Vya van Velaris:
I've finished watching episode 3-4 yesterday, and I'm actually starting to like the story. 

I had a lot of fun reading your post! Nice to know you feel like you're starting to get your stride with the show and finally sitting up and taking an interest. Looking forward to your updates in future!

EDIT TO ADD:

"Of course, he wants to save that poor kid who was actually the son of Prince Qi (seventh prince?). We can already guess that this Prince's demise is somehow related to that bloody battle in the beginning."

- Sorry, I seem to have lost the ability to add another quote of yours so I just did a copy-paste. :( But just to let you know, the 7th Prince is Prince Jing (our gruff baritone disfavoured one). Prince Qi is someone else close to Prince Jing and yes he is related to that bloody battle at the beginning of the show. You will slowly find out more about who Prince Qi is and how he was involved and what happened to him. Strap on your seat belt. :)

When the mustache prince will die? 

Sorry to kinda ditch you all today, but it's August 15th, so a national (well, religious actually) holiday for us here in Greece, well, translate that to small trips (though not this year with the Covid still lurking), family time & get-togethers :D 

Anyway, I'll probably get on with my own recaps/comments very late tonight, or tomorrow.


 Poia:

When the mustache prince will die? 

He'll be the first one out.


 MusicalVeggies:
the 7th Prince is Prince Jing (our gruff baritone disfavoured one)

Oh yes! I love his voice, and his gruffness!! :D


 Vya van Velaris:
Prince Jing's evil laugh when our ML falls into his lap with no effort at all. (Um.. does that sound wrong? LOL).

Oh no, that sound VERY right ;) ;) ;)


 Vya van Velaris:
Prince Qi (seventh prince?)

I think, by order of birth, the late Prince Qi was the 1st Prince (the eldest one), but I'm not 100% certain (I'll not comment anything else about him, to not spoil!). The current Crown Prince is the 2nd Prince. I read somewhere that the Emperor had 9 sons!! (And who knows how many unknown daughters..) So I'm very right to call him a dirty old man, haha! :D

 Estelll:
I think, by order of birth, the late Prince Qi was the 1st Prince (the eldest one), but I'm not 100% certain

1 Prince Qi
2 Crown Prince
3 Prince Ning (disabled, not eligible to be crown prince)
4 Prince Yu
5 Prince Huai (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
6 6th Prince (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
7 Prince Jing/Wang Kai
+ 2 younger princes

You only have to carry about those in bold, everyone else is meaningless.

 mengosteen:

1 Prince Qi
2 Crown Prince
3 Prince Ning (disabled, not eligible to be crown prince)
4 Prince Yu
5 Prince Huai (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
6 6th Prince (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
7 Prince Jing/Wang Kai
+ 2 younger princes

You only have to carry about those in bold, everyone else is meaningless.

Thanks. ML want to get rid of crown prince and place unfavored prince on the throne right? 

 Poia:
Thanks. ML want to get rid of crown prince and place unfavored prince on the throne right? 

He wants to punish Crown Prince and Prince Yu (not a spoiler), redress grievances (won't tell you what grievances, it's a spoiler), fight for justice and give Liang a sensible crown prince/emperor -Prince Jing/Wang Kai.

 mengosteen:
4 Prince Yu
5 Prince Huai (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
6 6th Prince (no ambition, won't fight for the throne)
7 Prince Jing/Wang Kai
+ 2 younger princes

You got that wrong, Prince Yu is definitely the 5th prince, it's right there in the first episode!! 

But I read somewhere that there were other princes/some princes that died very young? So it's possible the 4th prince is one of those who died as a child, and prince Huai is the 6th prince, or vice-versa...

Episode 3:

1.  So at the palace, MCS runs into this poor servant kid being beaten and you know this kid is somehow important because he has caught MCS's interest.

Unfavored prince reminds MCS that he can't actually "save" him because he belongs to the prison. To which, MCS responds....

This is practically his life motto as a strategist/master manipulator.

2.  Then we have this touching reunion scene now that MCS and general guy meet alone for the first time.  I'm trying to hold back the tears.  It's confirmed that General Meng is the first official person to recognize MCS and knows about his real identity.


3.  Speaking of people who can recognize MCS, I wonder what Granny is thinking when she sees this fragrance pouch.  She seems lost in her thoughts.  She's half "looney" due to her dementia so sometimes it's hard to tell.

4.  So there's this duel going on between Jing Rui and "Bear Guy" in an effort to slow Bear Guy down, but...we have our first orange sighting! Thanks to @Kate, I've been paying to scenes with oranges in them and will most likely keep track.  The count is officially: 1

*casually noms on an orange as two people duke it out*


Episode 4:

1.  Back to to the duel.  These two look so cute together. They are practically flirting.  They get called out for it, to which Nihuang responds about MCS's theory that a bunch of kids could defeat Bear Guy.  The people of the court tell him to put his money where is mouth is and this is probably going to be MCS's first real test to showcase his ability as a strategist.

2. FEI LU FINALLY HAS FRIENDS!!  Look at him teach these three little boys.

Guys, do you realize that MCS is hitting not just two, but THREE birds with one stone with this one bet?

  1. Save the princess from her dilemma with Bear Guy.
  2. Save the kid (Ting Sheng) from life of servitude at a prison and from getting constantly beaten.
  3. Find Fei Lu friends.

Mind = Blown


3.  Another scene of Fei Lu teaching the kids.  They are practically ready to take on Bear Guy.  Fei Lu is like a puppy and needs his compliments. UwU

Fei Lu is such a good boy. Yes, he is. Give me paw....er....I mean high five.

4. So Prince Jing is acting all jealous when he's talking to MCS and is all like "Oh, I hear you're like besties with CP (Mustache Prince) and Prince Yu (Sideburn Prince)." And MCS is all like "Pssh, I'm just acquainted with them.  They're just vying for my attention because they want me to choose sides."  Prince Jing, who is still being jealous, is all like "Who are you going to choose between them?" And then we have this dramatic scene....

i c no difference.

5. Oh right, there's this whole date rape subplot that's been going on for these two episodes.  Someone is trying to date rape our beloved princess Nihuang like they did 20 years ago (not at all surprised about the way that sleazebag Xie Yu got his wife to marry him).  Anyways, it seems like MCS has his hunches and whoever invites the princess to the palace tomorrow is key.  I wonder who it is.  I have a feeling MCS already knows.  Let's see if detective conan over here and his suspicions are correct though.

silly pipe, i know, but not many pipe options on IG/Snapchat. >_<

 Estelll:
You got that wrong, Prince Yu is definitely the 5th prince

Oopsie. I messed up big time, time to simplify it:

1 Prince Qi
4 Crown Prince
5 Prince Yu
7 Prince Jing

I guess I should let MusicalVeggies answer your questions in the future

 MusicalVeggies:

I had a lot of fun reading your post! Nice to know you feel like you're starting to get your stride with the show and finally sitting up and taking an interest. Looking forward to your updates in future!

EDIT TO ADD:

"Of course, he wants to save that poor kid who was actually the son of Prince Qi (seventh prince?). We can already guess that this Prince's demise is somehow related to that bloody battle in the beginning."

- Sorry, I seem to have lost the ability to add another quote of yours so I just did a copy-paste. :( But just to let you know, the 7th Prince is Prince Jing (our gruff baritone disfavoured one). Prince Qi is someone else close to Prince Jing and yes he is related to that bloody battle at the beginning of the show. You will slowly find out more about who Prince Qi is and how he was involved and what happened to him. Strap on your seat belt. :)

Okay, so the "qi" here doesn't mean 7. Got it. 

I'm learning Chinese for fun (DuoLingo, cause I'm cheap that way).  My life goal is to be able to watch C-dramas without subtitles (bye stupid translations). And to be able to say "I'm practicing by watching C-dramas". Yeah, I'm one for meaningful ambitions, I know.

 Misunderst0_od:
Save the princess from her dilemma with Bear Guy.
Save the kid (Ting Sheng) from life of servitude at a prison and from getting constantly beaten.
Find Fei Lu friends.

Your analytical deduction is worthy of your pipe, Sherlock! I've never thought about 1&3.

 Vya van Velaris:

Your analytical deduction is worthy of your pipe, Sherlock! I've never thought about 1&3.

Lol, it's just a theory.  We will have to see if I'm actually right.  But it is true that Fei Lu has playmates for the time being. ^^


 Kate:
I hate Chang Su, and because of that I don't root for him, so what's the point watching? I dislike how he does not work with people, but he manipulates people to work for him.

Okay, this would make a lot of sense for you not getting into NiF so I don't blame you for not liking it.  The whole drama is about him manipulating people for revenge.  To be fair, the people he manipulates are all terrible or annoying people so I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Other than MCS, there are very few people to root for at the moment.  Prince Jing is probably the only character I can think of that's aiming to do something so you can root for him?  But again he has joined team MCS.

 mengosteen:

Oopsie. I messed up big time, time to simplify it:

1 Prince Qi
4 Crown Prince
5 Prince Yu
7 Prince Jing

I guess I should let MusicalVeggies answer your questions in the future

You messed up again! :P You were right 1st time, current Crown Prince is indeed the 2nd son! (Don't hate me, I still like you :P ) 


So, we have...

(format: #order of birth. [Title], [Personal Name] )       <-- [Extra Info]

  1. Prince Qi, Jingyu       <-- the dead one!
  2. Crown Prince, Jingxuan       <-- the moustache one!
  3. not important
  4. not important
  5. Prince Yu, Jinghuan       <-- the sideburns one!
  6. not important
  7. Prince Jing, Jingyan       <-- the handsome one!
  8. not important 
  9. not important

[info online + my recap]

I'm a bit late, but here I am with episodes 3-4 from Nirvana in Fire! (clap, clap, clap) If I am wrong on any of the key information I wrote or if some of the questions are clear and I'm the only one who can't see the answer already from the episodes we've already watched, please correct/state the obvious to me.

Thoughts and questions for Episode 3:

  • Mei Chang Su's identity is confirmed as Lin Shu, the commander and son of the general of the Chiyan Army. His ex-fiancee is Mu Nihuang and understands her well enough to know that she doesn't have the habit of bringing a maid around with her. He is also a criminal from 12 years ago. So why is he suddenly back in poor health in the midst of political turmoil in the middle of some intense power struggle? Also, how did he survive as a criminal and build his way to become the founder/Chief/leader of Jiangzuo Alliance (I know it's because of his brains but what I'm wondering is how did the circumstance of him being a criminal allow for him to achieve that? Perhaps he changed appearance before he did all that?)? What does he hope to achieve for revenge?
  • Mei Chang Su was able to come back to Jin Ling, the capital of Da Liang with a new identity due to his completely transformed face thanks to an illness. What is the illness that caused such drastic physical change in a living person?
  • Commander Meng is on the Lin family's side. But there is one thing I am really confused about. Commander Meng said, although he wasn't in the Chiyan Army for a long period of time, he recognized Mei Chang Su as Lin Shu with one glance. That means they were super duper good friends right?
  • Xiao Jing Rui's birth sure is an interesting one! (And very original and unique too.)
  • Mu Nihuang mentioned that Mei Chang Su might've helped her during a war. We can tell that Mei Chang Su still cares for Nihuang a lot.

Thoughts and questions for Episode 4:

  • Why did Grand/Elder Princess drink the poison that is used on Nihuang? Did Empress Dowager (now dead) and Grand Princess's husband Marquis Ning force her to drink the poison? If so, why?
  • Ting Sheng's identity is revealed as the son of the late/former Crown Prince (Prince Qi), with whom Prince Jing had a very good relationship with and it is due to their brotherhood that Prince Jing is influenced/suffering from whatever crime Prince Qi had supposedly committed. It is also for that reason that Mei Chang Su wants to help Ting Sheng. Is he going to succeed?

I have to admit, I am completely loving this! If only there are more political dramas like NiF I would watch them all for sure. I love how the plots have so many factors, including manipulation according to how one would act/respond to certain events, and so many other things at play. I also love how they're so intricate sometimes, Mei Chang Su thinks of everything to assure no mistakes. Others might not be a fan of political dramas in general, but I sense a masterpiece brewin up!

To answer some of @YuWei Meng's questions (can't quote):

Episode 3

  • Lin Shu was saved by Lin Chen, the head of Langya Hall. We can extrapolate that he helped him build his new identity as Mei Changsu and establish himself as the leader of Jiangzuo Alliance. It is discussed several times between Nihuang and Xiadong (FBI lady) that the Lin family were traitors in the battle of Meilin. So Lin Shu is a criminal/traitor who is believed to be long dead and has no means to accomplish anything. But Mei Changsu the head of the powerful Jiangzuo Alliance and an emperor maker level strategist that is secretly backed by Langya Hall certainly can.
  • We will learn more about his face changing illness later but he also fell of a cliff, must have been scarred and he was only 19 at the time, barely a man. He would have changed a lot in 12 years anyway but certainly not beyond recognition. Btw, I love that Hu Ge didn't bother to conceal the scars and imperfections from his own car crash in this show.
  • They say that NIF is not a romance but some of the saddest most moving parts of the show for me are all of Mei Changsu's moments with Nihuang. 

Episode 4

  • Grand Princess Liyang was in love with an envoy from a neighbouring country. Her own mother roofi-ed her (presumeably to keep her by her side ) to make it fait accompli that she marry the Marquis Xie who coveted her! Poor Liyang! With a mom like that... [Note:these Chinese kingdoms they never marry their real princesses off to rival foreign nations. They always send fake princesses who are really peasents with extra large feet].
  • Don't forget that Lin Shu is maternal cousins with all of them - Prince Jing, Prince Qi, and even the sleazy crown prince and the dastardly Prince Yu. Tiansheng would be his second cousin.

Dang I don't know why but I am seeing so much more during this second watch than the first time that I keep tearing up at pretty much every episode. This is gonna kill me. 

My favorite part of this week's episodes is in ep 4 where Mei Changsu tells Prince Jing that he picks him. Prince Jing is incredulous, thinks its pretty much impossible and he is delusional and wants to know why. I just love how smugly confident Mei Changsu is that he can make it happen and how meanly he explains to Jing that he pretty much sucks but he has no other viable options. I laughed so hard I almost cried. If I were Prince Jing I would have sucker punched him! (Sorry but I mostly watch on a TV and in any case I have no idea how to take screenshots from my mac so no pix from me).