Who Rules The World 且试天下 [2022]

[themarchioness]

8 hours ago, Alice Wonderland said:

BFX is the little girl/princess who met younger FLX right? It's also the reason why she is so knowledgeable for several things. I think LC is her hometown perhaps, just guessing.

 

She is. LC is within Yongzhou, but on its border.  The neighboring state is Qingzhou, which is where BFX is from.

[movingwheel]

@Alice WonderlandBFX is princess xiyyn. Qingzhou is her hometown. Her brother is the prince and her father is the ruler.

[gilaswan]

I’ve gotten up to the point where Yu Wuyuan is beginning to annoy me. Hahaha… I like that the supervillain here wears white while all his underlings are the ones in black. Heh heh heh… 

So help me to understand this Moon Jade thingamajig… There’s an actual physical jade that BFX placed in FQW’s body to help her expel the poison, but YWY stole it? Does HFX/FLX have another duplicate? Was it duplicated when they became the chosen by Old Master Iforgethisname to receive this bit of martial art which he developed? 

Watching HFX/FLX trying to get BFX to reciprocate his feelings is just so funny, but needed breaks from all the political schemings going on.

[movingwheel]

@gilaswan what i felt is that he needed that power.... the technique was there with them...

[gilaswan]

@movingwheel Power? From the bead? Where did the bead come from? BFX placed it in her body right? 

[gilaswan]

@movingwheelWait. I forget. Old Master gave it to her. But it’s used up now? That was quick.

 

Also, YWY said he had the 3 manuals from those sects - but doesn’t the little Han boy and Ma whatsisname still have their manuals??

 

And who is this mysterious voice that’s always advising the queen? Why do we never see her face?

[movingwheel]

@gilaswan the mysterious voice belongs to the woman with whom the director of the series had affair with. The Director three timed actually. He had a relationship with the producer while cheating on his wife. meanwhile , he got entangled with the junior artist too. Producer - Director , both married , decided to divorce their respective spouses. Producer divorced but director did not. Thus in the end , producer removed director's name credit from everything and chose to not show the maid's face because she was also having affair. Melon did kinda confirmed it.

 

Coming to the drama part , I dont think its used that quick. Yu Wuyuan got 3 manuals - Hmmmm, I may have missed that.

[Alice Wonderland]

Oh @gilaswan I stand by you to hate WY, I hate seeing his smirk acting as if he is the smartest one. I thought he is much more irritating than stupid FJ. I keep ffd his scenes unless the moment he fails later. 

 

@themarchioness @movingwheel yup, it was confirmed on 25-26. Well, it is interesting to see FLX reaction when he finds out her true identity later. 

 

I saw trailers up for 6 episodes to come, will they release all of them on sunday later? They will compete to marry FXY and I think soon she can't hide it anymore. FLX will recognize her even she covered with the mask. 

[movingwheel]

@Alice Wonderland no sunday to wednesday - 2 episodes each day

[themarchioness]

1 hour ago, movingwheel said:

 the mysterious voice belongs to the woman with whom the director of the series had affair with. The Director three timed actually. He had a relationship with the producer while cheating on his wife. meanwhile , he got entangled with the junior artist too. Producer - Director , both married , decided to divorce their respective spouses. Producer divorced but director did not. Thus in the end , producer removed director's name credit from everything and chose to not show the maid's face because she was also having affair. Melon did kinda confirmed it.

 

Omg... that's crazy, lol.... and here I've been wondering if they were purposely not showing us the Stepmom's maid and only her voice because there was going to be a plot twist later on.  Sort of like how in the first episode, we only saw the cloaked head/eyes/voice of the person advising the Emperor of Dadong, but now we know the identity of that person.  Hahaha.  

 

3 hours ago, gilaswan said:

Power? From the bead? Where did the bead come from? BFX placed it in her body right? 

 

No, Yu Wuyuan was the one who placed the bead in FQW.  After he conked her out, he holds a jade ball in his hand and thinks about how he needs to get his hands on the Moon Jade thing and then he lifts his hands to her mouth before the scene fades out.  So, the assumption is he shoves the bead down her throat while she's unconscious.  Like @movingwheel said, the Old Master didn't give HFX/BFX any sort of tangible thing when he passed the Moon Jade thing down to them.  Rather, he passed the technique down to them.  Or maybe it's better to say it came to them?  They were standing on that flat bedrock doing their martial artsy things when all the energy and water swirled towards them, and the Old Master smiled while watching them and commented something along the lines of - Ah, all along, the missing piece of the puzzle was love - which is why he'd never mastered the technique himself.  Anyway, going back to the YWY and FQW thing... my impression from what happened is that once HFX and BFX combined their powers to activate the Moon Jade thing and save FQW, that synergy became stored within the bead, which is how YWY was able to later extract the bead from FQW and use the Moon Jade thing for himself.  So, the Moon Jade thing is not the actual bead, but what became stored in it. 

 

At least that's how I understood it.  

[peperomia]

My understanding is the Sacred Jade Moon is a qigong (life energy) technique. When mastering it, it elevates the person’s internal energy/inner force which in turns enhances their martial arts fighting power and also their healing abilities. The healing aspect of it is why HFX needed BFX to use this technique with him to save FQW and why YWY wanted it to suppress his curse. He couldn't obtain the technique himself at Mount Wu (as he planned) so as an alternative, he used the jade bead that he planted into FQW's body to indirectly obtain the Sacred Jade Moon power.

 

Master Taiyin did give a gifts to HFX and BFX. He gave The Great Map of DaDong to HFX which should benefit him in military strategies and governing the lands. To BFX, he gave his most treasured orchid flower which is also called the Sacred Jade Moon. For it to live, BFX needs to provide inner force for it every day. He also said that the orchid flower may be able to help them in a life and death situation so I think its relevance will be shown in the story later.

Edited May 5, 2022 by peperomia

[gilaswan]

18 hours ago, themarchioness said:

Omg... that's crazy, lol.... and here I've been wondering if they were purposely not showing us the Stepmom's maid and only her voice because there was going to be a plot twist later on.  Sort of like how in the first episode, we only saw the cloaked head/eyes/voice of the person advising the Emperor of Dadong, but now we know the identity of that person.  Hahaha.  

 

Hahahahaha... Yah right? That was what I was thinking too? Like she's gonna suddenly pop up somewhere and we're all gonna go, OMG! But well... we did go OMG. At the back of my mind, I did wonder if she was someone who had to be censored during post-production, but wow. The reasons are just wow. This show is not short of scandals and whatnots. Now there's something going around about animal abuse during production and netizens calling for the removal of the show. My my!

@themarchioness @peperomiaThanks for explaining this whole Jade Moon thingamajig. Our powers combined... Hahaha... So the Jade bead YWY placed in FQW's body was just to temporarily store some of the energy from the qi that they invariably ran through her body to expel the poison from her, oui? So YWY definitely can't gain the full measure of this qigong from that right? So when he was wondering who got the Jade Moon technique (I'm assuming that's what he was thinking of) from Old Master, he doesn't yet know that the technique became perfected in their joint experience of it? So HeiFengBaiXi must definitely come as a pair then. But how is it that the person from whom this originated could not master it himself? Only in wuxia stories...

I'm now just waiting for HFX/FLX to find out that BFX is FXY, the same girl he had a crush on growing up. Wish they'd hurry up on that part of things.

[peperomia]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:06 AM, gilaswan said:

So the Jade bead YWY placed in FQW's body was just to temporarily store some of the energy from the qi that they invariably ran through her body to expel the poison from her, oui? So YWY definitely can't gain the full measure of this qigong from that right? So when he was wondering who got the Jade Moon technique (I'm assuming that's what he was thinking of) from Old Master, he doesn't yet know that the technique became perfected in their joint experience of it?

 

I believe you're right. YWY did not obtain the skill through the bead, only the energy that was absorbed in it to temporarily suppress his curse. It would be like as if HFX and BFX had transferred their energy to him like they did to FQW to heal her. I don't think YWY found out how they were able to perfect the skill, but he knew they did because he saw that their fighting power increased after coming down from Mount Wu. From what I understood, Master Taiyin would not have given him a chance to try the skill anyway. He knew he was a heartless person and had his assistant lure him to a different array which was a dead end. It's a good thing that YWY doesn't know about the orchid flowers that Master Taiyin had gifted to BFX. The flowers have inner force given by Master Taiyin and now BFX. If he knew, I am sure he would want them to prevent or reverse his curse. 

 

======

 

If anyone is interested in knowing about how the Sacred Jade Moon (Lan Yin Bi Yue) was featured in the novel which is different from the drama, I am putting it in a spoiler here:

 

Spoiler

FLX in the novel loved growing orchids. Not sure if it is related to Yongzhou being known as the land of orchids or because his middle name “Lan” means orchid. Anyway, he specifically grew a rare one for BFX – the Lan Yin Bi Yue – which took him 8 years grow it. It had two stalks that intertwined with each other. One stalk had black flowers and the other had white flowers. The name was derived from its crescent moon shaped petals and jade-like luster. It was said that if you were to piece the black and white crescent moons together, it would form a full moon – completing each other.

 

So, the Lan Yin Bi Yue was not a martial arts skill in the novel. However, the black and white orchid flower that Master Taiyin gifted to BFX is closer to the Lan Yin Bi Yue in novel.

 

[gilaswan]

Found this review very entertaining. Hahaha…

 

 

[IpohBanana]

@movingwheel @themarchioness @NiteWalkerI was googling about ZLS because she really looks skinnier than when she was in TRT&R...and I found out that she is now 39.5 kg only!!!! She lost the weight because netizens were being mean and calling her chubby from that drama (she said that the heaviest she has been was 46kg, which is close to being underweight for her height). So she lost weight since TLB and has maintained it till now. It's no wonder her waistline is so tiny, being on camera tends to make one look a bit fatter but with her, that's certainly not the case. Poor thing.

 

@peperomia @gilaswan I've caught up with E27-28 and I was caught by surprise. Wasn't expecting to see what I saw. But then again, lady luck has been smiling on Black Foxy for sometime now, so I suppose it's time to make him appear as if he's temporarily been beaten at his own game. Though I firmly believe, there's more than meets the eye and upcoming trailers offer evidence that he has not lost what he supposedly did. And I'm glad our dear girl, took the initiative to let her man know, she knows, and she accepts him. [true to the restrain we've seen, it was sweet yet delivered the message, on-point.]

Edited May 9, 2022 by IpohBanana

[peperomia]

Episode 28 was so heartbreaking to watch! (Really great acting by YY.)

 

50 minutes ago, IpohBanana said:

Though I firmly believe, there's more than meets the eye and upcoming trailers offer evidence that he has not lost what he supposedly did.

 

I don't think he lost anything either. This is my wild theory on what may have happened:

Spoiler

Aside from the memorial from FLX, his father read a separate letter alone before he made the decision to carry out the punishment the next day. My guess is the letter is also from FLX with convincing evidence that Feng Ju is planning a rebellion to usurp the throne. As part of a plan to expose this, I am inclined to think FLX proposed to his father that he was willing go through a public punishment. The expelling of his martial arts could have been his idea too; however, it was an act. I am usually happy to be wrong, but I really hope I’m not here. Otherwise, his father’s actions are just too cruel.

 

50 minutes ago, IpohBanana said:

And I'm glad our dear girl, took the initiative to let her man know, she knows, and she accepts him. [true to the restrain we've seen, it was sweet yet delivered the message, on-point.]

 

Yes, 100% agree. How she naturally let him know was way more beautiful and moving than a confession scene.

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by peperomia

[Alice Wonderland]

@gilaswan interesting review. I enjoy watching her detailed review. And she was right avout how could people might start this despite they're not the fan of both actors, it is the yan fen, I got this phrase noted. Lols, yea, I'm one of it sometimes, it motivated me to check this out at first. But along the way, the story is quite good and as she said the fighting scenes are better than several cdramas like this. 

[IpohBanana]

@peperomia I agree with your wild theory, and I don't think it's wild in the least. The father would have been furious to say the least in the beginning but he is smart enough to know how he can benefit from the situation and he isn't clueless like some kings are. From the past episodes, we have been privy to his thoughts and how he has even confronted his wife about her actions. So, we know that he can be objective when he needs to be and see things for what they are. And he isn't totally heartless when it comes to HFX, I think there is still an ounce of humanity in him; the actor for the king was amazing, there was this brief instance in his eyes when you could detect the shock upon seeing HFX collapse on the floor in pain. Suffice to say, there is some fatherly love left in him. I had an even wilder theory

Spoiler

I thought the eunuch could potentially be one of the persons supplying info to the Fountain Abode, a sympathiser to HFX - thus far he has been trying to put in a good word for him whenever possible and the chagrin on his face when he saw him being beaten to a pulp by the guards outside the palace appeared to be truly genuine. So, even if the father wasn't part of the act (which I sincerely doubt, I think he was) I thought the enunuch would have swapped the Grief medication for something else or provided a temporary antidote. I don't think HFX would have wasted his years of practice and cultivation for nothing, it's unlike him to sacrifice all that when he can find a way to preserve it.

 

AND I am darn sure getting the entire sect into the prison was part of BFX's sifu's plan. Why on earth would he take out the jade piece in plain daylight? Surely they must have suspected something and planned so that he can be throw into the prison. Also, the prison is the safest place for the disciples, lest the 3rd prince has a plan against them - it's entirely an act. My theory anyway.

 

I also wanted to say, we've only had a chance to see the leaders for 4 states, plus the royal family. My thoughts about them ...

Yong Zhou - very smart, suspicious by nature, on top of things in court and has a feel of the underlying tensions, but doesn't seem to have a good/honest relationship with own children, covets power too much

Ji Zhou - seems the most benevolent of them all, but also not too smart, got conned by own ministers who tried to drive a wedge between him and his own son

Qing Zhou - not much we know, but dotes on the daugther and has a good relationship with own son, in terms of parent-child relationship, seems to have the best of them all. Also, seems like a wise ruler

You Zhou - not so smart, easily conned by own daughter but not that blur, also knows the son is up to no good 

Imperial family - doesn't have the people's interests at heart, scheming and covets power, tries to get external advice but listens to the wrong person

 

I wonder if we will get to see what the others are like...

 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by IpohBanana

[movingwheel]

@IpohBanana considering how conniving FLX is , it is hard to believe that he has accepted defeat in such a way. Feng Ju is supposed to rebel ;  it was given for a long time. 

The only regret I have in this drama is Feng Xiyun or BFX has been left as only a partner for FLX whereas she is much more than just being only partner. She was a General who raised an army on her own , a formidable one at that , fought against youzhou invasion in qingzhou without help of Yongzhou (FLX was a silent partner , only standing beside her ) and a winner at that. I don't blame makers because they were kinda forced due to new regulation. But it hink Govt should have thought before putting such regulations ; at least for those drama whose shooting were already done.

[peperomia]

1 hour ago, IpohBanana said:

The father would have been furious to say the least in the beginning but he is smart enough to know how he can benefit from the situation and he isn't clueless like some kings are. From the past episodes, we have been privy to his thoughts and how he has even confronted his wife about her actions. So, we know that he can be objective when he needs to be and see things for what they are.

 

I still remember the earlier scene where the father told the eunuch that the succession battle between his sons have officially begun (just like he had experienced with his brothers). So, I agree, the father isn’t oblivious to what’s going on and can see through each of his son’s heart, including the queen. He knows who is capable of plotting, but he has been opting to turn a blind eye to try to preserve his family. However, the time has come for him to accept the inevitable and to consider what’s in his (and Yongzhou's) best interest.

 

1 hour ago, IpohBanana said:

And he isn't totally heartless when it comes to HFX, I think there is still an ounce of humanity in him; the actor for the king was amazing, there was this brief instance in his eyes when you could detect the shock upon seeing HFX collapse on the floor in pain. Suffice to say, there is some fatherly love left in him.

 

I agree. I also remember the father was looking at a 30^th birthday gift from young FLX during his talk with the eunuch so it shows there is father/son love within him that shouldn’t be discounted here.

 

1 hour ago, IpohBanana said:

I had an even wilder theory

 

These aspects in your “wilder” theory make sense. The eunuch’s expressions while the king and minister were talking about HFX and the Fountain Abode seemed to imply he may have some kind of connection to it. When BFX’s master had met with FLX, he overheard the Fountain Abode’s troubles so I also do think getting imprisoned was a plan as the Tianshuang Sect’s part to protect the greater good.

[IpohBanana]

@movingwheel ah....I understand where you are coming from. If not mistaken, I believe the novel's main emphasis was BFX. But with YY on board, they couldn't just make him 'the apprentice', they had to move the spotlight onto him. I've seen short scenes of her fighting in the war, and sitting on the throne, really bad-ass, can't wait to see those, perhaps the drama will redeem itself somewhat in those episodes! And I am sure our dear girl will do justice to those upcoming scenes.

 

@peperomia come to think of it, the Sect being in jail could be...

Spoiler

part of the deal with the King to protect them. In the King's jail, less likely to come to harm than in his courtyard when he will be sent for the political marriage assignment. possible huh?

And BFX doesn't know all this because the Sifu is secretly investigating as the Token Keeper with the knowledge of HFX.

 

I must say Bian Jiang has such a recognisable snigger/ chuckle, reminds me soooo much of Ye Hua doing the same. 

 

Edited after 

watching tonight's E29-30 and it looks like...

Spoiler

losing his inner 'power' is quite genuine. He hasn't lost his martial arts skills entirely, he knows the moves but the strength that accentuates or emphasises certain moves are no longer there. Hhmm so I think perhaps the flower that the old man gave her will be the answer as to how he can revive it?

Going by the trailer, HFX really won't know her identity till E36 when she sits on the throne?

Bummer, even Yu Wu Yuan knows. [on a side note, only the eyes are shielded, come on the two of you, can't you tell he's the one behind the mask??]

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by IpohBanana

[gilaswan]

Watching episode 28 and feeling very irritated with the King of Yongzhou. He’s a very short sighted and insecure king. Such a joke. Pfft…

[peperomia]

@IpohBanana Looks like HFX fighting skills are still quite good, but I understand what you mean about his inner force. Sigh. I have a difficult time believing that he lost it or at least permanently. A part of me thinks it’s temporary or maybe he can’t let people know that he still has it yet. We’ll see…I hope there’s more to it, but you’re right…there is the Sacred Jade Moon orchid flowers that has inner force that could be a factor in getting it back.

 

Regarding HFX knowing about BFX's real identity...

Spoiler

I still think he always knew of her identity, but whether she's BFX or FXY, she is the same person to him.

 

Here's why I think he knows... Throughout their trip in Liangcheng, he tried to fish it out of her by asking how she is knowledgeable of certain stuff like the canals etc, but she remained hush about it. Also, when he was reviewing the dam project with her brother, the brother asked him what his intentions are because the plan coincidentally benefits Qingzhou as well. He named a few political reasons. His last reason was that he wants to protect someone and looked at BFX (meaning he wants to protect FXY). If he is to marry BFX/FXY, he needed to resolve the conflict and have Yongzhou/Qingzhou be allies. I think he is opting to be oblivious for her sake because he can tell she was stressed out about revealing it. It was also an opportunity for him to gain her brother’s favor and rule out any doubts about him.

 

YWY only figured it out because he knew HFX would only make peace with Qingzhou because of a wildcard which is BFX/FXY so he knows HFX knows as well.

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by peperomia

[IpohBanana]

@peperomia I think your conjecture has a huge possibility to it.

Spoiler

When he said he had someone to protect, as did the brother, and they both threw knowing glances at her, I reckon you could just be right. It was quite sweet, both husband and brother exchanging their innermost thoughts but discreetly. We'll see. 

 

I know what you mean, not wanting to entertain the fact that he lost his inner strength, it's a painful notion (or perhaps it feels unreal because he's always come up tops and this just seems too big a sacrifice).

Spoiler

Like you, I am still hoping that (a) it's a white lie; (b) it's the typical wuxia plot where he will regain it [BTW, in the latest exchange, the King's eunuch is still trying to put in a good word for him...hhmmmm]. But I hope he doesn't lose it again when he saves her, it would be a real pity. From what I can recall of typical wuxia dramas, the OTP have to combine their powers to defeat the antagonist, and the fact that they successfully acquired the technique from the Old Master, suggests that this technique is meant to play a key role in vanquishing 'evil'. So, I truly hope it's put to good use.

 

 @movingwheel Someone passed a comment that

 

Spoiler

he's too aware of his good looks, especially when he was acting in YAMG. As I don't know much about him, I couldn't agree or disagree with that comment. But after watching this interview, I can relate to it. I get the impression that he truly prides his appearance, LOL. I think he becomes too self-conscious about keeping a certain image on-screen, you know the kinda comment you read about actors/actresses not wanting to look ugly on air, and so they won't take up roles or scenes that make them look as such. I could easily believe that of him.

 

I hope ZLS's upcoming drama

Spoiler

with Wu Lei will provide her with more opportunity to showcase herself? you think? What do you think of that pairing? Oh, and I read on MDL that she confirmed her role in ROTAR 2, do you know anything about that?

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by IpohBanana

[movingwheel]

@IpohBanana he knows that his face sells...and he does not feel ashamed to flaunt it... but he also knows that only face can take u to a level...he is aware of struggles as actors or celebrities !!! if he does not love himself , how will others love him?

For any man/woman , who is successful , a trait i have noticed is that they love themselves most and they know what capabilities they have. I think its a very commendable trait. I would not say Narcissist because then that will mean that the world revolves around them but if such had been the case , he would have not been so good as frnds to junior artists like Meng Asai etc. He takes care of people around him. Plus for each n every defamation cases he won against internet bloggers , he asked them to donate money to this charity or that charity ! Off screen behaviour with ZLS , u can see that he really takes care of his co stars. After YAMG one netizen started saying bad things about Dilireba on his weibo , he immediately came out. C Netz points out how makeup artist did not do justice to his eyebrows , he immediately comes out in support of his makeup artist saying that his brows are like that always and sorry for being an eyesore you can choose not to look at me etc... a verbal spat...!! that shows he cares...

 

I do not think originally ZLS had such less significant role. I think due to new regulations , since they had to restrict episodes till 40 , they had to reduce a lot of scenes. Naturally YY is more sellable than ZLS so he was primary focus. Cannot blame the makers yaa , they need to make money , pay people you know.

 

Her Screen space with Wu Lei? well it will again depend on 40 ep story telling. I think I loved her more in her last drama with Xu Kaicheng - a female student arrives at imperial college.