Cesia_07

Tbh if Zaiye gives up on her, he would be safe. She doesn't need to be the bait to hurt him for the Nth time. That ruthless Shen Zaiye has a visible weakness, so of course his enemies will use it.

From ep 29 they start to work together again.

I don't agree nor disagree. I just want to explain.

First, women in ancient times care so much about face and reputation. Some even make a fuss over their hair getting cut. So when Taohua made a scene of committing suicide it is just a very common reaction any woman would do.

In this case, she was betrothed to a prince, yet she was "caught in a scandal" with a chancellor in a brothel. But anyway, in the novel he indeed raped her. In the drama, well, perhaps bcos "only the dead can't speak" so he tried to kill her, especially when she said she is Beiyuan princess. While she tried to stab him bcos she is a princess, suddenly woke up in a brothel and a man entered...

The novel author made a summary like this:
Shen Zaiye has 100 ways to kill her, but Jiang Taohua has 101 ways to save herself.
That shows she IS smarter than him. Every time he tries to kill her, she makes a plan to save herself. Although both are scheming, but he is a man and she is a woman. They see from different perspectives and they handle things differently. She can do what he can't and vice versa. They compliment e/o.

So for you it is forgivable and acceptable when he tried to kill her countless times? Or when he strangled her?

She forced him to marry her, but she never seduce him nor try to gain his love. He was attracted to her brain and courage, which he admitted he has found a match.

Why did she ask to join hands? She wants to survive. He kept wanting to kill her, using her as a tool. So she needed to prove she is more useful alive than dead.

Why did she not tell him her secrets? Bcos her brother is on Lv's hands. Taohua knows what Zaiye is capable of. Once Zaiye takes action, her brother pays the consequences. She also knows their target is Zaiye and she is the bait to get him.

Why is she keep refusing him? They are enemies by countries. They serve different masters. Zaiye said it himself "If only you are not Beiyuan princess..." Taohua sees the bigger pictures: they have a lot to deal and there is no time to indulge in love. If they are a normal couple, there won't be any problems.

The new schedule is so... They deliberately leave us in suspense by concealing the last 6 episodes on the calendar 😈

I think he is suitable as the gentle, manipulative kind of villain. The type who looks harmless, but actually poisonous. Not the cruel bloodthirsty villain.

In the novel there is no antidote. Lv committed suicide. Taohua survives the poison bcos she gave birth to a daughter.

There is NO love affairs between Wuyin and Empress Lv. Wuyin deeply loves Taohua since they met in gambling house. He keeps wanting to bring her back and marry her as concubine, then make her his empress. Wuyin is the first love rival for Zaiye. Wuyin is ambitious, but actually a good man and sincere. Taohua pities him. She knows Zaiye wants to kill him, so she saves Wuyin's life. At the end, the three of them meet again.

Like you said, perhaps the banished disciple was Empress Lv. She ran to Beiyuan and became a consort. Also, Wuyin has been giving the emperor meds (or should we say poison). Most likely bcos Empress Lv gave him the recipe.

In the novel, she made the poison, but this poison doesn't have antidote. Also, the emperor of Qi is killed by Zaiye and Consort Lan (his childhood friend). This is to make Wuxia the emperor.

They will. Perhaps after ep 29 where he comes all the way for her. Their hearts will reunite this time.

Indeed the emperor is not evil. He is wise, knows who to punish and not, knows how to balance the court. But he is now addicted...

I also don't know why the drama made a plot like this: love affairs between Beiyuan regent and prince of Qi... She already has Wuyin, why would she need Taohua? Or Taohua is just a camouflage while Lv is working underneath?

Meng family is doomed to go down with Wuyin. But I do wish for Wuyin to finally realizes that Lv doesn't love him at all.

It's actually 6 years age gap, but anyway. Wuyin is only 20 y.o, Taohua is 18. Lv became a consort of Beiyuan when Taohua was 7. Well......

From ep 29, they will move on to Beiyuan arc.

Let me try to explain.

First, Taohua's most precious person is her brother. He is on Lv's hands. She doesn't know what will happen to him if she is caught rebelling against Lv. She doesn't say her secrets to Zaiye bcos she knows exactly what he is capable of. See, once Zaiye takes action to help Taohua, her brother gets the punishment (ep 28). The target is Zaiye, and the victims are Taohua and her brother.

Second, Zaiye knows she is in danger. So he also tries to protect her by keeping her away from getting involved. Remember he said he will search for the antidote and save her brother. Basically they think the same. The difference is: Zaiye wants Taohua to stay by his side, while she thinks it is more dangerous if she agrees.

Third, Taohua and her brother have been suffering since childhood. Taohua is bullied, threatened, poisoned with no antidote, used as tool, schemed against, almost getting killed. She wants to make her brother the emperor bcos he is the rightful heir, but if she could she wants to live in peace with her brother.

Fourth, Zaiye and Taohua serve different countries. Although they love e/o, is it enough? Her county is in decline, no money, no army, while Qi is prosperous. What if Zaiye plans to annex Beiyuan? What if Qi ministers demand war? She sees the bigger pictures, unlike other FL who will throw away everything to be with ML.

If Taohua doesn't get HE, then she is the most tragic character in cdrama, along with the ML in OAO.

Chinese drama industry is very productive. With thousands of novel, donghua, rich history with enormous amount of people, sources, places and money. Those who are traffic stars, or actors who do idol drama will get offers faster, shoot 4 drama in a year. While those who focus on mainstream drama only shoot 1 drama in a year or two.

Considering the number of episodes, a drama will be broadcasted for 3-4 weeks, then they need a new one to fill the empty slot. In a year, they could shoot more than 100 drama. However, a drama may not obtain broadcast license and air right after the filming ends. It may take 2-5 years or more.

While in Korea, 1 drama airs 2 eps each week. Daily drama airs right after shooting. But remember, the kpop industry is much crazier. I remember reports saying that in a year there are 100 groups that debut, but only a very few who could make name.

Zaiye looks down on women, sees them as pawns, and has never been in love. Yet this Zaiye fell in love at first sight to Taohua. He admitted later. He is attracted to her brain and courage. She can outsmart him. She is not like other women he ever met.

Every drama has BOTH leads speak their inner voice, not just this one. If this is from FL pov, it will be "FL is the target, ML is the hero".

After watching teaser for ep 29, they just about to start the Beiyuan arc. Yet the reign in Qi hasn't changed? How are they going to finish everything in 6 episodes? They should finish the Qi arc before moving on to Beiyuan.

Now we can see WHAT will happen to Changjue once Zaiye takes action... 😭

And bcos the drama is from ML's pov, the target is the ML while the victim is the FL.

His concubines only appear on early episodes, barely gets screentime. He doesn't have any interactions with them either, only with his principle wife, for a tea and threat.

I think the problem is audience feel fed up with cdrama industry tend to pair 2 actors with big age gap. For example: Song Qian and Song Weilong, Michelle Chen and Zhou Keyu, Jerry Yan and Xu Ruohan, Gao Weiguang and Ouyang Nana, and now they are pairing Hou Minghao with Aimi. They could have cast someone who looks young, but their age gap doesn't exceed 10 years. There is also a drama where the girl (born in 2003) was raped multiple times by a man (born in 1977). It's odd bcos the govt is very strict with drama plot, but they allow minor being paired with an adult and sadomasochism.

For Zhang Junning, he deserves to be paired with someone mature instead of a 19 y.o actress. But perhaps bcos he didn't get much offers or his agency can't promote him. Or most likely bcos this is a low budget B class drama they were cast.

Considering his age, it will be hard for him to get ML roles in costume drama. Perhaps modern drama or he could switch to mini drama like He Xuanlin.