FX side, almost mute. His program was reset but some emotional traces remained. He realized that FX was family (even though he didn’t remember who FX was) and the feelings he got when he saw the royal palace and the person in yellow (emperor) who was inside were disgusting and made him angry. Needing answers, he went through to reach him and in the process killed thousands of guards in the process. When he arrived in front of the emperor he was injured. However, he fought the emperor who was also injured from the fight with FX one year earlier. His tyrannical quenzy went crazy and within a year he aged.
After Wu Zhu was unable to walk, Fan Xian fought the emperor while RuoRuo used the riffle. But RuoRuo could not kill the emperor. She spent one year with the emperor and she targeted his arm instead of his heart. Fan Xian who recovered his martial abilities after his return, found a way to wound the emperor. The emperor was too weak, aged and lost control of this martial abilities. He died.
STORY OF WU ZHU ===============
Wu Zhu went back to the Divine Temple after the attempt to save FX's mother, who, with the help of the emperor, was killed. The Divine Temple, which created Wu Zhu, deleted all the parts of his program related to her, but somehow, he still kept partial memories. At this time, FX's mother was his master. It is assumed that the Divine Temple tried to destroy him, but it failed, and he kept one prime directive, which was to protect Fan Xian. Possibly, FX's mother found a way to replace the Zeroth law in his program. This is speculation here.
Fan Xian decided to travel north to the Divine Temple to find Wu Zhu, who had decided 3 years earlier to go to the Divine Temple to regain his memory. The journey lasted several months. Fan Xian had been severely wounded during his unsuccessful first rebellion against the emperor and was helped in his recovery by DuoDuo. Thirteen Wang, a friend and a 9th-level member of the Dongyi, accompanied him on this journey.
Upon reaching the Divine Temple, he found Wu Zhu but he did not recognize him and was behaving like a killing robot. Undeterred, Fan Xian found a way to talk to him and for over 24h he continuously spoke to Wu Zhu in the cold, recounting everything they had experienced together since Fan Xian's infancy. Meanwhile, DuoDuo and Thirteen Wang destroyed the AI machine and everything inside the temple. Eventually, free from the AI's influence and intrigued by Fan Xian, Wu Zhu followed him back to the Northern Kingdom, where Fan Xian had sought refuge and was planning a successful second rebellion. During this trip back, Wu Zhu regained some of his memory and sought to avenge the murder of his mistress, (FX's mother). With Fan Xian's help, the emperor was killed.
Fan Xian became the mortal guardian of humanity. Wan'er, his concubine, along with his two kids, brother, fan jian his adoptive father, friends, and entourage, went into exile with him. His sister decided to wander the kingdom and heal who needed to be healed. The first prince, duoduo, thirteen wang, niang, xie ye, Yan buying (who betrayed Fan Xian and became the director of the overwatch council), the emperor of the north, and si lili (and their daughter) also remained alive. Almost all the good characters survived, except for a few.
At 26, Fan Xian lived happily in West Lake of the Qin Kingdom, not far from Danzhou and Dongyi. Although he remained the most powerful person, he decided to retire from the palace, government, and intrigues, choosing to live happily in the countryside.
CHENG PINGPING =============== Cheng PingPing was a eunuch who had accompanied the young prince (the emperor) since childhood. The prince/emperor was familiar with Fan Jian because Fan Jian's mother had been his wet nurse, and she was considered a second mother to him. When the three met Ye Qing Mei in Danzhou , she would carry out a plan similar to what she had done in Dongyi and meet an influential and wealthy figure to help her achieve her goals: to eliminate feudalism and move toward a more industrial society. This change involved transforming ways of thinking and living. When she met The prince/emperor, she decided to eliminate his foes and put him on the throne.
At their first meeting in Danzhou, Ye Qing Mei was a very young woman, while the three men were around 20 years old. They all vowed to become good people and improve the lives of the commoners. Cheng PingPing fell in love with Ye Qing Mei, but she fell in love with the prince. However, the nature of their feelings for each other is unclear, as the emperor mentioned in his final conversation with Fan Xian that he believed love develops over time. It's possible that she had equally strong feelings for all three men, with her love for the emperor growing more over time. She ultimately married the emperor and had a child with him, but refused to become empress and spent little time in the palace. She was a free spirit who refused to be bound by convention and feudal rules where women were not restrained.
Cheng PingPing fully embraced Ye Qing Mei's philosophy and helped her establish the overall council, eventually becoming its director. With her knowledge from the Divine Temple, Ye Qing Mei understood how power can corrupt and lead to destructive ambitions and, ultimately, wars and annihilation. She created the Oversight Council to prevent corruption, even within the emperor's rule.
A few months before his death, Cheng PingPing explained everything about his mother, the emperor's betrayal, and his plans for the future. He also gave access to hundreds of letters that his mother had exchanged with the emperor, which ultimately led to the emperor's paranoia, jealousy, and betrayal. Few after, Cheng PingPing decided to resign and leave the capital but learned the emperor scheming to use FX and decided to return to meet the emperor which ultimately led to a public execution and his humiliation (execute him publicly naked to show he was an eunuch, therefore a servant)
Cheng PingPing was like a disciple to the emperor, although it was never explicitly stated. His love for Fan Xian and his regard for him as a son came naturally. He never failed Fan Xian and always guided him. When he learned that the emperor had assassinated Ye Qing Mei, he decided to bide his time, waiting 20 years to kill the emperor and place Fan Xian on the throne. Fan Xian was, after all, not the illegitimate son of Fan Jian but the rightful Crown Prince.
It did not happen that way.
EPILOGUE / S3 NOVEL RESUME / MY LAST WORDS ======================================== In the end, the emperor died and was replaced by the third prince. Cheng Pingping was killed (public execution), resulting in emotional chapters that made me cry. The second prince, the crown prince, the empress, the empress dowager, and the eldest princess all died. Additionally, a few officials and generals died, as well as two great-grandmasters. A massive battle led to the deaths of several thousand soldiers. Fan Xian became a temporary regent. After the emperor used FX to purge his kingdom, the relationship between FX and the emperor became irreconcilable, especially after the execution of Cheng Pingping. As a result, Fan Xian fell out of favor. In an attempt to save his family and his hundreds of subordinates, his last resort was to kill the emperor and fulfill his personal grudge of revenge for the deaths of Cheng Pingping and his mother. Ultimately, the Divine Temple was destroyed, and humanity was freed. Nonetheless, there was a possibility of another cycle of destruction and an ice age in the far future.
Was it a great novel? Yes. Was it a perfect novel? No. - I was waiting the answer about how Fan Xian reincarnated a millennium after the earth destruction and how come he kept all is memories. I didn't get an explanation. - I wanted to know how FX's mother was born inside the temple. I didn't get an answer. - I wanted to know why the Divine Temple how it created cyborgs like Wu Zhu. I didn't get a response. However, it was an incredible reading journey. I loved every minute of it.
RUMORS… The FL actress, Qin , in her farewell, said that season 3 will be Volume 7 of this novel…
***
The explanation above will probably give you a better understanding of season 2 and season 3. I encourage you to read the novel. Yes, it has 746 chapters, but if you love JOL, you will adore the novel, guaranteed!
Why producers and screenwriters find it attractive to ask the FL to play childish cringy stupid girl character and the ML to play the a*hole.? And I agree, the FL looks too old to play dummy. Content rating is for what? 10 years old?
During season 2, I wrote my point of view on the characters in episode 16. My perspective turned into disappointment…
I believe the screenwriter and art director decided to compile a few story arcs together and removed many details, which were sometimes crucial for understanding the storyline. It was unavoidable with 746 chapters but knowing the full picture, I think they missed few important details. But maybe the story line will go to another direction and I am intrigued to see it. Her are my thoughts in general up to episode 16
The young dukes who attacked him are indeed the sons of the generals who returned from the frontier with the first prince. When the first prince returned with his army, many generals returned with their wives, concubines, and children. Some of the children became wild and killed people for fun. They were between 9 and 15. During FX's absence in the north which was many months, his brother knew those bullies/killers (FX’s brother was 12 when this happened, the third prince only 9), and when something happened in the brothel, they were involved. The main culpit was an ex prostitite the second prince knew intimately. She stole teens girls and forced them to prostitution. FX brother and third prince knew it was a brothel but not the dirty deeds. In the novel, FX decides to punish and beat his brother because they murdered several girls and he was stupid and naive and could destroy the FAN family, father and him and everyone. Chinese always mention “face”. This is extremely important. If anyone in the family did something wrong, kill, steal, anything, the family was ruined entirely. Everyone was disgraced, sometimes killed. So FX was extremely angry considering he and their father were in the front line of political struggles with ministers and palace internal affairs.
This was a common practice where the eldest or father disciplined anyone in the household, including children, concubines, and maids. FX chose to do so because he believed it was the only way to save his brother and because he was extremely angry with him. He rushed his brother north to save him and avoided being used against him. During a meeting in the street, FX confronted and defeated many opponents, even killing their leader. These opponents were part of the extensive FAN family, which was organized hierarchically. For example, FX's father was the head of the family, and FX was under his authority. The FAN family consisted of hundreds of people who did not all live in the same place.
The incident occurred with the censorate (Lai) did not occur in the emperor's private rooms. In the end, a dozen people were beaten, but no one died. FX did not supervise the incident. Another incident occurred later in the story while FX was away to take charge of the revenue. This time, a few ministry officials were investigated. Initially, it seemed like the FX father was being targeted and indirectly FX, but in the end, it was revealed that the Crown Prince was involved, and FX was safe. As a result, a few ministers were kicked out.
Note that every major decision executed by Cheng Ping Ping was pre-approved or ordered by the emperor. The emperor knew everything used people like pawns. His ambition was endless and even though he liked FX, FX remained expandable if need be. Cheng bypassed some decisions because he put FX before the Emperor. The drama does not reflect this very well. Cheng seems to have other plans and using FX. Cheng sent him to the north to test him. If he came back successful ,he would take his position. Cheng trusted FX to succeed.
The fake death never happened. The mourning never happened.. The emperor never beat FX. FX never beg. He never revealed the temple place. He never accused second prince and eldest princess collusion to the emperor or CP. FX never cried. FX practiced QI every day. There is a young eunuch (in novel full of acne) who played a big role but we saw him only briefly. Drama did a good job with first division (bribes and playing games) but Yan never accompanied FX. Yan was recovering his severeinjuries when he was tortured in the north. He will be his right hand handling the 6 divisions later.
Guo Bao never went to the north. FX's brother was sent there to avoid jail, retaliation, and being used against FX. FX gave him 1 year to prove he could be successful, which he was, and his brother took over the smuggling business, approved by the emperor of the north. They mostly imported goods from the south Qin. Quing Nian was left behind 2 years to replace Yan to handle the spys. So FX lost his most trusted aid, but later, he was replaced with another aid. FX did a lot of smuggling himself, but he also helped the people, such as building a defence against the floods that killed thousands each year. So, he was a good, cunning baddie.
The story of the Saint DuoDuo and FX begins with a lack of romantic feelings between them. However, FX's feelings change upon hearing about an impending marriage, as he fears losing DuoDuo to the constraints of married life. He realizes that his uneasiness is love and asks her to marry him. Despite opposition due to their differing backgrounds, DuoDuo agrees. In the novel, when FX is unable to fight, DuoDuo came from north to share the secret martial art and discovered FX lost his QI. She decides to stay and help him to regain his strength using a unique method taught by her grandmaster (his mother gave him a book, remember?). FX then gains exceptional martial abilities. The novel is ambiguous about whether they become lovers, but it seems that they did not. They started to exchange letters after his return to the capital and she became his confident. He trusted her. However, she betrayed him at one point. Expect a big bad a boom between si lili, the north emperor and FX.
His romantic relationship was much less romantic and developed than portrayed. While he did fall in love at first sight and had a deep mutual love with his wife, during his journey to take over the revenue position, he became involved with Sisi, a maid who was older than him by 4-5 years (knew her since childhood and both played under the covers without the big act) and she became his official concubine. She also became pregnant, and his wife accepted her without any fuss. It was a normal practice to have concubines at that time. In the novel, the romantic relationship was not developed. It seems to me that he slept with Sisi because she complained she was still a virgin, but he had no real interest. He cared for her and welcomed her as his concubine because it was expected. In the drama, Wan'er is played by a well-known Chinese actress. I believe her screen time was part of her contract because honestly, the story is not a romance but a palace political one and she is not a main role whatsoever. FX in the novel is not a womanizer.
Wu Zhu was very present until he arrived at t(e capital. Then he had a big fight and was injured. FX didn't know that. Wu Zhu went to a secret place to recuperateand it took months before FX saw him. We have a good idea who he is in the novel and the drama gives many clues such FX saying that he will still look young when he will be an old guy, the fact he has no QI. In the drama you see him making a funny head movement like a robot. His main goal is to protect FX. So yes, he is an AI and very close to human. But he was injured. His loss memory is also a clue. In S3 you will know more about him, his eyes, etc. The emperor (because FX mother shared it with the emperor) know how to use him. He tried to destroy him but he recovered partially loosing his memory but not his prime directive to protect FX.
You need to understand that the main antagonist is the eldest princess. She is behind every assassination, plot, and scheme, whether from the palace or from her exile. The second prince and the Crown Prince are under her control as her puppets. She has numerous generals, officials, grandmasters, and families under her influence.
The relationship between FX and the eldest princess was filled with hate. In the novel, she is portrayed as extremely beautiful and a genius mastermind. She decided to stop supporting her brother, the emperor, when she realized how much he despised intelligent women. She wanted to prove that she could be smarter than him. As FX gained power, popularity, and the emperor's support, her hatred for him grew, and she plotted traps, assassinations, and more to eliminate him. SHE is the true villain. She has no conscious, no values, no remorse. She is using everyone. For her, incest does not exist. She loved her brother like a woman until she hated him like a woman, never a sister.
The emperor had complex feelings towards FX - he both loved and hated and feared him. He never fully trusted FX, but he couldn't deny that he admired him. He recognized FX's genius, similar to that of his mother. In the drama, it seems like the emperor doesn't like FX much in public, but in the novel, he is more indulgent towards him in public. The main reason for this is that FX understands the emperor and knows how to manipulate him. FX is aware that the emperor is narcissistic, egocentric, selfish, and abusive, unable to tolerate anyone more popular than himself. The emperor's ultimate goal is to be remembered in the annals of history as the most remarkable emperor of all time, and he is unwilling to tolerate anyone more popular than himself. FX grasps this and always operates discreetly. There is a lot of mutual manipulation. The emperor indulged FX because FX made it clear he didn't want to replace the CP and later support the third prince. At one point, FX decided to officially renounce any chance to become an emperor by officially being an heir of the fan family, which his adopted father delighted in, as he sincerely loved FX as his son.
In general, I do notice many similar scenes here and there, but they are all mixed and combined to create a different storyline. Some characters have a lot more prominence in the drama compared to the novel. For example, Tenz, a friend who died early in Season 1, never died and was never a close friend in the novel. During the assassination attempt, tenz broke his leg and was sent to his wife/kid to recover. He never had a big part in the novel. However, the first assassination when he first arrived in the capital was indeed carried out by the eldest princess and second princes.
I am not sure if they will include the part where everyone knew that FX was the emperor's son. It was no longer a secret to the palace and the whole world.
The second prince is portrayed as much more villainous than in the novel. His future wife, YE, never interacted with him before their marriage, and she was never against it. YE and her family later proved to be full allies with the second prince. When FX left to take over the revenue (days away from the capital), the second prince and YE got married, and they both became close and confident. There were no verbal fights between FX and SP. Everything was done in hypocritical ways. In fact, the second prince admired FX and always wanted him to join him. The second prince regretted dearly the assassination attempt, which FX never forgave. Oh, and the poisoning with the 3 girls, 3 boys, never happened to the novel, the meal too.
FX considered the crown prince to be a puppet, albeit a kind one. He neither truly liked nor disliked him, and in fact, he thought the crown prince was not unkind. He never killed the few dozen guards because FX appeared toa him nd guards couldn't stop FX. The meeting never happened .FX didn't care about the CP. He cared when he became a treat later but mostly used him to fulfill his purpose. FX viewed the crown prince as weak and easily manipulated by the eldest princess. The crown prince was depicted as very lonely and unloved. The eldest princess was the only one showing interest, and he fell in love with her when he was a teenager, becoming obsessed with her. She slept with him when he was an adult.
In the novel, the first prince married the princess of the north while FX was outside the capital. The princess is portrayed as smart and authoritative, quite different from her portrayal in the drama. Although she is not a main or secondary character, there is a point in the story where the first prince had a mistress before his marriage, which made his wife jealous. However, the first prince never cheated after his marriage.
Both marriages were successful, and both couples were in love although it was more obvious with first prince. Second prince couple was more close partners.
FX always had a team of assassins to protect him, on top of the 7 tigers guards given by his adoptive father. He took over completely the role of Cheng Ping Ping.
The relationship between FX and Cheng Ping Ping in the novel is profound. Cheng considers FX as his spiritual son. They are both genius masterminds. I thought Season 1 portrayed their relationship very well. In Season 2, the screenwriter often twists their relationship to create suspense and avoid spoiling the story arc. This makes it seem like Cheng is not on FX's side, but in reality, Cheng never betrayed FX. He never cheated or did anything that was not in FX's favor. Cheng Ping Ping's ultimate goal and hope was to put FX as the next emperor, so everything he did was for this goal.
After his marriage, the emperor dispatched FX to take control of the revenue (Neiku) previously managed by the eldest princess. However, the eldest princess, along with the second prince, the crown prince, and the empress, embezzled millions from the revenue that was meant to be used for public welfare such as addressing river catastrophes, constructing buildings, and mitigating drought. In the novel, FX left and several chapters detailed his battles against a family involved in smuggling, implicating the north and its ruler, as well as his own brother and the emperor of the north. Ultimately, FX succeeded in returning millions to the emperor, but also amassed a significant fortune for himself and secured his mother's primary source of income. While it was a win for FX, it was a loss for the eldest princess, who lost her primary source of income.
The goal of the princess was to install either the second prince or the crown prince as her puppet, and rule as a regent. She was described as extremely beautiful, appearing to be 16 despite being 35, and she used her looks and body to gain loyalty, even from her nephew, the crown prince. Of course, because of china censorship, she will not the real emperor beloved sister and she will probably become adopted and not the real sister of the emperor, and not the real aunt, but in the novel she was. It also goes that at one point a scene made it clear that the love of her life was her brother, the emperor. In the novel, the emperor never crossed the line but he adored her. The emperor felt betrayed when he knew that his son and her were lovers. The emperor never wanted anybody else but the CP to be his successor. But this was for him unforgivable. Out of everything ugly she did, it was the only unforgivable action from both. He then decide a major (MAJOR) scheme (S3). In season 3, FX will use the destructive gun but in a very epic way.
I find the drama enjoyable because it offers a unique experience. However, I can't help but feel that the character FX isn't portrayed as the clever and cunning individual he is in the novel. In the book, he has an astute understanding of everyone's identities and motivations, and he excels at planning ahead. Despite this, I still find the overall viewing experience quite entertaining.
During season 2, I wrote my point of view on the characters in episode 16. My perspective turned into disappointment by episode 36. However, you'll get a novel POV
1 
So childish.
also will be FX second wife (late in the novel)
Thank you for your comment. I'm unsure which episode in season 2 would make sense after the fake death since it didn't happen in the novel. From that point on, the screenwriter re-wrote the story using elements of the novel to create new events and removed entirely some. The characters' personalities changed due to new dialogues, leading to new encounters not in the novel. As said, the tone changed to unnecessary comedy at times. But I understand the reasons which were to attract a larger public. The initial novel is not a romance, and here, as well, they added many romantic elements to please the feminine public. I get it. However, it is far from the novel initial story. How did they get S1 so close and S2 so far? I don't get it.
To truly enjoy season 2, you need to go with the flow. From my perspective, the main flavour of season 1, which focused on the cunning, manipulative, and arrogant personality of Fan Xian, was missed in season 2. Season 1 centred around him, while in Season 2, the focus shifted to the second prince, the emperor, his wife, the crown prince, the empress, and others. Fan Xian interacts and is the main character but is part of the story.
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STORY of YE QING MEI (FX mother) and DIVINE TEMPLE
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The story of his mother was told by third parties. There are no chapters about her, only people or temple who lived with her and witnessed events in which she was involved.
The Chinese government constructed a Military Museum before the Earth was destroyed. It is unknown if only a few elites were saved, but given the nature of our governments, it is likely that some were chosen for their high IQ and genetics. Did they have time to save them, or maybe the museum maintenance people were saved because they were at the right place, at the right time? The Military Museum was self-sustaining and equipped with every military material of destruction.
Over hundreds of thousands of years, the planet went through several cycles of destruction, ice ages and rebirth with humanity. After Earth became habitable again, life started once more. However, the planet experienced several catastrophic events involving nuclear and neutron bombs. The radiation left behind each destruction became impossible to eradicate, and with time, the radiation mutated and affected some humans. After hundreds of thousands of years, the Military Museum, handled by computers and self-sufficient with sun panels, became an AI sentient being, guardian of the massive destruction weapons. We can also assume that the humans left inside the Military Museum evolved and died, leaving behind their DNA.
Created by humankind and now a sentient being, the Military Museum ( later called Divine Temple) began to control the development of humanity following its 4 prime directives (laws):
“The first established law was that the Temple must not harm humankind and only be a mere spectator when seeing humankind being hurt. The second established law was that the Temple should follow all orders from humankind but not break the first established law. The third established law ensured the Temple its own protection but could not break the first and second established laws…The Zeroth law established that the Temple must ensure that humankind’s interest as a whole is not damaged. The other three established laws were established under this premise.”
It is unclear what happened to the humans inside the museum/temple, but we can assume that they probably died; some became Tianmai (emissaries to the new world). Each generation of humans in the divine temple taught the next one. The letter she left in the chest for WuZhu clearly says that she was ALSO reborn, just like Fan Xian. She said in the letter: "Dad, Mum, I miss you so much!" Fan Xian assumed that in her previous life, she was a scientist and brought back her memories and knowledge to the new world. This explains why, at 4 years old, she had the brain of an adult and all her knowledge while living in a Military Museum.
Over the span of hundreds of thousands, the AI sentient being machine created an AI cyborg capable of movement and carrying out its directives but also able to make independent decisions, named Wu (武 [Wu] means martial, military) Zhu (祝 [Zhu] means shamman, prayer master; invoker; priest ). Over time, Wu Zhu evolved to become more human-like, except for his eyes, possessing an almost indestructible body and immense power. (after WuZhu's escaped, the AI sentient created another AI cyborg, possibly several). Every century or so, the AI sentient selected a few humans named Tianmai or emissaries (those were the ones who painted the walls of several temples). They aimed to help humans learn counting, reading, cultivating, etc. They were also devoted monks or people who were the Divine Temple spies. The AI established himself as the guardian of humanity. Humans saw him as a God. The place was revered and named Divine Temple.
After numerous nuclear bomb detonations spanning hundreds of thousands of years, the radiation persisted on the planet, leading to physiological changes in a small group of humans who acquired the ability to use 'zhenqi' and “yianqu” and culivated the laws of physics, granting them various destructive powers.
Quote
“For countless years, the Temple always observed the world. We gathered information and analyzed it, and then worked with the human body’s special biology, carrying out summarization and corrections. In the end, we obtained results from a few directions of investigation.”
“We are guardians, we are protecting human civilization’s last spark so that it will grow again. We want the descendants of humankind to exist in this world again. This is our mission.” “The Temple will broadcast some appropriate skills and knowledge to the world, such as knowledge about irrigation, crops, and martial skills. But, we will not try to forcefully influence everything in the world.”
“It was unknown if the Temple was an individual with self-awareness. But, clearly, the Temple calmly observed everything that happened in the world and prevented human society progressing to a higher level of civilization. Perhaps in its eyes if civilization followed the same path, it would be met with another calamity. Back in the day, Ye Qingmei stirred up a great deal of trouble in the world and led the production across the entire land forward and upward. Without a doubt, she had crossed the Temple’s bottom line. Thus, the Temple had chosen the Qing Emperor in the mortal world to be their representative to wipe out everything related to Ye Qingmei. However, the emissaries of the Temple were becoming more and more scarce. Furthermore, they were repeatedly dying to Uncle Wu Zhu’s hands. The Temple had no way to understand or control the situation. The Qing Emperor continued to use the palace treasury while he, the bloodline of Ye Qingmei, continued to live. “Regardless of whether it is good or not, you are still interfering in the affairs of the world. That does not mesh with your rules.” “The Temple will not bother with the matters of the world and has never forcefully obstructed the evolution of human civilization. We just try to fix this process. If an external power tries to forcefully accelerate this process, we will be sure to stop it.”
Unquote
To set up a time, FX died right before the first destruction of the planet. Hundreds of thousands of years is close to a million years. So FX came from the past, not the future, even if when he was reborn, it was a feudal society. He died at 30 years old from a decade-long illness that removed his capacity to move and talk. The only thing he could do was read. I believe the author, Mao Ni, was inspired by Stephen William Hawking. Fan Xian retained his memories from when he was 30 years old when he was reborn. So when he arrived at the capital, he was 16 years old but with the mind of a 46-year-old. It is possible that her mother shared many abilities when he was conceived and in her womb, such as photographic memory. She was, after all, a unique human raised by an AI-sentient being.
FX's mother was speculated to be the last human born inside the Divine Temple. Upon discovering the existence of humans like her outside, she escaped, taking with her 2 books about martial methods. Despite being just 4 years old with the mind of an adult with the goal of helping humanity faster than the Divine Temple. Nothing was explained about her birth and upbringing. Was she in a cryogenic chamber with knowledge being transmitted into her brain? Was she created in a cryo chamber? Given that she was only 4 years old, it is highly likely that some malfunction occurred. Feel free to use your imagination. There was no explanation provided regarding her time inside the chamber or how she managed to escape.
When she escaped, she met two men who wanted to enter the Temple. Because her body was not fully grown, she understood she could use them to escape. She tested them mentally, and one of them had the potential to become a great grandmaster (Hu Ke). She gave him one of the two books she stole about the ‘martial methods’ before she escaped. Once in safe territory, she decided to follow some tribe alone. She brought much improvement to their life, and she was adopted. It was a feudal era that had not seen any change for the last millennium. Her journey ended in the Dongyi kingdom, where she met another potential great grandmaster (Sigu Jian). How the third became great grandmaster was never explained (Ye Liuyun)
When she was a teenager, she left Dongyi and returned to the Divine Temple to take Wu Zhu, who became her companion and brother. It's unclear how she managed it, but she also stole a massive gun of destruction with him (the big chest) and another small case (guns given later to Cheng Pingping). From there, they travelled to Danzhou, where they encountered the emperor, who was then just a prince, Cheng Ping Ping, and Fan Jian. She decided to assist the prince in becoming the new emperor. When the old emperor died, the kingdom was chaotic. A short mention in the novel says that she used the gun to kill 2 pretenders to the throne. The prince became the new emperor mostly because of her. It's rumoured that they fell in love and married, but when he ascended to the throne, she refused to become empress because she didn't want to lose her freedom. Her goal remained the same: to provide tools, physical and intellectual, to humans to have a better life. Therefore, she established numerous industries and businesses and introduced many beneficial objects to help people. She created a government with systems and rules, such as the Overwatch Council and the revenue system. She changed the government to become more equal, aiming to erase poverty. She was not concerned with benefiting just one kingdom but all of humanity. Her vision was to create an ideal world where everyone was happy.
The emperor became increasingly greedy and developed a narcissistic, paranoid, and selfish personality. Despite loving her, he couldn't handle her growing wealth and popularity. She became the most powerful person, and he was just there for the ride. Unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Divine Temple chose to act. Its primary directive, since its awakening, was to refrain from interfering with humanity unless they posed a threat to themselves. Over time, the Divine Temple witnessed her using a mass destruction weapon (big box), becoming a danger to humanity. In response, the Divine Temple dispatched emissaries to the emperor. Pressured by his mother, wife/empress and sister, who all hated her, the emperor ultimately betrayed her. She was his first and only love, but he wanted to become the emperor remembered in the annals, and she was in his way. He did not want her to leave a legacy but his own.
She was assassinated soon after giving birth to Fan Xian. Everything was orchestrated by the emperor and the Divine Temple (who used the monk emissaries and the empress family and the old Qin general army). At that time, Fan Jian's first wife had just given birth to a baby boy. The babies were exchanged, and Fan Jian's new son was quickly exiled to Danzhou with the help of ChengPP and FJ, where his adopted grandmother raised him for 16 years (or mostly lived with her), Wu Zhu and Fei, the genius poison master from the Overwatch Council. ChengPP raised him in the distance; he sent Fei Jie to educate him at 4 years old to become a poison master but also taught him all the rules about the overwatch council.
EMPEROR and FX
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The emperor was aware of FX's existence from the beginning. ChengPP provided him with reports about FX's upbringing and progress. At the novel's end, the emperor had a heart-to-heart conversation with FX and admitted that he learned to love him because of ChengPP's reports. This explains why the emperor favored him immediatly when FX arrived at the capital at 16.
During the conversation, the emperor mentioned that FX was his favorite son. FX admitted that they were very similar but with different goals. One wanted to unite all the kingdoms and become the best emperor in history, while the other cared only about himself and the people he loved. FX had a soft spot for the general public to live a better life but did not follow the utopian vision of his mother. The irreconcilable conflict stemmed from personal grudges: after the emperor killed ChengPP, there was no turning back for FX. His mother's assassination and ChengPP heartfelt public execution made it impossible for FX to forgive his father, the emperor leading him to kill many officials who killed his subordinates.
The emperor understood FX's power when he appointed him to the overwatch council and the revenue position, making him the second most powerful figure under the emperor's authority. However, when FX refused to apologize for his actions in taking ChengPP's body and causing the death of many people, it was seen as a clear act of rebellion against the emperor, which was unacceptable. Consequently, the emperor stripped FX of all his titles and responsibilities one by one, ultimately relegating him to a mere teacher at the imperial college.
The last Chapter 7, can be divided into two parts. The first part covers the fall of FX, while the second part involves the emperor's assassination and the plot leading up to that point. In between, he journeys to the Divine Temple to bring back Wu Zhu.
The reasons why he killed FX's mother were primarily twofold. First, the kingdom's evolution or revolution didn't happen because of him, but because of her. She was the most powerful and intelligent person in the kingdom, surpassing him in every aspect. Secondly, he aimed to unite all the kingdoms into one, even if it meant causing the deaths of millions of people. His ultimate goal was to leave a lasting legacy in the annals of history for millennia.
Add to that, the Divine Temple did not want the kingdoms to evolve into the industrial era, which could lead to potential destruction. Both were allies, and she was assassinated.
The emperor's character is complex, characterized by narcissism, egocentrism, cynicism, selfishness, and sociopathy. Despite these negative qualities, he is portrayed as a lonely old man. He made a conscious decision that in order to fulfill his ambitions, he could not have a family or friends. However, deep down, he still hoped for his favourite son, FX, to see him as a father. The emperor never truly trusted that this would happen because he knew FX was too stubborn and loyal. Consequently, he carefully planned for FX's downfall, leaving a slight opportunity for FX to apologize and reconcile their relationship.
Cheng Pingping's plan failed. He wanted Fan Xian to continue to be a hypocrite and use his power to become the next emperor. FX could not do it. The emperor became the murderer of Cheng Pingping, plus his mother., FX could not wait years for this to happen.
I found the emperor's ambiguity to be intriguing. He is a fascinating character and was perfectly portrayed by Chen Dao Ming in the drama. Overall, the author achieved an incredible task in the novel by making the emperor lovable and hatable. Both the novel and drama characters were perfectly executed.
After 24 house of nonstop discussion, it came to a dead end. FX bargained the lives of his family, friends, and subordinates in exchange for a few critical secrets that, without them, would put the Qin kingdom into chaos. The end of the agreement was fighting together fairly, father and son who became enemies.
The emperor was the most potent great-grandmaster. FX had achieved 99% accuracy just before reaching the great-grandmaster realm, but he could not defeat him. FX knew that his death was part of the bargain. They fought, and FX lost almost all his zhenqi and was severely injured. DuoDuo, her brother (seen in drama), Thirteen Wang from Dogyi, and the Shadow (who was a very loyal subordinate of Cheng Pingping since he saved him when his brother killed their family) tried to help FX by using their martial abilities to kill the emperor. They failed too, and everyone was injured. They escaped outside the palace only to be cornered by the royal guards and thousands of bowmen.
In the end, FX's sister Ruoruo, fulfilled Wu Zhu's request many years ago when he first met her at the Tainping Palace (FX's mother's former residence). Wu Zhu had taught her how to use a rifle and anticipate movements to become a skilled sniper with the sole objective of protecting FX. FX had no idea that she had these skills. When she came to their aid, he suspected the person helping them was extremely close to him. He guessed that it could only be someone very close to him. Ultimately, she used the rifle to save FX, DuoDuo, Lang Tao (DuoDuo brother), Thirteen Wang, and the Shadow. Grasslands, Northern Qi, Dongyi and Qin Kingdom's best 9-level martial artists. However, RuoRuo could only injure the emperor. The emperor respected the deal he made with FX to do not kill his family and subordinates as long as FX was alive and not collude with the emperor Qi of the north.
FX escaped and regrouped with DuoDuo and Thirteen. He decided to go to the Divine Temple to bring back Wu Zhu, which he did (see his story below). FX learned the history of humanity and its second rebirth, the reason of the martial creation (radiation), as well as who and why the Divine Temple colluded with the emperor and killed his mother.
While FX tried to convince Wu Zhu to follow him, the Divine Temple was destroyed by DuoDui and Thirteen. The Divine Temple had only Wu Zhu to guard the place. One year passed between the first fight and his return to the capital.
“Throughout his (FX) life, he was the best at battles of the heart. Naturally, his two best battles were the ones in which he targeted Hai Tang and the Emperor. In the end, Hai Tang had fallen to him while the powerful Qing Emperor could not rest easy wrapped up by Fan Xian’s intentions. Even though the father and son had quarreled, it still left wounds all over the Emperor’s heart and made him wish for it to just shatter as to find peace. Coming to the Temple again to try and wake up Uncle Wu Zhu was, without a doubt, the most authentic battle of the heart. It was also Fan Xian’s most difficult battle of the heart in his life because Uncle Wu Zhu was not a mortal. From his body to his thoughts, he was not mortal. He was a legend. He was icy coldness. He was a program. Most importantly, he had forgotten everything. He had even forgotten Fan Xian and his mother.“
“In Fan Xian’s opinion, Uncle Wu Zhu, who had feelings, his own thoughts, and a sense of self, had always been a living person. Naturally, he was much more advanced than the old man in the Temple who controlled everything but still could only follow the bullsh*t four established laws. It seemed like the Temple had some method of control that no one knew about over the emissaries it sent out. Otherwise, Wu Zhu would not have become a robot lacking in humanity, although Wu Zhu’s sense of humanity had never been particularly strong”
Note: The Divine Temple used the hologram of an elderly man to speak to him.
After leaving the Divine Temple Wu Zhu did not recover his memories but feelings/emotions and remained at FX side, almost mute. His program was reset but some emotional traces remained. He realized that FX was family (even though he didn’t remember who FX was) and the feelings he got when he saw the royal palace and the person in yellow (emperor) who was inside were disgusting and made him angry. Needing answers, he went through to reach him and in the process killed thousands of guards in the process. When he arrived in front of the emperor he was injured. However, he fought the emperor who was also injured from the fight with FX one year earlier. His tyrannical quenzy went crazy and within a year he aged.
After Wu Zhu was unable to walk, Fan Xian fought the emperor while RuoRuo used the riffle. But RuoRuo could not kill the emperor. She spent one year with the emperor and she targeted his arm instead of his heart. Fan Xian who recovered his martial abilities after his return, found a way to wound the emperor. The emperor was too weak, aged and lost control of this martial abilities. He died.
STORY OF WU ZHU
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Wu Zhu went back to the Divine Temple after the attempt to save FX's mother, who, with the help of the emperor, was killed. The Divine Temple, which created Wu Zhu, deleted all the parts of his program related to her, but somehow, he still kept partial memories. At this time, FX's mother was his master. It is assumed that the Divine Temple tried to destroy him, but it failed, and he kept one prime directive, which was to protect Fan Xian. Possibly, FX's mother found a way to replace the Zeroth law in his program. This is speculation here.
Fan Xian decided to travel north to the Divine Temple to find Wu Zhu, who had decided 3 years earlier to go to the Divine Temple to regain his memory. The journey lasted several months. Fan Xian had been severely wounded during his unsuccessful first rebellion against the emperor and was helped in his recovery by DuoDuo. Thirteen Wang, a friend and a 9th-level member of the Dongyi, accompanied him on this journey.
Upon reaching the Divine Temple, he found Wu Zhu but he did not recognize him and was behaving like a killing robot. Undeterred, Fan Xian found a way to talk to him and for over 24h he continuously spoke to Wu Zhu in the cold, recounting everything they had experienced together since Fan Xian's infancy. Meanwhile, DuoDuo and Thirteen Wang destroyed the AI machine and everything inside the temple. Eventually, free from the AI's influence and intrigued by Fan Xian, Wu Zhu followed him back to the Northern Kingdom, where Fan Xian had sought refuge and was planning a successful second rebellion. During this trip back, Wu Zhu regained some of his memory and sought to avenge the murder of his mistress, (FX's mother). With Fan Xian's help, the emperor was killed.
Fan Xian became the mortal guardian of humanity. Wan'er, his concubine, along with his two kids, brother, fan jian his adoptive father, friends, and entourage, went into exile with him. His sister decided to wander the kingdom and heal who needed to be healed. The first prince, duoduo, thirteen wang, niang, xie ye, Yan buying (who betrayed Fan Xian and became the director of the overwatch council), the emperor of the north, and si lili (and their daughter) also remained alive. Almost all the good characters survived, except for a few.
At 26, Fan Xian lived happily in West Lake of the Qin Kingdom, not far from Danzhou and Dongyi. Although he remained the most powerful person, he decided to retire from the palace, government, and intrigues, choosing to live happily in the countryside.
CHENG PINGPING
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Cheng PingPing was a eunuch who had accompanied the young prince (the emperor) since childhood. The prince/emperor was familiar with Fan Jian because Fan Jian's mother had been his wet nurse, and she was considered a second mother to him. When the three met Ye Qing Mei in Danzhou , she would carry out a plan similar to what she had done in Dongyi and meet an influential and wealthy figure to help her achieve her goals: to eliminate feudalism and move toward a more industrial society. This change involved transforming ways of thinking and living. When she met The prince/emperor, she decided to eliminate his foes and put him on the throne.
At their first meeting in Danzhou, Ye Qing Mei was a very young woman, while the three men were around 20 years old. They all vowed to become good people and improve the lives of the commoners. Cheng PingPing fell in love with Ye Qing Mei, but she fell in love with the prince. However, the nature of their feelings for each other is unclear, as the emperor mentioned in his final conversation with Fan Xian that he believed love develops over time. It's possible that she had equally strong feelings for all three men, with her love for the emperor growing more over time. She ultimately married the emperor and had a child with him, but refused to become empress and spent little time in the palace. She was a free spirit who refused to be bound by convention and feudal rules where women were not restrained.
Cheng PingPing fully embraced Ye Qing Mei's philosophy and helped her establish the overall council, eventually becoming its director. With her knowledge from the Divine Temple, Ye Qing Mei understood how power can corrupt and lead to destructive ambitions and, ultimately, wars and annihilation. She created the Oversight Council to prevent corruption, even within the emperor's rule.
A few months before his death, Cheng PingPing explained everything about his mother, the emperor's betrayal, and his plans for the future. He also gave access to hundreds of letters that his mother had exchanged with the emperor, which ultimately led to the emperor's paranoia, jealousy, and betrayal. Few after, Cheng PingPing decided to resign and leave the capital but learned the emperor scheming to use FX and decided to return to meet the emperor which ultimately led to a public execution and his humiliation (execute him publicly naked to show he was an eunuch, therefore a servant)
Cheng PingPing was like a disciple to the emperor, although it was never explicitly stated. His love for Fan Xian and his regard for him as a son came naturally. He never failed Fan Xian and always guided him. When he learned that the emperor had assassinated Ye Qing Mei, he decided to bide his time, waiting 20 years to kill the emperor and place Fan Xian on the throne. Fan Xian was, after all, not the illegitimate son of Fan Jian but the rightful Crown Prince.
It did not happen that way.
EPILOGUE / S3 NOVEL RESUME / MY LAST WORDS
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In the end, the emperor died and was replaced by the third prince. Cheng Pingping was killed (public execution), resulting in emotional chapters that made me cry. The second prince, the crown prince, the empress, the empress dowager, and the eldest princess all died. Additionally, a few officials and generals died, as well as two great-grandmasters. A massive battle led to the deaths of several thousand soldiers. Fan Xian became a temporary regent. After the emperor used FX to purge his kingdom, the relationship between FX and the emperor became irreconcilable, especially after the execution of Cheng Pingping. As a result, Fan Xian fell out of favor. In an attempt to save his family and his hundreds of subordinates, his last resort was to kill the emperor and fulfill his personal grudge of revenge for the deaths of Cheng Pingping and his mother. Ultimately, the Divine Temple was destroyed, and humanity was freed. Nonetheless, there was a possibility of another cycle of destruction and an ice age in the far future.
Was it a great novel? Yes. Was it a perfect novel? No.
- I was waiting the answer about how Fan Xian reincarnated a millennium after the earth destruction and how come he kept all is memories. I didn't get an explanation.
- I wanted to know how FX's mother was born inside the temple. I didn't get an answer.
- I wanted to know why the Divine Temple how it created cyborgs like Wu Zhu. I didn't get a response.
However, it was an incredible reading journey. I loved every minute of it.
RUMORS…
The FL actress, Qin , in her farewell, said that season 3 will be Volume 7 of this novel…
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The explanation above will probably give you a better understanding of season 2 and season 3. I encourage you to read the novel. Yes, it has 746 chapters, but if you love JOL, you will adore the novel, guaranteed!
https://novelbin.me/novel-book/joy-of-life#tab-description-title
** The story has a happy ending. 😉
The young dukes who attacked him are indeed the sons of the generals who returned from the frontier with the first prince. When the first prince returned with his army, many generals returned with their wives, concubines, and children. Some of the children became wild and killed people for fun. They were between 9 and 15. During FX's absence in the north which was many months, his brother knew those bullies/killers (FX’s brother was 12 when this happened, the third prince only 9), and when something happened in the brothel, they were involved. The main culpit was an ex prostitite the second prince knew intimately. She stole teens girls and forced them to prostitution. FX brother and third prince knew it was a brothel but not the dirty deeds. In the novel, FX decides to punish and beat his brother because they murdered several girls and he was stupid and naive and could destroy the FAN family, father and him and everyone. Chinese always mention “face”. This is extremely important. If anyone in the family did something wrong, kill, steal, anything, the family was ruined entirely. Everyone was disgraced, sometimes killed. So FX was extremely angry considering he and their father were in the front line of political struggles with ministers and palace internal affairs.
This was a common practice where the eldest or father disciplined anyone in the household, including children, concubines, and maids. FX chose to do so because he believed it was the only way to save his brother and because he was extremely angry with him. He rushed his brother north to save him and avoided being used against him. During a meeting in the street, FX confronted and defeated many opponents, even killing their leader. These opponents were part of the extensive FAN family, which was organized hierarchically. For example, FX's father was the head of the family, and FX was under his authority. The FAN family consisted of hundreds of people who did not all live in the same place.
The incident occurred with the censorate (Lai) did not occur in the emperor's private rooms. In the end, a dozen people were beaten, but no one died. FX did not supervise the incident. Another incident occurred later in the story while FX was away to take charge of the revenue. This time, a few ministry officials were investigated. Initially, it seemed like the FX father was being targeted and indirectly FX, but in the end, it was revealed that the Crown Prince was involved, and FX was safe. As a result, a few ministers were kicked out.
Note that every major decision executed by Cheng Ping Ping was pre-approved or ordered by the emperor. The emperor knew everything used people like pawns. His ambition was endless and even though he liked FX, FX remained expandable if need be. Cheng bypassed some decisions because he put FX before the Emperor. The drama does not reflect this very well. Cheng seems to have other plans and using FX. Cheng sent him to the north to test him. If he came back successful ,he would take his position. Cheng trusted FX to succeed.
The fake death never happened. The mourning never happened.. The emperor never beat FX. FX never beg. He never revealed the temple place. He never accused second prince and eldest princess collusion to the emperor or CP. FX never cried. FX practiced QI every day. There is a young eunuch (in novel full of acne) who played a big role but we saw him only briefly. Drama did a good job with first division (bribes and playing games) but Yan never accompanied FX. Yan was recovering his severeinjuries when he was tortured in the north. He will be his right hand handling the 6 divisions later.
Guo Bao never went to the north. FX's brother was sent there to avoid jail, retaliation, and being used against FX. FX gave him 1 year to prove he could be successful, which he was, and his brother took over the smuggling business, approved by the emperor of the north. They mostly imported goods from the south Qin. Quing Nian was left behind 2 years to replace Yan to handle the spys. So FX lost his most trusted aid, but later, he was replaced with another aid. FX did a lot of smuggling himself, but he also helped the people, such as building a defence against the floods that killed thousands each year. So, he was a good, cunning baddie.
The story of the Saint DuoDuo and FX begins with a lack of romantic feelings between them. However, FX's feelings change upon hearing about an impending marriage, as he fears losing DuoDuo to the constraints of married life. He realizes that his uneasiness is love and asks her to marry him. Despite opposition due to their differing backgrounds, DuoDuo agrees. In the novel, when FX is unable to fight, DuoDuo came from north to share the secret martial art and discovered FX lost his QI. She decides to stay and help him to regain his strength using a unique method taught by her grandmaster (his mother gave him a book, remember?). FX then gains exceptional martial abilities. The novel is ambiguous about whether they become lovers, but it seems that they did not. They started to exchange letters after his return to the capital and she became his confident. He trusted her. However, she betrayed him at one point. Expect a big bad a boom between si lili, the north emperor and FX.
His romantic relationship was much less romantic and developed than portrayed. While he did fall in love at first sight and had a deep mutual love with his wife, during his journey to take over the revenue position, he became involved with Sisi, a maid who was older than him by 4-5 years (knew her since childhood and both played under the covers without the big act) and she became his official concubine. She also became pregnant, and his wife accepted her without any fuss. It was a normal practice to have concubines at that time. In the novel, the romantic relationship was not developed. It seems to me that he slept with Sisi because she complained she was still a virgin, but he had no real interest. He cared for her and welcomed her as his concubine because it was expected. In the drama, Wan'er is played by a well-known Chinese actress. I believe her screen time was part of her contract because honestly, the story is not a romance but a palace political one and she is not a main role whatsoever. FX in the novel is not a womanizer.
Wu Zhu was very present until he arrived at t(e capital. Then he had a big fight and was injured. FX didn't know that. Wu Zhu went to a secret place to recuperateand it took months before FX saw him. We have a good idea who he is in the novel and the drama gives many clues such FX saying that he will still look young when he will be an old guy, the fact he has no QI. In the drama you see him making a funny head movement like a robot. His main goal is to protect FX. So yes, he is an AI and very close to human. But he was injured. His loss memory is also a clue. In S3 you will know more about him, his eyes, etc. The emperor (because FX mother shared it with the emperor) know how to use him. He tried to destroy him but he recovered partially loosing his memory but not his prime directive to protect FX.
You need to understand that the main antagonist is the eldest princess. She is behind every assassination, plot, and scheme, whether from the palace or from her exile. The second prince and the Crown Prince are under her control as her puppets. She has numerous generals, officials, grandmasters, and families under her influence.
The relationship between FX and the eldest princess was filled with hate. In the novel, she is portrayed as extremely beautiful and a genius mastermind. She decided to stop supporting her brother, the emperor, when she realized how much he despised intelligent women. She wanted to prove that she could be smarter than him. As FX gained power, popularity, and the emperor's support, her hatred for him grew, and she plotted traps, assassinations, and more to eliminate him. SHE is the true villain. She has no conscious, no values, no remorse. She is using everyone. For her, incest does not exist. She loved her brother like a woman until she hated him like a woman, never a sister.
The emperor had complex feelings towards FX - he both loved and hated and feared him. He never fully trusted FX, but he couldn't deny that he admired him. He recognized FX's genius, similar to that of his mother. In the drama, it seems like the emperor doesn't like FX much in public, but in the novel, he is more indulgent towards him in public. The main reason for this is that FX understands the emperor and knows how to manipulate him. FX is aware that the emperor is narcissistic, egocentric, selfish, and abusive, unable to tolerate anyone more popular than himself. The emperor's ultimate goal is to be remembered in the annals of history as the most remarkable emperor of all time, and he is unwilling to tolerate anyone more popular than himself. FX grasps this and always operates discreetly. There is a lot of mutual manipulation. The emperor indulged FX because FX made it clear he didn't want to replace the CP and later support the third prince. At one point, FX decided to officially renounce any chance to become an emperor by officially being an heir of the fan family, which his adopted father delighted in, as he sincerely loved FX as his son.
In general, I do notice many similar scenes here and there, but they are all mixed and combined to create a different storyline. Some characters have a lot more prominence in the drama compared to the novel. For example, Tenz, a friend who died early in Season 1, never died and was never a close friend in the novel. During the assassination attempt, tenz broke his leg and was sent to his wife/kid to recover. He never had a big part in the novel. However, the first assassination when he first arrived in the capital was indeed carried out by the eldest princess and second princes.
I am not sure if they will include the part where everyone knew that FX was the emperor's son. It was no longer a secret to the palace and the whole world.
The second prince is portrayed as much more villainous than in the novel. His future wife, YE, never interacted with him before their marriage, and she was never against it. YE and her family later proved to be full allies with the second prince. When FX left to take over the revenue (days away from the capital), the second prince and YE got married, and they both became close and confident. There were no verbal fights between FX and SP. Everything was done in hypocritical ways. In fact, the second prince admired FX and always wanted him to join him. The second prince regretted dearly the assassination attempt, which FX never forgave. Oh, and the poisoning with the 3 girls, 3 boys, never happened to the novel, the meal too.
FX considered the crown prince to be a puppet, albeit a kind one. He neither truly liked nor disliked him, and in fact, he thought the crown prince was not unkind. He never killed the few dozen guards because FX appeared toa him nd guards couldn't stop FX. The meeting never happened .FX didn't care about the CP. He cared when he became a treat later but mostly used him to fulfill his purpose. FX viewed the crown prince as weak and easily manipulated by the eldest princess. The crown prince was depicted as very lonely and unloved. The eldest princess was the only one showing interest, and he fell in love with her when he was a teenager, becoming obsessed with her. She slept with him when he was an adult.
In the novel, the first prince married the princess of the north while FX was outside the capital. The princess is portrayed as smart and authoritative, quite different from her portrayal in the drama. Although she is not a main or secondary character, there is a point in the story where the first prince had a mistress before his marriage, which made his wife jealous. However, the first prince never cheated after his marriage.
Both marriages were successful, and both couples were in love although it was more obvious with first prince. Second prince couple was more close partners.
FX always had a team of assassins to protect him, on top of the 7 tigers guards given by his adoptive father. He took over completely the role of Cheng Ping Ping.
The relationship between FX and Cheng Ping Ping in the novel is profound. Cheng considers FX as his spiritual son. They are both genius masterminds. I thought Season 1 portrayed their relationship very well. In Season 2, the screenwriter often twists their relationship to create suspense and avoid spoiling the story arc. This makes it seem like Cheng is not on FX's side, but in reality, Cheng never betrayed FX. He never cheated or did anything that was not in FX's favor. Cheng Ping Ping's ultimate goal and hope was to put FX as the next emperor, so everything he did was for this goal.
After his marriage, the emperor dispatched FX to take control of the revenue (Neiku) previously managed by the eldest princess. However, the eldest princess, along with the second prince, the crown prince, and the empress, embezzled millions from the revenue that was meant to be used for public welfare such as addressing river catastrophes, constructing buildings, and mitigating drought. In the novel, FX left and several chapters detailed his battles against a family involved in smuggling, implicating the north and its ruler, as well as his own brother and the emperor of the north. Ultimately, FX succeeded in returning millions to the emperor, but also amassed a significant fortune for himself and secured his mother's primary source of income. While it was a win for FX, it was a loss for the eldest princess, who lost her primary source of income.
The goal of the princess was to install either the second prince or the crown prince as her puppet, and rule as a regent. She was described as extremely beautiful, appearing to be 16 despite being 35, and she used her looks and body to gain loyalty, even from her nephew, the crown prince. Of course, because of china censorship, she will not the real emperor beloved sister and she will probably become adopted and not the real sister of the emperor, and not the real aunt, but in the novel she was. It also goes that at one point a scene made it clear that the love of her life was her brother, the emperor. In the novel, the emperor never crossed the line but he adored her. The emperor felt betrayed when he knew that his son and her were lovers. The emperor never wanted anybody else but the CP to be his successor. But this was for him unforgivable. Out of everything ugly she did, it was the only unforgivable action from both. He then decide a major (MAJOR) scheme (S3). In season 3, FX will use the destructive gun but in a very epic way.
I find the drama enjoyable because it offers a unique experience. However, I can't help but feel that the character FX isn't portrayed as the clever and cunning individual he is in the novel. In the book, he has an astute understanding of everyone's identities and motivations, and he excels at planning ahead. Despite this, I still find the overall viewing experience quite entertaining.
see below :)