AH

We are expecting that Xiyan Cang Xuan's ending in the drama will be a little different from Xuanyuan Cang Xuan's ending in the novel.

In the novel, Xuanyuan Cang Xuan (CX) was responsible for enabling Tushan Hou to assassinate Tushan Jing (TSJ). Xiang Liu (XL) ended up saving TSJ's life, but that betrayal fundamentally changed the relationship between Xiao Yao (XY) and CX. TSJ convinced XY to forgive CX, and she did so, but the previous level of trust she had with him could never be fully restored. After XL's death (at the hands of CX's army), XY chose to leave Dahuang and CX behind without telling CX - disappearing to the ocean (one of the only places where CX would not be able to find her and force her to return to his side) with her husband, TSJ.

So CX was left as the Emperor of the whole world (Xuan Yuan, Shengnong and Gao Xing / Xiyan, Chenrong and Haoling were united into one kingdom under one Emperor) but he lost the woman he loved.

In the novel, Xing Yue tries to have XY assassinated twice after TSJ's "death". CX can't kill Xing Yue or even publicly punish her because of political factors and her identity, but he punishes her non-publicly by freezing her out. Apparently that was enough to start driving her crazy. Feng Long was so worried about her that he insisted on leading the campaign against the Chenrong remnant army so he could win merits and beg CX to forgive her. Feng Long ended up dying after protecting CX from a poison arrow and, before he died, he begged CX to forgive Xing Yue. CX agreed, promising to honour her and treat her well as his Empress. So Xing Yue managed to avoid all consequences for her actions (except that she became responsible for her brother's death).

I'm feeling silly for not picking up on it immediately the first time I watched that scene.

It also feels like it's kind of echoing S1 Ep34 too, when XY and XL/FFB went to the gambling den together and watched Left Ear win his freedom in the death matches, then XY expressed that she wished she could have been the one to save him after he escaped and that, if she had, she would have had him only be FFB. And then XL/FFB scares XY into TSJ's arms and those two run away together while XL/FFB walks away in the other direction, alone.

The painful foreshadowing is not subtle.

Wait, in S2 episode 2, when XL/FFB and XY walk across the bridge in daylight... there are unlit lanterns strung across the canal above them, they stand side-by-side as a male-female pair looking out over the water, and they observe a boat paddle down the canal away from them after it passed under the bridge.

Could that be an intentional reversal / parallel to S1 episode 17, when WXL and the woman in white (Female!XL) were on a boat together at nighttime? There were lit lanterns strung across the canal above them, they observed a male-female pair that were togther on the bridge, and their boat was about to pass under that bridge.

In S1 Ep17, after passing under the bridge, the woman in white observed that the couple that they had seen on the bridge looked like a well-matched pair, and perhaps, to outside viewers, the two of them ("male" WXL and the "woman" in white) sitting beside each other on the boat would also look like a well-matched pair. WXL responded that they were just strangers who met by chance that happened to share a boat ride. This doesn't seem to be the answer that the woman in white hoped for. At that point, the woman in white had the boatman pull in to shore to drop WXL off, and they parted ways to travel separately. We are shown a shot of XL's serious expression (back in his usual, white-haired male form) as his boat pulls away from WXL, and WXL looks up at fireworks in the sky.

In S2 Ep2, on the bridge, XY asks XL/FFB, "Why is it so hard to find someone to travel with together?" and "Whom should I marry, if not Feng Long?". In response to the second question, after a pause, XL/FFB responsds, "You're asking me? Whom should I ask?" This doesn't seem to be the answer XY hoped for. XY answers, "In any case, no matter whom I marry, that person must not have a family, nor be an enemy of my brother." At that point, Ah Nian (who, along with Xing Yue, is holding firecrackers) calls to XY, and XL/FFB says, "This is as far as I can take you. Ahead of you is your world." And he turns to walk away. After XL/FFB walked off the bridge / away from XY, Ah Nian approached her and asked what she was looking at. XY responded, "Nothing. Just a passerby who occasionally kept me company in this world. Ultimately he wasn't someone who could travel with me all the way after all." We are shown a shot of XL/FFB's serious expression as he walks away from XY and overhears her words. Then XY turns with Ah Nian and heads off the bridge in the opposite direction from XL/FFB.

You're welcome!

XY was the first person to discover that FFYY (YSQ/TSJ's long-time fiancee) was pregnant. At that time, FFYY made it obvious that TSJ was the father, and TSJ did not deny it. Shortly after that painful situation, TSJ told XY that his grandmother and FFYY had drugged him and he woke up in bed with FFYY the next morning. Suggesting that FFYY had basically date-raped him and that was how she got pregnant. With that news, XY broke up with TSJ. TSJ and FFYY got married shortly after that.

Spoilers ahead. As is strongly implied in the first few episodes of S2, we will soon see confirmation that TSJ is not actually the father of FFYY's child.

Different fans have different interpretations of course, so take this as just one fan's interpretation.

This is based on the novel.

In chapter 33 (when XY and TSJ started to reconcile), XY told TSJ that after FFYY's pregnancy and XY and TSJ's breakup, XY partly blamed herself for her role in what had happened, as she felt she should have warned TSJ about certain aspects of FFYY's character (e.g., that she had tried to assassinate CX) and done more for their relationship. That guilt played a role in some of her pain and sleeplessness.

In chapter 25, two further things contributed to her pain, heartache and loneliness. First, XL told her that she was graduating from his archery lessons and he would no longer teach her. Second, TSJ married FFYY. XY was in great pain after TSJ's wedding. But the novel said that over time she was comforted through the bug connection and released her pain by channeling it into a particular batch of poisons that she made for XL (where every creation was black). After that, she still had deep heartache and did not sleep soundly through the night for a whole year (until her excursion to the sea with XL in chapter 26), but her pain was less intense.

Then, by chapter 29 (after CX took the throne), XL/FFB did not raise any objections about XY's engagement with Feng Long (and her comment about not making poisons for him after she was married / wanting to remove the bugs) when they met up in that chapter and there was a strong sense that XY and XL/FFB were drifting apart and seeing each other less and less. After they parted, XY felt an intense sense of loneliness.

At that point, she was not dating TSJ, she was not spending time with or getting archery lessons from XL/FFB and she was not helping CX fight for the throne.

Then, in chapter 30, CX was going to marry Xing Yue and make her his official Empresss (Queen). It felt to XY like she was no longer the #1 person in his life, and she decided to leave with Ah Nian for Gao Xing (Haoling). This chapter also mentions that, when XY felt particularly lonely or heartbroken, she was comforted by the bug connection and the fact that another heart was sharing her pain.

TSJ's marriage, drifting apart from XL/FFB and not seeing him anymore, and feeling like she was losing her place with CX too led XY to fall into a prolonged period of depression and loneliness. In the novel, XY does not expressly attribute her depression or loneliness to XL/FFB but, as you noted, her depression deepened when the Grand Emperor (the King of Haoling) mentioned FFB to XY.

When CX forced XY to return to Xuan Yuan (Xiyan) after 13 months in Gao Xing (Haoling) and assured her of her continued importance to him, that did not alleviate her depression.

The Yellow Emperor (the former King of Xiyan) finally got through to her by convincing her to study medicine and to carry on the legacy of the seventh Flame Emperor of Shengnong (the King of Chenrong).

You're welcome!

The lamp was added for the drama, it did not exist in the novel.

In the novel, TSJ tried to regain his memories from that night by getting a fox demon to hypnotize him, but it didn't work. Nevertheless, he concluded that the type of potion that FFYY and his grandmother used on him would not have been strong enough to override his principles and that he would not have slept with XY under the circumstances (e.g., in FFYY's bed) simply because of such a potion. Also, TSH's wife was murdered under suspicious circumstances after trying to arrange a meeting with TSJ to tell him something. By the time of XY's wedding with Feng Long, TSJ felt strongly that TSZ was not his son, but he only had suspicions about FFYY and TSH and didn't have any solid evidence to prove their affair and the fact that TSZ was their son.

After XL/FFB interrupts the wedding, he takes XY away to QS town for a little over a month. Throughout that time XL is very cold and harsh towards XY and tells her that FFB is "dead" (he will not use that identity any more). He also confirms that XY is still willing to marry YSQ (basically a version of TSJ with different variables) even though actual TSJ is still married and has a child at this point. At the end of that time, XL tells XY that he made a deal with TSJ to interrupt her wedding in exchange for supplies for his army. Then he is extremely harsh towards XY and leaves her behind. That prompts XY to go to TSJ to ask him why he made such a deal with XL. In that meeting, TSJ reveals his suspicions and the two have a heart-to-heart. XY agrees to work with TSJ to help find out the truth, and that marks the beginning of their reconciliation.

XY then spends several months seducing TSH, which drives a wedge between him and FFYY. XY then lends her ape spirit mirror (which can record memories) to TSJ so that he can record TSH and FFYY when they meet and argue. That provides him with solid evidence that FFYY had an affair with TSH and that TSZ is their son, not TSJ's son.

Pretty much all of the main characters frustrated me at some point in the novel, but I think CX ended up frustrating me the most. So much of XY's pain and unhappiness can be traced back to him.

Thank you, Mich. I appreciate it!

Keeping track of all the various names and characters can be tricky, but the King of Haoling (the man that XY believes is her father) is not XL's enemy. The King of Xiyan (first
XY's "grandfather" and then CX) is XL's enemy.

The King of Haoling doesn't want XY to have any relationship with XL because he worries that having a relationship with her family's enemy (i.e., her "grandfather"* and CX's enemy) will lead to the same kind of tragedy that XY's mother experienced when she fell in love with Chi Chen, who was also the King of Xiyan's enemy.

Exposing the fact that XY's real father is Chi Chen would not negate the fact that she is related to CX (the current King of Xiyan) by blood through her mother (in the novel, as his cousin and in the drama it seems that they are more distantly related - like second cousins). So exposing that information would not suddenly make it possible for XY to be with XL.

Spoiler ahead. In the novel, CX intentionally exposes XY's true parentage so that her official family ties with the King of Haoling are cut before he leads the Xiyan army to attack and conquor Haoling. When the truth about XY's parentage is exposed, XY and XL remain on opposite sides of the conflict between Xiyan and the Chenrong remnant army.

* Edited to add: In the novel, the former King of Xiyan is the biological grandfather of both XY and CX. In the drama, it seems they have changed things so that XY still calls the King of Xiyan her grandfather, but she is not related to him by blood. She is only indirectly related to his Queen (CX's grandmother) by blood.

Thanks for sharing the link!

@Kaka Do you remember where you came across this by any chance? And do you know if it's fan made or from an official source?

People will likely comment on just about everthing in the new episodes as they air, but hopefully everyone will be considerate and use spoiler covers on those comments... Same for comments with any other type of spoiler.

This drama involves a lot of suffering (both physical and emotional) for its main characters, which isn't everyone's cup of tea. But it also involves a lot of love, protection, selflessness and sacrifice. Between those things (love, protection, selflessness and sacrifice on the one hand and suffering on the other), it makes for a very moving and memorable drama.

You're welcome!

This is specific to the drama.

However, the novel includes an epilogue that depicts XL on the night before the final battle began when he created a gift for XY that included a hidden message: "The ability to take care of yourself, someone to rely on, a place to go – wishing you a lifetime of worry free happiness!"

Lan Zhan from the Untamed?

LZ and TSJ were both master zither players from a young age and they did both channel their spiritual power through their zither, so I guess they are alike in that sense. But LZ was able to use his zither playing to calm / agitate / control spirits, to calm / agitate / control people, and to channel his spiritual power into a physical attack. Based on the novel (particularly chapter 42), I'm not sure TSJ was able to do all of that. Attacks don't really seem like his style. It seemed more like he only used zither playing (and voice) to mystify / enchant his listeners - which would allow him to escape from an attacker. They also both had terrible scars on their torsos.

In other ways (cold, serious demeanor, loyalty and rigid adherance to principles, and all-white attire), I'd say LWJ is more like XL.

This scene?

https://youtu.be/CSlc1QcVHPI?si=JR8G-u62ebdG-Ut6&t=1729

Yes, Tushan Jing has water-based spiritual powers. But before Tushan Hou captured and tortured him, Tushan Jing also used zither playing and singing as a way to cast enchantments / to mystify his listeners. After Tushan Hou damaged his vocal chords and hands, Tushan Jing's ability to use his voice and zither playing that way was impeded, but he still had some ability to use his spiritual power in other ways (e.g., converting liquids into mist to provide cover / alleviating pain).

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In chapter 20 (the part of the novel that matches up with that scene in episode 28), Xing Yue only said:

Xing Yue sighed, “You have never heard Jing gege play. Years ago the Young Master of Qing Qiu’s one tune would enchant countless listeners! My mom found me two great masters but it really was due to Jing gege’s pointers that I became an accomplished zither playing. But after his horrific ordeal, he said his fingers were injured so doesn’t play anymore.”

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But much later in the novel (in chapter 42), Tushan Hou reflects on the fact that he was relieved that he had diminished Tushan Jing's strength by damaging his voice and hands:

Hou was relieved that he injured Jing’s hand and throat so long ago, so Jing could never sing or play the melodious tunes again. The world only knew that the Young Master of Qing Qiu’s musical talent was unparallel, no one knew it was actually an enchanting skill that Jing developed since childhood. If he used the mystifying music now, Hou would need to close off his ears, and a tiger without sight or hearing would find it impossible to kill the fox.

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Tushan Jing's mystifying power is referenced in a few places, including in chapter 26:

Jing anxiously put one hand on Xiao Yao’s wrist while his other clutched the wine cup and transformed the wine into a fog. Everyone knew the Tu Shan clan had the power to mystify which was very useful for taking away pain. No one thought it weird what Jing was doing.