PeachBlossomGoddess

In the novel they come together because they both resent Jianming's hold over them, sort of to console each other. It is not a love relationship even though of course they are intimate.

I agree. For me it is only a problem if it is incest. Haishi is a smart character that knows her own mind and I am happy to respect her choice in the matter.

The baixi is a Fang family legacy. That's why Jianming was raised in the palace along with the princes. And it is also why he swore not to marry or carry on his line - he did not want to pass along such a misery to another generation.

I skimmed the novel but I plan to start reading properly. In the book she shows up mostly in the second novel which tells the story from Ji Chang's perspective. She loves the general - I didn't read closely enough to know to what extent she colluded with them.

Yeah I think dubbing Chris Lee won’t fix Ren Fei’s actors cringe in places acting. In general I have a huge preference for the mainland Chinese accent so everyone in a Taiwan drama sounds Southern to me anyway dubbing one actor won’t change that. As a more experienced actor Chris Lee should be able to bring out the better acting in younger actors the way Vic Zhou did but he failed at that.

I truly don’t know but I have started to read the novel properly instead of just skimming.

Yups - he played Qilin in Reunion: Sound of Providence.
https://mydramalist.com/30581-the-lost-tomb-3

Unfortunately Zizian is definitely dead.

Well he is a tyrant that is going mad slowly and this is about his downfall. It is a dark story bc both Jianming and Haishi protect him and his legacy so the story is told from their perspective. Thus those we perceive as the good guys are actually the bad guys.

Nope... Haishi has this thought when she is sleeping with the emperor. She wants to strangle him but Jianming will die instead. But if she puts her head on his chest her Jianming won't feel it.

He was the best Qilin ever in Sound of Providence. So hot and cool.

Either way she is a victim - of her family and the emperor. Not defending the emperor's actions but whatever her reason Tilan chose to wear that knowing she would get an extreme reaction.

Its a good production overall but the director obviously has low EQ...

Oh that hottie??? I have been waiting for him to pop up again but no idea who he is.

Well abortion meds don't always work...

She could still be kind but she definitely has an agenda and is not what she appears.

I agree completely, those 3 are working together.

It seems to me, she intended to provoke him into having sex with her. Why she did it is still not clear but I think she was pressured from Nunian. Indeed I think this was always the plan and the emperor was on to it from the beginning, which is why he tried so hard to stay away from her.

Haishi and the emperor do not fall in love, even in the novel. They just comfort each other.

I feel pity for any actor that tries to play YM's ML after TMOPB bc her chemistry with Mark Chao was really good. That said, both Mo Yuan and Ye Hua were not really complex characters and they were almost all powerful. Fang Jianming is a much more complex, tortured and constrained role, I am not sure even Mark Chao could pull off that easily. You need someone like a Chen Kun or a Hu Ge and the age gap with YM would also be more fitting. I really like Chen Weiting but as he himself admits, he is a rather straightforward person. I think this role is difficult for him and even though his sweet scenes with YM are well done, he is not really pulling off the rest of it that well.