He implies only weak/foolish people are controlled by Ye Zun, but I'm not sure that's the case.
I think it's entirely possible the Regent doesn't have the kind of vulnerability Ye Zun's mind manipulation power exploits, exactly because he's already the Regent and he doesn't actually want anything to change. The way I see him, he just wants to keep what he's already got. He just wants other people to stop interfering! As you say, Ye Zun doesn't really have anything to offer him on that front - the opposite, rather; he's all interference. *g*
What to make of the tidbit we find out from the Shadow Man about the day the Shadow Man tried to take the Longevity Dial: "The Regent opened the jail and organized [the] prisoners into a siege squad to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar." What is that about? Maybe it was the Regent's last stand against Ye Zun.
Oooh! That's such a good point. I'm not sure about the time frame - I've seen people assume it happened before episode 1, but personally I always thought this thing with the prisoners must have happened some time after Shen Wei took the Shadow Man to prison after he took him on the rooftop. I don't think Ye Zun was active enough earlier for the Regent to pay him any attention? But either way, it does suggest that at some point, the Regent at least went so far as to test Ye Zun's power, and presumably ended up deciding he was too strong to defeat. Fascinating!
Or is it that creepy throne they sit on?
That's what I've always assumed, and that's the approach I've seen in fic, too. (Though the Regent is definitely the type of person who would make that kind of thing happen if it wasn't already in place, and if he could figure out how!)
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I think it's entirely possible the Regent doesn't have the kind of vulnerability Ye Zun's mind manipulation power exploits, exactly because he's already the Regent and he doesn't actually want anything to change. The way I see him, he just wants to keep what he's already got. He just wants other people to stop interfering! As you say, Ye Zun doesn't really have anything to offer him on that front - the opposite, rather; he's all interference. *g*
What to make of the tidbit we find out from the Shadow Man about the day the Shadow Man tried to take the Longevity Dial: "The Regent opened the jail and organized [the] prisoners into a siege squad to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar." What is that about? Maybe it was the Regent's last stand against Ye Zun.
Oooh! That's such a good point. I'm not sure about the time frame - I've seen people assume it happened before episode 1, but personally I always thought this thing with the prisoners must have happened some time after Shen Wei took the Shadow Man to prison after he took him on the rooftop. I don't think Ye Zun was active enough earlier for the Regent to pay him any attention? But either way, it does suggest that at some point, the Regent at least went so far as to test Ye Zun's power, and presumably ended up deciding he was too strong to defeat. Fascinating!
Or is it that creepy throne they sit on?
That's what I've always assumed, and that's the approach I've seen in fic, too. (Though the Regent is definitely the type of person who would make that kind of thing happen if it wasn't already in place, and if he could figure out how!)