Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@plor20

Yes, she never even actively tried to make one friend after regaining her identity. She just watched from the side while all the girls were playing in the snow in the plum blossom forest. You don’t need to learn how to play in the snow, right? But she has no interest in playing or getting to know any of the girls here, because they won't swear to stay with her forever. Many times I feel like she acts like in her 70s or 80s...

 luv2bafangurl:

We saw him flailing and failing in trying to get out of his engagement but I don‘t remember (correct me if I‘m wrong) seeing him trying to abdicate his position as Tushan leader/heir apparent.

Jing tried to abdicate in favour of Hou following the 37 years of sleeping. Maybe if he wasn't such a wimp and stayed awake, he could have dealt with his family mess. I did remember thinking that he genuinely didn't give a rats-ass about his clans as he knew that some of Hou's actions were placing the clans at risk. However, His grandmother refused for a host of reasons - mainly that the clan wouldn't agree to Hou being the leader. Being with XY is his #1 goal, so if being TSJ gets him that then he would do it, otherwise Jing's quite happy to discard his responsibilities. Unfortunately, he was hampered by his own limitations. 

Was Jing caught in a difficult situation? Absolutely. There wasn't an easy way out of it, but that's part of being an adult - balancing between your needs and your responsibilities/doing right by others. A certain other character was also dealing with a similar dilemma ;-). Like I said, sometimes you are choosing between horse shit and cow dung. In a lot of ways, Jing reminded me of an adolescent.  Adolescents have limited control over what they can and can’t do and still need to seek parental approval – like Jing was doing. I guess I don't have a lot of patience with this whole, Jing was filial thing because at some point you are going to have to take responsibility for your own successes or lfailures instead of pointing fingers elsewhere.

 luv2bafangurl:

Do you think, if Jing actually really gave up his position as Tushan heir and give it to Hou than all of his family problem will be solved? Because then Hou will not really have the urgency to kill him anymore (Jing already shown that he won‘t pursue revenge and let bygone be bygone, even if Hou doesn‘t really trust Jing before, Jing‘s action of giving him the control of Tushan clan should convince him that Jing really just want them to be brothers again right?)

He couldn't because his grandmother wouldn't let him as I mentioned above. I don't think the relationship between Jing and Hou will ever return to what it was before Hou found out about his real parentage no matter what Jing does. Jing and Hou are both victims of the previous generation - sins of the father and mother and all. The older generation didn't deal with their messiness well and the children ended up paying the price. This novel is filled with children who are paying the price for the previous generation's choices.

To save face and preserve the Tushan's blood (Hou), Jing's grandmother forced his mother to raise a child that her husband fathered with another woman. Unfortunately, Jing's mother was not kind or forgiving so she punished an innocent child in place of her husband. And now Hou punished Jing because the "mother" who mistreated him is dead so he couldn't punish her.  Nothing can justify Hou's actions towards Jing - you don't get to use your victimhood as an excuse to perpetrate pain on others. 

 luv2bafangurl:

Of course Jing won‘t be in position to help CX, but I don‘t remember XY asking him to help CX. It was all Jing doing and if we read further in his motive was mostly another tactic to bind XY to him or at least gain CX good grace to give him access to XY.

Whether or not XY asked him to is irrelevant, IMO. If he does it because XY asked without considering what it means for his clans then it just goes to show his own lack of responsibility and integrity. But this is a man who at the end of the novel, abandoned a child for XY - I frankly wouldn't put anything past him to keep XY by his side. I joked before that Jing started the novel as a scoundrel who "cheated" on his fiancee with his sidepiece and ended the novel as a deadbeat dad who abandoned his child for his sidepiece now wife. Can that be considered as character development, but in a not so positive way? :-)

 luv2bafangurl:

The Point 10: I read this part and thinking to myself that is so icky and your next sentence is this ‚Unfortunately, it just left me feeling icky.‘ LOL

The author made a specific choice here, and I find it hard to believe that she's unaware of the negative optic that people would look at this choice.

The more I think about this entire scenario, the ickier I feel. This whole thing took 6 months. The author didn't mention it, but there's no way that Hou wouldn't have tried to get physical at some point. As women, most of us probably have the misfortune of dealing with creeps and their creeping hands. And XY couldn't tell Hou to "F-off", so all she could have done was try to fend him off while laughing it off. I feel sick just thinking about it. And Jing? Just shamelessly went along with it. Pathetic, contemptible man. I wouldn't even call this wanker a man by this point.

 luv2bafangurl:

Point 13: And the shittiest father of the year goes to ……Jing (well if he doesn‘t win it, he surely one of the top contender). I really hope XY and Jing don‘t have children. Jing has proved himself capable of abandoning a child and saddled him with his responsibilities for XY. Some call it true love, I call it child abandonment. This track record leads me to believe that if at some point of their life Xy die, he‘ll die to accompany her and leave their child(children) orphaned. And may I point out that XY in this case is no better than him in selfishness. What kind of woman allow her man to abandon a child to satisfy her requirement/needs.

Yes to all of this. Anyone who thinks this is true love needs to get their brain checked because that's some eff-up values and priorities. Sorry, not sorry. Child abandonment is exactly what it is, and Jing and XY really didn't have reasonable let alone justifiable grounds for doing what they did. XY being OK with this just tells you how not right she is.  Some people fought desperately to keep their children despite their horrible personal struggles preventing them from being effective parents. Jing is able, but simply unwilling to. Jackass. The way that the novel ends, these two are on their way to perpetrate the cycle of intergenerational trauma onto their children. Given Jing's lack of character development, if XY cacks it, he'll pull a repeat of the 37 years and to hell with whatever children they have.

 AH :

“No. When I first went out to do business, the Yellow Emperor had just united the Middle Plains and I followed the merchant groups to many places and saw people displaced by the war. I believed sincerely that the world needed a strong compassionate ruler, one who cared about the lives of all citizens. For Xiao Yao, I could break from clan rules and not support the other princes, but I couldn’t truly go against my clan and openly support Your Majesty as ruler. I did what I did because I know Your Majesty’s magnanimous hope for the world and I remain steadfast in believing that my choice is correct. Even today I do not regret my choice, and I know Feng Long didn’t as well. Our choice and determination to support you is the right one.”

First, let clarify this paragraph a bit since the translation did not include all the detail of the original text. I took the except in 2019 version of LYF which only changed Yellow emperor to King Xuan Yuan. I also just take the translation by Baidu with small correction by Hanbook.com.

“为什么帮我？因为小夭？”

“不是。我开始外出，学着做生意时，轩辕王统一中原还没有多久。我跟着商队，足迹遍布大荒，看到了太多人流离失所，深刻地意识到，天下需要一位真正胸怀天下的君王。一国之君，事关天下苍生，千万百姓，我可以为小夭做到恪守族规，不支持苍岩和禹阳，却绝不可能做到不惜违背祖训、打破族规，联合四世家和中原氏族，支持陛下登基。我之所以那么做，只是因为陛下的胸怀和才干让我坚信，我所作所为是正确的。直到今日，我都没有后悔自己的选择，丰隆肯定也没有，我们的选择和坚持全是正确的。”

"Why help me? Because of Xiaoyao?"

No, not really. When I started going out and learning to do business, it wasn't long since King Xuan Yuan unified the Central Plains. I followed a caravan and traveled throughout the wilderness, seeing too many people displaced. I deeply realized that the world needed a king who truly had a broad mind. The ruler of a country is related to the people of the world and millions of people. I can abide by the clan rules for Xiaoyao, not support Cangyan and Yuyang, but it is impossible to go against ancestral teachings and break clan rules, unite the Four Family and the Central Plains Clan, and support Your Majesty's ascension to the throne. I did it simply because Your Majesty's magnanimity and talent convinced me that what I have done is right. Until today, I have not regretted my choice, and neither did Fenglong. Our choices and persistence are all correct.

--------------------------

To justify Jing's word we also have to take the context when he told this to CX into account. He said this to CX after he was almost killed (he would have died unless XL had saved him) and he wanted to have a peaceful future with XY. Jing realized that CX loved XY and the only reason that CX could let XY go in case of marrying to FL is CX thought FL was capable of protecting XY and Jing was cowardly and incompetent. Jing was very smart, and his reaction, dealing with both XY and CX in this case showed his master level in speech and saved faces for all the parties. In his words, he reduced XY's impact to his action (not supporting XY's uncles because of her) and he did most of thing for CX because of CX's kindness and talent. He emphasized on CX's magnanimity. How eloquent Jing was. And because of that, how dare would CX do something negatively to him and XY in future?

Additionally, I would like to elucidate CX's attitude toward Jing and himself which was hinted by Tong Hua. She used the writing technique "snake lines in grass and gray lines in dust" again. Kaola did not translate this line properly

玱玹转身，在看到小夭时，也看到了另一个人，有匪君子、如圭如璧、宽兮绰兮、清兮扬兮。

Zhuan Xu turned around and the moment he saw Xiao Yao he also saw the young man beside her, standing straight and composed. (Kaola's translation)

According to Kaola's translation, Jing was "standing straigt and composed" in CX's view. However, TH quoted a few lines from 2 poems in Classics of Poetry to describle Jing: 淇奥 [qi ao] and possibly  猗嗟 [yī jiē ]

淇奥 [qi yu] (the poem has 3 chapters, TH quoted the lines in Chapter 3) [1, 2]
瞻彼淇奥，Look at those recesses in the banks of the Qi,
绿竹如箦。With their green bamboos, so dense together!
有匪君子，There is our elegant and accomplished prince,(*)
如金如锡，[Pure] as gold or as tin,
如圭如璧。[Soft and rich] as a sceptre of jade!
宽兮绰兮，How magnanimous is he and gentle!
猗重较兮。There he is in his chariot with its two high sides!
善戏谑兮，Skilful is he at quips and jokes,
不为虐兮。 But how does he keep from rudeness in them!

[1]: Book of Poetry : Lessons from the states : Odes Of Wei : Qi Yu - Chinese Text Project (ctext.org) 

[2]: 淇奥原文、翻译及赏析、拼音版及朗读_诗经·国风·卫风古诗_古诗文网 (gushiwen.cn) 

猗嗟 [yī jiē ] the poem has 3 chapters, TH quoted the lines in Chapter 3 [3]
猗嗟娈兮，Oh, this man is so handsome,
清扬婉兮。his eyes are clear and bright.
舞则选兮，The dance posture is correct and the rhythm is strong,
射则贯兮。the arrow pierces the target without missing the target.
四矢反兮，The four arrows hit the center of the target,
以御乱兮。resisting the external force.

 [3]: The original text, translation and appreciation, pinyin version and reading_Book of Poetry, National Style, Qifeng Ancient Poems_Ancient Poetry Network (gushiwen.cn) 

Literal meaning: describle Jing's appearance and virtue impression

According to [4], 淇奥 [qi ao] is a poem praising the image of men in the ancient Chinese realist poetry collection " The Book of Songs ". The poem has three chapters, the third chapter praises the gentleman for his extremely high moral cultivation, and for being a state leader of the king of Zhou(*), who is humorous and measured, and secretly Refers to his contribution to the prosperity of the country. Each chapter of this poem starts with the word "green bamboo". It uses the tall, green and dense green bamboo to praise the gentleman's noble character and integrity, and pioneered the use of bamboo as a metaphor for people. It uses a large number of metaphors, and multiple metaphors before and after express a kind of The changes and processes imply that the beauty of a gentleman lies in the acquired knowledge and cultivation and the sharpening of morality. 

(*): this poem praised the virtue of Wei Wugong who was the ruler of Wei Kingdom under Zhou dynasty.

According to [5], as far as poetry goes, poem  猗嗟 [yī jiē ] praised a young shooter. The poem is divided into three chapters, and the content of each chapter is divided into two parts. One is to praise the beauty of the appearance, and the other is to praise the high skill.

　Each chapter of this poem begins with "嗗嗟". "嗗嗟" is a word of praise, which is equivalent to "Ah" or "Ah" in modern Chinese. Poems that begin with such praiseworthy words have a preemptive artistic effect, reminding readers to pay attention to the person or thing the poet wants to praise. It plays a role of exaggeration and foil when describing the image and skills of the young shooter.

　The appearence figure in chapter 3 highlighted, especially his eyes, which are described in detail. He was praised for his "beautiful eyes rising", "beautiful eyes clear" and "clear and graceful". The words "yang", "clear" and "wan" in these three poems all describe his bright and piercing eyes. Because bright eyes are an essential physiological condition for an excellent shooter.

Hidden measage: 

The poem 淇奥 [qi ao]  [4] praises the virtue of Wei Wugong. According to historical records, Wei Wugong was more than 90 years old in his later years, and he was still cautious and honest in politics, tolerant of other people's criticism, and accepted other people's advice, so he was very respected by people, and people made this "Qi Ao" to praise him. [2]

Regarding the theme of the poem "嗗域" [5], on the surface, the poem praises the beauty of a young shooter, however, many predecessors believed that the protagonist of this poem was Lu Zhuanggong (Duke Zhuang of Lu).  . And its background comes from the incest story between the brother and sister of Duke Xianggang of Qi.  The author of "Preface to Mao's Poems" attached this poem to this historical story and believed that it was a work of Qi people satirizing Duke Zhuang of Lu. The "Preface to the Poetry" says: ""Yi" is about stabbing Duke Zhuang of Lu. The people of Qi made fun of Lu Zhuanggong because despite high skill, he could not use etiquette to guard against his mother who was supposed to have love affair with her brother 

CX recalled 2 poems as lessons about virtue and morality which a good ruler should have. It also shows the foreshadow for his toleration to Jing in future. 

P/S: analysis about Jing's word vs. his action will be followed later

 Kokuto:

That wasn't her idea or what she wanted to do.  XY only asked Jing to help CX, because CX asked her to do so earlier in the chapter.  She was mad at Jing and was going to leave him and go have a good time with Fang Feng Bei, until she remembered what CX asked.

Her reasons for asking TSJ to help CX don't change the fact that she did ask him to do so.

 ZYHLJ:

To be honest, if I were her, once Cang Xuan secures the throne, I would immediately ask him to ban all slave fighting gambling in the country

Yes!

 luv2bafangurl:

@AH: thank you for the clarification. I think the drama didn‘t depict Jing-grandma confrontation as dramatic as the novel.  I remember this confrontation in the drama to be not that dramatic (maybe I’m wrong, because I didn‘t rewatch Jing‘s scenes religiously like I did with XL). The excerpt brought out more Jing‘s effort and sincerity in persuading his grandma, while drama Jing seemed to give up/give in to grandma demand much easily.

Agreed. Drama!TSJ is worse than novel!TSJ on this point. 

 luv2bafangurl:

Was not this confrontation happened a bit later in the drama? I think that  Jing has tried  a couple of times prior to this big confrontation  to cancel his engagement and failed at those times, so even if this excerpt does make me symphatize with him, still imo if Jing is an honorable person, at this point he should free XY from her promise instead of begging her for her understanding and clinging to her, because it‘s clear  he can‘t go against his grandma over her. From his two promises, the one that bother me is that he failed to deliver is breaking off his engagement.

That scene takes place after the 37 years of healing, so the 15 year promises that they each made have long expired by that point, but XY chooses to stay with TSJ anyway... until FFYY's pregnancy happens. 

 luv2bafangurl:

How much of it came from his kind kind vs. how much from his calculating side and selfish desire. I do agree though that one motivation doesn’t necessarily negate the other. It’s possible to have more than one motivation in doing something and that the line between them can be getting so blurry that the person himself doesn’t really know where one ends and other begins. That‘s what make dissecting all of the characters in this novel so much fun. 

Agreed.

 luv2bafangurl:

But in his dealings with XY who he claimed to be the love of his life and the the person he loved the most in the world, he wasn‘t able to be like XL, to let her go to be happy with someone else as soon as he see that their situation quite hopeless with grandma digging her heel, as the ultimate proof of how deep/true his love is, but instead putting first his selfish desire to be with XY in any possible way and acted dishonorably to hold on her as long as possible, even if this hurts her deeply in the process. His love for XY is ultimately a selfish one.

I partly agree with this. His desire to be by XY's side is definitely selfish to the extent that it manifests as TSJ stopping XY from doing or pursuing things that might take her away from him but also that might make her happy. Asking her to promise to not to let another man into her heart for 15 years (especially when he himself is not available and not able to guarantee that he will become available) is an example. 

But TSJ's decision to not push XY away later on (similar to XL) is not a decision that I personally view as selfish. TSJ tried, over and over again, to break off the engagement, but eventually it should have become clear to him that he really might not be able to succeed in breaking off the engagement before the end of the 15 year timeframe. That said, before the 15 year timeframe was interrupted by XY's assassination attempt, I don't think TSJ ever completely lost hope that he would be able to end the engagement within the 15 timeframe. Given all of that, should TSJ have told XY to forget the promise and pushed her away before the 15 year promise period was over as soon as he realized that he might not be able to keep his side of the bargain within the 15 year timeframe? If he had done so, I don't think that would have resulted in XY being happier. I think it would have resulted in XY feeling hurt and abandoned yet again. 

After the 37 years of healing, TSJ was forced to become clan leader and failed (again) to convince his grandmother to break off his engagement. Should he have started to push XY away at that point? IMO, it would not have been logical for him to do so. At that point, XY was more invested in their relationship than she ever had been before. His grandmother was going to die soon. And he had no idea that FFYY and his grandmother were going to trick him the way they ended up tricking him. It would have seemed like it was only a matter of time before his grandmother could no longer stop him from calling off the engagement, and XY was willing to wait for him even though the 15 year promise had expired. Why hurt XY by pushing her away at that point?

Once FFYY's pregnancy comes to light, I do think that TSJ messed up when he let XY find out about it the way that she did. He couldn't have predicted that FFYY was going to make everyone find out about the pregnancy when she did, but IMO he should have told XY what happened during the cloud carriage ride to Qing Qiu. Although I acknowledge that disclosing that kind of news while two people are trapped in a flying vehicle would not have been ideal. 

After XY finds out about the pregnancy, TSJ doesn't suggest breaking up, but accepts it when XY ends their relationship. Honestly, I think it's better for XY to have been the one to end things between them. Similar to her whole thing about it being better to be the person who leaves rather than being the person who is left. 

Over the next few years, TSJ believes that XY moves on and gets over him. In terms of his actions prior to XY's wedding with Feng Long, he lets her go. Then when it comes to her wedding with Feng Long, TSJ asks FFB/XL to end the wedding knowing how close XY was with FFB/XL. After the interrupted wedding, XY was alone with XL/FFB for over a month in chapter 32, and TSJ didn't try to find her or to keep her away from XL/FFB. XY was the one who went to TSJ in chapter 33, because XL literally told her to. XY was the one who revealed that she wasn't over TSJ, and it was only then that TSJ told her about his suspicions that FFYY and TSH were colluding and that TSZ was their son (setting up the possibility for the two of them to reconcile and restart their relationship). 

When XY wanted to treat his illness and to help him take down TSH and FFYY in chapter 33, should TSJ have pushed XY away at that point, given that he was still not free? Would that have been better for XY? IMO, given that XY hadn't gotten over TSJ in all the years that they had been broken up, that would not have been better for XY. Plus, similar to chapter 22, she was in a position where XL had just coldly pushed her away (and "killed" FFB). If TSJ had also pushed her away at that point... IMO that would have just led to XY feeling even more abandoned, sad and in pain. Whereas repairing her relationship with TSJ (and taking TSH and FFYY down) helped XY resolve some of the sadness and pian she was carrying.

As Kokuto has mentioned a few times, the least selfish approach would have been to not reveal his feelings, to not make any promises and to not ask for any promises (like XL) until he had taken the necessary steps to make himself available. But once those words had been spoken, they couldn't be unspoken. The cat was out of the bag and TSJ could only deal with the subsequent circumstances as they unfolded. 

 HeadInTheClouds:

This novel is filled with children who are paying the price for the previous generation's choices.

Well put. 

 H19279:

First, let clarify this paragraph a bit since the translation did not include all the detail of the original text. I took the except in 2019 version of LYF which only changed Yellow emperor to King Xuan Yuan. I also just take the translation by Baidu with small correction by Hanbook.com.

Thanks for the translation and details!

 Kokuto:

25 minutes ago
 AH :
TSJ tried to reject both the engagement and the clan leader position, but his grandmother used her pain and short remaining time to live to force him to accept the clan leader position.
So, Jing's great "plan," that was going to take 15 years to accomplish, was to sit at the dinner table and refuse to eat his peas, until his grandmother caved and gave him everything he wanted???

I'm sorry.  I just can't take him or his alleged abilities seriously, if he did NOTHING but say no and whine.  His grandmother and FFYY, as terrible as some of their plans were, actually had plans and actually did things to get the results they wanted.

Jing would be a bit more ... palatable, if he at least did something towards his goal, even if he failed.

When TSJ asked WXL for 15 years, that timeframe was one that he calculated based on the information he had at the time. At that point, he did not know: (1) that WXL was XY; (2) that TSH had been leading the clan into danger; (3) that FFYY would fight so hard to maintain the engagement, and that his grandmother would listen to her over him; and (4) that his grandmother would use the fact that she was in immense pain and dying to pressure him. Those factors, especially WXL's true identity, inevitably would have required TSJ to adjust his original plan. 

After the 37 years of healing, TSJ threatened to leave the clan if his grandmother continued to refuse to call of the engagement. But his grandmother countered that threat by revealing the fact that she was dying and in immense pain in order to control him. The text tells us that TSJ would not have been the person that XY liked if he had chosen to leave the clan at that point under those circumstances. 

The text also tells us that XY would have left TSJ if he had chosen to have FFYY killed in order to resolve the engagement issue. Presumably she also would have taken issue with him choosing to employ the kind of horrific tactics that FFYY and his grandmother employed (e.g., if he had used a love potion to trick FFYY into compromising herself with another man so that he would have an excuse to call off the engagement). 

 Kokuto:

 AH :
Jing stared at Li Li but didn’t know where to go. He thought he could leave Qing Qiu and wander the world just the two of them. But the truth was that he could never leave Qing Qiu.

...

He was willing to give up everything, but he could not give up his bloodline.
Some folks repeatedly claim Jing is the only one who gave up everything for XY, and that's just not true.  Besides the fact, as I've already pointed out, that he didn't give up anything, but had everything taken from him --right here, he says, it.  He's not going to give up his bloodline for XY, just as XL is not going to give up his adoptive father or his men.  The difference is Jing lies to himself and XY -- which is right there in that sentence too.  If he isn't giving up his bloodline, and knows it, he actually is NOT willing to give it up.

As before, I agree with your point about TSJ having things taken from him, rather than him actively giving them up. It's a good observation.

For these lines from chapter 23, IMO, these inner thoughts (which match up with his declaration to CX earlier in chapter 23) show that TSJ had been willing to give up everything, including all of the things that came with his identity as Tushan Jing, up to that point. He was willing to give up the clan leader position, he was willing to defy his grandmother, and he was willing to leave the clan, which would entail losing his status, his access to the clan's resources, and his family. 

But then his grandmother changed the equation. On top of all the other downsides that would come with leaving the clan, she made it clear that if he left and refused to become clan leader right away, that would also mean increasing her already high level of suffering in the final months of her life - and might even cause her to die sooner. That was not something that TSJ was able to do to his own grandmother, and XY liked that he was the type of person who was not able to do something like that. According to her thoughts in the text, it would have been selfish for TSJ to leave the clan under those circumstances. 

-----

Chapter 23:

Zhuan Xu sat down looking like a mess and coldly said to Jing, “I believe you are sincere about Xiao Yao but Tu Shan Jing is engaged. The Grand Madam is very wanting of Fang Feng Yi Yang, she will never agree to cancel the engagement.”

Jing said, “I once wanted to stand before the Grand Emperor and openly propose to Xiao Yao. So I endured and endured, but after this time almost losing her, I know that nothing else is more important than just being with her. I am willing to give everything up. If my grandmother won’t let Tu Shan Jing end the engagement, then I will give up being Tu Shan Jing.”

What the name Tu Shan Jing represented, Zhuan Xu was fully aware. It wasn’t just wealth that rivaled a kingdom, it was also power that could influence the world. Zhuan Xu met all sorts of men, but he had never met a man who was willing to give everything up for a woman. Zhuan Xu was touched and said, “Actually, I can’t decide for Xiao Yao, she decides for herself.”

Xiao Yao walked out from behind a tree and over to Jing, examining the water stab on his arms and crushed two pills which instantly stopped the bleeding.

Zhuan Xu and Jing both stared nervously at Xiao Yao, waiting for her answer. She smiled at Jing and said to Zhuan Xu, “When I saved him, he had nothing. I don’t mind if he goes back to having nothing.”

Jing felt like a heavy burden was lifted and he smiled.

...

Xiao Yao sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t care but if Jing’s grandmother was willing to give up her life and Jing selfishly chose to leave the Tu Shan clan to be with her, then he wouldn’t be the Jing that Xiao Yao liked.

-----

Chapter 24:

Zhuan Xu said, “Jing couldn’t have anticipated the Grand Madam having only another year left and it messed up his plans. Fang Feng Yi Yang also couldn’t have expected that with Jing as the clan leader now, if the Grand Madam died then the Tu Shan clan cannot restrict his plans anymore. So no one will help Fang Feng Yi Yang to marry Jing so she needs to rush the marriage now before the Grand Madam dies. She was always anxious but with you suddenly appearing in Qing Qiu, it would be like her greatest enemy showing up on her front step. She’s going to use every way to cling onto Jing. So you shouldn’t blame Jing too much for what happened and let it go.”

 Kokuto:

 AH :
“You wretch!” The Grand Madam slapped the table and all the plates and cups shattered on the floor and the tea splashed Jing. The Grand Madam touched her heart. “Sixty years! I spent sixty years training the best clan leader's wife, I don’t have another sixty years left!”
Holy cow.  SIXTY YEARS.  No wonder why everyone was siding with FFYY.  How in the world did Jing think she was just going to give up being the clan leader's wife, when she'd been living like that for SIXTY YEARS?

TSJ and FFYY didn't meet for the first nine years (3 years of torture by TSH + 6 years of living in the clinic) of the 60 years that TSJ's grandmother referenced. 

TSJ met FFYY for the first time when she went to QS town after TSJ's true identity was revealed, not all that long before TSJ asked WXL to make the 15 year promise (I'd need to go back to the text to confirm the exact timeframe). When FFYY met TSJ at that point, TSJ was well aware that FFYY was disgusted by him. 

On the occasions that they were together during the subsequent ~14 years after their first meeting, FFYY occasionally clung to TSJ and treated him well, but it was obvious to Jing Ye (and presumably also very obvious to Jing) that she was only acting on those occasions. For most of that time, her coldness and disgust towards TSJ was obvious enough for many people (including Jing Ye, Xing Yue, and XY) to see it clearly. 

Then TSJ spent 37 years in a coma, which accounted for the remainder of the 60 years that his grandmother referenced (9 + 14 + 37 = 60). 

Since FFYY was obviously disgusted by him, it was reasonable for TSJ to believe that FFYY would be willing to call off the engagement under the right circumstances for much of the time that preceded the 37 years of healing. After the 37 years of healing, he planned to leave the Tushan clan, in which case it was reasonable for him to expect that FFYY would not want to marry him without his status. And then when he was forced to accept the position of Tushan clan leader (rather than leaving the clan), he thought that his grandmother was going to die soon, and once she was gone he would have had more control over calling off the engagement. As CX said, he did not anticipate that FFYY and his grandmother would conspire to trick him and force him to marry FFYY the way they did before his grandmother died. 

 H19279:

First, let clarify this paragraph a bit since the translation did not include all the detail of the original text. I took the except in 2019 version of LYF which only changed Yellow emperor to King Xuan Yuan.

Wow.  There's layers, and then there's layers!  This is why I said I am missing stuff by not understanding Mandarin ... and the cultural and art references.   Will read this in depth later.  THANK YOU!

One thought, reading this stuff ... It's interesting that Grandma Tushan hand picked FFYY.  Socially, her standing is inferior to Jing's.  As Grandma pointed out, one reason he has to be Clan Leader, is that his mother is from the Great Clans -- his lineage and connections are superior.

So, why is she settling for a wife for Jing, from a minor family, that is dependent on Tu Shan and even inferior to the Six Families, much less the Four Great Clans?

@liddi,

Thank you for your translation. 

it took me quite some time this morning to understand and have decent translation using internet tools. because what Jing said “i  could abide by the clan rule for XY and choose not to support A,B” is opposite what was translated by Kaola.  your translation gives me the confirmation for the key information for the following analysis about Jing’s speech