ShortCircuit

He does, then retires in favour of grown-up Xuanze. And then he takes his family to Laolan Pass :D

The dad is the one surviving brother to the assassinated emperor. The Crown Prince was also killed, leaving only his own minor son (Xuanze). The dad has the three sons (Jun, Lai and Ni) and they are after him in order of succession, if it were to change lines (from the previous main line - the dead CP to his son, to the secondary line - the dad, then one of his three sons).

Even if Li Ni wanted to become Emperor first, he'd be basically the fourth in line of succession and there would be a lot of discussion re: if he's the legal emperor or not. And he didn't want it anyway.

So when his father is crowned emperor in one of the two capitals, he basically becomes a ranking prince (but not from the legitimate wife, so he would not be very high in a succession bid.) Not that he wasn't a prince before, but as one of 17 grandsons of the former emperor, he was really really low in line and importance.

Theoretically, the oldest son from the legitimate wife is the preferred heir (so Jun) but the emeperor could still choose whoever he wanted from his own sons. Therefore Lai - the second born son of the legitimate wife - will scheme to get ahead.

Then again, they're none of them too bright bulbs, so Li Ni will eventually outshine them all.

In the drama? Yes he did.

In the novel? They never separated.

MengYao married his half-sister KNOWING she was his sister, and later on had his child killed because he was afraid that there would be some problem with him that would make people discover his secret. He doesn't deserve any pity.

Not to mention the unspeakable things he did to Mo XuanYu that led the kid to lose his mind and eventually sacrifice his body and soul to summon WWX to take revenge for himself.

I read somewhere she's working on her 4th book. I don't know if there's any truth to it - and TBH, there are SO MANY danmei out there, it's amazing. TU opened the door into web novels for me, I've read a ton since I've watched the drama :D

I'm going to make SevenSeas rich just by myself, LOL, I'm buying up everything they translate and publish - they've gone through MXTX, Meatbun, starting on Priest and even hit some extraordinary less known gems like Qiang Jin Jiu, which is one of the most amazing (AND hot!!) danmei ever. These guys are great! (Though the prices do hurt the pockets hélas!)

LOL, I like TGCF, but not as much as MDZS or SVSSS - after WWX, SQQ is the bestest shou to ever exist LOL. I can't wait until they find their courage and air the second donghua season on that, too - I've despaired of ever seeing a live adaptation...

I am picking the leads already though, LOL.

Every once in a while, I do go re-watch my favourite scenes (the snow scene, the stairs scene, the escape from the Burial Mounds, the "wi-fi located" forest scene, LOL, and so on and so forth. And by every once in a while, I mean a lot of times at random hahaha. And the soundtrack is always in my playlist.

Truly unforgettable and a danmei standard for me.

But at least now there's the second season of the TGCF donghua running, so there's some MXTX content yet :D (it has an amazing 1st ED song, too).

I thought coriander was something you eat. (No idea if I ever met the smell either LOL. I stay away from kitchens). What does it smell like?

I mean... Everyday means everyday :D

We shouldn't wait for a specific time, right? :D

Don't mind me here in the peanut gallery (or should I say melon seeds gallery considering it's a cdrama :D), I was all the way over Li Ni's side of the fence - I guess my mind works more like his when dealing with reality and less like hers.

BUT! In the end he DID get what he wished, so I call it a team win for the Shiqi Lang fans :D

That's because she's ambitious and he's not, and she STILL doesn't know what she's asking of him. He does.

They're both going to have to bend and stretch, but it's okay. It's fine when people grow up and learn together :D

Sung by a male voice: Xueran Chen's "Will You Still Remember" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpjCcdnk0UM

He has a gift for lonesome songs invoking sadness or at least distance. It reminds me of a song from Ever Night (the male version of Darkness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juuwNU0O5gY )

And from the women's tracks, definitely Li Jiawei's An Immortal Love - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERdWT88riog&list=PLLaG0k-PXfndy3ZlkMJ1MWaggYZjbSq0D&index=4 (also sounds a bit like Farewell to Love from LBFAD - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlFp8j0UWg )

Folk-like song (wannabe, I don't know its name, it hasn't been officially released yet): that song about the 18 bends of the river.

BGM: that amazing build-up song of slowly raising tension they kept using (again, no name yet, I hope they release it soon).

It would've been 18+ rated LOL. The whole drama would've been shut down hahaha~

Yeah, well, Li Ni is stubborn and A'Ying still doesn't realise what living in the Imperial Palace involves (for their family and kids). He is not a dreamer - he's a pragmatic, though a romantic one, LOL. And she's not a realist - she's an idealist, albeit a ruthless one.

Did you notice how Chang'er has to ask her how to breathe, from time to time, LOL? That guy is oblivious. IF they're still childless after this time ( I mean, it could have been a bit of a leeway in costs for the producers not to include side charas' kids), it definitely isn't TaoZi who is the problem.

Maybe Chang'er is still a virgin after all this time :D

PS I obviously meant the missing 10 when Li Ni was couting down A'Ying's lifeless body in Wonderland, asking her to wake up at 10 - that she obviously wasn't going to, so that he left off the 10 in despair (and maybe unwilling to accept it even then).

I wanted SO MUCH that his first word toward her when she revived would be "ten", just so he could win THAT bet :D (But then we got his plans and timeline for following her, and got my heart broken again...)

In the end, he DID get to go to LaoLan Pass, and that's the biggest happy ending payoff ever!

YES! Good work Li Ni!!!

Though now I think about it, neither of them can count, can they? He first said he wanted 8 kids, then reduced the ask to only 4 and in the end there's just the two LOL. But then he also can't count to ten either LOL (dammit that heartbreak part really does serious damage).

What's the best in this drama (in this specific order):

1. Xu Kai's acting. Those eyes. He practically carried most of the drama himself. I think this is his best drama I've ever watched.

2. The cinematography (particularly the fighting scenes). But the cinematography in general. Yes, I like it when I get so caught up in it I am just,.. watching the scenery because it's so beautiful.

3. The chemistry. Sizzling. I could FEEL Li Ni being in love with A'Ying. The teasing is just - perfect.

4. The BGM. I love it, I hope they release it sometime (as soon as possible).

5. FINALLY A HEA!!! I'm so glad we did get a HEA. I keep watching dramas that end in a mysterious cue, is-it-a-HEA-or-not, or outright a BE. But not this one. They got all they wanted, all of them (the surviving ones at least), and there's a happy, peaceful, uneventful future for them out there. Yes. More happy endings, please!

I hope the novel gets TLed and that it has that magic feeling the actors brought to it :D

PS I still don't care the trash is gone, and A'Shu's a fool.

Nobody said ”10!” LOL. I got so hung up on that. So I'm saying it for him - TEN!!! TEN!!!! Freaking TENNN!! :D

This man's heartbreak broke my heart.

Thank you!! (But I still will do chores rather than watch the latter half. I need to build up some strength for that, LOL).

Don't tell me they're going to kill Pei Yuan!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

If it happens, I'll go smash Minister Gu into goo!!

Mid ep37.... OMG I can see where this is heading... I can't watch that!!!

Anyway, let's go do chores, I've postponed them a few times already.

LOL @ep36... you know that meme? ”I'm washing me and mah clothes"? That's what it looked like :D

PS This new chara, Mr Mu. I like him, I wanna take him home, LOL, but I can't cook. This is a tragedy :D

MokHa had just given him the speech about her own poor dad - the one who beat her up whenever he got drunk, and he drank a lot. She's always an optimist - I guess he wanted to believe it could be true, that his father WOULD have a shred of love for them in his heart.

But yeah, going from second one - OMG you're here KiHo, to second two - Are you RECORDING this?! in one breath did put that hope away. And then what followed.

But that's on dad. KiHo might've held on to that hope against hope. I totally get why he's crying over it. He can't hang on to that faint hope now, at all, since dad never ever changed and even got worse over the years.