maryxiah

Well, the way I see it, Tou was initially amused by Xue Zhi when he first rescued her in the forest and the hero assembly, he didn't show much interest in her other than doing his job because he was prepared to go see Abbess Bai Yun in Emei sect soon after.

And then, Xue Zhi cleverly deduced he's her savior from the forest and began to find her interesting as she lured him out into admitting he was her savior. I think he was interested in her as a person then, rather than a girl, because he might have felt that she was not entirely dumb and hopeless. This interest led him to decide on working together with her to find out about the Nine Moves of God's thievery instead of going to Emei sect as he had originally planned.

As they worked together on the case, Tou finally saw Xue Zhi for the person she was, and I could see that he relate to her a lot. In this case, both Xue Zhi and Tou had no say in what family they were born into (hence all the talk about who you want to be if you're not born into the current family/clan). Instead of complaining or giving up, Xue Zhi showed determination to restore Hall of Flames to its former glory, pay the blood debt of her father, and become a proper master of the Hall of Flames. So from here, I can see the admiration in Tou's eyes that Xue Zhi embraced her identity despite being young and weak. He, on the other hand, still couldn't accept his identity as the son of the imperial advisor as he felt he had no choice in the matter.

Later on, during one conversation, Xue Zhi admitted it was nice to be just a normal girl instead of the leader of the Hall of Flames, I think this is where Tou relate to Xue Zhi most, being your own person instead of your identity in front of everyone. Tou then started to realize his feelings for Xue Zhi has grown from their initial meeting after they returned to the Moon Valley, which is right around the time Xue Zhi confirmed her feelings as well. However, Tou rejected Xue Zhi soon after because he realized, unlike Xue Zhi who had embraced herself, he had not. He couldn't be with her when he couldn't even accept his own identity/background, which might lead to her unhappiness and precisely the thing he wanted to avoid.

After Tou found out about his past and started to understand his father's reasons for pushing him away, I see this as the dramatic turn in Tou's life as he chose to change, making effort to open himself up and as he said to Xue Zhi, "learn to love someone else." So for me, his love for her is a growing progress, which is very believable to me than most romance they're selling in other dramas.

In the novel, Mu Yuan finds out that Chong Lian (Chong Ye), his adopted father and Xue Zhi's biological father had killed his father, he comes to resent him and holds a grudge (but not against Xue Zhi cuz he's always been in love with her). Same like in the drama, he is always there to protect Xue Zhi and even tells her that her father had asked him to marry her if she couldn't find someone, but she falls for Tou and eventually marries Tou, which breaks Mu Yuan's heart and is the catalyst to his turn.

However, there are two versions of the novel, in which the main villain is different. In the first version, Mu Yuan seemingly works together with a monk that has stolen Lotus Wing, they kidnap Xue Zhi and Tou's son to force Tou to come out and duel with the monk, they eventually kill Tou's son, destroy Tou's martial arts and disfigure him, and presumably kill him. But the monk does the same thing to Mu Yuan, only Mu Yuan doesn't die but instead become disabled and disfigured. Xue Zhi finds him and thinks this is Tou, but he's actually Mu Yuan. He doesn't clarify the truth to Xue Zhi until she finds out the truth 5 years later from someone else. Xue Zhi is told that Tou is dead and so she decides to remarry to Mu Yuan, not the crippled guy because she still doesn't know that's the real Mu Yuan. The main villain in this story is Qing Mei who has been masquerading Mu Yuan, so Mu Yuan didn't actually do all those things to Tou, but he did lie to Xue Zhi by not revealing his identity because he selfishly wanted to be with her.

In the second version, Mu Yuan is the real culprit behind everything, including the stolen Lotus Wing. Same as the first version, Xue Zhi finds a crippled person and assumes this is Tou, but he's actually Qing Mei who's been disfigured by Mu Yuan. Xue Zhi later finds out this is not Tou and eventually remarry to Mu Yuan, which breaks Tou's heart when he comes back. Mu Yuan then kidnaps Xue Zhi to force Tou to kill himself but is stopped by Chong Lian who isn't really dead (he died in the first version).

Anyway, very confusing stuff, I know. I'm trying to recap everything and I'll post my recap on the discussion post once I'm done verifying some things.

I actually went and painstakingly read (more like skimmed lol) through a couple of chapters from BOTH versions to verify this.

I'm assuming they slept together for the second time after she came out of her seclusion and before she found out about Feng Zi's past, because once she found out she immediately confronted Tou and he denied it (I didn't see any mention that they've slept together again after the initial confrontation). And after a little while, Tou was confronted again and this time in front of a lot of people, and this time he took the blame (not sure if it was for Feng Zi's reputation but Tou claimed he couldn't really remember it so he couldn't be sure).

After that, Xue Zhi asked Tou to take responsibility of Feng Zi. Tou asked if she wanted him to marry Feng Zi, Xue Zhi replied not entirely because Feng Zi was actually in love with someone else, but she was hoping Tou will not reject Feng Zi if she wanted to marry him. Hence, Tou decided to propose to Feng Zi. In the meantime, Xue Zhi found out she was pregnant. When she accidentally bumped into Tou, she impulsively asked if he'd be willing to take her in as second wife, to which Tou rejected.

Now this is where the story diverged in both versions, the first version ended abruptly after Tou rejected Xue Zhi, in the second version they explored more on the reason Tou rejected Xue Zhi. Tou felt that Xue Zhi was too good for him and that she deserved someone better than him. He thought they were not meant to be, and rather than having her live as his second wife, which is rather demeaning for her, he'd rather send her to another man who love her and wouldn't wrong her the way he did. I actually thought the second version is a bit better and agree with online comments that they mellow it out. I might give this book a chance when I have the time.

Hopefully not, but Mu Yuan's turn is a forgone conclusion, if they're still taking the novel into consideration, Mu Yuan turns really dark. :(

OMG! I'm tearing up just from the memories of Run Yu crying in pain! I could literally feel his pain when he breaks down in front of the empress and begs her to let them go, and when he begs for Yan You and his little adopted brother's life. I'm not expecting the empress to be forgiven for anything, only that if she has been a little kinder to him, maybe Run Yu wouldn't end up the way he did. I honestly couldn't even blame him for turning dark, they literally force his hands.

The actress plays the evil empress always play an evil character, lol, I recognize her from old Hong Kong dramas. I think it's rather flattering that people can't differentiate it's just a role because it shows that she did a great job. I hated her character with passion too, lol.

I don't think she quite understands his rejection. She thinks he might still be angry and so pushes her away, when in reality he's just not into her. I just hope she sees after this that her obsession over Tou is inflicting him real pain.

Haha, that last dig opens up old wound. Run Yu is too much like his father, chasing after a love that isn't his and ends up hurting everyone else. I'm still tending to my scar from watching Run Yu cries too much. Honestly, I was really glad of the evil empress's demise, she treated Run Yu real bad and was really harsh even when he treated her with sincerity. I wonder if she treated Run Yu with half of the affection she had for Phoenix, would Run Yu turn dark at all?

There isn't an English translation, only Chinese and Viet translation online. Here's the Chinese one, http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=349371

I suspect he won't be acting sickly anymore in future episodes, can't wait to see that.

Oh hey! It's rare to see male drama fans! Do come back after the misunderstanding is resolved so we all can squeal together, lol. I'm not that strong, but I find the separation to be...not so bad, after all Tou is not giving up so I feel like this isn't going to be for long.

I haven't seen Love and Destiny, tried the first episode but couldn't get through it. I might pick that up at a later date, like I did with Eternal Love and Ashes of Love.

That story sounds so tragic tbh, I hate noble idiocy, in which one sacrifices so much when it could have been prevented to save them from heartaches.

Also, I didn't think it was possible but just the tremble in Leo's breath like he's about to cry in today's episodes hurts me. I can't afford to watch him in pain over losing love, at least not now.

That's very true, that's an example of admirable second lead (ya hear that, Feng Zi?), in that he never tries to force his feelings on her, only protecting her in silent and hoping she stays with him. He had a chance to kiss her when she was drunk that one time, but he settled for sleeping next to her to watch over her. I know his character might turn dark at some point, but right now, I can't help feeling bad for him. I hope he has some sort of happy ending, not a half baked one like in Ashes.

That's true, I was afraid Xue Zhi might see that too. Thankfully or not, Xue Zhi is rushing back to the Hall of Flames because of Huashan sect's setup. I think Feng Zi still can't accept the fact that Tou has fallen for Xue Zhi and she hasn't seen their interactions the way everyone else has, so I understand her delusion that she might have hope. Also, she thinks Tou hates her because of the misunderstanding, so as long as he forgives her for the misunderstanding, she might have hope. It's a heart of a maiden in love, so I can't say much, but I hope she does the right thing later on.

Mu Yuan is slightly bigger than Tou, I can see that, it's just that their heights are not noticeable. Their real figures are hidden by the costumes, but Tou's face is visibly sharp and his neck is small (probably because of the big collarbone costumes, idk who thinks it's a good idea to dress Leo in that but it makes his head looks small), so it gives off the vibe that he's too skinny. I've seen them all in their interviews and eek, they look way skinnier than they do in the drama.

Come back later! They'll be waiting! Lol.

Apparently he's not the antagonist in Princess Silver? But yeah, Ashes of Love burns me so bad, I can't.

Oh man, he feels like the male lead but doesn't get the girl? That's even more tragic! I might try that one day, but definitely not soon. I want to watch Leo gets his happy ending first, lol.

Not that the bgm is loud, just...not right lol. The editing is getting better.

They don't have English subs for the OSTs, I tried looking. I'm just translating that lyrics from Chinese. And yeah, I agree that OST experience can be enhanced when you understand the lyrics.

I do like the way the OTP is developed in this, I've seen too many dramas where the leads fall too fast or without rhyme or reason, it's nice to have an OTP that I'm crazy about after so long.

The only way to curb it is to write it, I'll be waiting, lol.

I want to watch Princess Silver for Leo, but I can't watch Leo in too much pain after Ashes, I mean I love him in angst, but I don't love seeing his poor tortured soul not getting the love he deserved!

Oh my, Yun Xi is taller than me, I like that. Mu Yuan doesn't look taller than Tou though, or maybe I wasn't paying attention to their heights.

Apparently according to the caption of the photo, they were in other dramas before?

And yes, please avoid that, because idk about you, but all I can think of when I see 2nd dad now is how hot his abs are.

Omg, for real? It's more like a front, I think he's pretending to be sickly in order to avoid conflict with the crown prince. I like Lord Lu's face and the mole under his eye, but I don't like his sickly appearance.

The crown prince on the other hand looks dreamy. I think he's more of my type cuz he looks a little buffed, everyone else is just so skinny and tiny lol. I recently saw a picture of 2nd dad on weibo and that guy has abs! ABS! I was shocked! Lol. Now I can't look at 2nd dad the same way anymore.