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my take as a novel reader - I felt like subtly the response of He Yan vs Xiao Jue to Chu Zao's provocations was interesting because stereotype is that women are emotional and men are going to respond rationally. But we see that He Yan isn't bothered in the slightest and Chu Zao doesn't impact her mental state or reasoning. It's the ML that gets worked up more by Chu Zhao's little games with He Yan.

In the novel we see that Xiao Jue is mistakenly worried about He Yan being heartbroken because she doesn't see Chu Zao for who he is. (He thinks He Yan has a crush, because he listens to too much gossip). But this is contrasted with the reader seeing that actually He Yan is well aware and just doesn't care enough about this dude either positively or negatively. All that bother is for nothing lmao. It is not implied in the novel - we know 100% that she is aware he is working for the evil prime minister and has some ulterior motives. But she doesn't actually see Chu Zao as a serious deadly threat to Xiao Jue - if she did, she'd take action. And ultimately, Chu Zao DOES actually fall for his own game and cares about her (her ease of friendship to his duplicity actually works on him lol) and he still schemes but doesn't try to kill her or anything. In the end, Chu Zao loses the game of thrones because he picked the wrong side. There's no indivudual showdown between him and Xiao Jue. It's not like that. He Yan not treating him the priority to be worried about is correct. His scheming and infighting within his own party helps contribute to their downfall (dog bites dog). In the novel, he's not the top villain nor does he become a hero. He is a man who makes choices, good and bad. I am guessing they might give him a redemption in the drama and white-wash him. We'll see....

It's not that she falls for a fake nice guy. It's that she chooses to politely ignore his fake bullshit. [SPPILERS NOVEL SPOILERS -- Ultimately he does actually help her out again, so it can be argued that He Yan isn't being foolish at all to passively befriend him.]

A key aspect is that A) He Yan generally returns like for like - if someone is friendly towards her, she'll respond in kind and B) she percieves that Chu Zhao, though a political enemy of Xiao Jue, is not a personal threat to her. One key characterization in the novel is that He Yan has experienced the worst already - as a teen in the army, her whole battalion was killed and she survived hidden under a mountain of corpses. And then she is murdered by her own family. After that, nothing much phases her. There is a passage in the novel that explicitly explains this. That's why she's so resilient and chill all the time. So, when you consider it, is she really gonna be so bothered about Chu Zhao's little schemes??? She never views him as a big danger to herself. She's happy to hang out with him if he invites her. She fully knows whose side he's on in the court battles, but so what? He Yan is confident she could beat his ass if needed. And if he wants to be her friend, that's fine as well. He's helped her out before. He might help her out again in the future.

yeeeesssssss omg in the novel, how she keeps on about how looking at spring paintings is a BONDING experience 🤣🤣 that took me out. she's more used to male bonding in the military than he is

As is typical, this is really about the fight in the court. Prime minister who is consolidating power and allies, who cannot get certain powerful military leaders and officials on his side and so wants to demote or eliminate them. Prime minister will also be aligning himself with a certain prince that he's betting will achieve emperor. It's simply that the He family has decided to ally with Team Prime Minister. It's a risk to pick a side. But there are great rewards if you win. Families who align with the winning side will end up with high official positions, Consorts to the future emperor or even the future empress. Xiao Jue and his family are targeted by the evil prime minister, so all his guys will hassle them. He Yan's brother wants to be part of that powerful group but at first the prime minister didn't even agree to see him in person lol. He family must prove they are useful. (poor Xiao Jue didn't even WANT to be in a fight in the court. he wanted to stay out of all throne battles and just be a fight military battles. but they feared his dad and fear him, so won't let him rest.)

mini dramas right now are getting away with bending or breaking rules, because they're low key and not platformed in a major way. but eventually there might be a backlash and we'll see them censored. in practical terms, though, reviewing EVERYTHING would be a lot of work

there's actually a moment in the novel when they encounter each other again in the army and she observes that he's changed -- he used to clap back and insult her aggressively and sarcastically whenever teen loser her would question him. But now he's mature and just gives cold looks... this is her chance to pay back EMOTIONAL DAMAGE by being as annoying as she wants lmao. She literally decides to troll him more, now that he's above that childish behavior. He Yan is hilarious. Plus, she feels comfortable being clingy because he IS someone she knew for years in school. To her, this is a long acquaintance. The fact he doesn't know it's his old acquaintance, well... guess that's awkard but not her problem ;)

of course the good guys win, Xiao Jue continues being a famous general, He Yan becames a famous warrior, and the evil chancellor is defeated :)

It was like in the 200s. Really late in the story. omg in the novel it takes soooooooo long before he just stops assuming everything she is doing is fake spy actions. he frustrated me so much lol. she spends the first half of the book thinking she's making progress in earning his esteem and trust, while he is interpreting everything she does in the worst way and seeing how nothing about her past and profile adds up. So first he has to stop guarding against her. (tbh at one point as I reader I even thought, fine I'm over this ship. If they don't ever get together and have an open ending, I'm fine with it. I like her and her friend group enough. I was DONE with him 😆 not as a character, I liked him, but I did start losing hope for the romance. though later it does all work out and I really enjoyed them.)

ok his deal in the novel: He's a total lackey for the evil chancellor, yes. Because of his messed up history. His dad used his mom and dumped her, she ends up in a brothel and it's a whole THING and the end kills the mom and takes him back into the house. Super awful. So chu zhao is an illegitimate son obsessed with obtaining power by any means and works to move up and get a powerful connection, to rise in officialdom. He achieves this position with the chancellor. So he's just gotta do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make it to the top. He thinks Xiao Jue will lose so he is on the other side. He doesn't have any lofty political beliefs or goals. It's all about picking the winning prince and becoming a top official.

[ NOVEL SPOILERS - NOVEL READERS BEWARE] You can worry less. I found him an interesting, unpredictable character in the novel. He's a threat to the country. But oddly enough, not ever to He Yan. I know why you're anxious, though. The dynamic in the novel was kinda wild because he's on Team Evil and the ML and his crew are forever watching him with narrow-eyes, like --look at that evil mastermind over there thinking up his evil schemes for evil !!-- While bro himself is thinking --yep another day of diobolical schemes, because I'm a bad person who's gonna win because good is dumb-- While the FL just stumbles into the room all heyyyyy buddy, YOU LOOK FRIEND SHAPED :D :D :D and actively decides hang out with a member of team evil, since he's been nice enough toward her. And ML and his crew are SO CONCERNED that FL will fall for the handsome villain's vile seductions and end up heartbroken, while said villain is thinking, YES I WILL SEDUCE HER TO THE DARKSIDE, TAKE THAT XIAO JUE !!!! And meanwhile my girl has friendzoned that man into oblivion. And now she has an evil friend. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (His fate ultimately is quite sad, but it's the consequences of his own choices and actions so I don't feel sorry for him. I'll say that in the case of He Yan, that's maybe his 1 redeeming scenario because he does inevitably respect and care for her, and in the end he never does turn that unrequited love to hate and I don't recall that he ever seriously betrays her. Though they're on opposite sides.)

Now he's all grown up and has his own plans, yes. He's now taking over and calling the shots.

Only for Love when initially airing was publishing multiple times per week. That's the standard for chinese dramas.

The brother wasn't scheming since a young age. It's the dad and uncles, the older family generation. The brother was weak and no one thought he'd be able to lead the family. If he hadn't gotten better, they would have let He Yan keep pretending to be male and taking his place.

i agree, his novel storyline was great and I wish we could keep it all in the drama. it felt "real" because many people are not completely heartless villians or pure heroes, many are complicated and have a mix of motivations. He ultimately experiences the consequences of his choices and his fate alone is deserved.

If you enjoy historical romance novels that are plotty, I'd definitely recommend you give it a try. English translation is done by lazygirltranslations (you can google it). It's not the most brilliant writing ever produced or anything but imo it's just as good as the average historical romance novel that gets published internationally. I really enjoyed it myself. It has more backstory to it and the protagonist is more centered in the narrative. (He Yan doesn't even reach the military camp until ch 30). It stood out to me because it was a rebirth novel but revenge isn't what the protagonist is thinking about all the time. And her personality was interesting because she feels both humble and very self-aware yet also extremely confident in her abilities. You believe that she's reached her lowest point and truly has to start her climb all over again. Yet she knows if she rose step by step the 1st time, she can do it again. Because the pacing is slower, the reader "feels" the main character earn their success. The way the novel slowly reveals glimpses of their teenage academy past (and how this reveals facets of Xiao Jue's personality and their connection) kept me engaged.

yeah, I expect the drama will feel that in order for him to be "allowed" to survive he has to be less complicit, less blood on his hands. So we probably will see his assistant have a less tragic fate. (even if she dies, it won't be like her fate in the novel. omg when u realize how long he knew it would end like this !!!!!!!! I felt a chill.)

not arguing against anything else in your perspective but FYI it's by a webnovel author who is super popular. So yes, MANY people have read it before. The translation to English started a long time ago and it's been available in chinese and machine-translate for years. When I started reading chinese web novels, it's one of the top non-danmei that was recommended to me.

His jealousy of Chu Zao didn't bother me in the novel because it's not irrational. He's correct that this IS a guy on the enemy side and he truly DOES start planning to seduce her away to Team Evil. and He Yan DOES seem to ignore the obvious by actually befriending him! Xiao Jue's is bestie & nephew also fear that He Yan is gonna be seduced by the handsome and charming villian, so there's some group-think going on. While naturally He Yan truly is under no illusions that gentleman Chu is a good & clean person - all the characters underestimate her because of her optimistic, cheerful persona.