Rachel

Dongfang Huaizhu was indeed married to Wangquan Hongye as a concubine. In LiP, at that time, because Hongye just experienced a massive tragedy, he was lifeless, depressed, and in bed all day. Dongfang clan was being attacked internally by Jin Renfeng (Dongfang clan's disciple) and Huaizhu was injured. Upon hearing the news, Hongye did as best as he could to rush to save Huaizhu. The ONLY way that he could save Huaizhu and bring her away from Jin Renfeng as fast as possible was to marry her as a concubine. Back in those days, for clans as prestigious as Wangquan and Dongfang, a marriage proposal for the wife needs to be grand and requires weeks of preparation. Wangquan clan and Hongye did not have any other ways because (1) Hongye lost his sword heart from that tragedy and weakened a lot, and (2) Jin Renfeng became too powerful. Hongye could only borrow his Wangquan's clan power/reputation in order to make an agreement with Jin Renfeng. This is why to the outside world, everyone (even Fugui himself) thought that there was no love between Huaizhu and Hongye.

Err they changed some stuff from the donghua and between Sword and Beloved and Love in Pavilion. Short answer is Qingtong (FL) is not their daughter, she is merely a weak spider demon turned spy that is working for Madam Yin (aka Du Niang Zi from LiP).

I don't why they changed her name from Du Niang Zi (meaning poison lady) to Madam Yin here or maybe the drama adapted it to be two different characters.

Oh yes! Tushan Ya Ya and the tree scene.

Awww I feel you! I'm really enjoying this drama too, anybody can tell from how much I'm lurking in the comment section! >< I'm also glad there's another fan loving and appreciating Cheng Yi!

Unfortunately, Hero Legends may not be able to air. The last I heard were some issues with either the copyright, licensing, or some issues with minor actors (not too sure about that). Many fans are also waiting for Hero Legends. I would say HL is literally filmed during Cheng Yi's prime. He gave in so much for that show, even sustaining life-time injuries (his back). But fortunately, Vendetta of An is rumoured to air end of this year or early next year!

Honestly, I actually cringed whenever I hear people calling him 兵人 (soldier). It's just too cruel 😭

Yesss agreed!! It's not just grace, there's power too! The movements he makes are both graceful and powerful, and he can maintain micro-expressions while doing such difficult movements 😍

**Interesting Fact/Not Really a Spoiler**


Just wanted to throw out an interesting fact about Fox Spirit Matchmaker series. The title "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" is because of the original manhua where the Tushan Fox Clan are protectors of this "Bitter Love Tree". If a pair of demon-human lovers go to that tree, they are able to make a pledge of love that connects them no matter how many reincarnations they have. This is because human live spans are too short and the demon would be in grief if their human lover died. However, human-human lovers can't make a pledge. This explains why there's "matchmaker" in the title (but now that part is gone from Sword and Beloved and Love in Pavilion because the manhua fans were disappointed with the first series).

Watching Love in Pavilion before this show is what I recommend because the current world setting in Sword and Beloved is quite dire and if you've watched LiP, you will better understand the situation and certain characters in SaB.

Also, SaB basically spoils what happens in LiP. If LiP is in your watchlist, you should probably watch that first otherwise you'll be spoiled. However, if you don't have enough time, like others have said, these dramas are standalones, so I guess you can go straight to watching SaB!

Wellll, if you have Love in Pavilion in your watchlist, you should probably watch that first because Sword and Beloved would basically spoil your experience for that show.

The connection is: Wangquan Fugui (Sword and Beloved's ML) is the son of the ML (Wangquan Hongye) and FL (Dongfang Huaizhu) of Love in Pavilion and Fugui is also the cousin of the ML (Dongfang Yuechu) from Red Moon Pact. Love in Pavilion is a good watch to understand more about the Wangquan family and the setting of the world. Both Sword and Beloved and Red Moon Pact take place roughly around the same time period so it's not necessary to watch RMP before SaB.

However, if you don't have enough time, all three dramas are standalones, so I guess you can watch SaB without watching the others.

I don't know why too but I heard someone saying that all main leads of all Fox Spirit Matchmaker series had their voices dubbed.

I was also thinking that the entire time while watching Hongye and Fugui scenes. If Huaizhu was alive, she would've whacked Hong Ye. And also if Wangquan Zui, Yitan, and masked group were alive, how many adoring uncles and aunts Fugui would've have 😭😭😭

I heard that they changed his name to Rumu because dongman fans were unhappy with the changes, but basically Ru Mu or Wu Mu, they are the same person!

Let me be clear, I have no intention of fighting with you or anyone who give critiques too. I am open to critiques about shows that I enjoy (or not), and if you were to ask questions or comment about something specific about what you found lacking, I would be happy to discuss (provided that you are open to it). I just thought that saying that this show's storyline and script was bad without saying why and then bringing up then others should watch the other drama was disrespectful. But, I get that you don't have that intention. Anyways, I'm not trying to fight here, so I hope that whether you continue this drama or not, have a good time watching!

Yes but also no. Quan Ru Mu is Wangquan Wu Mu in the donghua and he is actually Wangquan Fugui's ancestor from like a very very very long time ago.

Listen, there's nothing wrong with critiques but exactly what are you giving critiques about? The only thing you said was "hard to ignore the terrible script and storyline". So what about it that you found bad and why? I also agree with you that positive comments on a show only is ridiculous, but what did you find lacking and terrible about the script and storyline then? Your whole comment basically just said this show is bad and audiences should watch WoF without saying what about it is lacking.

I'm enjoying this drama so much that I rewatched some scenes myself after watching the 5 eps with my mom. I love the characters themselves (not because of the actors), from the first five episodes, the plot is building up. There's glimpse of the main villain and Wangquan's family internal problems and the spider lady's motive and also about Fugui wanting to find meaning to life than just being a human weapon etc.

I think there's nothing wrong if this drama is not your cup of tea, you don't have to push yourself to continue if you don't like it. Bringing up other dramas in a lighthearted manner is also okay but to bring up other dramas while putting this drama down is not respectful, esp since this is Sword and Beloved page. Whispers of Fate is a totally different genre and plot.

If you don't think this drama is irredeemable then you can feel free to not continue. I have dropped dramas before, there's nothing wrong.

If going by donghua, Rumu is definitely not the villain. The main villain is the black fox, but Rumu's dad is also a villain.

Yesss agreed. When Huaizhu gave birth to Fugui, I could already feel the sadness that's coming. As much as Huaizhu probably loves her son, he was born with great responsibilities. Hongye went through crazy trauma and I think this is his own way of "protecting" Fugui. But I can tell that Hongye does care for him. He still calls him "Gui-er" in his heart. I don't know where this is going but hopefully this father-son pair can reconcile...

I get that!! Usually, I don't like emotionless characters unless the actor can portray it well. I think no matter how "emotionless" or "cold" the character is meant to be, there has to be some subtle details (unless the character is meant to be a robot/puppet). Really enjoying Wangquan Fugui so far

Ikr!! I was so shocked when he took the mask and wore it in front of his dad...like I held my breath because I thought his dad was gonna lash out at him 😭 I love that Fugui's character isn't just "cold", he actually shows like a stubborn and playful side sometimes hahaha