PeachBlossomGoddess

I believe the birthmark is something everyone in the apothecary sect have. His mother was from her sect and eloped with his father. Their child would obviously have the same birthmark.

The characters in this drama are multi dimensional that is why no one is completely black or white. I prefer that much more to single dimensional characters that are either just good or evil. To me, what you are seeing is exactly what I would describe as a well written character.

Weining Hou would not know of Jinxu's duplicity without someone he trusts telling him what happened with Ai. It is a huge betrayal to Weining Hou so of course he had to not only spare her but let her flee. Of course Jinxu is a target of Qingci in the sense he is an ally of Weining Hou who before the take down could mobilize all 5 sects. Weining Hou is definitely a target of Qingci as revenge for his father's death. By killing Shen and turning the 5 sects against Jinxu, he has destroyed part of Weining Hou's power base. We don't know what Qingci's ultimate endgame is yet other than to broadly avoid a war with many casualties breaking out as a result of a power struggle for the throne. Is he out to restore Ai or is he only interested in freeing Emperor Xiaoming from Weining Hou control? Of course things can go very wrong, he is playing for high stakes. That is why he went to such extreme lengths to alienate and distance Yunluo. If anyone could have busted him to Jinxu it is an overly affectionate Yunluo.

I agree the part about magically finding Ai is a huge plothole. But also not everything went to his plan, he did not anticipate that Jinxu would send people back to inspect the bodies and discover that Shen's helper survived. So he may have expected Jinxu to be fooled and give him Ai anyway. But as a backup, he had deduced that Jinxu would keep Ai close by so he had to be at Zhengyang Place so the emperor's spies could have been searching for some time. Maybe that is also why he smuggled Suxuan there, hoping they would be able to find him eventually. I think we will see in the next episodes he didn't expect Suxuan to be so grievously injured that is why he reached out to Yunluo. Our boy is very smart but nothing ever goes completely to plan.

No problem, can ping me anytime you want something explained.

Indeed the salt and pepper hair is well done. In general the men get better dos in this show... And I always wonder why ancient men never seem to bald...

I will try to give my read on this and other questions below at one go here:

Qingci's whole strategy is divide and conquer and turn allies into adversaries:

Jinxu's position as the leader of wulin was due to the secret patronage of Weining Hou. In return, he had promised that he would locate Ai and he was best positioned to do so since Suxuan is his sect brother. Unknown to Weining, he had seized Ai long ago and caused Suxuan's madness. He risked being exposed the moment Suxuan became lucid again and reveals to everyone that he has had Ai for 10 years so he needs Suxuan dead. Qingci offered to help him silence Suxuan once and for all in exchange for Ai. This would preserve his position in wulin and relationship with Weining Hou. Chen was a mutual problem - he was too smart, vicious and ambitious, Qingci also wants him out of the way. So Qingci advised Jinxu to set them against each other, killing two birds with one stone. He thought Chen would bring in troops to help suppress Suxuan but unfortunately by then Chen was already demoted by Weining Hou. Not everything went according to Qingci's plan. He told Jinxu that any victor in a clash between them (likely Suxuan) would be substantially weakened and Jinxu would be able to easily defeat him. He asked Wen Siyan to let Shen's helper go because he still needed Weining to know about Jinxu's betrayal. That may have been a mistake because she may be even smarter than her master but we will see.

Qingci needed Yunluo out of the way - she would never allow her precious shifu to participate in such a dangerous scheme and Jinxu would never buy it that she would turn against her shifu for Qingci. So they needed to "break up" and he needed to make sure she is incapable of interfering although personally I think the poison was overkill. I don't think he Suxuan was ever poisoned so that may have been a lie to make Yunluo hate him. In fact, her obvious distress and actions that day further convinced Jinxu that Suxuan is dead and Qingci and Yunluo are not working together. With Yunluo out of the way and possibly Suxuan getting more hurt than Qingci expected (Shen is crafty bastard that made him destroy his own martial arts), Suxuan still managed to unmask Jinxu as a traitor to wulin and conspiring with the Langwei in the massacres years ago that killed Manqing's family.

Finally (and I think this is a bit of a plot hole or a bit too easy), the emperor's spy manages to discover Ai's is stashed at a hidden monastery in Zhengyang Place. Qingci asks Yunluo's help to retrieve Ai. He needs her or Suxuan because Ai was entrusted to Suxuan, Ai wouldn't randomly go with just anyone and in any case he has no martial arts, he can't do something so dangerous himself. That is my understanding of the story so far. Not sure what is going to happen to Ai because the poor guy ain't gonna survive if he falls into Emperor Xiaoming's hands. Can't have two emperors. So maybe our brave doctor with zero martial arts actually plots a rebellion to overthrow the emperor. It is what he told Jinxu to do telling him that he had no choice now that Weining Hou has turned against him ( the current emperor is pretty much Weining Hou's puppet). Poor Ai - I hope he doesn't end up poisoned - the current prognosis for his ultimate survival is not looking great...

Indeed but you gotta make it past the middle parts. Just FF - I have FOMO so I didn't and by the time I made it there I was so irritated I just rolled my eyes...

Indeed it is a petty comment that has nothing to do with how good the show is. that said it has irritated me for awhile.

Oh I already watched 3-4 episodes when it dropped. I am on the fence because I was underwhelmed by the plot. All I see is Princess Weiyoung - imposter with evil sister and revenge - and the ML looks too old for the FL, I can't see the pairing. But she is badass I like that... I will finish what I am watching now and then figure out if I will watch it. It's long, something like 50+ episodes...

Hmmm... can't say I had similar reactions other than I am very sure you are not supposed to like Mo Huan. She has ulterior motives for everything she does and she only saves people because it results in prolonged suffering. But you are much more patient than I, if I disliked something from the beginning I wouldn't make it this far... maybe this one is just not for you. It is a dark show, not everyone's taste. I do find the comic relief sometimes mis-timed or inappropriate, maybe that is what is bugging you.

Not an expert but from what I saw in the early episodes, I suspect the English subs are auto translated from either Thai, Indonesian, and/or Vietnamese. That is much better that just a straight machine translate. I saw the first ~6 episodes on Youtube with Indonesian subs it looked decent to me. Since then, I have watched the last 30+ episodes with Chinese subtitles only so can't tell you wheter it is decent throughout but there have been some complaints wrt titles. I saw on the threads someone is properly subbing it in English somewhere you can scroll down and look for it.

Don't really see where you are coming from... may I ask which episodes/incidents specifically make you laugh when you are supposed to cry?

I felt the same but.... hate to be the one to break it to you... he is hiding nothing. Don't hold your breath - this dude is all brain no brawn.

Oh of course it is signature Mei Changsu... no other character has the right to copy it IMHO!!! Our lead in this show is so handsome, he totally deserves his own signature oh I am so sick I am gonna die soon outfit!!!

I must confess I am not a fan of the Mei Changsu outfit - must all terminally ill brilliant and ruthlessly vengeful strategists dress the same way from now? Is it a uniform? Geez.. first a cheap Khal Drogo knock-off and now this. This costume designer lacks imagination.

Yeah I ddin't feel sad either. I was however doing cartwheels when Su Yunlou makes the first move on Qingci. At least she knows what she wants now and when ever does the girl pretty much jump the dude in these shows? Good on her!!! The rest that follows was stupid though.

I am still enjoying it although I felt it got less exciting the moment they left Dragon Roar City.

Honestly there were some parts that were a bit off color and borderline offensive but it doesn't last that long.

Its just excessive bonding - a terrible idea to develop every love relationship and explore every friendship permutation between all the characters at one go . Especially when the way relationships are written is not this drama's strong point.

Oh man! All these deaths... I really hope this is not a futile sacrifics and Su Xuan/emperor Ai is worth it!!!