AH

Just as Kokuto said, XL escaped from the slave death match arena on his own. He must have fled back to the ocean (where he was born), because he ended up nearly being killed by a whirlpool in the ocean.

It's unclear whether XL was already badly wounded from his escape when he encountered the whirlpool (thus explaining why he was endangered by the whirlpool in the first place, when he would normally avoid it) or if he was still being pursued when he reached the ocean so he tried to use the whirlpool to escape from his pursuers but ended up endangering his own life and getting badly injured by the whirlpool. IMO, the first option seems more likely. Although it's worth noting that XL didn't trust Gong Gong (Hong Jiang) and some time after Gong Gong saved him he fled to the far north to escape and hide from his pursuers. Meaning that he didn't feel that he had fully escaped from his pursuers even after Gong Gong saved him.

Gong Gong saved XL from the whirlpool, treated XL's wounds, and taught XL a healing technique before he ran away. XL later used that healing technique to develop his own fighting technique while he was hiding in the far north.

The snake demon that kept XY company when she was a child was definitely not XL for at least two reasons.

First, the snake demon from that time was killed by the nine-tailed fox that stole XY away and kept her captive for 30 years. Although XL has nine lives, the drama shows us exactly when he lost each of those lives. One life (and one head) were lost when he saved XY's life after her assassination. Two lives (and two more heads) were lost when XL killed the Lovers Bugs. The rest of his lives were lost in the final battle. So in the drama XL definitely didn't lose a life to a nine-tailed fox during XY's childhood.

Second, the snake demon from that time (after young XY ran away from Jade Mountain) had not cultivated enough to manifest a human form before it was killed. It only had enough cultivation to understand what XY was saying (like Chubby). Whereas at that point in time (70+ years after the battle between forces led by Chi Chen and the Princess General) XL's human form was several hundred years old. He had already taken over FFB's identity for over 170 years and he had joined the remnant army ~70 years prior (shortly after that battle).

IMO, when XY described her experiences with the snake demon and nine-tailed fox, XL realized how lonely and difficult her childhood had been. And that she had been held captive and tortured and had to free herself when she was young. Which was similar to his childhood experience where he never knew his parents, he was enslaved, and he was forced to fight for his life in the death match arena from a young age until he freed himself.

Added, thanks!

It's a bit different from some of the others in this list since some of the things the FL said were exaggerated and some were outright lies and she said those things while recording the conversation because she knew she was being set up. But the ML clearly enjoyed hearing what she said anyway and in any case it does fit the description for this list.

You're welcome!

You'll probably get different answers from different fans based on their own interpretations. The novel helps provide some insight. Based on that, IMO it was a bit of both. She was attracted by YSQ's looks and body (hence the blushing that was such an important moment for YSQ) and she had the beginning of romantic feelings for YSQ (17) that she tried to cut off, but those feelings hadn't solidified yet in QS Town, and she also did feel a certain level of care and pity for him.

In the novel, the dragon bone prison confession scene happens in chapter 8. In chapter 14, YSQ/TSJ still feels that XY didn't love him yet and that she mainly felt care and pity for him, so he refused her kiss at that point (because he wants her love, not her care and pity). Later on he accepts her kiss and in chapter 22 XY's existing feelings for TSJ grow stronger after finding out that TSJ sought death when he thought that XY was dead.

Also, just as a tip to avoid confusion, most fans use "XL" for Xiang Liu (the white-haired demon) and "WXL" for Wen Xiao Liu / "XY" for Xiao Yao (the female lead). ^^

"He did use TSJ - because if he returned Jing to Xiaoyao, then she won't need to avenge him anymore.

...

That was the Xiangliu - he will want his army to survive if possible. He wasn't planning for them to die. He only chose to die with them when there was no other way out. Xiaoyao was his last move to get rid of Cangxuan - he could use her to save his troops."

-

We've discussed this before, but that interpretation differs pretty significantly from my interpretation.

I don't think that XL wanted to use TSJ's death to get XY to kill CX (or any other prominent person in Xuan Yuan).

I think XL wanted to use TSJ's death to get XY to permanently free herself from the hold that CX had on her, because she wouldn't be able to have the lifetime of worry-free happiness that XL wished for her to have (with TSJ!) unless and until she was able to free herself from CX.

From the very beginning XL knew that the Shengnong remnant army's cause was a lost one. Each and every solider was committed to fighting until their death and none of them expected to survive. That was the path they chose for themselves, and death on the battlefield (the "best" death for a general) was clearly the ending that XL foresaw for himself. When XL had WXL help him get medicine for his comrades all the way back in chapter 5, XL knew he was only prolonging their lives temporarily and that their deaths were inevitable, but he wanted to at least let them die the way they wanted to die: as soldiers on the battlefield, facing the Xuan Yuan army.

相柳面无表情，进了屋子，淡淡说：“如果能尽快弄到药，至少让他们可以多活一段日子。他们是战士，即使要死，也应该死在黄帝的军队前。”

If XL's #1 priority had been to save his comrades lives and to advance their cause even if he had to hurt XY to do so, there were other steps he could have taken (instead of trying to manipulate XY to kill CX or other leaders in Xuan Yuan) that would have been more effective.

To destablilize Xuan Yuan, XL could have spread rumours (true rumours) about CX's feelings for XY and the fact that CX was behind the killing of the Tushan Clan leader in order to prevent XY from marrying TSJ. He could even have spread further rumours (false rumours, but ones that would be difficult for CX to refute since he claimed that FFB was killed by his men) that CX had hired FFB to take XY away from her wedding with Feng Long and then had FFB killed.

He could have used TSJ as a hostage to make demands from the Tushan Clan.

Or, to really put CX in a bind, XL could have revealed the true nature of the bug connection between himself and XY to CX so that CX would be aware that if his army killed XL, XY would likely die too. He also could have used the bug connection to cause XY immense pain and threatened to use the bug connection to kill XY if CX did not give in to his demands.

CX would be compelled to comply with XL's demands not only out of desperation to save XY because he loved her and couldn't bear the thought of living without her, but also because of the guilt he would feel knowing that the bug connection between XL and XY was only established because XY needed to transfer the bug out of CX and into a different host. So CX might feel that he was partly responsible for any pain that XY experienced, and any danger to her life, that was caused by the bug connection beetween XY and XL.

-----

"I am sure he had other ways to 'return Jing' if he chose to, such as use the merfolk who are not directly affiliated with him in the first place. See how Xiaoyao in the novel just thought of thanking the mer couple, she never even thought XL was involved."

-

How is that an "other way" to return TSJ though?

Using the mercouple to hide his involvement was the exact method that XL did use to return TSJ to XY... after he obtained XY's blood (which he needed in order to revive TSJ) and after XY got to the point where she was able to free herself from CX's hold.

-----

"Xiaoyao had her own means to cure Jing, instead of needing Xiangliu to take so much of her blood at one go because he knew he needed to wake Jing up asap - since Xiaoyao was about to become the Queen mother after she tried to kill CX."

-

We don't know that XY would have been able to revive TSJ on her own. The life-saving pill that she made for TSJ wasn't enough to revive him. It was only enough to prevent him from dying from the injuries that TSH inflicted against him.

And it's possible that XL might have used methods that only he was capable of using in order to revive TSJ. For example, as you and I have discussed before, some fans speculate that XL used one of his extra lives (in addition to XY's blood) to create the jewel that he used to revive TSJ. If that was the case, then it seems very possible that XY would not have been able to revive TSJ on her own.

Also, at the time that XL took XY's blood from her in order to create the jewel that he used to revive TSJ, XY was not about to immenently become the Royal Mother. Six months passed between the time when XL collected the blood from XY and the time when XY realized that CX was behind TSJ's death. At that point, XY didn't choose to become the next Royal Mother. She chose to poison herself. She only decided to become the Royal Mother after XL saved XY's life. And XL had already ordered the mercouple to revive TSJ before XY came to that decision.

TSJ was revived five days before he arrived on Jade Mountain in the middle of XY's Royal Mother ascension ceremony. Three days before the ceremony, XY made the decision to become the next Royal Mother after she woke up and the then-current Royal Mother offered the position to her. Four days before the ceremony, XL saved XY's life. So if TSJ was revived five days earlier, XL must have ordered the mercouple to revive TSJ before XL saved XY's life and before she decided to become the next Royal Mother.

-----

"Over the six years of Xiaoyao's pining, Xiangliu wanted Xiaoyao to hunt down who killed TSJ. She herself analyzed that he hoped that she would make mistakes along the way and kill the other clan leaders that she suspected, so that the Central plains can destabilize. When Xiaoyao still didn't get to the right conclusion, he finally gave her the last piece of information she needed on the night he failed to kill Cangxuan himself."

-

For six and a half years after TSJ disappeared, XY had no idea that anyone other than TSH (who was already dead) was behind TSJ's death. She didn't do any hunting during that time.

Then, at the six and a half year mark, XL made XY aware that someone else was behind TSJ's death, and gave her all the clues she needed to realize that the person responsible was CX... although it still took her six months to figure it out because she simply couldn't believe that CX would ever hurt her that way... especially if he were to do so because of his feelings for her.

XY had to come to that realization herself (without XL directly giving her the answer) in order for her to really believe it and to finally get to the point where she could leave CX forever.

And XL didn't want XY to realize that he was giving this information to her for her own benefit. He wanted her to think that he was giving this information to her in order to use her and manipulate her. Just like everything else he did for her in secret without letting her realize his true intentions.

-----

"He did that even knowing that Xiaoyao might get killed trying to kill CX."

-

Like I said, I don't think that XL's goal was to get XY to kill CX. But I do think he wanted XY to realize that CX killed TSJ for another reason (so that she could free herself from CX) and that XL likely would have anticipated that that realization would lead to a confrontation between XY and CX, which could have involved some risks for XY's safety.

But XL would have known that CX would never let his guards kill XY. The Yellow Emperor and Left Ear also wouldn't let CX's guards kill XY. And XL made XY promise in chapter 43 that she would live.

In chapter 44, XY and Left Ear were able to survive even when they had to face dozens of assassins on their own. Assassins that Feng Long later admitted were his best guards.

And, in the very unlikely circumstance that CX, the Yellow Emperor, Left Ear, and XY herself all failed to protect XY's life from CX's guards, we've already seen a circumstance where XY was subjected to horrific injuries from a brutal assassination that left her clinically dead... And yet XL was able to save her life after she suffered those injuries. Although the bug connection wasn't a 100% guarantee that XY couldn't be killed, it did make it much more difficult to kill her compared to other people.

And the "zero" risk alternative wasn't really "zero" risk. If XY never realized that CX killed TSJ, never realized that CX was willing to kill the man she wanted to marry and to hurt her deeply in order to keep her by his side, and never got to the point where she would be willing to leave CX forever... she would spend the next few hundred or thousand years trapped in a life that could never make her happy. She'd continue to view CX as her closest person and she'd continue to think that she would willingly give CX anything, including her life, if he asked. If she tried to leave, CX would reel her back in eventually, every time. And that life not only wouldn't make XY happy, it also placed her at the epicenter of the world's political schemeing where she would constantly face threats to her safety.

Maybe more patience with fellow fans and less patience with the drama script writers, so it all balances out. ^^

soTreeD and I have had several discussions about our interpretations of various details in the novel (and the drama too, to a lesser extent). Sometimes our interpretations are pretty much the same and sometimes they are quite different. But like I've said before, I prefer to have these dicussions with fans who have a variety of perspectives. That's more interesting and I feel like I end up with a better understanding of the story that way.

But XL never used TSJ as a bargaining chip?

XL needed XY's blood to revive TSJ and he needed to obtain the blood from XY and to get it to TSJ in a way where both TSJ and XY would have no idea that XL was responsible for reviving TSJ. An opportunity for XL to do that finally arose in chapter 46, six and half years after TSJ disappeared.

And XL needed to time TSJ's return right so that XY realized that CX was responsible for TSJ's death and was fully prepared to cut off her relationship with CX and to leave him in a way that was permanent. That objective was achieved in chapter 47 and chapter 49.

XL also needed to kill the bugs in order to break the bug connection between him and XY so that his death in the final battle would not cause XY's death. XL's opportunity to acheive that objective finally arose in chapter 48.

And, again, XL needed to ensure that both of those things happened without XY realizing that XL caused those things to happen for XY's benefit. For XY's sake, he needed XY to believe that he had no feelings for her.

After those steps were achieved in chapters 47, 48 and 49 (six months after the events of chapter 46), TSJ returned in chapter 49. He woke up five days before he arrived on Jade Mountain. The Royal Mother ascension ceremony took place three days after XY woke up. So XL must have ordered the mercouple to wake TSJ up before he saved XY's life and broke the bug connection.

And, IMO, TSJ arrived at the perfect moment. Everything that needed to happen between XY and CX and everything that needed to happen between XY and XL happened AND TSJ was able to stop XY from becoming the Royal Mother.

----

I agree that the drama made it very difficult to tell how long TSJ had been missing before he returned. It definitely didn't feel like seven years had passed.

I also agree that the drama changes were unrealistic and that they were a lot of disappointing moments in this adaptation despite having a great cast.

I partly agree and partly disagree.

In the novel, TSJ would have floated in the ocean unconscious, just as he did in the drama.

And it was noted in the novel (when the Xuan Yuan army was still looking for TSJ) that sea monsters would love the opportunity to eat up an unconscioius deity. IMO, the fact that he wasn't eaten by sea monsters while he was unconscious and defenseless in the ocean for such a long time implied that he was protected by XL or by merpeople acting on his orders.

In the novel, TSJ was looked after and woken up by a mercouple, and TSJ was intentionally kept in the dark so that he didn't realize the mercouple was acting on XL's orders and had used the blood jewel that XL created from XY's blood to revive him.

It's not outright stated, but context implies that TSJ summoned Li Li (his winged mount / crane) after he woke up. He definitely flew to XY on Li Li and arrived in time to stop her from becoming the Royal Mother.

So, in principle, I don't take issue with the drama showing TSJ floating in the ocean or with the drama showing XL protecting TSJ from sea monsters because one definitely happened and the other probably happend in the novel (although I did find that scene to be... not great). But I am disappointed that the mercouple's involvement was removed, and that TSJ's dramatic arrival (on Li Li) at Jade Mountain to interrupt XY's Royal Mother ascension ceremony was changed to TSJ just popping up at the Jade Mountain lake in such an underwhelming fashion.

I didn't think this part of the drama made XL look better. By removing the fact that he used the blood jewel to save TSJ and by removing the mercouple's involvement, I thought it actually diminished XL's role.

I felt like the drama made TSJ a more active participant in the saving of his own life (by adding the scene where we see him trying to escape from the underwater cave, without XL's help or the help of any other person). But I do think that the drama significiantly diminished the scene where he returned by removing the whole Royal Mother ascension ceremony, removing XY imagining TSJ before the ceremony, changing the way he appeared (i.e., not on Li Li) and by having CX tell the audience that he was alive before he appeared.

Thanks for having the discussion! ^^

“Thanks for taking the time to share the novel and fan speculations.”

You’re welcome!

—

“The drama had XL showing up randomly out at sea was really speechless for me. They want him to have a hand in 'saving Jing' so badly.”


XL being involved in saving TSJ is such a critical part of XL’s “means of protecting yourself, person to rely on, place to go” arc and that arc was already so watered down in the drama… I feel like they had to have XL be involved in saving TSJ some way / to some degree. But I agree that the five-second sea monster showdown scene felt forced. I would have preferred something closer to how it was handled in the novel. But I guess that would have required more screen time to explain.

—

“In the novel its never clear how XL 'gave his life' in the first place, since a life is hardly a quantifiable item.”

I agree that the exact specifics of the 血咒 or 蛊术种方法 that XL used when he sacrificed a life to extend XY’s life in chapter 22 are never explained.

Although we do see XL use blood magic and the sacrifice of a life (or two lives, in the drama) to kill the Lovers Bugs. So I imagine it would probably be somewhat similar.

—

“It’s not clear what is 本命精血, and how much XL has to give in order for it to be considered a 'life’.”

I thought the two concepts were separate. XL sacrificed a life to extend XY’s life in chapter 22 and (additionally) he transferred his essential blood to XY on every full moon for 37 years in order to slowly heal the horrific wounds she sustained in the assassination attempt / to revive her after she locked up her consciousness and her senses.

In chapter 48 of the novel, XL might have sacrificed another life to save XY or he might not (it’s not clear) but he used blood magic on the shell where XY slept and he transferred his essential blood to her once, and that seemed to be enough to heal her poison.

—

“How I saw it was, Xiangliu healed Xiaoyao over the years but her lifespan was her own original lifespan. He re-ignited her 'engine' with his own life force ( xianxia medical science haha ) after healing her body over the years, but her body has now been permanently 'mutated' by his blood. Perhaps the first time to evolve her needed decades, but at the Yao chi he only needed a moment since her body was now similar to his, so the way to re-ignite her life force will take only a moment. The act of reigniting her life does not seem to involve killing one of his own lives.”

Oh that’s an interesting theory. The idea that XL could heal XY much faster in chapter 48 compared to chapter 22 because the transfusions XY received in chapter 22 had already made XY more like XL. I personally thought that XL’s blood transfusions making XY more like XL was just a byproduct of the healing process, rather than a necessary part of the process. But I always thought the discrepancy (37 years’ worth of transfusions vs. one transfusion) seemed odd. So I’m open to hearing theories that can help explain the difference.

—

“Anyway the drama changed it so that Xiaoyao was not dead now and didn't need to be revived.
The drama team suddenly changed the condition to using 2 lives to kill the bugs when in the novel XL only used 1 life to lure the bugs into himself and kill them.”

Yes, the drama got rid of XY poisoning herself and XL saving her from that lethal dose of poison in chapter 48. And they changed the number of lives that XL sacrificed to lure out and kill the bugs from one to two. I guess in an attempt to make up the difference?

—

“He told Bi Jun, one more life doesn't matter on the battle field, that's why I always thought Xiangliu went for the final battle with 8 lives intact.”

When XL said that line to Sir Bi in the novel (and to the Royal Mother in the drama), I interpreted it as XL saying, “No need to bother healing my wounds. I’ve just sacrificed another life (or two) and if I lose one more life due to my injuries that doesn’t matter. Whether I have one more life or one less life against the Xuan Yuan army, it doesn’t matter because I’m planning to lose all of my remaining lives (no matter how many or how few there are) in the final battle against Xuan Yuan so I can die on the battlefield with my comrades anyway.”

You're welcome. I'm always happy to discuss excerpts from the novel. ^^

Yes, it seems that they created the one head = one life dynamic for the drama. I imagine they added that visual as a way to better help the drama viewers understand exactly when XL did and did not sacrifice a life in the drama and understand how many lives he had left in the final battle.

---

In chapter 22, we have this passage, from XY's internal thoughts during the 37 years of healing:

又不知道过了多久，小夭只能估摸着至少过了很多年，因为相柳给她疗伤了很多次，多得她已经记不住了。

渐渐地，小夭的感觉越来越清晰，当相柳拥抱着她时，她甚至能感受到他的体温，也开始清楚地意识到流入她身体的温暖是什么，那应该是相柳的血液。和一般的血液不同，有着滚烫的温度，每一滴血，像一团小火焰。小夭只能推测也许是相柳的本命精血。

相柳把自己的本命精血喂给她，但大概他全身都是毒，血液也是剧毒，所以他又必须再帮她把血液中蕴含的毒吸出来。

小夭知道蛊术中有一种方法，能用自己的命帮另一个人续命，如果相柳真的是用自己的命给她续命，她希望他真的有九条命，让给她一条也不算太吃亏。

XY is speculating here because, narratively, it's impossible for anyone other than XL to know for sure, and we aren't shown XL's POV here. But I think we (the readers) are supposed to understand that XY's speculation here is accurate.

---

We also have the line of dialogue that you quoted, where XY was trying to answer CX's question about how XL saved her life while feigning ignorance of the details (the blood transfusions, for example). IMO, her apparent "uncertainty" is a cover because she doesn't want to have to tell CX all the details she became aware of near the end of the 37 years of healing. Better to pretend to CX that she was completely unaware of everything until she woke up and that she could only use her knowledge of 蛊术 to speculate to CX about how XL saved her.

颛顼询问小夭，相柳如何救活了她了。

小夭说道：“我一直昏迷着，具体我也不清楚，应该和我种给他的蛊有关，靠着他的生气，维系住了我的一线生机，然后他又施行了某种血咒之术，用他的命替我续命。”

---

In chapter 26, we also have this line from XY, where she mentions XL's nine lives (highlighting the fact that he had extra lives to spare and would be able to do what he had done in chapter 22 again) and the fact that he saved / extended her life (back in chapter 22) and that she became more like XL as a result. So she wonders, if she were to die again and XL were to save her life / extend it again (presumably in the same way he did in chapter 22 - with blood transfusions and the sacrifice of one of his extra lives), would she become even more like XL?

以前，不管她再喜欢水，水是水，她是她，纵使含了鱼丹，也隔着一层。可这一次，却觉得她在水中游，水在她身流，她就是水的一部分，她永远待在水里，她可以永远待在水里。

相柳突然问：“是不是感觉很奇怪？”

小夭自如地转了几个圈，游到相柳身前，面朝着相柳，倒退着往前漂：“是很奇怪，我的身体和以前完全不一样了。”

相柳淡淡说：“这就是你活下去需要付出的代价，变成一只怪物。”

小夭愣住，想起了有一次相柳为她疗伤时说 “不要恨我。”

。。。

相柳没理会小夭，自顾向前游去，小夭抓着他衣袖，紧紧地跟着他：“我的身体是变得和别人不一样了，可我没觉得这是为了续命付出的代价，简直就是得了天大的好处！我高兴还来不及呢！”

相柳依旧不理小夭，但也没甩掉小夭的手。

小夭一边琢磨，一边絮絮叨叨地说：“你是九头妖怪，有九条命，你为我续了一次命，我变得和你一样在海里自由来去。你说，如果我再死一次，你再为我续一次命，我会不会变得和你……”

相柳盯着小夭，面沉如水。

---

Edit: I missed your last question.

"Also in the novel, Xiangliu did not expend any life to save TSJ right? He only used Xiaoyao's own blood condensed with his spirit power into a pill?"

The novel never explicitly says that XL used one of his extra lives to save TSJ's life.

However, some fans have speculated that he might have needed to sacrifice a life to save TSJ's life, and that perhaps he made that sacrifice when he created the jewel from XY's blood, as he was exhausted (seemingly way more exhausted than he should have been) after turning the blood into a jewel.

But, to me, that speculation is reaching a bit. I'd say the probability that this fan speculation is accurate is probably lower.

相柳不言不动，一直含笑看着眼前的水鼎。鼎身透明，能清楚地看到里面的鲜血，灵气流溢，煞是好看。他双掌缓缓伸出，催动灵力，蓝绿色的光影急剧地闪烁变幻，犹如有无数流星在飞舞，水鼎渐渐收缩，最后凝聚成了一个鸽子蛋般大小的血红珠子，落在相柳的掌心。

凝血为珠的举动好似耗费了相柳很多灵力，他脸色发白，手轻颤，闭目休息了好一会儿后，撮唇为哨，发出只有水族能听到的低啸。一会儿后，远处的湖面起了波澜，水花中，一个鲛人乘风破浪，疾驰而来，行到相柳面前，恭敬地停住。

相柳把血红的珠子递给鲛人，鲛人小心翼翼地接过，用一个金天氏特殊锻造过的蓝色贝壳藏好。相柳用鲛人的语言吩咐了他几句，鲛人仔细地听完，甩着鱼尾对相柳行了一礼，转身向着大海的方向疾驰而去。

相柳目送着他的身影消失在湖面上后，低下头，看着胸口的小箭，伸手轻轻抚过，手在箭上停驻了一瞬。他无声地叹了口气，猛然一用力将箭拔出，随着鲜血的喷出，他好似累了，直挺挺地躺倒在水面上，仰望着天空，笑容慢慢淡去。

With the "one head = one life" add in the drama, we know for certain that XL did not sacrifice a life to save TSJ in the drama (in addition to not using the blood jewel on TSJ / not utilizing merpeople to help save TSJ). Drama!XL only expended spiritual energy to protect TSJ's body from sea monsters briefly (just long enough for Lirong Chang to safely collect TSJ's body).

The novel references (in both chapter 22 and chapter 26) that XL sacrificed one of his lives for XY in chapter 22 to extend her life after the assassination attempt against her. And yet in chapter 46 his true form has all nine heads. So I think we must conclude that the novel is different from the drama and the number of heads that XL's true form has in the novel does not reflect the number of lives he has left / the number of lives he has sacrificed up to that point.

You're welcome!

Thanks for providing the link Kokuto. ^^

They knew what they were doing, turning the ending we got into an open one!

1) The baby is not really TSJ's. He is the son of TSH (TSJ's half-brother) and FFYY.

2) Fangfeng Yi Yang was an "appropriate" person for TSJ to marry. FFYY was selected to be his fiancee by his mother before she died. After TSJ disappered, FFYY loyally stayed with the Tushan family and served TSJ's grandmother. She is seen as being very loyal and filial. Also, TSJ's grandmather wanted to maintain the Tushan clan's policy of staying out of clan and royal politics. FFYY's identity did not create any problems in that respect.

In FFFYY's case, she was from a small clan that was fairly low in the social hierarchy. She wanted to be the Tushan clan leader's wife because that would give her high status, power, and immense wealth. Also, after a decade of acting like TSJ's wife, her reputation would have been ruined if the wedding didn't happen. And she was in love with TSH (who was married at the time). She wanted to stay near TSH and TSH wanted to use FFYY to hurt TSJ and to steal the clan leadership position from him - through a son if necessary.

3) TSJ's mother selected FFYY to be his fiancee when she was sick and dying. TSJ wasn't in love with anyone back then and was very worried about his mother, so he agreed to her choice without even meeting FFYY. He did not meet FFYY before TSH tortured him / before he was saved by WXL and became YSQ. He only met her after his identity as TSJ was exposed and he had to return to the Tushan clan.

4) TSJ's grandmother liked FFYY and did not like that TSJ was pushing to go against her in order to push for the engagement to be broken so that he could marry XY as his only wife. She also didn't want TSJ to marry XY because of XY's identity. She was the princess of Haoling and CX's "meimei". CX was fighting for the crown prince position in Xiyan and was very much involved in political schemeing / royal and clan politics. If TSJ married XY at that point in the story, he would be getting the Tushan clan involved in such things against the clan's rules, and TSJ's grandmother did not want that to happen.

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Gao Xing = Haoling

Gao Xing Grand Emperor = the King of Haoling

Yellow Emperor = the King of Xiyan

Xuan Yuan = Xiyan

Zhuan Xu = Cang Xuan

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Chapter 22:

The Grand Madam saw Xiao Yao very casual and didn’t try to get close to her, plus she kept an eye on Xiao Yao secretly these last few days, and had decided Jing had good taste. It was too bad she was a Princess.

After Xiao Yao left, the Grand Madam sent everyone away except for Jing.

When they were alone, the Grand Madam asked Jing, “Do you want to marry the Gao Xing Princess?”

Jing answered clearly, “Yes!”

The Grand Madam sighed. “It’s too bad she’s the Gao Xing Princess, and also the granddaughter of the Yellow Emperor! You know the number one rule of our clan is that we do not get involved with politics between the royals. The Four Great Clans have remained so powerful because we do not get involved. Xiao Yao is the Princess but she’s not in Five Gods Mountain but instead by the side of the Xuan Yuan Prince Zhuan Xu. She’s clearly picking sides on the battle for the Xuan Yuan throne succession. She’s not a woman who can be underestimated. I don’t want the Tu Shan clan dragged in. Right now the vast wilderness is at peace but I calculate that the Xuan Yuan Yellow Emperor and the Gao Xing Grand Emperor will inevitably battle each other. Xiao Yao will bring danger to the Tu Shan clan. It’s not that I don’t like her, but for the Tu Shan clan, even if your engagement with Yi Yang is dissolved, I still won’t agree to let you marry Xiao Yao.”

Jing thought his grandmother would see Xiao Yao and change her mind but her mind was even more firmly set. He kneeled down to plead “The Four Great Clans have their self-preservation rules but rules were set thousands of years ago by ancestors and the situation has changed now. It’s not always correct and we need to change according to the times.”

The Grand Madam’s goodwill towards Xiao Yao evaporated in an instant and she harshly rebuked, “You are the clan leader, how can you say such awful words? You’ve been well-behaved since childhood and when have you become as careless as Feng Long? Did the Gao Xing Princess teach you this?”

“No, Xiao Yao never said this, it’s my own observation after seeing the current situation.”

The Grand Madam didn’t believe him and was sure Xiao Yao pressured him and wanted to use the Tu Shan clan to help Zhuan Xu get the crown. “Tu Shan Jing, as clan leader you cannot overthrow our ancestral rules for a woman! How can you…..” The Grand Madam couldn’t continue as she pressed her chest to catch her breath.

Jing hurriedly transferred power to her. “Grandmother, Grandmother, please take care!”

The Grand Madam said, “You promise your grandmother that you’ll give up the Gao Xing Princess.”

Jing remained kneeling and said nothing, only bowing his head repeatedly.

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