Ti02

Keep the curiosity then haha!

You are not wrong. But I am just sharing my perception like you are- Its just that not all women have to be looked up to. Qian Qian is a sunshine girl, but her life is caged by him, she is a victim of his abuse. Characters like him who are obsessed and torment women in name of love exist in the world, and I think its just a portrayal of that.
Plus the fact that the leads are separated, hence their screen time goes to the second couple. But I do understand what you mean.

Romance, love between leads, is not the only major arc of this drama.

I saw a reuters video of his death. Do you want the spoiler, or do you want to keep the curiosity till the end?

His nanny died in today's episode, there will be no such explanation anymore.
But in the novel as well as in today's episode it was indicated- Like you see every emperor or prince should have an heir, its like preserving their royal blood, what if the prince/emperor dies, then the throne will just not exchange hands but also surnames/blood. Nanny was very loyal to Qi Min's birth mother. Nanny had began to understand that Qi Min was a madman, maybe not fit for throne, also possible that he is unable to achieve his goals and die before that. Hence as a precaution she forced Qi Min to have a child, so that no matter what Qi Min would always have a replacement.
This was done as a loyalty to the kingdom, to Qi Min's parents, and for the common people- preservation of royal blood for the future of the empire.

He will die, but not before climax. He should be there till 39th episode at least, if not 40 depending upon how they choose to do it.

I know. Next weekend we have 2 episodes again, for 2 days.

Nope.
In the novel Qian Qian was a servant purchased into the Sui Family. Qi Min's nanny forced her to become his concubine. Qi Min's nanny drugged both of them to sleep with each other and conceive a child. Both Qi Min and Qian Qian do not remember each other's faces the next morning due to the effect of the drug.
Qi Min hated the woman with whom he was forced to sleep. Qian Qian was detected to be pregnant and put on house arrest by Qi Min's nanny. They both never saw each other again after that night of which they have no memories.
Qian Qian planned to ran away, but spotted Qi Min who was attempting suicide/or mistakenly fell into water (this I cannot remember). She saved him without knowing who he was. He wore a mask as he always would to hide his scars, but she was not scared of him, being the only person not being scared of him. He fell for her. When he enquired about her, and met her again, he found out she was the woman he slept with. That is the scene we were shown the jade scene.
Later fearing for her child, Qian Qian ran away, and Qi Min has been trying to find her since years.
(This entire thing is according to the novel)

Hahaha, its just the first two letters of my pet name and birth month. But I never thought about this lol.

Qi Min is the third most important character in the story after the leads. The 3 of them have an interconnected past, and everything stems from Qi Min. His story is vital, not just for what happened 17 years back, but for running the plot currently, as well as the climax and aftermath.
Romance has nothing to do with it. Its just a flawed character, he is abusive, and Qian Qian is his victim. Not every couple they show us have to be shipped or loved. Its just a story, with characters. While you and many others might feel its filler or not interesting, Qi Min is a huge part of the novel, and in the drama they cannot do with it.
Plus the leads are separated, hence to add the second leads scenes, is more convenient. Don't worry according to previews, leads are meeting in the next episode, so we will have their scenes again.

Yes its similar. XZ and FC went their separate ways, before meeting again in the military camp.

Qi Min is not a regular guy. He has a secret identity. He knows he is protected only because of that secret identity. His child, having his blood can easily replace him, that's why he never wanted children. He was drugged to have the kid.
For him his survival is more important than anything in the world. He is a madman, he has never received love, he doesn't know how to love anyone. He is just focused on his goals, and to achieve them he can kill the entire, no matter whom. He cannot feel empathy as such.

Qi Min doesn't hate Xie Zheng. Remember he was willing to trade a huge quantity of grains to him, even left bothering Qian Qian for a while, just because he wanted to ally with Xie Zheng.
Its just that later he realized Xie Zheng is not very interested in forming an alliance with him, so he started making his own plans. But till now he has not tried killing him even once. He even told Sui Yuanqing that he would easily defeat Xie Zheng boosting his morals, making him overconfident, didn't tell him that Changning was not ML's daughter, everything was in favour of ML.

Yes

That's a different thing, to believe it or not, is a perception, everyone is entitled to theirs. I am just saying the issue was addressed, now if it makes sense or not, can be different for different people.

16th to 20th- one episode each day.

They had addressed the stink issue. FL's mother made perfumes. It was an indication towards how she might have a different identity, but she made them like it was not known in the common households around them. FL told ML that only through those perfumes, while other butchers houses and their bodies smelled, this was never a problem in their house.

For Bao'er to be conceived, both Qian Qian and Qi Min were drugged and forced to sleep together.

So true. We need to understand that everything shown in a drama/movie is not something inspirational, not promoting something. They are just flawed characters telling a story. Complicated characters make a story interesting, especially someone as flawed as Qi Min. Plus the fact that Deng Kai is doing the best acting of his career here, is such a cherry on the cake.

Oh I remember this. Too bad I did not understand what they were saying in the bts. But I remember it now.