Okay, it driving me nuts! What song is it that plays every time we have an epic power scene?? You know the one, back in episode 6 around 21 minutes in, it starts playing (the scene when the Dragon Deity makes his epic entrance with purple lightning and stops the fight.)
For anyone wondering how to watch this drama, it's available via Mango. They also aggregate episodes to youtube, but it's several days behind the air date, so wait a week or so to pick it up there, or watch on Mango, which charges a fee (like IQIYI or Tencent) after the first couple of eps.
So far, I'm really loving it! Deng Kai is the perfect choice for this ambiguous character. That whole "is he a bad guy?" vibe. I've watched all of the eps available on Mango currently with subtitles. (Although I have access to the SVIP eps because I pay for Mango, they are slow to add Eng subs, sigh.) I think I've seen up through 6? Anyway, pretty sure by now we know his real motive is "do whatever it takes to protect the woman he loves from the psycho she married", but time will tell.
Of course, he's also a stalked her for years, but I think the show has implied that the guy who married her also went to great lengths to keep him away from her. She is, after all, a billionaire heiress, so my theory at the moment is her husband wooed and married her for her money, kept anyone else from getting in the way of that, and is now actively trying to murd3r her in an effort to steal her billions. But the ML saving her life and then pretending to be her husband to keep her safe has messed up all of his plans, so he's pretending to be dead while still trying to k1ll his wife.
I also want to say how much I love Zhang Chuhan as well. She's a fantastic young actress, most notably in roles with more physical comedy, such as Marry Me Again. She is great at being hilarious and adorable, and she knows how to kiss her male costars, which is not always true of actresses in c-dramas. This role is a little different than what I've seen her in before - more serious, with the thriller vibe. But she's still doing great and has solid chemistry with Deng Kai.
I agree with this 100%. To me this also reads as him acting out of being desperately in love, just unable to express…
Oh, great point with the visual colors! This director is so great with stuff like that. Even Xie Zheng himself is very muted and dark here in his clothing.
I really love your analysis, I also feel like this scene was very well done. It's worth mentioning that XZ in…
OMG! I just burst out laughing imaging him staring at her in silence until she someone - telepathy? Guessing? - understands his meaning. 😂 Well, I definitely have picked up on both characters people more people of action than words. Glad the show is reflecting the novel in that way!
Deng kai as an actor is amazing and has good screen presence but im disgusted by qimin and qian couple. Its an…
It doesn't come across at all like it's meant to be romantic. He is an antagonist. A villain. and his obsession with her isn't healthy. they have not romanticized it at all. She described his touch as "creepy" at one point.
in the novel, chanyu is barely 16, she's just coming of age, thus the elders proposed the matrilocal husband hunting…
So even younger. That just proves my point even more, honestly. People want to give both of them life experience and the accompanying wisdom to handle this whole thing appropriately, but that's not where either of them is at.
I've seen some reactions to the fight our leads had in today's episodes, and I didn't want to comment directly because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, which is subjective to each person. But I just want to write my own comment to talk a bit about how I saw the scene.
First, this fight did not come out of nowhere. We've been building to it for some time. Every time she's asked him if he really has to leave, and he's said he does, or when she said, but you'll come back, right? And he didn't answer her. His actions have spoken volumes about his feelings for her, but his words up to this point, have not done as good a job, and in some ways have given her the opposite impression. She honestly believes he's indifferent to her and the nice things he's done are out of gratitude because she saved his life, not because he likes her. Remember, too, that she has already been hurt in love by her scholar fiance who used her and her family and then abandoned her. Yes, she responded to that betrayal with anger and disgust for him, but you know underneath that, she was hurt, and that had to feed in to her self doubts. To her, she's an orphan girl with a dependent younger sister and no dowry to speak of. He fiance betrayed her. The village gossips about her and spreads rumors she's a jinx, her own uncle tried to selfishly take her house away...our girl puts on a brave face that none of these things bother her, but she's still going to have insecurities. Those insecurities came out during that scene.
Then we have Xie Zheng. He's lived a very cold life, in the shadow of his father's death and mother's su1c1de, and now his Uncle's betrayal. He has to go back to deal with that, and he doesn't know if he'll survive, much less win. He hopes he will, but he is so afraid of dragging her into his mess that he very intentionally has avoided every question from his friend Gong Sun or anyone else about what he's going to do when he leaves. He's also avoided making her any promises because he has no idea if he could keep them. He could have told her the whole story at any time, but one, he doesn't share easily with others, two, there is some mystery tying her dead parents possibly to the very intrigue he was investigating...definitely to the past, and three, he absolutely does not want her put in danger. So he has all of these very valid reasons not to tell her everything (in his mind), and to leave, deal with his business, and hopefully come back for her later....
But again, remember these characters are young. Changyu is twenty? The Marquis isn't much older, and by all reports has never been in a serious relationship, and has a family riddled with betrayal and death, and a court full of enemies. Even some of his friends (Li Huaian!) are frenemies.
So now it's finally come to when he has to leave. It's here, he can't put it off anymore. And both he and Changyu know this moment they've been dreading is upon them. And they try to talk about it, but in the worst way, because they're both full of heartbreak that it's happening, so their emotions push them to say things they don't mean. When Changyu says she's prepared the divorce papers for him, he reacts with bitterness that she would be so efficient about it. He doesn't want to divorce her. He's made it VERY clear from Changyu's perspective that he is leaving and likely to never come back, so when he asks her about her future, if she'll marry again, she gives him an honest answer. He's not coming back, so eventually, she'll probably marry someone, right? And he is already hurt and irritated and his jealousy flairs. Their conversation turns sarcastic and escalates, both of them saying things they don't really mean.
This is...how real fights happen between couples in real life. Something happens that makes you hurt, or angry, or sad, and you end up lashing out at the person closest to you You say things you don't mean. They respond. It escalates.
And then Xie Zheng makes his biggest mistake. Words have failed him. He can't express how he really feels, he's lost control of both the conversation and his own emotions. He acts, and he kisses her. But to Changyu, who would have welcomed him kissing her two days ago, before he told her he was leaving and then refused to say he would come back, suddenly he's grabbing her and kissing her right when he has to leave, and it doesn't feel romantic, it feels insulting. Then he follows that up with a (crazy, jealous) accusation when she shoves him away and accuses him of being mad that she must want to find someone just like Song Yan. This is the ultimate insult when he KNOWS how much she despises SY. She slaps him.
Xie Zheng isn't in control of himself right now. He's not thinking clearly at all. He's consumed with the pain of leaving her, jealousy at the idea of her marrying someone else, and hurt that she's rejecting him right now.
I also want to take a moment here to point out that with BOTH of these characters, it has been very well established that they are not so big on words and more people of ACTION. So instead of talking this out like reasonable people, our two emotionally elevated leads get physical. XZ grabs her and kisses her even more forcefully. CY shoves him away again and this time draws her knife to hold at his throat.
This is just CY's most instinctive response to any physical threat, but XZ is incredulous. Finally, here, he tells her SOMETHING. Unfortunately, he fumbles this, too. He doesn't tell her how he feels. Instead he just says "You have terrible taste in men, but coming with me is better than marrying some ingrate."
This entire scene has some shades of Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth. At least XZ didn't insult her family, he just insulted her repeatedly, grabbed her and kissed her twice, but in ways and with timing that also felt insulting to her, and then finally follows all of that with "I'm better than anyone you would pick."
Um....sir. That is not how you confess to the love of your life and ask her to wait for you and/or accompany you into possibly deadly situations.
All of this to say....these dramas love cliches like a misunderstanding trope, but here it felt earned and real. And what happens after? She storms away, and then cries alone. He is angry and bitter and feels abandoned. In his mind, he probably poured his heart out to her and she rejected him. She must not return his feelings! In her mind, he insisted on leaving - apparently to go off and possibly d1e - insulted her repeatedly, and never actually told her how he felt. They're both so deeply hurt and angry, but the elephant in the room is that everything that just happened in that fight isn't even WHY they're both hurt. It's the fact that he's leaving that is tearing them both up inside.
I felt this was really well done and remained true to both characters. These are two very stubborn people who have no idea how to communicate their feelings to one another, and who both take action when faced with conflict.
I loved the scene, even when I was yelling at my TV "NOOOOOO, why are you saying that??? Don't say that! No, don't do that. Stop! Just tell her how you feel! OMG no, just tell HIM how you feel. ACK, neither of you are doing that...oh, now you're insulting each other some more. Okay. Okay." 😭
I didn't realize that Gongsun Yin had turned in the Princess to the palace. Did he know her royal identity all…
No, he figured out her royal identity when they played Go. He knew she was a woman prior to that. He had also been trying to think of a way to distract Lord Li, and then he played that game with her. I think he knew his opponent at the pavilion was a young woman (from the monk, perhaps), but maybe not who she was specifically since he clearly had never seen her (or he would have recognized her when she first showed up at his academy). I think the game of Go they were anonymously playing against each other intrigued each other. You see the Princess imagining al of these possible players, and then she hides and sees him talking to the monk and realizes he's her age and gorgeous, so she finds a way to go to his academy and be near him. I think that's when they truly develop feelings for one another. I think he figures out she was his opponent while they're playing Go, as well as the fact that she's actually the Princess Royal. Maybe she said something that allowed him to put her true identity together- he is very smart. He knows his dreams with the young woman of Fengyu Pavilion will never be a reality because of her true identity, and so reveals her to the palace to both remove her from the academy where it's dangerous for both of them to keep entertaining these feelings, and gets to use her as a distraction for Lord Li at the same time.
At least, that's my read of the whole thing.
I think yes, Nanny and the entourage brought clothes for the Princess to wear back to the Palace, so no one would see her dressed as a man.
About Deng Kai's character. He is the father of Qian Qian's son, but it was not consensual, from both sides. Both…
Oh man! thank you for telling me. I'm sure Deng Kai is absolutely going to play this with so many layers and it's going to be such a good tragic storyline, but I'm also glad to be prepared for how dark it is going to be.
I came here after watching today's eps and find myself mystified by some of the reactions.
Was I in the minority with how HOT I found it when Yan Zheng went completely cold and lethal on Guo after Changyu was hurt??? Seriously, it was SO 🔥🔥🫠🫠. And the fact that only her voice could stop him, and with just his name. EVERYONE in that room now has ZERO doubts about his feelings for her. I loved it so much! 11/10. And FINALLY seeing him able to be the feared Marquis we keep hearing about...like, you all DO understand that the way he is with her isn't what he's like playing his role as the Marquis, right? That he has had to be utterly ruthless and k1ll lots of people. So...like, this is a teaser for what we're likely to see when he returns fully to that role and takes his wife with him. But his "true self" the one he's never really gotten to be with anyone, is who he is when he's with Changyu. Which is one reason why he falls in love with her.
As for the Princess and Li Qing...you guys, YOU GUYS. He didn't just turn her in arbitrarily. They did a whole metaphor with the Go board and strategy playing. He CLEARLY has feelings for her. He wrote his best friend a cryptic note that just said "the dream of Fengyu Pavilion is over". One, he knows he wouldn't be considered a suitable match for her, so he believes that regardless of feelings, there is no chance for them and it's best for them both to end it before their feelings get any deeper. But TWO, despite his feelings he deliberately turned her in KNOWING the Empress Dowager would try to distract her with another match...and who that match would be. He was playing a much deeper game of Go than just with the Princess, he used her knowing it would get Lord Li called back to Capital.
And as for anyone who thinks Changyu is passive, come on! That girl is the LEAST passive FL I've seen in a long time! If she didn't WANT to have her braised meat stand work out of the place her new business partner and BFF prepared, she wouldn't do it??? Like, the fact that she goes along with it SHOWS us that she loves it and approves? Remember, this girl's whole goal in life is to scale up her pig butchering and meat selling business to better take care of her husband and sister. That was a major upgrade!
Okay, but I came here for the Deng Kai reveal! Why is my man playing a creepy villain?? 😭 I mean, he looks amazing in that white or gray wig, but I feel like he's going to end up being the father of that kid she's hiding, and that maybe it wasn't consensual?! Otherwise, why does she have so much trauma that touching him felt creepy? Someone who has read far enough into the novel, please spoil me in comments!
Anyone know? Has it not been released yet?
Of course, he's also a stalked her for years, but I think the show has implied that the guy who married her also went to great lengths to keep him away from her. She is, after all, a billionaire heiress, so my theory at the moment is her husband wooed and married her for her money, kept anyone else from getting in the way of that, and is now actively trying to murd3r her in an effort to steal her billions. But the ML saving her life and then pretending to be her husband to keep her safe has messed up all of his plans, so he's pretending to be dead while still trying to k1ll his wife.
I also want to say how much I love Zhang Chuhan as well. She's a fantastic young actress, most notably in roles with more physical comedy, such as Marry Me Again. She is great at being hilarious and adorable, and she knows how to kiss her male costars, which is not always true of actresses in c-dramas. This role is a little different than what I've seen her in before - more serious, with the thriller vibe. But she's still doing great and has solid chemistry with Deng Kai.
Thanks for sharing that!
First, this fight did not come out of nowhere. We've been building to it for some time. Every time she's asked him if he really has to leave, and he's said he does, or when she said, but you'll come back, right? And he didn't answer her. His actions have spoken volumes about his feelings for her, but his words up to this point, have not done as good a job, and in some ways have given her the opposite impression. She honestly believes he's indifferent to her and the nice things he's done are out of gratitude because she saved his life, not because he likes her. Remember, too, that she has already been hurt in love by her scholar fiance who used her and her family and then abandoned her. Yes, she responded to that betrayal with anger and disgust for him, but you know underneath that, she was hurt, and that had to feed in to her self doubts. To her, she's an orphan girl with a dependent younger sister and no dowry to speak of. He fiance betrayed her. The village gossips about her and spreads rumors she's a jinx, her own uncle tried to selfishly take her house away...our girl puts on a brave face that none of these things bother her, but she's still going to have insecurities. Those insecurities came out during that scene.
Then we have Xie Zheng. He's lived a very cold life, in the shadow of his father's death and mother's su1c1de, and now his Uncle's betrayal. He has to go back to deal with that, and he doesn't know if he'll survive, much less win. He hopes he will, but he is so afraid of dragging her into his mess that he very intentionally has avoided every question from his friend Gong Sun or anyone else about what he's going to do when he leaves. He's also avoided making her any promises because he has no idea if he could keep them. He could have told her the whole story at any time, but one, he doesn't share easily with others, two, there is some mystery tying her dead parents possibly to the very intrigue he was investigating...definitely to the past, and three, he absolutely does not want her put in danger. So he has all of these very valid reasons not to tell her everything (in his mind), and to leave, deal with his business, and hopefully come back for her later....
But again, remember these characters are young. Changyu is twenty? The Marquis isn't much older, and by all reports has never been in a serious relationship, and has a family riddled with betrayal and death, and a court full of enemies. Even some of his friends (Li Huaian!) are frenemies.
So now it's finally come to when he has to leave. It's here, he can't put it off anymore. And both he and Changyu know this moment they've been dreading is upon them. And they try to talk about it, but in the worst way, because they're both full of heartbreak that it's happening, so their emotions push them to say things they don't mean. When Changyu says she's prepared the divorce papers for him, he reacts with bitterness that she would be so efficient about it. He doesn't want to divorce her. He's made it VERY clear from Changyu's perspective that he is leaving and likely to never come back, so when he asks her about her future, if she'll marry again, she gives him an honest answer. He's not coming back, so eventually, she'll probably marry someone, right? And he is already hurt and irritated and his jealousy flairs. Their conversation turns sarcastic and escalates, both of them saying things they don't really mean.
This is...how real fights happen between couples in real life. Something happens that makes you hurt, or angry, or sad, and you end up lashing out at the person closest to you You say things you don't mean. They respond. It escalates.
And then Xie Zheng makes his biggest mistake. Words have failed him. He can't express how he really feels, he's lost control of both the conversation and his own emotions. He acts, and he kisses her. But to Changyu, who would have welcomed him kissing her two days ago, before he told her he was leaving and then refused to say he would come back, suddenly he's grabbing her and kissing her right when he has to leave, and it doesn't feel romantic, it feels insulting. Then he follows that up with a (crazy, jealous) accusation when she shoves him away and accuses him of being mad that she must want to find someone just like Song Yan. This is the ultimate insult when he KNOWS how much she despises SY. She slaps him.
Xie Zheng isn't in control of himself right now. He's not thinking clearly at all. He's consumed with the pain of leaving her, jealousy at the idea of her marrying someone else, and hurt that she's rejecting him right now.
I also want to take a moment here to point out that with BOTH of these characters, it has been very well established that they are not so big on words and more people of ACTION. So instead of talking this out like reasonable people, our two emotionally elevated leads get physical. XZ grabs her and kisses her even more forcefully. CY shoves him away again and this time draws her knife to hold at his throat.
This is just CY's most instinctive response to any physical threat, but XZ is incredulous. Finally, here, he tells her SOMETHING. Unfortunately, he fumbles this, too. He doesn't tell her how he feels. Instead he just says "You have terrible taste in men, but coming with me is better than marrying some ingrate."
This entire scene has some shades of Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth. At least XZ didn't insult her family, he just insulted her repeatedly, grabbed her and kissed her twice, but in ways and with timing that also felt insulting to her, and then finally follows all of that with "I'm better than anyone you would pick."
Um....sir. That is not how you confess to the love of your life and ask her to wait for you and/or accompany you into possibly deadly situations.
All of this to say....these dramas love cliches like a misunderstanding trope, but here it felt earned and real. And what happens after? She storms away, and then cries alone. He is angry and bitter and feels abandoned. In his mind, he probably poured his heart out to her and she rejected him. She must not return his feelings! In her mind, he insisted on leaving - apparently to go off and possibly d1e - insulted her repeatedly, and never actually told her how he felt. They're both so deeply hurt and angry, but the elephant in the room is that everything that just happened in that fight isn't even WHY they're both hurt. It's the fact that he's leaving that is tearing them both up inside.
I felt this was really well done and remained true to both characters. These are two very stubborn people who have no idea how to communicate their feelings to one another, and who both take action when faced with conflict.
I loved the scene, even when I was yelling at my TV "NOOOOOO, why are you saying that??? Don't say that! No, don't do that. Stop! Just tell her how you feel! OMG no, just tell HIM how you feel. ACK, neither of you are doing that...oh, now you're insulting each other some more. Okay. Okay." 😭
Anyway, can't WAIT for the reunion. anyone else?
At least, that's my read of the whole thing.
I think yes, Nanny and the entourage brought clothes for the Princess to wear back to the Palace, so no one would see her dressed as a man.
Was I in the minority with how HOT I found it when Yan Zheng went completely cold and lethal on Guo after Changyu was hurt??? Seriously, it was SO 🔥🔥🫠🫠. And the fact that only her voice could stop him, and with just his name. EVERYONE in that room now has ZERO doubts about his feelings for her. I loved it so much! 11/10. And FINALLY seeing him able to be the feared Marquis we keep hearing about...like, you all DO understand that the way he is with her isn't what he's like playing his role as the Marquis, right? That he has had to be utterly ruthless and k1ll lots of people. So...like, this is a teaser for what we're likely to see when he returns fully to that role and takes his wife with him. But his "true self" the one he's never really gotten to be with anyone, is who he is when he's with Changyu. Which is one reason why he falls in love with her.
As for the Princess and Li Qing...you guys, YOU GUYS. He didn't just turn her in arbitrarily. They did a whole metaphor with the Go board and strategy playing. He CLEARLY has feelings for her. He wrote his best friend a cryptic note that just said "the dream of Fengyu Pavilion is over". One, he knows he wouldn't be considered a suitable match for her, so he believes that regardless of feelings, there is no chance for them and it's best for them both to end it before their feelings get any deeper. But TWO, despite his feelings he deliberately turned her in KNOWING the Empress Dowager would try to distract her with another match...and who that match would be. He was playing a much deeper game of Go than just with the Princess, he used her knowing it would get Lord Li called back to Capital.
And as for anyone who thinks Changyu is passive, come on! That girl is the LEAST passive FL I've seen in a long time! If she didn't WANT to have her braised meat stand work out of the place her new business partner and BFF prepared, she wouldn't do it??? Like, the fact that she goes along with it SHOWS us that she loves it and approves? Remember, this girl's whole goal in life is to scale up her pig butchering and meat selling business to better take care of her husband and sister. That was a major upgrade!
Okay, but I came here for the Deng Kai reveal! Why is my man playing a creepy villain?? 😭 I mean, he looks amazing in that white or gray wig, but I feel like he's going to end up being the father of that kid she's hiding, and that maybe it wasn't consensual?! Otherwise, why does she have so much trauma that touching him felt creepy? Someone who has read far enough into the novel, please spoil me in comments!