Xiang Liu and Xiao Yao’s Story and Romance

@Kokuto 

I understand your points. Yes, Xiao Liu said that he doesn't belong to Xiyan, Chenrong nor Haoling but: 

• that only means that he doesn't choose to belong to any side but it doesn't answer where he came from. Given he's living in the neutral Qing Shui Town, it's even more suspicious
• Xiang Liu knew since day 1 that she was a big liar. Even if he released her, she was still very suspicious to him
• in the drama, Xiang Liu even asked her "You saved Cang Xuan twice. Are you a nobody?" (episode 12)
• the famous story of the 2 orphans tells that the princess left Jade Mountain and got lost, so nobody knows her whereabouts since hundreds of years, which makes a striking coincidence with the profile of Xiao Liu 

 blimarch:

@Kokuto 

I understand your points. Yes, Xiao Liu said that he doesn't belong to Xiyan, Chenrong nor Haoling but: 

• that only means that he doesn't choose to belong to any side but it doesn't answer where he came from. Given he's living in the neutral Qing Shui Town, it's even more suspicious
• Xiang Liu knew since day 1 that she was a big liar. Even if he released her, she was still very suspicious to him
• in the drama, Xiang Liu even asked her "You saved Cang Xuan twice. Are you a nobody?" (episode 12)
• the famous story of the 2 orphans tells that the princess left Jade Mountain and got lost, so nobody knows her whereabouts since hundreds of years, which makes a striking coincidence with the profile of Xiao Liu 

Actually, the princess does belong to Haolin.  Normally, the ruling class have duties and obligations that will benefit Haolin.  But again, why wouldn't a princess choose to be a princess?  Many people in Qing Shui town do have shady pasts that they don't want to talk about, which is why XL probably cut XY some slack in their first meeting.

Yes, I agree.  XL was suspicious of XY, which is part of the reason why he wanted to impress on her his lack of tolerance for her disobedience and trying to play word games with his orders.

But that story doesn't say the princess is hiding from her family.  It just says she got lost / died.  So why would he think this lying woman was a princess?  A princess should be looking for her family, not hiding out in Qing Shui Town.  And she was hiding, as you pointed out, she avoided revealing herself to CX several times.

I think the better question is why didn't XL realize who the disguised CX really was?  He came to town about the same time that XL started having a spy infestation, as well as attempts on his life.  He clearly had money to throw around, and then there was that really annoyingly awful spoiled 'sister' with a spirit powered guard.

Of course, he realized fairly quickly, if not right away, who 17 was.

 liddi:

And yet, Xiang Liu is able to make Xiao Yao feel pain as we see in Vol 2 Ch9 (Chapter 26,  Ep37) during Cang Xuan's wedding:

 liddi:

and Vol 2 Ch15 (Chapter 32) when he reminds her of this:

Lol, we are mostly on the same page and citing the same chapters. That's why I said "My understanding was that the natural state of the connection should cause XL to always be able to feel XY's pain and heartache (but not the other way around) ... But XL is powerful enough that he can ... And XL can make XY feel *his* pain if and when he wants to, which he makes clear at the end of chapter 32."

It's really not a hugely important point, but in my interpretation XL has to actively stop XY from feeling most of the other things (like his heartbeat or his presence) which means sometimes he can slip. Whereas XY will never feel XL's pain unless he intentionally uses the connection to make her feel that pain. Which is good because he's probably badly injured often and at his weakest / least able to control the connection when he's badly injured. 

 blimarch:

How come Xiang Liu never suspected that Xiao Liu was the long lost Haoling great princess?

 blimarch:

how come, Xiang Liu being that smart still couldn’t have connected the dots and guessed that Xiao Liu was the great princess of Haoling sooner? Was he misdirected because Xiao Liu didn't revealed herself to Cang Xuan and even tried to escape from him ?

There are a lot of factors, but yes the way she interacts with CX is probably one of them.

---

Chapter 2:

When the aura of death came hurtling over, Xiao Liu tumbled and tried to avoid it while saying, “My lord, I really am Wen Xiao Liu. Maybe I’m not ONLY Wen Xiao Liu, but I have no intention to harm the resistance army under General Gong Gong. I don’t belong to the Kingdom of Xuan Yuan, or the Kingdom of Gao Xing, and not to the Kingdom of Sheng Nong. I am just… I am just someone who has been discarded. I have no ability to protect myself, I have no one to rely on, I have nowhere to go. So that is why I chose to be Wen Xiao Liu in Qing Shui Town. If my lord will allow it, I wish to be Wen Xiao Liu for the rest of my life.”

---

When XL first meets XY, he knows that: (1) she is a woman; (2) which means her male form must be a disguise, even though it's impossible to see through; and (3) she is extremely proficient with poisons.

Then XY tells him that she is a discarded person with no where to go. Someone who does not belong to Xuan Yuan (Xiyan) or Gao Xing (Haoling). 

Then his subordinate returns and confirms that her story checks out: she has been practicing medicine at a clinic in neutral QS Town with a lower-level god and two mortals for twenty hears. 

At this point, the Eldest Princess of Haoling was presumed to be long dead, and ZX's search for her seemed like a lost cause. As far as I can recall, the story of the orphans being a household tale known by all wasn't really a thing in the novel. The lost princess certainly wouldn't be someone of interest to XL. 

Anyway, there's no reason for XL to think that the lost princess would sincerely describe herself as a discarded person with nowhere to go. If XL was aware of the princess' story, he would also be aware that ZX had been looking for her persistently for 200 years and would have no reason to believe that she wouldn't consider Jade Mountain or Five Gods Mountain (or even Xuan Yuan) to be places where she could go. 

There's also no reason for XL to think that the lost princess would be a poison master or that she would choose to become a humble clinician living with mortals for twenty years.

And they quickly develop a rapport and become frenemies or, as XY later puts it, "a friend who is not quite a friend". Although XY is hiding her identity, XL is not. It would be unfathomable to him that the Yellow Emperor's granddaughter, the General Princess' daughter, and ZX's sister-cousin would become his sort-of-friend. I feel like this is probably the most important point. The are firmly on opposite sides of an intractable war. By all rights, they should be fated to be deadly enemies (the way XL is with ZX), and nothing else.

Lastly, it takes XY a long time to figure out ZX's identity, and when she does finally figure it out, as you mentioned, she doesn't reveal her own identity to him. She tried to run away rather than go with him to Gao Xing, and ZX broke her legs for it. 

 Kokuto:

But he isn't making XY feel HIS pain in that chapter where he's telling her to keep his identity secret.  I mean, he's not feeling a sword in his heart.  He's just making HER feel pain.  I guess, it's like the reverse of feeding her spirit power and life through the bug link, when she was assassinated?

I think there was some back and forth on this earlier in this thread or maybe in the main comment section. I'm still on the fence. I think you're probably right - XL probably is not experiencing that exact pain in that moment and instead he is just using the connection to create that pain in XY. 

But some of the possible alternatives are interesting to think about. Given how forcefully painful heartache is at other times in the novel (think of how badly XY's heart and health are affected after her breakup with TSJ), perhaps XL was able to cause that effect in XY by tapping into and channeling his own heartache.  Or perhaps the poison training that he does means that he's always experiencing that level of pain, and he just gives XY a taste of it. Who knows. It's one of those parts that Tong Hua leaves vague, so the readers have some freedom to speculate and form different interpretations. 

AH  VIP

But he isn't making XY feel HIS pain in that chapter where he's telling her to keep his identity secret.  I mean, he's not feeling a sword in his heart.  He's just making HER feel pain.  I guess, it's like the reverse of feeding her spirit power and life through the bug link, when she was assassinated?

I think there was some back and forth on this earlier in this thread or maybe in the main comment section. I'm still on the fence. I think you're probably right - XL probably is not experience that exact pain in that moment and instead he is just using the connection to create that pain in XY. But some of the possible alternatives are interesting to think about. Given how forcefully painful heartache is at other times in the novel (think of how badly XY's heart and health are affected after her breakup with TSJ), perhaps XL was able to cause that effect in XY by tapping into and channeling his own heartache.  Or perhaps the poison training that he does means that he's always experiencing that level of pain, and he just gives XY a taste of it. Who knows. It's one of those parts that Tong Hua leaves vague, so the readers have some freedom to speculate and form different interpretations.

Seriously, AH???  It's bad enough that we know XL can feel XY making out with Jing, but now you want him to be constantly in severe pain from his own heartache?  Or from his poisoning?  Nope.  No way.  Not from the poisoning.  He enjoys sharing that with XY so much.

 AH :

XL recognized TSJ immediately, despite his attire and different name. They had done business together for hundreds of years before either of them met XY. But XL always wore a mask, so when FFB appeared later TSJ didn't initially know that he was / looked like XL.

Ah, but in the drama, XL didn't always wear a mask around 17 -- like when he was picking up or dropping off XY.  I think that was a continuity error on the part of the drama, though.  Before XY, though, I'm betting XL was careful to keep the two identities separate with the mask.

Cause in the drama, I wondered why he didn't subject Jing / 17 to the same lethal interrogation he did XY.  But if he recognized Jing immediately, it makes sense that wouldn't need to.

 Kokuto:

Seriously, AH???  It's bad enough that we know XL can feel XY making out with Jing, but now you want him to be constantly in severe pain from his own heartache?  Or from his poisoning?  Nope.  No way.  Not from the poisoning.  He enjoys sharing that with XY so much.

Lol, although I don't exactly want it to be that way, I'll admit there is something kind of appealing about the massive angst that goes with that concept. And I'd like to think that XY would then be something like a balm to him, especially when he gets to feel her joy through their connection.