Tushan Jing and Xiao Yao's romance

 AH :

You'd think. But apparently Tong Hua has said it refers to ZX. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why does she hate my boi so much??? Isn't he hated enough? ? I just can't with her "he's my favorite character". No lady, he isn't  ?

 nathsketch:

Why does she hate my boi so much??? Isn't he hated enough? ? I just can't with her "he's my favorite character". No lady, he isn't  ?

he's definitely her favorite because she made him the most memorable lol etched in your soul type

 Kali_01:

he's definitely her favorite because she made him the most memorable lol etched in your soul type

Yeah that's true, 'cause I'll be needing a new soul. This one is ruined ?

 AH :

Yes!

I'd prefer it if there were three "seasons" worth of episodes that aligned with each of the volumes of the novel so they could fit everything.  Although I admit the longer wait and heightened risk of cancellation would not be fun.

yes, especially since they did so well at keeping as close to the novel for the first s1, there were minor changes but compared to other adaptations I think did pretty good. which is another reason why I'm surprised at the rumored changes in s2 as well. I'm sure TH has her reasons, but it'd be nice if she told us what they were lol

 His Smile:

Hahaha! I was really looking forward to CX being the mastermind behind Jing's murder. To be quite honest, the trailer of YZ being insanely angry at ZWY for killing "Jing" is what first drew me to this show. What a farce if it was all just a dream. 

Lol this dream method is...??? nope no no

 nathsketch:

Why does she hate my boi so much??? Isn't he hated enough? ? I just can't with her "he's my favorite character". No lady, he isn't  ?

Yeah I thought the title represented CX as he loses XY on his journey to power. I feel that this is accurate right? He and XY are the main focus of the entire series, XL and Jing were the romantic suitors in XY’s life.

 Kali_01:

I'm sure TH has her reasons, but it'd be nice if she told us what they were lol

My guess is that the desert beast subplot was mostly cut for time and because her parents' story is a whole novel's worth of tragedy unto itself and would be too much of a departure from the main plot. And it would require a lot of CGI. 

The changes to ZX's story might have been required by the censors, or maybe the producers. Having the male lead be in love with the female lead and successfully plot to kill the second male lead (that the female lead loves and is about to marry), having the female lead commit a not-quite-murder / suicide with him, and having the second male lead convince the female lead to forgive the male lead after all that... Is a lot. 

Relegating ZX's actions to a dream sequence also allows them to cut XL saving XY's life again and almost all of the Jade Mountain subplot. Maybe they felt one saving-her-from-a-death-coma episode (and one saving-her-from-a-crystal-coffin-and-whirlpool episode and one bug-connection-severing episode) would be enough. And avoiding the Jade Mountain subplot means less CGI and not having to involve as many characters. (I'll miss Sir Bi).