Sharlotka

I'm not speaking about condoning anyone's behaviour. Just the extent of one's love for them.

I'm sorry if I'm wrong but I'm kinda assuming MYS is Murong Sr. (I'm really not good with using initials for characters, sorry).

But if I'm right, then this is my thought too. We will never know, obviously, and I may be wrong but I think at this point, this man was still salvageable. All he needed was reassurance from Feng Suige that it'll be fine, that he'll help him. And it's not like he expected his son to be pardoned - he just wanted him to live. And I feel like it is probably the point at which he snapped.

Episode 27

PM Zhuang’s love for his children may be his only good quality. A lot can be said about this guy, a lot of bad things at that, but I have to give him that the guy truly cares about his children - doing everything he did to avenge his son, and protecting his daughter. In that one aspect, the Emperor could actually learn from him.

Though I guess it’s something that can be sad about most of the villains here. You can hold a lot against them, and rightfully so because it doesn’t justify their actions, but you can’t tell that they don’t care about their family members.

I even understand the Empress to an extent. Getting what is coming to you is one thing, but the Emperor’s words at a certain point started to feel like rubbing salt in the wound for the sake of inflicting even more pain than there was. And everyone has a point at which they’ll finally snap.

Finally… I’ll probably be lynched for what I’m about to say but I think Murong Sr. is a character that, in my eyes, perfectly shows what happens when a person is pushed to the absolute limits by desperation. I’m not saying what he did is okay by any means but hell, do I understand the guy and his motivations.

He just wants to save his son - he begged the Emperor, he begged Feng Suige, he tried going about it the right way. “Will you help me save Yao?” was a line that broke me. But at this point, he’s a drowning man grasping at straws and is ready to do anything that it takes, even make a deal with the devil, going back on all the principles that he had ever upheld. And again, you can hold a lot against him, but boy would the world be a better place if everyone’s parents were devoted to their children to this kind of extent.

Yes, I'm exactly the same. We all have our views, and it's being able to respect the differences that matters in the end :) Especially when it comes to something 'silly' like different perspectives on fiction.

I am. I should be working and I'm instead here in the comments trying to keep my sanity and survive until I finish work and can watch the episodes. I'm probably wrong but I'm kind of hoping it's Murong Yao himself, being eaten by guilt and remorse. The tear, the flashbacks, they all suggest to me that his heart isn't entirely in the deed so he may directly or indirectly have something to do with tipping Fu Yixiao off where to find Feng Suige. Especially that the pictures that the actor uploaded also suggest that the character isn't going to be dancing from happiness.

Don't worry, I have noone to talk to about dramas or my thoughts so I'm kinda here in the comments pouring out the thoughts that I can't really share with anyone and I tend to speculate and theorise A LOT. But feel free to ignore me :)

I'm actually the opposite - I usually tend to enjoy the villains more than main characters because a lot of the time they're more interesting and have more personality. Here, I feel sorry for Feng Suige, he's a victim of everything his father has done over the years as much as everyone else, but I also don't have this feeling that most of the villains are purely evil, period. I feel like a lot of them wouldn't have turned that way if it wasn't for the circumstances, so in this way, I think the drama captures human nature surprisingly well.

And Xiyang... Yes. I mean, she is her father's daughter, which in this case is rather negative than positive. Is her obsession with Xia Jingshi different than the Emperor's obsession with the former Empress? It might have started out differently but I see a lot of similarities in how things are turning out.

That's the thing - I don't even hate them. Like, I can't say I love them (well, maybe except for Murong Yao but that's my personal bias coming from my fondness of Zuo Ye as an actor and the fact that I even began to watch this title because of him in the first place and again, not trying to justify that him being evil is ok). PM Zhuang might be the only one that I feel really had it coming, I have mixed feelings with the Empress but a part of me feels sorry for her. Yes, they are wrong to be doing what they are doing, but do I really blame them for it? No.

I'm not sure I'd call Xiyang a villain, though. I'd call her a lot of things, most of them very negative ones, but I'm not sure I'd call her a villain. That said, she made her own bed - she is where she is because of her own choices, but is now acting as if she has been thoroughly wronged even though Xia Jingshi never tried to give her any false hope. I'm actually happy to see her unhappy.

I can't help feeling the same way, that in some cases the Emperor has pushed them to become what they are. I'm not trying to justify that them doing evil deeds is alright or anything like this but I can't help but sympathise them to a certain extent and I get where they are coming from.

I had a feeling... That tear... I'm so not ready for this scene.

I don't think it's going to happen but I could see a scenario where it does, unlikely as it is. It depends on how much Feng Suige is willing to forgive, though. Assuming he can find it in himself, if he feels like his father truly had wronged the Murongs, driving them to that point, he might see it as a way to make up for his father's mistakes and show that he's a better person than that. Which could go a long way in terms of being indebted to someone, with a mix of guilt and shame.

Agreed. At the end of the day, no matter what happens, he's a father who only wants the best for his child - pretty much what you'd expect a parent to be.

I imagine he feels like the Emperor's 'response' - or lack of it, really - means that he won't spare his son, and it is probably the last straw for him. He did everything the Emperor ever wanted him to do without a single word of complaint, never asked for anything even if - now that we know what the Emperor was like - he never got the credit and recognition that he deserved, quite the opposite. And all he gets is spit in the face. He's likely been driven to the point when he feels like there's no hope left and he's willing to do anything to save his son, even if it means making a deal with the devil and turning his back on everything he always believed, choosing his son over anything else.

True, although he didn't want his son to become a trusting, caring person, quite the opposite. But it's satisfying that even though all of that, Feng Suige turned into the exact person that his mother wanted him to be.

That makes two of us. No character has ever given me second-hand embarrassment as strong as she does.

Episode 26

You dumb idiot of an Emperor… All you needed to do was tell Murong Sr. what you were thinking not to push him over the edge. You had one job. I hate you even more now.

Jinxiu emperor might be completely insane himself, there’s no denying that, but he’s telling the Princess nothing but the truth. Sure, his motives aren’t good or anything like this but at least he’s honest. And goodness, she’s not acting any less insane than him.

Why do I feel like the confrontation with PM Zhuang was a bit underwhelming? Though the way he led her through the street was somewhat satisfying. And his flashbacks when the Empress screamed in a similar way that he did as a child…

That said, if Feng Suige doesn’t end up taking the throne after all is said and done, I’ll be very disappointed. I would like to see him be the Emperor, a good one, and show his father that you don’t have to be obsessed with power to be a good Emperor, and show his mother that he can be a good Emperor without letting go of his values.

Then again, with this episode… I’m starting to have a whole wave of new thoughts and theories for what is going to follow and I really don’t like where my mind is going.

It’s been absolutely forever since I was this invested in anything I watch and while I forgot how enjoyable it can be to watch something when you are, I have a feeling this drama is going to leave me in pieces when it’s over.

The only way it could sound even better than it already did is if it was Feng Suige that said them.

Episode 25

“He holds us responsible for the late empress death” - err, like, duh? You literally drove a sword right through her?

Oh Princess, you are really your father’s daughter aren’t you? Unable to get the message, and now turning against Xia Jingshi even though he’d been telling you the same thing again and again and again, never trying to give you any false hope?

That scene between Murong Yao and his father… I’ve been waiting so much for it and I so don’t know what to think of it… This speech about admitting it when you make a mistake… There are so many ways this could end up going. And I’m already heartbroken at how it will likely go the opposite of what I really would love to see.

I just can’t feel sorry for the Emperor. I don’t care what kind of history has, how many hardships he had to go through, it just doesn’t justify anything he had done to his son. Perhaps I just have a different view on things but when we think about the different perspectives of fathers, I can get behind Murong Sr. suffering whatever comes his way to make sure his son can have a good life, I can get behind PM Zhuang feeling resentful for his son’s death and wanting revenge. But I can’t get behind what the Emperor had been doing all this time.

And oooh, I finally realised where I know the Jinxiu Emperor from and holy, what a different role this is than what I had seen him play before.

That would be actually easy to explain if things aren't what they appear at first glance, which seems to be a very recurring theme for this drama. Basically, the question being whether he genuinely wants to kill him, or he just wants to make it look like he did.

Like I said, a girl can dream, no matter how unlikely something is.

Feng Suige and Murong Yao reconciling and teaming up is probably one of my biggest wishes for this drama. The realistic part of me feels it's extremely unlikely but a girl can dream. Plus, I have a very bad feeling about what the dancer is going to do as her revenge, so there's also that.

Still, with all my love for Murong Yao, I think Feng Suige should be the one on the throne. He’s the perfect person for the job, in pretty much every possible way.

Yes, 100% agreed. I don't think it's not realistic that he wanted the power - if he didn't, he wouldn't have become an emperor in the first place.

I meant more about how blinded he was by that power, how he willingly destroyed basically everything in his life because of it, that I really didn't see coming. He wasn’t even forced by circumstances, being in the position that he was in - he basically created these circumstances himself. Not that I think Feng Suige’s mother was completely pure and innocent, but I genuinely thought that underneath it all, the Emperor had good intentions and I just did not see that twist coming.