Just for you to know, drama s2 vs novel…
The novel features the same characters but has a completely different storyline. Key elements such as the spring examination and the Ming family are present, but the storyline diverges entirely.
The rivalry between the second prince is real, but it's not as dramatic as portrayed. The crown prince is depicted as kind in the novel, not evil. The second prince's character in the novel is quite different from the portrayal in the drama. Marriage is not depicted as dramatic, and the princes are not involved. The main villain is the evil princess. The emperor does not mistreat the second prince; in fact, he favors him a lot due to fear of competition and his ambition to unite all three empires and make a name in history books. Additionally, the spies in the North are left to "wander" for two years. The second prince has a concubine and a child with her, but due to censorship, it's unclear if he had relations with her more than once. She is his maid from Danzhou, whom he grew up with. His father-in-law "retired" but was not betrayed by his best friend. The emperor did not attempt to assassinate the second prince. At one point, the protagonist's father retired to Danzhou with his mother and grandmother. Although he acknowledged the Fan ancestors, he was never recognized as a prince, but it was widely known that he was the son of the emperor and Ye Qingmei. The Ming family story is significantly complex, involving hundreds of people. The protagonist did not invite the merchants during his honeymoon. Additionally, the poison master was never almost killed, and Wu Zhu never had a fight with another cyborg sent by the divine temple. When the grandmaster Ye met him, he did indeed cut a building in half, but he never regained his 9th level like that. Instead, he received and possessed two types of cultivation, allowing him to become the most powerful 9th level. However, he never achieved the level of grandmaster. It is revealed very late in the novel that the emperor is the 4th grandmaster. She didn't know that he was aware of her brother's death. Furthermore, she was not close to her brother, so the scene depicting her wanting to kill the emperor was fictional. While it's true that he was injured and asked his sister to sew him up while he was awake, the emperor was very concerned and never intervened as portrayed in the drama. The black knight is definitely not a groupie of his poetry. The shadow indeed hurt him during a fight by mistake. Chenpingping is his #1 supporter all along and never wanted to be involved with the divine temple. He never betrayed him and considered him as his spiritual son and successor. His brother indeed was sent in the northern empire and took over the smuggling. Fan Xian played behind the emperor back and gained a lot of money. His sister indeed escaped marriage and was sent as a disciple in the northern empire but never learned martial arts. Fan Xian was indeed very much in love with his wife but also loved duoduo. His love was more spiritual, but in the end, he also had a relationship with her, but they never lived together. Fan Xian was drugged by the northern emperor. Silii and the emperor, who is a woman, got pregnant and had a daughter. Fan Xian had 3 children total, but the emperor daughter remained a secret. At the end of the novel, all the goodies lived, and most baddies died.
Season 2 gave the impression of featuring parallel universe versions of the characters, each with their own unique storyline, almost as if they were clones living in an alternate reality.
I don't dislike season 2 of the drama, but in my opinion, they missed out on many complex dramatic elements. It's strange because season 1 closely followed the novel about 80%, whereas season 2 only followed about 5%. I hope season 3 will focus more on battles and martial arts. I'm curious to see how the production will portray the multiple epic battles.
