Xiang83

You can see my comment to nightdivine just above this comment of yours. The Screenwriters and Directors have displayed strong understanding of the novel plus necessary changes in adaptation for the drama, so I believe they might be able to pull it off.

https://kisskh.at/768987-wan-xin-ji#comment-23757246

It's currently still a speculation, but I believe the screenwriters put certain scenes in earlier episodes for that reason. For the drama ending to match the novel ending if the details fall into place, I put certain details under spoilers here:

https://kisskh.at/discussions/768987-wan-xin-ji/145636-novel-versus-drama-differences?pid=3407420&page=2#p3407420

I think he will be the key that allows Feng Suige to become Emperor, if the ending of this drama matches the novel. After seeing how evil his grandfather and mother truly are as rulers, if the second prince holds true to his values and loves his older brother which is what was shown multiple times in the drama, he may secretly communicate with his older brother and co-operate in a plan for Feng Suige to become emperor because he thinks his mother and grandfather are too evil.

Considering how useless his brother is as a ruler (which Xia Jingyan's biological mother the Dowager Empress pointed out), Xia Jingshi knows he must return to Jinxiu Kingdom otherwise without him, Susha Kingdom might succeed in invading and conquering Jinxiu. The Empress Dowager in episode 20 told Xia Jingshi if not for him in charge at Pingling, multiple incursions from Susha Kingdom would have succeeded.

Losing his military power would also mean he would be at the mercy of his brother who would have a good reason to stop giving a monthly antidote before he is ready to act on a permanent solution, be at the mercy of assassins from any political faction or kingdom, and at the mercy of whatever happens in Susha Kingdom. Xia Jingshi cannot remain in Susha Kingdom for multiple reasons.

And as to my total thoughts on XJS at this point, here is what I add: Before this comment, I made one comment elsewhere along the lines of, "He is at the mercy of his younger brother and step-mother, and he is finding a way to survive and overcome that. He did tell Xiyang she could leave him, when they were at the border. He also told Xiyang he would never love her, and all he could give is the status accorded as the wife of the Prince of Zhennan. The death camp he maintained doesn't mean he is excused, nor his decision to sacrifice his own citizens in battle. It's a question of how unacceptable his ruthlessness is."

Yixiao couldn't accept it, understandably. Willing to sacrifice so many of his own citizens is unacceptable. As to the death camp, I don't know if he was going to use that death camp against his own brother who is poisoning him and wants to kill him one day, which Xia Jingshi knows very well.

If he made Xiao Weiran, Ning Fei and Yixiao loyal to him by lying to them about the death camp (ie if he didn't really rescue them from the death camp but lied to them because he saw they were the most capable and likely to be most useful to him), then that is unacceptable.

All this does not mean Xia Jingshi is heartless or without honour. Even if he isn't heartless and he has honour in certain aspects, he would still be unacceptable to me based on the one fact of the many citizens he wanted to sacrifice and not because he shot Yixiao or wanted to harm Feng Suige.

Susha Kingdom is not innocent. XJS is needed by JInxiu Kingdom because it is a fact that his brother is incompetent. Being needed by Jinxiu Kingdom and his own goals are two separate matters, given his choices about a death camp and at one point willing to sacrifice his citizens. The Empress Dowager already praised XJS repelling multiple attempted incursions by Susha Kingdom at Pingling City. XJS wanting Feng Suige dead is justified, but his previous thwarted method is not.

Drama-Xiyang is better than novel-Xiyang at this point. Drama-Xiyang is actually true in mentality to novel-Xiyang. Novel-Xiyang's naivety and selfishness gets XJS captured and badly-tortured by his evil younger brother, and even after knowing how evil the Emperor is and the circumstances of Yixiao + Suige + XJS in in the tight position of needing to break through and survive, Xiyang still frees the Emperor they captured who therefore gets a second chance to take XJS and kill him and everyone else. XJS proposes a swap between Xiyang for XJS. XJS kept his promise of never abandoning Xiyang, even if he didn't love her and also made this very clear. After finally realising something pertaining to XJS, Xiyang sacrifices herself for XJS and is mortally wounded.

In the novel, Feng Suige and Yixiao back XJS to be the Emperor. Here, if that is to happen in such circumstances in the drama, I only see one possible path to do so if the plot is to be legit. The screenwriters already wrote XJS for the first 16 episodes until he is almost a totally-different person from novel-XJS, and I get why they did it. Doesn't mean I am not annoyed with them sacrificing the most-noble character in the novel so everyone else gets better portrayals and better relationships including Feng Suige's father.

Before I commented to you, I made one comment elsewhere along the lines of, "He is at the mercy of his younger brother and step-mother, and he is finding a way to survive and overcome that. He did tell Xiyang she could leave him, when they were at the border. He also told Xiyang he would never love her, and all he could give is the status accorded as the wife of the Prince of Zhennan. The death camp he maintained doesn't mean he is excused, nor his decision to sacrifice his own citizens in battle. It's a question of how unacceptable his ruthlessness is."

Yixiao couldn't accept it, understandably. Willing to sacrifice so many of his own citizens is unacceptable. As to the death camp, I don't know if he was going to use that death camp against his own brother who is poisoning him and wants to kill him one day, which Xia Jingshi knows very well.

If he made Xiao Weiran, Ning Fei and Yixiao loyal to him by lying to them about the death camp (ie if he didn't really rescue them from the death camp but lied to them because he saw they were the most capable and likely to be most useful to him), then that is unacceptable.

All this does not mean Xia Jingshi is heartless or without honour. Even if he isn't heartless and he has honour in certain aspects, he would still be unacceptable to me based on the one fact of the many citizens he wanted to sacrifice and not because he shot Yixiao or wanted to harm Feng Suige.

Susha Kingdom is not innocent. XJS is needed by JInxiu Kingdom because it is a fact that his brother is incompetent. Being needed by Jinxiu Kingdom and his own goals are two separate matters, given his choices about a death camp and at one point willing to sacrifice his citizens. The Empress Dowager already praised XJS repelling multiple attempted incursions by Susha Kingdom at Pingling City. XJS wanting Feng Suige dead is justified, but his previous thwarted method is not.

Drama-Xiyang is better than novel-Xiyang at this point. Drama-Xiyang is actually true in mentality to novel-Xiyang. Novel-Xiyang's naivety and selfishness gets XJS captured and badly-tortured by his evil younger brother, and even after knowing how evil the Emperor is and the circumstances of Yixiao + Suige + XJS in in the tight position of needing to break through and survive, Xiyang still frees the Emperor they captured who therefore gets a second chance to take XJS and kill him and everyone else. XJS proposes a swap between Xiyang for XJS. XJS kept his promise of never abandoning Xiyang, even if he didn't love her and also made this very clear. After finally realising something pertaining to XJS, Xiyang sacrifices herself for XJS and is mortally wounded.

In the novel, Feng Suige and Yixiao back XJS to be the Emperor. Here, if that is to happen in such circumstances in the drama, I only see one possible path to do so if the plot is to be legit. The screenwriters already wrote XJS for the first 16 episodes until he is almost a totally-different person from novel-XJS, and I get why they did it. Doesn't mean I am not annoyed with them sacrificing the most-noble character in the novel so everyone else gets better portrayals and better relationships including Feng Suige's father.

Considering how useless his brother is as a ruler (which Xia Jingyan's biological mother the Dowager Empress pointed out), Xia Jingshi knows he must return to Jinxiu Kingdom otherwise without him, Susha Kingdom might succeed in invading and conquering Jinxiu. The Empress Dowager in episode 20 told Xia Jingshi if not for him in charge at Pingling, multiple incursions from Susha Kingdom would have succeeded.

Losing his military power would also mean he would be at the mercy of his brother who would have a good reason to stop giving a monthly antidote before he is ready to act on a permanent solution, be at the mercy of assassins from any political faction or kingdom, and at the mercy of whatever happens in Susha Kingdom. Xia Jingshi cannot remain in Susha Kingdom for multiple reasons.

No, I didn't forget, which is why I also said in my initial comment, "The death camp he maintained doesn't mean he is excused, nor his decision to sacrifice his own citizens in battle. It's a question of how unacceptable his ruthlessness is."

Yixiao couldn't accept it, understandably. Willing to sacrifice so many of his own citizens is unacceptable. As to the death camp, I don't know if he was going to use that death camp against his own brother who is poisoning him and wants to kill him one day, which Xia Jingshi knows very well.

If he made Xiao Weiran, Ning Fei and Yixiao loyal to him by lying to them about the death camp (ie if he didn't really rescue them from the death camp but lied to them because he saw they were the most capable and likely to be most useful to him), then that is unacceptable.

All this does not mean Xia Jingshi is heartless or without honour. Even if he isn't heartless and he has honour in certain aspects, he would still be unacceptable to me based on the one fact of the many citizens he wanted to sacrifice and not because he shot Yixiao.

In the novel, Xia Jingshi was justified in shooting Yixiao but in the drama, he's justified only if one agrees with his reasoning which in my case, is a no.

IQiyi Light On is for crime and mystery, IQiyi Love On is for romance. "Beloved" and "The Bad Kids" from the Light On series is recommended. Top-notch acting and plot.

We also deviated into Ah lam gor's voice and his other dramas, so the threads didn't stay on point XD He did a funny interview where Sandra Ng was the hostess.

IQiyi's Light On series are dramas of mostly 16 episodes each, focusing on crime and mystery, with the human psychology interest varying depending on the drama. There's at least 4 good dramas. Not Sci-fi.

I am finishing Time Raiders being the first season of DMBJ, which the author greatly contributed to its creation and is making future seasons with the same cast, to cover several of his books.

I remember watching at least one Justice Bao drama series while growing up as a kid. As to age, no need to guess. You can find a few of us going gaga over Chi lam in two threads in TJOL XD

https://kisskh.at/768985-fu-shan-hai#comment-23682152

https://kisskh.at/768985-fu-shan-hai#comment-23683014

I think drama-XJS pities her. When he isn't tormented by his love for Yixiao or effects of poison or considerations of other issues, his reaction to her is not hostile. He understandably became hostile when Xiyang tried to strip him and become intimate with him, despite Xiyang knowing XJS has no feelings for her and is in love with Yixiao. But that was very brief, because he moved away from her and resumed being coldly distant.

What is the justification for Xiyang doing this to a man she claims to love, while knowing he was forced to marry her and he doesn't love her?

I'll check that out! Also, notifications are scrambled due to MDL's issues. That's why I am replying so late XD

I would gladly read Strange Tales of Liao Zhai, Canonisation of Deities or Journey To The West but if I am forced to do Dream of Red Mansion one more time, I'll gladly plant my face into a block of tofu and possibly not resurface.

I am still figuring my way out for Sci-fi. IQiyi's Light On series has been quite engaging, and this is a compilation of all the different series in chronological order: https://kisskh.at/775587-iqiyi-light-on

XJS was actually ready to die at one point, as per the flashback when he told Yixiao to leave him and she refused.

This is the spoiler for XJS and Xiyang that I shared yesterday before today's episodes. Seems to be on-point so far, including future episodes: https://kisskh.at/768987-wan-xin-ji#comment-23740534

Because the screenwriters and directors clearly didn't have sufficient grasp of the source material, and the insertion of the original elements of transmigration was also not well-thought-out and not well-handled. The end results prove they couldn't even decide on the creative final vision for the ML's development and delivery which affected Cheng Yi pretty badly, much less the creative final result for this drama, and it affected a lot of other performances. Cheng Yi's brothers are very one-dimensional due to lazy writing in the adaptation. The editing is also atrocious (such as not giving Li Chenzhou the scenes needed with Xiao Qiushui), and Liu Suifeng got so much screentime it didn't make sense, so one gets a terrible story.

In the hands of the directors and screenwriter of Fated Hearts, Cheng Yi would have been the ML with the right focus. That novel was adapted very well for the currently-airing drama ( I read the novel, so I know the differences in characterisations and plots for Fated Hearts).

He isn't heartless. He is at the mercy of his younger brother and step-mother, and he is finding a way to survive and overcome that. He did tell Xiyang she could leave him, when they were at the border. He also told Xiyang he would never love her, and all he could give is the status accorded as the wife of the Prince of Zhennan. The death camp he maintained doesn't mean he is excused, nor his decision to sacrifice his own citizens in battle. It's a question of how unacceptable his ruthlessness is.

XIyang doesn't realise how badly she wounds him once she starts wearing a certain specific dress and hairstyle of Yixiao to try to make XJS fall in love with her.

There is no Murong Yao in the novel, and Feng Suige doesn't suffer any of that. The novel is quite different.

Oh yes, I got one thing mixed up, which is that the Emperor of Jinxiu is the younger brother of XJS, and that is the same in the novel. I got mixed up on this detail because I was reading another novel. Yesterday, I also gave another MDL user spoilers about what happens to Xiyang and XJS after episode 18. This was before today's episodes aired, and seems to match my spoilers for episodes 19 and 20 plus future episodes:

https://kisskh.at/768987-wan-xin-ji#comment-23740534

If you want specifics on Xia Jingshi, understanding the initial changes for the first 32 chapters of the novel versus the drama would help. I created a discussion post for that, with a link to my comment summarising those details.

If you want to know what might happen to Xia Jingshi and Xiyang after episode 18 based on the Reuters available and many theories out there, then this is what I have summarised: https://kisskh.at/768987-wan-xin-ji#comment-23740534

What are your thoughts on Elvis Han Dongjun's performance at this point?

Zhang Tian'ai has captivated me in this drama. I would really like to see her and Li Qin together in a female-centric drama, perhaps where they front an agency.

Wait for Vendetta of An. You have every right to be disappointed and angry with how this turned out. That pink robe was a terrible choice for Cheng Yi, and it's odd when Eleanor Lee and Gulnezar had much better styling. I found Liu Suifeng not to be bland, and that is due to the actor's efforts plus the bewildering fact of his story being edited and portrayed in a far smoother manner than Xiao Qiushui. If I had not focused on Liu Suifeng as the pivotal point for seven episodes to understand the rest of the drama in a sensible manner, I would have dropped the drama by episode 4.

I am certain a fair number of watchers took their personal views to DM. I know some of them didn't dare to voice their thoughts in this comment section. Even though some of the ratings for this drama are very unfair on MDL and IMDB due to some weird fan war, TJOL didn't do as well as expected domestically despite a big budget and not having strong competition during its run because TTL was already over. A lot of Cheng Yi fans should rightfully feel hurt about Cheng Yi's efforts relative to the end result, but not to the point that anything negative about this drama becomes anybody saying so as "haters".

The Directors, Scriptwriters and post-production team should have been fired, and I explained why in my review.

What are you looking for in a drama, at this point?