u/MsAnnThroppe

One element of this game I find so fascinating is gradually learning the varieties of personal pronouns used in Mandarin, specifically the palace, some of which I learned by listening and some that were explained during gameplay streams in comments. I'd love to learn about the ones whose meaning I don't know. The ones most often heard are:

Bengong = this palace, used by high-ranking consorts and the Empress

Benwa = this prince (Li Tai lol)

Nubi = servant

Erchen = I have no clue about this one, used by crown prince and Li Zhi during the first game and Li Zhong in the second

Then of course, the relationship-based ones, such as Older Sister/Brother, Younger Sister/Brother, Aunt, various forms of Mother and Father based on rank (Muchi, Mufei, Muhou, Fuchi, Fuhwang). Non-servant lower-ranking people just use their own name as a pronoun, or a nickname if they've been given one (Yuanzhao is Zhao'er to her aunts and Li Zhi, for example).

For any Mandarin-speakers out there, what are some fun ones that I've missed or additional context? I'd like to know what the Emperors and Chancellors use, for example. Yay for language-learning by osmosis!

Hi everyone,

I recently came back from my second trip to Japan, and at the end of the 6 days, I was truly in a lot of pain from the combination of 10+ hour walking each day and the extra firm hotel mattress. For context, I was staying at Hotel Sunroute Asakusa (and have stayed at their other chain, Sotetsu Fresa Inn, which is almost exactly the same). Does anyone have a recommendation for a Tokyo hotel with a softer bed within a business hotel budget (10,000-15,000 yen) range? I love visiting here so much, but with back problems and no chance to truly rest, it's been difficult. Thank you!

Does anyone know why there are two English subs for the second game? I've been watching others' playthroughs and found the earlier one that was there at launch has been replaced by another, far worse version, with translations like "My bad" and "She is a noob" and frequent typos/missing words. It's so odd.

After multiple playthroughs of the Li Tai path, there's only one conclusion that makes sense...

Spoilers, of course, for all of the alternate path.

>!It was all still a poison hallucination.!<

>!There are far too many inconsistencies and coincidences for any of it to make sense.!<

>!Meeting Yue of all people at the Mirage Pavilion? Sure, I could accept that, if everything else checked out. The Mirage Pavilion's master being the Empress's attendant; does he manage the place in his sleep? Wu fending off a master assassin with zero fighting experience? Tai just happens to be there at precisely the right moment and kills the assassin, in the dark, where he probably can't even see Wu on the ground, with no context? Wu doesn't tell him she's been poisoned, even though he would have the resources to get her the antidote, or at the very least, would come up with a plan to mislead the spies and either steal it or trick them into giving it to her by faking his death, as it becomes apparent that he can easily do? Gaoyang waiting for them even though their carriage is disguised, no reason to be there, and so easily letting Wu go, reconciling in seconds and later reuniting with Wu, all of her pain and guilt instantly gone because Wu made a short speech about making her own choices? Wu meeting the sister of her former roommate, who is the key to getting the upper hand they need... and then Tai goes to war with them and that plot point just ends?!<

>!And most of all... the alternate endings. After Wu receives the antidote, in every scenario other than the main ending, Tai somehow survives far past the injuries that the main ending says kill him just a little while later. If Wu doesn't go with him to meet Zhi, Tai disappears and is reunited with Wu and Gaoyang, and if Wu fails to admit Zhi sees Tai as the primary threat to his throne, Tai volunteers to go off to war again, despite already being secretly wounded beyond recovery (though he shows zero signs of that, walking normally, riding horses, even fighting years in a rebellion if Wu chooses, etc).!<

>!The final nail in this proverbial coffin is that Wu promises to stay by Tai's side, then after a little fun exploring together, breaks that promise for no reason. She just goes. And he lets her, even knowing he's about to die, and there's no time limit on what she wants to do. There's even less reason for him not to reveal the extent of his injuries, than for Wu's refusal to reveal that she'd been poisoned. So I can only believe that the poison hallucination never stopped.!<

>!I love Wu and Tai together. I can even accept Tai being so blinded by his love for her that he doesn't even scheme anymore, just lets her strategize for them both, and falls for her so completely that he's unrecognizable by the end. But this isn't the way it would've happened. Therefore, like Wu choosing to stab the illusory Tai, I have to reject this fever dream.!<

>!That said... there are a few easy fixes.!<

>!The first is that the assassination attempt happens right outside Tai's estate, just as he's leaving it, with the spies having intel that he was planning this and the assassin meant to swap with Wu at that exact moment, catching Tai before he could go.!<

>!Two is that Gaoyang and Tai are meeting because they're working together to gather evidence against the Chancellor, both having a grudge against him for Bianji/the throne respectively, and it's Tai and Wu's forbidden love that convinces her to let Wu go and reconcile, before she is caught and executed for treason, but after delivering the proof they need to depose the Chancellor and making him let his guard down with this false victory.!<

>!The third is that Zhi insists Tai come to the capital for the antidote as his reward, and once there, Tai is led to believe that he has been poisoned... and has the chance to either take the antidote, or give it to Wu. Wu, in turn, can choose to either kill Tai to join Zhi and become Empress (remembering that in this timeline, with the Chancellor deposed, the Empress can be easily implicated thanks to her ties to the Mirage Pavilion and removed), or run away with Tai, free of titles and court intrigue. That way, there's a final choice between it having been a game of power to her all along, or her genuinely caring for Tai enough to give up that power, as he did for her, instead of a meta conversation with Zhi about another life with the two of them together.!<

>!Anyway, those are my thoughts.!<