Firefly88

Xiangliu goes out of his way to push Xiaoyao towards Tushan Jing because he knows he is unable to commit to her and give her the love he feels she deserves. This is why he does hurtful things to push her away. The wedding is all about that. That is him putting a nail in the coffin of her affection for him and encouraging her to make a choice to love TSJ hence the red eyes "Do you want to marry Ye Shiqi?". He never once asked "Do you want to be with me?" despite loving her deeply.

When TSJ is presumed asssassinated and Xiangliu can feel her heartache while searching for TSJ on Chubby, he repeats that he would never have done this if he had known this would happen. This is regret. He thought he was making a safe choice by encouraging her to give him up and be with kind, gentle Jing, but instead it's just caused her more heartache...

Xiangliu is a fascinating character because he's traumatised like XY and he has a lot of layers to his personality. He can be hard, cruel, soft, gentle, caring, considerate, inconsiderate lol, vulnerable, charming, wise, intelligent, broadminded, stubborn...
Everything he does is calculated well in advance, which is why Xiyan has never managed to conquer the Chenrong army. Consider how he commissions her bow ages before he ever even offers to teach her archery.

The scenes following his "bad behaviour" always demonstrate his true intentions. For example, the scene in part one where he is moved to tears by XY telling him she wished she had saved him after they save the slave boy from the gladiator fight place. Then he lashes out because he sees TSJ approaching and then walks away looking sad. It was deliberate. Just like the wedding. Remember before the wedding, XY sat for a week by the sea in a wedding dress waiting for him to come for her but he never came... Doing something despicable to make her hate him would make her give up on him and pursue TSJ. His way of loving her is by making arrangements for her to ensure her long term wellbeing and safety.

I think there are a lot of people like Xiangliu out there, deeply wounded people who do the wrong thing for the right reason. I find him far more interesting as a character than TSJ. TSJ is far more transparent (his thoughts and intentions), which is of course also one of the reasons why Xiaoyao with all her PTSD finds him more trustworthy and safe to commit to.

Yeah and honestly Fenglong is barely in the picture... He's a support character at best lol. I don't even consider him a ML. Really it's 3 MLs. One is her brother, one is her confidant and soulmate of sorts, one is her lover. Of course, it's complicated, but there is no two timing going on.

This second part has been so overcut. There are so many places where suddenly it's jumping forward and lacks flow like that trap for TSJ by TSH and FFYY. The assassin bodies are there without any context. XY jumps in the water to search for him and next second she's in bed unconscious.
There were so many cuts there it really wasn't smoothly done. Also in Baili the cut from XY being there to XL being there earlier... Not well done. This is so common in C dramas and I really had higher expectations of this one because the first part was so polished.

If they needed 40 episodes more to tell the story well, then do that. We had to wait so long for this second part. It really is a shame they didn't take the chance to make this second part as polished as the first...

The scene at Baili 😭😭😭😭
I sobbed.

I suggest rewatching part 1. It's a complicated drama, lots of details.

I wouldn't make your mind up based on someone's assumptions when they haven't even watched the drama. I think this drama is one of the best historical fantasy dramas ever made. I reconmend you give it a chance.

That's really not the case at all. I had a look at your watchlist and we have similar taste. In my opinion, Lost You Forever is one of the best historical fantasy dramas ever made. What makes it unique is how mature and wise it is. I urge you to give it a chance. There is a reason why so many people are obsessed with it. Watch part 1 and then see how you feel.

It's not a typical C drama with a "main couple"... There are 4 MLs. It's a mature exploration of psychology, trauma, relationships (romantic, friendship, abusive, family etc). She has romantic feelings for 2 of the MLs and platonic love for another one... It's complicated, you will only understand if you watch it from the start lol.

Also, this is the second part. The drama was divided in two. You have to watch the first part before this one.

Well, I'm getting some great feedback so far, so my question seems to be working out! Thanks anyway!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Gotcha. Thanks!

Hey people, what do you think? Is this drama worth watching or not?

It can be so hard to choose a drama based on ratings. Sometimes the rating is spot on and sometimes they are mind bogglingly off!

In fact, remember when A'Nian has a meltdown when Xiaoyao is introduced because she demands Cangxuan say who he cares for more, then the father says "Silly girl, if I asked you between me and your mother who you loved more, who would you say?"

The heart has room for more than one person but like A'Nian, fans are fighting over who XY actually loves like it can only be one...

Yeah Cangxuan is undoubtedly in love with her. Also, they're not siblings. In the original version that was changed due to censorship, they agreed to marry as children and always be together. Then later when she transforms back into a woman, he falls head over heels.

8.3 really is an insult to such a magnificent drama, but so often that is the case on here. The better the drama, the more mediocre the rating is...

I'm not so sure. I've seen a lot of bitter comments from people below who said they wouldn't watch the rest or would only watch the scenes of their ship or that they would downrate it if their ship didn't get their HE.

I agree! ❤ Even if we have a fave or faves, I'm not interested in reducing my appreciation of this beautiful drama to one character and whether they do or don't get the girl. People are really missing the point of this drama imo.

Really sad that some people are so consumed by their shipwars that they can't appreciate this beautiful drama even if their ship doesn't get a HE.