Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

 windiaaa041293:

oh why is my heart cut into slices, crying so hard
Is the scene where XL kisses Xy's forehead not in the script?

They cut off that scene too, obviously :(

 Elise:

Yep, they cut out that part. Instead of XL kissing her forehead, it's a snowflake instead. And they added a scene with Jing physically comforting her [that wasn't in the novel, read chapter 35]. After XL leaves, Jing comforts her by embracing her.

And so the butchering continues in favor of that background character. Nothing new.

 Elise:

The scriptwriters are purposely making Jing look better by adding these new scenes for him.

The fact that he needs to be made to look better speaks volumes.

 Elise:

People who only watched the drama and never read the novel may believe XY only loved Jing. It's so much more obvious in the book that she loves XL. 

I saw those tiktok videos saying XY never loved him. Like this one: https://www.tiktok.com/@holynesss_/video/7266426375089835269?_r=1&_t=8gS03odQONC

The captions - He fell first, she never fell.

The title: "Xiao Yao only sees Xiang Liu/Fang Feng Bei as a friend ?"

That's simply not the case. Good thing some of the comments disagreed and stated why.

Many comments, including some in Portuguese. My fellow Brazilians speaking facts. What a bunch of nonsense in these videos.

 MTH123:

If being filial had nothing to do with XL fighting to his death, then he is indeed the most pathetic fool of all.

I don't get this either. It's ridiculous. It's not poetic or memorable or noble. Just plain ridiculous.

 MTH123:

I don’t think a father figure should expect a kid to be indebted to him forever either. I think they should want to push them out of the nest, live their own lives, and make life decisions for themselves. If Gong Gong expected to own XL’s life forever so-to-speak, then it was a deal for a slave, not an “adopted” son.

I think my view is too western but I'll never see XL sacrificing himself for his adoptive father as noble or honorable.

What I loathe is that XL sacrificed his life while Gong Gong got to run away and live in the novel... It wasn't clear what happened to Gong Gong at the end but I think he ran away and went into hiding smh.

 windiaaa041293:

@AH 



I wanted to ask your opinion because I see you're not a fan of CP, lol..

CP meaning YaoJing? I do enjoy parts of their relationship and I’m good with the novel ending where XY and TSJ end up together (thanks to XL’s selflessness). I try (but am not always successful) not to make too many YaoJing and TSJ defence posts in this YaoLiu thread.

That said, XL is my favourite character and I mostly find his scenes and his relationship with XY to be the most interesting and compelling parts of the story, especially the parts where he is selfless.

 windiaaa041293:

Does xy really love xl in his heart?

Does XY really love XL? I think a good number of YaoJing fans (and maybe even most) acknowledge that XY must have some kind of love in her heart for XL. The poisonous bug connection is hard to refute. But many of them interpret XY’s love for XL as being platonic, like the love she has for CX, which allowed XY to plant the poisonous bug in CX. In fairness to them, I can (mostly) see how they could reach that conclusion, especially with shipper goggles on.

One could ask, which parts of the story wouldn’t make sense if XY loved and cared about XL deeply as a frenemy-turned-platonic-zhiji (a love that could be similar in its depth and intensity to her platonic love for CX as her gege) and didn’t have romantic feelings for him?

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Chapter 13:

At that moment he sank into the ocean and she entered the water. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down with him.

He held her under water but Xiao Yao knew he wouldn’t kill her but only wanted to torment her so she endured it.

When the final breath was almost gone, Xiao Yao grabbed his hands and pleaded with him but he ignored her and kept swimming underwater. Xiao Yao felt her entire chest was about to explode and her hands no longer had any strength. She let go and Xiang Liu grabbed her around the waist with a smile and pointed to his lips indicating that if she wanted fresh air, she was going to have to get it herself.

Xiao Yao shook her head. In the past, she was Wen Xiao Liu, she never saw herself as a woman. But now, no matter what happened, she couldn’t do it.

Xiang Liu’s smile disappeared and he embraced Xiao Yao and continued to sink deeper.

He stared at Xiao Yao, and Xiao Yao stared at him.

Xiang Liu was descending faster and Xiao Yao realized that faced with a Nine-headed demon who didn’t give a shit about anything, her identity as the Gao Xing Princess couldn’t protect her.

Xiang Liu was sinking even faster and the soft water was filled with such pressure it made Xiao Yao feel like it would rip her to pieces. Her chest was about to explode and her entire body hurt.

Life and death – it was one simple choice.

Their faces were so close, so close their noses were almost touching. All Xiao Yao needed to do was move forward an inch and she would be pressing to his lips.

But…she couldn’t!

Xiao Yao felt all the water rushing into her head. His lips were so close, so close…..and then Xiao Yao lost consciousness and fainted.

Xiang Liu jerked her head forward to his lips and then rocketed to the surface with her.

…

Xiao Yao pouted. “I knew you wouldn’t forgive me for lying this easily.”

Xiang Liu said, “I’ve already forgiven you.”

Xiao Yao continued pouting and Xiang Liu coldly humphed, and then he suddenly asked, “Why?”

Xiao Yao knew exactly what he was asking – why did she refuse to kiss him and would rather die. She pretended to be clueless. “Why what?”

Xiang Liu grabbed her arm and they started sinking so Xiao Yao yelped, “Oh, I remember, I remember!”

Xiang Liu stared at her and Xiao Yao said, “Because I’m scared.”

“It’s scarier than death?”

Xiao Liu thought about it and finally put it into words. “My Gege, that is Zhuan Xu, he said one night when we were talking that I was still a girl who dreams. So… so… I’m scared that if I’m not careful, you’ll walk into my dreams. And you…” Xiao Yao shook her head. “You’re someone who is never ever suitable to show up in a young girl’s dreams. That might actually be scarier than death.”

Xiang Liu started chuckling, and it grew louder and louder until he was laughing. He released Xiao Yao and his body drifted away.

Xiao Yao yelled, “Hey…hey….don’t leave me here. If you leave me here, what’ll I do?”

Xiang Liu laughed. “Swim back!”

Xiao Yao was in disbelief. “You want me to swim back from here? This is the deep ocean and sea monsters are around. I’ve got very weak powers, any random sea monster can eat me!”

Xiang Liu smiled with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m doing this for your own good. If I’m too tender and considerate with you, I might accidentally enter your dreams and leave you wishing for death. That would be a crime on my part.”

Xiang Liu finished talking and sank into the ocean and disappeared.

-----

I can see how someone could read Chapter 13, where XY was willing to drown rather than “kiss” XL for air and where she said the comments above, and think that XY did not have any romantic feelings for XL at this point. XY’s comments indicate that she sees XL as someone she could possibly fall for, and someone she was afraid of falling for. YaoLiu shippers tend to see XY’s comments as also indicating that she was already starting to see XL in a romantic light. Whereas a YaoJing shipper might take XY’s comments more at face value (i.e., she hadn’t fallen for him yet and didn’t want to – with no other implications). I personally share the YaoLiu interpretation, but I can understand how someone could have either interpretation.

Her relationship with FFB involves a lot of flirting, but it’s pretty much all from FFB and it’s an over-the-top kind of flirting that (IMO XL purposely does that way so that it) doesn’t come across as serious. And XY doesn’t take it seriously, even though I think she enjoyed the attention and the game of it and it helped her feel less lonely and neglected (at a time when she felt neglected by TSJ). XY also never seemed particularly jealous of FFB’s womanizing reputation, whereas there are a few occasions where Tong Hua makes a point of showing that XY is jealous of the fact that TSJ has pretty maids (Jing Ye and I forget the other one’s name) by his side.

After XY finds out that FFB is XL, there are several scenes where XY either says out loud or thinks to herself that she wishes XL could be FFB forever or that she wishes she could spend her entire life the way she spent it when she was having fun with XL/FFB. Similar to chapter 13, YaoLiu fans generally interpret those moments as an indication of XY’s romantic feelings for XL. But a person can want to spend their life with another person without necessarily having romantic feelings for them. So I can understand how a YaoJing shipper could take these moments at face value (i.e., as XY wanting to continue having the same platonic companionship with FFB for the rest of her life, without changing their relationship to a romantic one).

There are other indications of XY’s feelings (her thoughts about the clam shell in chapter 26, which make her blush and make her heartbeat speed up, for example). But again, I can see how someone (especially someone with YaoJing shipper goggles on) could reach a different interpretation. Perhaps they see those moments as XY only blushing because of the merpeople (based on XL’s comments) and her heart only speeding up because she’s thinking about what kind of feelings XL might have for her. Idk. Probably best to ask YaoJing shippers how they interpret those parts, if not as an indicator of XY’s romantic feelings.

But XY sending the ice crystal ball to XL, waiting for him on the shore by Five Gods Mountain, and then being upset about when he chose to stop her wedding to Feng Long (rather than just being upset with him for stopping it at all) is a tough one. I struggle to see how that could be interpreted as a strictly platonic gesture. But I’ll give it a try.

First, the ice crystal ball itself. Tong Hua described the scene that XY created several times in the novel, and made a point of showing how much time and effort she put into creating it. I personally see so much symbolism in the scene that XY created. But I guess someone could just see that as XY putting lots of care and effort into making the last poison that she will send to XL before she marries Feng Long, and not ascribe much meaning to the particulars of the scene. To be fair, the message in the letter that XY sends along with the ice crystal ball (“In two months I am getting married. This is the last poison I will make for you. Please accept with a smile.”) would support that interpretation if one took it completely at face value. Or maybe they do see it as XY asking XL to go to her and give her a reason not to marry Feng Long, but they feel that reason would be more like him showing up and assuring her that, despite how they parted in chapter 29, he will continue to be in her life as her companion FFB and ensure that she isn’t lonely? That would at least fit better with XY being upset about XL’s decision to wait two months to stop her wedding, instead of doing so earlier. Both options feel pretty off base to me, but maybe one of those interpretations works for some readers. Again, probably better to ask them rather than relying on my speculation.

Then, the waiting for seven days on the shore by Five Gods Mountain for XL to show up… The text doesn’t actually say that XY is waiting for XL. It’s only heavily implied. So I guess one could interpret that part as XY staring at the ocean in contemplation as she does what she told her father she would do: really consider whether she wants to marry Feng Long.

All of that is a long way of saying that I personally think that XY had romantic feelings for XL (in addition to her romantic feelings for TSJ), but I can mostly see how some readers might reach a different conclusion.

And everything above is based on the novel. The drama took away some scenes that helped build up XY and XL’s relationship and made some other changes that could influence viewers’ interpretations. For example, YZ’s expressions in the blood-sucking scenes make it look like XY is in pain or extremely uncomfortable every time. Whereas the description of those scenes in the novel either don’t describe XY that way (e.g., there’s no mention of her feeling or not feeling pain) or describe her quite differently (e.g., for many of the bite scenes Tong Hua specifically writes that XY felt no pain and that she even felt a frisson of excitement). So if someone only watches the drama and doesn’t read the novel, I can see how they might be even less likely to conclude that XY’s feelings for XL were romantic.

 windiaaa041293:

Why can Jing's CP fans reject the fact, as if XY only loves Jing from start to finish.
because I'm so frustrated, why are they so cruel to XL

My advice is to not spend too much time worrying about how other fans interpret these things. Make your case for your interpretation when it makes sense (e.g., in forums where people will give your position fair consideration) if you like (I certainly enjoy doing so), but don’t worry too much if the other fans don’t end up agreeing with your take. It is what is. XL is fictional and can’t be hurt by those interpretations. His fans might feel hurt by those interpretations on his behalf, but people are entitled to have different opinions. Since we can’t force our interpretations on others, best to not worry too much about it.

 MTH123:

I haven’t thought much about whether XL was being more filial or grateful or succumbing to the prevailing belief within his military to die with his fellow soldiers. As an “adopted” son, he must have started feeling filial at some point early on. Does this ever go away? How much of XL’s loyalty was filial, how much of it was gratitude, and how much of it was his fellow soldiers? Regardless, the end result was the same. It was to fight to his certain death.

I don’t think a father figure should expect a kid to be indebted to him forever either. I think they should want to push them out of the nest, live their own lives, and make life decisions for themselves. If Gong Gong expected to own XL’s life forever so-to-speak, then it was a deal for a slave, not an “adopted” son.

If being filial had nothing to do with XL fighting to his death, then he is indeed the most pathetic fool of all. But, it’s hard for me to believe that being filial had nothing to do with it. Whatever his true reasoning was, I think it was his biggest weakness. It put a big, unnecessary brick on his life. He had the capabilities to live a long, more fulfilling life.

XY's speculation in chapter 22 (after XL starts to tell her about his relationship with Gong Gong) gives us some insight on this. I assume Tong Hua doesn’t include these thoughts to mislead us, and that XY's speculation is correct. In which case, XL initially went to Gong Gong to pay back a debt, but then formed a bond with him that was strong enough that Gong Gong treated him like a son and adopted him. XL loved Gong Gong like a father.

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Chapter 22:

Xiang Liu said, “When I escaped from the slave death match arena, I was gravely injured all over. I almost died in a whirlpool but it was my adoptive father who saved me. Back then, the Flame Emperor was still alive and the Sheng Nong Kingdom hadn’t yet been toppled. My adoptive father, along with Qi Yo and Zhu Rong, were the three greatest generals of the Sheng Nong Kingdom. He saved a runaway slave like me and I injured him. He didn’t mind because he saw I was gravely injured and might not survive. He taught me a method for healing through training my powers. He even wanted to take me to the Flame Emperor for medical treatment. But I didn’t trust him so I ran away.”

Xiao Yao wanted to hear more about Xiang Liu’s past with General Gong Gong but Xiang Liu didn’t continue and instead took Xiao Yao safely away from the whirlpool.

...

Xiang Liu said “The snowfall in the North Pole is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. To avoid my attackers, I escaped to the North Pole and hid there for over a hundred years. The snow there not only saved my life, it awakened an understanding in me and I transformed the healing technique my adoptive father taught me to learn a new powerful fighting style.”

Xiao Yao thought: No wonder each time seeing Xiang Liu fighting it was as beautiful as snowflakes dancing!

Xiang Liu smiled “People think it’s just a weird quirk that I wear white all the time. But it’s actually just a habit gleaned from survival. In the North Pole, white is the color that is best for concealment.”

Xiang Liu stopped talking and Xiao Yao was so anxious inside. She thought that he must’ve decided to leave the North Pole after meeting Fang Feng Bei there. But by then the Sheng Nong Kingdom had fallen and General Gong Gong was leading a paltry resistance army with all his family and friends abandoning him. Yet a certain Nine-headed demon actually willingly went to him, perhaps initially it was to repay a debt, but then Gong Gong truly bonded with him so adopted him as a son. One could repay a debt, but the bonds of love and affection are impossible to ever fully repay.

When she thought to herself, Xiao Yao actually hated Gong Gong a little, but she felt her hatred really made no sense. So she just pouted and was angry at herself for being angry.

-----

In chapter 35, XL says that his choice isn't just because of his bond with Gong Gong, it's also because of his fellow soldiers. And Tong Hua tells us that XY thinks to herself that she can understand how a person could have such a strong sense of camaraderie with their soldiers that they would choose to die alongside their soldiers rather than abandon that camaraderie. 

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Chapter 35:

Xiao Yao was silent before suddenly asking, “Xiang Liu, why did you pick Gong Gong? Because he’s your adoptive father?” Xiao Yao didn’t know how she had the guts to ask him this question, probably because Xiang Liu didn’t seem like Xiang Liu tonight.

“Not just because he’s my adoptive father, there are also all those soldiers I fought along with and watched them die. We drank together, we went to battle together, we picked up our fallen brethren’s bodies…” Xiang Liu looked over at the altar “For hundreds of years, do you know how many of my fellow soldiers I’ve had to personally cremate?”

Xiao Yao couldn’t imagine, but she understood what Xiang Liu felt. Her Fourth Uncle could have survived that day, and he did love Fourth Aunt and Zhuan Xu, but he chose to die alongside his soldiers. In this world there was camaraderie so strong that one would die rather than abandon it.

Xiang Liu laughed and pointed at his head. “I’ve lost count, but they are all here.”

Xiao Yao buried her head in her lap and grew silent. She felt her heart all jumbled and she didn’t know if it was for Xiang Liu or for herself.

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Chapter 51:

Xiao Yao murmured, “Even though I always reminded myself that he was Zhuan Xu’s enemy, but I…..I was not prepared for this! I really wish it was all a lie…..he’s so sneaky, he must’ve found a way to stay alive!”

Jing said nothing because he knew Xiao Yao didn’t need his response.

“It’s because he’s so sneaky that he doesn’t want to stay alive! One time he told me, “Actually, to a General, the best ending is dying on the battlefield.” So he chose for himself the best ending!”

“But what a bullshit best ending! He’s the stupidest idiot in this world! He stayed loyal and true to Gong Gong and all his soldier comrades, but did he do himself right?”

-----

So I don’t see XL’s choice as one that he makes out of filial obligation, gratitude or repaying a debt. Not even a little bit. And I don’t see it as something that Gong Gong asked or expected of him.

I see it as a choice that he makes out of love for Gong Gong and the care and sense of camaraderie that he has with his fellow soldiers.

I find Gong Gong and his army’s chosen ending a bit frustrating and foolish, but not incomprehensible. And as for XL’s choice, I find myself agreeing with XY in chapter 35 and (to a lesser extent) in chapter 51.

XL's decision is understandable (and, IMO, quite moving) but heartbreaking. It almost makes me wish he had never met Gong Gong, so that he would never be presented with this choice and could instead live a life where he could “do himself right”. But then (as XL notes in the S2 leaked script) he wouldn’t have met XY, and we wouldn’t have this incredible story and character.