Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 blabla100:

@kokuto 

"I can't see him taking the bug, KNOWING he planned to die in battle, which would mean she would die too.  I just can't see XL being so selfish as to want her to die with him. 

But don't forget his plan was to also kill CX. 

If he did NOT have future plans with XY, either way, XY would die.  She'd die when XL killed CX or she'd die when XL died on the battlefield.  That's why I say, at that point, before her identity was revealed, I think XL could see a future and had decided to survive the final battle.

Of course, all that changed in short order, when XY's identity was revealed.

 AH :

I'm afraid to ask ^^" ...

This is based on what I quickly read so far from the leaked script. Haven't read everything yet - I picked and chose episodes that I was most interested in.

Things retained:

• the questions Xiang Liu asked Xiao Yao when he probed her mind, her refusal to answer that final question and her plaintive question to him
• Xiao Yao sending Xiang Liu the ice crystal ball, and waiting for him in vain by the sea for him to come

Things changed:

• Cang Xuan colluding with Hou to kill Jing is just a product of a illusion created by his grandfather, to remind him of the consequences should he give in to his inner desires and kills Jing over Xiao Yao
• Xiao Yao's hair apparently turned white after Jing's death, but was restored in the end
• Xiao Yao never sees Xiang Liu's true form, and by extension her clinging on to Xiang Liu afterwards because the assassination attempt was omitted.
• After Xiao Yao passed out due to extensive loss of blood extracted by Xiang Liu, he kissed her wrists to heal the wounds and held her unconscious form in his arms in grief
• A Nian brought the unconscious Xiao Yao to Jade Mountain at Xiang Liu's request, with the knowledge of the Royal Mother. Xiang Liu later extracts an oath from her never to reveal anything to Xiao Yao
• Xiang Liu's true form appears when he destroys the bug - 8 heads at first (because he lost one life saving her after the Plum Forest assassination). We do see how indeed each head is tied to each life, when he killed one life to lure out the bug, and sacrificed two more lives to finally kill it
• The copious amount of blood he took from Xiao Yao was not to save Jing, but for Xiao Yao to recover after he forcibly lured the lover's bug out of her and killed it
• A Nian was grieved when the clam shell disintegrated in a sudden snow fall, leaving no trace of Xiang Liu ever being there
• Jing survives not because Xiang Liu saved him, but of Xiao Yao's blood pill and him using a puppet which took the arrow during the attack. He was trapped in an underground cave, and would not have survived if he had not taken Xiao Yao's pill to regain his strength and clawed his way out
• Xiao Yao found out about Xiang Liu's death before the wedding. This time the scene ends with the song she sang to lure Fei Fei
  
• A Nian's sadness while giving the big bellied doll to Xiao Yao, reminding her specifically to bring it with her wherever she goes, so that a part of Xiang Liu is forever with her, even if she doesn't know it 
• Xiao Yao and Jing leave for Qingshui town after their wedding, instead of going to the ocean to settle down in one of the many uncharted islands

Things I like:

•  We get to see Xiang Liu's POV, his heartache when he pushes her away; upset when he felt Xiao Yao and Jing kissing passionately, which also confirms that he feels her every emotion; how he treasures the tear pearl, even to his very last breath.  
• We hear his thoughts, which explains why he does the things he does
• We get scenes of the Chenrong army as they prepare for the final battle to the last man, despite Hong Jiang (Gong Gong) giving them permission to leave without fear of dishonour. 
• His final stand, even after he dies which has me tearing up just reading it

Things that are questionable:

• By taking Xiang Liu's role of saving Jing out of the picture, it makes no sense how he could have thought it possible to ensure Xiao Yao has someone to rely on for life. Unless it is explained in the sections I skipped, this doesn't sound very plausible, and is regrettable that they would sacrifice logic just to allow Jing to have a more active role in his survival and subsequent return back to her
• Her not settling down at the ocean, but at Qingshui town negates all that Xiang Liu prepared to enable her to always have a place to go, including preparing the map of the sea for her. Unless they are planning to go down the route of she will always be able to breathe under the ocean and retreat there whenever it suits her, the script effectively demolishes 2 out of the 3 things Xiang Liu sacrificed to prepare for her

I might add on or amend this list after I get the chance to read it properly. Either way, the changes do not  appear as bad as I initially feared and I look forward to see how the final version plays out.

 blabla100:

I think it is a combination of more than just one reason, but I honestly don't think XL could have bared to kill CX knowing that that will get XY killed by his own hands as well. 

He said as much in the drama.  I think it was when he almost drowned her, to distract CX so FFYY could assassinate CX.  XY asked if he'd kill her if he thought it would kill CX and he said he wouldn't.

 blabla100:

Yes, he couldn't have killed CX while he shared the bug with XY, but he still wanted to. 

Yes, because CX is trying to kill him.

But remember, the times XL tries to kill CX, neither he nor XY knows that will kill XY.  That information isn't known, until XL goes asking before he takes the bug.

 liddi:

Things retained:

the questions Xiang Liu asked Xiao Yao when he probed her mind, her refusal to answer that final question and her plaintive question to him, which he
Xiao Yao sending Xiang Liu the ice crystal ball, and waiting for him in vain by the sea for him to come

Thank goodness. 

 liddi:

Xiao Yao's hair apparently turned white after Jing's death, but was restored in the end

Oh! I'm cool with this.

 liddi:

Xiao Yao never sees Xiang Liu's true form, and by extension her clinging on to Xiang Liu afterwards because the assassination attempt was omitted.

The assassination attempt and everything between them after is cut? Oh I am very unhappy about that. That's one of my absolute favourite chapters for so many reasons. 

Even the YaoJings will be mad... she wore her wedding gown and was ready to die to be with TSJ. And that's when she sang her song for TSJ to the moon again... 

 liddi:

Xiang Liu's true form appears when he destroys the bug - 8 heads at first (because he lost one life saving her after the Plum Forest assassination). We do see how indeed each head is tied to each life, when he killed one life to lure out the bug, and sacrificed two more lives to finally kill it

His true form appearing in this scene we knew about from the trailer, but I thought there were nine heads. Interesting that the heads are now explicitly linked to his lives. The line that Tong Hua added earlier makes way more sense with that context. 

 liddi:

The copious amount of blood he took from Xiao Yao was not to save Jing, but for Xiao Yao to recover after he forcibly lured the lover's bug out of her and killed it

I'm very annoyed that they took away XL being the person who saved TSJ. Giving TSJ to XY is one of his three big things! Just pushing them together is nowhere near as impactful as choosing to save his life and return him to XY using blood that he asked her to give in order to finally cut the ties between them. That whole dynamic was so good!

 liddi:

He was trapped in an underground cave

For 7 years? Or did they shorten the timeframe?

 liddi:

Xiao Yao found out about Xiang Liu's death before the wedding.

WHAT. That is an infuriating change! His death directly causes her to decide to leave. How can she have a happy wedding and accept CX's flower right after XL's death??

 liddi:

This time the scene ends with the song she sang to lure Fei Fei

Ooh they really went and made TSJ's song half XL's song. The YaoJings will not be happy. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I guess I'll wait to see how it plays out on screen. 

 liddi:

reminding her specifically to bring it with her wherever she goes

Not a fan of this change either. I liked that TSJ told MP to pack the doll with the other things they took because it brought XY genuine joy. Having someone tell her to keep it with her always feels too much like CX's demand that XY always wear his flower...

 liddi:

upset when he felt Xiao Yao and Jing kissing passionately

Ugh no I do not want to have to see that.

 liddi:

We hear his thoughts, which explains why he does the things he does

This will be very interesting, but also... I don't think it can possibly live up to the readers' imaginations. I'll hope for the best and prepare for disappointment. 

 liddi:

We get scenes of the Chenrong army as they prepare for the final battle to the last man, despite Hong Jiang (Gong Gong) giving them permission to leave without fear of dishonour. 

Ayy, finally: confirmation that Gong Gong will make an appearance. A few people in this thread will be happy. 

 liddi:

By taking Xiang Liu's role of saving Jing out of the picture, it makes no sense how he could have thought it possible to ensure Xiao Yao has someone to rely on for life. Unless it is explained in the sections I skipped, this doesn't sound very plausible, and is regrettable that they would sacrifice logic just to allow Jing to have a more active role in his survival and subsequent return back to her

Yep.

 blabla100:

I think it is a combination of more than just one reason, but I honestly don't think XL could have bared to kill CX knowing that that will get XY killed by his own hands as well. 

One more item to add to the list of reasons why XL would offer to have the bug transferred to him.

 liddi:

Xiang Liu's true form appears when he destroys the bug - 8 heads at first (because he lost one life saving her after the Plum Forest assassination).

liddi, in the 2013 version of the novel, after XY sees XL's true form in chapter 43 she says she opened her eyes despite XL's orders because she wanted to see XL's nine heads. And when she tries to comfort him, she says he has eight more heads than her. And she and XL both make other references to his nine heads later on. Was that changed in the 2019 version? Was there any indication that XL had lost one of his heads when he used a life to save her after the first assassination?