Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 Elise:

lol ikr. IMO, the roasting here is pretty tame compared to the other one ^-^

haha, I now realize that there are several foxes here: the 9 tailed, 8 tailed and 2 tailed fox. Therefore, the number of roast per fox is even lower

 windiaaa041293:

in "A Dream of Red Mansions", Qingwen is the shadow of Daiyu, and Xiren is the shadow of Baochai.

It's True?

Yes. Some interpretations emphasized this. 

Daiyu and Qingwen shared a few similarities in their background (both orphans); appearance; and personalities (sensitive and emotional); both are often compared/represented by a type of flower (from the Hibiscus family); both love Jia Baoyu; and both have similar tragic ending due to Baoyu (there are a lot of similar actions that foreshadow their similar fate)

Fun fact: The flower that these ladies are compared to blooms beautifully, but is also quick to wither. A kind of presentation for the "beauty with sad fate" saying. It also represents thwarted love that is easily shattered.  Very apt, isn't it?

In contrast, Baochai and Xiren had a better background, similar personality, they also have a relationship with Jia Baoyu but in a different way compared to the two above. Ultimately they had a better ending.

 H19279:

with regard to the event in chapter 32 when he threatened her not to reveal he was FFB, he could trick the bug to bite back, creating heart attack to XY. When he stopped it (meaning thinking of "changing his heart"), the pain was over. At this point, he was determined that there was no future for both of them together. 

Hmmmm.  That implies a lot.  I don't even know for sure if this is when XL decided this was his last  chance for a future WITH XY.  But this would also imply that he DID hope or plan for a future together before this, which is something I've maintained was the case as he fell in love with her and the major reason he accepted the Love Bug in the first place.

Can XL trick and deceive the bugs?  Is simply thinking about cheating or falling out of love enough to turn the Love bugs into Heartbreak bugs?  I don't believe so.

Is XY actually suffering physical pain (heart attack) or is she feeling his pain?  I think the latter, given it stopped.

To be honest, I found this scene a bit confusing.

 Elise:

Definitely the 9 tailed one. I've been roasting that fox since August ahahaha. Me and nathsketch are probably on top of the Jingers' hit list ;)

Ha!  Probably. ;P

 MayaDavid:

I think what HeadInTheClouds said about the bugs being parasites feeding on love makes sense. If this is the case, these bugs sound possessive; even letting go out of selfless love makes these bugs attack.

The way I see it, they are possessive over their food source. So they won't tolerate the hosts falling for a 3rd party because this would mean less of this food source for them.

 MayaDavid:

Chapter 43 is my biggest reason for not being aligned on the "loving both people" theory. But the nature of these bugs also do not sound very conducive to this theory.

Can you elaborate on this point?

 MengXiang:

Sorry for the late reply. I have been catching up and I think someone mentioned that XY doesn't find out the true nature of the bugs in the drama.

To me that is a big let down and important. As it forces the topic of their hidden love and it's means that there is no reason for her to say she doesn't know they love each other. She just won't acknowledge it, both her feelings and his. The bugs are the key unbiased proof of their mutual love. It's not the same story without the true nature being made explicit.

I hope it's not another one of those we take away from XY-XL relationship to strengthen take XY only lives Jing 

@HeadInTheClouds

Sorry for the late reply - have been very busy and only slowly trying to catch up with the thread.

After re-reading the rest of the script, it is pretty much confirmed that Xiao Yao never finds out the full nature of the bugs.

Xiang Liu should be the only one who knows the prerequisites for planting the lovers bug - two people who love each other, having learnt it from the old Lirong donkey meat seller.

In what is presumably Ep13, Jing finds out about the effects of the bug from the Tushan physician - if one is wounded, the other would also be affected. If one died, it is highly likely the other person would die too. He tries to confirm this part of it with Xiang Liu, and is told that they could feel each other's intense emotions too - joy, grief, and even more so, passion. 

I believe Jing did relay the risk to her life to Xiao Yao, but doubt he mentioned about the ability to feel each other's emotions. We know that Xiao Yao knows at least this much because she mentioned it in Ep16 the time Xiang Liu came to see her during Cang Xuan's wedding festivities, and he said he would use her link to his life to keep Cang Xuan in check -  "If Xuan Yuan Cang Xuan knows we are connected by a fated bug, living and dying together, he would not dare to kill me. You, are my chess piece that checks the Xuan Yuan king." 

So no, Xiao Yao (and I believe Jing) never knew the true nature of the bug she planted in Xiang Liu, only some of the effects of the bug. In the drama, Xiang Liu kept that part of its nature hidden from her, and took that secret to the grave with him. 

This differs starkly from the novel, where Xiao Yao knew from Se Mei Er the name of the bug, and later learnt from the shaman king what is needed to plant it successfully, and its repercussions.

 liddi:

Sorry for the late reply - have been very busy and only slowly trying to catch up with the thread.

After re-reading the rest of the script, it is pretty much confirmed that Xiao Yao never finds out the full nature of the bugs.

Xiang Liu should be the only one who knows the prerequisites for planting the lovers bug - two people who love each other, having learnt it from the old Lirong donkey meat seller.

In what is presumably Ep13, Jing finds out about the effects of the bug from the Tushan physician - if one is wounded, the other would also be affected. If one died, it is highly likely the other person would die too. He tries to confirm this part of it with Xiang Liu, and is told that they could feel each other's intense emotions too - joy, grief, and even more so, passion.

I believe Jing did relay the risk to her life to Xiao Yao, but doubt he mentioned about the feeling each other's emotions. We know that Xiao Yao knows at least this much because she mentioned it in Ep16 the time Xiang Liu came to see her during Cang Xuan's wedding festivities, and he said he would use her link to his life to keep Cang Xuan in check - "If Xuan Yuan Cang Xuan knows we are connected by a fated bug, living and dying together, he would not dare to kill me. You, are my chess piece that checks the Xuan Yuan king."

So no, Xiao Yao (and I believe Jing) never knew the true nature of the bug she planted in Xiang Liu, only the some of the effects of the bug. In the drama, Xiang Liu kept that part of its nature hidden from her, and took that secret to the grave with him.

Firstly, Thank you liddi for suffering through the abomination that is the leaked script and translating it for us. Please don't apologize because you have a real life you need to take care of :-)

Secondly......

I think this GIF sums up my feelings about this whole thing. 

Sorry, will come back with a more adult response