TaleNeverTold

Ok.
Fu Hai Lian did not want to escape and was fully ready to die in that fire but his servant, loyal to the wife and the sect, forced him out of the fire and into hiding. Fu Hai Lian was badly burned but as he healed, he started planning his revenge, gathering remnants of his network and blackmailing people in the government left and right for their help. By the time he was almost done with organizing another coup, Chen Yan Yun showed up with Ye Army and Mystique Guards behind his back and thanked his old mentor for rounding up all the traitors so neatly and sparing him the need to hunt them down one by one. Some traitors (such as Fu Hai Lian and few high-ranking people) were executed publicly by hanging, their bodies later disposed of in a way that would not grant them reincarnation. Others were executed silently, so not to create massive wave of death in the city, young emperor was concerned it would be too much too quick. All of them were erased from the country record, their estates seized. Innocent family members were spared and relocated out of the capital. Chen Yan Yun insisted.
Ye Family was offered their noble title back, however, with no male heirs to carry it forward, Ye Xian’s mother asked for the different honor instead - Ye Army was reformed as elite garrison in the empire military force and it was the only garrison that carried the Ye flag regardless of what military family commanded it. Sacrifices of Ye family were regaled and repeated through generations and taught in school as example that serving one’s country is not limited to military prowess, only to merit.
Gu Lan did marry and continued running Lynxia Studio and four other restaurants she opened later. Her husband is still stupid in love with her and while she doesn’t show it much (not into PDA), she is very much in love with him too. One of the cases when he fell in love first - but she fell in love harder. You can tell by the fact they have three kids in the first three years of marriage - until doctors had to gently advise on contraceptive tonic to spare her health.
Gu Lian was not as lucky. Her having two kids did not change her husband for better, he continued being a womanizer and gambler. When Yao family realized that being related to Gu Jin Zhao would not score them any good promotions, they ignored Gu Lian completely. Later, her husband incurred a bunch of gambling debts and got himself and his wife involved in some shady business. It got bad enough that Gu Zin Zhao had to intervene and after they served their punishment (few years in working camp) they were evicted to remote provinces where one on Gu Jin Zhao’s business associates kept an eye on them.
Ji Yao started trading business with Western merchants and it kept him very busy - and very rich. Old Lady Ji was devastated that her grandson is too busy to find a wife and give her an heir to the family name, though she tried very much to respect his independence. Gu Jin Zhao later conspired with Xue Qin Lang to introduce Er Gege to a young lady from their friend circle who was an admirer of maritime travel. Worked out splendidly!
Xue Qin Lang never married and opted out for running an academy for accomplished young ladies where they were taught archery, horse riding, calculus and trades. Capital city people tried to gossip that such teaching are unseemly but seeing how Grand Secretary’s wife, Gu Jin Zhao, was a guest lecturer and patron in this academy, gossip quickly died down.
Gu De Zhao tried coming back but was firmly dismissed by both his daughters and went back where he came from. He was, however, not forbidden from periodically visiting his grandchildren - but always briefly and always under supervision.
Young Emperor was crowned two years later after the events in the drama, when he came of age. He bestowed a title of Pillar of the State upon Chen Yan Yun, who carried this title for another 30 years until he retired.
Baopu lived a long (and very unfair life, if you ask him! ugh, the kids!) and died on his own terms.

I will not put this under the spoiler as it is not a spoiler =) it is fanfiction.

What are your answers to these questions? If you had 10 more episodes to write, what is YOUR rest of the story?

Episode 17, we first see him around minute 13, then around minute 16 he takes off his hat, gives a speech and tries to kill the young emperor, who is saved by Ye Xian. It’s a guest role, so he’s only in this one episode.

Not only the aura and the look though, right? The standard for behavior for ML also changed. I tried watching other dramas and as soon as I stumbled upon ML doing some over-the-top-dramatic-slow-motion shit or the usual I’m-toxic-in-love-because-I’m-the-man shit, I’m thinking ‘San Ye would never’. How am I supposed to go back to adolescent snowflakes when an adult man has entered the building? Way to uproot the genre!

This is my point :) ASM is a completely fictional story, the creators (novel writer and screenplay writers) are done playing with these characters, credits rolled. So now you’re completely free to come up with the continuation of the story, alternative ending or anything else! And because our brain does not distinguish between outside and inside images (that is why our dreams seem so real, brain interprets then the same way as reality), then when you come up with ‘something more’ story, your brain will stitch it together with ASM and commit it to the memory as if that’s exactly how it happened. That’s how we create false memories — we just create ideas and believe in them strong enough to convince ourselves. Try it! It only has to be the end if you let it end there!
So, if you were to write season two, outside of ’more’, what specifically would’ve you want to have happened?

Wow, that’s evil! (Radioactive? Lead? Which toxin/poison of such small size can be potent after five years?) Anyways, glad we’d skipped that in the drama, and thanks for the information!

What do you want to have happened?

Thank you for info. If I may, what is the big plot point?

A question to those who have seen the show or maybe read the novel - not putting it under Spoiler because it’s a minor detail that just bugs me, I feel like I missed something. It’s about CYY’s ring. For the first 30 episodes it’s a wide jade ring on the thumb of his left hand. In episode 31 it’s more narrow jade ring on an index finger of the same hand - and it doesn’t change back. Is it like a fashion choice or was there some significance to it I’d missed? I need it for headcanon/fanfiction reasons, if anyone knows the answer, I’d very much appreciate it =)

I recommend fan fiction - reading or, even better, writing :)

Story is more coherent, but chemistry between the leads is just not there… 2ML is Ci Sha though, so just for that I’d watch :) my opinion alone.

There will be a special episode on May 29th

Good, I didn’t realize you’d posted in Discussion. Very good, thank you :)

About the bonus/special episode https://weibo.com/1027888492/R1bgu5azm?pagetype=profilefeed

(Link originally posted by @zeynxth below, I do not take credit for finding this news)

Translation: The main story may have paused, but the affection lingers on. For Jin Zhao (@Ren Min) and Third Master (@Ci Sha), the unfinished romance still retains its warmth. A brand-new special episode has now been unlocked, offering a chance to encounter moments of delightful tenderness. The special episode officially premieres on May 29th at 12:00 PM. Tune in to @MangoTV to embark on a reunion that was never truly finished! #TVSeriesLiangChenMeiJin

General background info for consideration:
When A Splendid Match premiered on MangoTV on May 3, 2026, it was initially a source of confusion because different platforms listed different episode counts (some sources cited 36 episodes while MangoTV’s official viewing calendar locked it in at 40).
Because MangoTV offered "Express/SVIP" episodes — allowing paying viewers to fast-track through the final episodes — the main storyline technically wrapped up ahead of schedule for premium subscribers. Originally, the production team hinted at a rolling promotional campaign that would culminate in extra behind-the-scenes content or an alternate-ending clip in early June. Shifting the release forward to May 29th caught viewers off guard, signaling a sudden change in strategy.
The main reason for the sudden change of pace is viewer dissatisfaction with the final arc of the show. In the original web novel by Chen Xiang Hui Jin, the romance and the growth of the characters are deeply fleshed out. However, viewers noted that the final episodes of the drama adaptation felt heavily edited, rushed, and left the central romance between Gu Jin Zhao (Ren Min) and Third Master Chen Yanyun (Ci Sha) feeling "incomplete" or abruptly halted.
The internet consensus is that MangoTV moved the special episode up tay 29th as damage control. Fans are calling it a "band-aid" release — rushing out supplementary romantic footage to appease an angry audience that was actively criticizing the rushed finale on Douban and Weibo.
From a broadcast standpoint, platforms like MangoTV utilize special episodes to maximize user retention right as a hit show ends. Because the chemistry between Ren Min and Ci Sha was the drama's biggest selling point, online discussions highlight that the network dropped this "brand-new unlocked special episode" earlier than planned to capitalize on the peak of the finale's social media traffic before viewers cancelled their premium subscriptions.

Personal thoughts:
I have some (or maybe even high) hopes for this episode. And if any of these hopes are fulfilled and we actually get a proper ending for all (some) loose ends… I’m just wandering if people who downgraded the show for bad/abrupt ending would come back to re-grade it again and edit their reviews? Because if the show indeed planned a special/bonus episode some weeks after the show will finish its normal broadcast (as of May 26th Viki still has only 36 episodes so the show is far from rushing or finishing abruptly), then is it really the show’s fault the broadcasting company decided to release the culminating (and, expectedly, the most dramatic) episodes in one big hammer drop? Granted, the last scene (walking away from fire) would still feel a bit sudden and somewhat anticlimactic (we all want more, we are a greedy bunch!) but I also outlined my bookends theory before so I was good with that ending. And a bonus episode would just be a gift I was not expecting!
At the same time, while I’m good with how the show ended, I’m actually not good with the fact that this show ended at all! I want seasons upon seasons! Machiavelli-level of court intrigue, tea parties where fate of empire is decided between cuts of fabric and thinly veiled threats — all contrasted by warmth and communication and passion and love back at home! Ah, one can dream :)

Translation: The main story may have paused, but the affection lingers on. For Jin Zhao (@Ren Min) and Third Master (@Ci Sha), the unfinished romance still retains its warmth. A brand-new special episode has now been unlocked, offering a chance to encounter moments of delightful tenderness. The special episode officially premieres on May 29th at 12:00 PM. Tune in to @MangoTV to embark on a reunion that was never truly finished! #TVSeriesLiangChenMeiJin

Translation: The main story may have paused, but the affection lingers on. For Jin Zhao (@Ren Min) and Third Master (@Ci Sha), the unfinished romance still retains its warmth. A brand-new special episode has now been unlocked, offering a chance to encounter moments of delightful tenderness. The special episode officially premieres on May 29th at 12:00 PM. Tune in to @MangoTV to embark on a reunion that was never truly finished! #TVSeriesLiangChenMeiJin

My pain too. Suddenly, idol dramas feel so… performative. The main storyline of ASM felt very lived in, like there were layers, there was a backstory, there was weight to it…

Two points to consider: 1) at some point GJZ mentions some other person and describes them as ‘old’ and ‘in their 30s’ yet she never actually calls CYY old. 2) it’s repeated time and time again that CYY is the youngest to hold such a high office. Hence, my assumption is that CYY is around 26 at the beginning of the show making him functionally experienced adult at that time and age - and then he’s 29 at the end of the show making him ‘the youngest’ but not yet ‘old’. We can also add it subtract a year but this age feels right :)

You made my day! Thank you!

The show started with her overlooking a fire that meant her rebellion against her unfair fate - and him carrying the torch and looking at her fire from afar. The show ended with the fire that meant the end of his rebellion against unfair people - and them looking at that fire side-by-side and walking forward together. This last shot is meant to be the visual bookend!

P.S. I would totally appreciate 20 more episodes of them being stupid in love, him implementing the reforms, her upending the private business economy, having 7 kids, multiple cats, random llama… but I get how such image would clash with a dramatic tone of the last few episodes and also my bookend theory. So here’s to hoping for a special episode and more work for our main leads!