Gracie

Agree, some of the things I dislike the most are misunderstandings that last for way too long or dumb stuff that doesn't make sense- TLB doesn't have any of it and agree that it is one of the best chinese historical dramas, also the plot moves quite nicely and doesn't stop on one thing for an unreasonable amount of time

agree, the chemistry was amazing and both actors did amazing jobs at portraying their characters, GeSun moments make my heart flutter, so cute and lovely

Oh in episode 35, Lei Meng says she saved his life she that might be a big part of why he is so loyal

Yi Cheng's plans to re-establish Sui were honestly actually pretty good and clever; she was a good villain. Basically-

Step 1. Have some loyal people by you- not sure exactly how she got so many loyal people probably by threatening them or promising them something good

Also, I would like to know why Lei Meng was so loyal to Yi Cheng because there is an exact explanation. My guess would be that it's because he also wants Sui to rise again and feels Yi Cheng's pain.

Sheng Xin is an example of Yi Cheng promising him a good position when Sui is reestablished so he would be willing to trick Crown Prince and lure Chang Ge.

Step 2. Slowly knock down major powers in Ashile

In order for her plan to work, she couldn't have 4, 3, 2, or even 1 strong Khan. I think she killed all her husbands or participated in killing them like what she did the Shule Khan (Sher's father). Because with these powerful men around, even if she worked everything out, they would figure it out and she would be dead as soon as they found out her plots.

She found a nice time where Khan kept drinking and drinking and got sick so she poisoned his medicine and he got sicker and sicker

Step 3. Act nice, kind, and friendly and look like the innocent Khatun

She always helps soldiers and others to act like a kind and friendly person to trick others and build up a good reputation so no one would suspect her early on. She even used Jinse to say bad things about Khatun in front of many tribe leaders and Great Khan to put up an image of an innocent person just being treated badly. Even Shi Xin Sili, Khan's right-hand man was tricked.

Step 4. Knockdown Ashile Sun and Bear Division Tegin

It was going to be much harder to knock down Ashile Sun than Bear Division Tegin because he had almost no weaknesses and then Chang Ge came. Yi Cheng made Sun's mother Alir involved in a crime and Chang Ge too, 2 of the people he cared the most for, then as they were both related to him, Yi Cheng couldn't kill him herself, so Sher or Lei Meng would and explain that they were traitors to Ashile, blah blah, and then Sun would get whirled in and Khan would punish him or something.

Bear Division Tegin had many weaknesses so it was easy to just pit him against Sun because that was one of his most hated enemies.

Step 5. Move capital to Ding Xiang

Would go back to the old Sui place and she might be able to recruit more loyal people of the previous Sui dynasty.

Step 6. Gather all Ashile subordinates and make them loyal to you

Step 7. Now Sui is reestablished

This is like 6 major major big steps, there were probably hundreds of small things Yi Cheng did that I did not mention like- Making 'good use' out of Mimi Guli and Bu Zhen, tricking Chang Ge many times.

Like if she could trick Chang Ge multiple times, you know she was good and clever but in the end, Chang Ge still ruined her plans.

These steps took years like 30 years as mentioned in the drama and her plans all got ruined by Chang Ge, Sun and others.

If Chang Ge and Sun didn't ruin Yi Cheng's plots, she might have actually succeeded, and when everyone finally realized it would be too late.

Agree with you guys, its also fun to discuss all sorts of topics surrounding TLB

same, I just hate waiting for new episodes

Thank you for your explanation and I have now changed my opinion on this topic- I think Mu Jin had a fairly well closure

Thank you for the correction and the information

Yi Cheng went on the wrong track because of hatred that she can never let go of which lead her to do such atrocious deeds and never came back to the right track. She probably had plotted against Great Khan and Sun for some time, maybe years waiting for the perfect timing

That seems possible too but the story has fiction incorporated so I am not sure

great drama summary with no spoilers, better than mine

There is a happy ending

This is a great drama, might not draw you in at first but if you continue, it does. There is a great plot. with some plot twists. The characters are developed well, they have many layers of emotions and feelings to them,

I agree, clearly Dilraba did exceptional well to be able to showcase all these emotions, layers and depth to Chang Ge.

All this pain she had to go through also taught her many lessons. These lessons and morals helped her become a better person.

Agree, she later had some people to rely on but that was before things got better. In the beginning, like you said, she had no real support system, no one to rely on, to cry to, to rant to, she had to hold her emotions inside because she was a wanted criminal too and her identity was special. Like so much pain yet you have to keep it all to yourself. It must have been very hurting and painful. Until later, she could rely on people like A Dou, Gong Sun Heng, Elder Qin, etc. but suffered more pain because of Gong Sun Heng and A Dou's death within a few days and then discovered Ah Zhun's real identity so she lost 2 amazing people and now felt betrayed by another, so her support system cracked deeply, it wasn't until later when she fully trusted Ah Sun did she really have someone to rely on.

I agree I was on the verge of tears and it's pretty hard for me to cry from dramas and movies. The snow scene is also one of my favorite drama scenes ever

I thought of something that isn't clear throughout the drama, how long does the drama take, like from Chang Ge playing in the Cuju game to the Chang Ge posing and then the book flipping, I think that would be around a little over a year to over a year and a half.

My reasoning is the Cuju game probably took place in summer.
Then when Chang Ge is surrendering to Ashilie in Shou Zhou, it was snowing and then it stopped so that must be winter.
That was around 1/3 of the drama and the reason 1/3 of the drama is around half a year is you need to count for the traveling time.
Then I assume 6-12 more months of the events happen in the drama. Not sure if this is true or not though.

Agree, you can tell certain things like if someone is looking happy but there will be a depth underneath that happiness that you might be able to know just by looking at small details

Maybe or maybe some other reasons or maybe the script was just left that way

Yeah, he would be devastated but maybe hopeful too because Chang Ge has escaped death so many times

In this discussion https://mydramalist.com/53953-princess-changge#comment-6136331

I came around to better understanding Yi Cheng and why she did what she did but I still hate her. Imagine being just a normal person and having a small tie to the Imperial Court. Then you are immediately promoted to Princess just to fulfill a marriage agreement for peace. You willing sacrificed yourself, your happiness, your everything for a group of people (Sui) that actually don't really care much about you other than as a useful tool. Then you are tossed around Ashile from husband to husband being so restricted from life, anywhere beyond the camp/ capital, and even your own son. Like that must suck. I must admit, the Sui people who made her do it are sinister and maybe a bit selfish, but still. I like that Yi Cheng has a legitimately good reason for what she does, it makes sense, and considering what she has gone through, it would make sense for her to feel that way. Have to give credit to the manga writer for making a good villain.