Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

i'm stuck in ep6, this season, the plot is moving even slower than season 1. Even mostly with CX scenes, it feels so empty and flat. Now, i'm just watching XL/XY scenes in X and Xiaohongshu.

Lol, i saw the signboard of XY's  clinic, got Ye shiqi name at the lil corner? Bro is so free.

@Kokuto today's episode answers the question of when drama!XL found out how to break the Lovers Bug connection. 

As you predicted, he accepted the transfer long before knowing how to break the connection.

 AH :

@Kokuto today's episode answers the question of when drama!XL found out how to break the Lovers Bug connection. 

As you predicted, he accepted the transfer long before knowing how to break the connection. 

I couldn't believe they answered that for us!

https://youtu.be/v2rmbSSnep8?si=wBcsVmHxTkGgVPi7

Xiang Liu in black????❤️. It was therapy I never knew I needed. This scene was so comforting to watch. I never expected to see him in black. I don't know how some people (Jingers) still think TJ is her true. This one of the scenes I felt that bug working. She is looking for comfort in him. It was pure bliss. And also as mysifeng said, it is becoming boring with too much CX and Ah Nian. Should have included more XL. I don't know, but at this point I am expecting some miracle. Otherwise I can't handle it.

 blabla100:

@kokuto

"Well, it wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be from that script."

Lol, I was about to post the same. It wasn't that bad, to be honest. XL didn't look that angry to me, he gave me more of a bitersweet feeling, don't know how to explain it exactly. What bothered me more was XY calling XL a friend. 

Also, I didn't find XY's meeting with her mom all that emotional. The scene from s1, when she mistook her dad's wife for her mom was a lot more emotional, IMO. 

 

I think they have made many changes. Besides I think XL has had enough of XY and TJ disappoinment

 blabla100:

@kokuto

"Well, it wasn't as awful as I thought it was going to be from that script."

Lol, I was about to post the same. It wasn't that bad, to be honest. XL didn't look that angry to me, he gave me more of a bitersweet feeling, don't know how to explain it exactly. What bothered me more was XY calling XL a friend.

Also, I didn't find XY's meeting with her mom all that emotional. The scene from s1, when she mistook her dad's wife for her mom was a lot more emotional, IMO.

Exactly!  It is a bittersweet feeling, because isn't this what he's been pushing XY toward?  And it wasn't worth getting angry about, like the script seemed to imply.  Here it was just another stick of pain, stacked on his back, that is the price of his love and his desire to see her happy.

XY calling him friend doesn't bother me so much, except the usual crew will trot it out.  It's not like she hasn't done so before, and what else is she going to call him?  Soulmate?  They've both been cutting even those ties and feelings.  Plus he was quick to trash that weak word.  Friends are unreliable, but they are not.

I think XY's meeting with her mom was undercut by that previous scene in Season 1.  That was shocking and heart wrenching.  Here, it seemed like a rerun, and we didn't even have CX .  I also thought the image of her parents together was cut way too short.  They could have added more emotion all around if that had been longer and more interactive.

 Sssnoopyyy:

I skimmed through the eps so will need to watch in more detail but the mom scene was a little bit of a letdown in terms of the emotional release. I am glad YZ fought for this scene but it seems strange for Haoling Emperor to know about her existence and to only bring XY there now. Was hoping for an explanation because it was obviously executed differently in the novel.

The actor who plays Chi Chen has such a short screen time but a great presence haha. If he had more scenes he might even overshadow the other male leads.

I was always confused about that too -- what Daddy Emperor knew about A Heng's survival.

I said the same thing.  He's a stunner.

 Sssnoopyyy:

Yeah we haven’t had much of XL, much of the focus was on Haoling this week (loved the warrior princess AN who has grown up but I agree that she has a lot of screentime, and will continue to for the rest of the drama if it follows the leaked script, some of which I think could have been done differently… especially the apparent ending scene with her and CX - I preferred the novel version where Haoling Emperor narrated that part)

I've been happily surprised at what we've gotten of XL this week.  I was expecting  a complete drought.  I was also kind of surprised that we got so much focus on characters other than XY.  It was a nice change. The next two episodes, however, look like they are about Jing.  ugh.

Eps 15-16 is now almost on par with Ep16 (S02E24) scene 19 of the leaked script, with unexpected improvements to key scenes.

Xiang Liu meeting the Shaman King in Chi Chen's home, and asking how to remove the Lover's bug - note that here, he calls it 情人蛊 Lovers poisonous bug, not 情蛊 love poisonous bug (as described by the Lirong old donkey meat seller), not 同命蛊 shared fate poisonous bugs (as mentioned by the Royal Mother in the leaked script after he destroyed the bugs). So finally we get to hear the correct name of the bug, and everything it implies. 

I am surprised that Hong Jiang would have had Chi Chen's bone token especially since there was millennia-long conflict between them in Once Promised. Can anyone please remind me whether it was ever mentioned in the drama what Hong Jiang and Chi Chen's relationship was like, prior to this? Xiang Liu said that they were not close friends but fought together before. That does not explain why Chi Chen would then give Hong Jiang a token that would compel the Bai Li tribe to fulfil a request. 

His realisation that Chi Chen and A Heng actually built a home together at one point, planned a life together, before finally being forced to go to war against each other was poignant, as we see how he too longed to have been able to build a home and a life with Xiao Yao as well. Likewise the deep respect that Xiang Liu paid Chi Chen and A Heng, much to the surprise of the Shaman King,

Truly pleased how the pearl scene turned out. There is no overwrought grief or anger, merely quiet peace in the midst of sadness in the realisation of what must have transpired. The tear pearl was let go, rather than flung away. There is no indication of turbulent emotions, just calm acceptance despite the underlying grief, a reflection of the Xiang Liu who internalised everything he bore and suffered in silence.

I wish I felt the same about Xiao Yao and A Heng's reunion. Despite the heightened emotions, it paled in comparison to the time when she mistook Royal Consort Jing An for her mother. It would have been far more effective if we were given a flashback as to the events surrounding A Heng's death and what Chi Chen did to secure a part of her consciousness and seal it in their home. Instead, all we had was a narration that somehow felt lacklustre and flat, which is a shame.

Still, the additions to the scenes, give me hope that we might see even better changes in the episodes to come. I know that the full soundtrack (including Peach Blossom Blood and 50 instrumental tracks) was released a while back, though I don't see any new instrumental pieces that had not been released before. I do hope that the new pieces used in S2 will be released, particularly the one that played during the pearl scene.