absurd

It wasn't unheard of to have multiple wives in ancient China, especially for rich noble men. They just have different titles. The princess is the first wife, XJY is the second one. I kind of missed what Ruisheng is, but considering her situation, probably concubine. You really should just be a little patient, they will explain later how they happened to marry XWY

You have a point. Honestly, XWY will make the best emperor, except for the fact that he does not want to be one and that XJY will not want to live in the palace.
But then, he is very self sacrificing, if there's no other choice, he might do it. And, considering, XJY is already somewhat disappointed with world traveling, she might also change her mind for the sake of staying with him.

Bloodline won't matter, unless they make it a public knowledge. But if they do, I'd say more likely is that some other heir adjacent person will come out of the woodwork, some kid or somethingl like that. But it's also not unlikely that A'Mao will get his head screwed on properly, after some tragic event. I've seen something like that multiple times in c-dramas, except characters like these usually die in the end.
As far as this drama goes, anything is possible. So far, it hasn't always been going for traditional anlgles, so I'm not betting on any specific outcome yet

So judging by what XWY said at the end of the latest episode, he does not want to be the emperor. But Li Mao currently is a horrible candidate for the leader of the nation. He's so easily manipulated, obsessed with the girl that he himself left behind and not in any way impartial.
Which makes this a second drama I've seen recently where the best candidate for the throne, both by birth and by character, does not want anything to do with it. Kinda curious how they are going to deal with it. Will Li Mao get his head in the right place later on?

He kinda does dissappear in the middle there for like 3-4 episodes. And honestly, for the whole drama (except ML's backstory in the end) the focus is on FL. To me personally that in itself is not a problem generally. But I also did not like the story, was not a big fan of FL and felt kinda bored with the whole "f*ck the plot progression, let's go on a side adventure" type of storytelling, especially since most of those do not include ML. For me it was kinda weird, because "no relationship development", I'm just supposed to believe they are in love. If you don't have a problem with those, then ML disappearing from time to time might not be a big deal.

That Lejun girl looks kinda psychotic. It really would have been better for everyone, if she just married Eagle prince and went as far away as humanly possible. She's way too obsessed with her brother

I agree, it does seem very re-watchable so far. There are some twists that will lose the effect when watching for the second time, but they are not the only thing that keeps kttph interesting.

If they made it longer, what we'll get would probably be fillers, flashbacks and long winded boring conversations

About the biting, I think she was poisoned by the same toxins that made those man go crazy, the ones in the mine, but not as severely. Hence, the biting. As XWY doctor wife said they were almost out of her body, but her mother's death amplified the effects.

Seems like it will go in a different order, first Li Mao gets messy, then one of them gets the throne.
The only thing that makes me think that XWY won't go for the throne is FL not agreeing when Li Mao offerd her to move to the palace, but maybe they'll play the "she really loves him, so she'll do it for him" card

That's what I thought, no other candidates and also, he seems like he would be a good emperor, he knows how to navigate both politics and war

From my experience of c-drama comment sections, people will always find something to complain about: big age gap, too old, too young, fl older that ml, ml too old for fl, not how they imagined it, too much kissing, too little kissing... the list goes on.
As far as I'm concerned 17 is old enough to understand and portray romance and I agree with you, that she fits the character really well. As long as her co-stars and production team are respectful of her young age, I see no problem. And from what I've seen of HMH in bts or variety shows, he seems like one of the safest actors for that kinda situation, someone who's always very mindful and respectful of people around him.

It's a drama tropes are unavoidable, but if they are done well it works

How exactly is she planning to stop the wedding if they have already started the wedding ceremony? A bit late for that, no? Something doesn't add up

I love love love the gradual relationship development. Finally a drama that doesn't just go "here, they are in love, accept it". From "I hate him" to "he's ok" to friends, it all looks natural.
Also I'd say the number of episode seems perfect for the pacing. None of that talk talk talking that c-dramas love so much, they are actually showing what's going on and progressing the story instead of giving lengthy explanations that usually put me to sleep.

I am not sure, but I saw a snippet of the livestream where HMH and AM said it is. It was a very short part though, no context

Also if you make character death so dramatic that everyone's grieving, maybe make sure audience remembers or likes them first. Otherwise it's "wait who's that?" situation. Or, like with Luo Sha, the scene was so dramatic and I was like "finally, she's so annoying"

At this point the plot and characters just stopped making sense. She's like "Oh no, I killed him", then 15 minutes later "I'm going to kill him". He woke up, no he's the demon king. Characters appear and dissappear. Do shitty things "for greater good". Is Tongzhou a nice guy or an a-hole? I'm confused. And also the skipping. They spend like half an episode on useless talking, and then action comes along it skips from scene to scene.
The story needs to make sense not only to people who read the novel, but to an average viewer too

Older brother was acting like a child. It would be one thing if it was a simple competition. But to risk the whole country for his pride? Really stupid. And it's not just his leg, he was sitting home for years. So what if he was the one who taught Xie Wuyi? Things like these don't just self sustain if you stop practicing. So dumb

When I started watching, I was pretty sure he's not going to survive. He seemed to be either dying or going blind (not really sure what his doctor wife gave him 5 years for) and also seeking revenge, c-dramas usually kill characters like this. But, he also seems to be pretty good at reforms and a good leader. So, now I'm not sure. Either he becomes an emperor or dies at the end. Hopefully not both.