PeachBlossomGoddess

Hope so but unrequited love has this nasty habit of changing into something else and a new concubine the husband is infatuated with can be a huge trigger. But yes, I still really dislike Consort Sun the most, she has given me the most bad vibes from day 1.

Indeed and there is something odd going on in that marriage. It is almost like he is aloof from her because he doesn't want to give her family too much power even though she APPEARS devoted to him. I do hope they do something different with some of these women/tropes. Its just too much Weiyoung vibe.

Well it is about Liu Yikang vs the aristocrats - he seems to have routed the Lu family (but he is down not out necessarily) but there is still the Xie family. Dunno if Princess Consort is just collateral damage and there is another Xie antagonist. But seems still the one with the most to gain is the one with a clear path to the throne which must be Yixuan or his overly ambitious mother.

Are you using iQiyi? Which episodes are you missing?
Happy to post the missing links.

Its possible. She is Xie family that was deposed by the ruling family. But my money is still on Consort Sun.

Only if you let me push you first.

I think she may end up being the most evil one. She is trying to get rid of Liu Yikang so that her son Yixuan can be next in line for the throne. The kingdom must be unstable with the emperor so sick. I will be surprised if Lu Yuan ends up being the villain of the piece the whole way through.

How is she related to Consort Sun? She is from the Xie family. If Consort Sun is related to Lu Yuan then she must be from the Lu family, not Xie?

Why is Liu Yikang so uninterested in his wife? She seems to be quite devoted to him.

Just a few more hours.... I am behind because I was watching other things but now its basically just this so in a week or so I will be in the same boat.

Many of the villains have similar characterizations and I see some predictable/familiar plot threads emerge. I think its way too early to pass judgement on this (I am only at ep 9) but what was lacking in Weiyoung was a well dimension-ed male lead, it was mostly about the FL. For this, just based on Liu Yikang's historical achievements, I think there is potential for the ML here to be a really amazing and nuanced character with some flaws so I am waiting to see that. So far though, I have only seen a really strong FL, kind of like a more bad-ass Weiyoung that can fight but there is still a long way to go.

Yeah and actually that is what swayed me to watch this despite the Weiyoung vibes - the actual historical character sounds so interesting. [btw I loved Weiyoung cliches and all but unfortunately watched it too many times I may have OD-ed on some of the tropes].

Heheh... it was on my mind too - I was debating whether to rewatch it or watch this (which feels a lot like re-watching Weiyoung tbh).

Well everyone dies, so I guess its just a matter of at which point the show ends...

I abandoned Ming Dynasty after the first few episodes but yes that show was loose with the facts although I didn't watch enough to know to what extent. To your point maybe, it was widely criticized for that by Chinese audiences themselves the censors didn't really have to do anything.

I do think there is a lot of room for digression from history when its advertised as a fictionalized account but the production companies still tiptoe around important facts and figures. In Longest Day in Changan the concubine is clearly Yang Guifei but one of her lesser known names is used throughout.... In this, I am guessing that if they wish to really change things so significantly as to make Liu Yikang ultimately ascend the throne and live HEA for example, they would not use his real name and kingdom. That said, this was one of those many dinky little short lived kingdoms in China's long history that may not be considered that significant...

It is based on a historical figure you can google what happened to him / someone posted links earlier in the thread. I heavily detect the Weiyoung formula in this so my guess is worst case it is bittersweet. But they could also make it a happy ending up to a certain point in his life and and end it say when he becomes prime minister. Distorting history I believe is still a big no no so there are limits as to what they can do.

Yeah but the ending was so good you should keep going :).

It was an interview post Glory of Tang - either in late 2017 or early 2018 where he talks about being hospitalized and on a drip but he has so many interviews she couldn't find it again.

Indeed, otherwise for sure we would have gotten some real kick-ass fight scene at the end! And at least this just went on for about a month, GOT you watch for eight years to get kicked in the teeth!

That was my thought too... and given the other GOT vibes I had been getting throughout I was dreading just that!

I didn't watch it - my mom is a way bigger fan than I and cyber-stalks him - she told me about it. Its in Mandarin with no subs. If you can understand, I will ask my mom if she remembers which one.