FTCU:
Everybody feels the same. Not only did they do Jing dirty,they diverted from the novel itself. They made the women the culprit whiles the men went unpunished. What kind of logic is that? It’s a shame,such a good story & hype s1 had,utterly destroyed in s2. They deserve all the bashing. I just feel bad for those who worked hard but their scenes were undermined
Yes, the fact that 18-19 were only an illusion is a shame because that was where all the narrative in the novel (and the drama up to that point) was going. Cang Xuan's character was developing in a way that was terrifying but consistent with his character and status as an emperor. To have him suddenly switch back to his meeker form is just dumb. Xinyue just becomes another dumb empress and sacrificial lamb in the world of C-drama (like you said, there have been too many such female characters).
I haven't finished yet, and I'm honestly sad to because it sounds like the scenes with Jing are few and far between. If the production was going to make CX learn from this illusion, he needed a scene with Jing before the end to come to terms with who Jing is. He's heard it from XY and others (like Fenglong), telling him what kind of person he is. It's so annoying that it is never shown on screen.
The cast are great, though, all around. They tried to make this weird script work. But as I'm watching ep 21 right now, if just feels like another story - not LYF, which is sad.