Amy

One thing I'm intrigued by is the fact that Resentful Woman appeared twice throughout the timeline. The first time was 900 years ago in the battle with Mu Qing Shi. The second time is now. I wonder if they were the same person or different people, as it doesn't seem to make sense for the one from 900 years ago to be Zi Qi's mom. Maybe Resentful Woman is a separate soul that took over Zi Qi's mom because she was mentally weak. Either that or there will be a time travel element in the finale where Miao Miao brings the Resentful Woman back in time 900 years ago and defeats her as Mu Qing Shi (we know she looks just like Miao Miao from the painting and has the same powers/crest on the forehead). This would complete the prophecy and make the story a loop in which the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end.

That's possible. Also Miao Miao saved Mu Yao's real life counterpart from being bullied by the other kids. Maybe Fu Zhou had a secret crush on Miao Miao after that and started caring for her after her dad died in the car accident.

If the crescent spear is really a pen, then it makes sense why it's described to be able to reverse time, destroy things and create worlds. Either Fu Zhou entered the fictional world and became Zi Qi but forgot, or Zi Qi eventually became Fu Zhou using the spear's powers.

Also someone mentioned that the shape of the crescent spear looks a lot like a calligraphy pen, potentially hinting at Zi Qi being Fu Zhou the author.

That's sad lmao

Yeah I rewatched and noticed that dialogue too. However I wonder if there was someone else helping the dowager to put the worry free curse on Zhao Qing Huan since dowager doesn't know how to use spells . That someone could've been Mu Yao's father.

I think so

I heard from somewhere that it originally had 36 episodes, not sure if it's true or not. The regulations allow dramas to be 40 episodes long, so I wonder why they had to cut it down (if they did). They could've at least spent some time fleshing out the romance line, for example they shouldn't have cut out the part where Miao Miao explains to Zi Qi about the bracelet. The reunion scene could've been made to be more impactful too, tbh. I think the drama really needs to pick up some steam leading towards the final episodes.

I'm slightly worried about the remaining 10 episodes as there seems to be a lot left to unpack. We still have the "system" arc which is a mystery surrounding the real identities of the system / Zi Qi / Miao Miao and why she was pulled into this world + who created it, then we have the main story arc, Zi Qi's backstory, the romance lines... I'm not sure we have enough time to flesh out all these things and the recent episodes have been a bit slow. I really hope it doesn't have a rushed ending like the writer's previous works where the leads just stare at each other for 10 seconds and the drama ends...

The credits has DYX as Fu Zhou

I think it airs one episode till Thur, then it is uncertain. Maybe it will change to air 2 episodes after that

Mu Yao's father is a pretty good guess. I don't know what that person's motivation could be, but they are most likely someone who treats demons poorly, has the power to make spells, and is probably not a demon. Mu Yao's father would match that description quite well.

Omg that's creepy. She really did forget she was from the real world. I guess that's the consequence of gaining those powers. She became Mu Qing Shi and an actual character in the book...

Yes I meant the Goddess Mei, "Mei" means charming in Chinese.

I don't know who wiped their memories, but I'm guessing it's someone from the palace. Perhaps dowager Zhao or someone who hasn't been introduced yet like Marquis Zhao's wife. The worldview is that people have a lot of prejudice towards demons, even though they are sometimes innocent. It's basically racism? So someone really hated Marquis Zhao falling in love with a demon and had to put a stop to it. I think a lot of the theme is about making people understand that demons are misunderstood and not inherently bad.

Personally, I think the drama is an improvement on the novel. The novel features a more ruthless and sinister Zi Qi, which a lot of novel fans like, but may not have made it pass censorship if the drama simply adapted it as is. If Zi Qi treated Miao Miao too poorly at the beginning, people would probably root for their relationship less. On top of that, novel Miao Miao doesn't seem to love Zi Qi that much.

The novel also pitted the two female leads against each other by forcing Miao Miao to pretend to like Liu Fu Yi as part of the mission objectives. The drama changed the female competition into a female friendship.

I won't spoil the ending of the novel, but it wasn't an ending that made a lot of sense. It felt more like a forced happy ending in the post-credits/epilogue to make up for a fake bad ending. I bet the drama also has a happy ending, and judging from all the foreshadowing, they're going to try to have it make sense (I hope).

I think if you like bad male leads and steamy scenes, the novel might be enjoyable for you. It has a lot of steamy sensual moments. Other than that, the drama does better at meeting public taste. If you're trying to spoil yourself by reading the novel, I have to say that the drama deviates quite a lot from the novel, so even having read the novel, you may still not know what will happen in the drama.

Definitely try Love Between Fairy and Devil too! I watched that one and enjoyed it a lot. It has the same screenwriter as Love Game In Eastern Fantasy.

According to the palace people, the late Marquis Zhao was bewitched by the Resentful Woman's bracelet and fell for her. My theory is this is not true, just rumors spread by people who didn't like Marquis Zhao being with the Resentful Woman - since it was shown to us that Marquis Zhao was holding the bracelet, NOT wearing it, when he said he felt like he had lost something important in his life. He felt as though the bracelet was given to him by a lover that he had forgotten, so he kept the bracelet for years.

It appears he got his memories wiped, not by the bracelet but by some kind of spell, and he had truly loved the Resentful Woman but just could not get back to her due to the memory erasure. The Resentful Woman probably thought she was abandoned, and took care of their son Zi Qi as a single mother. When Zi Qi was 6-7 years old, he tried to assassinate Marquis Zhao - there was a scene that showed Marquis being stabbed and young Zi Qi running away. Maybe Zi Qi was caught and got his memories wiped just like his father, so he does not remember anything before the age of 7.

Zi Qi is still in denial that he is half demon, but I think he does have his mother's demon blood. The Resentful Woman and the Charming Woman are shown to be the same person, and according to the townspeople and Mu Yao, the Charming Woman (a demon seductress) was worshipped like a deity by the townspeople. I think she was originally seen as a love goddess who would give blessings to couples, kind of like Aphrodite or a red thread matchmaker, but since her heart was broken by a lover, she turned dark and the Resentful Woman persona took over. Everyone thinks she's just purely evil, but she probably has a sad backstory and was at some point a victim herself.

Also Mu Yao's father is a bit suspicious. I have a feeling he's not really a good person as Mu Yao thinks and may have been taking advantage of the demons.

Some of my theories about the plot

This sounds like the right drama for you, if you want to try watching the fantasy genre. This one has some comedy elements, good chemistry between the leads (this is their second time collaborating), and it's comparatively shorter than a lot of other fantasy Chinese dramas so easier to get into.

Yeah seems like his memories got wiped so he could live a new life

Lots of chemistry as this is Esther Yu and Ding Yu Xi's second time collaborating