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Okay that part is sad. Thats not cool to be haunted for something you are innocent of.

Basically the emperor is on the verge of death, his crown prince isnt popular so political asshats like King Liang have visions of taking over and founding their own dynasties. Wang sees this as an opportunity to take over his province in a way he could not legally do before. So all those rich merchants and nobles he had to suck up to and resented for being more noble or rich than him are now completely under his control or dead. Its a larger version of what his son did to that woman and her husband. Its not legal, but he’s playing his cards so whoever wins the throne will be to busy trying to stabilize their rule to do anything about holding him responsible. I mean if you were a dude who just became emperor and now had to manage 13 provinces, a post civil war, famine ridden, flooded country, and this rich guys who did some bad shit in the war offers to pay for all your new and improved government actions, are you going to look to closely at what one guy did for his own slice of power? Wang wouldnt. So he’s betting King Liang or whoever else wins the throne wont.

This is whole plotline is new. A total departure from the book. I can only think concubine did it in a way the kids didn’t see or he’s too traumatized from ALL the bad things he saw in a short period of time.

One thing I love in the book is that the siblings desperate desire to save each other means the survive to move beyond this terrible thing that happened to them. It changes them both a-lot but doesn't define them. They have lives and Wang dies. So satisfying. YS is also very naive in general. Later on GS has to protect him from that sometimes.

Right on both counts. He basically holds the Ye siblings hostage against each other. Events unfold so LY can save them. YY uses the chaos to murder the bastard.

Okay I get what you mean. So basically first arc is over. They meet, they marry, their hometown and the whole country erupt in war. Second part is finding their way in their new home. Creating business contacts, joining politics etc. there a whole arc about LY gaining supplies and money for her new province. Which Im guessing will be highly edited because it involved speculation. Eventually GS will get left in charge of the province capitol city while the provincial governor Fan, zhou ye and zhou ye’s dad go to make Fan emperor. I think that scene in the trailer is from when the provincial capitol is attacked and GS has to lead its defense with like two pieces of string and some tape. (All the supplies and best soldiers went with Fan) He plays a lot of mind games.

That part was smart. Give up one bag not to get mobbed.

That was me describing zhou ye and his dad’s attitude towards helping LY and GS. The capitol stuff is the last arc of the novel so Im guessing we wont get there for at least 8 more episodes.

When presented with a child about to die, Id give them a piece of my food. It wasn’t wise given the situation but it was completely understandable. And in reality while they didn't know where they’d get more food, they have never been truly hungry like the refugees they were walking through. That gives them a subconscious confidence in finding food. In the book the stuff with refugees was a lot worse than in the show. And they had more awful encounters than what we saw. Also I may be misremembering but I remember in the book it was GS who made the first generous mistake. LY was more ruthlessly pragmatic. And it killed her to be like that.

GS is getting the goods on what is happening in each province directly from the people who lived there. He is going to finagle his way into the government with the intention of doing everything he can (within ethics) and to gain the power to help everyone. Huzi is the greatest and I am so glad we have now met him. (Think a GS protege/mini me) Meanwhile don't count LY and her mother-in-law out. They overcome as per usual with flexible/creative solutions that help more than just their family. Zhou Ye cant do too much to help. He does help where he can. But you gotta remember his dad and him work for the guy in charge of the province. They have to walk a line of respectfullness and practicality. I like all the stuff they’ve shown for LXS to lay the groundwork for when he’ll really shine: in the capitol arc. Its a ways a way but everyone will get there eventually.

Is it bad Im thankful? He's doing such a good job with the levels of this character. During the speech the friend gave before his head was chopped off they framed the shot like LXS was indifferent, but the actor brought that extra level that will pay off later when/if they follow the book. It wasn't just GJ or the crowd or us that thought the friends death was a huge tragedy and epitomized everything that can go wrong because of bad government.

It wasnt really romantic in the book. It was desperate. The sheer stubbornness of both of them fighting so desperately to keep each other alive brought the feels. They did alright. It was well acted. Not sure it was framed or the build up to that moment was enough.

It has comedy because of the ML but the actual story is very serious.

The sojourn across their war torn, famine ravage, flooded country is my favorite part in the book. I don't think they adequately showed how dangerous being the journey was. In the book each province they travel through has its own problems that show the lack of governance that had been going on for years. It directly informs what our ML and FL prioritize in their future business and political goals. They could have done four or five episodes on just this time period. But yeah, it wasn't as exciting as it could have been and cutting it down really just meant we got through it faster. Whats coming up next should be more fun. ML will use all his shameless craziness he used to waste on games into fixing all the problems he’s now seen. Keeping his promise to his friend.

In the book, both LY and GJ moms made it out. LY’s mom was fortunately already at GU house due to LY’s birthday and had already planned to escape with them. The whole thing with the concubine feels like a new storyline they added. Which may end up great but feels crazy given how many storylines from the book we still need to get through. We’ll see how they play this after should-be-dead-concubines shifty eyes. GJ’s dad should be alive. The Ye survivors help him in the book. Hopefully they don’t change that.

If Id been one of those soldiers, I might have been dumb enough to just stab the horse I had to swing my sword to avoid :-p

I think we are suppose to assume that it was fireworks related…and the horse was…magically abandoned at the docks during the chaos?

It was more believable how she saves him in the novel. But that would have been a big time consuming set piece to explain where she got the explosives and where she actually dropped them from. Plus the prophectic dream that led her there. They got the basics: newbie horse rider and causing an explosion as a distraction. I just wish they’d held on her from GJ’s perspective. In the book it reads as this moment out of time in which he knows he’s going to die and his ladylike wife appears out of nowhere in a blue dress and blows shit up. The soldiers didn’t see her cause she came from behind in a building. only GJ saw her clearly because he was facing that way.