Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Elise:

Oh, that reminds me. I haven't posted the new gifs I made yet. It's still in my Tumblr queue lol

Oh!! I’ve been reblogging all your gifs like a mad person hahaha

From snippets I read of A Heng's pregnancy and Xiao Yao's birth in Once Promised, apparently the gestation period of the deity tribe takes at least two to three years. 

In the case of Xiao Yao, A Heng medicated herself to keep Xiao Yao from being born, in order to keep up the deception that the child was Shao Hao's (they pretended to consummate the marriage after she told him she was pregnant with Chi Chen's child, and he announced her pregnancy to the world 6 months down the road). Cang Xuan was actually conceived later than Xiao Yao, but because A Heng delayed her birth, he was born before her. Although Xiao Yao was born healthy, A Heng barely survived the delivery. Despite her weakened state, she forced the Face Retaining Flower into Xiao Yao with Shao Hao's help. It was during this time that we finally see the stirrings of his love for this child who was not even his own, which in turn made Xiao Yao's mistaken thoughts of being unwanted that much more heartbreaking in retrospect.

Once Promised
Vol 2 Ch7

In the fourth month of the second year, A Heng gave birth under the care of a team of physicians.

The child was very healthy but A Heng narrowly escaped death during the delivery. If not for the formation set up by Shao Hao's spiritual powers and the Guixu water jade which protected her consciousness, A Heng might not have survived the birth of the child.
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Hearing the child's cries, Shao Hao hurried in.

A Heng's whole body was soaked in sweat and she was unconscious. Shao Hao held her hand and transferred spiritual power into her body.

A Heng came to a little, and murmured, "The child, the child!"

Shao Hao immediately called out for the maid who carried the newly washed child quickly over to him, saying brightly, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, it's a princess."

Shao Hao held the child in his arms. Curiously enough, the crying child immediately quietened down, her dark eyes fixed on Shao Hao, her tiny pink mouth curved into a smile. Shao Hao smiled and brought the child before A Heng, "It's a girl."

A Heng forced her eyes open and carefully scrutinised the child's features. She then took out the Face Retaining flower, bit her middle finger and smeared the blood on it, which in turn transformed into a peach blossom the size of a small fingernail. Being stained with A Heng's blood made it even more glitteringly beautiful, as if it had just been plucked from a branch.

Anxiously, Shao Hao said, "What are you doing? You have already used up too much spiritual energy, don't..."

A Heng placed the fingernail-sized peach blossom between the child's eyebrows, which turned as red as searing iron, and the child burst into tears from the heat.

A Heng proceeded to press the peach blossom with her middle finger and pushed the flower in. The child's face turned purple and she cried herself hoarse. Her face was covered with tears and sweat, her body on the verge of collapsing, yet A Heng gritted her teeth, forcing herself to hang on, and slowly pushed the Face Retaining Flower into the child's forehead.

"Give me a drop of your essential blood, and help me seal it, seal it..." A Heng's body crumbled and she passed out.

Grabbing A Heng's hand with one hand, Shao Hao transferred spiritual power into her body. At the same time, he bit the middle finger of his left hand and forced out a drop of purest essential blood which he dripped on the peach blossom shaped wound on the child's forehead, and the wound began to swiftly heal. However, the child was in too much pain to cry, her little mouth agape, gasping.

Shao Hao put his still bloodied middle finger into the child's mouth, and she sucked it spontaneously. As he fed her a drop of his essential blood, the child's colour slowly recovered. She held Shao Hao's finger in her tiny hand, her eyebrows arched, and she was laughing again. The wound on her forehead had completely healed, appearing to be just a pale birthmark in the shape of a peach blossom.

Shao Hao teased the child and whispered, "I hope that you will always laugh happily like you do now. Only then, will you not let down your mother's efforts of keeping you safe with her life."

To the deity tribes, giving birth was a process that severely drained spiritual powers, and women with lower spiritual powers almost had to give their lives to do so. This was the reason for the low population of the deity tribes despite their long lifespan. A Heng used medicines to force the child to stay inside her body, defying nature to delay the birth, which caused great harm to her body. It was fortunate that she was well-versed in pharmacology, while Shao Hao was spiritually powerful and protected her, and it was only thus that she managed to survive.

Although she survived, A Heng suffered severe physical injuries from the delivery, and remained in a coma. Shao Hao would bring A Heng to Tang Gorge every night and soak her body in its waters. No matter how busy he was, Shao Hao took care of A Heng personally, never allowing anyone else to take over. The maid Ban Xia only helped to wipe her body or change her clothes.

Shao Hao named the child Xiao Yao. From birth, her mother had been in a coma. Shao Hao showered her with the utmost care, and took her everywhere with him daily, until everyone within and without the palace knew how much Shao Hao loved the oldest princess. After more than a year had passed, Xiao Yao started to learn how to talk, and A Heng gradually regained consciousness.

 liddi:

From snippets I read of A Heng's pregnancy and Xiao Yao's birth in Once Promised, apparently the gestation period of the deity tribe takes at least two to three years.

OMG.  Between that and draining the spiritual powers, it's amazing anyone has a kid, much less two. 

I love Daddy Emperor in the drama.  And this just makes me love him more.  Though, I heard that he's not as likeable in Once Promised.

 HeadInTheClouds:

Daddy Emperor and Grandaddy Emperor both have personality transplant between the two novels :-)

Daddy Emperor has always been (mostly) honourable and decent so its not a stretch that he's a great dad to XY. But man, there were some drastic mellowing of the two in LYF. 

That's what I thought I had read.  Well, they were younger and more ambitious and aggressive.

Except Granddaddy Emperor.  You can tell he was an sob before, and he let CX go through the meat grinder to mold him into the successor he wanted.  ouch.

 windiaaa041293:

Yes...they did it in their thread. With all their might they tried to link it to yaojing.
I've read, someone said in this group...
When XL dies, will the song he sang for Fei Fei be played?

without reading the novel. they will not know XY’s wish that the busy, normal mortal world can keep  him stay.

Jing and XY had several scenes on the drama that contained firework.

Moreover, that song was played whenever the corresponding scene related to happy moments.

Therefore i can understand their claim.. the dual sung version with TJC and YZ is partly feasible because he is a singer and YZ can sing reasonably. Can DW sing well? Maybe not. I heard that ZWY can sing pretty well

 Kokuto:

OMG.  Between that and draining the spiritual powers, it's amazing anyone has a kid, much less two. 

I love Daddy Emperor in the drama.  And this just makes me love him more.  Though, I heard that he's not as likeable in Once Promised.

Yes. The drama made him very likeable, and if that scene from the leaked script is to be believed, his determination to allow Fangfeng Bei to marry Xiao Yao won him Father of the Year in my eyes. I know that in Once Promised, he would let A Heng down when he refused to send reinforcements, which ultimately resulted in Cang Xuan's father's death - and that would be the catalyst for their divorce. But there is no doubt that his love for Xiao Yao is true, even though he knew whose child she was from the very start.

 HeadInTheClouds:

Daddy Emperor and Grandaddy Emperor both have personality transplant between the two novels :-)

Daddy Emperor has always been (mostly) honourable and decent so its not a stretch that he's a great dad to XY. But man, there were some drastic mellowing of the two in LYF. 

Just like Shao Hao, the old Xuan Yuan king is brilliant in Lost You Forever - the pinnacle for me is the way he ensured the smooth transition to Cang Xuan's coronation. I understand he was truly unlikeable in Once Promised, certainly a poor husband and parent. I really need to sit down and properly read Once Promised one day.

Both Yellow emperor and Shaohao were absolutely ambitious men in Once Promised. They did whatever it required to achieve their goals. It’s Shao Hao who named her Xiao Yao. . he took care of her while Ah Heng was in coma after delivery