PeachBlossomGoddess

For that to happen, the current emperor, MJL and MXY's nephew both have to die or be deposed bc they all take precedence to him in terms of line of succession.

Well I don't really agree - this is not about gender. I think irrespective of gender, what she did - murder the crown prince with all his other sons in the Eastern Palace, Mo Xiuwen and his 30k army, indirectly causing Lishan academy to die of plague bc they had no meds.... these are vile and heinous crimes with high body count. I would condemn anyone man or woman who did something like this.

The rules of primogeniture are very strict and none of those are considerations.

Fact: Children are not safe in chinese dramas.

I am ok with the current emperor. But MXW's son should be next in line. That could be ok as well - he's a bright kid.

I doubt it - the ED was genuinely surprised by the deaths. If it was man made, she didn't do it. If it were man made, my top suspect is MJL bc: 1.) we know the outbreak occurred 5 years ago and he was under house arrest by the ED for 3 years so the timing fits, 2.) he knew he lost Lishan's support after he turned around and accused the 18 Lishan students that were escorting him to safety 3.) it would explain why Ye Li was somehow spared and 4.) it would explain why Han Mingxi was lurking around the academy when Ye Li descended from the mountain.

From her conversation with the soldiers at beginning ep 2, it seems she had interactions with them though its not clear how often.

Karma is a bitch!!!😂😂😂

The apple does not fall far from the tree - the son has outplayed the mother.

They stayed to defend principles they believed were worth dying for. Had they emerged from the mountain, they would have been forced to ratify the ED's ascent as emperor in her own right. Had they refused, they'd have been put to the knife anyway. Remember that was 5 years ago, the emperor was still a child. And in the end, their deaths forced the the ED to step down.

She bit herself.

Lol - I would also be happy if you are right about Lingyun. I just think given her high status and the fact that her death brought them to the brink of war, there is no way that both the Dachu investigators and Cangbei delegation would be so careless as to pronounce her dead if she wasn't.

Well certainly the ED is the main villain. And the emperor is green but at least he is not a bad guy and has good intentions. MXY needs somebody powerful to help him push his agenda and protect him from the ED.

Actually this is a very, very, very old trope that most likely originates from the legendary scene from Jin Yong's Return of the Condor Heroes where the two side wisps of Yeung Gor's hair turns white overnight when his lover the Little Dragon Girl fell down Heartbreak Cliff and disappeared for 16 years. The most iconic version of this scene was played by Andy Lau in the 1983 HK TVB version of the story. The mainland Chinese of course try to take it to the next level by having their entire head of hair turn white overnight. At least TFJ is less OTT exaggerated about it. It was also one of the most early versions of falling down a cliff and not dying.

Worst case the ED gets sent to copy scriptures at a nunnery. Mothers of emperors don't get executed but maybe Consort Qin can come back to secretly poison her or something. I doubt the throne changes hands - Mo Jingli has disqualified himself by colluding with Cangbei to destabilize the dynasty. Feng's trip to Suixue should bring all this to light and lead to his banishment. I personally think there is zero chance Lingyun is alive. But maybe Feng will feel a little bit better after he kills Su Zuidie dead. I know many people think Feng's trip will deliver a romantic surprise but I think its purpose is to simply move the political plot forward.

They are just the inanimate statues that guard the bridge to the place where she buried everyone. She is just terrified of them and runs away from them in her imagination because she doesn't want to accept/relive the reality of what happened at Lishan.

I don't think there were ever any monkeys on that mountain.

Well so far the emperor has not shown himself to be evil. He is just trying to escape being under his mother's thumb.

Probably copyright related.

Oh yeah - I heard about this film's controversy. Apparently it undermined the CPC narrative of eradicating extreme poverty and just didn't showcase China's progress in a good light. Not sure what version is on Prime as I don't have Prime but apparently there is an international version that keeps the original ending.