Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 blimarch:

But really, CX? Trying to be incognito while calling yourself "Xuan"... that's not very subtle.

  To be fair, in the novel, his name was originally Zhuan Xu 颛顼 before being changed to Cang Xuan 玱玹 in later editions. In addition, the word 玹 Xuán in Cang Xuan is pronounced differently from 轩 Xuān the wine seller, so these are two totally different words and meanings.

 bqt:

I think XY loves XL  however she is not sure if XL loves her wholeheartedly since he has his duties to the army and he hides his love from her, never declaring his true feelings.  She, does not quite understanding her strong attraction to him, coupled with no confirmation on his side, does not feel certainty between them.

Jing openly declared his love for her, does things for her not expecting anything in return, and he submits to her biding.  There is no doubt he loves her but he is a safe choice for her. 

I think it's a question of.. would you choose the one that loves you (safe) or the one you love (uncertain)?

I feel her heart truly loves XL but because of childhood trauma and insecurities she choose Jing.  Her love for Jing is a safe love.

Hidden love vs. open love is a part of it... but IMO it's a lot more complicated than that. 

XY wanted someone who was committed to her and who would put her first. Someone who could abandon everything else for her. Someone who would live a peaceful life and raise a family with her. 

XY has known that XL is on the opposite side of a war from her since the beginning. She knew he was not someone she could have a peaceful happy ending with. She comes to find out that, in addition to being her family's enemy, his loyalty to Gong Gong and the remnant army is unshakeable. He will not abandon them for her. He wouldn't give them up to go and wander the world with XY. 

So XY tries not to let herself fall for XL, and later XL tries to push her away too (for her sake). XL was never a real option for XY. And when it seemed like she was leaning towards pursuing something with him anyway (e.g., by sending him the ice crystal ball) he didn't let her choose him. And throughout their whole relationship he hid his feelings from her. XY was probably aware, on some level, that they both had unspoken feelings for each other. But she could also see XL's behaviour. He wasn't offering himself as a romantic option. He was hiding his feelings (e.g., XY was aware that XL didn't want her to know about the things he did and said during her 37 years of healing) and put boundaries between them. 

So, IMO, it wasn't just a matter of being unsure of XL's feelings. She knew that the remnant army was his priority. She knew that he could not abandon them, even for her. She knew he was not someone who could have a peaceful happy ending with her. And he didn't let her choose him.

I won't get into the reasons why XY chose TSJ in this thread, but I also think it goes well beyond him just being open about his feelings and devoted and therefore a "safe" bet.

@AH

You explained everything perfectly. 

 liddi:

  To be fair, in the novel, his name was originally Zhuan Xu 颛顼 before being changed to Cang Xuan 玱玹 in later editions. In addition, the word 玹 Xuán in Cang Xuan is pronounced differently from 轩 Xuān the wine seller, so these are two totally different words and meanings.

I'm studying the tones right this instant and I open this thread to see this 😂

My Chinese teacher would be so proud lol

 blimarch:

@liddi 

Oh I'm so immersed in the story that I forgot that the original work is written in Chinese!

It certainly speaks to just how engrossing the story is that the language is no longer paramount in the minds of the viewers / readers! 

 nathsketch:

I'm studying the tones right this instant and I open this thread to see this 😂

My Chinese teacher would be so proud lol

You're learning Chinese? Much respect to you! I balked at learning it during my early school years, perpetually complaining about the many strokes I had to memorise! Only started really trying to learn one day when I desperately wanted to read wuxia novels lol

 nathsketch:

Writing the strokes is actually the part I like the most. It's too much to memorise indeed, but they're like drawings and that's my jam 🎨

Oh, reading even one wuxia novel from beginning to end would be the ultimate goal 😩 I'd be happy to just be able to read Xiang Liu's love letter. Wait, not happy. You get it 😅

I hated writing strokes as a child because we had to write a whole page full of the same character. I used to try and conveniently forget to bring my homework! 

Are you learning traditional or simplified Chinese?  Simplified Chinese (used in China, Southeast Asia etc) has less strokes compared to traditional Chinese (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong). The beauty of Chinese characters are that you can often see the narrative in it. Take for example the word 忍 rěn (endure / tolerate) is made up of 刃 (blade) on top of 心 (heart) - a blade hovering over the heart.

I look forward to you crying tears of joy (or angst) when you read Xiang Liu's letter in its entirety! 加油！

 liddi:

Found what appear to be S2 leaked scripts on Weibo, breaking down which scenes show up in which episodes (but apparently it ends at Ep20?). Haven't had time to read in detail, but from what I see, A Nian will be the one to give the big bellied doll to Xiao Yao as an "extra" gift for her wedding..

That matches what another user said. They mentioned that, according to the leaked script, Ah Nian will basically replace Sir Bi and do the things he did.

 liddi:

I hated writing strokes as a child because we had to write a whole page full of the same character. I used to try and conveniently forget to bring my homework! 

Are you learning traditional or simplified Chinese?  Simplified Chinese (used in China, Southeast Asia etc) has less strokes compared to traditional Chinese (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong). The beauty of Chinese characters are that you can often see the narrative in it. Take for example the word 忍 rěn (endure / tolerate) is made up of 刃 (blade) on top of 心 (heart) - a blade hovering over the heart.

I look forward to you crying tears of joy (or angst) when you read Xiang Liu's letter in its entirety! 加油！

Heh you were a naughty one!

I’m learning simplified Chinese. Yes, there are way fewer strokes.  I like it precisely because of the narrative behind every character. I’m an artist so for me they are really just tiny drawings I need to memorize.

To be honest, the only thing I want to read that’s written by Xiang Liu is a marriage certificate on one of those pretty red papers lolololol