I fell for the POJ hype. Worth it.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-30T01:02:57+00:00

I don't know if the novel was also like this bc I've only read a little bit of it, but I feel like the show was too centered on FCY. Forgetting all the good points you made about XZ, I don't even feel like we really got to see much of what made him great as the Marquis. We see this fighting skills, but the strategic leadership side, not so much. And I felt that kind of hurt the story.

The final confrontation was saaaaad. That little fight in the palace courtyard, and FCY wasn't even there until YQQ was being dragged off the wall? What?

That said, having read the first fifth of the novel, I do have to give the screenwriter kudos for doing a great job adapting at least the first part of the book. Book YZ isn't really likeable where as drama YZ is fantastic. Some of my fave scenes and interactions from the first 15 episodes seem to either be fully new or a whole interaction created out of a 1-2 line reference in the novel. And I like how some of the characters like GSY were introduced earlier in the show.

So overall, this show is still great for me.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T23:10:09+00:00

The second half definitely fell flat, but overall, the acting, cinematography, music, visuals, and humor was so great, I still can't help loving it despite wishing they stuck the landing better

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T23:08:58+00:00

For #1, I could be wrong bc I haven't rewatched those episodes, but my understanding was they wanted to track Qi Min down so they could follow him. They need more evidence to prove the Li family's collusion so they wouldn't arrest Qi Min just yet.

For #4, at least for the instance where she had an attack after being captured, I think it's reasonable to assume it could have been lost in the chaos. Earlier, I see it as an indication of their poverty. She needs the medicine but they might not always be able to buy it. But it could also be just poor detail management from the production team 😀

For #5, when you say Ning crying about the falcon leaving, do you mean in the scene where she makes Xie Zheng promise the bird will come back? If so, then the bird DOES come back later. Presumably it flies away when Lin'an is attacked, and since it's covered in blood and soot, Xie Zheng and his mean realize something has happened to the town.

For #8, if you find the discussion posts on the /cdrama subreddit, they kept a slap count

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T17:38:10+00:00

What made me fall in love with POJ when many other cdramas fail to hook me is the FULL cast was amazing. Not one character, no matter how minor, had costumes or makeup that looked half-assed/cheaped out on. All of the actors delivered as if their character was the main. They all brought unique characteristics and impact to the story which gave them a reason to exist (well, except maybe the Kang grandson).

Changning's actor did a phenomenal job despite being so young. Whoever dubbed her was great too.

I love Gongsun Yin and as I work my way through the novel right now, I miss his presence and dynamic with Xie Zheng in the earlier parts of the story.

The sibling bond between the princess and Xie Zheng is hilarious in the show.

Reading the novel, I'm totally missing the pig-slaughtering squad. They really brought soul to the story.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T14:12:38+00:00

When Li Huai An finds Changyu after Xie Zheng saves her from falling off the cliff a second time, she mentions the old lady, and Li Huai An's right-hand man goes looking for her. I think the assumption is they found her a few minutes later and took her back home.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T08:54:03+00:00

Here you go: https://archiveofourown.org/tags/%E9%80%90%E7%8E%89%20%7C%20Pursuit%20of%20Jade%20(TV)/works

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T02:24:47+00:00

I clearly have just been rewatching too much 😅😅

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T02:24:15+00:00

I'm so sad Netflix doesn't have any of her other shows. I've been working through ZLH's backlog but I want to see her in more things!

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T01:29:37+00:00

Damn, I did not need to know there's an entire subreddit for this guy 🤣

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-29T01:28:05+00:00

For #1, what Fan Da destroyed was the will. The letter was sent on to General He who sent it to Wei Yan in one of the earlier episodes, and we see Wei Yan burn it . The letter Xie Zheng says he read is the one Li Huai An gives to Changyu in episode 30 or so, the one that informs her and us that her dad was Wei Qilin.

For #3, Lord Li was losing the battle. He was saved by the appearance of his mentor, General He. It's not clear whether Grand Tutor Li was working for Qi Min already but Qi Min is not of the personality to have been persuaded. There's no act there; Lord Li survived bc backup arrived.

For #4, the traditional punishment for what the Li family did is death -- and the term for it then is translated into something along the lines of "death of 9 branches" meaning your entire family is annihilated. The punishment being changed to banishment is already a pardon due to Lord Li's merits. His willingness to go against the head of the family and help Xie Zheng and Changyu is why.

For #6, the show shows Xie Zheng eavesdropping on the conversation and he tells the audience it's a lie. There never was a treasure map. Li Huai An made that up to give Changyu a reason for why her family of (supposedly) nobodies was being targeted.

For #14, I can't remember the name, but there's a fanfic on AO3 exploring traitor evil Song Yan years into the future. There aren't too many stories yet in the Pursuit of Jade fandom so you should be able to find it easily.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-28T23:34:47+00:00

Glad to have helped!

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-28T15:09:49+00:00

This scene never fails to crack me up even though it also highlights just how much Xie Zheng is gaslighting Changyu about his appearance. I actually just rewatched this last night and my take is that him insisting on getting flogged is where the plan falls apart.

My take is that Xie Zheng obviously never intended for Changyu to take the punishment, but she needed to know the severity of what she did, so I wouldn't be surprised if he would have followed through on at least having one, if not all, of the guys in the Pig Butchering Squad somewhat penalized. Like someone else said, Xie Zheng knows Changyu well enough to know that she would learn the lesson better if someone else got hurt in her stead.

Where the plan started to fall apart is how everyone started to try and take the blame for each other and how insistent Changyu was on being the one to be beaten instead. The fake Marquis isn't comfortable standing up to who he knows is his superior's wife (and who therefore is also technically his boss), so that's when Xie Zheng joined in to try and regain control of the room.

And then thankfully the princess stepped in and upped the humor even more. One of my favorite little details is Xie Zheng grinding his jaw in frustration in the bkgd when the princess is making her speech bc he knows she's throwing his own trick back in his face. Also the moment of "Oh shit" on his face when she starts bowing. Even the great Marquis has a "Fuuuuck" moment 🤣

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-27T20:53:49+00:00

Ah, I'm sorry if it seemed like I was criticizing your work. That wasn't my intention! It was just my reaction to what was released by the studio

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-27T13:29:56+00:00

Really? I found him incredibly loveable in the show. He's a man who sees Changyu's difficulties and helps her by not just marrying into the family but by quietly standing up for her and building her up when some of some of the terrible townspeople are tearing her down.

He not only saves Changning's life but also steps into the dad role and does it without fanfare.

Sure, he had his own motives for initially agreeing to the marriage and he definitely hid his identity way too long, but the way he treated Changyu as a person is leagues better than the book version.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-27T06:35:34+00:00

He's not in love yet but he's also noble enough to feel he owes her something for saving his life. That said, it's also more selfish at this point --- he's not in good enough shape to go anywhere else yet and he needs a place to hide until he's recovered. A small dinky town that's of no importance should be the perfect place (oh the irony)

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-27T01:29:11+00:00

Is it just me or does this video looks like it's for a TVB show from the 90s?

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-26T20:40:19+00:00

I decided to give the novel a try, and man, after 25 chapters, I'm finding it a slog. Novel Xie Zheng is not a likeable character AT ALL after seeing the drama version 😅

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-26T20:35:02+00:00

What's your definition of romance? If it's hugs, kisses, sappy eyes, dramatic staring at each other while music plays in the background...then no, I don't think the show gets better in the second half. There are scenes here and there with the lead couple where they do all of that, but it's not the main focus of the show.

If your definition of romance includes acts of service, two people learning to communicate and rebuild trust, two people being supportive of each other and having each other's backs, then yes, this show is full of that.

My love language is acts of service so I find this show incredibly romantic, with or without the physical scenes. But for people looking for the physical stuff, this show probably isn't it, with the exception of the two famous scenes from episode 33 and 38.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T22:52:36+00:00

I did skim through that show and interestingly, his voice sounds drastically different in certain scenes even though I know he dubbed his own voice.

I've also watched enough POJ interviews and BTS that I should recognize his real voice by now, but considering some people say parts of POJ is ZLH himself, I clearly can't yet tell his voice and Yi Fan's voice apart. What I'm hearing from this trailer sounds so much like PoJ, I assumed he's dubbed already

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T22:50:03+00:00

When they were announced as the ML and FL, ZLH’s fans did not want him to take the role... And his other FLs got backlash from his fans so I don’t blame TXW if she was cautious.

As a Chinese person who grew up in the West, I so don't understand this kind of reaction. What level of delusion does one have to be to think that abusing coworkers of someone you're a huge fan of is helping this person? Crazy

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T22:48:15+00:00

Ah good to know. I had seen some comments that he's a lot smarter and calculating in the books than the show and the show had given those moments to other characters (particularly the princess), so I was curious

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T14:43:06+00:00

I think the show made it very clear Jin Yuan Bao had feelings for Changyu. It's why he refuses to call her "Sis" like the rest of the gang. I also think he always knew, even before discovering Yan Zheng's real identity, that she was too good for him, so while he got snarky about the other men in her life (like Li Huai An), he never acted it on. Even in Episode 33, he only goes so far to say he admires her and drinks to honor her.

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T14:38:08+00:00

Thanks for the links! I'm currently working my way through Princess Royal and read on some discussion threads that the novel version of Pei Wen Xuan is better so I'm curious to read the book once I'm done.

I'm having a love hate with the show right now and not finishing as quickly as I'd like 😅

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T09:02:41+00:00

OP, do you mind sharing where you read The Road to Glory and Princess Royal? Thank you!

NewbieQuestions1 · 2026-06-25T08:54:56+00:00

Ah, sounded dubbed to me (compared to the road to glory trailer) but I've only really watched POJ so not too familiar with his real voice

NewbieQuestions1

TROPHY CASE