Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

So xl and fbb share his same real face right ..

 nathsketch:

It's white, I think.

This made me think of a dirty joke. Oookay, time to go to work now, for real. ??‍♀️

@AH  VIP

I never felt like XL died for honour. The Gong Gong and the remnant army couldn't give up their principles. They swore to fight for Sheng Nong and to never surrender, but Sheng Nong doesn't exist anymore. They wanted to protect the people of Sheng Nong, but those people have moved on. The army's role and their cause are obsolete, but they weren't able to let go. They preferred to die as soldiers that stayed true to their cause and their vows than to surrender and live in defeat. 

XL doesn't care about that for himself. As XY says, it's not his cause. But he does care about Gong Gong and his comrades. He'll help them for as long as he can, and when they all die he doesn't want to be the lone survivor. I've posted the experts a few times before, so I won't post them again.

Honorable might be the wrong word ... but regardless, I didn't mean he considered it honorable to die for Sheng Nong.  His 'honor' is tied to his committment to the soldiers he fought with, more a Band of Brothers ideal, and Gong Gong -- and he has to have bought into the concept of honor ... because of his insistence on dying on the battlefield.

Yes, I remember the old donkey meat seller veteran, but that never made sense to me.  He's spent large portions of his life alone.  Even amongst the soldiers he's alone.  He's remade his identity numerous times.  He has a whole world he can explore.  He's even stated, as long as there are beautiful sights to see, life is worth living.  He DID consider a future beyond Gong Gong and the rebel army, and given his experiences with XY, he knows how wonderful that can be.

@AH  VIP

XL may feel it's the honorable choice, but he does makes sure his death will not affect his only survivor.

It's such a balancing act. He wants to keep her company to alleviate her loneliness when others cannot. He wants to provide the things she lacked. And he wants to make sure that she is not haunted by his death.

Hmmmm.

You know.  I just realized....  XL has done all these things, because it's what XY told him she wanted.  Whatever story he told her about soldiers die on the battlefield or some old donkey meat selling surviving veteran, the reality is dying was something that XY forced him to choose.  XY would not let him kill CX, even though she knew it meant CX would kill XL.  He couldn't make peace with CX, because of his commitment to Gong Gong.  His only option was to die on the battlefield.

 Dramadoggy2021:

So his real hair is white or black…sorry still confused …

 nathsketch:

It's white, I think.

Yes, his real hair is white. He dyes it to turn it black when he is FFB.

 Dramadoggy2021:

So xl and fbb share his same real face right ..

They have the same face and the same everything else... except hair colour and clothes.

In the novel and in the drama, the only things that XL changes to become FFB are his hair and his wardrobe. And he metaphorically takes off his armour.

In the web comic, his eyes are different when he is XL (golden yellow) vs when he is FFB (purple). XY's eyes are green.

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Chapter 18:

Xiao Yao asked “You’ve fulfilled your promise so why continue to be Fang Feng Bei?”

Fang Feng Bei smiled coldly with scorn “To fulfill my promise I put on a show for four years. But in the four hundred years since, I’ve just been myself. Which one of your eyes saw me continuing to pretend to be Fang Feng Bei? Regardless of whether it’s Fang Feng Bei, or Xiang Liu, or Nine-lives, it’s just a name.”

He’s right! The adolescent Fang Feng Bei was vastly different than the adult Fang Feng Bei, but with so long passed everyone had long forgotten what Fang Feng Bei used to be like. Xiao Yao thought back and realized that Fang Feng Bei appeared different than Xiang Liu only on the surface, but the way he didn’t give a damn about anything and didn’t want for anything was the same attitude. The only difference was Xiang Liu appeared to be him when wearing battle armor and heading to war on the battlefield, while Fang Feng Bei was him who shed the armor and was enjoying exploring the world.

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Chapter 19:

When she was with Fang Feng Bei, Xiao Yao often forgot her identity and she would feel like she was still Wen Xiao Liu except wearing girl clothes.

Xiao Yao knew Fang Feng Bei was Xiang Liu, but because this wasn’t the battlefield and he wasn’t being a cold and ruthless battle god, it was like he took off his armor and resumed living the ordinary life as well. He was a spare son who didn’t have any ambition or influence, she was an ordinary goddess girl with very low power. No one ever paid them any attention.

...

Xiao Yao gradually understood what Xiang Liu meant – he wasn’t pretending to be Fang Feng Bei. He was just being himself. To him, Fang Feng Bei was like having a job that gave him a lot of freedom and he didn’t need to work everyday. When he did work for the Fang Feng family, they would give him money. If he didn’t have enough money, he would work side jobs. As for what being Xiang Liu meant to him, Xiao Yao didn’t know and didn’t dare ask.

@AH

But what would his alternative be if he didn't die on the battlefield and also didn't betray the army? He fights with them until the end but survives.... and then runs away with the sister-cousin of the man who wiped them out? The daughter of the princess general who defeated Sheng Nong and doomed the remnant army to that fate? The granddaughter of the Yellow Emperor who started the war with Sheng Nong in the first place?

 I feel like supporting the rebel army until the end, and then running away with XY would have been an option. I think at that point XY would have been more than fine with leaving CX behind and running away with XL. 

Sure, she is related to the Black Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, and Princess General. But her ties with those people are familial, not based on any state responsibilities. She feels and has no responsibility for Xiyan. She would never personally go and fight on the battlefield on behalf of Xiyan. When her origin is revealed and she stops being the princess of Haoling, she intentionally chooses the last name that lets her get away from royalty and its baggage. 

And sure, she is related to the Xiyan family, but she is ALSO the daughter of Chenrong's Great General Chi Chen after all. 

Idk, I feel like running away with XY after the final war would have been a nice future for both of them. I feel like they could make it happen if XL confessed his feelings, forcing XY to face her own feelings. 

Someone shared a screenshot of Tong Hua's old post on Weibo, before 长相思 Lost You Forever was first published in March 2013, where she alludes to Xiang Liu, and her own grief when she thought of him. Can't share the Weibo screenshot but here is the translation: 

从超市出来，风很大，阳光很灿烂。透过车窗，看到蓝天很蓝，白云很白，想起了九命 （偶故事中的人物）一袭白衣，九曲红尘，本该是何等逍遥的妖，却因责任困住了自己。总喜欢用雪去形容他，想着正伤感，突然下雪了，雪花打在车窗上。我惊愕！明明阳光还十分灿烂，老公说，太阳雪！很少见！

Coming out from the supermarket, the wind was strong and the sun was bright. Through the car window, I saw that the blue skies were really blue and the white clouds were really white. I thought of Nine Lives (a character in a story), all dressed in white, living nine lives in the mortal realm, a demon who should have been so unfettered and free but instead trapped himself with responsibility. I always love to use the snow to describe him. Just as I was feeling sad, it suddenly started snowing, and the snowflakes hit against the car window. I was shocked! The sun was clearly still shining brightly. My husband said, "Sunny and snowing! It's a rare occurrence!"

-- 桐华tonghua @ Weibo, 26 Feb 2012

 AH :

Imagine, instead of carving those wishes into the big-bellied laughing doll... if those thoughts became XL's wedding vows? He still gave her a means to protect herself (archery) and a place to go (the ocean). But in this scenario the man she can rely on for the rest of her life is XL and the life of worry-free happiness he wishes for her is one that they would share together.

IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS THAT NOT THE IDEAL ENDING?

Sorry, I'm screaming like a chicken and that's rude.

I'll shut up now.