PeachBlossomGoddess

It goes back to the bad narrative style - its a simple reason, it didn't have to be concealed for so long!
The 夜不收night scouts are well known in history so they assume Chinese audiences know who they are:
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/夜不收

Yeah I think its the only possibility and explains many things about him.

They work together but it is a bit of an uneasy working relationship. Lu Zheng rightly doesn't trust Li Wu completely bc Li Wu has many different agendas and answers to many masters.

He is indeed just a thief. But then what happened to Li Yan's son Li Feng? Can he be the real Li Dongfang?

Seems I was wrong about Li Wu:

Yeah according to my checks they got big performance linked commitments already on the ad side... Not sure what is going on with the episodes either...

Yes you are right it is quite complicated - I just kept it as simple as possible bc the point is the same - its just a financial decision. There are also performance aspects for hot high budget ones that blow out view counts. Dramas like ADOS made so much money bc the price of open slots in the later parts spiked and spilled over into demand for LLTG for Tencent. It is hard to know how well Huxin has sold at this stage but Youku obviously think TTEOM will be more profitable so that is going first. I will also point out TTEOM got its license much earlier than BFB so its not exactly unfair it goes first. And I say this with no bias bc I personally would much rather watch BFB.

I meant to check out the subtitles but I haven't. Good subs would help but I think the main issue is the narrative style. They don't have to make everything a mystery. But of course the Chinese viewers who know the history well may not find some of it as confusing.

Then we can just focus on who is on which side and what happened in that prison ten years ago. It has to do with a secret the Jianwen emperor's father, the crown prince told to a bunch of people before he died. I think the secret has to do with succession and the poem is probably a generation poem that does not include Jianwen's personal name... uh oh.... That is just my best speculative guess for now. It also could have something to do with a weapon that may give one side a battle advantage.

Which parts of the plot are confusing? I think the main problem is there are already lot of unanswered questions in real history. It is made worse by the fact they don't explain the backdrop properly so the two main factions are not clear. When the drama opens actually the country is already in civil war, because Prince Yan has rebelled against the emperor. Why is such a big event just a whispered casual conversation between Lu Yulin and the Minister of War (ep 1) baffles me. It should just be set as the context upfront. Prince Yan was Hongwu's fourth and some say favorite son. He was the Jianwen emperor's most powerful uncle prince who ferociously guarded the Northern border from the Mongols since the emperor was in diapers. The 夜不收/Yebushou or night scouts were Prince Yan's elite border spies so they work for him. Jinyiwei of course works for the emperor as his secret police. So it is spies vs spies. This part doesn't have to be made so confusing.

That's true but also right too many things are airing so the focus is very diluted.

Wow Wang Likun is still so beautiful.

It is a bit like Longxi that is toned down in complexity but still something you have to pay attention to. So the kind of drama Douban users tend to rate highly but may not do so well more broadly. But I think the romance and comedy has made it a bit more accessible so I think its doing quite well though maybe not a huge hit. I personally like these kinds of shows but I think the narrative is a bit more confusing than it needs to be.

Ah ok, wasn't sure but yes, makes sense.

Yes I am up to date. And yes, everyone is going along with his lies for their own purposes.

Idk about martial arts but if his real name is Li Feng then he can't be illiterate. Li Wu was Li Feng's scapegoat. What I am a bit confused about is whether the swap took place or whether he is the real Li Wu. My guess is the swap happened but I am not sure I need to rewatch those scenes.

Yeah I read it quickly and didn’t think about it bc Ci sha hardly shows up onscreen.

I am not sure he is really illiterate. He may just be pretending. His father was the assistant minister of war. He can’t be illiterate but the real Li Wu probably was.

Lol yes indeed - it’s hilarious bc obviously someone wrongly translated the synopses to call him well spoken!!!

Yeah going forward they will still make and air those dramas but they just won’t pay the actors so well anymore. Actors salaries are 50-80pct of the drama costs and the leads pretty much more than half of
it. The idol ones are the most ridiculous it will make you faint.