antiherodiaries

We need to be friends 🤣 Your rant is everything I've been losing sleep over.

Marquis Wu'an continues to be THE goat in the novel. You don't lose him, even his yearning of Fan Changyu is very much from the standpoint of man who can overthrow an empire. He manages his revenge while managing his romance and still be able to keep her whole family safe.

Yeah I was not impress with this scene. In the novel, Changyu reacts instinctively back to her training with her father not her butchering a pig.

I don't know why they chose twin swords for her. She's supposed to have a 斬馬刀 (horse cutting sword). It's a broad sword with a long handle like the one Xie Zhang carries.

I didn’t feel this level of absence or character digression from Xie Zheng in the novel—he never stopped feeling like a general. In the drama, though, his status comes across as much more muted.

For me, it comes down to the difference in medium. In a novel, Xie Zheng’s actions can be conveyed in just a few lines—his timely arrival at battles or decisive off-screen strategies—and the reader fills in the weight of those moments. But in a visual medium, those moments can’t just be implied; they need to be shown. They’re essential not only for character credibility but also for world-building.

A good comparison is Gandalf arriving at Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. If that moment had only been mentioned off-screen instead of shown, the emotional payoff wouldn’t land the same way. It’s the same issue here—without actually seeing Xie Zheng’s capabilities in action, the drama ends up telling us who he is rather than demonstrating it, which weakens both his character and the overall stakes.

To everyone feeling frustrated by the lack of Xie Zheng action scenes—you’re not alone. Imagine The Lord of the Rings if we never saw Aragorn fight a single orc. That’s what it starts to feel like.

Someone mentioned that the author leaned too heavily into the CP, and I agree—that shift has cost us another compelling layer of the story.

And while I agree that Changyu is central to the narrative, I don’t think her strength needs to come at the cost of diminishing Xie Zheng. That duality between them is part of what makes the story compelling in the first place.

I changed mine to an 8. the second act is so important to both character growth and it got screwed over.

The first half stayed primarily true to the novel—that’s why it was solid; most of the work had already been done. The second act strayed, so you can see that the screenwriter’s weakness lies in rewriting.

The second act got screwed. In the novel, Changyu was at the brink of collapse when an arrow flew from the hills and struct Lord Chengxin. But the lord was beheaded, so it was implied that she beheaded him right before she fainted. this would have been an epic fight scene if filmed correctly.

I've changed my ratings 🥹. the second act really screwed up in quality and now I'm afraid for the third act. This brings back the trauma of Lost You Forever where they totally eff up the third act. 💀☠️

I agree. I am not ahuge ai fan.

Argh...me too! the handling of Xie Zhang character is pissing me off. He's the anti hero in the whole ass drama and y'all gonna screw him over. It was not balance writing at all, which is contrary to the novel.

I think Cdamalamd have been using AI to do alot of special effects lately....which explains the fast turnaround of releases. CGI at least still needs a human to design and create it, so there's still human touch to it.

the fight with Sui Yuanqing

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

I CAN'T BELIEVE we lost another action scene for Xie Zhang.

( TДT)

I didn't say she was stupid. Changyu is street smart. And she is illiterate in both the novel and drama.

General Li is four people from the novel: Li Huai An, Wen Kan, General he son and Zheng dude.

She couldn't read in the novel either.

Changyu refused to learn. It wasn't just her parents. Tutor Tao says Changyu lacked "wisdom". 🤣

No. Qian was rescued by Xie Zheng's personal guards during the aftermath of the battle at Lucheng.

Pursuit of Jade is not a female-centric narrative; it is equally Xie Zhang’s story as well, as it is a coming-of-age journey for both leads. FCY grows up and learns the hardships and burdens of filial piety, love, and patriotism. Xie Zhang, in turn, learns about love, redemption, and sacrifice.
The second arc of the story has watered down their development to cater more to romance-driven viewership, which is unfortunate.

Jade carries a dual symbolism: Xie Zhang is described as a rare piece of jade (as seen in FCY’s conversation with Madam Zhao about the fake marriage), and “jade” is also embedded in Changyu’s name.
Thus, “pursuing jade” works on two levels—Xie Zhang pursuing Changyu, and Changyu pursuing Xie Zhang.

In the novel, FCY did trained alot with th army before the Battle at Lucheng. Unfortunately the drama skipped all this.