Antinh85:
Maybe it's because I already the novel summaries and maybe I feel like there's no character development for Jing. I wish TH didn't make him so fragile. He's supposed to be cunning and smart one but needs XY to rescue him from his mess. That whole scenario just made his character more unflattering.
I think to some extent, knowing what happens (after reading the novel) does alter the viewing experience. When I watched most of S1, I had not read the novel (I read it when I got stuck at ep 35 haha and needed to know the ending), and it was really exciting to find out what would happen.
But I've been enjoying S2. Like FTCU said, there have been changes made (things omitted, things added, things altered). Overall, I think the changes actually do benefit the character of Jing. The novel is more focused on XY and CX (as far as what S2 covers - the last part of book 2 and book 3). A lot of the action for Jing is "offscreen" in the novel - we don't exactly know what he's doing up until the wedding with Fenglong and before XY confronts him. In the drama so far, we see that he hasn't exactly just been moping about. After his sister-in-law dies, he suspects something is up and tries to confirm them (namely that Tian is not his son), but it's difficult to get concrete evidence. I appreciate the show depicting this.
The drama also makes it much more clear how his love for XY has matured over time. In S1, he was desperate to be with her and made her give that 15 year promise. In S2 Ep 6, although he still has FFB ruin XY's wedding, he thinks that she has gotten over him (Jing) and lets her decide if she wants to be with FFB or whatever. In my view, he mainly ruins her wedding to free her from a loveless marriage. It's pretty clear that in Ep 7, he did not expect her to come see him.
And while XY still does what she does in the novel to trap Hou by seducing him to cause a rift between him and FFYY, it's clear in the drama she does it of her own volition because by now, she's really invested in her relationship with Jing and wants to help him. Jing even tells her that she did not have to do that, he would find another way. And ultimately, Jing still has to catch FFYY and Hou together, which he does, and he has to deal with them afterwards, which he does. This is consistent with the novel as well.
So I guess I generally do not agree with the notion that Jing does not undergo any development in the story. I think it was fairly clear in the novel that he does (his core person is the same but he learns from his mistakes and learns to trust XY more ), but it is made even more so in the drama in my opinion. It's not as dramatic as CX's development for sure, but I will always have a fondness for Jing's character. I can't tell you how many times already I have rewatched Ep 7. Probably will rewatch 8-9 again tonight.
Hope you can continue to enjoy the show. Even if Jing or Yaojing isn't for you, there is a whole lot more to this story that is worth watching!