If it's not too big of a spoiler, can someone tell me what's going on with Er Lan...the scholar who's obviously…
TL;DR - In the beginning, none of the other scholars know that Er Lan is a woman. The ML, FL and SFL only know that Er Lan is a woman from before the first time they even meet her because Er Lan's status as a woman is revealed in the original historical novel that the SFL read before she transmigrated into the historical story world.
-
Er Lan is a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a scholar and take the civil exam. She did not confide her secret to the other scholars. In the original version of events in the historical world, when her status as a woman was later discovered, she was assaulted and kicked out of the capital. In the end, her anger and resentment led her to take her own life. We find this out in episode 6, when the FL gets the SFL drunk and tricks her into revealing details about the scholars from the original historical novel that the SFL read before transmigrating into the historical story world.
We don't know how Er Lan's story differed in the second version of events that played out in the transmigration novel (Transmigrated: The Devil's Beloved Consort - the novel where the SFL entered the story and changed things so that Xie Yong Er became the main character), because the FL skimmed that novel and didn't even remember the scholars' names, let alone the details of what happened to them beyond the fact that they were talented and died unjustly. Hence why the FL had to get the SFL drunk and get the details out of her - so the leads could make a list of the scholars' names so the ML could find them and arrange a meeting with them.
In the third version of events in the historical world (the version of events that is being changed by the FL, ML and SFL), Er Lan's story begins in mostly the same way (none of the other scholars know that she is a woman, but the ML, FL and SFL know that she is a woman), but ends differently than how it ended in the first version of events in the historical novel.
how there were not 3 but 4 levels of "reality". It took a while but finally understood all the levels…
The FL speculated that the SML might be a transmigrator from an even higher level than her level, but they later confirmed that he was not a transmigrator.
Although the leads cannot be 100% certain that their "real world" is truly real (and not also a fictional world), based on the information they have, they can only assume and act like their "real world" is truly real.
So there are only three confirmed worlds / levels: (1) the real world that the ML and FL are from; (2) the fictional version of the modern world that the SFL is from; and (3) the fictional historical world that they transmigrate into.
And there are three versions of the fictional historical world. The first version is the one that was told in the original historical novel, where Xie Yong Er was a cannon fodder character. The second version is the one that was changed by the protagonist of the transmigration novel, after she transmigrated into the historical novel, took over the character of Xie Yong Er, and turned Xie Yong Er into the main character. And the third version is the one that is changed by the ML, the FL, and the SFL after the ML and FL transmigrate into the fictional historical world via the transmigration novel. In the third version, the ML and FL become the main characters and Xie Yong Er becomes a tragic secondary female lead.
Why does ML fall in love with the FL so early? I don't find it convincing. Am I missing sth? I'm on ep 8
This answer contains spoilers and is based on my interpretation of events. Other fans' opinions may differ.
Contrary to what the ML told the FL (i.e., that he transmigrated into the story two hours before meeting the FL), the ML transmigrated into the story when he was 14 or 15 years old, and then he had to live inside the story (surrounded only by fictional characters whose character set-up involved hurting him, using him, or fearing him) for 16+ years. He desperately searched for another person who transmigrated into the story from the real world, like he did, but all his efforts (e.g., the SOS flowers) were in vain.
Until finally the FL arrived and intentionally revealed herself to the ML the very first time they met. Her daring decision to risk revealing her status as a transmigrator to the ML so quickly meant that the ML was able to confirm, at the earliest possible moment, that he wasn't crazy and he hadn't been imagining his past in the real world (including his family there) for the last 16 years. And she arrived with knowledge about the story (which she willingly and freely shared with him), a positive attitude and innocence that had not yet been tarnished by the harsh dynamic of the historical story, and a willingness to team-up with the ML. She could bond with the ML over their shared memories of the real world and shared experience of transmigrating into the historical story (a very bizarre experience that could not really be understood by someone who did not experience it) and she was REAL.
IMO, those are the things that caused the ML to have such an intense immediate reaction to the FL and to want to spend time with her and protect her. Then, as he got to know her better, he quickly developed deeper feelings for her based on how wonderful she is as a person. Which I think is totally understandable. She's pretty great.
Some of this is explained when / shortly after the FL finds out the truth about when the ML transmigrated into the story and about some other secrets that the ML was keeping (e.g., about his health and the plans that he was going to implement but ended up pausing when the FL arrived). But some of it is revealed in the Zhang San Diaries. Make sure to watch those, including the one that comes up after the credits at the end of the very last episode!
I'm on ep 6 and I don't get sth. What does the FL mean when she says we are 2D characters? What's the difference…
The ML and FL are not 2D characters. They both transmigrated from the real world into the historical story world. All of the other characters are fictional / 2D characters.
The majority of the characters are fictional characters that only ever existed in the historical story world and never transmigrated from another world.
The SFL is different from the other fictional / 2D characters - she is a fictional character who is a transmigrator and she transmigrated from one fictional world to another fictional world.
Overall i liked it. Not all of the comedy landed for me. The first several episodes didnt exactly hook me but…
To help with the SFL and SML....
The SFL did not transmigrate into the historical story world from the real world. She is the fictional transmigrator protagonist of the novel that the FL was tasked with editing / adapting into a drama in Ep. 1, and she (the SFL) transmigrated from one fictional world into another fictional world.
The SML is a fictional character who only ever existed in the historical story world. He did not transmigrate from another world. However, after the ML transmigrated into the historical story world when he and the SML were both still young, the SML figured out that there was something different about the ML and that the ML was searching for someone else who was different like him. Later the FL tricked the SML into thinking the thing that made her, the ML, and the SML the same type of person was that they were able to see parts of the future through their dreams. So the SML didn't find out the truth that they were all actually transmigrators who had each transmigrated from another world into the fictional historical story world.
I tested clicking through that link from the comment on two devices and have confirmed that it definitely works.
But you can also scroll up on this page to the "Recent Discussions" topics and click on the first one titled "Funny Names Explained - Wang Cuihua and Zhang San"
The way the narrative is set up, the issue of the crown prince is an extremely difficult one to manage. Particularly…
I have not read it, so take this with a grain of salt.
From what other fans who read it said, it sounded like the crown prince's mind was completely poisoned by the Empress Dowager, so he attacked the FL and was subsequently stripped of his title and banished from the palace. He lived out the rest of his days bitter and alone.
The ML and FL had their own children, and their son inherited the throne from the ML after he died. So the crown prince and his messy, problematic storyline had to be cleared out of the way first.
the one thing i think this drama really failed at was the crown prince's storyline. like the ml is literally raped…
The way the narrative is set up, the issue of the crown prince is an extremely difficult one to manage. Particularly on screen.
The person who controlled every aspect of the ML’s life after he transmigrated into the story, poisoned him, and emotionally abused him (including by punishing anyone who could become his friend whenever he had headaches that were not only out of his control, but actually caused by the poison inflicted on him) also had him drugged and raped in order to produce another heir that she (the Dowager Empress) could control and use as a puppet - making the ML expendable.
To the ML, the crown prince (although an innocent child himself) was a living reminder of the rape that the ML suffered, of his helplessness since he arrived in this historical world as a child himself, and of the Dowager Empress’ power and manipulation. In order for the ML to spend any time with the crown prince (if the Empress Dowager would even allow that, which is itself a pretty big “if”), he would have to face that horrific trauma every time. That’s a difficult ask of someone whose traumas were piling up higher and higher and who was already constantly questioning their own sanity and grip on reality, especially given that one of them was a real person and the other was a fictional character. Sometimes a drowning person will end up killing the person who attempts to rescue them, if that person isn’t properly equipped for that kind of rescue - resulting in two deaths instead of one. Would it be worth it if the real person (the ML) tipped over the edge into madness while attempting to help a fictional character (the crown prince)? What if that led to a scenario where the crown prince witnessed the ML’s complete breakdown, which ended up traumatizing the crown prince instead of helping him - making things worse for both of them instead of better?
And, more importantly, if the Empress Dowager did permit the ML to spend time with the crown prince, the ML was able to spend time with the crown prince without going mad, and the ML had formed any emotional attachment to him, it’s very clear that the Empress Dowager would have used that emotional attachment against the ML by threatening the crown prince (e.g., like how the Empress Dowager forced the ML to go to the mosaleum site by threatening Yu Wan Yin and using the ML’s emotional attachment to her against him).
But by distancing himself from the crown prince in order to both protect the crown prince from being threatened and used that way and to protect himself, the ML could not influence the crown prince and therefore the Empress Dowager was able to fill the crown prince’s head with her own words unchallenged. So the crown prince (who was too young to see through the Empress Dowager’s selfish intentions) believed that the Empress Dowager doted on him and was a good person, and also believed that his distant father was the mad tyrant that everyone said he was. Which led to the scenario where the crown prince chose to throw the poison-trigger-powder at the ML (and Yu Wan Yin) in order to protect the Empress Dowager from them.
With the Empress Dowager out of the way, the ML and FL could attempt to de-program the crown prince from all the lies that were fed to him, but the two of them probably wouldn’t be the right people to handle it initially (given how the crown prince had been programmed to perceive them as threats) and the process would be very difficult, tedious, messy, and dark. IMO, it would not be the kind of thing that would make for good drama screen time in this kind of drama.
Even if it leaves a loose end that isn’t perfectly tied off, I totally get why the writers would choose not to address this issue in the foreground of the story.
Since it wasn’t addressed directly, we can imagine (for our own peace of mind) that the leads handled it slowly and properly in the background.
For example, we can imagine that, after the Empress Dowager was taken care of, they found a trustworthy person to act as a tutor and mentor for the crown prince, so that he could have someone to trust and feel safe with. And that person slowly helped the crown prince understand how the Empress Dowager had used both him and the ML. And eventually they took the step of making apologies and establishing a proper relationship between the crown prince and the leads.
That would be a much better outcome for the crown prince than what he had in the web novel.
Since I’ve answered this in the comments a few times, I created a discussion topic with an explanation: https://kisskh.at/discussions/778182-this-is-ridiculous/148402-funny-names-explained-wang-cuihua-and-zhang-san?pid=3473118&page=1#p3473118
The way I interpreted it, the FL realized that the ML behaving that way towards her (behaviour that seemed to…
Interesting. Just hearing about it, I feel like I wouldn’t like that bc it would undermine all the good / selfless intentions behind his actions. I liked that he apologized in the drama as soon as she found him out, but not sooner. Idk if I’ll watch the donghua but I’ll reserve judgement on that bit until I actually watch it. It is nice to have multiple versions of the story to enjoy 😊
So... ML transmigrated when he was a child? And has been living in the novel ever since?What is the actual age…
The ML was living in the novel world for 16 years and 8 months before he wrote the letter that the FL received in episode 27 (the FL said she'd known the ML for just over 6 months in episode 29, so the ML was probably in the novel for 16 years and a little less than 2 months when the FL transmigrated into the story). The ML spent less time than that in the real world before he transmigrated into the novel (probably 14 or 15 years in the real world if he was in 9th grade in China) in 2016. So he was between 30 and 32 (at least by mental age) when the FL transmigrated into the novel.
Before the FL transmigrated into the novel in 2025, she had graduated from university and had spent multiple years in the workforce in the real world. Average university graduation age in China is 22, so she was probably 24+ when she transmigrated into the novel. So they had an age gap of 8 years at the very most.
When they returned to the real world after living together in the novel for many years, the ML returned to his teen schoolboy body in 2016 and had to wait 9 or 10 years to reconnect with the FL at the end of 2025 after she transmigrated into the novel and returned from it. So he was probably physically between 23 and 25 when he reconnected with the FL in the real world (although since they had already both spent many years living in the novel they were arguably both mentally much older).
The way I interpreted it, the FL realized that the ML behaving that way towards her (behaviour that seemed to…
LOL! Yeah I'd be very upset, too. Idk how long it would take me to cool down and consider the possibility that it was all an act with an acceptable hidden reason behind it. Maybe never?
Probably not as fast as the FL. And it was only because of her quickness that she was able to see the truth (or at least the immediate aftermath of it) with her own eyes.
3 
1 
1 
-
Er Lan is a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to become a scholar and take the civil exam. She did not confide her secret to the other scholars. In the original version of events in the historical world, when her status as a woman was later discovered, she was assaulted and kicked out of the capital. In the end, her anger and resentment led her to take her own life. We find this out in episode 6, when the FL gets the SFL drunk and tricks her into revealing details about the scholars from the original historical novel that the SFL read before transmigrating into the historical story world.
We don't know how Er Lan's story differed in the second version of events that played out in the transmigration novel (Transmigrated: The Devil's Beloved Consort - the novel where the SFL entered the story and changed things so that Xie Yong Er became the main character), because the FL skimmed that novel and didn't even remember the scholars' names, let alone the details of what happened to them beyond the fact that they were talented and died unjustly. Hence why the FL had to get the SFL drunk and get the details out of her - so the leads could make a list of the scholars' names so the ML could find them and arrange a meeting with them.
In the third version of events in the historical world (the version of events that is being changed by the FL, ML and SFL), Er Lan's story begins in mostly the same way (none of the other scholars know that she is a woman, but the ML, FL and SFL know that she is a woman), but ends differently than how it ended in the first version of events in the historical novel.
Although the leads cannot be 100% certain that their "real world" is truly real (and not also a fictional world), based on the information they have, they can only assume and act like their "real world" is truly real.
So there are only three confirmed worlds / levels: (1) the real world that the ML and FL are from; (2) the fictional version of the modern world that the SFL is from; and (3) the fictional historical world that they transmigrate into.
And there are three versions of the fictional historical world. The first version is the one that was told in the original historical novel, where Xie Yong Er was a cannon fodder character. The second version is the one that was changed by the protagonist of the transmigration novel, after she transmigrated into the historical novel, took over the character of Xie Yong Er, and turned Xie Yong Er into the main character. And the third version is the one that is changed by the ML, the FL, and the SFL after the ML and FL transmigrate into the fictional historical world via the transmigration novel. In the third version, the ML and FL become the main characters and Xie Yong Er becomes a tragic secondary female lead.
More details here: https://kisskh.at/discussions/778182-this-is-ridiculous/148208-higher-level-lower-level-explained
Contrary to what the ML told the FL (i.e., that he transmigrated into the story two hours before meeting the FL), the ML transmigrated into the story when he was 14 or 15 years old, and then he had to live inside the story (surrounded only by fictional characters whose character set-up involved hurting him, using him, or fearing him) for 16+ years. He desperately searched for another person who transmigrated into the story from the real world, like he did, but all his efforts (e.g., the SOS flowers) were in vain.
Until finally the FL arrived and intentionally revealed herself to the ML the very first time they met. Her daring decision to risk revealing her status as a transmigrator to the ML so quickly meant that the ML was able to confirm, at the earliest possible moment, that he wasn't crazy and he hadn't been imagining his past in the real world (including his family there) for the last 16 years. And she arrived with knowledge about the story (which she willingly and freely shared with him), a positive attitude and innocence that had not yet been tarnished by the harsh dynamic of the historical story, and a willingness to team-up with the ML. She could bond with the ML over their shared memories of the real world and shared experience of transmigrating into the historical story (a very bizarre experience that could not really be understood by someone who did not experience it) and she was REAL.
IMO, those are the things that caused the ML to have such an intense immediate reaction to the FL and to want to spend time with her and protect her. Then, as he got to know her better, he quickly developed deeper feelings for her based on how wonderful she is as a person. Which I think is totally understandable. She's pretty great.
Some of this is explained when / shortly after the FL finds out the truth about when the ML transmigrated into the story and about some other secrets that the ML was keeping (e.g., about his health and the plans that he was going to implement but ended up pausing when the FL arrived). But some of it is revealed in the Zhang San Diaries. Make sure to watch those, including the one that comes up after the credits at the end of the very last episode!
The majority of the characters are fictional characters that only ever existed in the historical story world and never transmigrated from another world.
The SFL is different from the other fictional / 2D characters - she is a fictional character who is a transmigrator and she transmigrated from one fictional world to another fictional world.
More details here: https://kisskh.at/discussions/778182-this-is-ridiculous/148208-higher-level-lower-level-explained
The SFL did not transmigrate into the historical story world from the real world. She is the fictional transmigrator protagonist of the novel that the FL was tasked with editing / adapting into a drama in Ep. 1, and she (the SFL) transmigrated from one fictional world into another fictional world.
The detailed explanation here might be helpful to you: https://kisskh.at/discussions/778182-this-is-ridiculous/148208-higher-level-lower-level-explained
The SML is a fictional character who only ever existed in the historical story world. He did not transmigrate from another world. However, after the ML transmigrated into the historical story world when he and the SML were both still young, the SML figured out that there was something different about the ML and that the ML was searching for someone else who was different like him. Later the FL tricked the SML into thinking the thing that made her, the ML, and the SML the same type of person was that they were able to see parts of the future through their dreams. So the SML didn't find out the truth that they were all actually transmigrators who had each transmigrated from another world into the fictional historical story world.
But you can also scroll up on this page to the "Recent Discussions" topics and click on the first one titled "Funny Names Explained - Wang Cuihua and Zhang San"
From what other fans who read it said, it sounded like the crown prince's mind was completely poisoned by the Empress Dowager, so he attacked the FL and was subsequently stripped of his title and banished from the palace. He lived out the rest of his days bitter and alone.
The ML and FL had their own children, and their son inherited the throne from the ML after he died. So the crown prince and his messy, problematic storyline had to be cleared out of the way first.
You can also try clicking this link, which goes specifically to the first post on that page: https://kisskh.at/discussions/778182-this-is-ridiculous/148402-funny-names-explained-wang-cuihua-and-zhang-san?pid=3473118&page=1#p3473118
Like Bai Lu and Xu Kai starring together in both "The Legends" and "Arsenal Military Academy" in 2019.
The person who controlled every aspect of the ML’s life after he transmigrated into the story, poisoned him, and emotionally abused him (including by punishing anyone who could become his friend whenever he had headaches that were not only out of his control, but actually caused by the poison inflicted on him) also had him drugged and raped in order to produce another heir that she (the Dowager Empress) could control and use as a puppet - making the ML expendable.
To the ML, the crown prince (although an innocent child himself) was a living reminder of the rape that the ML suffered, of his helplessness since he arrived in this historical world as a child himself, and of the Dowager Empress’ power and manipulation. In order for the ML to spend any time with the crown prince (if the Empress Dowager would even allow that, which is itself a pretty big “if”), he would have to face that horrific trauma every time. That’s a difficult ask of someone whose traumas were piling up higher and higher and who was already constantly questioning their own sanity and grip on reality, especially given that one of them was a real person and the other was a fictional character. Sometimes a drowning person will end up killing the person who attempts to rescue them, if that person isn’t properly equipped for that kind of rescue - resulting in two deaths instead of one. Would it be worth it if the real person (the ML) tipped over the edge into madness while attempting to help a fictional character (the crown prince)? What if that led to a scenario where the crown prince witnessed the ML’s complete breakdown, which ended up traumatizing the crown prince instead of helping him - making things worse for both of them instead of better?
And, more importantly, if the Empress Dowager did permit the ML to spend time with the crown prince, the ML was able to spend time with the crown prince without going mad, and the ML had formed any emotional attachment to him, it’s very clear that the Empress Dowager would have used that emotional attachment against the ML by threatening the crown prince (e.g., like how the Empress Dowager forced the ML to go to the mosaleum site by threatening Yu Wan Yin and using the ML’s emotional attachment to her against him).
But by distancing himself from the crown prince in order to both protect the crown prince from being threatened and used that way and to protect himself, the ML could not influence the crown prince and therefore the Empress Dowager was able to fill the crown prince’s head with her own words unchallenged. So the crown prince (who was too young to see through the Empress Dowager’s selfish intentions) believed that the Empress Dowager doted on him and was a good person, and also believed that his distant father was the mad tyrant that everyone said he was. Which led to the scenario where the crown prince chose to throw the poison-trigger-powder at the ML (and Yu Wan Yin) in order to protect the Empress Dowager from them.
With the Empress Dowager out of the way, the ML and FL could attempt to de-program the crown prince from all the lies that were fed to him, but the two of them probably wouldn’t be the right people to handle it initially (given how the crown prince had been programmed to perceive them as threats) and the process would be very difficult, tedious, messy, and dark. IMO, it would not be the kind of thing that would make for good drama screen time in this kind of drama.
Even if it leaves a loose end that isn’t perfectly tied off, I totally get why the writers would choose not to address this issue in the foreground of the story.
Since it wasn’t addressed directly, we can imagine (for our own peace of mind) that the leads handled it slowly and properly in the background.
For example, we can imagine that, after the Empress Dowager was taken care of, they found a trustworthy person to act as a tutor and mentor for the crown prince, so that he could have someone to trust and feel safe with. And that person slowly helped the crown prince understand how the Empress Dowager had used both him and the ML. And eventually they took the step of making apologies and establishing a proper relationship between the crown prince and the leads.
That would be a much better outcome for the crown prince than what he had in the web novel.
Before the FL transmigrated into the novel in 2025, she had graduated from university and had spent multiple years in the workforce in the real world. Average university graduation age in China is 22, so she was probably 24+ when she transmigrated into the novel. So they had an age gap of 8 years at the very most.
When they returned to the real world after living together in the novel for many years, the ML returned to his teen schoolboy body in 2016 and had to wait 9 or 10 years to reconnect with the FL at the end of 2025 after she transmigrated into the novel and returned from it. So he was probably physically between 23 and 25 when he reconnected with the FL in the real world (although since they had already both spent many years living in the novel they were arguably both mentally much older).
Probably not as fast as the FL. And it was only because of her quickness that she was able to see the truth (or at least the immediate aftermath of it) with her own eyes.