whoissilmoy

she is being resourceful and cunning. she is a commander of an elite army. she knows how to survive and win. you have to know your enemy well. in a way, she is superior to him because she can manipulate him to her advantage. this movie is about strategies. she is not evil person, just a cunning woman who fights in a man's world. a woman is physically inferior to a man, so she has developed needles and poison to her advantage. Somehow, I think the actress may not have done a good enough job portraying the character, so the audience sees on the surface they don't like her character, but actually her character is one of high moral conscience, a person who knows right from wrong and is willing to die for her people. Her whole life is fighting. She sees the world and situations as chess game. She is not a bad person. Ying and Li Ni complement each other very well. in episode 25, Li Nii asked Ying, "Did you ever love me?" She says it very eloquently and clearly that she knew she liked him the day she kicked him into the well.

how did he survive those arrows? you can say that about a lot of dramas. how do they fly through the air and jump off buildings and land like a bird? I've learned to ignore these dramatic effects for impacts that are not realistic. If I want to watch realistic movie, I might as well give up on Chinese costumes dramas. I watch a movie for entertainment what makes me laugh or cry or feeling sentimental. I like light-hearted movies and innocent and sweet romance, no nudity and profanity, some watch movies for action, horror, shock, or dark and eerie, controversial topics, and hot kisses, etc. Everyone has their own taste.

Since it is the 7th Xu Kai drama you dropped, yet you said you watched it because of him. Do you think you were biased and just wanted to see how bad another Xu Kai movie is by sampling up to episode 8? You said you feel bad for him. Were you hoping this movie will save him or just wanted to see how bad it will be since you had a string of disappointments from this actor. It is understandable you only watched up to episode 8 if you don't like this actor. I've done the same thing. There are actors out there that people rave about. I just want to see what the rave is all about, so I will sample their movies skipping a lot of episodes to just watch the specific actor to see but keeping in mind that this method of sampling is a bit misleading. Anyway, everyone has their own taste and reasons to watch or not watch.

don't you want to understand the characters? most chinese dramas are too long, not just WoL.

in an interview, Xu Kai says the original novel is way more tragic , either Li Ni dies or else Ying dies, Chang'er and Taozi not only go separate ways, but can't even be together in the next life (that bad), and LCF will never find love again in this life or the next life.

in episode 25, we find that Ying relies on her intuition and wisdom to make decisions while Li Ni relies on logic and reasoning. Intuition is a sense of knowing or feeling while logic is the process of reasoning that draws conclusions based on evidence. Is the writer stereotyping that intuition is a female trait ("women's intuition") and logic is a male trait?

Actually, they complement each other well because both intuition and logic are skills that are used to make decisions.

Li Ni has his plans to protect the rightful heir, does not believe his brothers are that vicious, and that he can persuade his father. Ying tells him that it won't be long until he gets the evidence he is looking for that will prove her right.

Neither Cui Lin nor Li Ni is wrong. I can understand why they both think differently. Cui Lin operates independent of the royal family. It is no wonder the throne would feel threaten by Cui family's military might. She only serves the people. When the people suffer, there will be uprisings and never-ending wars. Li Ni just simply has no ambition, and even if he does, he will never overthrow his father or the rightful heir. So, I have no qualms about his decision either. If Cui Lin had never run into Li Ni, and did not know his character, she would have fought him on the battlefield, and one of them would die in battle, because her loyalty is to the people, and his loyalty as a commander is to the royal family. Knowing her character, she would die fighting for the people. When she met Li Ni, she discovered he was the solution. Cui Lin was more ambitious than her father. I think it was her idea to lead an army to intervene in the rebellion. I don't recall which episode, her father seemed to just want to return to his prefecture, and asked why she wants to continue to meddle in these wars. Also, if Li Ni hadn't persuade Cui Yi to give up Luoyang the Eastern Capital, LI Ni and Cui Lin would have to fight each other on battlefield. Li Ni is someone who can find conflict resolution without resorting to fighting.

Cui Yi, Ying's father, was ahead of his time too wanting his daughter to inherit everything and only having one wife despite he didn't have a son.

LCF had two personal guards in Cui army. Chen Xing died in ambush setup by Cui Li in episode 12. LCF was distraught by his death and seemed to really care for him.
A Shu is the other remaining personal guard. The two guards were orphans taken in by LCF and Commandant He (Ying). They swore to keep LCF safe because he took them in and gave them a home in the Cui army.

I've always viewed the Li Ni father and brothers as comedy act. The three has chemistry and hilarious to me and I find the acting superb. They are funny without being overtly comical, insead subtle and hidden.

Crying can reduce stress but repeated exposure to negative emotions can lead to depression. I suggest you balance it with a happy scene afterwards.

not your cup of tea

i agree with you. thanks for pointing it out.

General Sun Jing was an ambitious tyrant, really smart man, and he loved Crown Princess very much. Crown Princess loved him too. Actually, these two have the reverse conflict of LI Ni and Ying. The acting was on point. Did Sun Jin never consider that Crown Princess would betray him?

thanks for your insights

It is a tug of war. Cui Lin should not push Li Ni but she feels he is the only hope for the people, and she sees his greatness. Li Ni, simply has no desire to rule and even if he did, he is too noble to usurp the throne. Tragedies will force his hands.

Cui Lin is a character who is not afraid to take risks and make difficult decisions when necessary, and is resourceful, ingenious, witty, intelligent, decisive, cunning, and pragmatic. It is difficult to say her true motivations. Did she save Li Ni because she cared deeply for him and does not want to see him die or was altruistic and selfless to betray him and risk her relationship with Li Ni for the greater good of her country because she firmly believes Li Ni is the only hope for the people. She prioritizes his life over the life of the rightful heir, betrays his trust resorting to tricks again by creating a ruse. Her actions ruined Li Ni's plan to save the boy. She is very ambitious, even ruthless in her own way but always for good and will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals.

Li Ni, on the other hand, is a true hero, selfless and courageous, a person of great character and integrity, whose actions are honorable and noble, and who is willing to give his own life to save another, do what is right, keep his promise to crown princess to return the boy to his rightful place as the heir to the throne. It may seem naive, stupid, and reckless of him to offer to kill himself on the spot, but the willingness to sacrifice oneself for a cause or another person is driven by a sense of duty, honor, or love. While it is difficult to imagine being willing to die without knowing how things may turn out (his brothers and other factions may kill the boy later to usurp throne), Li Ni was willing to take this risk given his sense of duty and responsibility. People are capable of great acts of courage and selflessness when faced with difficult situations. Some may argue that he is too idealistic, and his actions have unintended consequences. Others may argue that he is doing what is right and that his actions are a reflection of his character and integrity. He has no ambitions in life except to return to Laolan Pass.

In summary, Li Ni and Cui Lin's relationship is complex and muti-faceted, with both characters sharing the same vision for the country but having different goals and motivations that conflict with each other. However, they are also drawn to each other and share a deep connection that transcends their differences. Some might sympathize with Li Ni and view him as a hero who is willing to sacrifice himself for what he thinks is right. Others might sympathize with Cui Lin selfless willingness to betray Li Ni in order to do what she thinks is right.

Ep24/25 sets the stage for the pivotal conflict that is central to the plot and that everything else revolves around it, raises questions about love, loyalty, sacrifice, and whether it is possible to reconcile seemingly incompatible goals and desires. They are at a crossroads, each facing different paths. It is a pivotal moment in their relationship where they must choose between their own goals and desires or their love for each other. The two are like Yin and Yang trying to pull each other in opposite directions and the paths they choose will determine their fate. The story is compelling, and conflict is thought-provoking, highlighting the complexity of their relationship and the challenges they face to navigate the political turmoil.

fake cuilin or LCF somehow decided that Cui Yi was never sincere toward him and used him as the fake cuilin, in other words, took advantage of him. I don't recall what triggered him to think like this. I'm not excusing or condoning his deranged behaviors, but it explains part of why his mind is spiraling out of control.

It is possible for him to misunderstand Ying's brotherly love toward him as something more. They were inseparable growing up, doing everything together, and she dearly loved him and showed much affection toward him. From the deep grief for him when she thought he had died, it showed she loved him so much for all that they had gone through together since kids and in battles. Like LCF had said, because they were siblings, he could never express his love for her, so he kept it bottled up for so long and became obsessive when LI Ni showed up. Why did the writer revealed that Cui Yi had hoped that LCF or even Cui Li (yuck) would make good future husbands to accompany his daughter. Is that how LCF got the idea that he and Ying would always be together for life?

I just finished ep 23 and still not finding the pace slowing down for me. I appreciate and enjoy each episode as it consistently moves the plot along, never digresses from the main plot, diving deeper into the characters, their relationships, their past, and foreshadowing troubles to come, making the movie easy to follow and leisurely to watch. Each episode is leading up to the ultimate confrontation between Li Ni and Ying, or the climax of the movie, and the choices they will have to make.

Additional thoughts:
Bao is a thoughtful, kind, perceptive, sweet, adorable, loveable teddy bear of a man (also loyal) who deserves a loving wife and a family of his own. Perhaps the writer wanted the audience to love him so much that if he dies a horrific and heroic death later on, the audience will be overcome with emotions for him.

The low IQ emperor seems to have a highly intelligent wife by his side.
The low IQ emperor has always been biased toward LI Ni because of the brothers, that is why he never trusts in Li Ni. When emperor says of Li Ni going to Tong Pass "he likes to fight, then let him fight then", I think was in reference to him growing up embroiled in many fights especially with his brothers who blamed him.

LCF has a lot of deep emotional and mental issues besides his infatuation with Ying, he also has an identity crisis, having lived his whole life as someone's shadow. These things have now been shattered, and also, he now feels his father was never sincere in adopting him but was taking advantage of him, rendering him unable to cope with the real world anymore. At this point, it feels like LCF is the cat with nine lives and not die easily. His character is needed to provide twists and turns in the plot.

General Cui is a rare man ahead of his times. He is committed only to his one and only wife. He loves his daughter no less than a son and wanted her to inherit everything. But he was also shortsighted and actually thought that LCF or Cui Li would make a good husband to accompany Ying one day. Perhaps that's where LCF got the idea from growing up with Ying, that he and she would always be together.

Prime Minister Wu (and daughter) seems to help Li Ni but have ulterior motives., and the emperor seems to listen to Wu more than other ministers.

Ying character is multidimensional, possessing both masculine (Commandant He) and feminine (Lady Cui) qualities, and her emotional arc is complex.

It seems to me that if Cui army did not combine with West Pacifying army to take back Tong Pass from Sun Jing, one day, Cui Lin and Li Ni would have to fight each other to their deaths to take back Cui occupation of Luoyang, the Eastern Capital. LI NI proposal for Cui to give up Luoyang will help avoid this situation.