PeachBlossomGoddess

GJM is a movie director. This is his first drama. He would expect all his actors to be able to speak their lines properly to the level of being onset recordable so I am sure he only hired actors that can dub themselves.I do think they hired dubbing artists for minor minor roles (like servants/guards).

No you are correct it depends on use and context - in math it is 角 Jiǎo or angle but in archaic use it is Jué meaning the 3rd note of the 5 note pentatonic scale. That is why ancient dramas are confusing for even native speakers. It took my dad and 2 of my friends and I putting our heads together to figure out the first chapter 徵 was Zhi bc it was in archaic writing and it could have been zheng 征 or wei 微 as well.

That makes me think she probably had an affair with the Wind Elder and he was kicked off the mountain as a result. He went off to found Wufeng to challenge Gong family. And that is also why he doesn't know the layout of the back mountain anymore and needs to send spies into infiltrate them. That is also how Wufeng knows about the weapon.

From the novel it says that Lady Lan was the Sword Wielder Hongyu's first wife. That means Huanyu and Ziyu are actually full brothers and if Lady Lan had an affair, it was with someone on the mountain.

Yes it’s 角 Jue meaning the ShangJue line or commerce.

YWS’s mission is to infiltrate the back palace which as SW wife she has a better chance of doing. She is to map it out and how it is guarded and send the intelligence back to WuFeng. Ultimately she/WuFeng intends to get the Infinite Fire weapon which is stashed in the back mountain. But since even their best spy has trouble getting info out they have no idea how to begin. YWS and SGQ are just information gathering pawns they can be sacrificed.

The latest chapter in 7 is a different Feng it is the Feng character in WuFeng 无锋 not Wind 风 so it is about the assassins. But I do think bc of the word play that WuFeng is headed by the Wind Elder.

I won’t be on the discussion thread to avoid uncovered trailer spoilers.

Yeah he was too sick for anything else.

Yeah he was too sick for anything else.

When I have time I will have to go rewind it and look at the memorial plaque for Xue whether he we can see if he is a Gong. And there is a mistake in the cast list MDL for Xue Gong Zi, he is not a prince. I missed his character intro on the screen a few episodes ago and looked at the cast list which is a mistake I should have just rewound.

Nope.

Yes I like this about the drama, the characters are flawed and they don’t see their own shortcomings. It’s very sad GSJ never understood why he wasn’t chosen and in his heart he really feels they were biased. He accepted it when it was Huanyu bc they weren’t exactly miles apart. But he is miles apart from Ziyu and his questionable bloodline is the straw that broke the camels back.

Yeah I haven't read the book yet but I read Tong Hua has been accused of writing a tragic novel bc no one really has free will.

Lol - I forgot about Feng Long. I think the difference is he doesn't want to marry XY, he wants to marry the Haoling Princess. Tushan Jing at least loved XY when she was only Xiaoliu. I will easily without even thinking about it rate Part 2 3/10 if she ends up with that all form and no substance guy and I omit him as a love interest.

CX's goal is to win the crown to bring peace to Dahuang and be in the most powerful position to protect XY. I honestly don't know what comes first but although XY has no desire to rule she is of one heart with him. As she advised A'Nian not to expect CX to be a one woman man, he will marry and be kind/grateful to many women if it gets him where he wants to be. And I do think CX's end game is A'Nian. Then Xiyan and Haoling become one. No more wars. No more children orphaned by war. The first persons XY and CX lost forever is not a lover but their parents.

I don't think XY is unreasonable at all. She is actually incredibly realistic. She also knows XL is also just like her and CX. They are sworn to a cause greater than love. And XL is in conflict with CX and thus her cause. She can't love him and he can't love her. They may be soul mates but neither has free will. I don't think she is under any illusions about XL but she personally cares for him even though she must at the end of the day side with CX in any conflict between them.

This part I am confused about bc the books says Lady Lan was the Sword Wielder's first wife. So who was Huanyu's mom? Maybe they are full siblings but her mom left the marriage briefly for her lover, scandalising everyone before returning.

I think she learned all the skills to level up but she is just a Chi. To level up, she probably has to succeed at missions that require her to accomplish big things. Including kill people which she is reluctant to do, impeding her advancement. So she knows/has been trained in all the needed skills, she just didn't earn enough merit to level up. Her mission this time is just to scope out the back mountain and discover the secrets of the Infinite Fire. I don't think she is supposed to kill people which is one of the reasons she accepted the mission. The other is probably to figure out what the hell happened to her sister in that mountain.

GSJ is too ruthless. He lacks compassion. It's not just about physical prowess it is about winning hearts and minds. Because there is bound to be conflict between the various factions.

I think GSJ definitely prevailed in the physical aspects of the trial but as Yue Elder kept hinting the test is also about decision making. So maybe GSJ always does what makes sense, what the cold, rational and smart person does but his decisions are quite heartless, maybe too ruthless. Idk exactly how to explain but he is usually right but he has no compassion. Maybe that is why they picked Huanyu over him even though he didn't beat him in the physical aspects of the trials. Whereas ZY so far has too much heart and he is not cynical/experienced enough. Nonetheless many of the elders including Yue had a soft spot for him bc he has a big heart.

I think its more fun to watch 1 episode a day bc you go back and really understand the clues and the intrigue but of course up to you how you want to watch it.

Yes indeed, all the back mountain characters are now also suspects going forward. More questions than answers. Is their surname also Gong? So we have 8 lines of Gongs instead of 4?