Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

[Flashback:
Wen Xiao Liu: I am afraid of loneliness. Even if I cannot find someone to depend on for life, short term companionship is also good. ]

XL (voiceover): The Fangfeng Bei who accompanied you for a short time is dead. I will give you back someone you can depend on for life.

It seemed as if Xiang Liu could hear the sound of singing.

XY (singing voiceover):
If you are the bird in the sky, I am like the fish in the water; Forgetting and remembering each other, Forgetting and remembering each other...

And if they really remove the part where XL used XY blood to revive Jing and using this scene instead to imply/show that XL give Jing to XY as her companion then ?????I have nothing more to say. 

I‘ll start making ordering the parts and making  my vodoo puppets now??.

 H19279:

Actually, I read this book in Vietnamese and that sentence (which I underlined in red) was translated as " the blood was spreading like peach blossom". Plum and Peach are different plants (although the shapes are similar, plum blossom is usually white and peach blossom is pink).  @liddi: do you have the text in Chinese. Can you check if the same word 桃 is used. 

Great observation about the theme of peach blossoms used across the novel - from her birthmark, to the peach blossom forest which Chi Chen transformed into, keeping A Heng company for 400 years, to the blood staining Xiang Liu's robes when she shot him, and even Chi Chen's love song to A Heng, describing his spilled blood like peach blossoms.

The text for Vol 2 Ch13  (Chapter 46) refers to 桃花 peach blossoms, not 梅花 plum blossoms.

This is my translation:

小夭气得一咬牙，嗖一声，银白色的箭飞出。

相柳亲手教出的箭术、金天氏最好的铸造大师铸造的弓箭，两人的距离又不算远，几乎眨眼的瞬间，箭就射入了相柳的胸膛。相柳只是身形微微一顿，依旧向着小夭走来，笑着说：“别忘记我被叫作九命相柳！想杀我，一定要多射几箭！射得准一点！朝着这里！”相柳指指自己的心口，袍袖飞扬，姿态潇洒。

“你以为我不敢吗？”小夭一边说话，一边又搭箭引弓。

可是——如雪的白衣上，殷红的血如怒放的桃花一般氤氲开，让小夭忍不住闭了下眼睛，射出的箭，偏了偏，擦着胳膊飞过。相柳停住了步子，唇角扬起，笑看着小夭，看似讥嘲，却藏了几分愉悦。

Xiao Yao gritted her teeth in fury, and a silver arrow flew out with a whoosh.

Xiang Liu's personally taught archery skills, with bow and arrows forged by the best forging master of the Jin Tian clan coupled with the fact that the distance between them was not far, so in a blink of an eye, the arrow embedded itself in Xiang Liu's chest. Xiang Liu's body shook slightly but he continued walking towards her, smiling, "Don't forget I am called Nine-Lives Xiang Liu! If you wish to kill me, you must shoot a few more arrows! Be more precise! Aim here!" Xiang Liu pointed at his heart, his sleeves billowing in the wind, dashing and unrestrained.

"Do you think I won't dare to?" Xiao Yao said as she nocked another arrow and drew the bow.

However... dark red blood like peach blossoms in full bloom was spreading across his white robes. Unable to bear it, Xiao Yao closed her eyes, and the aim of the arrow that flew forth was off, grazing his arm as it flew by. Xiang Liu stopped in his tracks and gave her an insouciant smile as if in mockery, hiding a sliver of joy.

The description of Xiang Liu's blood also parallels the song Chi Chen sang for A Heng, a theme which is carried over in S2 leaked script, where Xiang Liu sings that same song for Xiao Yao.

 liddi:

After Xiao Yao was taken away from her wedding, Tushan Jing asked Lirong Chang about how Feng Long was doing, then requested him to spend time with Feng Long to cheer him up. When Lirong Chang asked if he was crazy, expecting him to go and become Feng Long's punching bag, Tushan Jing offered to share his business tips as repayment, and when he still did not move despite accepting the terms, Jing threatened to increase the rental of the gambling den, which proved effective.

Wow this makes TSJ seem... like an awful friend? TSJ wants to send Lirong Chang to cheer Feng Long up, knowing that Feng Long is upset and will take it out on Lirong Chang. Lirong Chang protests for that very reason. So TSJ bribes Lirong Chang and then threatens him by mixing business with their friendship? I would not want to be friends with someone who treated me that way.

 liddi:

TSJ: Many years ago, because I wanted wholeheartedly to be with Xiao Liu, I took advantage of her kindness, and never gave her a chance to choose between me and Xiang Liu. However, in the end, I could not give her happiness. Now... I give the chance to choose back to her. This is what I owe her.

This again seems like the writers trying to give TSJ credit where credit is not due.

In the dragon bone prison, he asked XY to make a promise to (more or less) choose TSJ and not allow herself to be swayed by others (XL) for fifteen years. That much is true. 

But after not being able to give XY happiness, now he is giving her the chance to choose? She chose to marry Feng Long and he didn't allow her to go through with that choice.

If he's giving her a choice now, what are the options that she's supposed to choose between? TSJ is still married. He has no proof of what FFYY and TSH did (even if he had old man Lirong use voodoo to show all of the Tushan clan leaders the night where FFYY roofied him, that wouldn't prove to the elders that TSZ was not his and was actually TSH's son), so he had no means of extracting himself from that marriage. He's even more unavailable than he was in the dragon bone prison. And from all the interactions between FFB and XY that he watched, he should know that XL/FFB has been pushing XY away since she came back from the 37 years of healing. XY doesn't get to make a choice at this point, because she doesn't have any viable options. That's why she chose to marry Feng Long in the first place. So TSJ saying that he's "giving" her a choice here seems a bit rich.

 H19279:

But I think in different way. He didn't make XY hurt. That is the hurt he suffered himself (first). Normally he could suppress or contain the hurt so that she could not feel any of his pain. But sometimes, his hurt was so much that he could not suppress. He just acted to her to disguise his pain venting 

I didn't read it as XL losing control. Inflicting that pain on XY seemed very intentional.

-----

Chapter 32:

Xiao Yao turned to leave and Xiang Liu said, “A word of reminder, the voodoo bug still connects us so if you tell the world I’m Fang Feng Bei, don’t blame me if I hurt your heart and you die from the pain.”

Xiao Yao stopped and looked back at Xiang Liu.

“Don’t believe me?”

Xiao Yao’s heart was suddenly cut with so much pain like a sword pierced it, the pain so excruciating she fell on the ground in a slump.

Xiang Liu appeared to hold her life in his hands and he coldly said, “If you don’t want to die, then don’t say a word!”

Xiao Yao was in such pain her face was ashen and cold sweat dotted her face. She sat up and smiled. “Is this the reason you never had time to go to Jiu Li to break the voodoo bug? You want to control my life and death so that one day you can hold me hostage to your will? General Xiang Liu, you really are something!”

Xiang Liu smiled and turned to leave. With a whistle his white condor descended and he vaulted on its back and disappeared in the clouds.

The pain in Xiao Yao’s heart vanished but it was so painful that her body was still weak and needed some time to recover her strength. After some time, she slowly got up and walked towards town.

 AH :

If he's giving her a choice now, what are the options that she's supposed to choose between? TSJ is still married. He has no proof of what FFYY and TSH did (even if he had old man Lirong use voodoo to show all of the Tushan clan leaders the night where FFYY roofied him, that wouldn't prove to the elders that TSZ was not his and was actually TSH's son), so he had no means of extracting himself from that marriage. He's even more unavailable than he was in the dragon bone prison. And from all the interactions between FFB and XY that he watched, he should know that XL/FFB has been pushing XY away since she came back from the 37 years of healing. XY doesn't get to make a choice at this point, because she doesn't have any viable options. That's why she chose to marry Feng Long in the first place. So TSJ saying that he's "giving" her a choice here seems a bit rich.

Oh it gets better after this because when she thrashes things out with him in Qingqiu after leaving Qingshui Town, I don't seem to recall him ever telling her that his part in her wedding fiasco was to give her a chance to choose Xiang Liu. And just as she was about to leave, he tells her that Zhen is not his son, which opens the doors to reconciliation. So yeah. The silver lining I get from this scene is that he finally admits (to the audience, mind you) exacting that 15 year promise from her was a thoroughly selfish act, especially when you consider the fact that he was not a free man at the time.

To be honest, all the attempted apologetics for Jing makes it worse, at least for me, because the narrative does not make sense. Not to mention taking Xiang Liu's efforts and crediting it to Jing.  @MengXiang makes a very good point too about how Xiang Liu being made to push Xiao Yao away so brutally is a poorly thought out plot point, since he runs the risk of endangering her life if she stops loving him as a result. The book handled this far better, by having him gradually distance himself from her while opening doors for Jing and her. So there was never a total breakdown in their relationship until that devastating moment in Ch43 Ch46 when he utterly crushes her heart. And even that failed to stop her from loving him since the lovers bug still did not retaliate right up to the moment when he forcibly killed them.

@H19279

I see, thanks a lot for the info. I wish I could read it myself too, too bad it's not fully translated. 

On a side note, the more I pay attention to Jing's actions, the more I dislike him, and I actually liked him while reading the novel, not anymore.

 H19279:

Thank @liddi for confirming. 

I read the translation of the poem too. The first 2 sentences are the same. The last sentence implies the family/household will be in harmony/going well. 

You're welcome! My Chinese literacy is not good enough to properly understand the classics, but that is what I understand from translated commentaries too.

 H19279:

Many TH's books were translated into Vietnamese. I read LYF and Once Promised. It is said that TH likes to write books with 1 female loved by many men. Actually it is not my cup of tea. So I decide not to read any other books. I read LYF after watching the drama. Actually I stated in the middle of the novel where CX became king. I was shocked at the ending (the last chapter). Then I re-read the book from the beginning. 

It is awesome that Tong Hua's books are so accessible for you! Have you tried Scarlet Heart? That is the first novel I read of hers, and the first drama adaptation which made me fall in love with her books. How do you find the Vietnamese translations? Is it very close to the original text? What do the books look like? I get tempted every now and again when they come out with gorgeous new editions even though I already own the books.