Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 nathsketch:

Ok, so I created an account for the sole purpose of ugly crying and ranting here with you beloved people who will continue on this path to very end. And also to increase the replies, because what's up with only 250 comments?

I just found my first comment ever hahahaha embarrassing.

 nathsketch:

who will continue on this path to very end.

Girl, stop being cringe. You haven't even finished season 1 and it's been 4 months. :D

 HeadInTheClouds:

For me,  wasn't her relationship with Xiang Liu that caused XY to seek refuge in her co-dependent, unhealthy relationship with Jing. Her trauma was the cause of that. Her relationship with Xiang Liu would have potentially facilitated growth and addressed her trauma. Unfortunately, XY didn't get there until the end of the novel with XL's death as a catalyst. I wrote a long-a** analysis on this :-).

I read your analysis on how LYF could be interpreted as a story of a woman who had childhood trauma. Thanks for sharing. I wanted to write my thoughts but could not find a time. I think you explained XY's journey very well. For the most part, I felt the same. There were a few things where I felt slightly different when I read the novel. One was how XL's death was a catalyst for XY's final release from her trauma bonds. I did not get the same impression when I finished reading the novel. That was one of my confusions with TH's proposition of the novel as a story of empowerment. It was true that XY finally left CX and left for the ocean. But XY's bond and faith in CX was already shattered at that point. So, I did not find it as something that significant when XY left CX in the end. And also the action of leaving for the sea, I felt this more like something done out of desperation for any memories of XL rather than breaking free of her bonds.  In other words, to me, XY leaving Dahung and CX felt like she no longer wanted to live in a place devoid of XL, and desperately left for the sea which carried his memories and essence .  Therefore, I struggled with this interpretation of XY breaking free from trauma after XL's death.  However, when I did some re-thinking, I felt that XY coming into terms and accepting her real and full emotions for XL after his death could indeed be the catalyst for XY to break free of her trauma.  I felt that a significant reason behind this could be the fact that it is her very relationship with XL  that served as the biggest trigger for invoking her childhood trauma.  

I agree with you that the primary reason she sought refuge in Jing's relationship was her trauma. But I felt that her relationship with XL was a main cause for triggering her trauma. When she started as WXL, she still had trauma, but was much stronger and independent. And I have read good posts describing how XY lost her independence and became weak after restoring her identity as Haoling princess.  However, when I was reading the novel, I always felt that while her restored identity definitely played a role in the devolution of her character, her jumbled feelings and the relationship with XL was a big driver for triggering her fears, vulnerabilities and then ultimately resorting to seek whatever happiness and contentment she can find in her relationship with Jing.  H19279  made an interesting point on how XY was shaken up by XL at her very first meeting with XL, and that exposed her vulnerabilities and made her open up to YSQ afterwards. I think this is a pattern that is repeated through out the novel.  I read your recent post on how XY's feelings for XL was uncontrollable, and how she was too scared to love him but unable to stop loving him as well. This is my interpretation as well. I think that all these jumbled feelings she had for XL, also made her scared/vulnerable and triggered her trauma.  To overcome her dilemma with XL, throughout the story XY engaged in various escape mechanisms you mentioned such as denying/suppressing her feelings, deluding herself, engaging in self-ignorance and seeking companionship with Jing. Therefore, it made sense to me to consider how XL's death could finally be a catalyst for her to come to terms with her feelings, acknowledge that XL truly loved her, realize that her trauma caused her to lose her chance, and come to peace with her circumstances.

 Elise:

Yep. Horrible man. Putting everything on a kid so he could fly off into the sunset with Xiao Yao.

 blabla100:

so he put the responsibility of the Tushan clan and all its businesses on a little kid?

A little kid that thought of Jing as being his dad / father figure, if I am not mistaken. I have always been bothered by that, Jing took him under his wing up until he got back togheter with XY, after that he basically throw him under the bus. And XY, as an abandoned child herself didn't even raise this issue to him.

Judging the heck out of both of them.

Bringing this over from Xiang Liu's thread. Don't know if it has been discussed. This is probably Xiang Liu's most colourful outfit. The red with the green (Xiao Yao's favourite colour).

The red signified blood. The period that he wore this outfit was when he was falling in love with WYL/XY. He was emotionally open and vulnerable. This was also the outfit that he wore outside of the Bone Prison when Xiao Yao said that he was not suitable to step into a girl's dreams. He was at his most vulnerable and open to her in that moment and she stabbed him in the heart. He must have been so devastated :-(. I don't think he ever wore that outfit again. It's like a signal that he's stepped away from their relationship following that exchange.

There will be surprises, but only in the wrong direction that we need =((

I heard that Tan Jian Ci replied to a comment from one girl saying that Xiang Liu would teach Xiao Yao to bite, to which he replied that anything is possible =) and now she is a monster =)

@blabla100 @Kokuto  @nathsketch @Xiang lu forever @HeadInTheClouds @windiaaa041293 @H19279 @MySiFeng @LilMoussySnow @Elise     

At last everyone in the thread understands what I have been trying to wrap my head around all these months after I first read the leaked script. 

I went into the drama, accepting that Xiang Liu would die, even if it hurts so much. However, negating two out of three things he prepared for her, having the wedding after news of his death, making the laughing doll just another gift that had no particular significance for her was truly difficult to accept. Taking away scenes that show us their intimate interactions, her feelings for him was another travesty that was difficult to swallow. Her departure to Qingshui town instead of the ocean was also frustrating to read, but I am clinging on to some sliver of hope (with very little expectations) that we will see the proximity to where Xiang Liu died, as part of the reason she chose to go back. Other than that one scene where she mourned his death (but still we do not get the outburst from the novel that showed that she did love him and hurt desperately that she had lost him), she appeared to move on very quickly from his death to planning a happy future with her lover, which was the reason for my outburst at one point that "Drama Xiao Yao does not deserve Xiang Liu at all!"

And yes, @Kokuto, I too am with you in still hoping against hope that this is not the finalised version, and we will by some miracle, see changes that honour the essence of the novel.

@windiaaa041293 @H19279 @Elise  

To be fair, Tushan Zhen taking over as clan leader is in keeping with the novel, so there is no difference here. As I mentioned before, Jing was the only father figure Zhen ever had, so for him to hightail out of the clan and have his happily ever after with Xiao Yao, leaving this boy to deal with the devastating realisation of his parentage and what they did, while relying on the clan elders to guide him to become a good leader when he grows up, just reeks of callous irresponsibility. One could argue that both of them had gone through so much and came so close to death, so they wanted to grasp their chance at happiness. Even so, I really dislike that Jing's decision is just written almost like an afterthought, with no real concern for the boy who is forced to shoulder such heavy responsibility due to the actions of the adults who should be protecting him as long as they could.

@MySiFeng 

There are subtle differences between the lyrics for Xiang Liu's death, and her starting a new life with Jing, which appear aimed at hammering the official pairing message. Duh. 

For Xiang Liu's, the lines "If you are the cloud in the sky, I am like the moon in the clouds; Loving and cherishing each other, Loving and cherishing each other. " are omitted. 

For Jing's, the lines "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." are omitted. It instead goes on to include these lines "Why are there joys and sorrows in the world; Why are there gatherings and partings in the world; I only wish for us, to stay together forever, never to part... "

 LilMoussySnow:

Is there episode 21?

The episode numbers in the translation are based on what the original Weibo poster determined are what S2 episodes should be.  

Originally, S2 was supposed to start with the 37 years under the ocean e.g. S1 had 30 episodes only. Since S1 added 9 more episodes in the end and ended in the middle of S2E09, the scenes in each episode for S2 are no longer as clear cut. My episode numbers are merely based on what the leaked script has identified as scenes in one whole episode. Seeing we have 21 episodes in S2, I imagine the scenes will be rearranged accordingly. Dare I hope that we will also get extra scenes that address glaring issues in the leaked script too? I really hope so.

 MayaDavid:

I once saw a post in twitter about how XY made a poisonous replica of phoenix flower in Chapter 16. The poster had mentioned that this signifies how XY's longing has transferred from CX to XL. I know that we once talked about in this thread if XY had any romantic interest in CX in the very beginning.

The reason that I didn't analyse much about phoenix flower because that flower represented for the bond between CX and XY - shared memory between them instead of representing for only CX. At the end, CX chose white wild rose to offer to XY. Now, back to the topic.

First of all, the feeling that XY had with CX was always familly bond: brotherhood. They were both miseable childrens, lost their parents after they splited and they promised to their gradmother at her dead bed that they would take care, protect each other. 

For XY, CX was the only relatives or her next kin who might be still alive  since she left Jade Mountain. She heard that Chi You was her father and White emperor didn't care for her anymore. Her mother and grandmother died. Her mom left her behind. Thinking of her would hurt XY because in her view, her mom abandoned her. Recalling sweet memory in critical moments was the way to help herself overcome the pain (for example, she recalled her memory with CX while tortured in chapter 5), the hardship during her advanture. The only sweet, fond memory that she had was those with CX. Therefore, it was reasonable that all those 300 years she missed CX and she was willing to save him with her life. Such feeling, attachment was from family bonding who considered being comforted and the strength of each other. The feeling and his role in her heart had been unchanged since her childhood until she knew he betrayed her trust

The two of them (CX and XY) said nothing, just tightly holding each other. They were each other’s comfort, each other’s strength. (Chapter 9)

Xiao Yao ate a flower “When Grandmother died, we vowed before my mom, your mom, Auntie Ju Li, we promised them that we would always take care of each other, together and never apart. I did it, but you didn’t! Gege, you didn’t do it!”    .........

Zhuan Xu cried “Xiao Yao, tell me! If we could do it all over again and I held you close after we reunited on Five Gods Mountain, with no chance for Jing to get close to you, would you have picked me?”

Xiao Yao was about to pass out but Zhuan Xu’s words took her back to the very beginning and it was as clear as yesterday “When I was locked up in the cage by the nine-tailed fox, all I could think of was you…..all I missed was you….when you didn’t recognize me, I still used my life to save you…….back then…….there was no Jing yet………..” Xiao Yao’s voice trailed off. 

Zhuan Xu cried out “Xiao Yao! Xiao Yao!………..” but he could feel only silence as her breathing ceased.

On Cao Yun Peak, they played during the day and slept in each other’s arms at night. They buried and said farewell to their loved ones, they endured the pain together……….Xiao Yao said her heart had turned cold into stone, but he remained the most precious treasure that Xiao Yao kept deep in her heart, in the softest most secure place. When Jing said he would give first and trust first to try and win Xiao Yao’s heart, Xiao Yao had already done the same for Zhuan Xu. She didn’t like politics and care about the greater good, but she accompanied him back to Xuan Yuan Mountain and always protected him….. (Chapter 47)

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The fact that she made the poison in the shape of phoenix petals for XL was just to express the experience and emotion that she wanted to share with XL. Phoenix flower tied to her childhood with CX. When she returned to Cao Yun Peak, she saw it again. She had fond memory with it, thus she wanted to "tell" him about it. She was curious of his reaction when receiving the poison (her gift). Before concentrating on making poison, XY expected Jing to send her more plum wine which she considered as his care and longing for her. However, after some months without new wine from Jing, she decided to stop thinking of him, she didn't want to wait for anyone. Therefore, I don't think that she made phoenix flower is the way to transfer her longing from CX to XL.

Xiao Yao suddenly thought of Jade Mountain, she waited for her mother there for seventy years and never got anything. In her lifetime, she never wanted to wait for another person again.

Xiao Yao opened the last bottle and instead of drinking it slowly, she downed it all at once. She put the nine bottles away and never took it out to play with again.

Xiao Yao started spending more time developing her poisons. Late into the night, she would lay on the pallet playing with her poisons and thinking of how to make it even better in terms of prettier and not necessarily more poisonous.

She had memorized the Sheng Nong Herb Manuel left by the Flame Emperor, who the entire world regarded as the progenitor of medicine. She also flipped through all the Gao Xing and Xuan Yuan medical books. She didn’t doubt her poisons ability to be deadly, she just wanted to make it look pretty. Seeing the phoenix flower, she pondered for a few days, and spent a few days and nights to make a lifelike little phoenix flower, with bright colors and charming fragrances. Seeing the sunset, she made a poisonous incense fragments of bright gold, as if stepping on the rippling sunset from the sky.

Every poison was a thought, a mood of hers. She made them, watched them blooming in her hands, and then carefully packed them and sent them away.

Xiao Yao guessed that when Xiang Liu received these poisons, she didn't know how he would feel, and whether he would scold her for being perverted.

Note: the text in orange color was translated from the original text using google traslate. The translation by Kaola was inaccurate 

看到凤凰花，她琢磨了几日，又花费了几日几夜，做了一朵栩栩如生的小小凤凰花，花色明艳、花香迷人。看到晚霞，她做出了熙彩流金的毒香屑，犹如将潋滟晚霞从天际踩了下来。

每一份毒药，都是她的一个念想，一段心情，她把它们做出来，看它们在她手中盛放，再将它们仔细装好，送出去。 

Moreover, we can compare this part in chapter 16 when she made a pefect relica of phoenix flower with poison for XL and how she drew phoenix flower to make a pouch with phoenix flower embodery for CX. In both case, she paid a lot of attention however for XL she took initiative, a 3D replica with even charming scent. For CX, she struggled to draw it nice and show less patience.

Xiao Yao returned to Xiao Yue Summit and remembered agreeing to make Zhuan Xu an embroidered pouch so started to draw phoenix flowers on a silk handkerchief.

When Zhuan Xu arrived he saw Xiao Yao’s room covered in various phoenix flowers and he couldn’t help but smile.

Xiao Yao said “I really have no drawing ability. Help me draw a few flowers.”

Zhuan Xu was too happy but teasingly groused “I don’t want to. When you made the pouch for Jing did you ask him to draw the flowers? Since you’re making it for me, then you need to do it from beginning to end.”

Xiao Yao was frustrated and amused “You’re so picky! Fine, I’ll draw it!”

Zhuan Xu stood behind Xiao Yao and watched for a bit before sighing “You! You’re so stupid!” He grabbed Xiao Yao’s hand and taught her how to draw “Why can’t you be softer here, relax your wrist and be lighter with the touch. You’re drawing a phoenix flower, not a phoenix tree…..”

Zhuan Xu taught Xiao Yao and lectured her and initially Xiao Yao listened with a joking smile but later she got annoyed and decided to smear the ink on Zhuan Xu’s face.

Zhuan Xu laughed and ducked while attacking Xiao Yao back “Look at you being so useless, since you were a kid and couldn’t do something you wouldn’t let anyone talk about it!” (Chapter 34)

 MayaDavid:

I also thought that it is an interesting song choice when XY's song about long love sickness was played in the early CX scenes.  I am curious to know your thoughts on this. 

That song was played in many scenes in the drama which related to her thought of someone or missing someone, not only in CX's scenes but also in XL and Jing scene. It is similar to the song "favor mortal firework" which was played whenever she was happy. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

The red signified blood. The period that he wore this outfit was when he was falling in love with WYL/XY. He was emotionally open and vulnerable. This was also the outfit that he wore outside of the Bone Prison when Xiao Yao said that he was not suitable to step into a girl's dreams. He was at his most vulnerable and open to her in that moment and she stabbed him in the heart.

He wore this outfit 3 times, marking 3 important events in his feeling development with XY

1. When he came to see her in her bedroom in QS town. after being injured. It marks his trust on her that she would not kill him and then she drew black char coal on his face. That is the first time that someone treated him as "friend", unafraid of him, daring to play trick on him. 

Xiang Liu watched to this part and then started laughing. From the moment he was born he didn’t have parents, and had to start surviving from that moment forward. He had no childhood or playmates or fun, and after he was an adult his reputation was so bad that no one dared to joke around with him. Xiao Yao was the first time person who dared to play tricks on him, but do so without any real ill will or harmful intention. 

2. When they made the agreement on moving the bug from CX to him and then they went to Gaoxin for the bug moving. He made his hidden lifetime love commitment to her. After that they had 10 hours wandering around the seabed together.

Then he waved his hand and called forth the next memory – to remove the bug from Zhuan Xu, he struck a deal with Xiao Yao and took her to Five Gods Mountain where he successfully planted the bug in himself. Afterwards the guards chased them so he took Xiao Yao deep into the ocean where they explored for a long time.

Xiang Liu stared at the mirror recording of the colorful seashells, various fishes, the underwater fields……Xiang Liu in all white walking while Xiao Yao was right next to him curiously taking all the sights in. .....

Xiang Liu still clearly remembered the moment he discovered these saved memories in the gorilla mirror. He was shocked and amazed, that Xiao Yao secretly recorded him, and that he wasn’t even aware of it. That proved he was completely relaxed at that time, and Xiao Yao could have had the chance to kill him

3. He came to the 5 god mountain beach to see her the first time in the form of girl and got rejection by her.