PeachBlossomGoddess

Yes naturally GSJ sees it that way bc he is technically the most qualified but in the end the SW and the Elders decide together based on soft criteria and their judgement. It's like college application where the "essays" and other soft criteria like diversity can get students less qualified on paper accepted over more qualified students. Is it biased and unfair? Depends on who you ask.

No the rules are that the SW is chosen from the most capable leader of the 4 lines and manages all the lines as SW. Had Huanyu succeeded Hongyu as SW, Ziyu would simply have been the master of the Yu line going forward. Had SJ been elected SW, someone else from Jue line would be the Jue Master and Huanyu would have remained Yu Master. The only one disqualified from election as SW is Zishang bc she is female. That is why she will eventually be replaced by her brother.

It's a business so they are commercial but nonetheless there is always the issue about where you draw the line in terms of ethics. I suspect the use of the Infinite Fire is a hard line for the Elders that they agreed not to cross but SJ and/or other factions in the back mountain may be willing to cross.

I think in the end, everyone is after the Infinite Fire, even Lady Wuji. She tells a good story but actually if you look carefully at the facts:
1. Only she knew about the lover, so how does the whole Gong mansion come to know about the lover? The only source can be Wuji.
2. The story she told about dressing up young Ziyu like a scholar to cheer up his mom. What dumb ass zero EQ person does that??? Why would Lady Lan be happy to see her son dressed up like her lover??? Lady Lan was terrified bc of the rumours already and hastily made him change.
I think SW Hongyu's critical mistake was to bring in Lady Wuji to cheer up his wife. I think she was the one who kept fanning the flames of her first love into an obsession that killed her. Otherwise, over time and with SW Hongyu devotion and her own son, she'd probably eventually have forgotten him or at least been less obsessed with him. I don't trust her, she is a very cunning and manipulative woman and idk how its translated but everything she says has double meaning.

I think that the best way to understand the context is the iQiyi intro synopsis. The Gong family is a business that has Intellectual Property (IP) called the Infinite Fire. The Four Elders are shareholders that ensure that family business that they have a share in is run according to the company charter. According to the charter, the SW that runs the 4 lines is chosen from the most capable of the 4 line masters. But the Elders have consistently shown a bias towards selecting the SW from the Yu line. I am guessing this is bc they have the most confidence that the Yu line will continue to defend the charter. It could also be bc the Yu bloodline is more special. But it's just as likely that there has been past disagreement about how their IP is being used which led to the Feng/Wind Elder's departure. SJ is ruthless on the business side - he made them tons of money but he even makes their most deadly, incurable poison widely available, something that shocked Ziyu. Maybe the Elders are wary of promoting SJ bc he may want to somehow utilise the Infinite Fire, their most secret weapon in a way they disapprove of. The hidden Wufeng spy and even the rivalry with Wufeng may be a side show or a distraction. The real plot could just be SJ vs ZY. This is increasingly looking like there is internal conflict in the Gong family that is building to a big showdown between SJ and ZY. SJ is not necessarily challenging ZY as SW per se, he wants to revise the company charter. He knows once the Elders set a precedence for changing one rule, then all the rules can be changed. He is the only one who sneaked in the topic of the Infinite Fire in the missing note from the hairpin. I think he wants to gain access to that secret by creating panic that Wufeng is after it.

SW Hongyu could have had a concubine before he chose a formal wife, who was Huanyu's mother. Technically Lady Wuji is also only a concubine. Her given name is Wu and Ji 姬 is an ancient title for concubine.

I think that was meant to show there is a lot more to her. Even he is intimidated by her enough to give her due respect.

Lady Wuji dressed up kid Ziyu as a scholar. She evidently thought that would cheer up Lady Lan who instead freaked out bc her lover was a scholar and there were rumors about her already. That old bitch did it on purpose - I don’t doubt she fanned the flames of her mistress obsession and spread the rumors about her.

No I don’t watch trailers but someone else who does already spoiled me but thank you for the spoiler warning. Something is missing in the account of the nights events and that could just be a flashback that shows what really happened. I stick to the facts as they are revealed bc trailers are often cut to send you down the wrong path. YZ autopsied all the bodies - it’d be hard to fake death unless he is in on it. Not impossible but hard.

He is introduced as Xue Tongzi in the drama but ZY guessed he is the real Young Master Xue. When he met them as a kid, Xue Tongzi was a grown man who seems to be reverse aging .

I don’t think SJ can be grounded without a meeting including the elders and a chance to defend himself. He may just have decided to leave and steal the weapon and may be just creating chaos along the way.

Why would they be wary of SJ - he is until tonight highly praised for his loyalty, jianghu access and contribution by the elders. He’d have to have done something really bad to be pretty much grounded like that.

I don't think he really wants to be SW. That's why he cut SW Hongyu off. He is having a great time in jianghu, why would he want to be stuck on a cold, dreary and boring mountain?

Ep 2: About 35-40 minutes - We see SJ meeting SW Hongyu. They have a long discussion until they are interrupted by Huanyu at the moment Hongyu seems like he wants to discuss the SW position. This part I think is part of the regular narrative and should be the "most true" if not complete version of that night. Clearly SJ gets up to leave after hearing the assassin is Zheng Nanyi. Huanyu is by himself and someone at 40:00 visits Zheng Nanyi. It looks like Young Master Yue but it also could be SJ. SJ is shortly thereafter shown to leave the fortress.

Ep 3: Around 17:30 minutes - This is Wuji's account and she is likely to be an unreliable narrator. But according to her, She claims she was brewing tea for SW Hongyu when Huanyu comes in with Zheng Nanyi. In her account SJ is not there. She sees 3 people fighting etc.

Ep 5 33:45: According to SJ, he was there when Huanyu comes in with Zheng. Everything that happens including SW Hongyu opening the hairpin and the secret letter referring to the Infinite Fire is all according to one person only. But we saw from Ep2, which I think is the most reliable account, he got up to leave. And why would Wuji lie about him not being there. If she were the murderer she would want to throw suspicion on him and anyone else.

SJ is the Gong family face to the outside world. He was passed over for SW even though he was the most qualified and he distributes the families weapons and poisons to the outside world. YaQi discovered the Gong outpost inventory to be overstated suggesting someone was siphoning off merchandise. And finally Yuanzhi can tamper with the herb elixir and Housekeeper Jia was from the dispensary. He conveniently "found" a Mei token to get Yuanzhi out of jail. I think he may not necessarily be part of Wufeng but he may be disillusioned and preparing to break off from the Gong family, he just means to take the weapon with him.

I am sorry to keep going back to SW Hongyu and Huanyu's murders but I am obsessed with it and went to rewatch those parts. I am beginning to think there is a real case that SJ is very suspicious:

Yups. Definitely not edited out.

Ah ok I misread me bad.😀 Yeah at first I didn't understand why killing a bunch of people was a secret - they do that in jianghu all the time. My mom thought one of them was her boyfriend!😅🧐😂

I am too lazy and you have to go back and link to your source of info or you will be rejected. If you want to you can give it a try.

No that is the Xue Tongzi - I know the later reveal but I am sticking to the character intro. So this is the character that was introduced as Young Master Xue when ZY shows up for his first trial.

That's why I said I believe...