Brennnndda

I personally haven't connected with his character either. I find myself fast-forwarding through his scenes yet I still get the gist of what's happening with him.

It's nice when there's more to Xianxia main characters than just a romance arc. I'm all for romance...but it's nice to see dramas show that while romantic love is important, it isn't everything.

I think it's better that way. If his memories were intact and he met Yan Dan again, he might be too filled with remorse and guilt to approach her. By forgetting, it gives them a chance to create new, happier memories without the burden of the past...at least for a little while.

I hope they fix their misunderstanding earlier and fight as a united team towards the end when his background comes out..and hopefully that is the final battle.
Nothing makes a drama better than having the OTP united in mind and heart and fighting together for their happy ending.
(Like The Long Ballad and Love and Redemption)

Honestly, Zhi Xi could become Ying Deng 2.0, it's too early to tell

I think what a lot of recent xianxia dramas (including TMOPB, AoL, Ancient Love Poetry, this one and even Love and Redemption, to an extent) have in common are:

In terms of love, it seems like the men are very self-sacrificing..while the women are usually let down and fall into despair because they think their loved one betrayed them. However..I think the dynamic actually makes a lot of sense.
The men are usually in positions of power. To them, love cannot be their sole focus since the consequences for them are very severe. The women, who are of lower status, can wallow more in despair after losing their faith in that love. Their lives are meaningless to those in power so the men can do nothing else but protect them silently from the shadows and take the brunt of the punishments for them without their knowledge. One technically does not love more than the other because if the roles were reversed, the women would do the same for their men.

I'm so excited for this scene since seeing the OST MV.

I'm thinking it'll be when they return to the heavenly realm and fixed their misunderstandings.

It's funny that they think that's a punishment...but knowledge is power and memories are knowledge. Having them is more beneficial than not.

Plus, Ying Deng could always just cultivate in the opposite direction and become a demon. She's spiteful enough..

I laughed at the absurdity of her statement...she's acting like she had nothing to do with her sister's death

Consort Yue for the win today!
She literally sitting there putting everyone in their place hahah
You could see the fear in CSS's eyes when Consort Yue set her sights on CSS hhahaha

The emperor just chilling on the side and letting her do her thing hahahah

This is where "taking advantage of his love" is done in a good context.
She literally just wants a peaceful life..and she knows the imperial children are ridiculous.

She a complete no-nonsense type of woman and it's wonderful lol

I think it's still similar. They refer to the empress as Empress-mother while the mother used for consort isn't as formal.

Every person desiring power in this drama be tripping over past glory..even Prince Xiao and his family were like that.

Not to be mean..but the best parts about 27&28 today?

No Yuan Shen and his pettiness hahaha

Because marriage was a union of families..not a union of hearts.

Maybe that's why I sympathize with her mom more than her lol

As catty as these women are...it's probably because they have no ways of controlling their own lives. Men are taught to seek glory before marriage..but women are taught their only value lies in who they marry...wouldn't we all be a bit more catty then?

I do not justify their bullying of her...it's just understanding where they stand.

While I do absolutely adore CSS..there are times when she gets on my nerves.

For someone who was neglected for 15+ years...she has a very spoiled mentality. She doesn't listen to anyone, does whatever she wants, and completely disregards etiquette..yet feels aggrieved when people comment on how she is so unruly? She only wants to live freely so she can do whatever she wants...yet she doesn't realize that such a freedom isn't actually free?
A little discipline from LBY isn't going to kill her or her character...if anything, she needs it.

Despite all this..I still love her because she's willing to learn..and she takes those lessons to heart.

At the beginning, the mom's treatment of CSS was too much. It wasn't fair for her to think that she had her daughter all figured out after a few days versus the 15 years they were away. And it definitely wasn't right that she was so adoring to Yang Yang and blind to CSS.

However, I think she has mellowed out as the drama progressed. The military punishment scene was just something that escalated too far. The mom didn't mean to do it but CSS also also egged her on. It was one of the reasons I personally didn't care for her little bridge scheme with the other girls. She did it as petty revenge and as a means to severe whatever she had going on with her mother.
While it was the mom constantly comparing her to Yang Yang in the beginning, we see that it's now actually CSS who constantly brings up Yang Yang to her mother's face. It serves to piss off mom who then retorts "well, I wouldn't worry so much if it was Yang Yang."
I'm not justifying one over the other because I truly believe fault lies on both ends. The problem is that neither will compromise..and when they get agitated, they both purposely speak words to hurt the other (standard typical relationship between family members, in my opinion).
I think the father realizes that the 2 most important women in his life are too similar, which is why he won't interfere. When he does get words in, neither actually listen to him. I don't think there's much he could actually do. It's something they have to work on themselves.

Yes..she's only 15. But she has said "I'm stubborn," :I don't want to learn," and "I won't listen" so there's only so much sympathy that I can give her.

I think it's also reasonable the mom is harsher to CSS than to Yang Yang. At the end of it all, Yang Yang isn't her daughter. The one she loses sleep over isn't Yang Yang, it's CSS. If both were in danger, I don't doubt she would run to CSS and not Yang Yang.

Romantically...I think he should be the one to yield..because they become a family by choice (in this case, his choice lol)
However, familial relationships are a bit harder to put in those same terms because the nature of blood ties is different