Briti Aditi Sengupta

an aesthetically put together chaos who loves reading and writing... •| multi fd |•

[majesticbritistic]

I am not saying that PoJ had flawless writing, no it did not, but I see a lot of Lin’An slander in the criticism of the drama and how Changyu does not want to grow. And I do not exactly agree with the take?! She absolutely does grow up after the Lin’An massacre and wants to rebuild the place that has seen her childhood to adulthood. Lin’An is where she fell in love too. And they are not rich people cosplaying to be poor in Lin’An. From what I have gathered (and I could be wrong because I am not native Chinese) they visit Lin’An as escapade from their regal duties. When they are not defending the country or are not in Capital (because these are commitment-heavy roles and not just title) they visit Lin’An to unwind. To go back to their simpler days that they love and cherish so much. Especially because of their extremely demanding job they need a safe place and Lin’An is their safe place.

Also while we are at it, I really do not think that Changyu was wishy-washy about Xie Zheng. She loves that man, for who he is. It is not like she disrespects him as the Marquis of Wu’an or loves him any less?! Xie Zheng without those burdensome titles is Yan Zheng at his core (heck that's something he wants for himself too. He loves being her matrilocal husband — safe to say this man is secure in his masculinity). While he crafted that identity during his time of misfortune he bloomed into it. She was ready to marry Xie Zheng because she loves her man regardless of his identity or title. It just took her a while and in Episode 36 she accepted him entirely for himself (no turning back from that moment onward).

I also do not agree with doormat Xie Zheng allegations, the man is as ruthless as ever everywhere else minus when with Changyu (as it is repeatedly stated she is the sheath to his sword, where he relaxes and rejuvenates.) He still did cut off the Eunuch’s ear defying the royal decree to marry the Princess Royal Qi Shu, he still valiantly fought and escaped the trap despite being dr*gged and k!lling the Eunuch in one strike in the still inebriated state. The show did not have to explicitly show us him in war scenes to establish how skilled of an warrior he is. His precision, his skill spoke on his behalf. It is in the way he conducts himself, the way he walks, and talks that you know he is the Marquis of Wu’an. The only reason he tolerates Jin crossing line is because his wife is fond of her Squad, trust me he would not have tolerated it otherwise. The wine glass breaking scene was telling enough when he put Jin in his place without even touching his neck or killing him. By crushing the wine glass he let it be known that he is the Marquis of Wu’an and Fan Changyu is his wife and they should tread extremely carefully. He wielded his power and aura with subtlety in the show and that was killer in its effectiveness.

The drama also chose to focus on the emotional aspect of Xie Zheng and his love for Fan Changyu, who is his sun, warmth, home, hope and joy and I think it is beautiful how he never played when it came to his wife since day 1 until the very end.

Again all of this is entirely my perspective and my takeaway from the drama.

[melonatures]

xie zheng + (failed) marriage proposals [1/?]

[slamdunktheories]

Can we talk about the moment of the Big Reveal?

Let me just put it out there: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this scene. Yes, it’s really short and there’s hardly any dialogue in it. But it’s easily one of my absolute favourite scenes in this show (which is saying a lot as there are loads of contenders). I just wanted to take a moment to breakdown the scene and discuss why it works so well.

First, the scene works because of all the scenes that came before it - all the teasers we got where Changyu almost finds out the truth about Yan Zheng helped build towards this climax. eg. The scene where they were reaching out towards each other’s silhouettes, and when they finally meet at camp amidst the group of injured soldiers, and when the Crown Princess gets introduced to CY’s husband, and of course there’s the fake Marquis scene, and the bit where XZ forgets that he’s supposed to just be YZ and talks about rewarding someone who’d saved CY’s life (his own tutor LOL), etc.

Any of thoses instances could’ve been when the truth was accidentally discovered, and those near-misses add so much tension to the whole situation. ‘Cos we all know: the longer Xie Zheng tries to hide the truth, the wilder it’ll be when the truth can no longer be contained.

Also, all these scenes implicitly pose one question: HOW exactly will CY find out? That question alone is a big teaser and plays prominently in the audience’s mind.

And that brings us to… the scene right before CY goes into battle. I dunno if I’m thick or what, but I didn't anticipate her plan to drug him at all. It all seemed so natural, because in the lead up to it, she’d already been giving him bowls of soup/tonic/medicine etc., and this bowl of medicine didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

It was only when she gave him all these anxious looks as he was drinking that I finally clocked that something was up. If this was the average viewer’s experience, then the director did a great job withholding this revelation from people right until XZ himself realises the problem.

And this moment of “OMG she did not!!” is laced with so much conflict and drama: she’s doing it because she loves him, she’s doing it because she still thinks YZ is a nobody in the army but… SHE JUST INCAPACITATED THE MOST IMPORTANT GUY IN THE ARMY RIGHT BEFORE A BIG BATTLE!! The stakes are now sky high and we have no idea how badly she has messed things up for everyone.

Then we get the battle scene, where she takes down Shi Hu. Hurrah! But wait! It’s not over yet because THIS is the moment they choose for the reveal and the execution is sublime.

You hear him before you see him: there’s a thundering of hooves and soldiers cheering that the Marquis is here at last. Cue JJ Lin’s gorgeous song (which takes this scene to another level), and now from CY’s perspective: through the smoke we see the calvary arrive. She’s already on the verge of fainting from relief and shock of her first battle, but she makes an effort to stand, to take a better look at the famed Marquis, because there's something familiar about him that pulls her to her feet.

Now imagine her getting an even bigger shock as she finally learns the truth: that the person they call the Marquis is also the person she calls “husband”. One is a legend in the flesh, flanked by soldiers and radiating power, whilst the other (in her mind’s eye) cuts a gentle, frail figure in plain white robes (when they first meet properly, after he woke in Lin An). The contrast could not be bigger.

From the audience's perspective, it's also this huge contrast that makes this scene so satisfying. After all the dramatic tension built up from earlier scenes, CY had the truth coming at her on horseback and in full battle regalia. She could not have learned the truth in a more dramatic fashion.

And of course: there’re the complications. CY isn’t the only one who’s angry here. Xie Zheng is rightfully pissed because, well, he just got drugged by someone he trusted and it could’ve gone very badly for the whole army because of that one rash act. And you see this in his face as he scoops up CY when she tries to flee.

But for the audience, the moment is beautiful and glorious because it’s so rich with contradicting emotions. I imagine he’s pissed, relieved (that she's safe and that he doesn't have to hide the truth anymore), touched (that she was willing to risk her life in exchange to save his), and simultaneously knows that he’s in deep shit with the missus. And she’s a mixture of anger, heartbreak, disbelief, hurt, and more anger - and rightfully so.

I love that all this is conveyed through subtext, making dialogue completely unnecessary. We can imagine what they’re feeling because the scenes prior did all the heavylifting, and the lack of dialogue here is all the more powerful because we’re left to our imagination, to absorb the weight and complexity of this moment in our own, private ways.

The best directors know that silence can tell a dramatic story, and Director Zeng here is no exception.

[strangeconnoisseurhologram]

Pursuit of Jade (2026)

[melonatures]

xie zheng + (failed) marriage proposals [1/?]

[wherewaterwaits]

so i saw this post on twitter (yes twitter, not x fuck you melon) saying ZLH and TXW chemistry is laced with drugs and im so skdjfsjfjsjgkgjd PLS THIS IS SO TRUE and i cant explain HOW GOOD THEY LOOK TOGETHER like what kind of magic is this what drug are you giving me im literally so happy to see them standing next to each other *sobs*

[alchemyofsouls]

Pursuit of Jade (2026)

[yourpillowtalksucks]

Zheng’s causal throwing of small objects at people from discreet places whenever the other villagers try to hurt or make fun of Changyu will never not be funny to me 😭😭😭

[yourpillowtalksucks]

Zheng’s causal throwing of small objects at people from discreet places whenever the other villagers try to hurt or make fun of Changyu will never not be funny to me 😭😭😭

[park-seobang]

Something about how simple and stripped down "Yan Zheng" is in comparison to Xie Zheng's real name(s) and titles - The Marquis of Wu'an, etc.

言正. No radicals - his name cannot be split apart anymore. He cannot be "broken down" anymore than to Yan Zheng.

Thinking about how Changyu found him and treated him like just a man on the brink of death. Just a man. When was the last time when he was treated like just a person and not a weapon of war, a sword of the state to be wielded? When his parents were alive.

When given the choice to introduce himself to a stranger who knows none of his backstory (the good, bad, scary) that's what he chose. He chose to start from as close to zero as he could get.

Was it out of survival initially? Yes! But after things changed where it would have objectively benefitted him to be the Marquis (money, the politics with the Magistrate) he still maintained the identity of Yan Zheng - just a man, just a matrilocal husband.

It hurts when Changyu calls him by his titles (one because it's Changyu doing it) because there's no one else that he can feel human with except her. It feels like she's rejecting not just Xie Zheng the marquis but Yan Zheng the human.

Changyu says that he got married under a false name but, did he really?

[adonabell]

Changyu be like: "I begged him to marry me"

What??? No girl, you asked a pig and he volunteered as a tribute!

[hatchetfielddropout]

when everything has calmed down and xie zheng and gongsun yin are hanging out and gongsun yun makes some comment like "your best decision ever made was when you gave in when she begged you to marry her" and xie zheng just freezes, blinks, turns to him "who told you she begged me. make no mistake: i love my wife so much she didn't even have to ask"

[hatchetfielddropout]

you know, i love how fan changyu was visibly taken aback by how handsome xie zheng actually is when she first sees him properly but it was never that big of a deal to her because she has other things to think about. meanwhile, xie zheng sees this confusing bewildering silly kind amazing woman who apparently carried him to safety and is a butcher and he offers to marry into her family without question

[hatchetfielddropout]

you know, i love how fan changyu was visibly taken aback by how handsome xie zheng actually is when she first sees him properly but it was never that big of a deal to her because she has other things to think about. meanwhile, xie zheng sees this confusing bewildering silly kind amazing woman who apparently carried him to safety and is a butcher and he offers to marry into her family without question

[melonatures]

Xie Zheng // Fan Changyu ↳ 逐玉 PURSUIT OF JADE (2026)

[homo-trashcanicus]

it's been said but i'll say it again: top tier bit of this show is whenever changyu is being given the slightest offense and it pans to yan zheng VERY LOUDLY lefty-looseying the screws on his hinges in the background

[deathdefyinglifeleaps]

#beautiful delicate flower invalid attic-husband with two settings: big brown wet sad cow eyes and Kubrick Stare #the kill bill sirens are always playing his head but they are proportionally linked in volume to His Wife's proximity to some bullshit

[seanconneraille]

silence girls, mama is fighting (and could have killed us long ago but she has fed us and given us work we are truly blessed and didn't know, let's follow her to death)

[fierce-little-miana]

Changyu: Yan Zheng really doesn’t want to sleep with me despite Qianqian’s best efforts. Maybe the all “grabbing my ex to put him in bag and beat him in a dark alley” was a turn off?

Me: Actually, the issue is that the all “grabbing your ex to put him in bag and beat him in a dark alley” turned him on too much.