Yes, especially because in the beginning, Jiang Ci and Wei Zhao were established "enemies" with no trust and she knows he is out to get her, there is no hidden agenda there.
But Pei Yan laid the path to build trust with her (though Jiang Ci is a smart cookie who also doesn't trust him fully but thought he would put justice above all else aka "good person"). So, it seems even more alarming to see him mix "concern" with his actual intention aka possessiveness. Especially knowing that Jiang Ci can't go against him since she is his "maid".
There is quite a bit of analyses on C-side of how Jiang Ci is with Wei Zhao once they begin their friendship (a lot more relax, able to joke around, etc.) while with Pei Yan, she is a lot more tense and proper despite her supposedly having more "trust" in him. The character dynamics in this drama are great. It is constantly shifting between the three of them. Even with Cui Liang.
Painting ML as freedom fight I get it but freedom fighters actually target military combatants so the first part…
The thing is she was inside the Pei residence. Pei residence is known to be tightly guarded so it is not "normal" for some regular girl to just somehow ended up there on a tree. Wei Zhao could only get in because he has excellent marital arts skills. So, with her appearance being there, it already came to question if she was some spy.
From Wei Zhao's POV, she is someone with unknown origin who he clocked was smart because he saw through how observant she was (based on the comments she made and her gestures, tipping the drink, noticing Lian was acting, getting that Lian was part of the assassination plan, etc.).
And unfortunately for Jiang Ci, she really was just some random girl who sneaked her way in (via the water route) and not because she knew martial arts or had bad intentions. But at that point, Wei Zhao would not have known that.
Same with Jiang Ci, she was planning to talk her way out of it but realized Wei Zhao isn't someone she can just talk her way out of. Potentially after the first stab, Jiang Ci could be "let go" but from Jiang Ci's POV, she doesn't know whether this man would kill her fr or not (and she is right) so attacked back (which then led to the double whammy of her being injured by both MLs).
Jiang Ci has called out Wei Zhao later on saying he said Liang people were cruel, but he is also acting like them to her. Which obviously impacted him (and it was obvious this was something he struggled with and had closed himself off of aka doing whatever he needs to do to uncover the truth even if it means dyeing his hands with blood because he is also carrying the wills of those who were murdered for this cause), and she then later found out about his past and Yue Luo which led to changes in their relationships.
It is very obvious in episode 10 that he hated himself more than anything because he felt because he didn't kill her successfully in episode 1, it eventually led to the deaths of his people (he was blaming himself more than anything because he hesitated).
At the end of the day, he is fighting for a nation that had been taken over and those who died for this cause. Us viewers might not agree or even like his actions in the beginning, but I personally try to see the bigger picture and can acknowledge he was not right for what he had done to Jiang Ci, but also "understand" from his POV why he did those things in the beginning.
It is also why it is compelling to see the shift and character development.
if they could give 80 ep not just 40 then I would have been one of the happiest watcher😂😂😂
Yes, and the way none of these episodes are fillers either. They are all packed with information and you gotta piece everything one by one. Nothing said by any of the characters are pointless. They all tie together somehow later on.
AHHHHHHHHHH I was so nervous for Jiang Ci. I get why she went back but I would have gone bye-bye. Though even if she had left, with the way her master was involved too, she would probably be dragged back in eventually.
That convo at the end between Wei Zhao and Pei Yan as PY tried to search for Jiang Ci... Pei Yan is so scary. It is the way they were exposing each other but still toeing the line while Jiang Ci heard it all. Good thinking on Wei Zhao's part with the sword.
Ohhh more info about the Prince Qi case as of episode 17 (spoilers below):
So, it is not Ayan who is the descendant of Zhao Wu. It seems like it was her late husband, Sheng Zheng. Ayan said she has a habit of cooking dishes separately because of Sheng Zheng's mother who was a slave (aka doesn't like to eat all the food in one mix since it reminds her of kitchen slop). Ayan only knows that Sheng Zheng's father worked at the palace at one point. After the father passed, the mother and Sheng Zheng moved to Nanling and it seems like this mysterious woman would help them out here and there by dropping them money.
I am thinking this mysterious woman might be Jiang Ci's master (and Wei Zhao is on the same track).
I find Pei Yan so much scarier than Wei Zhao because irl, the chances of meeting someone like Wei Zhao (in the beginning) is not that likely. But Pei Yan... the facade of a kind man who seemingly cares for you on the surface while slowly restricting your freedom slowly and slowly until you don't have a will anymore is pretty common. Can't wait until Pei Yan gets his positive character development too because boy... he is a mess right now (especially with the addition of Pei family corruption and his mother).
There is no sec couple so far. The only possible other couple (hopefully) is between the doctor and his mysterious…
There are jokes on C-side that Jiang Ci got better styling when she is with Wei Zhao in Yue Luo because she can now stop finally being a pretend maid LOL.
A great fight for survival. The story resounds in the hearts of human beings.
I am really enjoying it. I think viewers should come into this drama viewing it as a political drama first and foremost. FL and ML met under circumstances where ML needs to kill FL to hide his identity while FL is being pulled in different directions while trying to survive the best she can.
They don't develop into friendship really until after episode 10-12 and it is still slow burn with the romance.
It is also not that FL doesn't mind what ML did to her, it was that she came to an understanding why he did what he did and because he also saved her later on multiple times. She let the grudge go and said it basically balanced each other out ("You tried to kill me three times, but you also saved me three times").
And no, he doesn't just torture her for the fun of it, there is context behind all these actions (not to say they are justified), and it is hard to explain unless you have been watching. One episode alone had like several plot twists so it is not something I can simply explain as some toxic ML who enjoys torturing women because that's just not true. Their interactions in the beginning had nothing to do with love/romance or her being a woman.
There are secondary couples, but they will probably be in latter half of the drama as it moves into later arcs.
Aw, it is so sweet seeing some viewers of this drama on C-side asking how they can help increase the heat index for this drama because they really like the drama and hope it can be watched by more people. ❤️
Jiang Ci is truly one of the best written FLs in C-dramaland for awhileeee especially for a ML-revenge focused type drama.
And tbh, I don't want to bring in real life politics into this so I won't, but it is obvious a lot of what we see here can be reflected in what is happening in current events and just general history. A "weaker" state stuck between powerhouse states, the "weaker" state utterly destroyed from the land that was once filled with greenery and ample resources to its people being forced into escaping, etc. People of the "weaker" state trying to seek justice and take back their home. It /is/ a story of resistance and justice for people of this "weaker" state. You can't help but end up rooting for them. Wei Zhao is the center of this, and he carries enormous responsibility.
I think we will be heading into the Yue Luo arc soon and I am sure I will be crying a lot so cheers to that.
Prince Qi was repping Liang State to have the talk with Yue Luo for peace talks (since Yue Luo was between Liang…
They found the house where Zhao Wu supposedly lived, and it seems like Ayan might be the descendant.
As Zhao Wu's wife was a slave before she was freed and because of them eating kitchen slops, a lot of them have traumas about it. Ayan's footprint was found at that house + Ayan eats rice/side dishes separately (something her mom probably did since she doesn't like to mix them as it did remind her of the kitchen slops she ate when she was a slave).
So currently a lot of hints pointing at Ayan being a descendant of Zhao Wu.
Can someone explain to me the plot and stuff. Like I get most of it but there are details that I feel like I'm…
Prince Qi was repping Liang State to have the talk with Yue Luo for peace talks (since Yue Luo was between Liang State and Wei State in terms of location and constantly got dragged into their conflict due to the fighting between those two states).
On the surface, it seems Prince Qi died (because he was supposedly kidnapped by the Yan sisters/killed) while IN Yue Luo so Liang State used that as the reason to destroy and took over Yue Luo and made it a vassal state anyway (took all their people, claimed the land and all its resources for themselves).
It was said /supposedly/ that the Yan sisters were spies from Wei State which then increased the conflict between Liang State VS Wei States (because Wei State spies basically kidnapped Prince Qi, supposedly).
So here is what we don't know: We don't know what the king's involvement in this is and why he is so concerned with this. It does involve someone called Zhao Wu. Zhao Wu is the guard at the water gate who /supposedly/ allowed the Yan sisters to exit the gate with Prince Qi. Then they found out this Zhao Wu or his descendants are alive and living in Nanling. Nanling is the Pei family's territory which concerns the king.
Basically, Zhao Wu is currently the one who would know what happened to the Yan sisters back then. And the Yan sisters should then know what happened with Prince Qi.
And then as of the latest episodes: spoilers below.
1
But Pei Yan laid the path to build trust with her (though Jiang Ci is a smart cookie who also doesn't trust him fully but thought he would put justice above all else aka "good person"). So, it seems even more alarming to see him mix "concern" with his actual intention aka possessiveness. Especially knowing that Jiang Ci can't go against him since she is his "maid".
There is quite a bit of analyses on C-side of how Jiang Ci is with Wei Zhao once they begin their friendship (a lot more relax, able to joke around, etc.) while with Pei Yan, she is a lot more tense and proper despite her supposedly having more "trust" in him. The character dynamics in this drama are great. It is constantly shifting between the three of them. Even with Cui Liang.
From Wei Zhao's POV, she is someone with unknown origin who he clocked was smart because he saw through how observant she was (based on the comments she made and her gestures, tipping the drink, noticing Lian was acting, getting that Lian was part of the assassination plan, etc.).
And unfortunately for Jiang Ci, she really was just some random girl who sneaked her way in (via the water route) and not because she knew martial arts or had bad intentions. But at that point, Wei Zhao would not have known that.
Same with Jiang Ci, she was planning to talk her way out of it but realized Wei Zhao isn't someone she can just talk her way out of. Potentially after the first stab, Jiang Ci could be "let go" but from Jiang Ci's POV, she doesn't know whether this man would kill her fr or not (and she is right) so attacked back (which then led to the double whammy of her being injured by both MLs).
Jiang Ci has called out Wei Zhao later on saying he said Liang people were cruel, but he is also acting like them to her. Which obviously impacted him (and it was obvious this was something he struggled with and had closed himself off of aka doing whatever he needs to do to uncover the truth even if it means dyeing his hands with blood because he is also carrying the wills of those who were murdered for this cause), and she then later found out about his past and Yue Luo which led to changes in their relationships.
It is very obvious in episode 10 that he hated himself more than anything because he felt because he didn't kill her successfully in episode 1, it eventually led to the deaths of his people (he was blaming himself more than anything because he hesitated).
At the end of the day, he is fighting for a nation that had been taken over and those who died for this cause. Us viewers might not agree or even like his actions in the beginning, but I personally try to see the bigger picture and can acknowledge he was not right for what he had done to Jiang Ci, but also "understand" from his POV why he did those things in the beginning.
It is also why it is compelling to see the shift and character development.
That convo at the end between Wei Zhao and Pei Yan as PY tried to search for Jiang Ci... Pei Yan is so scary. It is the way they were exposing each other but still toeing the line while Jiang Ci heard it all. Good thinking on Wei Zhao's part with the sword.
I am thinking this mysterious woman might be Jiang Ci's master (and Wei Zhao is on the same track).
They don't develop into friendship really until after episode 10-12 and it is still slow burn with the romance.
It is also not that FL doesn't mind what ML did to her, it was that she came to an understanding why he did what he did and because he also saved her later on multiple times. She let the grudge go and said it basically balanced each other out ("You tried to kill me three times, but you also saved me three times").
And no, he doesn't just torture her for the fun of it, there is context behind all these actions (not to say they are justified), and it is hard to explain unless you have been watching. One episode alone had like several plot twists so it is not something I can simply explain as some toxic ML who enjoys torturing women because that's just not true. Their interactions in the beginning had nothing to do with love/romance or her being a woman.
There are secondary couples, but they will probably be in latter half of the drama as it moves into later arcs.
And tbh, I don't want to bring in real life politics into this so I won't, but it is obvious a lot of what we see here can be reflected in what is happening in current events and just general history. A "weaker" state stuck between powerhouse states, the "weaker" state utterly destroyed from the land that was once filled with greenery and ample resources to its people being forced into escaping, etc. People of the "weaker" state trying to seek justice and take back their home. It /is/ a story of resistance and justice for people of this "weaker" state. You can't help but end up rooting for them. Wei Zhao is the center of this, and he carries enormous responsibility.
I think we will be heading into the Yue Luo arc soon and I am sure I will be crying a lot so cheers to that.
As Zhao Wu's wife was a slave before she was freed and because of them eating kitchen slops, a lot of them have traumas about it. Ayan's footprint was found at that house + Ayan eats rice/side dishes separately (something her mom probably did since she doesn't like to mix them as it did remind her of the kitchen slops she ate when she was a slave).
So currently a lot of hints pointing at Ayan being a descendant of Zhao Wu.
On the surface, it seems Prince Qi died (because he was supposedly kidnapped by the Yan sisters/killed) while IN Yue Luo so Liang State used that as the reason to destroy and took over Yue Luo and made it a vassal state anyway (took all their people, claimed the land and all its resources for themselves).
It was said /supposedly/ that the Yan sisters were spies from Wei State which then increased the conflict between Liang State VS Wei States (because Wei State spies basically kidnapped Prince Qi, supposedly).
So here is what we don't know: We don't know what the king's involvement in this is and why he is so concerned with this. It does involve someone called Zhao Wu. Zhao Wu is the guard at the water gate who /supposedly/ allowed the Yan sisters to exit the gate with Prince Qi. Then they found out this Zhao Wu or his descendants are alive and living in Nanling. Nanling is the Pei family's territory which concerns the king.
Basically, Zhao Wu is currently the one who would know what happened to the Yan sisters back then. And the Yan sisters should then know what happened with Prince Qi.
And then as of the latest episodes: spoilers below.