PeachBlossomGoddess

This is a theoretical dynasty but it looks very much like Tang. During Tang dynasty, they didn't strictly practice primogeniture but Ye Li's grandfather, as the head of Lishan Academy would have probably advised that the correct line of succession should be through legitimate heirs only. So the son of the empress or legitimate wife should always inherit first. Since Mo Jing Li's father was the crown prince and if his mother was the crown princess, by right he has a very valid claim on the throne. The Dowager Empress was NOT the empress, she was just Consort Guo, one of many consorts of the late emperor. So the current emperor would not have been in the proper line of succession, especially since the past crown prince already has an older legitimate heir which was Mo Jingli. That should be the substance of Ye Li's grandfather's criticism of the Empress Dowager. Unfortunately for Jingli, his grandfather, father and mother all seem to have died at the same time. So he was legitimate but had no powerful backers, leaving room for Consort Guo backed by powerful court officials to seize power. But it wasn't until Ming dynasty that the Chinese dynasties officially practiced primogeniture to avoid this kind of succession mess. So the first Ming emperor outlived his crown prince and passed his throne to his grandson instead of his other surviving sons.

Ep 2 when she leaves the academy for the capital.

Well maybe she can be a Merry Widow - her husband is the one on very shaky political ground.

I have a feeling the inhabitants of Lishan academy may have fled long ago,. Bc Ye Li was there as a child and then she was on a trip as a teenager with her mother when Prince Ding rescued them. Subsequently she was still with her mother when she gave him food. So they must have left the academy. Maybe she only returned after her mother died to find it abandoned. I doubt she could have survived there alone for 8 years.

Ikr? They look like they are going to be comic relief. Btw did you notice he was asleep with his hat on his face in the back of the cart Ye Li hired to go to the capital. I wonder if he already knows her.

The actress is doing a terrific job parodying a tropey role. Her interactions with and expressions in the assassin sketch was hilarious. She seems to have potential with the “assassin”. Maybe she will grow up and surprise us.

I think the Empress Dowager set aside his marriage with Ye Li bc of her maternal grandfather’s influence. As son of the former crown prince, he has a legitimate claim on the throne , arguably a better one than the current boy emperor who is only the son of a concubine. That’s probably why Ye Li’s grandfather objected to a former consort making herself the Empress Dowager seizing power like that for herself and her son . It would be very dangerous to match her most vocal critic’s grand daughter with the late crown prince’s son. So she had her married off to a cripple who can never claim the throne. Arguably both Prince Ding and his brother who are late emperor’s brothers also are in the line of succession . In fact since the current emperor presumably has no heirs yet, Prince Li is still in the line of succession but Prince Ding is disqualified bc he is crippled.

It is quite clear the Empress Dowager is a highly fictionalized version of Wu Tzetian.

I don’t think she’s been back to the mountain. It is still guarded so I don’t think she can access it anymore. The tomb she visited of the 7 martyrs should be very near the capital. They were graduates of the academy that were burned to death by Lu Changfu for their “rebellion”.

Yes but here's the difference between platforms on this Super VIP (SVIP):
iQiyi - you get it for free if you are a premium VIP (non-discounted) subscriber. Well worth it.
Youku - don't bother to pay if you have Netflix - you can watch it there with no extra charge.
Tencent - the WORST one - not only do you have to pay, you can only watch on a tiny tiny tiny iPhone or iPad screen and NOT on a 4K big screen TV.

She is a funny kind of wicked. And you can see her pout a mile away.

I love this director Lam Yuk Fan. She shot some of the best most memorable dramas.

Yeah I just wanted him to feel more sad about it and maybe leave her a note or some kind of explanation or momento. The love story or relationship aspects are not well written. They don't communicate important things to each other from start to finish.

Clearly I have nothing to add then. And chill- when I replied to your reply to me, I couldn't see your reply to @fujoshisan above.

It could be but he already "has" him, he doesn't need to ask for him again.

No in addition to her senior, she found another one of the 5 or 6 graduates from the academy that left before it was set on fire. He is now the manager of her shop. We don't know if anyone on the mountain survived. They could be all dead. Or maybe her grandad/the headmaster survived. Actor is quite famous - I doubt he is here just for a 2 minute appearance.

I am sure there are still quite a few survivors from the academy including graduates in high position. It’s impossible to persecute them all and I suspect some of them could be helping Ye Li. The dowager is keeping quiet about this, maintaining the myth that she is protecting the academy/mountain. The tomb is just a memorial - I doubt there are really bodies buried there

Lu Changfu murdered them. He burned the place. So she set him on fire. FL definitely has a bit of PTSD but she is also pretending to protect herself.

The man helping her was her senior at the academy.

https://mydramalist.com/779368-mo-li#comment-26414096

The headmaster of Lishan academy is/was her maternal grandfather - I think he is dead but I am not sure. The academy was reknown to be a foundation of the empire. When the dowager empress seized power and ascended the throne he objected to it by closing the academy for reflection, effectively criticizing her move. This enraged the empress who surrounded the academy with her troops causing Lishan to be isolated and shunned. It is also probably why her power hungry father effectively divorced her mother and took another wife. After besieging and isolating the academy the empress faction started to kill them all off quietly. Led by Lu Changfu - that’s why she murdered him with the flammable robes. I don’t know if the empress dowager ordered this. But her people did it. So Ye Li is playing dumb and pretending to the empress dowager that all is well and everyone is still alive. She is pretending not to know what really happened. Or she is trying to let the empress dowager know she won’t expose her for murdering the most consequential scholars in the country for their dissent.

No she is lying about them and feigning ignorance esp to the empress to protect herself.