Gone

This is the ship name? Cute! It's a shame I already know who she will end up with so YaoLiu will never get a shot.

My aunt was like "All of them have their moments." For so long until Tushan Jing literally ruined it in the last few episodes and now she picked Xiang Liu as the man she is rooting for. I cheered. A clear winner!

I've officially finished season 1! Hurray for me!!!! On to my thoughts for this season.

Xiaoyao was such a baddie during these last few episodes. So glad she learned archery and I completely understand her thoughts process. She just wants a man who will never abandon her, never break his promise and never leaves her side and expresses it loudly. That's all she wants. Ironically, all three of them are like that but these losers are dumbasses. If she knew the sacrifices, the other two made, CAME from their LOVE, how they tried so HARD to save her, came out of genuine care AND LOVE, it might have triggered something in her.

Let's talk about male leads:

90% Xiang Liu:

WHY IS MY MAN TAKING SO MUCH BACK SEAT TREATMENT!!!!!! LET HIM OUT! Season 2 better give us more Xiang Liu cuz what is this? Maybe I'm crazy but I don't see my man anymore. It feels like he getting charity screentime. Anyway, I'm triggered by the fact this man is so secretive. Some of her first tears were for you. She doesn't cry for men but she cried for you. I need him to learn to use his mouth for what's its intended for. I'm actually confused that he went to Tushan Jing and gave him some insights on Xiaoyao. Like bro take your own damn advice. Use those lips to flap up and down how much you love Xiaoyao instead of doing all this.

You know what's funny? He pulls up so many scary faces when she triggers him out of jealous or when she wants him to abandon the mission. Babe calm down, I know you harmless marshmallow can only use that face card to appear threatening but you ain't shit. Always helping from behind the scenes.. I'm SICK OF YOU!!!

I love him. Please save my mannn from his shitty fate! I love his banter with Xiaoyao because it's always so fucked up but the real meaning is sweet. Like he said she needs to stop having her heart broken otherwise, he will kill her.... Awwwww so romantic and fucked up. I'm swooning but I'm also like... Oh... He was going to kill his sister and her baby to give her revenge... Awwwww so thoughtful! Baby, your heart in the right place and I trust it fully.

0% Tushan:

Civilization have risen and fallen and Tushan Jing still haven't broken off that engagement. I don't smoke but someone hand me a pack of cigarettes. OMG STRESS!!! Cang Xuan built an entire village and an entire forest and Tushan Jing STILL COULDN'T BREAK THIS ENGAGEMENT. As a matter a fact, he married her off????? Are you fking kidding me? They were calling him a genius early on, excuse me, WHERE???? It's crazy to me that he came up with central plains plan and covered up for Cang Xuan embezzlement yet can't see through the cheating between his brother and "wife".

What's pissing me off is the "he is so kind and sweet..." Like I know he is but they are using the "he is so kind and sweet and that's WHY he CAN'T break off the engagement BECAUSE he is KIND AND SWEET." Take this garbage writing away from my face right now. I don't know how he have fans but I send my sympathy to them because it's not easy liking such a boring ass character.

One of the biggest testimony that a character is a flop is if I take away Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan, and this story was purely ONLY Tushan Jing and Xiaoyao, this story is not a 10/10. Nobody will watch 30 - 40 episodes of man trying to break off an engagement (and this includes whatever BS we will get from season 2). Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan are working overtime to cover up his flaws so he appears good for the fans. If they weren't there, you would actually be more angry that you are watching a man can't cancel his marriage. It's downright pathetic because his enemies aren't even working overtime trying to win it. A green flag character like him will look RED among other green flags. The story relies on Xiang Liu, Cang Xuan and Xiaoyao to entertain us enough to over look his shitty writing. I would have dropped this drama long time ago if was just purely Tushan Jing plotline.

I'll even go a step further and tell you to take away Tushan Jing and Cang Xuan, and just look at Xiang Liu and Xiaoyao and their plotline is supported without help from others. Same can be said about Cang Xuan, I take away the other characters and you will still be entertained because their character writing is leagues above everyone else. Prayers and sorrows to whoever actually like him.

60% Fenglong: I love him. He is not a love interest but I accept him for Xiaoyao. He is very manly in a way of brotherhood and friendship. He is a loyal and naive man. He have a pure heart and I love that. Like he gets entertained when someone says something bold and finds them amusing. If his feelings for Xiaoyao was more than just buddies and delved deeper, he might actually be a shy and innocent character who doesn't know how to make his wife happy and will have many awkward encounters of trying to find tips and tricks on how to win her love. Omg, I don't think the show will go deep with him but I know if they did, he would be a cutie patootie.

100% Cang Xuan: Lethal face card when he got that crown on his head. I haven't cried once after Xiaoyao cried for her mom but I did when she got her heart broken and he comforted her by saying it's okay when his mom suicided because it happens to others. It was okay when his uncles tried to kill him because people have malicious family members, etc. Like ouch yet I felt comforted by his brave font. Eventually, this strong façade will be hard to keep up and he will break. Like how he married someone to keep Xiaoyao protected because he was worried she will be hunted by everyone and he needs as many allies by her side as he could. I thought he would marry her off but instead, him married himself off for her protection and getting enough power.

He is not a good fit for Xiaoyao but the amount of sacrifices he done for her really breaks my heart and make me wonder if he was honest with her, if he told her the truth, would it have changed anything? Would she have seen him differently? Him and Xiang Liu don't communicate because they don't want to ruin anything. I'm going to slap these two men. But I get them. She already told Xuan she doesn't like men like him in different ways.It would be hard to let your real feelings out and ruin what you already have but watching him cry silently to himself always is painful. He is miserable but he can't even show it.

They have such complex dynamic because they always have moments where they talk about everything, love, feelings, and pain and will sacrifice themselves for each other. He is just good at keeping that one secret hidden.

My sister isn't into Cdrama but I've been trying to get her to watch some. Unfortunately for her (LOL) she was like, "omg, Veil of Shadows seems good. We should watch this one next." I told her, "This show ain't coming out anytime SOON. I've been waiting for it since forever." She was shocked because she seen so many video and she feels like it was out because of the the amount of videos she seen so I came here to confirm if they have revealed the date yet or not but it seems like they STILL haven't 🤣

Omg, I'm so sorry. Was it this comment? Apologies. I haven't gotten around to finish it but I finally time today and I might finish season 1 tomorrow and find out why many people didn't like the ending fully. I probably wouldn't like it either but surviving out of my pure love for Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu.

2026... Guess I'll have to come again next year.

When is this drama gonna drop? 85k comments yet the show never aired. They going to kill us like this.

I checked when season 2 came and omg, almost an entire year later. Oh helllllll no. This would have pissed me off.

I thought the waiter would be dead but he actually had some grace to care more about his reputation than killing that guy.

Him scooting away is my favourite scene of his so far. Can't believe book fans didn't swoon over that.

AYO WHAT??? I'm trying to like Tushan Jing here 😭 literally looking for multiple positives angles and telling myself to think about his good qualities and you telling me I'll like him less...

I'm amused at the thought that he wants Xiaoyao to be like his buddy too. It makes him cute.

All of them could have been my men if Tushan Jing was more interesting than this 😔

Currently on ep 30.

Things were getting lukewarm and suddenly, they hitting us with a whiplash in ep 30. I was getting a little bit bored with the stale romance. I'm so glad Xiaoyao learned archery and there seems to be more to her story than just this. Let me guess though, they are not going to hit us with the amnesia plot point out of nowhere right??? Lol righhhttt???

Anyway, let's talk about the male leads.

80% Xiang Liu: I was starting to get a little bit pissed because it felt like the show was about to steal Xiang Liu scene of rescuing her (BECAUSE THAT IS HIS SCENE?!!) but fortunately, he is the one to save her. My man without any hesitation just infiltrated enemies headquarters to save her!! Aura. AURA! I love his liners. He knows how to hit.

Aside from that, the previous scenes that I liked was when he hid on her room as an assassin, kekeke.

"who do you want me to be."- Xiang Liu as Bai

Girl, he is starving! He is starving girl, feed him!

"Whoever you are." -Xiaoyao

DING! Wrong answer. He is waiting for you to say, "I want you to be Xiang Liu." That's what he wants to hear! Xiaoyao, you going to have to take exclusive lessons from me. We can't go on like this sis..

"Why not the neck." - Xiang Liu/Bai

I'm deceased. I guess the build up paid off because I'm screaming in the inside when he said that. His voice... I legitimate increased the volume and blasted it on my ears. He sounded so disappointed that he couldn't bite her neck. He looked pathetic, sad. Don't we love them sad boys? He pushed my deceased body into that grave. Worse, he literally NAILED my coffin so I don't get out when he refused to take more blood because she was hurt, laid his head on her pillow, remembered what she said and SCOOTED AWAY FROM HER. I can't do this. Let me out!

There is no way she doesn't like him, come on now? He literally had that chance with the way she looks at him she likes him for sure yet yet...

Another scene I liked was when they were like eating and waitress literally called him a broke man. Bro was tweaking so hard, I was convinced he would kill him but noooo, adorable marshmallow just wanted to sell his jade pendant to restore his honour 😭 "A man should pay the bills." End those podcast men, Xiang Liu. Our real, alpha male, provider.

30% Tushan: His rating was hitting 10% but he brought it up this last episode. I'm a little bit confused how he found out she was in danger but I'm assuming maybe her blood had properties that hinted to him the danger. I'll give him credit that even though I thought self suiciding was a little bit, not helpful, at least he chose to protect her body instead of his (even though he did it to die with her and protect her body) BUT it saved her life. I'll give him the bonus points for that. I felt sad for him there.

Scenes I liked from him was when the fireworks happened and she gave him a kiss. That's was fking adorable. The only other scene when he played the zither for the first time but that's about it. Maybe he will gain more redemption. He literally have the smart mind, I need him to use it moreeeee.

30% Fenglong: Adorable. He is a adorable but he is like, taking the backseat. I liked the scene when was gifting her unconventional gifts while his sister was having a breakdown about his naivety. It was cute but again, he is feeling more like a side character #6394

100% Cang Xuan: AND MY MAN, THANK YOU TO MY MAN! AND MY MAN, THANK YOU TO MY MAN! My man saved Xiaoyao and all our hubbies. I was ready to talk shit about him because Tushan was smart asf, Xiang Liu is strong asf, so what does he bring to the table except being useless??? Looooool but he stepped up.

Saved Tushan and got rid of his burns, "He deserves her favour, keep him alive." AHHH, my man. He recognised how good of a person Tushan was even though he was pissing us both with his bullshit engagement and CHOSE to save him for what he did, for Xiaoyao. My guy needs to be everyone big bro now LMAO he literally taking care of everyone.

What's crazy for me is Cang Xuan continues to play against himself. He been giving everyone a chance with Xiaoyao even before this scene and it's kinda funny.

Also, saved my hubby, Xiang Liu. Him being wise enough to let his enemies in and hear them out, Xiang Liu and Cang Xuan team up when??? I'm glad he is makes good decision and actually let him take her. Bro even gave him a dangerous promise to do anything for him even though Xiang Liu never asked for a favour. This man really plays against himself, omg.

Cang Xuan was getting backseat treatment but jumped right back up. My favourite scene is all his sad scenes.

"At least one of us should be happy, right?" - Cang Xuan

Broke my heart because it's like a defeat. He will agree to any man she wants as long as she is happy and never miserable. Damn... He cares about her more than himself.

Also the two scenes when he asked her to move away but SHE REFUSED and clutched into him. Again, the sad scenesss. When he took drugs and started to go mad... Saddddd.

He is very multiple dimensions. I felt like he was transitioning a little bit but now I see how the second half will go. She will be gone for multiple years and he won't be the same anymore.... Very curious to how his story will end because he have the SAD ENDING stamped into his forehead. I know I won't survive his ending nor Xiang Liu because I know he too, have that DEATH ENDING on his forehead too.

Please keep my men safe from this show ending pleasssseeee🙏

Anyway, my sister absolutely LOVES Xiang Liu. She likes Cang Xuan as a big brother for everyone and kinda felt sad that he will be miserable. Lastly, Tushan Jing... Her least favourite but he been gaining some favours with his kindness.

As for my aunt, she thinks everyone have their moments lmaaaaao she should start picking a side to make this spicy. I'll check on her again.

Have you read the book? I actually don't want spoilers right now but I'm curious to know how the book ended but first, I would like to see how the drama ended before the book so I can compare. I don't like to compare early because it makes me pissed off when they take a much worse decisions than the book.

So many people have said it gets more emotional and she actually does amazing job at it. I'll definitely finish it if season 2 dropped.

I'll give that drama another shot then.

I only seen 3 episodes. I just felt like there wasn't an acting going on but of course, I could be judging early. I'll be giving this show another time once season 2 comes out.

Thank you for your well wishes.

I literally slowed down on this exact episode and was wondering if I have the energy to watch the rest of the episodes but now I got sis and aunt so once they reach this point, (which is very soon lol cuz they on ep 21)

They already pass 20 episodes and finally, someone asked, how many episodes is this? If they knew it's 62, they might kill me 🤣

I really like this drama. I'm hoping the ending isn't too bad otherwise, I might have a crash out and rate the show badly if angry emotions are too high lol I usually don't get mad easily. I heard Tushan Jing ends with her and I'm like okay with it, not a big fan because he just not it but the journey of the other characters makes up for the bad choice of end game. I'm hoping at the stage I'm in, her ending with him doesn't make me more annoyed than usual.

Favourite is Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu especially my hubby Cang Xuan, can't wait to see his transition from where am at. I like Xiaoyao too because she is very multidimensional female lead and even though her romances sucks with Jing, she makes up for it with the range of romantic gesture and very real girlhood issues.

Guys I made a big mistake lmao. I'm almost at ep 30 but I tried to coax my sister into watching this by telling her I know who her type is in this drama and she basically was like, "You think you know my taste?" I said yessssss sir because I had full faith in my man Xiang Liu to get her.... and tell me why, I started this show at like 10PM and by the time, we reached episode 7, MY AUNT, decided to join in and watch too... And I thought, they, eventually will say, "That's enough, let's continue this another day." But NOOOOOO. AT 8AM I'm hearing, "Oh my god, why is the episodes to short." With my aunt agreeing??????????

I have NOT SLEPT GUYS! PULLED an all nighters and they were stilling saying this. My aunt had to be a responsible adult at some point and told us, to continue this another time.

Can this qualify as a 2nd lead in here? Because all three are considered male leads.

I bet it was. I feel like people probably argued a lot on who they prefer. This kind of shows kinda attracts this kind of discussions like how StartUp did even though there weren't multiple leads. Just people who liked the second lead a lot so it stared a clash with fans of the main lead / second lead.

Thanks for letting me know.

... The silence is loud, let's just say.

I know after all that smack talk I did previously just to switch up like that... Converted, transitioned, about to start a new religion.

I'm not usually funny. I'm flattered. I wasn't into Cdrama much pre-2023. I would maybe watch like 1-2 Cdrama a year. Last year, I decided to watch like 6 shows and I've decided I'm going to lock in for 2025 and watch more and more Cdrama because Kdrama been boring for me lately. It feels like not a lot of good shows coming out.