Li Shimin had always favored virtuous, gentle, and dignified women like Empress Zhangsun.
On the other hand, Li Shimin's son, Li Zhi, possessed a weak yet cunning nature and a childhood mother complex, showing a particular fondness for women who were older, mature, and authoritative.
Wu Zetian, with her strong personality and four years her senior, perfectly fit this preference.
A mother-fixated puppy encountering a mature, dominant older woman was like dry tinder meeting a raging fire, spiraling out of control.
This perfect complementarity in their personalities caused Li Zhi to fall hopelessly in love with his stepmother. While Li Shimin was still alive, he dared to engage in illicit affairs with his stepmother right under his father's nose.
It could be said that if not for the dark-hearted Li Zhi's nature, Wu Zetian would never have become an empress in history.
Precisely because Xiao Yuer and Jiang Yuyan were both intelligent individuals who could easily see through others' thoughts, their interactions became rather awkward.
In addition, there was another point.
Jiang Ling recalled a phone conversation in the eighth episode between Xiao Yuer and Jiang Yuyan. Xiao Yuer stated he did not envy or feel jealous of Hua Wuque because he was much freer than Hua Wuque. He then asked Jiang Yuyan if she preferred to be caged poultry or a small bird flying freely in the sky.
Unexpectedly, even with Xiao Yuer's thorough analysis, Jiang Yuyan replied that she would rather be a caged bird than one with no freedom, because the birds confined in luxurious cages were phoenixes and peacocks, while the free-flying birds scattered across the mountains were worthless sparrows.
From this statement, it was evident that Jiang Yuyan's ambition far surpassed her desire for freedom.
As the saying goes, those with different aspirations cannot plan together. Although both were among the most intelligent individuals in the world, their differing ambitions meant they were destined not to end up together.
As for the body-double trope.
The "Guangguang resembles Qing" scenario was too disgusting; anyone encountering it would feel as if they had eaten a fly, and she couldn't stomach it either.
With "The Little Fish and Flowers Forever" halfway through its broadcast, the audience had already imagined the ending.
Unfortunately, Huang Jing chose to deviate from the expected path. A clichéd body-double trope? Jiang Ling was someone I hired with considerable expense; how could she possibly act in such a play?
In fact, it wasn't entirely the audience's fault for assuming the subsequent plot would unfold that way. It was mainly because recent dramas were worse than the last.
Not only were the episodes excessively padded, making them as long and tedious as a lazy woman's bound feet, but the plots were also all the same.
Audiences didn't even need to watch half of it; just finishing the first three episodes allowed them to guess the remaining plot with an accuracy rate of over 95%.
As the plot continued, Xiao Yuer's attempt to seek revenge against Liu Xi failed, and he was instead humiliated, becoming despondent and wishing for death.
Meanwhile, with Jiang Yu Yan's assistance, Jiang Bie He successfully opened the Liu Ren Divine Dice and obtained the mental cultivation method for the peerless martial art 'Yi Hua Jie Mu' (Flower Transferring Wood).
As a result, Jiang Bie He, unaware of the hidden dangers, was too eager to cultivate and instead suffered a qi deviation, developing toxins within his body and becoming as hideous as a demon.
With no other recourse, to save his life, Jiang Bie He cruelly transferred the potent poison into Jiang Yu Yan's body, causing Jiang Yu Yan's personality to twist and turn dark.
This scene filled the audience with outrage, and they began to curse.
[Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs; you are truly inhuman!]
[To be able to harm one's own daughter, no wonder Jiang Yu Yan's blackened eyes are so terrifying. If it were me, I would feel the same.]
[Jiang Yu Yan is too pathetic. Her birth mother died early. After finally finding her biological father, she was first mistreated by her stepmother, nearly losing her life, and now she is treated this way by her own father. Anyone would turn dark under these circumstances.]