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 Estelll:

END OF EPISODE 1, PART 1

you weren't kidding when you warned us about long post, right? :D

OMG you are dissecting this drama not watching it lol

Great notes/recap. I hope to see more blood tho. 

Notes, Reactions, and Recap

[*My Vocabulary: MCS=Mei ChangSu, (Dirty) Old Man=The Emperor of Da Liang, Princess=Mu Nihuang, gege=endearing "older brother", jiejie=endearing "older sister", qinggong=light body skill, Best Boy/Our Boy=Fei Liu, jianghu=pugilist world/world of martial artists/underworld, CP=Crown Prince, xiong=brother/comrade, often said among peers/friends.]

EPISODE 1, PART 2

- 2^nd part of the episode starts with some guys transporting some goods and a guy with a sword passing through and looking at them (I've no idea who these are but I'm pretty sure it's not a random scene, 'cause this drama just does not do random scenes). It then cuts to the Imperial Palace's Emperor's residence, where he bitches about his quarrelling family to his trusted eunuch, who of course tries to be as diplomatic as possible. He's already learned about the “divine talent” by the way.

- We're transported to Langzou, where everyone's want to go to court the “divine talent”. Mei Changsu's subordinate, named LI GANG, reports. Someone named Qiu Zhen was send to Qinzhou, and Mei Changsu approves (he looks melancholic by the way).

- A carrier pigeon flies, and Fei Liu tries to catch it. That's FEI LIU, MEI CHANGSU'S BODYGUARD btw, that we're introduced to here, our precious boy! Someone who knows him well just arrived in Jiangzuo Alliance, and Fei Liu tries to avoid him.

- Fei Liu hides to avoid the new arrival, who is Young Master Lin, LIN CHEN, the Young Master of Langya Hall.

- Someone named YAN YUJIN, who's introduced as the son of the Emperor's brother-in-law, fools around. His buddy, who's introduced as XIAO JINGRUI, eldest son of the Marquis of Ning (Xie Yu) had had enough. (Why is he a Xiao Jingrui, and not a Xie Jingrui? I'm not allowed to answer this yet!) (Jinling is the capital of Da Liang btw, not Wei Ying's nephew :P) Some imposing horsemen pass through while the 2 youths shop, and they recognize them as envoys of Da Yu's (another country/kingdom, until now we have Da Liang and Northern Yan) Imperial family.

- Important info: Da Liang had a major battle with Da Yu 12 years ago, in a place called Meiling (Hint: it's the battle whose aftermath is shown in the flashback at the start of the episode!), and from them on they've been ghosting each other.

- Mei Changsu plans to travel to the capital with the 2 youths, to show he's supposedly just an indifferent neutral Jianghu person. He's not. :P

- Mei Changsu plans to hide in plain sight.

- Yeah, he totally agreed to come to the capital with you, Jingrui, just for health reasons. Totally!

- Lin Chen (who's a very competent doctor) doesn't like Mei Changsu's state of health. His professional opinion of what he should or shouldn't do about it is ignored, though.

You'll need ten doctors!

- Foreshadowing.

- Fei Liu would never leave his Su-gege go alone! ^.^

- The 4 of them arrive at the CAPITAL OF DA LIANG, JINLING CITY. And so it begins!

Nostalgia, bitterness, battle readiness, and pure determination are clashing in our protagonist's expression, as they enter the city's gate.

- The 2 youths are happy to hear about some Princess coming through. Shu-gege has mixed feelings.

- This one is a warrior princess, do not be mistaken! She's introduced as MU NIHUANG, Princess of the Imperial Mu Household of Yunnan (I don't even have to ask you to REMEMBER HER, I suppose, if this was a romance-focused drama, she'd be the main female lead!).

Mu Nihuang! This should be a gif!

- Impressive friendly exchange of blows ensues.

- Jingrui's martial arts teacher is from Tianquan Manor (Remember? Mentioned before, his father sent them for an errand for the Crown Prince!), while Yan Yujin's martial arts teacher is XIA DONG (not seen yet).

- Shu-gege looks really sad and lonely!

- “The pillar of the nation's defence.” sign. Is Changsu's hostility towards the Marquis of Ning apparent, or is it just me seeing it?

- Mei Changsu's commoner's Jianghu title: SU ZHE – the name he'll use while in the capital, incognito (well, incognito's incognito, lmao!).

- Jingrui's family: XIE BI, his 2^nd brother.

- Marquis's son-in-law did some errand. Related to that Duke Qing (a Prince Yu's person) we've been hearing about. It seems they found some subtler way to handle him, instead of killing him outright. They hear about Jingrui returning, and son-in-law escapes (?) through the back door.

- “Commoner Su Zhe pays his respects to His Excellency, Marquis of Ning.”

Tiger Confrontation

- So this beautiful and powerful “Princess” is still unmarried, and her Good Uncle is anxious to marry her off – to a suitable husband of course. And the plan is to find someone suitable by: a) Make them battle it out in an arena, b) Make a written examination for the best 10, and c) Let the Princess choose herself among the final best 3.

- Mu Qing, throne of Yunnan: that's Nihuang's younger brother.

- Nihuang has a compromise: She'll let the best 10 suitors face off with her in battle, one by one, until there is a winner. But she's not just a regular fighter herself, she's a heroine whose prowess in martial arts has even let her have a place into the top 10 of the world according to the Langya List of martial arts masters! So what if nobody can beat her? Nihuang has an answer to that as well: If she meets her fated one, no matter his martial arts skill, she will lose to him.

- “Do you understand when to stop? Don't take my care for you for granted.” That was a threat if ever I saw one! Princess understood it, too.

- XIA DONG, Executive Officer of the Xuanjing Bureau (REMEMBER HER!), arrives per the Emperor's summon.

- Oh, the case of the old couple against Duke Qing, which case Xie Yu with his son-in-law secretly arranged previously, will be investigated by Xuanjing Bureau, and she's to go to Bingzhou for that.

- Nihuang & Xia Dong are best friends, not surprisingly. Or was, since Xia Dong is holding a grudge against the Lin family, that Nihuang used to have (still has) a betrothal arrangement with. Xia Dong's husband, Nie Feng, was under the command of the Lin family, but according to Xia Dong he was betrayed by Commander General and died. So she holds the Lin family responsible and hates everything to do with them.

- Emperor has his own agenda regarding Princess & her marriage. She hopes she will be able to actually find a worthy man, but also not to be in trouble with the Emperor.

END OF EPISODE 1, PART 2 

 Kate:

I'm honestly impressed. I read it all and it was fun, but damn it's longer than the show itself hahaha

Thank you! The fact that you read it all is already an achievement in my book. Since it's longer than the show itself and you read it, that's some good news for the show, right? XD

 Misunderst0_od:

Omg, I did not catch this. Good to know. :)

You're welcome! I'll try to note on the Langya List's ranking of martial artist as we meet them in the episodes.

 YuWei Meng:

who're ya talking about? Mu Ni Huang? lol I can't tell who sounds like cop/FBI lady

Princess Ni Huan (badass princess) and Xia Dong (cop/FBI Lady)

*shows up late with an iced coffee* bonjour

So, I'm in a minority of those who haven't seen the show before so what I'm going to write is just a first impression as I don't have any basis to form a solid opinion. Yet.

I feel like I, as a viewer, was thrown in the middle of already developed story and what I have to do now is to figure out what happened before the current events, what is actually happening now and what's gonna happen next as the story will slowly reveal it's complexity before my eyes, like a puzzle.. And I honestly hope I'm not wrong because I want it to be that way lmao.

And the snippet of what I've already seen was interesting enough to keep me excited for more. Propably gonna watch entire thing after I'm done with the show I'm currently obsessing over.

Notes, Reactions, and Recap

[*My Vocabulary: MCS=Mei ChangSu, (Dirty) Old Man=The Emperor of Da Liang, Princess=Mu Nihuang, gege=endearing "older brother", jiejie=endearing "older sister", qinggong=light body skill, Best Boy/Our Boy=Fei Liu, jianghu=pugilist world/world of martial artists/underworld, CP=Crown Prince, xiong=brother/comrade, often said among peers/friends.]

EPISODE 2, PART 1

- Second episode starts were ep 1 left off, discussing Nihuang's marriage suitors, this time by the Emperor & his loyal Eunuch.

- Yep, Nihuang is also a badass general (100k troops!!), in charge of Mu house's Yunnan Palace's Southern stationed troops – they're charged to deter Southern Chu. Another country btw, so now we have: Da Liang (the country NiF is set into), Northern Yan, Da Yu, and Southern Chu.

- So, titles/honours she has: Marquise General of the first rank (Da Liang), Princess of the Imperial Mu Household (Yunnan), and one of the top 10 in the Langya List of best Martial Arts Masters! Emperor considers he has to worry about her, for more reasons than one (=being wary about the power she holds). Eunuch sighs on his master's paranoid nature maybe? Old Man wants her to retire and give her position as head of Mu to her (now of-age but inexperienced) younger brother.

-We're being introduced to this cool man, MENG ZHI, Commander General of the Imperial Guards. He's a great Martial Artist (also someone on the Langya List of Masters, in higher rank than Nihuang), and simple and straightforward on his dedication to his country & to chivalry.

Meng Zhi. Though not so obvious yet, this guy is cool as f***!! :D

- Yeah, like the Princess would be as dumb as to marry some subordinate of yours, Prince Yu! (He's anxious about the Duke Qing's case btw.)

- A Prince Yu's subordinate named Fei Changshi is looking for Mei Changsu, not knowing he's already entered the capital (of course CP's people do the same).

- Fei Liu sweetie is bored! While flying-dancing around, he's noticed by Meng Zhi (who just entered Marquis Ning's manor for official business). And let me tell you, those 2 together are like The BOMB (Well, the #2 BOMB, cause #1 is Fei Liu & Lin Chen!)!! :D

Their duel may have gotten interrupted, but while the others talked & talked, they kept their eyes locked on each other!

- Xie Yu is starting to suspect that Su Zhe is someone extraordinary.

- I would like to be able to see the background story of Fei Liu & Meng Changsu one day!

- So on the LANGYA LIST OF MARTIAL ARTISTS (Edit: As @MusicalVeggies mentioned, there's more than 1 List!!), as just revealed, we have: 

• #1 Xuan Bu from Da Yu. 
• #2 (Taratata!!) Meng Zhi from Da Liang, Commander General of the (50k!) Imperial Guards!!!
• ...
• #unknown [somewhere between #3 - #10] Mu Nihuang of Yunnan.

- “I, Mei Changsu, am not a criminal of the Royal Court. Taking the name Su Zhe was just to lessen the inconveniences.” (I laughed way more than I should on the former!) -> While Jingrui's little brother is just outside. Obviously this is not a slip of the tongue!

- Wait, what is happening, Xie Bi (Xie Yu's 2^nd son) is with Prince Yu's faction, while his father helps the Crown Prince? (wink wink! ;))

- The courtship goes on, now that everyone's aware of him. Things are about to become interesting (or dangerous) for Mei Changsu!

- Girls talk. (And after @Kate's comment, I can't get the possibility of this F/F ship out of my mind!!)

'Cause this fandom needs more lesbian ships :D

- XIAO JINGYAN (his personal name), SEVENTH PRINCE (his order of birth), PRINCE OF JING (his official title). REMEMBER HIM!!!! He's one of the MAIN FACTIONS and the MOST HANDSOME OF THEM ALL. *_*

Prince Jing. It's not just his looks, his voice is also EARGASM. It is known! :P

- Xia Dong, though, is not happy to see him.

Did he really have to come now to interrupt us? I was about to confess!! XD

- “I know you trust your Lin Shu-gege” ...and not me! (AGGG! @Kate, get out of my mind!!)

- So, what did we learn from these 2 scenes, children? After that case 12 years ago (against Chiyan army, that the Lin family commanded) that Xia Dong & her Bureau investigated, a)Prince Jing & Xia Dong don't speak to each other, and b)Prince Jing is neglected & bullied by the Emperor, and he barely stayed a designated Royal Prince – in fact, he wouldn't, if not for his battle contributions!

- Royal Eunuch seems to be the only one feeling sorry for him. :/ Prince Jing is determined to wait stoically!

Look at his handsome face, he feels the absence of his father's love to his core! :(

- He gets to report to his father after about an hour of waiting, and after some bullying, he leaves. :(

- His mother missed him at least. He can't visit right now, but will soon. She's CONCUBINE JING, Mother of (Xiao Jingyan) Prince Jing (that double -triple- Jing is a coincidence btw, they're different characters in Chinese). REMEMBER HER, she's not just a trophy wife!!!

Concubine Jing, an excellent cook (among other things)

- Wait, did she make him homemade Nutella? I'm jealous! (Edit: Nevermind, I had read that as hazelnut paste, instead of hazelnut pastry. :D I still want the recipe, though!)

- Everyone wants to meet Mei Changsu. Jingrui's younger brother (Xie Bi) plays dumb. And I love Jingrui right now!

- Xie Bi is the heir to the House of the Marquis of Ning, even though he's the younger brother. What's going on here? Patience. ;)

- Marquis is outwardly neutral. But we've seen him advise the Crown Prince, while he knows and allows his younger son to be sided with Prince Yu. Jingrui is blindly believing in his father and so proud of him. Su-xiong (and me) is dumbfounded (and sad).

- Nihuang is actually there because she heard about Fei Liu and wanted to exchange blows with him! Oh well, another time. :|

END OF EPISODE 2, PART 1