ShortCircuit

Umm, no, JZX was a b!tch to YanLi about their arranged marriage. WWX is in the right. JC is being a little more diplomatic about it because (again) it's the whole clan on his name, but WWX is not a Jiang so he could speak freely.

First the marriage was arranged because JZX's mom and Mme Yu were the best of friends. But the Jiang Clan is a lot poorer (even before being destroyed by the Wen) and YanLi is NOT a cultivator. That's her worst aspect according to JZX. He always goes around with a gaggle of female Clan disciples, when nobody else does and the nickname "peacock" is hard-earned. He's a vain, stupid rich boy before the war. The fact she was a bit older than him and had only domestic qualities was a big no from him and he dragged the marriage for so long everybody was laughing at her for being side-lined. Rumours spread. The Jiang clan knew about his attitude.

Second, in the drama (at least) he rents that whole inn with no free places in the whole town left when the Jiang group has to go away and sleep outside the city because they forgot their invitation at the inn JZX chase them out of. He acted like he didn't even see YanLi, was curt, inhospitable - he didn't need to reject her so harshly and publicly. I wanted to slap him myself.

Third, the Jin (basically JZX and his dad) agree immediately to cutting off the agreement when WWX gets in trouble in Cloud Recesses, after that fight (again, because JZX and his group were impolite toward YanLi). They only wanted an excuse.

Fourth (and worst): during the war, when YanLi was stranded with her clan decimated, her brothers missing and her at the mercy of the Jin, she tried to help the only way she could - tending to the wounded, following the war camp, preparing meals for people INCLUDING JZX (though not exclusively for him). And she gave it to a hanger-on to present it to him particularly because there was no more engagement and she didn't want to press a closeness between them when he so clearly had rejected her, It wasn't even an one-time deal, that's what YanLi DOES, she makes soup, LOL. And what does he do?! Call her out on trying to "steal" the glory of working hard from his hanger-on, humiliate her in front of ALL THE CLANS there, tells her to remember her dignity - I SAW RED right there. YanLi's DIGNITY?? This girl who's keeping to herself in the worst time of her life, when even for civility's sake if not for old friendship one would do her the courtesy of giving her time to mourn, and she's STILL trying hard to help as she can - and he basically told her she's chasing him like a gold-digger and she has no dignity?!

It's a wonder WWX actually didn't kill him that time. If they were real people, (and I could have reached through the screen), I'd at least tried to beat him bloody, the bastard!!!!

She's a polite and quiet girl, well-mannered, soft-spoken, but she does have her steel spine (proof - her taking WWX's side when they slighted him in that Night Hunt). She knows what JZX is. He doesn't deserve her. It's just her bad luck she fell in love with him.

And I don't even buy his later redemption - yes he finally noticed she WAS worth all that, but I wonder would it have lasted. He wouldn't even interfere with the clans for his long-time friend MianMian. Would he have eventually fallen into his father's habits, as WWX and JC feared? There wasn't enough time to find out. But he had shown quite a lot of bad traits when a teen for me to trust him as an adult. Even if he now seems to have turned a page.

So yeah, I'm with WWX on this one.

As for WWX - HE IS TROUBLE, TM. It's because he COULD when he was a teen - he knew his limits (he's a hard drinker while LWJ is a lightweight - and don't forget he's not an alcoholic, LOL, they could use their cores to filter out toxins including alcohol. Just as LXC does :D)

I beg to differ as to JC being more mature in the beginning. Their difficulties are different - JC has to carry the whole clan and so he has to be political no matter what he truly wants, but WWX isn't so fettered - and I bet even if he were, he'd have found a way to do everything differently and according to his principles. Because "Attempt the impossible" - the Jiang Clan motto - is HIS motto.

I love that scene when he and JC are fighting and JC desperately tries to make him see he's already marked a pariah and there is no precedent for what he's doing and WWX calls back that "if there's no precedent, I'LL SET a precedent!" I love this character. *sigh*

I gave her a choice between this and Blossom and all the pretty really pricked her attention. She's only 6 in so far, she has a few more happy eps left, til she realises, it'll be too late. *cackling like old hags*

I don't really have a recovery drama, LOL for her, she'll have to suffer through. I can't even begin to think what would be a healing drama for her, either, I am so not really into picking comedies or something. And after all... what can seriously compare to FoF?!

After working on TL-ing it for my friend who isn't great with English (for TWO WEEKS, it's been occupying most of my free time) I'm happy to report that my friend is SMITTEN. She planned on watching one ep per day (because work and holidays and whatnot) and in this the second day she's watched 5 all at once and if it wasn't midnight around here she'd still be watching .

She also wants to get Yan An's phone number, I told her to get in line LOL. (Kidding, this is her first modern cdrama, it's been a shock for her. I'm absolutely basking in it, trying so hard not to tell her "I told you so" - well, I did tell her so a lot before, she never believed me.)

Now I need a plan for the meltdown to follow when she gets to the end LOL.

Chapter 1: Reincarnation

”REJOICE, Wei Wuxian is dead!”

This is how the novel starts, LOL. The original version is more faithful in that aspect :D

He dies in the first chapter (or is reported dead), then for 13 years nothing happens - people even guarded against him coming back, LOL - and then in chapter 2, he wakes up being kicked by MXY's thief of a cousin and it all goes on from there exactly like in the drama, until the first flashback.

Yeah, the extras to danmei novels usually get to show a lot of sexy times. Not that MXTX makes it too obvious (I'll tell you a secret, she doesn't really know how to write smut, LOL. But she tried.) It's usually not as clinical as MM fiction in the Western world, or even as in-the-open as some Japanese light-novels (definitely nowhere near yaoi manga levels). But it's there.

And then there ARE those danmei novels who CAN show it even while telling it and still make the story amazing. But little steps first, LOL.

The extras of any danmei novel (and MDZS is not an exception) is where the smut goes to live. Be warned, there is smut. A LOT of it. So I'd say, if you haven't read any danmei before, maybe still read the novel first then the extras.

The SE is the slimmed-down version. There are no extra scenes, just a few (not a lot) prolongued ones. Particularly the first time LWJ gets drunk, that's the only one that is seriously noticeably changed. And the final scenes re-arrangement is also noticeable. Otherwise no, it's pretty much the same with some details excluded.

Myself, I prefer the original (yes, including the ending, LOL).

LWJ never wanted the responsibility, LOL, the drama made him a leader because they wanted to sneak in that separation. He goes where he's needed and neverminds who's the boss (we all know he's the big boss LOL).

WWX post-MDZS is busy running around with the kids making them gather field experience points hahaha (and most of the times LWJ goes with them).

The quiet life is WWX's perfect imaginary wedded life. LWJ would rather be a lot more... energetic, so to speak :D

They do that in the extras, LOL. My favourite extra is From Dusk Til Dawn, where LWJ is basically a homemaker, waiting for WWX to come back from Night Hunting with the kids and Wen Ning (and giving Lan QiRen his daily stroke from anger, LOL), grading the students' homework (yes he gives them tests, hahaha~) while WWX brags about their adventures.

That's WWX's most fond wish - he wanted to live quietly with LWJ somewhere nobody knew them, with himself going out to work the fields and returning to LWJ's homemade dinner and clean and warm house (also in the extras, though hilariously in one of the most racier ones... because LWJ's dream life isn't as domestic at all :D)

All the juniors are flocking to WWX - he's the cool uncle who teaches them practical Night Hunting skills while also thinking out of the box. If that breaks any Lan Clan rules, weeeell~ It's been a while since he read them isn't it? :D

PS Ouyang ZhiZhen is also one of my favourite juniors - he's basically crushing so hard on WWX he's giving JingYi so many reasons to sass LOL.

Found out about Tu'er Shen, LOL?

TBH, the whole Yi Iron thing is only here, so I didn't really even pay all that much attention to it. The surname did raise an eyebrow, I wondered if they'd make him a legitimate heir to that ancestor, but it never went anywhere and the novel doesn't say anything either. It could be one of those homophones, though, when you say it the same but write it differently.

What's been established is that he takes WWX to be his senior (he even calls him ancestor very politely before trying to force his hand) in the demonic arts and looks up to him for... things he can't do.

And yes, the Yi City Arc - heartbreak. For ALL of them (including this bastard XY).

Doesn't matter, "someone" is afraid of bugs LOL. There's revenge upcoming, when you get to that BTS :D

Yup, that's the magic of danmei. All MXTX's works are like that, and TBH I later found a lot more that are so beautifully written.

But MDZS will always have a special place in my heart and on my bookshelves LOL.

THE PROPOSAL!~ Isn't it insane?! They LEFT IT IN. Were they blind?!

I approve, I 1000% approve of it :D

Are you reading the novel in parallel or getting ahead of the drama? Because those last few chapters go a bit differently (and no censorship, LOL).

Ah, don't worry, WWX is just as dumb as before so it's all wasted. Such is LWJ's life, LOL.

That's his calling card, LOL, Cinnamon Bun (Fierce Corpse), Third-Wheeler Extraordinaire.

No, not at all, LOL. Particularly, none of the women and neither LXC, MY or JC. The ancestor isn't in the picture but for some talk. SL and XXC were soulmates. They didn't have time to find out anything more. Not even XY is confirmed though in his case it's kind of obvious. (Then again he's WWX's reflection in a dark mirror, and WWX is Cpt Oblivious, so maybe...? LOL).

Yeah, JGS had a wandering eye but only the one legitimate son, Jin ZiXuan (and remember that's part of why WWX and JC didn't want him back as husband material for YanLi, because they thought he might turn out to be like his father.) I don't think all women JGS bedded were unwilling - JGY's mother for example was a courtesan, she couldn't reject him but when she had a son - and they were versed into how NOT to get with child if they wanted to - she planned for his future.

Mo XuanYu's mother willingly took up with JGY too, and MXY went to Jinling Tai based on that relationship, expecting to become a renowned cultivator (obviously JGS couldn't care less and soon enough he died, too, so there went that plan LOL).

They're half-siblings, but it's enough for the relationship to be doomed. JGY didn't find out in time. But again, he was basically an underling and couldn't go any higher until after he had some good political ties to the more powerful families. He went after her and didn't retract his proposal even when he found out. It would've been a disaster either way.

Yup, so... I'm again recommending the novel, LOL :D

Because WangXian is worth it :)

JGS that r@pist did take one his subordinates' wife, and the result was JGY's sister. I think she's the only girl in his sea of bastard-born sons.

The wife never revealed it until too late, when JGY couldn't do anything about it anymore without at least he - and maybe his sister, too - would have had to die if it all came to light. So the legal husband (the Jin clan subordinate) raised the girl as his own and AFAIK he never even learned the truth - I don't remember if he even was still alive at the time when TU is taking place in the present).

JGY was NOT thrown out because of being a bastard, LOL, that SOB father of his never even took him in until he grew up and became useful. JGY's mom had his promise his child would be recognised and taken by the clan, but he always promised and never delivered. She taught him as well as she could, but because the Jin leader neglected her, other people in the brothel mistreated her and she died a few years later. JGY grew up in the brothel until he managed to arrange it to catch fire with all inside dead, then he went to the clan and wasn't let in or acknowledged.

So he went and survived however he could, struggled up however he could until he managed to become really important after the Sunshot Campaign. It all started with JGS being a piece of... But then, JGY inherited his kind of conscience so it all balances...

So, here goes. These are the hints LXC used to deduct it:

1. LWJ protected him from Jiang Cheng immediately and no holds barred (JC had spent the last 16 years hunting down demonic cultivators and killing them and LWJ didn't intervene as it wasn't his problem. This time it's VERY much his problem, LOL. Actually, it's everybody's favourite problem :D)

2. After LWJ brought him back to Cloud Recesses, he was in an exceptional good mood (yeah you don't see it but this is LXC's radar we're talking about. He can read LWJ like an open book. We bow to the radar king :D)

3. Everything that followed - the hunt for clues, what happened, how WWX acted around LWJ - and the constant Lan Zhan-s LOL.

He couldn't miss it. He's just polite and pretends his brother isn't smitten because his brother thinks he's being secretive, LOL.

LXC CANNOT see what JGY is up to because he trusts him. As much as LWJ trusts WWX. He can't even begin to understand him when he was always unshielded against him and never had a doubt. He's a lot more naive than even LWJ like this, LWJ was always doubting WWX's demonic cultivation and even tried to stop him. That's why LXC is completely destroyed by the reveal (and can be manipulated into overreacting at the end).

JGY's mom WAS a whore - well, not in the basest brothels, but she was a prostitute. She had a bit of an education and JGS met her in a more upscale house, but she was indeed a prostitute. In fact, the GuanYin Temple the final showdown takes place in was built over the burned brothel's location (and the brothel burned down because JGY arranged it, with nobody escaping - he also arranged that. He missed just one woman who he let live, and she later was found and used by our mastermind.)

He didn't know who his wife truly was until he had been deeply entranched into trying to gain her hand. He wanted her because of her family's position, but he was a nobody - yes a bastard of the Clan Leader, but JGS has many of those (infinite uncles glitch LOL). He had to work really hard to gain her family's favour, and he actually did love her. When he learned the truth, it was too late to go back, and their child was on the way so her family had to marry her to him and he could NOT refuse her and live. He never touched her after that, but the damage was already done.

TBH I tend to mix the Yin Iron pieces up LOL since in the novel it's only the sword and there's no plot about recovering the pieces. I still am kind of convinced even in the drama XY doesn't actually have one but gets one from you know who, who had confiscated one from Wen Clan leader - because he's the "heir" to WWX's demonic cultivation and that person wanted another tally made. XY is good enough to make one but bad enough that it doesn't work like the original, LOL.