Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Milky Way:

I've only read two thus far. 

相思日月长 is the one where she resurrects Xiang Liu using a fragment of his soul which Gong Gong managed to preserve.

不负相思意 is the one where she manages to go back in time due to the mirror after his death, and makes different choices, knowing now what she didn't before.

Are there english versions of these? I have been looking so hard for some good lost you forever fanfictions where xiaoyao chooses xiang liu.

OoO...going to bookmark these for future reads. Ps. If you use chorme, you can right click and use google translate. its not perfect but it does a decent enough job.

 liddi:

Should I be relieved then that there is only that many versions of the physical novel that I can buy? The only one left is the 2019 revised edition, which by all intents and purposes, should be the same as my 2023 copy. Should I? Should I?......

I'm imagining an angel on one shoulder telling you that you have more than enough copies, and a devil on the other shoulder whispering that you could have the most complete collection of copies possible with just one more purchase. ^^

 liddi:

You have meticulously and perfectly documented Jing's initial suspicions up to confirmation that Fangfeng Bei and Xiang Liu are one and the same - thank you! 

Thanks for saying that!

 liddi:

It is interesting though, that Xiang Liu made no secret of his alter ego to Lirong Chang, who had no loyalties to the Shen Nong army. It is possible that they crossed paths during one of those times when Xiang Liu visited the old man and his identity was revealed.

I can imagine two possible scenarios. 

The novel specifies that XL visited Li Jie Chang's uncle's restaurant hundreds of times, and presumably during most or all of those visits he and Uncle Lie Jie would have drunk heavily together. Idk if XL actually gets drunk. The way he showed no signs of being drunk in Chapter 48 after Sir Bi passed out from drinking with him makes me think that it might be very difficult for him to get drunk. So maybe XL wouldn't reveal his identity to Li Jie Chang while drunk, but perhaps the uncle might? Especially if Li Jie Chang found the two of them being chummy and singing army songs together and started asking questions. 

Or, perhaps XL ended up going to Uncle Li Jie with serious injuries at some point, and Li Jie Chang learned of his dual identity then? As far as I can recall, XL only went to XY to heal wounds that he sustained in the Middle Plains once, in chapter 17. But in ~400 years of fighting with the remnant army and carrying out assassin jobs, I imagine XL probably sustained serious injuries while he carried out missions in the Middle Plains on a few occasions. XL's unique body composition meant that most normal medical care wouldn't help him. So seeking medical care from a regular doctor would risk exposing his identity with little chance of being helpful. If one of those injuries led him to seek shelter with Uncle Li Jie after a mission, I think it would be very possible that Li Jie Chang might find out about FFB being XL then. Especially if XL was forced to be immobilized while self-healing for an extended period of time. 

 liddi:

In the leaked script, Lirong Chang would later be tasked to try and persuade Xiang Liu to switch sides, but failed, as did his predecessors before him.

In the novel, the Yellow Emperor chose to send some interesting people to try to convince XL to surrender or switch sides. 

Like CX's 8th uncle, Prince Qing, who was locked up for life. My understanding is that he was locked up supporting his sixth brother Prince Xiu's plot to assassinate the Yellow Emperor when he visited the Middle Plains before they were conquered. 

But he also sent Hou Tu, who was a general of Sheng Nong who defected to Xuan Yuan and saved the Yellow Emperor's life during the assassination attempt. 

Feels like opposite sides of a coin, and when one side didn't work the Yellow Emperor was willing to try the opposite side. And that was all before XY's words in chapter 29 provoked the Yellow Emperor to ask CX to do his best to help flip XL.

-----

Chapter 27:

The last time the Yellow Emperor visited the Middle Plains was over two hundred years ago, and that trip was terribly eventful. The former Sheng Nong Mountain Head of the Palace Guards attempted to assassinate the Yellow Emperor and actually breached layers of protection to arrive right before the Yellow Emperor and almost succeeded in cutting him down. At the nick of time it was Sheng Nong’s former General Hou Tu that saved the Yellow Emperor from the brink of death.

After that the shadow of the sword struck down and blood flowed everywhere with many many people dying in the Middle Plains. Many people also died in the Xuan Yuan Court. The Yellow Emperor’s sixth son Prince Xuan Yuan Xiu died in that aftermath while the eighth son Prince Xuan Yuan Qing was jailed. Just like that the once glorious Wan Lei family fell from grace.

....

Xiao Yao snorted a laugh, “If you can’t determine the truth, will he be locked up forever like my Eighth Uncle, or killed like my Sixth Uncle?”

...

Cang Lin said to Xiao Yao, “Sixth brother and Eighth brother both had ill intentions to kill Dad. His handling of their punishment was fair and just. Does Princess think he did wrong? Is Princess feeling bad for them, or feeling bad for Zhuan Xu?”

-----

Chapter 29:

The Wan Lei family was one of the prominent families of the North and the Yellow Emperor himself married a Wan Lei daughter as his second consort with a position just below Empress Lei Zhu. The Wan Lei Consort gave birth to two princes – Sixth Prince Xiu and Eighth Prince Qing. But now one Prince was dead and the other imprisoned forever and the Wan Lei family’s star had fallen. The Yellow Emperor ignored the Wan Lei family and Cang Lin hated them for supporting Sixth Prince Xiu in the battle for the throne with Cang Lin. All these years Cang Lin and Yu Yang constantly found ways to denigrate them and make their life miserable.

...

The Yellow Emperor said, “You leave, too! Don’t spend the entire day in the court with an old fogey like me. With Zhuan Xu and me here, you should learn from Ah Nian and be more impetuous and do what you want.”

Xiao Yao casually said, “It’s because you and Zhuan Xu are here that I don’t dare be impetuous and do what I want. My bloodline has destined me to be tied down so why even bother? If I said right now that I’m going to find Xiang Liu to play with, will you agree?”

The Yellow Emperor grew silent and seemed very concerned. “I won’t agree. Zhuan Xu and he are destined to battle to the death one day. I don’t want you to be devastated when that day comes. Anything else you want, I will do my best to give it to you.”

“Zhuan Xu is a man and now the Emperor so that is why you are so strict and demanding with him. I’m not the same, you want to pamper and coddle me because you want to alleviate your guilt towards Grandmother, my Mom, my Uncles, all of that you want to now give me. But there is no amount of power in this world that can guarantee my happiness. Plus what you owe them is owed to them and you can never make it up with me, and I don’t want it! You just be my grandfather, and like all the grandfathers in the world, you worry about my future marriage and happiness but can do nothing about it other than worry until in the end you sigh and say “grandchildren have their own fated happiness!”

Xiao Yao fanned herself and smiled at the Yellow Emperor. “You never experienced wanting to do something but not being able to, right? Try that on me then!”

The Yellow Emperor looked very torn.

That night after Zhuan Xu was done with work and leaving the court, the Yellow Emperor’s servant came up and he followed him back to the Yellow Emperor’s residence.

...

The Yellow Emperor said, “I called you here because there is one task I need you to do your best to make happen.”

“Grandfather please tell me.”

“Find a way to get Xiang Liu to agree to come to our side. I know it’s very difficult, in the past hundreds of years I’ve asked Qing, Hou Tu, Cang Lin, and even Little Zhu Rong, all of them tried and were turned down by Xiang Liu. But I wish for you to try nonetheless.”

“Yes.” Zhuan Xu paused and then asked, “Why does Grandfather care so much about Xiang Liu?”

The Yellow Emperor said, “Just an old man’s little bit of regret.”

Zhuan Xu saw that the Yellow Emperor wasn’t going to explain more so he didn’t ask more and only said, “I will do my best but I think it’s hopeless.”

The Yellow Emperor sighed. “People do their best, the Heavens determines the outcome!”

 Milky Way:

Are there english versions of these? I have been looking so hard for some good lost you forever fanfictions where xiaoyao chooses xiang liu.

Yes, as @plor20 mentioned, you can do a right click and have it auto-translated. It won't be perfect - some have reported extremely hilarious translations, but it certainly is worth a try.

Another well-written Chinese fanfic is 相思结 where covers Xiao Yao's 16 year search for him after learning of his death, refusing to allow herself to believe that he was really gone. It has a happy ending, partially attributed to Hong Jiang himself too.  

Excellent English fanfics that I have read:

@AH wrote a breathtaking story Returning the Heart of the Ocean ,Reuniting with You that picks up after the novel that is poignant and yet provides us much needed closure. 

Do drop by the Fan Fiction thread where there is a vignette, and 2 amazing works that are currently being released by instalments.

I wish I could share more, but I usually shy away from fanfics, especially if the characters end up distorted beyond belief. Hope this helps.

 liddi:

liddi 14 minutes ago
Milky Way:
Are there english versions of these? I have been looking so hard for some good lost you forever fanfictions where xiaoyao chooses xiang liu.

Yes, as @plor20 mentioned, you can do a right click and have it auto-translated. It won't be perfect - some have reported extremely hilarious translations, but it certainly is worth a try.

Another well-written Chinese fanfic is 相思结 where covers Xiao Yao's 16 year search for him after learning of his death, refusing to allow herself to believe that he was really gone. It has a happy ending, partially attributed to Hong Jiang himself too.  

Excellent English fanfics that I have read:

@AH wrote a breathtaking story Returning the Heart of the Ocean ,Reuniting with You that picks up after the novel that is poignant and yet provides us much needed closure. 

Do drop by the Fan Fiction thread where there is a vignette, and 2 amazing works that are currently being released by instalments.

I wish I could share more, but I usually shy away from fanfics, especially if the characters end up distorted beyond belief. Hope this helps.

Thank you for saying that liddi <3

Although for my fic I'd add a big caveat for anyone looking for fics where XY chooses XL: she sort of does and she sort of doesn't. The fic is canon-compliant and doesn't change anything from the novel (unlike most XL/XY fics I think). 

 plor20:

Let us know ehn they are on your store, and drop the link. XD

Okay will do ❤️

@blabla100

To correct a little mistake, 大漠谣 is actually the prequel of 云中歌, the heroine of 大漠谣 is the mother of the heroine of 云中歌. When I was reading it I didn't particularly think about who was the soul mate of the heroine, but when you said it, I also felt that Liu Fuling and the heroine were more similar. Liu Fuling is a very typical kind of man who is gentle and kind but not cowardly. He is indifferent to status and fame, and values relationships more. In fact, I think he may be the kind of companion Xiao Yao really wants to find, not TSJ, TSJ only looks like a model husband on the surface. However, I read this book years ago, so my impression of the characters may have been biased, so I can only talk about what I remember. The plot of this book is quite clever, but the drama is perfunctory. I hope that if one day the censorship gets back to normal, someone will seriously remake this story.

@liddi

I've heard of the Korean version of 步步惊心, but I didn't know that Tong Hua went to meet the actors, but actually I didn't watch the Chinese version of the show either, still because I couldn't stand the hairstyle... There has been a lot of discussion on the Chinese Internet recently about the Netflix version of The Three-Body Problem, and most of it is criticism. It is especially difficult for fans of the original work to accept such major changes to the characters. I haven’t watched the show yet, so I can’t comment, but I have read the novel, and it is indeed a masterpiece. Liu Cixin has very professional scientific knowledge and extraordinary imagination, but the worldview he created is indeed depressing, so I only read it once. I still like stories with beauty more, even if they are a little bit unrealistic.

 ZYHLJ:

I've heard of the Korean version of 步步惊心, but I didn't know that Tong Hua went to meet the actors, but actually I didn't watch the Chinese version of the show either, still because I couldn't stand the hairstyle..

I read about it in Tong Hua's preface to the 2020 edition (5th publication) of 步步惊心 BBJX which someone posted on the Tong Hua forum on Weibo dated 28 Apr 2020. 

In it,  she spoke about how when she was requested to write a preface for this edition, she initially refused because she felt that she had said everything there is to say about the story and there was nothing else to speak about. However, in the end, after their incessant requests, she felt she could not refuse. She mused that given her character back when she completed the book in 2005, she would never have given way, but would have stuck to her decisions, and stayed true to herself bravely. However, nowadays, she started to consider the difficulties of others, and try to be more considerate to make things easier for them. 

Since she had nothing to say about the story, she decided to relate about events outside of the novel. 

She was often asked whether BBJX held the most special place in her heart because it was her first novel, and its C-drama adaptation amplified its impact and influence. She disagreed with that notion. During the inception of every story she had ever written, each one had something that she must put on paper, and she poured out her blood and tears over them, so all of them were special to her. She wrote BBJX on an adrenalin rush, completing it without giving herself any opportunity to think too much. However, as the one that started it all, BBJX gave her something her other books did not.  It made her realise that she could write, thus starting her on the journey of becoming an author. 

Thanks to the 2011 drama adaptation, she started getting involved in the creative process of the film and television industry. In 2012, she wept when she suddenly received a call from 吴奇隆 Nicky Wu, hardly able to believe that her favourite member of 小虎队 since she was 12 years old actually called her. Since that time, she had met many celebrities, but those encounters could never recreate how she felt over Nicky Wu's call. 

In 2016, she went to Seoul at the invitation of the Korean publishers, was told how popular her books were over there, and met the director of Scarlet Heart:Ryeo and its leads Lee Joon Gi and IU. 

Then in 2019, Nicky Wu and 刘诗诗 Liu Shishi's baby was born, and was given the nickname 步步 (Bu Bu - a nod to the drama 步步惊心 that brought them together) which made her so happy because the people she like were leading a very blessed life.

Do give the drama a try. You might find that the hairstyle no longer bothers you because the story is immersive and the casting and performances top-notch. If not, try the novel instead.