vesca

well, I feel sorry for him sometimes as at the end of the day his neck has to pain a lot... He sometimes looks crooked... but yeah, he is much taller than everyone else on the plan.

well, there are still short dramas and romance dramas... why would you expect political intrigue one to be simple? more complex the plot, the better... at least from my point of view.
I did enjoy MoGA - both romance and plot... but best suspense series this year was Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty :)

She didn't... she was attracted to him but not even to the point you could say she had a crush...

well... imagine being an army patrol send on mission and abandon it as all soldiers were scarred of the girl? 🤣
and yep, that boy catching them into net trap when you know that your tribe will face strong punishment if anything will happen to Liang soldiers on Yuo Lue ground

Some scenes really make no sense...
Like the bridge one with an army patrol

well, they could tone the level of cruelty and show more of the real face of emperor to build up better the reality in which main characters were living.
Emperor is like a scourge on that land - you can't trust nearly anyone and you have to be a scheming master as even your closed family members can betray you to gain emperor's favour or to simply survive.
Traps within traps, huge schemes which will cost life of thousands people...
I do agree with you that without reading novel in full its hard to understand this drama, as screenwriters showed us only a part of the picture and from all leading characters Dr Cui is the one most close to the original.
So we have a lot of different opinions about MLs, their motives and actions :)

yes, a lot different... they simply villainized her in the drama... same about Pei family and armaments corruption case.

they both even said to be friends again in their next life

we only had one scene in the drama so far with that paper glider

ML add a lot of fuel to emperor's fear against PY - showing how popular PY is and that people didn't even cheer at all for CP... so he took an action in public
I really do not like the way how his character was distorted comparing to the novel.

to really see what kind of person he is you should read whole novel

yes, that's the girl

PY wasn't evil guy in the novel... He was working hard to make changes in the court and governing system, revoke some tax policies which were implied by the greedy old emperor, etc.
He really wanted his country and people to be safe and prosperous.

I've shed already many tears when I was reading a novel, so I am prepared for the worst and hope for the best.
But I think it will end up in the similar way as in the book - so ML will die together with evil emperor - however due to JC hidden identity in the drama it will be much harder for her to disappear - so no idea what screenwriters did plan for her.

it would be a miracle if after all these spoilers we would get HE... so guys don't keep high hopes

in the novel he will survive when they will try to kill emperor as WZ will save his life. He will marry Chancellors Dong second daughter (the girl from Dr Cui past) - her elder sister is already Crown Prince wife - the marriage will be arranged by his mother as it was the only way to save his life and position. Crown Prince will became new emperor.

I think that was typical penalty for being unfilial ;) kneeling for hours or being send to ancestral halls...
They have made Rong YuDie really cruel in that drama...

The closer you are to him more wary and suspicious he is and your chance of survival are getting lower :D

I can guess that emperor became suspicious of WZ and that wedding was not only to get an opportunity to kill Yan sister but also to test WZ
PY won't betray WZ as long as he has his mother account book. But as soon as he will get it back I bet he will put WZ in life and death situation.
In the novel they became friends and allied together till the end, in the drama they are still fighting.
When WZ was sorting Yue Luo internal problems PY actually was pretending to be heavily injured, recuperating for months, staying out emperors eyes... and both of them were communicating through lyrics. WZ was pretending to lost a fight during investigation case carried for emperor and his heavily wounded subordinate told emperor that WZ had fall to the river ... and that was during winter

Exactly my thoughts... I don't like these changes... as they turned victims of emperors schemes into villains... Its emperor and his schemes which pushed court officials into death game and they all are only a pawns which have to play in accordance to his rules. Nobody is safe there no matter their position and clan background.
In the novel WZ and PY have no idea how deep was emperors scheme and that he still has an upper hand and will nearly ruin their plans...

Yes, second daughter of PM Dong will became later PY wife in the novel - PY had no other option but to tie himself to new emperor and that marriage was best option to survive. Also this was the only way he could still keep what he promised to WZ about Yue Lou freedom.
And yes, she was the girl from Cui past, but he knew that they will never be able to be together from the very beginning...