PeachBlossomGoddess

I agree I think it implies another boy - although 子is technically gender neutral implying a child, 长子 means eldest son.

Yeah I don't really mind that bc I like the character but it would have made for a really good end twist. But he was missing (hiding?) in all the action scenes...

Yes you are right... I missed that. I guess that is why they changed his name bc of the change to the ending. But then there still must have been another mole that got cut out bc so many troops overwhelmed the capital it makes no sense unless someone with military access smuggled them in. I guess maybe I shouldn't look too hard at the ending plot flaws bc once they decided to go in that direction they were gonna make it happen no matter what.

No that was General Zhang at the ramparts and then Eunuch Mu at the palace. Shaozi is never seen again. They changed his name to avoid spoilers but he is Xiaozi in the book, the mole that stabs the emperor in the heart thus killing Jianming. He is also the one that must have allowed the envoys out of the palace that night when one of them was murdered since he was on duty.

Nope, unknown to him she was keeping in touch, allegedly knowing he would want news of the emperor. There were lots of missing episodes. Like I think Shaozi was a mole, that is the only way to explain how so many troops managed to infiltrate the capital when General Tang was still outside. And he disappears after the emperor refuses to let him summon Jianming and never appears again. Jianming also disappears for a long time leaving Tilan and the emperor vulnerable. I suspect there was a final showdown between him and Shaozi which also got cut before he shows up too late to save the emperor. An entire Zhuoying arc also looks like its missing. What a mess.

I don't think she did bc she wouldn't have ridden off to war just like that. I am kind of mad at her for keeping in touch. They were meant to just disappear. Maybe she didn't quite want to give up the power.

This emperor wouldn't give a toss. And they did it before. In the very beginning Fang Zhu was the spymaster, Jianming Duke Qinghai was allegedly long dead. But I console myself with the fact that even if they rode off into the sunset, his sons would still be baixi.

Yeah it could also have just been sloppy writing, they could have used the term without intending to imply anything. But I don't think so considering the mermaid.

Those women are trolls. I would have wrapped it at a bit past ep 47. I think the ending is that way bc those women really wanted to make Yang Mi an empress (yups girl power, doesn't matter if she is miserable she can take it for the team). The emperor actually left everything to Jianming, he could have been regent and they could have just ruled side by side. There was no need to make the baby and thus Jianming so sick. The ending should be logical and fitting and not about making gender statements. And the only statement they made are women directors are dumb shits.

Well I heard it the first time but it was late for me I was going to sleep so I ignored it. And to be honest, it doesn't absolutely mean there has to be another son, it can and is also used to describe the eldest and only son. Especially nowadays when people don't have that many kids anymore. But taking the mermaids words into consideration, it can be taken to imply there is more than one. I think it is open to viewer interpretation. I personally hope they did have a son but I just hate the thought of the baixi.

Haishi and Jianming had a son together. When Weiyun is proclaimed as the heir, he is described as the eldest son 长子 zhangzi of the previous emperor. This implies there is at leat one more son. Shit! I am almost pissed at that because that means the dastardly baixi survives to traumatise more generations.

I rewatched the ending scene and I believe that the mermaid was right:

It is a happy light romance.

I think the most interesting currently airing one (active thread) is Luoyang but it’s not a love story. This year The Long Ballad was pretty good or something like super light like Maiden Holmes.

Indeed it is one of the miracles of history!

😅 Ah well I guess laughter is important!!!
Luoyang is growing on me and yes there shouldn’t be this kind of angst in it.

The first two episodes are very confusing but it gets a lot better after. It’s not a love story..

Likewise - I am watching Luoyang next :).

Well they could have girls. And tbh, Jianming does not have to tell his kids how to perform the ritual. He can just burn the stuff and let it be lost forever. I would think that after this, he don't owe them no more.

I guess she can say she has an eating disorder... she gets fat for 9 months, disappears mysteriously for a few weeks to a fat farm and voila, she is lean and mean again.