Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 AH :

Considering that XY and Jing end up in a similar setup as to how they met at the beginning of the story is itself tragic, albeit subtly
I feel like I'm missing something here. Can you elaborate? 

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. One of the things that is important to me when analyzing character development is how authors deal with character relationship dynamics. 

At the beginning, you meet XY and Jing as savior/patient—XY nursing him back to life. Then their relationship slowly shifts to a savior/servant dynamic. XY and Jing share a home with mismatched people, to which XY and Jing considered lost to their families.

In the end, XY and Jing return to a similar dynamic. Jing is extremely ill and weak; XY has to care for and nurse him. They disappear into the wilderness with their mismatched family, becoming lost to their families once again.

Their environmental circumstances come full circle. The difference is that, by the closure of the circle, it was their choice to leave their families. Yet, the issue at hand is that both XY and Jing don't experience significant character development. They don't resolve their deep internal issues. They begin and continue to maintain their relationship based on fear—one of losing the other while the other is afraid of abandonment. Their relationship doesn't move past codependency.

TH ends the story almost similarly to how it began with their relationship dynamics. I guess to some, they may interpret this as if XY and Jing  are “destined” to be together. But for me, it really just goes to prove TH’s deliberate portrayal of their lack of growth.

"Just theory"

First, let’s take a look at Xiaoyao’s destiny poster. Xiaoyao is wearing a red dress and sitting on the rocks next to the Dragon Bone Prison. She looked steadily at the sea in the distance, as if waiting for someone.

When many friends saw this poster, they thought it was a scene depicting Xiaoyao's marriage to the moon. Maybe Xiaoyao's clothes are misleading. No matter from the fabric, pattern or color, this is obviously a wedding dress. Anyone who has read the novel "Lost You Forever" knows that Xiaoyao only wore wedding clothes three times, once when she married Fenglong, once when she married to the moon, and the last time when she married Tushanjing.

It can be seen from this that this poster is by no means depicting a marriage to the moon. In addition, there are two more convincing clues. Xiaoyao married to the moon in Shennong Mountain, and this is the seaside next to the Dragon Bone Prison under the Five Gods Mountain. Moreover, Xiaoyao's waiting time was during the day, so the moon would have to be available at night to get married to the moon.

Judging by the location and time, we can deduce that this poster depicts Xiaoyao's seven-day wait before getting married.

Some friends have questioned again. In the original work, Xiaoyao was clearly wearing white clothes while waiting at the beach. True, but the drama version has been adapted here. The clothes were changed to red, and her feet were not barefoot, but she wore a pair of red embroidered shoes. She is dressed like a woman about to be married.

On the eve of marrying Fenglong, King Haoling gave Xiaoyao seven days to consider whether to marry Fenglong. Before that, Xiaoyao had sent the last poison ice crystal ball by express mail. Xiaoyao used these seven days to wait at the beach, waiting for an answer.

There is also controversy here about who is xiaoyao waiting for. A small number of people believe that Xiaoyao is waiting for Tu Shanjing. Let’s take a sneak peek at some of the plot of Season 2.

The sky is covered with sunset, and the sea water is lapping against the rocks.

Xiaotian fixedly stared at the waves in the distance.

△ Xiaotian stood up suddenly and looked eagerly at the sea, but there was nothing but sea water.

△ Xiaotian’s eyes gradually became lost and uncomfortable, and he sat down blankly. 

Why does Xiaoyao want to watch the waves? The last time the waves appeared was when Xiaoyao was caught by her brother in Wushen Mountain. The original book describes it like this:

" Another wave rolled in from a distance. The blue wave rose higher and higher, and it was fierce. At the top of the green and white waves, a white shadow seemed to be driving the waves, flying. Come. The white shadow stands on the waves. It is a man with white clothes and white hair, wearing a mask. Standing in the waves, he is like standing among the blossoming white lotus, spotless and graceful. "

Therefore, when Xiaoyao saw the waves, she thought it was Xiang Liu who appeared. She thought Xiang Liu would travel thousands of miles to take her away like last time.

This wedding dress is embroidered with lotus patterns with gold thread, and if you look closely, it seems that there are also feather patterns. The lotus flower represents Xiang Liu. When xiaoyao getting married to the moon, Xiao Yao decorated herself with accessories representing the nine-tailed fox, which is enough to show that she is wearing a wedding dress for Xiang Liu this time.

On the official Weibo, you can find the content of Xiaoyao's poster: " The wait is very long, but if you can wait for the answer, then even if it is long, it is not terrible. "

Seeing this sentence, it seems familiar. For thirty-seven years at the bottom of the sea, Xiang Liu fed Xiaoyao his blood once a month. Xiaoyao's feelings are described in the original work like this: " Every once in a while, warmth will flow in. Although the wait is very long, because the warmth of waiting will eventually come, even if it is long, it is not terrible. "

A Nian asked Xiaoyao what she was waiting for. Xiaoyao said, I don’t know, maybe I’m just waiting for my fate.

A Nian asked what fate is? Xiaoyao did not answer directly, but actually revealed the answer.

Destiny means not knowing when to be born and when to die, not knowing whether lovers will eventually get married, not knowing whether loving couples will grow old together, and not knowing what will happen tomorrow.

When you don’t know anything, you can only wait. What happened in these seven days was fate. Nothing happened, it was fate.

At the end of seven days, Xiaoyao has understood his fate. After all, she and Xiang Liu were lovers and could not get married. She accepted the reality and prepared to marry Feng Long.

 HeadInTheClouds:

If it makes your blood boil then I've done my job. Nothing gets me more fired up than the thought of a child being left unprotected/abandoned when they have parental figures who can look after them. Unfortunately for TSZ, his father figure while able is UNWILLING to do so. Both Jing and XY know better, they just choose to not act better because it's not convenient for them. Which makes it doubly worse. 

There is something that changes when you become a parent (whether the child is biological or adopted) or an aunt or uncle. The child's well-being becomes an important aspect of your life. Like the moment I found out I was pregnant, it's like instinct that I should learn to be a mother, and then this gradual 'nesting' phase takes over where you mentally, financially, and emotionally get ready for the child. Even for my nieces and nephews, you automatically become protective of them and get mad at their parents for poor decisions that impact the child's life. Even my relative, who is a terrible parent, cannot abandon her child. 

So for me it was incredibly hard and unromantic that XY and Jing set off to explore islands while this child is left with retainers. It only goes to show poor character and values and in the end, I've concluded that they deserve each other and XL dodged a bullet by resting in peace. LMAO.

 windiaaa041293:

At the end of seven days, Xiaoyao has understood his fate. After all, she and Xiang Liu were lovers and could not get married. She accepted the reality and prepared to marry Feng Long.

This scene is definitely XY waiting for XL. They changed her clothing, I'd rather she waited in white, but maybe censorship as white is a color for death? I don't care what other people say...XY waited by the sea for XL to "save" her, to prove to her that she was more important than his responsibilities. BUT you know what?! she could've jumped in the sea and swam towards him...this will give him a more solid reason that she will fight for him. He was willing to fight for her (that's why he showed up not once but TWICE only to have her turn him down consistently). So it was her bad, her pride, her fears (whatever you want to call it) that will be her missed opportunities. 

She once told CX that she wasn't willing to make the moves towards Jing, but a part of me feels, that her grief in that moment was more deeply layered. She wasn't just talking about Jing, she was also talking about XL.

 windiaaa041293:

Jing : The exquisite dice is decorated with red beans, and I miss you deeply. ——Tang Dynasty Wen Tingyun's "Xintiansheng Yangliu Branch Ci"

Cx: Sitting alone and leaning on the moon tower, the wine fills my heart with sadness, turning into tears of excitement and longing."Su Muzhe Nostalgia" by Fan Zhongyan of the Song Dynasty.

Thank you, windiaaa! 

@plor20

"The most obvious example of this is her archery. She spent decades training to protect herself and CX, but the moment CX is no longer in danger, she becomes lazy and neglects it."

Did she neglect archery after CX was no longer in danger?  I honestly can't remember how the archery went on after FFBei finished teaching her, I thought that since she graduated, the purpose was already achieved. Even if she did start to neglect archery afterwards, I'd be more inclined to think that that's because of her being depressed over FFBei not being there to teach her anymore, rather than CX not being in danger anymore. I honestly don't remember how this went on. 

 plor20:

Tong Hua said she become so lazy and justified that she no longer needed to because CX was emperor. I'm to lazy to  find the exact quotes. What did help her get out of her slump was her grandfather showing her medical books, which, she then in return, she put all her efforts in making poison.

That is her excuse to tell CX to explain her situation. In fact her laziness and being dazed the whole day resulted from depression of losing FFB. He told her that she didn’t need learning anymore ( chapter 25). Chapter 26, he brought her to the sea but when she said she wished to roam the island he said nothing. and Chapter 29 ( CX became king in chapter 28) she started recalling QS town where XL was het tribulation. She realized the meaning of gift - someone that is placed in the heart. And XL met her in the casino, later they came to the donkey meat seller and farewelled. She realized his choice of the best ending for a general and feeling FFB stepping out of her life. she got depression after that. No more practice of archery. She still made poison for XL. The depression from chapter 29 till chapter 31 linked to losing FFB. In Chapter 31, when Yellow Emperor asked her about FFB, she got worse and stopped making poison either. She only got better when her grandfather showed her the note and diary of Jan Emperor. Later she decided to study medicine in proper way. 

After the news about her biological father was spread out in chapter 35. in Chapter 36, Jing said that XY was back to practising archery and making poison (probably after splitting with XL after the wedding robery she stopped making poison)