Rachel

No problem! I actually had to rewatch the episodes to catch details. There are a lot of details in this show haha

I don't think you're understanding the drama and characters. The point is there's no inherently bad or good person in this show. The deposed emperor isn't an inherently bad guy. He was driven by feelings of frustration and jealousy that Zhang Mo (the real pageboy) can be free while he cannot. He was also not very mentally stable at that time which caused him to strike Zhang Mo. It was an act caused by built up emotions and impulsiveness, but not a carefully premediated act.

The theme of this show has so far been how nobody is inherently good/bad. Zhou Mo is another character like this. He seems like a genuinely good person but he was also part of the Huben Army and may have done questionable things out of loyalty to General Yan Fengshan.

This is like real life. Are all criminals inherently evil? Sometimes, people who we never expect to commit a crime end up comitting a crime. Of course, this is just my opinion and you may choose to ignore it.

Lu Di said that killing someone has nothing to do with liking them or not. Next thing, he got killed by Han Ziling (Li Sangeng) and Huai An :') He was nice to both of them but at the same time, everyone gotta do what they gotta do to survive. Lu Di was prepared to kill Huai An too. It might be dark for some people but I actually quite like this scene and how they handled it.

Every episode so far has already shown that this drama is not a fairytale. The characters here all have done very questionable things and none can be considered purely good or bad.

Huai An "killed" Zhou Mo to save him. Zhou Mo isn't actually dead, his death was faked by Huai An. You actually get to see him in episode 2 together with the other friend of Huai An. Episode 9 shows a little more about how Zhou Mo would've been killed if not for Huai An faking his death.

Ohhhh I see! I haven't watched ep 10 yet but that's interesting. Huai An is really 10 steps ahead hmm

Ep 9 and Han Ziling makes his appearance! So he was, in fact, not killed by Xiao Wuyang and not dead. I did not expect that scruffy looking man to be the scholarly, exceptional talent, Han Ziling, and did not expect that he was in Hidden Soldier Valley. But yay to one more ally! I'm wondering what is his story though. For him to be an ally and for him to be recommended by Gu Yu to the emperor in the first place means that he must have some sort of grudge against Huben Army too (like Huai An).

Ohh that's interesting bit about the poem! I also think Xiao Wenjing is a lot smarter than he lets on but at the same time I feel like he isn't super smart. He seemed to recognised that Huai An is Liu Zhi at the start and also noted how deep Huai An is in for his revenge. The scared cowardly facade in the beginning is definitely fake but I feel like the him now is more real. I do think that he genuinely feels guilt and regret towards the real Zhang Mo (but it is too late indeed).

However, I still think he has a chance at redemption and growth but it'll really depend on how the drama shows it. Or whether will he ultimately be a bad guy?

Hmm I don't understand why is their energy weird for biological siblings? I feel like it's very normal, like older brother taking care and doting on his younger sister, who is also his only living family member in this world! Aren't older brothers supposed to do that haha They don't appear as romantic to me in any angle and I've watched till ep 8.

Just a reminder again! This drama was cut down from 32 episodes to 28 episodes in order to pass censorship!! 4 full episodes worth of content being removed from such a political/strategical drama means that audiences will have to read between the lines more to understand the show.

This is NOBODY's fault but censorship. From the 8 episodes we have so far, we can easily tell that a lot of effort have been put into this drama! Please ask questions if there are any plot points or stuff that you don't understand. I'm sure many people will be eager to help :) Happy watching!

This is what I got from the Chinese fans on Weibo. Basically, the uncle saved a civilian before out of sympathy but then later on the civilian's whole family betrayed him, causing him to almost die. From that point onwards, he threw away his older brother's ideology which is to "kill to protect" (something like that) and adopted his own new ideology which is to "kill to prevent being killed". So after killing the civilian family who betrayed him, there were more incidents where he killed many other people and gained many enemies. His brother couldn't tolerate this kind of behaviour and banished him.

The uncle later on went to betray his brother because of two main reasons. He sort of wanted revenge for his brother banishing him and also because by betraying his brother, he can show himself to be useful to Yan Fengshan, another very powerful figure in the Huben Army. Only when he is of use to Yan Fengshan then can he remain in the Huben Army.

I was really shocked too. It's very cruel torture indeed. Huai An was around 17-18 years old I think when he did that. I feel like him having to constantly flee from the enemies hunting him down and try to survive for years contributed to his cruelty too. He lost his whole family and this dude tried to kill his sister...He has no mercy.

It will be revealed in episode 7 about what happened to Bai Wan!

I am surprised. The silly 10th prince from bubujingxin (scarlet heart) is so cool in this show 🤣 I know Ye Zuxin has acted in many other dramas but I always remember him as 10th prince. He's so handsome in this show though hehe

Nope, there isn't. Their characters are biological siblings who have been separated.

Based on the character relationship chart, the deposed emperor will become a very close friend of Huai An. So he probably is on Huai An's side. But it can't be 100% confirmed, I'm also a very suspicious person hmmm

I have so many questions and thoughts after watching ep 8!!

Episode 8 was so intense in a different way. Yan Fengshan is really a mad man. He killed soldiers of the Baiwenhu Army just to warn and prevent Gu Yu from giving up his military authority to Xiao Wuyang? But then he also kidnapped Gu Yu.

Who is that young man who worked for Yan Fengshan? He seems quite crafty but also cruel. Edit: His character's name is Wang Pu.

Gu Yu and Xie Huai An are old friends? Gu Yu addresses Huai An as "白头 (white hair/head)". I remember in episode 4, Pu Nichuan also called Huai An 白头 when talking to him before he died. Xiao Wuyang also seems to know this name. Is 白头 Huai An's nickname when young??

The conversation between Huai An and Chancellor Gao is interesting...Chancellor Gao seems like someone who will abandon his pawns anytime but Huai An will protect his people no matter what. Huai An saying that he'll save Gu Yu and when he saves Gu Yu that means he'll protect Gu Yu forever. Huai An really cherishes the people around him. Gu Yu must've been somewhat close to Huai An for him to think so highly of him.

I'm so excited to see more episodes, the plot seems to be advancing beyond the revenge plotline.

LOL that's so funny, my hate toward the uncle reduced by 1% 😂 Thanks for sharing!

The flashback where little Huai An was panicking when he couldn't find Bai Wan to finding her being safe and taken care of by a kind family 🥺😭. I wonder what kind of person would Huai An have grew up to be if the Huben Army did not betray his father? He seemed like such a kind and smart boy. Now, he is so ruthless but it is 100% understandable.

I see, thanks for answering!

We haven't seen Han Ziling yet but he was mentioned to be another exceptional talent besides Xie Huai An. He was recommended by Marquis Gu Yu (wheelchair guy) while Xie Huai An was recommended by Chancellor Gao. I think it was implied that he got killed by the new Emperor shortly before Xie Huai An went in to greet the new Emperor.