Tong Hua tends to write tragedies. But, this one has a happy ending for the FL.
Please use the spoiler tag for comments about the ending.
In the main two Tong Hua novels / drama adaptations I'm familiar with, the FL and her main love interest ride off into the sunset and get their happy ending while a devoted and exceptionally self-sacrificing secondary male lead has a tragic / bittersweet ending. So only partly tragic.
And then there's Once Promised... but I consider that the first half of a story that is completed by LYF.
How come Xiang Liu is the last one to arrive!? Or no where in the scene!?He is the supposed to have felt her pain…
You're welcome ^^
Yeah I forgot about the hair stroking tbh. It feels rather OOC for him.
The Grand Madam is absolutely obsessed. I cut some of her dialogue from the scene (she was lecturing him), but it was kind of satisfying that he just up and left in the middle of her lecture without saying anything.
How come Xiang Liu is the last one to arrive!? Or no where in the scene!?He is the supposed to have felt her pain…
This is how the scene is portrayed in a flashback in chapter 50:
That night Zhuan Xu woke up again and got dressed before waking Xiao Yao. “Grandmother is near death.” He got her robe to dress her.
Xiao Yao was so sleepy she curled into the blanket. “It’s just a nightmare, I’ll sing to you.”
Zhuan Xu said, “Xiao Yao, be good! Stop sleeping and get dressed to go see Grandmother one last time so she doesn’t worry. In the future……” Zhuan Xu started crying...
Just as Xiao Yao got dressed Auntie Ju Li rushed into the room intending to wake the kids and was shocked to see them standing hand-in-hand by the door. She didn’t think more of it and grabbed them both. “We need to see Her Highness the Empress. Remember, whatever she says to you both, listen carefully and remember always.”
---
This is ZX's reaction after XY's assassination in chapter 21:
Sheng Nong Mountain, Zhi Jin Summit. Inside a room, Zhuan Xu was sitting on the pallet with his back against the wall as Xiao Xiao was sprawled on his knee while he stroked her hair and listened with a lazy demeanor about the latest palace renovation update.
Suddenly Zhuan Xu felt his heart was jumbled and he almost couldn’t breathe. He pushed Xiao Xiao aside and stood up...
Zhuan Xu’s face was confused as he tried to remember, and then he remembered that when his father died tens of thousands of miles away, he had the same worry and confusion. Zhuan Xu’s entire demeanor changed and he said to Xiao Xiao, “You immediately bring people to Zhi Yi to find Xiao Yao and bring her to see me. No matter what happens you have to keep her safe.”
“Yes!” Xiao Xiao turned and left.
---
And this is TSJ's reaction, also in chapter 21:
Qing Qiu, the Tu Shan clan residence. The Grand Madam was in a room with Jing, Yi Yang, Hou, Hou’s wife Lan Mu...
At that moment the satchel on Jing’s waist suddenly snapped and fell on the ground. Jing stared and then picked it up and felt an ominous feeling. Xiao Yao gave him this satchel! Jing’s face changed and he rushed out the door with nothing on his mind but one thought: Xiao Yao, he had to find Xiao Yao immediately...
The Grand Madam said “Something must’ve happened. Jing can sense it but doesn’t know exactly what it is... The true descendants of the Tu Shan clan bloodline possess this power. It cannot be described or explained but is a sensation of something big about to happen. From the ancient times until now, the Tu Shan clan leader may not have the strongest powers but we have become one of the most powerful clans because of this special ability which helps the clan avoid calamity.”
The Grand Madam glanced at Hou and then at the Nine-tailed fox drawing on the wall before saying, “Jing is destined to be the next clan leader!”
How come Xiang Liu is the last one to arrive!? Or no where in the scene!?He is the supposed to have felt her pain…
TSJ has the ability to sense calamities, which (as Ari_Lee mentioned) is an ability that certain members of the Tu Shan clan are born with and which has helped save the clan in the past.
ZX has the ability to sense when one of his closest loved ones has died or is on the brink of death. He knew (without being told) when his grandmother was about to die and also when another family member died (I think it was his father, but I'd need to check to be sure).
How come Xiang Liu is the last one to arrive!? Or no where in the scene!?He is the supposed to have felt her pain…
XL has to cover by far the furthest distance and Chubby can only fly so fast. TSJ, ZX and ZX's people have their own winged mounts.
When he gets close, XL needs to enter the heavily protected / fortified castle where ZX is keeping XY's body. Even if he switched mounts (which would take time) and changed his appearance, he would still be stopped and wouldn't be able to access the castle quickly.
So he faces it all head-on as XL - breaking barriers and single-handedly fighting all of the soldiers defending the castle. And while he's doing all of that, he's also trying to keep XY alive through the connection.
I'm watching this now and currently am on ep 20. Can somebody explain what's diffrerence between deities and demons?I…
TSJ is part demon.
---
A deity can be a mortal human who achieved quasi-immortality / longevity through cultivation or the offspring of a deity.
---
A demon is a plant spirit or an animal that trained and evolved enough to develop a human form and the same kinds of powers and quasi-immortality / longevity as a deity. Or the offspring of a demon. In rare cases, a deity can become a demon (e.g., XY's mother unleashes the power of the sun, incinerates her goddess spirit, and briefly turns into a demon before becoming something else).
Demons (like Left Ear) can safely eat raw meat, while deities (like XY) cannot.
Plant Spirits: XY and ZX's aunt (a wife of their eldest uncle) was a wood spirit. She ran a spy network and brought Jin Xuan to ZX. Jin Xuan was also a wood demon and was one of ZX's most loyal people. When XY and FFB spend time together, they visit shops owned by flower demons. In chapter 42, FFYY mentions a water grass demon.
Animals: The snake that XY encountered in the mountains hadn't achieved a human form yet, but it had evolved enough to understand human speech. Chubby is the same. When XY knew Ah Bi as a child, he was a winged fox who had not achieved a human form yet. When she meets him later in the novel, he had trained enough to gain a human form.
---
Chapter 15:
“This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years. She chose to kill herself to destroy the demon soul and remove all her god powers...
When Eldest Uncle was alive, he built a vast information network that Auntie Zhu Yu ran. When he died, the network only listened to Auntie... About a hundred years ago she did bring Jin Xuan to Gao Xing to find me. She handed the network to me per Auntie’s orders before she left for battle. Jin Xuan is also a wood demon...
---
Chapter 9:
Later I talked to a snake demon in training but it didn’t want to talk to me. I stole its egg so it would chase me every day to kill me. I would run and talk to it. It understood what I was saying but hadn’t developed the ability to talk yet so I would talk for it and converse with myself.
---
Chapter 10:
"...Also Ah Bi has now evolved into human form and he is called Sir Bi so when you see him be respectful.”
Xiao Liu remembered her childhood on Jade Mountain. Lie Yang was a demon bird that looked like a phoenix. His human form was that of a ten year old boy but he didn’t like to take his human form... Ah Bi was a winged fox demon but had not yet trained to evolve into human form back then... After so many years apart, Ah Bi now had a human form...
---
Chapter 12:
Xiao Liu knew the demons who achieved human form were very reluctant to transform into their true form in front of people. But Ah Bi willingly transformed back to his true form so that Xiao Liu wouldn’t feel distant.
---
Chapter 5:
Demons were by nature wild and untamed, refusing to follow rules and authority, and definitely no desire for status.
---
Chapter 7:
...demons and creatures and monsters were all in the same world...
---
Tushan Clan members are part deity and part demon. They are descendants of a nine-tailed fox that was a mythical beast like a phoenix.
---
Chapter 8:
Jing said, “The Tu Shan clan aren’t simply from the God tribe. One of our ancestors was the far-reaching original nine-tailed fox. So the bloodline of the Tu Shan family can all transform...”
---
Chapter 34:
According to ancient legend, the nine-tailed fox was a godly creature like the phoenix, but it was also a vicious beast that can devour beings. The Tu Shan clan’s god was an ancient ancestor’s spiritual essence keeping watch over its descendants, and since Yi Yang was a goddess, her blood to feed to the clan god would be precious and greatly beneficial to the Tu Shan clan.
---
Chapter 50:
Demon class barriers were strict and the nine-tailed fox was the king of the fox tribe. When Sir Bi was around Jing, he used his strong powers to tamp down the instinct to be subservient to Jing.
---
Chapter 9:
Zhuan Xu was so angry that the anger even rubbed off on Shi Qi who carried the nine-tailed fox lineage.
---
Chapter 33:
“My powers may not be as high as Xiang Liu, Feng Long and those top warriors in the vast wilderness, but I’m still a descendant of the nine-tailed fox. I learned my powers from childhood so it’s not low."
---
Chapter 23:
The two elders placed a white nine-tailed fox lined coat around Jing which represented the king of the foxes and the Tu Shan clan being the ruler of the entire fox kingdom.
---
Chapter 16:
“The Nine-tailed fox I killed, it wasn’t one of your relatives?”
“He probably was.” The Nine-tailed fox was very rare, and the few existing ones really were all relatives of the Tu Shan clan.
---
Chapter 9:
“One day I met a man and he candidly admitted he was a demon... He hid me in a remote cave where he built a nest and a cage to raise me in. He said he was the Nine-tailed fox...”
In the novel, Hou kills TSJ, and ZX makes it possible.Based on what we've heard about the leaked script for S2,…
In S1 of the drama, they get along mostly fine at first. CX needs TSJ's support, and TSJ provides it readily. Later on when TSJ marries another woman, CX starts to hate TSJ a bit for the pain and heartbreak he causes XY. He also isn't aware of how much help TSJ gives him, or that he is providing his help willingly - not just because he is XY's "brother". That will likely get worse in S2. They don't clash in S1.
In the novel, Hou kills TSJ, and ZX makes it possible.Based on what we've heard about the leaked script for S2,…
In the novel, XY's mother was the Emperor and Empress' biological daughter. And ZX's father was her fourth brother. Making ZX and XY biological cousins.
In the drama, XY's mother refers to the Empress as shifu and CX says that XY's mother was the Empress' disciple. This was almost certainly added to avoid censorship concerns. But the drama also confirms that XY looks more like her grandmother (the Empress) than her own mother. And XY says that she and CX have a blood relationship. So whether they are blood related or not in the drama isn't as clear as it is in the novel.
In the novel, Hou kills TSJ, and ZX makes it possible.Based on what we've heard about the leaked script for S2,…
I'm not sure I'm following the TSJ questions.
Regarding CX and XY, in the novel ZX and XY are biological cousins. In the drama, it's less clear. They made some changes that seem to be designed to get around censorship restrictions. So it is unclear whether CX and XY are biological cousins or not closely related by blood at all.
In the novel, Hou kills TSJ, and ZX makes it possible.Based on what we've heard about the leaked script for S2,…
I'm going to assume "yes" means all the characters.
XL dies on the battlefield making a last stand with the remnant army, as he always wanted. He successfully did all the things he wanted to do for XY before he dies. He also pushed her to cut ties with him, severed their bug connection, and erased all traces of himself from her life to minimize the impact that his death would have on her.
TSJ returns to XY from the dead and finally marries her. After XL dies, they decide to wander and explore the ocean and the islands that XL had described to XY. XY says perhaps they will find an island they like to settle down on.
TSJ convinces XY to forgive ZX for facilitating his murder. ZX agrees to be only a brother to XY as long as she promises to keep his mother's flower with her for the rest of her life. The flower was meant to be given to ZX's wife and can be used to command his clan's army. XY does not say goodbye to ZX before she leaves. As she and TSJ are able to transform their appearances, he will have to rule knowing that any person in his kingdom could be XY.
Feng Long is killed by XL's arrow. He was protecting ZX and asks ZX to forgive Xing Yue for plotting to kill XY before he dies.
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The translation is complete.
In the main two Tong Hua novels / drama adaptations I'm familiar with, the FL and her main love interest ride off into the sunset and get their happy ending while a devoted and exceptionally self-sacrificing secondary male lead has a tragic / bittersweet ending. So only partly tragic.
And then there's Once Promised... but I consider that the first half of a story that is completed by LYF.
Yeah I forgot about the hair stroking tbh. It feels rather OOC for him.
The Grand Madam is absolutely obsessed. I cut some of her dialogue from the scene (she was lecturing him), but it was kind of satisfying that he just up and left in the middle of her lecture without saying anything.
That night Zhuan Xu woke up again and got dressed before waking Xiao Yao. “Grandmother is near death.” He got her robe to dress her.
Xiao Yao was so sleepy she curled into the blanket. “It’s just a nightmare, I’ll sing to you.”
Zhuan Xu said, “Xiao Yao, be good! Stop sleeping and get dressed to go see Grandmother one last time so she doesn’t worry. In the future……” Zhuan Xu started crying...
Just as Xiao Yao got dressed Auntie Ju Li rushed into the room intending to wake the kids and was shocked to see them standing hand-in-hand by the door. She didn’t think more of it and grabbed them both. “We need to see Her Highness the Empress. Remember, whatever she says to you both, listen carefully and remember always.”
---
This is ZX's reaction after XY's assassination in chapter 21:
Sheng Nong Mountain, Zhi Jin Summit. Inside a room, Zhuan Xu was sitting on the pallet with his back against the wall as Xiao Xiao was sprawled on his knee while he stroked her hair and listened with a lazy demeanor about the latest palace renovation update.
Suddenly Zhuan Xu felt his heart was jumbled and he almost couldn’t breathe. He pushed Xiao Xiao aside and stood up...
Zhuan Xu’s face was confused as he tried to remember, and then he remembered that when his father died tens of thousands of miles away, he had the same worry and confusion. Zhuan Xu’s entire demeanor changed and he said to Xiao Xiao, “You immediately bring people to Zhi Yi to find Xiao Yao and bring her to see me. No matter what happens you have to keep her safe.”
“Yes!” Xiao Xiao turned and left.
---
And this is TSJ's reaction, also in chapter 21:
Qing Qiu, the Tu Shan clan residence. The Grand Madam was in a room with Jing, Yi Yang, Hou, Hou’s wife Lan Mu...
At that moment the satchel on Jing’s waist suddenly snapped and fell on the ground. Jing stared and then picked it up and felt an ominous feeling. Xiao Yao gave him this satchel! Jing’s face changed and he rushed out the door with nothing on his mind but one thought: Xiao Yao, he had to find Xiao Yao immediately...
The Grand Madam said “Something must’ve happened. Jing can sense it but doesn’t know exactly what it is... The true descendants of the Tu Shan clan bloodline possess this power. It cannot be described or explained but is a sensation of something big about to happen. From the ancient times until now, the Tu Shan clan leader may not have the strongest powers but we have become one of the most powerful clans because of this special ability which helps the clan avoid calamity.”
The Grand Madam glanced at Hou and then at the Nine-tailed fox drawing on the wall before saying, “Jing is destined to be the next clan leader!”
ZX has the ability to sense when one of his closest loved ones has died or is on the brink of death. He knew (without being told) when his grandmother was about to die and also when another family member died (I think it was his father, but I'd need to check to be sure).
When he gets close, XL needs to enter the heavily protected / fortified castle where ZX is keeping XY's body. Even if he switched mounts (which would take time) and changed his appearance, he would still be stopped and wouldn't be able to access the castle quickly.
So he faces it all head-on as XL - breaking barriers and single-handedly fighting all of the soldiers defending the castle. And while he's doing all of that, he's also trying to keep XY alive through the connection.
---
A deity can be a mortal human who achieved quasi-immortality / longevity through cultivation or the offspring of a deity.
---
A demon is a plant spirit or an animal that trained and evolved enough to develop a human form and the same kinds of powers and quasi-immortality / longevity as a deity. Or the offspring of a demon. In rare cases, a deity can become a demon (e.g., XY's mother unleashes the power of the sun, incinerates her goddess spirit, and briefly turns into a demon before becoming something else).
Demons (like Left Ear) can safely eat raw meat, while deities (like XY) cannot.
Plant Spirits: XY and ZX's aunt (a wife of their eldest uncle) was a wood spirit. She ran a spy network and brought Jin Xuan to ZX. Jin Xuan was also a wood demon and was one of ZX's most loyal people. When XY and FFB spend time together, they visit shops owned by flower demons. In chapter 42, FFYY mentions a water grass demon.
Animals: The snake that XY encountered in the mountains hadn't achieved a human form yet, but it had evolved enough to understand human speech. Chubby is the same. When XY knew Ah Bi as a child, he was a winged fox who had not achieved a human form yet. When she meets him later in the novel, he had trained enough to gain a human form.
---
Chapter 15:
“This should be the manifestation of Auntie Zhu Yu who was a dogwood wood spirit who gained human form after thousands of years. She chose to kill herself to destroy the demon soul and remove all her god powers...
When Eldest Uncle was alive, he built a vast information network that Auntie Zhu Yu ran. When he died, the network only listened to Auntie... About a hundred years ago she did bring Jin Xuan to Gao Xing to find me. She handed the network to me per Auntie’s orders before she left for battle. Jin Xuan is also a wood demon...
---
Chapter 9:
Later I talked to a snake demon in training but it didn’t want to talk to me. I stole its egg so it would chase me every day to kill me. I would run and talk to it. It understood what I was saying but hadn’t developed the ability to talk yet so I would talk for it and converse with myself.
---
Chapter 10:
"...Also Ah Bi has now evolved into human form and he is called Sir Bi so when you see him be respectful.”
Xiao Liu remembered her childhood on Jade Mountain. Lie Yang was a demon bird that looked like a phoenix. His human form was that of a ten year old boy but he didn’t like to take his human form... Ah Bi was a winged fox demon but had not yet trained to evolve into human form back then... After so many years apart, Ah Bi now had a human form...
---
Chapter 12:
Xiao Liu knew the demons who achieved human form were very reluctant to transform into their true form in front of people. But Ah Bi willingly transformed back to his true form so that Xiao Liu wouldn’t feel distant.
---
Chapter 5:
Demons were by nature wild and untamed, refusing to follow rules and authority, and definitely no desire for status.
---
Chapter 7:
...demons and creatures and monsters were all in the same world...
---
Tushan Clan members are part deity and part demon. They are descendants of a nine-tailed fox that was a mythical beast like a phoenix.
---
Chapter 8:
Jing said, “The Tu Shan clan aren’t simply from the God tribe. One of our ancestors was the far-reaching original nine-tailed fox. So the bloodline of the Tu Shan family can all transform...”
---
Chapter 34:
According to ancient legend, the nine-tailed fox was a godly creature like the phoenix, but it was also a vicious beast that can devour beings. The Tu Shan clan’s god was an ancient ancestor’s spiritual essence keeping watch over its descendants, and since Yi Yang was a goddess, her blood to feed to the clan god would be precious and greatly beneficial to the Tu Shan clan.
---
Chapter 50:
Demon class barriers were strict and the nine-tailed fox was the king of the fox tribe. When Sir Bi was around Jing, he used his strong powers to tamp down the instinct to be subservient to Jing.
---
Chapter 9:
Zhuan Xu was so angry that the anger even rubbed off on Shi Qi who carried the nine-tailed fox lineage.
---
Chapter 33:
“My powers may not be as high as Xiang Liu, Feng Long and those top warriors in the vast wilderness, but I’m still a descendant of the nine-tailed fox. I learned my powers from childhood so it’s not low."
---
Chapter 23:
The two elders placed a white nine-tailed fox lined coat around Jing which represented the king of the foxes and the Tu Shan clan being the ruler of the entire fox kingdom.
---
Chapter 16:
“The Nine-tailed fox I killed, it wasn’t one of your relatives?”
“He probably was.” The Nine-tailed fox was very rare, and the few existing ones really were all relatives of the Tu Shan clan.
---
Chapter 9:
“One day I met a man and he candidly admitted he was a demon... He hid me in a remote cave where he built a nest and a cage to raise me in. He said he was the Nine-tailed fox...”
In the drama, XY's mother refers to the Empress as shifu and CX says that XY's mother was the Empress' disciple. This was almost certainly added to avoid censorship concerns. But the drama also confirms that XY looks more like her grandmother (the Empress) than her own mother. And XY says that she and CX have a blood relationship. So whether they are blood related or not in the drama isn't as clear as it is in the novel.
Regarding CX and XY, in the novel ZX and XY are biological cousins. In the drama, it's less clear. They made some changes that seem to be designed to get around censorship restrictions. So it is unclear whether CX and XY are biological cousins or not closely related by blood at all.
XL dies on the battlefield making a last stand with the remnant army, as he always wanted. He successfully did all the things he wanted to do for XY before he dies. He also pushed her to cut ties with him, severed their bug connection, and erased all traces of himself from her life to minimize the impact that his death would have on her.
TSJ returns to XY from the dead and finally marries her. After XL dies, they decide to wander and explore the ocean and the islands that XL had described to XY. XY says perhaps they will find an island they like to settle down on.
TSJ convinces XY to forgive ZX for facilitating his murder. ZX agrees to be only a brother to XY as long as she promises to keep his mother's flower with her for the rest of her life. The flower was meant to be given to ZX's wife and can be used to command his clan's army. XY does not say goodbye to ZX before she leaves. As she and TSJ are able to transform their appearances, he will have to rule knowing that any person in his kingdom could be XY.
Feng Long is killed by XL's arrow. He was protecting ZX and asks ZX to forgive Xing Yue for plotting to kill XY before he dies.