[Mainland Chinese Drama 2018] Heavy Sweetness Ash-like Frost 香蜜沉沉烬如霜

[Yui.]

I want to thank everyone here as we wrap up this journey! (Originally, I was here to find another drama to fill my emptiness of finishing Fuyao, which I also really like despite the mixed ending.) I thank the person who posted the translation of the novel because I read it while waiting for more episodes to come out and some parts of the novel are brilliant. C'mon JM as a tear living in XF's eye? Brilliant. I do wished that we had scenes of XF starring at grapes and some comedic parts of JM's pov in XF's eye.

 

I thought it was adorable the son narrated the ending of the story! I am so glad most of the confession was kept for the drama especially the part where he said he used SH's name to hurt JM. I also really agree with someone who posted that SH's punishment was too extreme. I remember someone mentioned it seemed rapey, but now we can tell at the end the right hand lady of SH got eaten.  I don't think SH deserves to be eaten because she already got crazy wondering around. I also really agree that XF should have taken some part of her side because although her methods aren't right--she's not wrong for loving phoenix. 

 

Did anyone think it was cute when Phoenix and Night reached for the jar of beer almost at the same time and when XF calls Night "Big Brother"? I agree that yes Night is a complex character set up for pity and not for redemption (although I secretly wished he could been redeemed and become a better emperor but all we get is that he is all alone with Kuang Lu and Beast). And the actor Leo who played him did such a great job because of the range of emotions he was able to show as Night. I do like Yang Zi and Deng Lun and I think their acting is great, but like some people pointed out there are scenes where they lacked emotion ---that didn't stop me from watching  I'm a fan of all 3 of them and would like to see them in their new dramas! 

 

I miss Moon god, Puchi and Fate god T_T Why did we not get one last appearance of them at the ending?? Maybe that flower god who had a crush on Puchi could add comedic relief and also Peony god and Carrot god. 

 

I also could not look at the scene the same again when XF was looking for JM's soul because I knew it was filmed during 40 degrees C. XD Gosh Please release the deleted scenes and more BTS. I need some before trying to move on~~~  I'm also so glad the main 3 actors got to dub their own voices. As we can see this was a pretty low budget drama and all the cast were super well casted and I think they did an awesome job. Aside hiccups from the editing team and writing team, the cast who play these characters shined and showed up their interpretation of how these characters are presented to us.

 

I also want to point out I like the demon princess and thinks she could been even more badass! I just kind of did not like the makeup they chose to put on her now that she's queen. I think the drama it made sense for phoenix to give up his thrown as he plans to live with his JM and son in the human realm. I also agree that she gives weight to the demon realm arc.

 

Now off to look for other dramas to fill my Ashes of Love emptiness. I started skipping through Legend of Yunxi for the couple (but prefer the translated novel more). The Rise of Phoenixes is also on my list, but have heard that the dialogue is hard to understand so hoping for more subs out before I try to hop on that.

 

So what is everyone gonna do to relieve their emptiness after the end of the drama?

 

[angel318]

I'm 4 episodes behind guys due to work but Ive been spoiling myself with weibo and this forum. Thank you guys for the translations and spoilers!! I liked how respectful everyone was to each other and for sharing your insights. I missed a lot of things Bc my Chinese is limited, the language here is really flowery 

 

The only thing that kept me onto this drama was the fact that there will be a happy ending and the acting; especially YZ's acting. She felt very genuine, like she was JM (now I'm not a die hard book fan,  but for the drama she felt right. Her dubbing was really good too, better than the male leads. I could hear the emotions in her voice). I really wish there was more OTP scenes and they developed XF character more. The ending wasn't like rushed rushed but felt like BAM that's it. The beginning only help set up the OTP storyline but it didn't give my too much insight for his character development. He just cool and really in-love. I did enjoy DL acting when he being cold to JM but actually still in love. It was all in the eyes. But for some reason, when JM was revived his acting seemed kind of off.. I wonder if this had to do with when they filmed the scene (like how comfortable he has gotten with YZ, I know they were a couple in a drama years ago)

 

RY acting was good too, but at the same time I felt like it was due to how well-written his character is... he had a lot of good lines. His scenes with YZ were the best but alone... it was a hit or miss 

 

Okay, I think I'll stop ranting now 

 

Thank you all!

[angel318]

7 hours ago, Kimchi Sweet Potato said:

Giving the drama 8 out of 10.

It was a good adaptation but certainly could have been better. The biggest issue being, the storytelling and editing. The way was paved. The novel was already written. Why did they get so lost? I certainly didn't mind the additional side stories when it added to the main storyline or OTP. But what infuriates me still is they removed essential OTP interactions and aired the rubbish fillers instead. That ending was disappointing. Had they even just removed one Mu Ci related scene, we would have had at least 10 minutes more of OTP time.

 

Is Jin Mi wearing the Phoenix feather? And is she mortal or immortal?

 

And before I forget, thanks everyone for the lively discussion, translations, and spoilers the last few weeks. You certainly helped ease the frustration. 

I'm confused about this too. I can't tell if JM is mortal or immortal... they also don't say that she got to keep her memories. We assume she does but who would let a stranger hold her like that or kidnap her on her wedding dressed the way XF was hehe 

 

[turtle0217]

3 hours ago, visiopeia said:

 

He still have one more drama yet to release which the female lead is Fx Krystal. Looking forward to the upcoming ones ^^

 

Yes, forgot about that one. For china drama, I don't follow news until it actually comes out, because the wait is long. Like I remember hearing about this drama back in the ending of 2017 and it just didn't come out. Same goes for other dramas, too. I just wait for it to come out and watch it.

1 hour ago, thehumantree said:

He also  has Hai Tang Jing Yu Yan Zhi Tou 海棠经雨胭脂透. It was supposed to come out in June but got pushed back.

 

 

I'm probably gonna watch it just for his smiles!!!

 

========

Even though I wished there could have been more romance between otp towards the end, I'm satisfied they got their closure and have their happy ending. I too wished he'd at least kept his demon title!! Well, it is what it is. Phoenix only cares about being with Jinmi so to him losing his status as demon lord isn't that important to him.

 

Thank you everyone for all the roller-coaster of feels!!!

 

If you're on Viki, I'm pikajun. Join me as I trash talk the characters I don't much care for!!

 

Oh! I will watch it, too, when it comes out. Look at that killer smile. 

[thunderman1]

Lovely ending.. I thought it was an okay ending with loose ends tied up  

[Sary Em]

I haven't waTched the last 4 full episodes but still scanning for spoilers. This BTS came up.  Could someone help translate their interaction?  Please and THANK YOU in advance!!!

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

It is like they are in their own litle world...gah the ship has sailed for me...hehehehe.

 

[UnniSarah]

Hello everyone

 

Just started watching this drama and I am HOOOKEDDDDD.    I am struggling finding the perfect video link where the subs and voice are in sync. 

I just finished watching this scene where Heavenly Emperor had an epiphany that he loved both of his son. Am I right or wrong? When he sacrificed himself for Xu Feng. He said Ru Yu, You are a good son and then he said Xu Feng and he shattered the Phoenix wing shield and Flew around in a circle to save Xu Feng. What did he say  Xu Feng was?????  

 

Please someone help me... I am dying for an explanation of that episode.  I believe this was episode 45

[RPM]

Run Yu - Xu Feng : Those great memories of yours,  are just a bunch of nightmare to me 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[BaiZiHua]

1 hour ago, UnniSarah said:

 He said Ru Yu, You are a good son and then he said Xu Feng and he shattered the Phoenix wing shield and Flew around in a circle to save Xu Feng. What did he say  Xu Feng was?????  

 

 

Please someone help me... I am dying for an explanation of that episode.  I believe this was episode 45

 

 

I'm not 100% sure what he meant but my opinion is he said Run Yu was his good son because he had what it takes to be a heavenly emperor. As you know Tai Wei (Xu Feng's dad) was shady and he did bad things to get to the top. I took it as he thinks Run Yu is a good son because he can be calculating, ruthless and also be able to deal with the politics that go on with the job. Basically, it takes a certain type of person to fill that position.

 

The reason he called out Xu Feng is because he was the king's favorite son. And it was like he was letting him know he was coming to save him (when he destroyed his own dragon essence to revive his son). Oh my I don't even know if that even made sense but that's exactly how I took it. Maybe someone else would be able to elaborate that scene better than me. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy the drama.

 

 

[UnniSarah]

1 hour ago, BaiZiHua said:

 

 

I'm not 100% sure what he meant but my opinion is he said Run Yu was his good son because he had what it takes to be a heavenly emperor. As you know Tai Wei (Xu Feng's dad) was shady and he did bad things to get to the top. I took it as he thinks Run Yu is a good son because he can be calculating, ruthless and also be able to deal with the politics that go on with the job. Basically, it takes a certain type of person to fill that position.

 

The reason he called out Xu Feng is because he was the king's favorite son. And it was like he was letting him know he was coming to save him (when he destroyed his own dragon essence to revive his son). Oh my I don't even know if that even made sense but that's exactly how I took it. Maybe someone else would be able to elaborate that scene better than me. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy the drama.

 

 

It sure made sense @BaiZiHua  and thank you for the explanation chingu. I am enjoying this  drama so much. They are pulling all my heart strings right after the other...    My   so many times . 

[BaiZiHua]

 

@UnniSarah

 

I'm so happy it made sense to you and I'm so glad to be of help. And I know how you feel I think my heart was broken a million times while they were going through their love trials. But they are so adorable together you can't help but to root for them until the very end come hell or high water. I wish you were able to watch it while it was still active here. You would have had a lot of fun. The ppl here we always posting upcoming spoilers, pix and vids with translations. But you can always go back and read the last 10 pages or so if you really like spoilers. I really liked this drama even with it's shortcomings. I'd say it probably my fav drama this year so far. I hope you will like the ending and have fun Chingu. 

 

[Kimchi Sweet Potato]

9 hours ago, pad-hari said:

4. As the two are good friends, Deng Lun said that they're too familiar with each other. Yang Zi is like a man to him since they're like brothers or even sisters. As he told Yang Zi that he doesn't feel anything when he kisses her, she started eating garlic and durian out. Completely at her mercy, he'll ask why she can't rinse her mouth and complain that she shouldn't be like that, why is she picking on him. 

Lol, Yang Zi is savage. But I can totally picture it. From the BTS, they are VERY comfortable with each other. Real friends. Whether they can get out of the friends' zone and be more, that's up to them. Wish them all the best. Will certainly be keeping an eye on their future dramas and hope they can work again together as the main lead. I have become a fan of this pair.

 

8 hours ago, Yui. said:

So what is everyone gonna do to relieve their emptiness after the end of the drama?

Going back to my drama motherland. Eyeing TvNs 100 Days My Prince. In the past, I would try to watch something similar but I have since learned that no two dramas are ever alike and 'rebound drama watching' destroys the next drama. I end up comparing the shows. So now, I try to switch between genres. Alternatively, I read novels but ran out of those after TMOPB. Bookmarked Pillowbook for next year though. Don't plan to watch any historical/period/costume Cdrama anytime soon.

However, if guys have recommendations, I'm all ears.

 

8 hours ago, angel318 said:

I'm confused about this too. I can't tell if JM is mortal or immortal... they also don't say that she got to keep her memories. We assume she does but who would let a stranger hold her like that or kidnap her on her wedding dressed the way XF was hehe 

 

The flowers bloomed in the flower world, I will take it as a sign she is an immortal...but her true form goes flying afterward...I dunno. I need subs.

[thehumantree]

She still can't see color so I'm sure she's still a water god... Plus he gave her 6000 years of lingli so she's definitely more than a mortal now...

 

Farewell Phoenix!!

 

Fave couple

 

See you in Hai Tang when it's out.

[missnymeria]

When I was reading spoilers for the Demon Realm arc without having seen the episodes, I thought the writers had really messed up when it came to Xu Feng's obliviousness and his way of handling things but I've just watched episodes 52 & 53 with subs and I'm really liking what they have done.

 

Some thoughts...

 

1* I know some people were bothered by the seemingly random side love story between Puchi and Sui He but I wasn't. There were hints of it from the beginning of the drama, and it also filled in some important plot points. First, it showed us the beginning of the Infamous Duo when Sui He manipulated her way into the Heavenly Empress' good graces. Also (and this is just my personal opinion), I felt that the writers used Puchi's declaration to mirror Xu Feng's current feelings that he cannot voice to anyone: namely that although Jin Mi hurt and killed him, he couldn't help but still love her. 

2* I think the writers made it super clear that up to the Jin Mi/Sui He confrontation in the cave, Xu Feng was in love with Jin Mi (and was aware of it) and hadn't even really given up on her. He lashed out in different ways to hurt her in return and was a mess emotionally but he still desired her (he couldn't help stealing a kiss) and had no plans to marry anyone else, even to express gratitude. During the first part of the confrontation in the cave, he tried his best to get her to leave and only kept hurting her because she wouldn't give up on attacking Sui He. When he saw he wouldn't be able to make her leave, he resorted to the Phoenix feather to launch a final attack (this part is a bit shady because the feather was never described as a weapon before). That was when he was placed face to face with the true depth of his love for her in spite of everything and it shocked him. He knew he still had feeling s for her before this but here he had tangible proof of the extent of them. But the real blow came when Run Yu arrived to save Jin Mi. Seeing them together brought back the fact that they're a united front who successfully teamed up to kill him once already. This is when he really had to face what he probably calls his "stupidity".

 

3*The cave scene was the turning point for him. Believing Sui He in that moment was a matter of survival when it came to his sanity. He had no choice but to believe her in order to keep going or he would have ended up as dead as the first time, at least as far as he knew. That's when he changed his attitude and knew he had to sever all ties with Jin Mi in an irrevocable manner. Because I believe he kind of enjoyed torturing himself by purposefully letting her come seemingly unnoticed to the Demon Realm before. Each time he saw her he wavered and was stuck in this love/hate vicious circle.  So he devised the cruelest way possible to hurt Jin Mi and ensure she would never come back to the Demon Realm. He deliberately used her petal to create the garden scene and carefully orchestrated the phoenix flower and the proposal to Sui He so that Jin Mi could watch. Even then, it almost killed him to give the petal back and sever all ties when it came down to it. He almost couldn't do it and it was clear that he was hurting himself just as much as he was hurting her by doing so.

 

4*He so clearly wanted to believe Jin Mi's declaration of love and her explanation but couldn't afford to and I can't blame him. Although Jin Mi's reasoning for convicting and killing Xu Feng was flimsy, he has true proof of her betrayal and nothing up to this point could have made him think otherwise.

 

So I'm not hating on Xu Feng as much as I thought I would before watching the episodes. It's so sad to see him still painfully in love even after Jin Mi's betrayal. He hates himself for it but he can't help it. But I'm reserving my final judgment until I've seen more episodes. Because it was fine for him to believe Sui He over Jin Mi in the heat of the moment but it will be different if he keeps blindly believing in her after everyone keeps warning him about her misdeeds.

 

I found two things unclear though:

 

*Did Xu Feng actually know the petal was a piece of Jin Mi's true form? If he didn't, does he ever learn the truth?

 

*Why did he cough up blood after Jin Mi crushed the petal ? It is related to it or is it part of the pill having been tampered with?

 

 

 

[BaiZiHua]

56 minutes ago, missnymeria said:

 1.Did Xu Feng actually know the petal was a piece of Jin Mi's true form? If he didn't, does he ever learn the truth?

 

 2.*Why did he cough up blood after Jin Mi crushed the petal ? It is related to it or is it part of the pill having been tampered with?

 

I really liked your insightful post and agree with what you said about Xu Feng. And I will try my best to answer your questions.
 

Spoiler

 

#1 He learns of it during the wedding scene when the Fox Immortal tell his about what all Jin Mi sacrificed in order to save him.  On ep 60 @ 29:24

 

 

 

#2 I'm not 100% sure about this one but I think he coughed up blood because he originally put her petal into one of his souls. So they might have been in some way connected as one. So when she destroyed/crushed the petal in a sense it crushed his heart/soul or wherever he stored the petal in his body too.

 

 

[BaiZiHua]

@pad-hari

 

Thanks for that fun article you posted about 15 interesting things about HSALF. Loved it.

 

 

[dashmount20]

So the little girl that talkin to tang yue (jm son) is mu ci and liu ying demon princess. I dun remember this in d novel.

 

Yea.. at least the immortal destruction tribe has last descendant.

[picklespickles]

How did XF heal himself since didn't eat JM's flower?

[BaiZiHua]

7 minutes ago, picklespickles said:

How did XF heal himself since didn't eat JM's flower?

 

Spoiler

 

He said in EP 63 @23:27 while she was inside his eye for all those 3 years. She helped to take away/cure his coldness.

 

 

 

 

[tenten0227]

7 minutes ago, picklespickles said:

How did XF heal himself since didn't eat JM's flower?

 

When Jin Mi became one of his tears after her soul shattered, she used her remaining powers to heal him. I'm not sure I'm 100% correct but that's the gist of it.