AleksandraSucur

Agree, this high end hypocrisy is hilarious to watch

Because it is logical for Wu Zhu not to be nowhere near FX, nobody should know FX has a grandmaster-level protector, if this fact was known, FX will be in great danger, FX's real identity would be exposed and FX would certainly lose Lin Ruofu (and maybe even Wan'er), because he killed his son. When he was in the capital, they've hidden it even from CPP and Shadow: Wu Zhu doesn't remember what exactly happened to FX's mother and who exactly is involved in her murder. In 1st ep S1, he clearly said to CPP he trusted nobody, Therefore, it's only logical for WZ to travel to the places he partially remembers he travelled with his Lady and ask around people who knew her (as grandmaster Ku He) in order to remember the past.
The same is in the novel, too.

Imo, the screenwriter did an awsome job, beside proving that - when productions give them time to think over and over again - Chinese scriptwriters can do whatever other great scriptwriters can do when given time and money. I won't remember the original creator, but I will certainly remember the name of this screenwriter. And to think that I've decided to check the novel because I've found "the districation from the fake death" too long, discovering that it never happened in the novel along with almost everything which happened till the ep 10. What I've seen as a flow, was an incredibly smart, maybe even genius, decision from the aspect of story telling, serving three purposes: 1. it eliminated dozens of completely useless chapters, 2. it used and re-arranged those few useful patterns and details from the original novel (eg. the tension with the 1st prince in front of the city gate, which supports the logical clues why 1st prince respects FX and starts to develop feelings for the Beiqi princess, or the court debates), 3. it created a cliffhanger between S1 and 2. Not to mention the fact that almost 100% of dialogues were created ex novo, and the dialogues are a strong part of this drama. The strong part of this drama is also a care to deepen the characters and to modify them in comparison to the novel. One can think that the characters from the novel wouldn't pass the Chinese censorship, well, I'm a European and against any kind of censorship, and think that the problem with the characters from the novel is that they wouldn't pass the logics and sensibility of any common person: they are not gray and manipulative as in the drama, they are either criminals or covering criminals.
I've discussed these topics here with fans of the original author and of the novel, I respect their different taste and opinion (mine is that the novel is a kind of a "supermarket of mostly shabbily plots", with very few original patterns, displayed for the purpose to be cherry-picked and heavily adapted by a smart screenwriter), fans that have thought the drama and the novel share "great similarities", while I think the similarities are around 10%, at the most. I must say I haven't read the entire novel (that would be a torture for a picky person like me), but I've put my utmost effort to become acquainted with a structure of the novel, skimming through all of them and reading around 50 chapters in the middle and around 30 from other parts.
From what I've seen till now, the only possible flaw in drama's story-telling could be the lack of explaining the emperor's decisions and actions. Nothing else.

The drama doesn't follow the novel, and the plots were greatly re-written in S2.
The imperial examination took place immediately after the royal banquet with drunken FX reciting poems and humiliating famous scholar Zhang Mohan (if you remember S1). In a trailer for next eps., it looks like Guo Baokun's father is helping FX in figuring out the dynamics of the examination from prison, in the novel, it happened but minister Guo was free and still in charge, cooperating with FX. Those chapters are 163 and following.
But if you refer to court dealings in previous eps. with chief censor, that happened around ep. 273, and the drama covered even further eps., eg. CPP's luxurious mannor is shown in ep. 302. I think the scriptwriter tried to connect the examination with the Shija (or Shangjing) town massacre in order to skip immediately in that arc ("Ming" family was mentioned in the last ep. of S1 by the Beiqi commander of embroided guards Shen as people who helped Royal Princess and the 2nd prince in their smuggling affairs). That arc starts in ep 317 and covers at least 50 (boring) eps. Strongly doubt the drama will waste so much time for that arc

the nice singer from the brothel

I find that yodeling hilarious. Smart background mean to accentuate oddness, a trait which is essential for the vibe of this drama

I agree completely with your first point. As for the 2nd, actually there is a partial evidence: smuggling Neiku goods to Beiqi orchestrated by Royal Princess and the 2nd prince, which Beiqi commander Shen gave testimony to FX stating it serves for raising the army via a powerful family "Ming" from that city which was later burnt by the CP, after being evacuated first by the 2nd prince. In ep. 15 chief censor mentioned the evidences of collusion between RPrincess and the 2nd prince in smuggling (the camera caught a surprise on CP's face, too) and asked the emperor to allow him to investigate where the money was going (ie. he asked for permission to gather evidences for raising an army which stands for rebellion). And THIS investigation was refused by the emperor: he may not be interested in corruption or smuggling, but he will certainly be interested in potential rebellion. Unless they are emperor's pawns, I mean, unless they were raising an additional army FOR the emperor (eg. to be deployed in his invasion of Beiqi, which he plans in order to proceed fruther North to the mythical temple), such a decision makes no sense. And it's a potential major flow in scriptwriting of the plot so far

on point! 👌

but the emperor is also aware that this case is not only about corruption but about preparing a rebellion...

FL's father will give up his position once Wan'er and FX are married exactly for the "balancing" reason we all are aware of. In the novel, this marriage happened before his trip to Beiqi, so he wasn't present in the courtroom discussing corruption, he was already retired. Drama will likely follow this pattern, once united with prime minister, FX would have too much power and the emperor already cuts off the connections FX is trying to buid.

we all agree on the emperor's suppressive and manipulative character, but in the plot his actions contraddict each other and gives orders contrasting each other. Thanks for confirming me you agree with this impression

I disagree he should take tuition from CPP.
If I were FX, I'd take advice from Beiqi emperor (or empress, can't figure out the gender, but it doesn't matter): I'd try to write the follow-up to the Red Mansion, after quitting the job at the Overnight Watch. I agree with you that CPP tries to protect him: without the power of his agency, he certainly can't take over that royal treasury, but I think FX still can take the woman he loves, takes her to Beiqi (she agreed to elope with him even before he went on the mission there) and live happily ever after by writing novels...

well, I've thought of the need of "balance of power", too, but this balance between CP and the 2nd prince is not in motion any more, because 2nd prince transferred his rivalry with CP on FX, the thing which was not so smart from a smart person such as Chengze but can understand the dynamics which brought to a deterioration of his relationship with FX.
Besides, if "the balance of power" between the two princes was the reason, why would the emperor say to the CP to stay away and just watch Chengze and FX battling each other? It doesn't make much sense, logically, he would have done the opposite, trying to push the CP back to the "balance of power" scheme.
This is not the only thing I don't understand. The Oldest princess had an obvious relation with both princes, intimate with one, stealing money with the other prince, money which will serve to raise an army and possibly rebel. How such a smart person as Chengze didn't know she controls the 9th+ level archer? To get rid of the emperor, it was sufficient for this archer to let pass one of the numerous assassins and neutralize his bodyguard... Why would he enter into such a complex scheme which will inevitably produce a rebellion when he could have stricken a deal with her: let's get rid of the emperor and I assure you'll continue running the business?

Has anyone here figured out why the emperor is so easygoing on Chengze? Why is he refusing to allow the investigation and who is btw now in charge of the royal business after the emperor's sister was dismissed to her fief?

glad to be of some help 😊

The eldest brother can't be CP because his mother is a concubine and while the 2nd prince still have some chances to overturn the son of the empress, the 1st prince's mother is from another state which invalidates such a claim from the legal pov of this fictional state.
For all other questions, I'll tell you: the attractivness of this drama is all about: everybody manipulates everybody, this tendency is in the human nature, psychologists would say that even a newborn baby "knows" how to manipulate the mother when hungry - starting to cry. Of course, nobody of us in real life manipulate other people as in this fiction, but it is truly worth watching this drama from the very beginning, enjoying the reasons why the manipulation Leitmotiv is so entertaining. 😎

take my advice, the sachet won't work on the prime minister - lure Da Bao out of the mannor, put a mise-en-scene of some dangerous situation for him, then save him and be kind to Da Bao, and you'll have the prime minister in your pocket. 😉

He finished victim of the 2nd prince scheming against FX. We don't know the exact dynamics, it happened at the end of ep 13, when his body was used by Gao Du to hint 2nd prince's connection with the murder of Jin girl from the brothel.

yup, I've seen that and somehow felt sorry for him, he just wanted to pass the imperial exam and quit that sh***y job. The character was well delievered and I've started to grow an attachment, lol.
As for Si Zhe, I've also expected this outcome, he is written differently in the drama, greedy but not a criminal, it's somehow logical to keep him around, even for fun this character conveys.
Anyway, although it appears logical, measuring similarities through the outcome of plots is not the right metrics. If I write the story of my trip "From Europe to Beijing", the plot will almost certainly give my arrival as the outcome of the story, but the plot will be completely different accordingly to how I've travelled: by plane, by bus, train, boat or bike, how many stops I've made, what amount of I time I've needed, the plot will depend on different things I've seen and different people I've met, right?

Pity for the 2nd prince's guard, he only wanted to pass the imperial exam and change his sh***y job.