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As requested by @Growing_Beautifully.
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Will contain spoilers.
Enjoy the show.
The thread is open.
As requested by @Growing_Beautifully.
Please post comments in the appropriate Open Threads.
Remember, you can always search and pull up the threads from the Categories box.
Will contain spoilers.
Enjoy the show.
Thanks @pkml3 … Yay! I’ll be back!
Generally while I found the Episodes 13-16 engaging and informative, nothing leapt to my mind except of course the DATE. No not the date(s) with Jing but the one with XL. LOL poor Jing… he does date her multiple times but somehow I don’t find them worth mentioning!!
Before going into THAT date, I find that Episodes 13-16 established the great misconception poor XY had lived under for 300 years. She had not known whom to believe. The careless maids and the nine-tailed fox (I feel like calling him a gumiho for short!) had claimed that her mother had been unfaithful, that therefore XY was not the child of the King of Haoling, and that he would not want her, etc.
It is touching that despite her ‘manly’ getup, her father somehow recognises her and brings CX on board with the fact that he’s actually found his beloved meimei, who refuses to be acknowledged by him. The love they have for her had me in tears, and I was squee-ing so hard to see the cousins finally together as gege and meimei.
CX decides to risk his life and go back to Xiyan where his murderous uncles have great influence and his dud grandfather does not seem to protect him. He feels that he cannot wait until he cultivates enough power, but must return to retrieve what belongs to him, so that he can protect the people he needs to protect, ie XY. This means that if not for XY’s return to his life, CX might have been wandering around for several more hundred years (the length of time boggles the mind! What a waste of it!!!)
This begs the question… who’s out for XY’s blood? We later find out that there are indeed characters who just want her dead, but at this stage it’s not exactly clear.
CX tells XY that he used to wonder what she might be like and sees that she’s so different from A Nian who was pampered all her life. He notes that she’s seen the dark side of life, and so he is not afraid to show her his true self: the good and bad things about himself. He says she’s better than his best imagination of what she might have been like.
XY says seriously : “I’m not that good.” (She probably has in mind the time she killed the gumiho.)
He tells her he’s going back to Zhaoyun Peak.
CX : “Won’t you go back with me.” She agrees.
XY remembers how their grandma had held their hands and made them swear an oath to take care of each other. Granny had seemed to know their fate.
As she watches CS walk away from her, she recalls the sad deaths and goodbyes they had faced together as children: how his mother had killed herself, how granny had died and how her mum had led the army and never returned. She makes a choice.
XY calls out to him : “Xuan, I have decided to be Princess of Haoling. If I’m Princess of Haoling, before anyone tries to harm me, they must figure out whether they can withstand the wrath of the emperor and the power of a kingdom.”
CX is concerned : “Are you doing this for me?” (Actually yes, more for him than for her own safety, but she deliberately said it was for herself. She understood that on his own he was courting death, like the matriarchs in their lives. He had to return with a person of some political power and status.)
CX : “Is it because I am going to Xiyan, so you want to stand by my side as Great Princess of Haoling and assist me?”
XY : “Not entirely. Because I think being a princess is not completely bad. I can bully others with power and be arrogant.” (Actually I feel she was always able to bully and be arrogant, even as Wen Xiao Liu. LOL.) “I can grab whatever I like.”
He gives her a long hug and thinks : “Grandma, father, mother, auntie, thank you for helping me reunite with Xiao Yao. This time I’ll protect my little sister for sure.)
XY’s thoughts as a tear streams down her face : “Since you choose to return to Xiyan Mountain, despite the trials and tribulations ahead, I’ll stay on your side to help you fulfill your dreams.”
I’ve always felt that the greatest love was the love of these 2 kids. On top of sharing their childhood joys and sorrows, they were bound together under oath. Perhaps the last two left standing will be these two. Yes… prepare for all kinds of heartbreak, especially with a title like ‘Lost You Forever’!!!
Oooh yes to that last paragraph! I wonder too whether that will be the outcome. Will they be left standing as brother and sister – wise rulers together – or as husband and wife?
The show departs from the novel in its ending, apparently.
Thank you for easing our way into this next section so that it is not too onerous @GB… your timing is good.
My highlight for this segment was Episode 15.
XY couldn’t help but reveal her identity when she thinks she recognises her Mother at the Court of the King of Haoling.
In pain, because she is being tortured by brat Princess 2, she screams out to her Mum, her words muffled by some cloth that has been stuffed in her mouth.
All that repressed pain and belief that she was abandoned comes out in these moments of desperation to speak to her Mum.
CX realises what is going on and tries to comfort and restrain her and to explain that the woman before her, merely looks like the Princess General.
It is of course the second grand reveal – this time XY is revealed to the royal family as the long lost Princess.
I read yesterday that Yang Zi and the actor who plays CX planed and rehearsed this scene in great detail and were utterly exhausted by the end of the shoot.
Not surprising.
Transferring part of @GB’s post here as instructed. 🙂 –pm3
**************************
JING AND XY
Back at the Rejuvenation Hall, Jing comes to hang up wind chime crystals and is upset to see that XY has packed ready to go. He himself does not seem to ever leave for his own place.
Jing to XY : “As long as you’re here, I won’t leave.”
XY tries to be cold to keep Jing from continually being attached to her : “Don’t come back to disturb my life. You are Tushan Jing, not Ye Shiqi. We have no relationship. Can you understand?”
She turns to face the other way.
Jing : “I wish I was just Ye Shiqi. I know you hate Tushan Jing. I tried to restrain myself from coming to see you, but I can’t. I dare not leave.”
He knows she’s prepared to leave and go wandering but he’s afraid that if he turns around, he won’t find her anymore when he looks back.
She has studiously not turned around.
Jing : “Wherever you go, I’m ready to go with you.
Within that day, it comes to pass that XY needs Jing to run away with her from CX. There couldn’t have been a happier man who ran away with a feisty physician, from his home and fiancee than Jing LOL!!
Transferring @GB’s post here as instructed. 🙂 – pm3
************************
ANOTHER NOTE ON XL AND THE BUG
After XY’s departure, we have a scene where in an uncharacteristically breathless state, XL runs into XY’s room. He notices the bag she’d packed and the things she’d left. He had probably felt the pain that she’d tried to inflict on her leg to alert him that she was in trouble, but had come too late.
So he had lied that he would not feel any pain of hers with the bug inside him. She had thought to try to alert him, but had given up, thinking that he would not feel the pain because he had nine heads.
In conclusion, he had come to love her enough that he had willingly tied his fate to hers in terms of pain and death, and done so without telling her the truth. If she had known that he, too, would have been affected in the same way as CX had been, it might have given her more pause, but I’m not sure it would have stopped her from transferring the Bug to him.
She might have wanted to change host, however, until she found out that no one else would do, ie until she finds yet another who would love her as much as Jing or XL.
XL wanted just 1 thing from XL in the future as compensation. Like XY, he also generally kept relationships on a transactional level. He was all for mutually beneficial deals, or buying and selling, at least overtly. However we watch to see if he gives more than he gets or bargains for, and if he does not seek compensation.
Hi @Kate
A very good question. They keep calling each other brother and sister, so that we forget they are cousins and can marry each other. Retaining the good relationship of the Haoling Kingdom with Xiyan by marriage is a normal thing to do as well.
So currently XY and CX are stuck together due to attachment and the oath to granny, while XY is also tied to XL because of the Bug, but then XY really wants to end up with Jing because they are in love with each other. What a great setup!!!
Like I said, I don’t mind whom XY ends up with or if she remains alone and independent, as long as she gets to choose freely. Of course, I imagine she’ll be coerced/forced by circumstances to choose something other than what her heart tells her to do.
Oh that makes it much more exciting for everyone. No one can predict the ending!
Yes, a truly painful scene. It was a shock to me, to see that the consort looked exactly like her mother, but was mute. We see that the King often touched his ring and he chose a consort (later we hear she was from a lower class) because she looked like his ex-wife. He had really loved his wife. I wonder why she divorced him.
I was so pleased to hear him calling her Xiao Yao. I thought that, that should have been enough to clue A Nian in on who Wen Xiao Liu was, but she was really dense. 🙄
Thanks for the info on the great pains Yang Zi and Zhang Wan Yi took to make their reunion scenes memorable. I was deeply touched by all that raw emotion. I felt that CX should not have blamed himself for not fetching XY when he was still a child. It was, I felt all along, a ridiculous burden to lay on the shoulders of 2 young children, to take responsibility for each other.
Why couldn’t the blasted grandfather have done something? 😠 Was he so incompetent that granny preferred to die while giving orders to 2 kids, instead of dying in the presence of her own husband? (I assume he didn’t go out to do battle himself, and was home all along!)
@GB – thank you. I enjoyed your thoughts here too.
Yes, you are right – the whole premise of the show is the enormous burden placed on two of our main characters as young children. Absurd really! Psychologists would describe this as parentification. Certainly an abnegation of responsibility by a number of the adults.
We get a glimpse of the damage that has been done in the raw emotion spilling out of XY and the expression on CX’s face.
Good question regarding the Grandfather’s lack of action taking and the reason for the Grandma leaving the 2 children with orders. I wonder if that is ever addressed or if it was addressed in the book and simply didn’t come across in the very rapidly moving first episode of the tv show.
ps This book is a sequel. I wonder if some of the clues are to be found in ‘Once Promised’ where we get more backstory on the Yellow Emperor – aka Grandad.
My guess is that Yellow Emperor isn’t much of a people person -so everyone does a work around!!
Just read some comments from Koala about last week’s episodes.
One important thing to note, according to Koala, is that the drama doesn’t do a good job of indicating the amount of time that has elapsed.
The episodes we saw last week covered a period of years and years not days and months.
So, for instance XY and XL hung out together, did archery and so on over a very good stretch of time – decades.
Equally, CX’s strategic planning took place over decades not months.
https://koalasplayground.com/2023/08/12/week-three-of-lost-you-forever-airing-brings-the-main-plot-to-crescendo-with-romance-tension-plotting-and-a-three-dude-race-to-save-their-girl/#comment-874603
p.s I am referring to the 4 Episodes up to and including Episode 30.
And finally for Sunday… this is Xiang Liu’s theme song- ‘The Waiting That Can’t Be Waited for’.
It is performed by Tan Jianci: https://youtu.be/SulAgmlWKv4
Peachy Blossom provides a translation. There is also a translation in the comments below, provided by @rosilywang6221. I have copied and pasted it for comparison:
@rosilywang6221
4 days ago
海天月 月照衣 衣发胜雪
The ocean is reflecting the moon, the moon is lighting up the coat, the coat and the hair are white as snow
山水笑 笑眉目 目光如星
The mountain and river are smiling, smiling brows and eyes, those eyes are like stars
相思染 染情蛊 骨刻心铭
Lovesickness and affection, infection of love poison, deep into my bones and heart
等一次雪落 等命运垂爱
Waiting for the snow to fall, waiting for the fate to favour
等你一生来
Waiting for you to come into my life
等不尽思念 等不到花开
Endless longing, could not see the blossom
等不到的等待
Endless waiting and waiting
红尘九曲一处处
Endless music about this lonely world everywhere
是恋慕 是自苦
It is how one adores, it is self-bitter
柔情深许一声声
Tender feelings and promises one after another
是缄语 是禁锢
It is taboo, it is imprisonment
心若浮图一幕幕
My heart started to recognise all the memories rushing by
是来路 是归途
It is where we came and where we are going
命似雪舞一步步
My life is like dancing in the snow, step by step
是孤独/结束
Towards the loneliness/end
Ok… one more … this is Jing’s theme song. I prefer it. Lovely.
https://youtu.be/P0POSZ87TOc
Just finished ep 15 and got to stop. Will hopefully be able to watch at least one more ep before bed.
I am SO glad the XY’s reveal happened so early in the story! Of course, XL still doesn’t know exactly who she is, but Jing and CX know now so I think XL will find out soon.
I like what ya’ll mentioned before….there are elements to every one of the MLs that suit XY in different ways. Too bad there’s not a way to combine them into one person so she can have ’em all 😀
Thanks very much @Kate for the songs and the lyrics, and the link to Koala’s blog.
The songs reflect the what different characters are feeling, and wanting and their regard for XY so well. I like the longing and the melancholy in the song sung by Tan Jian Ci. I know that I’ll be downloading them to play in my car.
Thanks for the information on the length of time we are actually dealing with. It’s strange that the Show never says ‘years’ later’ or has the characters mentioning how long they’ve actually been doing something.
It’s gives us a different understanding when we realise that our characters, XY and XL/Fangfeng Bei have been in friend mode for a very long time (by our standards). They have been confidants and trusted each other over the decades. It was a risk for XL to be near CX and Xiyan, since he was a wanted man. But he took the risk for decades in order to be close to XY.
Then it’s not clear how many years Jing had to spend with XY by comparison. He would have had to be away to take care of his own affairs of business, etc. Every meeting or stolen date was precious. Fortunately XY was not always under the watchful eyes of CX. I was amused that rightly both her father and CX spoke sternly to Jing about not toying with her, since was not a free man. Of course it was going to be XY who would confound their attempts to protect her. In any case, she had already given her heart to Jing, possibly close to the time when she blushed.
More adhoc stuff just because I remember them!😝😇
EPISODE 14
One of the funniest scenes was Wen Xiao Liu’s first meal in front of the King. XY did her utmost to eat like a glutton and with as little finesse as possible, including drinking the finger washing bowl of water LOL. From the beginning she was testing her father and must have been looking surreptitiously to see if he evinced disgust at the commoner physician who dared to eat without manners in front of the King.
CX was appalled LOL, while the King kept a straight face but kept looking earnestly at XY. He offered her, her childhood fave snacks that she could eat while listening to stories. This proved that he remembered her likes. He also knew that she hated longans.
The meal clued a shocked CX in to the fact that the King was treating the crude physician like XY. It’s proven somehow when he witnesses that she rejected the longan that Jing tried to give her. He’s in tears by the time he comes into her presence again and starts the healing process over her broken legs.
I liked what King daddy said to CX when he stopped him from demanding to know who XY was: “Nobody can decide who he is. It is up to him. Some harm is caused not only in the name of evil, but in the name of love.”
EPISODE 15
The fun ad hoc scene was the mountain of gold nuggets that King daddy left for XY to roll around in. She was happy to lie atop the gold, but found it painful!!! LOL. Too much of a good thing is never advisable.
The scene that touched me…
CX calls the name that is always on his mind : “Xiao Yao.”
XY : “Nobody’s called me that in many years.”
CX : “XY, I’m Cang Xuan.”
XY : “Cang Xuan gege. I’m back.”
He helps her stand up to greet her father.
She goes on her knees to kowtow 3 times to her father.
King Daddy : “As long as you’re alive, nothing else matters.” He makes the animals appear for her like he used to do before when she wanted to see magic as a child.
XY : “They said you abandoned me. Why didn’t you fetch me from Mount Jade?”
King Daddy : “I didn’t fetch you because your five uncles rebelled. There were countless accidents in the palace. I was afraid you would get hurt.”
(I snort… Looks like these people don’t think it worthwhile to send messages to their children to assure them that they are not forgotten!!!)
King wanted to let the Queen Mother take care of her while he quelled the rebellion and only planned to bring her back after that, but because she did not know why she’d been left at Mount Jade for so long, she had run off to look for him herself.
XY : “Are you still my father?”
King Daddy : “Even if you refuse to call me father, I am still your father.”
She hugs her father and calls him “Daddy”. King Daddy is overjoyed. I’m in tears. 🥹
THE FOX’S TAIL
The Chinese Gumiho vented his anger over the loss of his tail by torturing the daughter of the Princess who had cut it off.
After 30 years she’d managed to concoct a poison with which to kill the Gumiho. I note that before she killed him her eyes changed colour. I wonder what that means. I believe a demon’s eyes can change colour. When other deities used magic, their eyes did not change. Does XY have other power that even she is not aware of?
Now knowing that the fox’s tail that had been a precious token of love between him and XY was the cause of her torture, CX throws the fox’s tail away but XY says of the fox : “He imprisoned and tortured me for 30 years, but I took his life. My grudges with him have been settled. His tail is very rare. You keep it. It can help you transform and break through barriers.”
I like that with XY, she does not continue to hold grudges.
CX behaves like our bratty A Nian and tosses it away : “I don’t want it!”
XY tells Jing to keep it for her until CX cools down about the fox and the tail. We wait to see if that tail ever re-emerges to be useful.
JING AND XY – THE PROMISE (EPISODE 14)
In Dragon Bone prison, Jing lights up their private cage with pretty flower shaped lights. (He’s so sweet. He’s giving her flowers at least temporarily.) He says what if they could just live in that cave forever together… he would be contented.
We get the scene where he tells her that he knows she’s a woman and would stick with her always. In effect he has confessed to her that he loves her.
Jing : “I don’t want to be Tushan Jing. And I don’t want to seek revenge. But I’m afraid my brother will hurt you and others, so I have to go back. I’m my brother’s target. If he knows where I am, he won’t hurt you.”
(Dysfunctional families… CX has uncles waiting to kill him, while Jing has a brother out for his blood.)
Jing assures her that he does not care for the lady his mother arranged for him to marry. He wants to cancel the engagement : “Give me 20 years, no 15 years.”
Jing : “Wait 15 years and Ye Shiqi will be with you.”
XY : “How do I wait?/What do you mean by wait?”
Jing : “Don’t fall in love with any other men.” (Hmmm…) XY agrees.
He’s overjoyed. He wants a Hi-5 oath LOL. He catches her Hi-5 hand and won’t let go.
She admits that she never believed him to be good in business, or that he was witty and sharp as reported, but instead found him dull and inarticulate. However she just realized that she was wrong.
XY : “Shi Qi, I’m different from you. I’m not a businessman. But I’m very clear about big things. I’m ruthless to others, but I’m even more to myself. Can you understand?”
Jing : “You don’t give yourself hope, don’t trust people first and don’t give first. Tian Er bets on a lifetime with false happiness. You treat a man with all your heart. But if he doesn’t cherish you, you will abandon him. I’m willing to wait, until you’re ready.”
XY : “How will you wait? What if I’m never ready?”
Jing : “I’ll wait a lifetime. As long as you don’t disappear, even if we live like this for a lifetime, I’ll be happy.”
She looks a little touched by his sincerity.
Henceforth he will remind her of the promise to make the 15-year wait.
XL AND XY
Discovering that XY had disappeared against her will XL actually went all the way to Wushen Mountain. He appears out of the sea in front of CX, XY and Jing who’s carrying her. His stained sleeve shows that he’s been injured.
CX tends to think that he’s the main event LOL : “Xiang Liu, are you desperate to kill me? You even came here.”
XL bursts CX’s bubble : “I’m not here to kill you.”
XL addresses XY : “What did you do? You left Haoling’s army in chaos. Your leg was broken?”
XY : “What can I do? It’s just a misunderstanding.”
XL : “The sea is below the mountain.”
XY thinks to herself : “I know what you mean. As long as I leap into the sea, you can take me away. But we’re in Wushen Mountain. You came alone and got injured. If you take me, I’m afraid we both can’t leave alive. Moreover, if I leave, what about Shi Qi?”
XY : “It’s fine. I don’t want to owe you too much. You should go.”
XL : “Don’t forget, you still owe me a debt. Dead people can’t pay their debts.”
She says she’s afraid to die and would wait for him to come to collect what she owed him. He leaves. Jing smiles, happy that she stayed with him instead of going off with XL.
It’s interesting. XL was prepared to face CX and his big band of soldiers to retrieve XY, but he respected XY’s agency. Seeing that she was calm and able to speak for herself, he asks if she wants to be saved. When she says no, he respects her wishes and literally leaves her, trusting that she can take care of herself.
I guess some of us viewers (I do!) kind of prefer XL’s style to the smothering attention that Jing and CX give XY.
CONVERSATION OF CX AND XY (EPISODE 16)
After Jing leaves Wushen, CX and XY have a chat.
XY is pragmatic about not expecting any person to stay with her always, and accepts that Jing had to leave : “Even my own mother ended up leaving me. How can I entrust my happiness to a man?”
She asked if CX is surprised that she’s so cold-hearted.
CX : “You’re not cold-hearted. You’re sensible. We’ve been through so many departures, and suffered that pain so many times. We don’t want to feel that pain again, and so we protect ourselves.”
She asks if he’s ever had the feeling that no matter how happy one is, one
half of one feels it deep down, but the other half keeps reminding one that one will lose everything.
XY : “Such sensibility induces a gentle sadness even in the happiest moment. And when you lose what you have, you accept it peacefully, no matter how sad you are because you’ve seen it coming.” (A foreshadowing??)
CX understands : “No ultimate happiness. No ultimate grief. I thought only I was like that. Now that you’re back. I’m not alone anymore.”
This is the repeated thought and the expectation of CX and XY, they are no longer alone. They have each other to depend on. Even if no one else understood, they can understand each other. Wherever one would go, the other would not be far. Whatever CX chose to do, XY would support him. They would be the ultimate confidants because only they knew what the other was really doing and why.
My sidenote: XY was happy to have gege to count on but I have my doubts. He could not even swim or defend himself against XL! LOL.
REJUVENATING FLOWER WEAPON (EPISODE 16)
What a nice name and why is it given to a weapon? King Daddy informs XY that this weapon was sealed in her. CX figures out that her mother was the one who sealed it in her.
If what was said that deities and demons have the ability to shape shift, why was a shape shifting weapon necessary for XY?
By rights, I’d expect that Jing, with his gumiho descent, should also have the ability to change his appearance.
In any case, XY is a walking weapon. The question is who else gets to use the Rejuvenating Flower, and will XY get hurt in the process? What does it do besides change a person’s appearance?
Hi @GB,
Thank you! I have to confess to being behind now with the re-watching and will need to ask for a re-watch amnesty for a while…haha!
I am also back at work and coming into a busy patch with other things – so my pace of re-watching will be slightly slower.
For now, I am going to comment on your observations and add anything I remember from my first-time watches.
Back to your commentary:
EPISODE 14
The King is an astute guy isn’t he? Yes, he made some foolish assumptions about the children and about informing or not informing the young Princess, but he seems to have learned his lesson and is quite a ‘new man’ as he goes about testing his theory about the identity of the uncouth XY…
FOX-TAIL
I don’t remember that changing of colour of XY’s eyes… based on what you have just explained about eyes changing colour… this may be a clue to a big reveal… I will say no more for now…
JING and XY AND THE PROMISE
This is the scene. isn’t it, where Jing expresses his delight at being locked away with XY in the cave. Someone else, not me, has commented on the fact that their relationship works very well when they are in their own little world together.
There is something child-like about Jing’s regard for XY, even though XY points out what a ruthless (pragmatic) person she is. You highlight this bit of dialogue.
Jing – is he enlightened or naive?
EPISODE 15
As said before, this is a lovely episode – refreshingly cathartic and bringing people together in some vulnerable conversations. It draws out great performances from our cast.
It’s definitely one of my favourite episodes so far.
XL and XY
I agree with your conclusion about the way XL shows his love to XY! Yup.
CX and XY
I really enjoyed their re-discovery of one another and the similarities between them. I also agree that having CX as protector isn’t that reassuring!! Of, course, we will get to see just how he shows up as protector in later episodes…
THE REJUVENATING FLOWER
Another very interesting reveal – there is bound to be more to this and significance for XY’s identity and purpose in life.
DISCOVERY ABOUT ACTUAL TIME ELAPSED
The discovery, thanks to the Koala blog, that we were watching decades rather days or months has made sense for me of the fact that the once uncouth XY has recovered Princessly dignity and confidence so very quickly! XY’s posture has completely changed.
@Kate,
No worries about slowing down your rewatch @Kate. I’m simply trying to put in as much as I can, while I can, so that when I need to take a break, at least most of what I remember has been posted. My memory’s like a sieve, so I have to rewatch and make notes quickly.
Yes I like King Daddy. XY also claims to be astute, therefore we can guess that she gets that quality from her dad.
Eyes changing colour: Yes, I was taken aback to see a scary light in child XY’s eyes, as she sends poison into the gumiho. Here is the before and after screenshots of her eyes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PyRMXcmfqpwJ0coTrD2x4xChmjBGVTb1/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qT_2FE9htQF0zFGhb1pUJJsk6qLVAxzS/view?usp=drive_link
JING AND XY AND THE PROMISE
Good question. I’m leaning towards him being foolhardy and deliberately naïve when it comes to XY. He may be smart, even as astute as XY over all kinds of matters, but when it comes to pleasing XY, he’s a puppy or a fool or both. Except that it’s to do with separation from him, everything she wants is a ‘yes’ for him.
I’m just looking at the scene where he goes off to get ice-cold melons for her and she gets beaten by A Nian, because no one was there to speak up for her. She had told him not to bother to get them, but just because she had voiced ‘how nice it would be to have iced melons,’ he had to go off to get some. He was being stupidly indulgent and foolish. Perhaps he didn’t know the extent to which A Nian disliked XY. I thought it was mentioned that the pavilion they were in belonged to A Nian, and she wouldn’t take kindly to a man in the form of Wen Xiao Liu, sitting there.
You are correct in approving Episode 15 as one with deep, soul-bearing conversations and great performances. I note with appreciation, the naturally red-rimmed eyes and nose of Yang Zi during the crying scenes.
This secret weapon thing reminds me of LBFD, and how Orchid had to take on her ‘true identity’ to fulfill some great plan/prophecy, sacrificing herself in consequence. I will not be surprised if something like that takes place in this Show, and then all the guys will clamour to save her by going on a quest, giving her their life or spirit power or whatever LOL.
I believe there was a scene where she had to practice walking, etc like a princess? I FFDed a lot, and only caught a glimpse of it. Yes, if the time lapse was months, then XY had plenty of opportunities to practice behaving like a lady.
Now I’m off to post in parts the VERY long recap of the DATE that I mentioned. I didn’t know just how long it was until I tried to transcribe parts of it. 🤪😬🤨
THE UNEXPECTED AND UNACKNOWLEDGED ONE-SIDED BOAT BLIND DATE (EPISODE 17)
Yup this is the date that struck me. It was a coincidence that XL met XY, but he cunningly decided to make good use of the opportunity to draw information from XY as well as have an enjoyable ‘date’.
Jing gets Chishui Fenglong to open up his mansion for a dinner party with Jing’s friends. XY of course wants to go (as Wen Xiao Liu) and persuades gege to go make friends with the future head of the influential Central Plains family. Jing’s prospect to have a happy time with XY is dashed when Yiying joins them. XY leaves the dinner, seeing that her presence would cause greater stress for Jing, in Yiying’s presence.
She goes to the edge of a lake and calls out to a boatman to get a ride. Unknown to her, XL sits in the boat. XL had been working for Chenrong Yi the father of Chenrong Xin Yue and was leaving surreptitiously.
The boatman wants to go on his way to deposit his dangerous passenger outside the city as soon as possible, according to instructions, but XL recognises XY’s voice and decides to give her a boat ride. (The boatman was not pleased).
XY boards the boat and to the boatman’s surprise, XL has changed into a pretty woman. LOL. XL wants XY to sit by him but as XY is a ‘man’ she stands outside on the bow, out of respect for the ‘lady’.
Laughably, XL makes it rain only when XY stands on the bow and then stops the rain when she sits inside. It happens twice and is about to happen a 3rd time, but the movement annoys the boatman, who tells XY to sit inside because heaven is telling him to. (LOL. No a demon is telling him to!! I like the look on the boatman’s face, because he knows exactly what is going on with XL.)
XY sits at a polite distance away from the ‘lady’.
(To be continued…)
(Continued…)
‘Lady XL’ asks where XY is going. XY is wandering randomly and XL says, ‘she’ is doing the same. (LOL the boatman is fed up, saying under his breath: didn’t XL say the provision matter can’t be delayed. He closes his eyes in disgust. I like that boatman!)
(Plot hole? I wonder why XL didn’t just do his travelling underwater routine, instead of taking the boat. Maybe there were some water demons he wanted to avoid?)
XY is still sitting too far away for XL’s liking, so XL proceeds to create a series of strange sideway jerks to the boat that throw XY against the ‘lady’ 3 times. XY requests that the boatman go slowly since the boat is rocking so much LOL. The boatman complains under his breath: “So dense.” 🤣 The boatman tells XY in exasperation to move a bit closer to the ‘lady’ and lean towards the middle of the boat, then it will be unstable. (Smart boatman).
XL asks why XY is wandering alone when she said she came with a friend, and he starts fishing for info such as if XY had a disagreement with the friend. (Yeah, XL would love it if XY had a falling out with Jing or CX or both!!!)
XY says she didn’t want to lose her sobriety and so left early while the rest were drinking. XL dryly notes that if she feared losing her sobriety in front of friends, then those can’t be true friends.
‘Lady XL’ : “In that case, why not go home? “ (Home to XL means to Qingshui, closer to where XL is with the rebels).
XY : “I go with the flow and the world is my home. Wherever I go is home.”
XL starts digging for the kind of info he wants to know : “Isn’t there anyone special on your mind?”
XY thinks and looks at the strange ‘lady’ without answering.
(To be Continued…)
(Continued…)
A demon rises out of the water with a food carrier for the ‘lady’. XY looks on perhaps surprised to see the demon emerge and disappear underwater.
‘Lady XL’ : “What’s wrong? Haven’t you seen a demon? In t his city, it’s not rare to see aquatic creatures.”
XY : “I just didn’t expect it.”
‘Lady XL’ : “After taking on human form, I discovered that the world is not as beautiful as I imagined. Luckily there are two things that can fill this meaningless life.”
XY guesses correctly : “Delicious food and fine wine?”
XL offers her the seafood in the food basket, and XY seems to hesitate.
‘Lady XL’ : “Are you afraid that I’ve poisoned it or do you look down on demons’ food?”
XY takes a shrimp : “I just happened to think about a friend who’s a demon too. But I get eaten by him every time. My food is eaten by him. I’ve never eaten his food before.”
‘Lady XL’ a bit dryly : It sounds like this friend of your isn’t very friendly. You still consider him a friend.” (XL is still fishing to know what XY thinks of him.)
XY nods : “He may be fierce, but he’s very good. He’s really good.” XL looks at XY, possibly surprised by such approval, and also likely touched by her good opinion of him, spoken with such sincerity.
The instrumental OST that starts here goes on later to become Tan Jian Ci’s rendition of “The Waiting that Can’t be Waited For”.
The boat with XY and XL reach the town and they see colourfully lit lanterns over bridges, with fireworks overhead. It’s a beautiful ‘date’: at least it is for XL since he alone knows who both parties are and he gets to hear what XY thinks of him.
(To be continued…)
(Continued …)
XY is mesmerised, as she watches an ordinary loving couple on a bridge, just being close and sharing food. XL observes what XY is looking at.
‘Lady XL’ : “Are the fireworks too dazzling?”
XY is lost in thought, probably wishing that she and Jing could be like that couple.
As the boat goes under the bridge, XL makes the boat jerk again and falls onto XY’s lap to get her undivided attention. As a ‘lady’ he looks up into XY’s eyes.” They stare at each other a long moment. XY comes to her senses, helps the ‘lady’ sit up again and apologises.
‘Lady XL’ : “The couple on the bridge looked very well-matched.”
XY nods : “Ehm, yes they are well-matched.”
‘Lady XL’ : “ At this moment, we are sitting side by side. In the eyes of the people on the shore, maybe we’re well-matched too.” (Hint! Hint! But XY of course won’t get it.)
XY says the ‘lady’ is joking. “You and I are just strangers who met by chance and happened to share a boat.”
XL is not too pleased with that response and tells the boatman in clipped tones to go to shore.
XY disembarks and XL gives the box of food to her, knowing that she’s a bit of a glutton. XY is surprised.
‘Lady XL’ : “Next time you’re not happy, think about the people who care about you. He… (XL almost gives himself away here!!) They will not be happy when you’re not happy.”
(He’s speaking about himself, as one of the people who cares about XY.)
XY is left standing on the dock, somewhat confused and suddenly realizes that she had not paid the boatman.
‘Lady XL’ : “I have to go now and don’t have time to settle the account with you. Just keep it in mind.”
(This means XL will likely settle accounts for the shared boat ride with XY, later. I guess one day in the future he’ll mention the boat ride and demand a little something in return.) 😉🤪
XY looks thoughtful and we hear her think about the words of the demon lady : “The people who care about me… “ and she looks at the food box in her hand. Perhaps she can put demon food + demon lady being caring together ie 2 and 2 to make XL? LOL.
This boat ride date established that XL is cunning and generally successful in getting what he wants:.
– XL wanted XY to think about him and she did.
– He also wanted to know what XY thought of him and XY openly told him.
– He wanted to have XY close to him and managed to have her falling against him or him falling into her lap LOL.
– He had succeeded in having a one-sided, pretty romantic date with XY, all told. There was good food, pleasant conversation, skinship and fireworks to enjoy. LOL. I believe he trumps even Jing in devising a date that was practically perfect, except that the other party didn’t know it was a date! LOLOL.
As for XY, what strikes us is that at times she can be naive. She simply trusted that a total stranger she met by accident, should be a safe person to chat with, never thinking that she’d meet her demon friend as a pretty lady.
Thanks @GB!
Before I comment on your commentaries.
Apparently, this show is the story of XY’s parents… and all will be explained in 54 episodes…LOL:
https://www.viki.com/tv/38069c-a-lifetime-love
THE ONE-SIDED DATE
So much fun in this scene @GB.
Random rain every time XY tried to be gentlemanly and stand outside of the covered area in the boat! Haha. And the random boat wobbles.
I’m laughing here remembering this scene @GB!
I am enjoying the dialogue too… The most memorable part, of course, was where all of XL’s fishing paid off and he got to hear that XY thinks he is good!
I loved that bit.
I laughed loudly at your summary of the date as a success… apart from the fact that XY is blissfully unaware!
Very good @GB!
And yes, XY can be a bit of a blockhead! Not to put too fine a point on it.