PeachBlossomGoddess

Yeah, he is definitely not so annoying and vile; he is in fact somewhat empathetic in the novel.

She essentially becomes Jianming and carries on his legacy to protect the emperor.

I am avoiding the trailers but after what happened to Zhe Liu I am expecting that this will pretty much follow the novel.

It is too early for that. Maybe that is just her going to capture the mermaid?

Honestly he is practically ruining the drama for me. This is like the WORST, most over acted role you can spot him as the villain a mile away. And all people have time for is to bash the three main leads when someone else who is supposed to be hiding in plain sight is sticking out like a sore thumb.

The pearl symbolises how much Haishi means to Fang Jianming/Fang Zhu as the Zhu 诸, in Fang Zhu 方诸 is a homophone for zhu 珠 or pearl; like grain of sand to his oyster, Haishi is painstakingly created layer by layer until a priceless, luminous treasure is formed. In the story, the pearl is coveted for many reasons - the luminous thread Zhuoying gave Zhe Liu but also to be ground into a substance that can result in everlasting ageless beauty. The emperor and mankind cannot get enough of the pearls. It is killing the mermaids and sharks want to put a stop to this cruel practice. It doesn't really connect to baixi. That is all I will say for now to avoid more spoilers plus it looks like they may have changed/omitted a lot of that in the drama anyway.

FJM saved his life and picked him up off the battle field where his mother, a Huku princess died. He always knew his identity but he is grateful and loyal to FJM for saving his life. Considering the different factions there, he may not have survived long in Huku anyway after his mother died. FJM pretty much brainwashed both Haishi and Zhuoying in how he raised them. They do what he asks even when they don't want to.

Ok I gotta say I just love all these supernatural enemies. Now it feels like Novoland.

In the book FJM makes Zheliu commit suicide. He has been grooming Zhuoying to reclaim his legacy and stabilise Huku/the border. To be accepted by them he will have to defect/break ties with them. He cannot bring Zheliu with him and will not be focused on his mission if he is longing for Zheliu. I always felt the reason was lame and I hoped the drama would change this but doesn't seem like it.

Yups. She got a lot of flack for the JOF ending but it was so long ago I hope she hasn't forgotten...

No but I won't spoil you. Shaozi doesn't just stand around, he has a purpose.

Shaozi is meant for bigger things! 😂😂😂

It’s a viewing success but it’s getting a lot of bad reviews.

That is why the rating is low in China. Good actors and good script can make the point no need to narrate it.

No this should come out from the performances itself, no one should have had to put it into words like a narrator.

Houda's role in the drama written to simply point out the folly of the tragic obsession of each character, especially Haishi and Fang Jianming. But I wish this could have come out better in the way each actor portrayed their roles and not be articulated instead by a character that was just written to do so, as easy as the actor is on the eyes.

He may not be even be aware FJM got poisoned.

Yeah I was hoping they would change that.

Nope - that's the point, Jianming takes all the hits for him. It is also why baixi has low life expectancy. Each emperor can only have one baixi, once they are gone, they cannot be replaced.

Don't watch the trailers they are misleading. No matter how they end this some people will be unhappy - a HE will upset most book fans and a SE will upset other fans. They cut the trailers to sometimes imply happy and sometimes imply sad to keep both sides watching. We already know the worst case scenario, any change to that is upside. So just enjoy the journey and not worry overmuch about it.