Deirdre19

yes, so I've heard, but in the drama version they toned him down so much that there's nothing left but a wet blanket.

True, the scenery had such gaudy colours that it felt like a xianxia. Plus the lighting in this was so super-bad that everything looked really fake.

Yes, I know someone falling off the cliff would be seriously injured, but how do they even know they fell off the cliff? Without anyone of those present talking, all the people in the palace would know is that they disappeared at this spot. They could just as well have been kidnapped.

- Talking to Anle LMX commented that "now that everything is ready" they could reveal her ID. How are things suddenly ready when during 19 episodes I cannot remember a single scene of anyone working on these preparations?
- After falling of the cliff everyone is in a panic because the CP is "seriously injured": How do they know?? There were only the assassins, the marquis and the FL/ML present. The marquis doesn't talk (as we were informed via LMX) and the assassins certainly won't either.
- After their fall, Anle spots a cave and is very happy because it means they "won't freeze to death". She then starts dragging the CP towards the supposed cave, but in the end they camp out in the open under a flowering tree, surrounded by the sound of cicadas. What strange season is this where you can freeze to death yet trees are still in flower and cicadas cirp?

Well, episodes 20 and 21 were an improvement. At least the plot inches forward a tiny little bit and most of the action revolved around the main leads. There were, however, a number of hair-raising inconsistencies that make me wonder if the script-writers suffer from amnesia so that cannot remember what happened in the previous scene (see a few examples under spoiler below):

I guess the plan is to mention it 80,000 times - once for every soldier who died.
Following this logic we only need to hear about the naval troops approximately 25,000 more times... because it feels like we've heard it 5,000 times already.

I agree. GJ cannot be faulted for the character being bland and boring. He does what he can to make this character more interesting with some subtle acting choices, but he really hasn't been given much to work with.
Just imagine how good this role could have been if they had allowed him a little bit more edge.

That wisteria tree looks suspiciously like the one in Eternal Love of Dream.... argh, flashback, flashback 💥

I have to applaud the production team and the actors for doing so. 💐💐💐
This should be standard practice for all actors. I know that some have regional accents, but speech education is part of any actor's training. Actors in other countries manage to flawlessly switch from their native accent to standard speech - so this should be possible in China too.
I guess some actors use the "regional accent" excuse for getting out of the hard and boring dubbing work, but for me this is leaving the job only half-done.

If they are that desperate to promote her it probably means she can't get any other jobs...

I actually thought ep. 19 was quite good. Things are starting to move and hopefully that momentum can be maintained in ep. 20 and the ones after that.

C'mon, give the guy some equality! Other people can have multiple baths but he can only fall off the cliff once??

Actually, there are quite a few dramas that can manage without and still be interesting. There are plenty of other ways to "create adversities".
This trope is definitely overused and when the manipulative side-character starts getting more screentime than the FL it becomes simply annoying.

There are fighting scenes with him shown in the OST so I would assume that he will at some stage. I did not read the novel.

The first two episodes of this were actually pretty entertaining...
I like that they didn't exaggerate the martial arts skills like in TBOY, but kept it natural instead.

The starting scene - a lonely man on a boat facing a battle ship - also reminded me of NIF.

Yep, facing each other on the battlefield and dying together would make a worthy ending for them. I think there is a scene in the OST where Mo Bei leads an army...

Yeah, I definitely saw the "oh shit!" expression on his face when the emperor told him that he approved of fake CZY as the crown princess.
As for his motivation for lying to the emperor, I think the reasons listed by user sakie make sense...

Interesting article that gives us the gist of the story (only read if you aren't afraid of spoilers!)
https://www.163.com/dy/article/IA128V0E0537GIDC.html

😱😱😱 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I usually like to read the novels behind the dramas beforehand. This time I didn't (because already reading too much other stuff).
I am thanking the heavens that I didn't because I get so cross when they mangle the novels. Reading it after the drama is finished can now be considered a palate cleanser 😂😂😂