Tushan Jing and Xiao Yao's romance

 Kali_01:

One thing I wish the drama did better of was showing the time changing/ years passing lol because I thought it was so funny how episode 14-30 didn’t reach their 15 years promise yet lol but 31-22 was a jump of 37 years lol 

Yes, there were some parts where knowing how much time had passed would have explained some things.

 Ari_Lee:

Was it a century? lol

As far as I remember,  up until Jing finally divorced yi yang, it took over 70 yrs. 

This is from the novel :

The first snow arrived in Xiao Yue Summit and Xiao Yao stood in front of the wooden hut and watched Jing dressed in all blue walk towards her. He stood before her and brushed the snow flakes off her cape with a smile “Xiao Yao, I’m here.”

Xiao Yao felt her nose twitch, from Gao Xing’s Dragon Bone Prison to today’s Xiao Yue Summit, this simple “I’m here” took over seventy years between them. In that moment, all the daily sadness and nightly pain, they endured it all until finally he was standing openly before her.

 TinaL:

As far as I remember,  up until Jing finally divorced yi yang, it took over 70 yrs. 

This is from the novel :

The first snow arrived in Xiao Yue Summit and Xiao Yao stood in front of the wooden hut and watched Jing dressed in all blue walk towards her. He stood before her and brushed the snow flakes off her cape with a smile “Xiao Yao, I’m here.”

Xiao Yao felt her nose twitch, from Gao Xing’s Dragon Bone Prison to today’s Xiao Yue Summit, this simple “I’m here” took over seventy years between them. In that moment, all the daily sadness and nightly pain, they endured it all until finally he was standing openly before her.

Okay I have a rough timeline just for the time between the promise and YSQ's return.

Between making the promise in the Dragon Bone Prison and reconnecting on Xiao Yue Summit, over 70 years pass.

The passage TinaL quoted is from Chapter 34 of the novel and clearly takes place in winter. 

Between connection on  Xiao Yue Summit and FFYY "dying", the seasons change from Winter to late Spring.

Chapter 36:

Towards the end of Spring, Fang Feng Yi Yang fell ill and her father, the Fang Feng family head, rushed to Qing Qiu to see her. Two days later the Tu Shan clan leader and the Fang Feng family head together announced that the Madam had passed away.

... The Middle Plains custom was to wait a year after the death of a wife to remarry...

TSJ takes XY "travelling" between Summer and Autumn.

Chapter 37:

The Yellow Emperor said “It was summer when you left and it’s fall now that you’ve returned. You two must have visited many places and did many things.”

XY is still on Xiao Yue Peak between a new Winter and the start of a new Spring, so add one more year. 

Chapter 38:

Spring was late coming this year and even late into the fourth month there were still lots of snowy patches on Xiao Yue Peak.

The war in Gao Xing begins before the Summer and lasts more than ten years.

Chapter 40:

Even though the two kingdoms had been warring for ten plus years...

The war ends when Ah Nian marries ZX, and a year later the Grand Emperor moves.

Chapter 41:

A year later, the Grand Emperor moved to Xuan Yuan Mountain...

XY works on medical texts for 42 years.

Chapter 41:

The Yellow Emperor summoned all the famed doctors and healers around the vast wilderness and together with Xiao Yao convinced them to write down all their knowledge to create medical texts for future generations much like the Flame Emperor did in creating the herb medicinal manuals.

Without any wars and conflicts, time and the seasons passed quickly when there was much to do, and in the blink of an eye fifteen years had passed.

...

Xiao Yao kneeled down “We have not let Your Majesty down. The compendium of medical texts took 42 years to complete...”

XY and TSJ agree to have their wedding in three months, but TSJ disappears less than a month before the wedding.

Chapter 41:

Jing paused and said “A month later is too rushed, how about three months - late in mid-Summer?”

Chapter 42:

With twenty more days until the wedding, Jing could make the return trip with plenty of time. 

TSJ returns, tells XY that he is YSQ, apologizes for making XY wait, and finds out he was missing for 7 years.

Chapter 49:

Until she was standing before Jing, Xiao Yao still couldn’t believe this was real. She reached out her hand to touch his face “Jing, is it really you?”

Jing answered, “I am Wen Xiao Liu’s Ye Shi Qi. Because you counted seventeen leaves on the herbal branch, that is why I am called Shi Qi.”

Xiao Yao smiled through her tears, “You’re really back!”

Jing grabbed her hands, “I’m sorry for making you wait so long!”

...

"...I rushed back worried about you and only then did I learn 7 years had passed..."

So by my count, over 130 years pass between the time that TSJ promises XY that he will return to her as YSQ in the dragon bone prison and when he returns to her and declares himself YSQ in chapter 49. They finally get married shortly after in chapter 50. 

Edit: Where XY says that the medical texts took 42 years to complete... the start time for that period might actually be around the time that the 10+ year war in Gao Xing begins. So let's say definitely over 119 years to be safe. 

 His Smile:

We will never stop seeing comments about him being weak, useless, needy, and clingy! I actually like him because his overall demeanor is the complete opposite of the two men who are in love with XY.

Hehe yeo they will keep coming. I still have amusement in scrolling down. If anything pokes me,  i might pokes back (reply), depends on time and mood though.  But I love how,YaoJing lovers make this thread so alive. Let's shower more time on here.❤️?

Hi everyone! New to MDL, but I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts in this thread as I too enjoy the character of Jing and his relationship with XY.

I love how all the characters in this story (drama and novel) are fully fleshed out and that includes having flaws, even with Jing. While some may view Jing as indecisive and weak, I see it more as he is a very careful, detail-oriented person, always considering different points of view and searching for an outcome that might satisfy everyone. But that can take time, and in the case of Hou, he is beyond reconciliation, which leads to much frustration and suffering.

As far as clingy, I don't see evidence of that personally. He certainly makes his heart known to XY clearly and early on, but he also waits for her to give her heart to him. Sure, he has her make that 15-year promise, but nothing he ever says or does after that limits her in any way in actuality. As far as I can tell, he wants whatever XY wants. And it's not because he has no ambition in life or just wants to follow XY around like a mindless puppy. He's gone to hell and back and is only able to enjoy life again because of XY. I can totally see them going about the rest of their lives healing people together in a small clinic just like the one in Qingshui Town. Sure, nothing grand like being the emperor of the world or running an entire clan, but no less noble or meaningful.

All in all, perhaps some are missing out on a beautiful message I believe the author was trying to convey in the novel (and hopefully the drama - sigh, when are we going to get S2?). In a cynical and sometimes cruel world, is there any place for kindness and compassion? Would it always be viewed as a weakness when it gets in the way of us achieving what we want at the expense of others? Even as we teach our own children to be kind to others, when it comes to us, if we were beaten, mistreated and misunderstood, would we turn out to be Hou or Jing?

Sorry for the super long post, just wanted to share my thoughts!

@AH thank you soo much for this!! And wow it took over 130 years to fulfill that 15 year promise ?

@Sunbath12 welcome! And I  ? ? agree with everything you said ?

 Sunbath12:

All in all, perhaps some are missing out on a beautiful message I believe the author was trying to convey in the novel (and hopefully the drama - sigh, when are we going to get S2?). In a cynical and sometimes cruel world, is there any place for kindness and compassion? Would it always be viewed as a weakness when it gets in the way of us achieving what we want at the expense of others? Even as we teach our own children to be kind to others, when it comes to us, if we were beaten, mistreated and misunderstood, would we turn out to be Hou or Jing?

This is definitely food for thought! 

Jing's kindness is something the other suitors did not have a lot of. I think as we get older, we start to value kindness, stability, and consistency over cool bad boys who are ready to break your heart in a blink of an eye to fulfill their own whims. In the real world, kindness is unfortunately always viewed as a weakness. But it is something the world badly needs. I see so much unkindness everywhere these days.

Thanks for writing you POV Sunbath! I enjoyed reading it too! And welcome to MDL!!