Thank you @Packmule3 and @GB for suggesting!

Brilliant.

I’ll add some thoughts here a little later today.

Another tidbit…

Apparently Qing Shui Town took six months to build. The team started work on the construction in 2021.

Quing Shui is where Wen Xiaoliu lives and works at the ‘Rejuvenation Clinic’ with Mu, Freckly and Skinny.

I wasn’t aware of this but was struck by and greatly enjoyed the level of attention to detail in the scenes in Quing Shui.

It must have been fun to film there and some of the cast commented on what a happy time it was.

It reminds me of the satisfaction of watching Hobbits in their homes and village in Lord of the Rings.

@GB –

Here are some brief notes about the background story in Episode One.

I am sure you will have noticed oodles of things I have not picked up on but I thought I would get the ball rolling.

SPOILERS

Episode 1

There are various kingdoms with various royal families and powerful clans.

The opening scene takes place at Zhouyan Palace on Xyan Mountain the seat of one of the Royal Families.

We see a happy scene with two devoted playmates and their Grandma.

Studious young prince (Cang Xuan) and cheeky, quick witted young princess, Xio Yao, Haoling Jui Yao. She is his ‘younger sister’ and is his cousin, in fact, daughter of the King and Queen of the Haoling Kingdom.

We see some of their interplay and care for one another. A treasured relationship.

There then follows a sequence of tragic events which relentlessly and completely alter the course of their lives, tearing them from this childhood idyll,

He loses his Father in battle (betrayed by a royal uncle). His Mother avenges her husband and kills herself at the funeral having said goodbye to her grieving son. Poor little soul!

She gives him a Ruomu flower to give to his future love before she takes her own life inconsolable for the loss of her husband. Flowers are, of course, very symbolic in this show. I found this in Wiki:

In Chinese mythology, Fusang refers to a divine tree and an island which are both located in the East, from where the sun rises. A similar tree, known as the Ruomu (若木) exists in the west, and each morning, the sun was said to rise in Fusang and fall on Ruomu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusang

The young princess is the daughter of the King and Queen of Haoling.

Following the death of the prince’s parents the Queen of Haoling (also a military mom and Princess General) tells the royal Grandma that she has divorced the King of Haoling and will stay on to take care of the children. This divorce, I think, hints at a key plot reveal that I haven’t yet encountered in the first 21 episodes.

Military Mom is also killed in a crucial battle. A profound sense of abandonment for the poor young Princess and Military Mum had promised to come back for her. This event is key for the young princess’s identity and loss of confidence in people being there for her. We will see this play out powerfully in the main story.

Grief, abandonment and the two children are torn apart as the young Princess is sent to Mount Jade for her protection and to cultivate her powers.

The young prince cries on the mountain top as the princess is spirited away in an air-born carriage.

Beautiful performances by our two young leads. Re-watching it hits home even more because of what you know they will go through.

So much of this show is about letting go…

Then there comes a three hundred year leap! I’ll stop here for now.

Episode One continued

Back to the present day. Our FL (Yang Zi) is now a man and works as a fertility doctor in Quing Shui town!

Wen Xiao Liu is clearly aware of his past identity. He scornfully corrects key details in the tree sprite’s account of the royal family history and the separation of the two orphans hundreds of years ago.

Our young Prince has been forced to leave his family home and is now a hostage prince in the Haoling royal family. He has a close relationship with the second royal princess of that family but is still searching for his lost childhood friend.

He, and his sister, are approaching Quing Shui town…

@Kate, thank you for your information and your thorough notes, with comprehensive summary. They’ve added a wealth of information that I didn’t take note of or research. I confess that I did nod off from time to time, and your notes woke me up to the fact that I missed some important bits. LOL.

So much happened in just the first episode alone!! It took me ages to pause and make my own notes as well, to get the names right and figure out who belonged where.

Of the side characters, I find the grandpa King of Xiyan to be one of the worst parents. He allowed one son (9th uncle to Cang Xuan) to get away with killing thousands of soldiers in order to get his own brother (4th uncle to Xiao Yao) killed.

Cang Xuan’s mother, Chang Pu, I personally feel, was the most misguided of women, in thinking that avenging her husband’s death and then killing herself was the right thing to do. And in front of her own son!!! I found it selfish (self indulgent even) that she let her grief overcome her/take priority over her responsibilities as leader of her clan (of Ruoshui) and mother of Cang Xuan.

Yes, the flower motif is strong in this show. We have sweet, red Poinciana flowers on the huge tree, and red Ruomu flowers that seemed to sprout from a creeper that magically grew over the tomb of Cang Xuan’s father, Xiyan Zhongyi. The flower motif on foreheads is also the means by which we will see Cang Xuan tries to locate Xiao Yao.

Thank you for giving us the significance of the Ruomu flower. It has ties to the Fusang tree or mythological tree of life, since the same sun that rises and shines on Fusang continues to shine on Ruomu, somehow binding the two together at the beginning and end. This elicits a sense of the ‘forever and ever’ that comes in the title and in the promise that the children had to make, to trust and care for each other.

I felt very much the unfairness of how the weight of responsibility for a whole clan/kingdom was laid on the shoulders of young Cang Xuan. His grandfather was still alive but the poor boy is told that he’s the only man left to protect the kingdom.

I thought that the show was clever to give a voice over narration of the happenings of 300 years with some animation, to fulfill the show-not-tell rule of dramas, and to quickly bring us up to speed. It was also a way to demonstrate to us that while Xiao Yao appeared to be so different person in the form of Wen Xiao Liu, she had not forgotten whom she was and the details of her parting with Cang Xuan.

I like the set up of some aspects of the characters in their childhood, which we then will see played out when they are adults.

SPOILERS of course

SPOILERS

Xiao Yao is the feisty, attention getter, great talker and good-hearted loyal friend, who prefers to capitulate in order to make up with Cang Xuan when they quarrel. She claims to be taller than him and a better fighter, and she is. She taunts him into proving his ability to be the older brother by saying that he is afraid to lose. (We see later that she uses the same taunt on another character).

Cang Xuan was the gege who was kind towards his younger sister. He accepted XY’s apology by accepting her token of the tail of the Nine-Tailed Fox, only to return it to her because he knew she loathed to part with it. We see that as an adult he will dote on and over-indulge his next meimei.

Xiao Yao’s mother, Xiling Heng, writes and then hides the Classics of Herbs and Classics of Poisons, using her magic. (Maybe we’ll see those classics again later). It is noteworthy that XY has inherited her mother’s talents with herbs and poisons as she takes on the role of ‘doctor’.

Before XY leaves CX behind, she tells him to water the Jasper Mulberry tree with wine, and then when wine is made from the Mulberry Tree, to wait for her before he drinks it. It is likely this suggestion/promise that gets CX to set himself up in the wine-making business LOL.

Perhaps he hoped that the presence of mulberry wine might draw XY to his store, since she was a great foodie and the first to offer him a flask of mulberry honey/wine to help him chase away his sadness. LOL the innocent kids did not know that adults drank themselves drunk to forget bad stuff, and could have gotten themselves super drunk!!

I’ll add some comments now re Episode 2

We can go as slowly as needed @GB… I’m in no rush.

SPOILER

Cang Xuan looking at second sister dancing under the plum blossom tree, showered with white blossoms.

He is then showered with white and with red blossoms – the red blossoms coming from his memory of life with his first playmate, Princess Xiao Yao.

This is great visual story telling – we don’t need a narration of his feelings at this point.

The whole sequence with our FL, as Wen Xia Liu, taking care of the tortured, barely alive, Ye Shi Qui – is moving and tells you a lot about both people and the relationship they will have.

Ye Shi Qui’s innate kindness when so ill and frail in preventing hot wax from a candle falling on Wen Xia Lu as he/she sleeps (how are we going to describe the FL here??), is striking.

Then, of course, the key moment when Ye Shi Qui realises that Wen Xia Liu is a woman: ‘He is a woman’.

Story so well told again… WXL can’t hide embarrassment when taking off Ye Shi Qui’s clothing. Nicely done with their images reflected in the water of the bath but softened by the steam rising from the surface.

And the ‘reveal’ as our handsome stranger steps out of the hospital… WXL can’t help staring.

Ep 3 – after this I will break.

SPOILERS

Our very well defended female lead makes the poor guy – Leaf Seventeen aka Ye Shi Qui – work hard to get her to agree that he can stay.

This is part of her brusque defensive strategy – she doesn’t allow people into that tight knit group with ease. They are her family.

‘Who exactly are you?’ Mu asks Ye Shi Qui (Leaf Seventeen). YSQ is hiding happily in the safety of this little family and terrified his true identity as a noble be exposed.

He looks at his reflection mirrored in the water of a pond near the river… and will only answer to Ye Shi Qui the name he has been given at the Rejuvenation Centre. An echo of another moment where he and the FL in a man’s form, can be seen in the awkwardness of mutual attraction reflected in the water of the bath tub and blurred at the same time by the steam coming from the surface.

Again we see her, WXL’s bravery, care and compassion in the actions she takes despite her brusque and jocular manner. She takes great personal risks to look for rare herbs in the territory of the Chenrong army.

In this territory lives a powerful demon called Xian Lu.

She is followed by the, clearly, quietly devoted Ye Shi Qui. I love the simplicity of this time together. He is wordless but considerate.

He is of course quite unlike the next man she meets – Xiang Liu. strategic commander of the depleted Chenrong forces and a nine-headed serpent demon, to boot. Xiang Liu is played by Tan Jian Ci in an imposing, quietly threatening and yet wistful manner. Mostly imposing and threatening at this point in the story!

The encounter and ensuing relationship between them is unusual and at times very puzzling. Is it abusive? In many ways yes… but we are dealing with a serpent demon! XL doesn’t hold back from the unexpected or brutal. ‘He is ruthless and acts without regard’ explains the FL to Ye Shi Qui.

XL is also aware that the man before him is a woman. FL gives away her essential female self by singing to attract a special mountain creature, Fei Fei who can be sold.

Poor little Fei Fei…

‘Who are you exactly?’ XL asks our FL in male form. XL knows that all is not as it appears with the man he has captured in the forest. Just as XL himself can take on different forms.

‘Who are you?’ is also the question our lead character will ask herself at various points in this story. The interrogation takes her and us back into her history. She answers: ‘I am just an abandoned person with no-one to rely on. I couldn’t protect myself’ and we are back with her childhood trauma.

We discover in a later episode that her account to XL of her background creates a link between them – even though you wouldn’t know it from his behaviour!!

Good points @GB – yes, see how you think the writer continues to build on what we know of our central characters.

I have to say that as the show progresses the appeal of the serpent increases! LOL
Talk some sense into me please!

I also love the shy smiles of Shi Qi and his thoughtfulness.

I have managed to get hold of Koalas’s translation of the book! It is on the Koala’s Playground website. I may do some extra reading.

Please give yourself time just to enjoy this show, btw, @GB with no pressure to add comments until you feel the desire to.

I will comment on episodes episodically…perhaps in threes.

I’ll also look out for your comments as and when.

I’d rather you simply enjoy a good chunk of the show IF it continues to appeal and then we discuss later.

NO rush dear @GB.

I’m on holiday at the moment – staycationing – so have a little more time than I usually would but am also wanting to be very relaxed.

My dear @Kate, I did have the thought that the Serpent would start to become a bit more winsome… that’s the crunch!!! Root for the guy who seems so cool, despite his obvious failings (like cruelty)… or for the not so exciting but dependable, loving guy? That’s what makes this kind of show so delectable to savour. We know we shouldn’t, but our ‘hearts’ gives us the FEELS for the ‘wrong’ guy!!

That’s not to say that the ‘wrong’ guy might not actually become better (it’s best that he becomes better regardless of the FL, rather than because of her, but show will generally make falling in love with her the springboard for his great conversion) and therefore more in line with the kind of person we don’t mind our daughters hanging out with LOL.

That, to me, is the test of whether I could really approve the character as acceptable boyfriend material. Would I introduce him to my daughter? Hmmm. But as a viewer, I can ship him any way I wish.

Not to worry about my pace, dear Kate. I’ll read you as you post or not, and add my thoughts as I write them. All easy going and relaxed. That’s how I want to enjoy this show.

Now back to the show and to see if any ideas start percolating!! 🤔🧐🥸🤭

@GB – really like your comments.

There is a lot to the serpent demon and I will write more when we are further in!

Thanks @Packmule! I need to pay attention when I post.

Some thoughts on our FL’s early relationship with Qiang Liu and with Shiki (from the early part of Episode 4)

There is a dramatic stand off between the usually meek Ye Shiki and the Chenrong soldiers and Xiang Liu. Unexpected strength and determination of Shiki… unafraid in this context. He is clearly concealing great power.

Qiang Liu quietly appraises the scene and lets them go… He is amused and intrigued by the two of them hiding their fundamental identities – one a high level deity and the other a woman.

Then a lovely, tender scene as the injured FL piggy backs on Shiki who carries her through the forest.

Our survivor FL can’t understand Shiki’s persistence in finding her. She doesn’t understand the way he loves her and has committed himself to her.

There is an unnervingly unconditional, unguarded quality to this devotion. I say, unnervingly, because I wonder at Shiki’s ability to be wise in relation to the FL who is a survivor in the end and may or may not be able to respond to his love.

Does that make sense?

He takes care of her wounds in a cave – their quiet closeness is refreshing and so restful in the context of the story. They have both cared for and shared wounded bodies with the other.

As Shiki puts the antiseptic powder on FL’s back, he hesitates – just as she did – when it comes to touching her back directly. He knows this man is a woman.

When we compare the early relationships between our FL and QL, on the one hand, and Shiki on the other…

At this stage she placates and fears QL but is also profoundly honest with him about her questions of identity and the deep pain of abandonment when he presses her. QL is intrigued by her and is in some way moved by her description of abandonment and suffering.

With Shiki, she lets her guard down – although the guard goes up and down depending upon how threatened she feels by potential closeness – and is chatty and relaxed. She isn’t trying to impress. She is clearly fond of him. The nature of that fondness is ambiguous. Her being taken aback by his body, and newly handsome appearance in Episode 3, tells us that this is not the fondness she has for Freckly and Skinny!

ps I hope more people will join the discussion.

The more the merrier!

The indignity of being Wen Xio Liu (second part of Episode 4)

The number of times we see WXL (our FL in a man form) on the floor being whipped, pushed onto the ground by Cang Xuan to recover the antidote for a poison, dropped from a height, forced to placate, to submit.

WXL laughs to himself in Episode 4 as he lies on the floor winded by Cang Xuan’s power. Shiki was supposed to block CX but has disappeared unexpectedly.

The laughter on the floor isn’t jolly laughter though. WXL -our FL- is laughing because her experience of being let down by Shiki has reaffirmed all her beliefs about people and her life experience.

Cang Xuan moves to help WXL get up and is met with bitter anger and pushed away.

THE FLOWER MOTIF AND XY’S HEALING POWERS
Not only do flowers play a part in CX’s and XY’s past, but we see that Beggar Shi Qi has deity power to make flowers bloom. Although practically dead, he holds a lone red flower stalk in his hand. (In a later episode we will see that flowers wilt according to his emotions).

There were no other flowers about. This means that he had the power to take a dead stalk and bring it to life in his hands. XY makes a note of this.

She deliberately makes the relationship with the Beggar transactional, by saying that she stepped on his sesame seed cake, and asked what compensation he wanted. That gave her the way in to help him, and to princess carry him home, to heal him. LOL.

From the start, she did not want to get close to the Beggar. Perhaps it was because he was not a mere mortal like Mu, Pimply/Freckly and Skinny, but a deity of some kind. She did not trust easily and in case her patient wanted to be free, she did not want to create any ties that would bind him.

It seems that unknown to her mortal friends, XY’s healing powers come not only from her talent with herbs and poisons, but from her blood. As a last ditch effort to save the Beggar whom she finds had shielded her from hot wax, she gives him her blood to drink.

Beggar’s recovery is amazing. When he is able to get up and out after a bath, we see that he stands under branches abloom with yellow flowers.

XY acting and reacting – what moves her towards Xiang Liu (Ep 4 final chunk)

It is clear re-watching this episode that part of XY’s early dynamic with the serpent demon involves reaction to feeling let down by Shiki.

You see the expression on her face as we hear the bird cry and see Xiang Liu approaching carried by his faithful giant bird (humorous touch… I think he calls him fluffy or something similar!). XY has a ‘Who cares? Why not?’ daredevil expression on her face.

XY is more open to Xiang Liu in the context of her personal pain. He ends up being something of a ‘bad boy’ confident.

From a great height they discuss XY’s behaviour towards Shiki. Xiang Liu is very perceptive in his questioning. XY is mad at herself for trusting Shiki.

Then this strange and fun scene when XY falls back into the water below from a great height – expressing her freedom from depending on anyone -not Shiki and not even Xiang Lu when she is being carried on the giant bird??

Hi @Kate, I like your idea that XY might need clues in nature to help her decide whether to trust a human being or not. I assume that flowers blooming around a person means that person is likely to be trustworthy.

As you mentioned earlier, XY has abandonment issues and a lack of trust. Her questioning of Shi Qi before allowing him to stay on as her servant included a question on when he would leave her.

That’s why she was so angry with herself for trusting Shi Qi, only to find him gone into hiding to save himself. She could not really blame him for wanting to hide, but it hit a sore spot for her since she was abandoned in her time of need, again.

I’m moving on to rewatching Ep 4. I know what you mean, and agree that the way she was with Serpent, was probably fueled by her emotional upset over Shi Qi.

I may have a note on identity after Ep 4 or so.

Looking forward to your comments on Episode 4 @GB!

@GB and everyone who is watching this show

Lovely to wake up to these reflections in a different time zone!

Happy Sunday to you.

Great linkage of lives and themes @GB.

Other translations of the ‘Chubby’ the Condor’s name include ‘Furball’!

Xiang Liu’s loyality to the failing Chenrong cause – what is he going to get out of that? – tells us something about the principles he holds. He won’t be bought out.

Yes…’Furball’ ‘Chubby’ is not the name a heartless demon would give to his condor companion pet/ride/messenger.

A few additional points. According to Koala (of Koala’s PlayGround) Cang Xuan and his sister also travel in disguise. There seem to be so many assumed forms in this show. I guess they must do that because of all the danger to their lives.

I don’t know where Koala gets that information from unless there is something in the novel that clarifies this. But their primary identities are not known and, of course, XY doesn’t recognise CX until a critical juncture in the story.

Fangfeng Bei is a character who appears later in the show. No spoilers here – there will be more to say.

Continued…
The Pretense that can become Truth: XY and Shi Qi watch Skinny and Tian Er behaving like a happy couple. XY observes that the marriage is an interesting gamble.

XY : “Tian Er doesn’t believe Skinny will sincerely spend a lifetime with her. Now what she shows to Skinny is all pretense, but Skinny doesn’t know about it. If Tian Er is nice to him, he will be nicer to Tian er. When Tian Er sees that Skinny treats her better, then the pretense will be mixed with sincerity. In the end, as time goes by, the false will become true. But this process involves risks. Tian Er is gambling with her heart. If Skinny reneges, one of these two will die certainly.” (This is a prefiguring of what we will get with XY and Serpent?)

XY continues thoughtfully : “My life is long. I can wait for the ending.”
Shi Qi : “Tian Er is very brave.”
XY : “People scorn trading pretense for sincerity. You, on the other hand, appreciate it.”
Shi Qi : “Even if it’s pretense, she has bet her future, giving that person a chance to trade sincerity for sincerity.”

(I wonder when we will see this played out. Probably in Season 2???
Will it be XY, who is definitely very brave as well, who will gamble with her heart with Serpent? [The synopsis suggests this…] Or will she bet her future on Cang Xuan? [The synopsis says no, I think] And what role will Shi Qi play? His life is also long. Will he be the 3rd wheel and watch the ending?)

The Identity of the Hidden Gender: In Episode 6, when XY with her injured leg, stands up to hop around Shi Qi for fun, she’s the playful boss with her dependable servant. But when she falls against his chest and feels his arm around her, she becomes aware of him as a man and that she is a woman. He, being fully aware that she’s a woman, decides to take the opportunity to get closer to her. We get a Princess Carry reversal now when he throws away her crutch and carries her home against his chest. XY is stunned into silence LOL.

She goes into her room and finds herself flustered. Shi Qi remains outside looking shy but pleased with himself that he’d taken the opportunity to carry her. I like that we get to see both their expressions concurrently on either side of her room door. They are kind of cute. XY has to slap herself to remind herself of the identity she has to maintain, which means that being physically close to Shi Qi unmans her LOL.

Shi Qi, who is already in love with XY, probably guessed that he was causing her a great deal of discombobulation, (love that word!) but decided to shake her up. We see that he paused to deliberate his next move before throwing away her crutch. In all the 6 years he was with her, he had never dared to change her stance with regard to him. Perhaps this was when he was beginning to try to get her to admit that she was a woman.

Good morning @Kate
‘Furball’ for that huge, fierce bird is cute too!

I’m not clear about how CX ends up as a hostage prince with the Haoling bunch. They simply trust him to take care of their princess and let him hop around the kingdoms with her. It’s rather strange.

They must know that he’s still working to get back his proper position in Xiyan, and having their princess dragged into it might not be a good idea. Of course he would not mind having her along, as a camouflage for his real business of spying on and defeating Chenrong.

Yes, they are not giving their real names, and hence are in disguise, but they do not disguise the fact that they are deities with spirit power.

Yes, Xiang Liu seems the kind that cannot be bought. He’s a smart strategist. I wonder what they pay him to keep him as their military advisor.

A Theme? – I was noticing that (and perhaps you mentioned this as well) a theme of this Show is that mortal or immortal, people are all about the same. There was no real advantage in having a long life. In the end we see that all kinds of people whether human, demon or deity have a childhood, want a happy family, can enjoy life or suffer, can get sick, can be killed. In Episode 6, XY says that it was the humans with their short lives that were more favoured by heaven, but she didn’t say why exactly. Only that the unchanging moon and beautiful scenery could get boring over time. Perhaps the shorter life span was a blessing to allay boredom!!!

Do you know it would be easier to do that. Yes @GB. Good thinking.

This is such a thematically rich show that I suspect we will struggle in one thread to keep the commentary and conversation working well together.

Re Episode 4 I wanted your take on XL’s asserting his serpentyness! Were you surprised by his biting approach to XY? I wasn’t expecting that development.

There is a scene in the novel later than this which indicates there is more to this than bloodthirsty serpent behaviour.

@GB – responding to your responses.

I need to check this but, apparently, the suggestion in the novel is that CX and his sister are in another form not merely using different names. That is not clear from the show and perhaps the show doesn’t do the same thing as you argue.

I do wonder why CX is so concerned to defeat Chenrong. They are a spent force. The only reason can be his desire to regain power and the throne. He is not a free character. None of the characters are free, that said, to do as they please.

His goals – as you say – get in the way of him seeing some fundamental things around him. Again, we see his assumptions getting in the way of his recognition of XY.

He feels to me both honourable and compromised.

Oooh @Kate, analysing his serpentyness would be fun. It calls for a deep dive rewatch!

@pkml3 after initial rewatching we have a desire for more threads LOL.

@Kate, How about 6 episodes per thread, ending with just 3 episode for the last thread? Let’s leave this thread as the Open Thread that has Discussions on Episodes 1-6.

That would leave us with Episodes
7-12
13-18
19-24
25-30
31-36
37-39
So we need 6 more threads. Does that sound OK, @Kate?

Many thanks indeed @Packmule3 for the new discussion threads for this show!

Much appreciated.

While we are still in the early episodes here is a rather nice trailer special about what went into the making and filming of the episodes in Quing Shui:

https://www.viki.com/videos/1237758v-making-of-specials

6 months to get planning permission and 7 months to build (correcting my earlier note).

MORE on XIANG LIU

Koala also describes Xiang Liu’s relationship with our FL as ‘so hot and disfunctional’ with all the ‘blood sucking and how close they are to wanting to kill one another’.

She adds too that she wouldn’t have it any other way!

Perhaps Xiang Liu will not make it into our top boyfriends list…But there is so much more to come in this story.

Loving this @GB – waiting for the next instalment! (No pressure of course).

I really like your highlighting of XY’s coping mechanism being provocation…

And the many possible motivations because XY is no fool.

@GB – I so enjoyed your two part recap. Thank you.

I laughed with you about the ‘enthusiastic arrangements of stones’… Still laughing. XY really pushes the envelope doesn’t she! Her motivation is unclear. Is she being a clutz or a strategist??

The mood is so light-hearted…we, the viewers, are NOT expecting the next development.

He acts without warning. As you say, to teach her a lesson initially… But now another secret has been revealed.

@GB… yes, well I’m building on your point re XY as agent provocateur – I hadn’t always understood that.

Yes – your hypothesis makes sense.

And… even when happy, she provoked as a child to get attention… remember the first scene of all with her older brother?

Yes, we are generously supplied with scenes with the serpent hungrily ‘stuck on her neck’ Haha. There is clear evidence in a later episode that these are more than painful encounters. I’ll find you a bit from the novel when we get there. LOL

@Kelley,

It’s such a delightful show isn’t it? Just draws you in.

I’m with you in liking serpent guy the most… dysfunctional as the relationship is!

Do please come and feed in your comments whenever you feel inspired.

I am hoping more people will enjoy the show and join this discussion.

COMMENT ABOUT SCREENPLAY – CHANGES FROM NOVEL

Hi all,

@GB and I covered a lot of ground over the weekend! Very enjoyable.

Tong Hua the author of the book is also one of three writers on this show.

I noticed an article on Koala’s Plyaground about complaints from Chinese viewers about some changes in the tv version.

These concern changes to the coverage of Ye Shiki’s character and that of Xiao Liung’s character. [ I won’t post because it has too many spoilers or at least follow-up discussion spoilers.]

Interestingly, they/she have added more detail about Xiao Liung (aka serpent guy!) – actions he takes (including kind ones) that are not made explicit in the novel.

On the other hand, Ye Shiki/Jung loses some air time and some scenes – including scenes which demonstrate his great intelligence.

There is some discussion about the reason for this. If Jing loses air time will it affect the viewer perceptions of the character?

XL is the author’s favourite character, apparently.

I suspect that they have fleshed out XL simply to make the narrative work better in a filmed version. IF XL’s character is too elusive it might not translate well into a tv series where actions and what we see are so important.

I think, too, that us hearing XL’s thoughts from time to time is part of this fleshing out of this character for tv.

I would be very surprised if there would be changes planned to the overall story – according to Koala, this account is 95% faithful to the novel so far.

Oh dear – I keep getting the names mixed up! Apologies.

Xiang Liu is the name of His Serpentyness!

@pkml3 I join @Kate in thanking you for your kind words concerning our many words about this Show. It’s our pleasure!! This is one of those shows that are so much fun to write about and analyse again once more.

Thanks for always giving us the many threads and spaces in which to spazz and groan together. Watching with like-minded friends is fun greatly multiplied!

Hi @Stacy, we think the 14 episode cut may not be externally imposed after all and be more of an internal production decision.

The gap between seasons may be more problematic.

I got into this show because it so engrossing. I suspect I will be in tears at various points.

It would be great if you did decide to watch – even if you dipped your toe in and watched the first 2 or 3 episodes…??

@Kate, I’ll also be out of the house most of Wednesday and Thursday, but I’ll come by in the evening to relax here and read and try to watch and write my thoughts. Will see you then!!

The charm of Shi Qi for Xiao Yao really was that he waited for her no matter what. As XY goes off to catch the Feifei, she says to herself that no one would wait for someone else forever. She really expected that SQ would go off by himself after getting tired of waiting. However he would ultimately go in search of her and bring her home.

Another thing that struck me this time is that Xiang Liu voluntarily removed his mask in front of XY and she somehow recognised him as XL.

@Kate, yes I did hear that the role was not attractive to many actors. It’s a good role for Deng Wei to grow with.

Episode 4 Note worthy points

– XY didn’t believe that there was no one who could successfully poison XL. She vowed that when she managed to take XL down by poison, he’d die by her hand.

– This episode sealed the promise that SQ made to XY. He promised that he would listen only to her. As long as he did not leave her, he’d always be Ye Shi Qi.