PeachBlossomGoddess

Yes I am also thinking Yesha is Beiming's brother. That explains the similar voice and his competitiveness with his brother. They may or may not be twins, they could just be brothers. And the more interesting question, is Tong Shuang 童双 Yesha? 童 (Tóng) – is child or "young boy. 双 (Shuāng) – pair, double, or twin. I noticed the name long ago, but was misdirected by TS's backstory that suggests he was too young to be a Haiya survivor.

Han Li's beauty pills said it all: You are just not beautiful enough.

Well at least she got her final answer and closure:

I think the 4 senior officials killed in the beginning were the masterminds of what happened in Haiya. Everyone else was probably more junior at the time and just following orders. They didn't want to wipe out a whole village and so a few of them secretly saved a few orphans. Zhong and Fang should not be working with Yesha and probably don't know who he is either.

Its basically an aphrodisiac.

Yes there were many clues I think in the early episodes. I also need to go back and rewatch some of the other cases.

For the time being, the emperor's first priority is to get rid of Yesha. He doesn't care who does it for him bc he is the emperor and they are subjects that he can always silence later.

Yes - The first emperor of China Qin Shihuangdi died at a very young age due to his obsession with immortality. He ate a ton of immortality pills made by his alchemist, which was later determined to be mercury (poison). I think this is what inspired the Haiya case (if I am right about it). That is why poison and the Poison Valley cannot be ignored. I hope Xiao Bailong is just an innocent bystander but Old Bug and probably his not-so-dead master are not.

I don't think they all have to be Haiya orphans. Tong Shuang and Xueman for example definitely are not. I don't think either of the Zhuges are even aware of what went down in Haiya - I think if they were, they would not have gone near the Yesha case with a ten foot pole. And there is one part where Beiming asked Xueman not to reveal too much (about Haiya) to Kongyun bc that could get father and son executed.

I need to go back and re-watch the Old Bug episodes later when I have time. But I think they were trying to make immortality pills. And who throughout Chinese history is obsessed with immortality? The emperor. In this case, it was the previous emperor who was old and probably dying. But to make the pill, they needed human sacrifice. Maybe that is why they got them from an obscure village that the world doesn't know about. What debunks that theory is in the latest episodes, Old Bug was using live victims. So I am still not sure that is right reason for Haiya but Haiya is the key.

Yes, it should be tomorrow.

Well they are all investigating unofficially at that point and she is part of the unofficial team.

There are still 5 more episodes and if they end it well, its not impossible.

I think 7 may be hard. Just judging from the comments. That said, Yang Yang still has lots of star power and large fan base so its not impossible either.

Nah, whoever posted it there must have made it up or got it confused with some other rating. Douban doesn't release predicted or not final scores.

I think the Haiya genocide was probably ordered by the previous emperor. But I don't think the officials who were involved in it and covered it up necessarily agreed with it, they were just following orders bc they had to. That is why each of them adopted an orphan. They probably intended to bring the case to light eventually but it looks like the current emperor does not want to taint his father's legacy. If you go back and re-watch ep 2, you will see Xueman's father is working on a painting. If you look carefully at it, this painting actually tells the story of the massacre. It is in the Elite Constables offices because in one of the more recent episodes Chief Fang is also working on the painting. That means he was also there and is why he also in his own way enables Xueman and now Beiming to continue to investigate. It also begs the question whether his son Fang Yin is also adopted from Haiya.

As for Yesha, I am beginning to think he was also a Haiya survivor but he is out for revenge. Either that, or he could be the previous emperor who killed the village bc he wanted to make immortality pills or a biological weapon. I am not sure yet - whatever the Old Bug and maybe even Xiao Bailong's master were working on. We know Old Bug was working for Yesha. It is possible so was Xiao Bailong's master and even Xiao Bailong himself. It is not clear that the Poison master is really dead. We only have Xiao Bailong's word for that. I would also point out that it is suggestive that the calendar picture on the penultimate episode is that of a white dragon. As I have always said, the poisoning is core to the plot and probably not that accidental.

The Douban score is not out yet:
https://movie.douban.com/subject/35861087/

It sounds like NGW's entanglement with Han Li takes place later in the novel while Miss Mo was his first love and is part of his earlier development, which is the part the drama is adapting. According to novel readers and donghua watchers, NGW's role has already been pulled forward. Are you suggesting they should just skip to her part or re-write the entire novel so that Jin Chen can have more screen time? That just sounds like a huge mess, glad they didn't do that. Not everything has to be a conspiracy theory, the story is just unfolding as it should. As for Yu Zheng, he represents Zhao Qing, it is normal for him to advocate for her. He is just doing his job. If Jin Chen was shortchanged here, go call out HER agent.

Honestly, to look for romance in non-romance genres is taking thirsty to the desperate level.🤦🏻‍♀️

The poison is not a trope it should be obvious at this point that it is central to the plot. There are a lot of viewers out there that jump to dumb conclusions and then poison the thread with their stupidity.