Brennnndda

I actually like that Yuan Qing is a dud. Maybe I'm giving the drama/script too much credit but Yuan Qing and Wei Xuan weren't the end-all villains so I expect that they are on the dumber side. Both guys are also coasting on who their fathers are, not on their own merit which explains why both are in positions of power but are very rash and arrogant yet all their plans fail.
They are minor hindrances on the way to the big bosses so I never thought they'd be much of a threat. I'm hoping Wei Yan isn't disappointing once the battle with him goes full-out.

Wed and Thurs are so far away 😭

The more I see him, the more I firmly believe he's foolish. He's vicious, arrogant, young, and extremely foolish which is a very dangerous combination of attributes.
The fact that he was so overconfident in his abilities and his numbers just shows how inexperienced in battle he actually is.

I think I'm low-key mad at Xie Zheng for not having 1 or 2 soldiers stay behind to keep an eye on Chang Yu, especially after the Lin'An massacre. I don't mean leave soldiers behind to monitor her, more just to make sure she was safe. I know he thought she would stay with Li Huai An to look for Chang Ning, but that also tells me he underestimated her character. Her sister was missing, who wouldn't be out looking for them in her situation?
Yes, I realize they are in times of war and he can't spare soldiers, but after everything she went through, I'm shocked he just let her go and that was that, like he literally didn't keep any tabs on her. . .especially now that the dam flooding incident occurred.
What would he have done if he learned that she was a casualty in that situation? The irony was that the flooding incident was to thwart Sui army and get back Chang Ning but it could've cost him Chang Yu.

Sui Yuan Qing is actually not as evil as Qi Min. Aside from the massacre, he actually just seems young and foolish. If not for the massacre, he might actually be likable.

I think I saw a BTS where at least one dies or was gravely injured. Never invest in the minions, it always punches viewers in the guts later

Sui Yuan Qing is definitely befitting of the dark comedy portion. He's so evil but so silly at the same time that I snicker at his antics.
I don't even know if it would count as dark comedy at this point for Qi Min. I want to say his scenes satisfy my masochistic heart but then the way he treats his son makes me wish for him to suffer when he dies. I just want to smack him. Like, stop torturing your own son, he's innocent and pure and just wants to see his mom.

She's playing the long game and for that, I'm cheering for her.

It's funny that the Sui brothers' desire is really simplistic. They both just want a life with their beloveds and their offspring (okay...maybe just the beloved for QM) but they are both going about it in such a psychotic way.

I'm all here for it because he's going to deserve it

What is ironic about Qi Min's character is that usually with obsessive characters, they show a ruthless/vicious side to others but are deceptively sweet and endearing to the person they are obsessed with. Qi Min is the exact opposite. He has a weak/sickly facade with everyone but with Yu Qian Qian, he's outwardly aggressive.
Bro..that's why you aren't winning brownie points with her. She is right to be terrified of you.

Pretty privilege is astounding. These Sui brothers are lucky they are so pretty because they are CRAZY!

These toxic Sui brothers got me catching feelings I shouldn't be feeling 😆

It's funny how aggrieved the Empress was. ..as if she and her father didn't falsely frame and kill an innocent woman then plot to kill her son for 15+ years. The fact that she was begging for her father the same way FSG begged to see his mom was poetic justice.

I don't care what happens to Jinxiu, but I'm thinking Feng Sui Ge will leave the Susha throne to his brother and take over/join the Alliance with Fu Yi Xiao.

His dad took such a dark turn though. He went from "save my son" to "we must lure and kill FSG" within a couple scenes.

I'm actually really curious how FSG and FYX are going to turn things around at this point. Literally EVERYONE around FSG betrayed him and his battalion was slaughtered during his escape. They still have 2 sides to fight: Murong Yao and Jinxiu..and then of course they had to throw in another memory loss.

The princess is the most annoying character. I get the being coddled, but she really turned her eyes and ears off to everything political. She betrayed her family and oh-so-desperately threw herself at Xia Jingshi just to be spiteful that he...said no. So she can't even take rejection with grace (so like her father and step-mother).

Yeah, the Jinxiu plot is kind of funny in that it should've been developed earlier when the attention was still on Xia Jingshi. Now that we know Murong Yao was the true mastermind/traitor, we're not invested in anything with Xia Jingshi anymore. Plus, no one in Jinxiu kingdom is likable enough for us to care what happens to them.

I'm finally catching up and episode 11-her argument with her parents broke my heart. Not for her parents..but for Xu Yan's mental state. She genuinely cannot comprehend why her parents are upset because they've shown her (unintentionally) throughout the years that she's not their priority.
For her mind to automatically jump to "Oh! You guys are upset because you think this life belongs to Qiao Lin and not me" just shows how much damage they did to her. The biggest issue? Her parents never self reflect. It's never "Where did we screw up? How did we break our daughter to this point?" it's only ever "You're ungrateful! How can you hurt your parents so much?!" and blah blah. Also..were they really so neglectful that they didn't even know she legally changed her name to Xu?
I'm actually hoping she doesn't reconcile with her parents. Toxicity just needs to be cleanly cut off. The thing about Xu Yan is that she doesn't go looking for trouble. She literally just exists and problems chase her everywhere. You can see she just wants some peace and yet every time she thinks of letting her guard down, someone comes and attacks her.

Her character/situation is really similar to k-drama My Daughter, Seo Young. One lie which spiraled out of control. I'm hoping she gets the transformation Seo Young did; divorce, self-discovery, freedom and happiness.

They couldn't care for her because she had heart problems so they basically abandoned her to be raised by her maternal grandmother when she was an infant. They came back later for her when she needed to start school.
They don't neglect her on purpose but she's definitely the child they conveniently always forget about.