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Most servants/aids won't go out of their way to say something like that because it is not their place regardless of how close they are to the master they are serving unless the master asks them for suggestions. In addition, there is already a competition going on to decide this in a "fair" way (and between high rank court officials approved by the king) so a servant even more so won't try to give their own input with daring to switch out the elixir. Especially if the other person found out it was fake, then the servant would put their own life at risk with the other person's wrath. A normal servant would not expect their master/prince to go out of their way to save them from a court official either if something goes wrong so a typical servant would just keep their mouth shut to protect their own lives.

Teng Rui is a separate thing where Pei Yan is housing him in order to protect him for the peace negotiation, but Wei Zhao knows Teng Rui has a separate identity and knows something about Prince Qi dying + what happened to Yue Luo.

Pei Yan warned the third prince ahead of time that he might have a spy by his side so try to lure him out. One of Wei Zhao's man (with good intention) said to A-Li to make sure the elixir doesn't fall to Pei Yan's hands no matter what. As the go game was going on, the third prince walked out with A-Li and was sighing that he is going to lose (forgot his exact words). A-Li took this chance to tell third prince to switch the elixir with a fake (so even if Pei Yan won, the elixir would have been fake while the third prince can keep the real one) which ended up exposing A-Li as a spy for suggesting this in the first place. Wei Zhao noticed something was off and Pei Yan won the go game and took the fake elixir (which he knew was fake and it didn't matter since his mother already has a real one so he would have been able to save Jiang Ci either way but delayed it to again use her as a bait). Wei Zhao then realized A-Li exposed his connection to the assassin by making this move, his other men warned A-Li, and then A-Li decided to end himself so that Pei Yan won't be able to figure out more or use him to identify the assassin.

In the novel, Jiang Ci is just a regular girl. Her master in the novel is actually a Shi Jie ("sister" with the same master) and not a Shifu. The Shi Jie apparently has side plots, but it is not really related to the main plot. I saw comments from people who read the drama script saying they added something to Jiang Ci's birth/background for the drama, so the novel reader won't know unless they read the script.

Even the official Douyin account for this drama acknowledged the ship name LOL https://v.douyin.com/ikrE7eAs/

It means something like doing something in secret/doing something hoping you won't get caught haha, basically matches the description of them seemingly having an affair.

There are a lot of conflicts between different parties + states. I think by episode 4, it might be more clear for you. It might also take some rewatching too to understand and get all the names.

We don't know much about FL's master just yet at this time and where she stands (but that she is involved in something regarding Prince Qi and Yue Luo). The king doesn't actually trust 2nd ML fully because he is from the Pei family. The king seems to always worry about potential uprisings and these families trying to take his throne. Let's just say the king is the core of a lot of these conflicts and we will learn more as the drama continues.

They are calling them 偷感 CP LMAO.

Heat index shows how popular a drama is currently. For Tencent, 30000 would be when a drama is getting really popular, 24000 is a rising number so if it can hit around 30000 or close to it, it means it is hitting its status as a certified popular drama. It was around 20000 on day 1 when it aired. It is now around 24000 on day 2.

This drama makes me so tense because you just know any decisions they make will impact the lives of regular citizens. Be it those from Liang State, Wei State, or Yue Luo. Be it they reveal the truth, or use lies to cover up the truth, regular citizens will be the one to suffer.

Same haha, especially for a female character too.

Episode 8: Aw, Jiang Ci can no longer stay as pure as like she did when she was in the mountains. Wei Zhao has shown her that the world is not black and white. That the things they have done can't be defined as simply being good or bad people at this point, they have all lied and done despicable things. Love that Jiang Ci is not willing to live in ignorance and is making an effort to find out more about Wei State, Yue Luo, etc. beyond what she thought she knew from books that were dated.

Also haha, Wei Zhao really underestimated Jiang Ci this time.

Dubbed by a voice actor.

Episode 6: Madam Rong/Pei is so shady, I kind of like it. 😂 Her ability to just lie like that on the spot with tears falling?? Amazing.

I am enjoying it. FL being hurt like this repeatedly in the beginning of the drama by the ML is a big risk especially because a lot of drama viewers are women and the trend in C-drama land recently has been more about refreshing FLs who take revenge/career-focused. This novel is a pretty old one so "acceptable tropes" have changed a lot. But this drama is doing a good job IMO to showcase FL as someone who doesn't just take the hurt (will get her lick back) and she isn't some saintly person who did forgive everything the MLs do (for now).

The political aspect of this drama is decent too and all characters so far have their own motives and reasons for doing things. They are not just there to push FL and ML to fall for each other lol.

Acting-wise, everyone doing their jobs.

Drama hit 24000 heat index, let's see if it can get close to 30000.

She really is a little sunshine in their type of world.

Jiang Ci to Pei Yan: "There are plenty of people like me who doesn't have any lofty aspirations but there are also people who have lofty aspirations who aspires to fulfill their duties diligently. To me, shouldering responsibilities is extremely tough and requires a lot of courage to do so. Not everyone in this world possesses this kind of courage. But your lordship, that's the kind of person you are. It is precisely because of the existence of responsible people like you who prioritize the bigger picture that I can join in the fun out there and drink on a tree without worries. Everyone has their own lives to lead, just like the stars in the sky, each has its own path of brilliance. Even so, they don't hinder each other from shining."

How can anyone NOT fall for Jiang Ci when she speaks like this. I love her so much.

Omg makes sense because I didn't remember that from the novel. Madam Pei is something else too. I read somewhere she had an affair with the emperor in the first place to protect her husband. Every single of these characters got like 10+ layers.

Oh WOW! I did not remember this from reading novel snippets so I don't know if it was in the original novel or it got changed but I came across a clip about Pei Yan's background (preview for some upcoming episodes), spoiler below:

Slowly rising, it is getting attacked A LOT from YXH (marketing accounts) on Weibo and Douban but that is typical. A lot are just trying to say it is boring or coming for their looks. I even saw a post coming for Li Landi's voice acting but that post was commented by non-fans saying "Now... you got to be kidding" LOL.

On Xiao Hong Shu, I see a lot of people actually discussing this drama and excited for new episodes (it is more positive on that site).

Heat index is rising too.

I think it will depend on how this drama market itself for the next few days + whether drama commentors would pick up on this drama and have positive things to say about it to spread.