Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

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It's not even that important, but it bugs me that I can't find it, lol. 

No matter. Should it come to you, please do share it!

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Yes and first of all I wanna say that I really like Ah Heng. Compared to XY, she's so not afraid to stay true to herself and act on it, that it makes XY look even more broken than what I thought.  În lyf, the only character that really stood out to me was XL, but în here there's so many more chacaters that gets my attention. Qingyang and his relationship with shaohao îs also very intriguing and it gives me some XY and XL vibes.  

Exactly. A Heng is an amazing character - strong, courageous, free-spirited, compassionate, true to herself. To be fair, her upbringing and childhood molded and shaped her as well, just as Xiao Yao's difficult childhood defined hers. A Heng grew up, secure in the love and support of her family, and was given free rein to do as she wished by them, a decision everyone supported, including her father. Her upbringing was an unconventional one, as evidenced by the lives of other princesses, including Yun Sang. It was only as she grew older and the political landscape in the Great Wilderness changed and she inevitably became a chess piece, a fate that she fought hard but could not break free from to claim the life she wanted.

From Once Promised, we know that as a child, Xiao Yao was precocious, brave, resourceful and confident, doted by all, by all intents and purposes very similar to her own mother. However, she went on to spend the better part of her formative years living under the shadow of abandonment, and just trying desperately to survive. As such, she became a shell of the woman she might have been, protecting her heart fiercely, terrified of being vulnerable, willing to settle - be it in short term companionships, or for a man who would choose her first and not abandon her. Her love for the man in question was never mentioned as a requirement in her choice of a life partner. 

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As to what I feel about the events that lead to Ah Heng's death în yu abyss, again, Ah Heng really stood out în these chapters, to me she was the star. A lot of things happened, but that scene în the cave with shaohao was what I found the most outstanding.  

It is at Yu Abyss that A Heng (and by extension us) are privy to Shao Hao's innermost thoughts and fears. That was the turning point that made me root desperately for Shao Hao to be with A Heng, despite already knowing what came of their relationship. I ached so much for Shao Hao when he kept his eyes closed, fearing to confirm whether it was or wasn't her who came back. Hence, it was doubly disappointing when he and Qing Yang agreed to Chi Chen's terms with regards to the jade egg, and I can't tell you how I wish that he had said something, anything that indicated to A Heng before she left, that he had a change of heart. 

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I believe that's where Chi you stands out more. Shaohao definetely has other priorities în life, he could never be just a loving husband and disregard his position and ambitions when faced with a tough decision, but Chi you, while also staying true to his people, he would have risked everything to save Ah Heng. The fight over the river map îs a good exemple în this sense. Chi you couldn't be bothered by zhurou and gong gong's protests when he oferred the jade egg în exchange for ah heng, but shaohao and qingyang, though conflicted, would ultimately agreed. 

While I agree that Chi Chen would do everything in his power to help A Heng without compromising his people, his actions at Yu Abyss were totally unrelated. At that point in time, he was deliberately, brutally cruel because of her perceived betrayal, and his decision to offer up the jade egg in exchange for A Heng  despite Yan Zhuan and Hong Jiang's protests was not because he wanted to save her. Rather, it was to utterly humiliate and break her, to show her that in the eyes of her husband and brother, she was worth less than half an egg. His actions at Yu Abyss was so appalling that I wish we would see that relationship totally severed. And despite Shao Hao accepting the deal, I wish she had gone on to finally be a proper wife with Shao Hao after that, instead of being reconciled with Chi Chen. Still, in the end, Chi Chen redeemed himself and was worthy of her love, though I still root for Shao Hao despite the terrible things he did because I understand his decisions, his helplessness when weighed against the Gao Xin people he has sworn to protect. 

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She's so similar, while also so different than XY. She doesn't need reciprocity în order to act  on her feelings and instincts. She told him she gave him her heart and eyes, as a reference to the ballad, but at that moment she doubted that Chi you did the same. (funny, în lyf there is a similar reference, the heart through the lovers bug and the eyes as seen in the chapter when XL covered XY's eyes, because he could clearly see himself reflected into them or the chapter where jing made a point în stating that he wasn't the one în her eyes).  The fact that SirBi sang this ballad when looking at XL after he killed the bugs from both him and XY is so bittersweet and powerful.  While Chi you would have take his heart and eyes out to be the one în ah heng's heart, XL did it as to remove himself from XY's heart. Both acted out of deep love. 

What a beautifully poetic observation regarding the parallel between Chi Chen's love declaration for A Heng,  and YaoLiu's relationship. Thank you very much for sharing it!

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While I believe that question was asked as to make a point, because she already knew his answer, I still believe that if shaohao would have been willing to first and foremost be a husband to ah heng, she would have done her best to accept him wholeheartedly, same as XY tried her best to love jing, because he was the only one who promised her to always put her first. 

What I meant to say was that A Heng always knew that she was promised in marriage to Shao Hao, an arrangement she had no problems with until she fell in love with Chi Chen. This is evidenced by the way she was curious about her betrothed, hence her efforts to try and get to know him better but Qing Yang then warned her against giving her heart to him because she would one day be caught in the crossfire when Xuan Yuan and Gao Xin go to war. After she fell in love with Chi Chen, she tried desperately to get out of her upcoming marriage, and was tortured because of it. Ironically, Shao Hao was the one who snuck into the formation and eased her suffering, despite knowing she did not wish to marry him. I believe that when she did marry him (and was forced to repudiate Chi Chen during the wedding), she was at a crossroad. If Shao Hao had chosen to be a real husband to her, this indicated that he pledged not to use her as a political pawn. As such, she was willing to try and let go of her love for Chi Chen and love her husband sincerely too, and make a success of their marriage. If Shao Hao wanted her as an ally only, that meant she was free to continue to love Chi Chen, and as such, she exacted the promise from Shao Hao that when the time came and he had achieved his goal, he would give her her freedom.

The thing is, at that point in time, Shao Hao did not love her yet, hence his choice of an ally rather than a wife, a decision he would come to regret and try to undo after the events at Yu Abyss, but to no avail. What I love about Shao Hao is that despite knowing that Chi Chen was the one she loved, he never allowed his jealousy to influence his decisions. When A Heng begged for troops to save Zhong Yi at Xun Mountain, he wanted so much to agree but had to force himself to refuse her pleas because he had to prioritise the well-being of his people first. He in turn secretly contacted Chi Chen to help A Heng save Zhong Yi while pretending that the appeal came from A Heng, despite knowing that this action would very likely bring them both back together again. 

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This was the only situation where XY was so much braver than Ah Heng. Reaching a similar point, I don't see Ah Heng doing the same.

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This action alone outshine ah heng by far. În fact from this pov, I don't even know if XY was weaker or stronger than her mom, if XL would have pursued XY as Chi you pursued Ah Heng, I believe XY would have given in twice as fast, with half of the effort that Chi You put in, but I am one who believes XY fell for XL at first glance, the same how Chi you fell for ah Heng at first sight, when he saw her playing în the river. 

It is true. Xiao Yao appealed to Xiang Liu without any assurance that he reciprocated her feelings, laying bare her heart despite being abjectly terrified of being rejected and hurt. Leading up to the gifting of the crystal globe, she had been slowly gathering up courage as well, as evidenced by her hints about wanting to see the uncharted islands, the pointed questions she asked him after he congratulated her on her engagement, the tentative suggestion to go to Bai Li together to have the poisonous bugs removed. In the past, her scruples had always been predicated on the fact that he was Cang Xuan's enemy. However, with the crystal globe, she was saying that she wanted to be with Xiang Liu, even though she knew he would never abandon Hong Jiang and the Shen Nong resistance army. It wasn't even a matter of Xiang Liu pursuing Xiao Yao anymore. She was taking the initial step to declare her love and intentions first, in hopes he would respond in kind.