AleksandraSucur

I've noticed many commentators are irritated by the SML, as "obsessive and delusional", which is understandable, given even the FL thinks he is hypocritical with some childish attitude (cicada metaphor), a person going to extremes and showing off max. tension in order to obtain smth, fulfilling certain (sometimes, contrasting) desires. He evidently longs for her but it was him who requested the call off of their marriage, so some people perceives this contraddiction as a flow in the storyline or character's outline.
But I think this contraddictorial trait of his is quite logical. Calling off their marriage was the only path to his survival. His current condition (in terms of power) is extremely precarious, being his claim to the throne totally legit, his father was a crown prince, son of the former empress and emperor and we have no idea how the current empress dowager raised up from her previous condition of imperial concubine/consort and installed the current emperor on the throne. This precarious condition vis-a-vis the current imperial power would be utterly aggravated if he married a descendant of Lishan Academy, a highly respectable "soft power" centre (influencing perception, knowledge, scholarly and legal matters, arts etc), which is already perceived as oppositional if not even detrimental to the imperial gravitas (nominally detained by a woman and a teenager and practically by 3 concurring court factions).
Mo Jing Li is actually torn between the need to survive and the desire to claim the power he believes he's entitled to. In such a condition, it's almost "natural" for him to develop this obsession towards the FL and to perceive her as the only person who can understand him, protect him and help him to clear his path to power. There's a huge clash in him between the need to adapt to the harsh reality (which means: being powerless and unsuspectful of gaining some) and the desire to claim the utmost power.

I totally agree. It is just a natural telling an interesting story. We've all missed for a long time

On her motivations we can only speculate, given the tiny part of the whole picture we were given till now. The range goes from what you've said to... some sort of international and intel conspiracy, it depends on the stakeholders she's entangled with. Bc the stakes are big, different and were created in times we still know almost nothing about: 1. we know the empress dowager wasn't favourite at all and was suppressed by a charlatan Lv Baitong/Lv Cheng (who wasn't Muyang's person at the time, he looked very suprised when he discovered the identity of the "astonomer) when the old emperor was still alive and the CP was MJL's father. What role that consort and the FL's mom (/Lishan scolars) played in that situation, ie. before the conspiracy against ML's bro? 2. The conspiracy of the Muyang's faction against former Prince Ding (=ML's bro) costed 4 cities (so, the stakeholder could also be a foreign power which had a vested interest in his elimination) and 3. while the empress has the same surname as one of the high scholars from Lishan (and that's probably why she studied under the FL's father), the consort doesn't share the same surname (Qin) with any other character on the cast list and looks less educated and attentive to her way of speech (that's why the FL can easily beat her provocation regarding Lishan), but she is still at least as smart as the FL to rely on that web of information/intel created by FL's paternal uncle in that sort of "lamp worship temple", even promoting that "business". Ye family is also interesting, I think they also may be some sort of (minor) stakeholders, otherwise they wouldn't discard the FL's mother as they did.

I agree, but I have a strong feeling the consort is manipulating both the empress and Lord Muyang with that sowing discord technique. She was certainly behind the Lishan massacre which was probably done to prevent any change of the empress's heart towards her teachers (bc. the empress studied under the FL's grandpa and was a friend of FL's mom).

Me too but I don't hate myself in doing this: when I find myself checking prevs and trailers, I know the drama is promising and I am hooked 😂

Me too, the revenge motif is so often given for granted (as some sort of natural consequence of injustice) in dramas and we rarely see what the characters are actually going through.
When this aspect is neglected, it's hard for a viewer to relate with the characters in a deeper way and is left to focus on "how sweet" or "how handsome" are the actors or similar superficial things.
Well, that's why this one seems so refreshing, different

The psychological aspect seems to be very well treated, both in the script and in direction: with pieces of the puzzle dropping gradually, finely dosing flashbacks with other suggestion tools, mixing the reality with imagined, with traumas, depressions, sufference and states of mind convincingly performed by the actors involved.
I really appreciate this effort, it's highly gripping and expect the revenge will not only be treated as a repayment for injustice or to "right the wrongs" but will show us the healing process for the characters as the story evolves.
The First Jasmine is such a pleasant suprise! 👌

It started with a weak and messy plot with too many characters in the first arc and pacing problems, but watching the fights from the start till the end was a feast for the eyes, with so many diverse choreo and unexpected moves. The martial aspect was 10/10. Although the plot improved after the first arc, I found myself checking the names too often and having difficulties to figure out the characters' motivations and their inter-connections. Many times they lacked depth, the plot relied only on flashbacks as a tool for some background explanation, but after being used too many times, it felt redundant. Yet despite these flaws, it was a nice watch.

you've missed nothing, I've dropped LBtG at ep 13. I guess I'll also continue to watch a few more eps of AtC and follow what other viewers say here

Idk, convincing acting is never enough for me if the plot is shallow and this one is definitely too plain and trope-ful for me to really enjoy the actors and the chemistry. Maybe bc I've recently completed more engaging and original stories, so I get bored quickly when a drama lacks this element

indeed, I've watched 5 eps and don't know if to continue or not with such a weak plot. Trying to figure out here if it gets better later...

Indeed, we should be thankful they didn't drag with that part.

the pace normalized in ep. 2. It was very fast in the first ep., bc. the duration of eps is shorter in general and the authors rushed the first one to explain the reason of Di Renjie's demotion to a distant province in order to dedicate to proper cases.

I also think I'll put it on hold and check Tang Mist first

yup

The first drama I need to watch at a slower speed.😂 The pace is breakneck!

Yes, that intro is really smth

It's very strange though. The screenwriter wrote the script for The Story of Minglan, containing several of the best written C-drama dialogues in general and in which you can tell practically every character from what he or she says. I suppose the screenwriter had poorer original material to work on but it wouldn't be a huge issue if we were better introduced to the main frame from the beginning, deleteing simultaneously so many names, sects, weapons etc (they could have been introduced later) which distracted us from the main plotline. I think it was director's or producer's choice to insert as many fights as possible to make it look more like a wuxia from the very start. The problem is they went overboard with fights while failing to depict well characterial traits and motivations of the protagonists and at least hint to those of the antagonists. Only in ep 17 or 18 we've started to figure out Ding Ye Hua's character (just before she disappears from the plot and not particularly relateable) and now BYT, when we've already seen half of the drama. But one had to endure that excess which gives you no useful info till the point in which the plot becomes interesting.

I feel the same, as a plot is smth secondary, less important. It also makes hard to connect emotionally with the heroes.

yes, you're right. I've just seen ep 21, Jin chief actually addresses her as "aunt" and after you've mentioned the link between their fathers as brothers, it must be it. Perheaps it's just the actress doesn't look so much old in my eyes