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

[Lynne]

@enigmatic_zephy

You can read them here:

Spoiler

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

 

There's another epilogue added prior to the drama.. for the mortal realm arc in the drama.. but there's not translation, just a summary:

https://dorayakiz.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/new-epilogue-for-heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

The difference between this epilogue in the book and the drama is the book timeline is after the ending, not in the middle of the story like the drama. 

 

Oh I almost forgot, there's another one but sadly no translation.. LOL... 

http://www.now818.com/post/tag/香蜜沉沉烬如霜/

I can't remember where I got the above link, but this one talks about the new Mortal trial epilogue and also about Xu Feng and Jin Mi's second child, whose true form is a Phoenix flower. I can't say how much is true because I read it with google translate LOL, but here's the link for the second child:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.now818.com%2Fpost%2F6874.html

 

 

[missnymeria]

9 hours ago, Nudafu said:

I thought the saddest thing about the battle is that both Run Yu and Xu Feng did bad by Jin Mi. I don't expect any good from Run Yu at this stage, but it set my teeth on edge that Xu Feng did what he did. I have a feeling production may've filmed it or thought about filming the scene right before the battle (i.e. Xu Feng raging about Jin Mi's conspiracy against him and almost choking her to death). We just get a scene where Jin Mi swears she is not to blame and Xu Feng unconvincingly believing that. But then he forcefully takes her to the battle and proceeds to use her against Run Yu. That feels disconnected. The series should've just kept the original scene to explain Xu Feng's behaviour. The way I see it, Xu Feng used Jin Mi in his own fashion on the eve of battle. He claims he had a wedding night with her when it was plainly untrue. While it works to irritate Run Yu, it shames Jin Mi in the process. Xu Feng wanted to fight as much as Run Yu. The only reason you take an unwilling, non-combatant into the heart of battle is to use them. My conclusion has always been that both boys were party to her death. Yes, Jin Mi chose to step in between them and end it. But, Run Yu could've chosen not to attack. Xu Feng could've chosen not to take Jin Mi to the battle. Fine if Jin Mi intended to follow Xu Feng. But she said no before the battle, she didn't want to go to the battle. And she said no, stop fighting shortly before the boys powered up to Ban-kai showdown. If Xu Feng was shown to continue with the battle because there was too much momentum - reasonable and understandable - then fair enough. The way I read Xu Feng flinging Jin Mi off his arm, that is someone who wants to fight. And the way he revs up his troops at the start of battle, that is also someone who relishes the fight. One could argue that Run Yu's invasion was inevitable, and from a strategic perspective, I agree that Xu Feng was correct in strengthening his defences. But his sequence of actions were all about revenge. Revenge against Run Yu. Revenge against Jin Mi. He just lacked the insight that Jin Mi would be a casualty in his war for revenge.

 I read these scenes a bit differently.

 

For me, Xu Feng utterly gave up on lying to himself and fully embraced the fact that he loved Jin Mi too much to let her go right after the wedding. He forgave her, only he didn't tell her in so many words because he still had his pride to consider. Hence Jin Mi's words as she's dying: "Idiot. You finally admit it" --> ie you should have told me last night. The loving words he said during the wedding were his true thoughts but he only felt free to say them because he knew that they would help with his plan of pushing Sui He to her limits.

 

As mentioned by another poster above, from the moment Xu Feng sees the stone change color and discovers it was Jin Mi under the veil, he considers himself truly and irrevocably married to her. But it must have hurt both his pride and his heart to discover that Jin Mi wasn't acting of her own volition and even revealed it to the whole room. The fact that she took off her wedding dress didn't help matters either. 

 

He's pretty vulnerable in the post-wedding scene, a bit like a wounded beast. His emotions must be all over the place and he plays it a bit hot and cold. He's finally learned all that Jin Mi sacrificed for him and he feels incredibly guilty. He finally acknowledged the fact that he was still in love with her and forever would be not matter what she did but the fact that she did kill him is still a raw wound. He almost can't believe his dearest wish of being married to her has been granted and feels vulnerable when he thinks he's the only one wishing for a true marriage. He knows everything that has happened in the past is too messed up and entangled but he's willing to grasp onto the chance he's being given of starting again, as equals. And that's when he repeats his words from the wedding, if only in his head. He has no audience to play to and he frees himself by saying them once again. As mentioned above, Xu Feng is a straightforward guy. He doesn't lie. Well except when he was desperately trying to sever all ties with her as a matter of survival but that's another story.

 

I believe he needed more time to fully process everything in order to have a better conversation and understanding with Jin Mi. But the war happened the very next morning. It can actually be seen as good thing too because there's nothing like seeing your loved one dying in your arms to cut through all the richard simmons. His pride, all that was left unsaid and all the misunderstandings became a moot point. It was the perfect reset.

 

I think Xu Feng fully believes her when she says she had nothing to do with Run Yu's plans for war. And as he says: "It's not you I don't trust, it's Run Yu". Now that he's in possession of all the facts, his brain functions at full power and he clearly knows that the Jin Mi of the past was too naive and inexperienced to have plotted anything with Run Yu and the Jin Mi of today has done too much for him to betray him again.

 

As to why he takes her with him to the battlefield, I think he couldn't have done anything else. The safest place for her was probably next to him. The Flower Realm was under attack and anywhere else would have left her vulnerable to a kidnapping from Run Yu while he was stuck on the battlefield.

 

And there's a logic to him provoking Run Yu. He knows full well that he's handicapped by both the pill backfiring and the fact that he gave up half his cultivation the night before. His only chance to win the battle is to make Run Yu so mad that he would act rashly and make a mistake. Also, he's proud (in the good sense of the word) that he managed to nab Jin Mi as his wife and he isn't ashamed of boasting about it. Plus it needed to be made clear that Run Yu was not attacking for rightful motives so as to preserve the reputation of the Demon Realm. Although I do agree that it was also sweet revenge on Run Yu. The fact that Jin Mi was going to marry Run Yu really grated on him and he reacted very strongly when he learned that Jin Mi Had run away (although he didn't dare believe it was true). So he was like a boastful teenager claiming "I got the girl".

 

If Run Yu had backed down after learning that Jin Mi had married him, he wouldn't have attacked. He didn't want this war but he knew it was inevitable and did everything in his power to win it. Once started, the battle couldn't be stopped and there was no way he would let Run Yu take Jin Mi away now that she was finally lawfully his.

 

But yes, he did lack the insight that Jin Mi would be likely to sacrifice herself to stop the war. It was outside of his comprehension.

 

EDIT: talking about the drama , not the novel.

[Yui.]

11 hours ago, Nudafu said:

Agree. 

 

Even before reading the novel, I wondered why the series emphasised Xu Feng asking if Jin Mi was "willing" before the mutual cultivation scene. Consent. Because of the two times Xu Feng was intimate with Jin Mi in the novel, consent was questionable. Ugh...

 

Yes! Thank you for pointing this out. Consent makes the theme of this drama too. XF asks for consent upright and Night "tricks" for consent b/c of JM's influence under the unfeeling pill. And if you think about it the previous Emperor basically never asked for consent when he met JM's mom and Night's mom. He probably even tricked the empress for consent (because technically he stole her from his elder brother just to get the throne). 

 

I don't know why and can't exactly point out where, but I find XF in the drama kind of flat in some areas maybe because of the script or sometimes Deng Lun couldn't produce a certain emotion in his acting.XF is certainly not perfect and I agree how certain aspects of him being toned down compared to the novel makes the drama more bearable for his character. I find that in the novel XF does have presence of some of Night's ambitiousness. XF is such a prideful character, but his drama counterpart has him choose family and love other it sometimes. And yeah in the novel he tried killing JM b/c of love and hate -- he's a super intense character (not only prideful, arrogant, and ambitious). I'm so glad you brought up consent, because that basically hardly existed in the novel.

 

I don't remember if someone mentioned this, but in the novel it was explained that JM asking for lingli (cultivation energy) is supposed to be equal to her asking for how much XF loves her. At the same time xD I thought of lingli similar to money. Instead of a gold digger, she's sort of a lingli digger. It wasn't explained in the drama how her obsession of lingli (aside from wanting to save her friend) is also her way of asking for love/attention. Remember that scene where XF says if she were to give back the Phoenix hairpin she must give "all" back (aka his love--but she mistakes it for the lingli) haha!

 

It's so nice to see this thread alive, going through the journey with everyone to discuss this drama/story as it was airing live. Now that it has ended, it's also so nice to hear everyone's thoughts and reflections of what they though to of the drama now that it has ended. Despite the lack of direction and side stories in the middle of the drama, I would still recommend to watch this drama because of JM and XF's love story, Night's character progression, Puchi Jun, fate god, moon god and liaoyuan jun. All the cast are well casted in their characters and I wished we could get more BTS, NGs and deleted scenes because seeing the crew's hard work in making this drama makes us understand how they play the characters and why the cast was casted as these characters. You can see this is a low budget drama, but the acting is amazing. Of course not perfection as some improvements could be made, but this drama made me laugh, cry, get angry and have all sorts of feels. 

 

I hope everyone who's now catching this can appreciate the casts hard work in this because I can feel it! 

 

[Sary Em]

3 hours ago, lynne22 said:

@enigmatic_zephy

You can read them here:

  Hide contents

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

 

There's another epilogue added prior to the drama.. for the mortal realm arc in the drama.. but there's not translation, just a summary:

https://dorayakiz.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/new-epilogue-for-heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

The difference between this epilogue in the book and the drama is the book timeline is after the ending, not in the middle of the story like the drama. 

 

Oh I almost forgot, there's another one but sadly no translation.. LOL... 

http://www.now818.com/post/tag/香蜜沉沉烬如霜/

I can't remember where I got the above link, but this one talks about the new Mortal trial epilogue and also about Xu Feng and Jin Mi's second child, whose true form is a Phoenix flower. I can't say how much is true because I read it with google translate LOL, but here's the link for the second child:

Spoiler

Was the 2nd child epilogue written by original author or is this fan fiction?  It was hard to read/u understand as I clicked on English translated lol.  But Thank You very much!!!

 

 

 

[ElleSor]

4 hours ago, lynne22 said:

@enigmatic_zephy

You can read them here:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.novelupdates.com/series/heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

 

There's another epilogue added prior to the drama.. for the mortal realm arc in the drama.. but there's not translation, just a summary:

https://dorayakiz.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/new-epilogue-for-heavy-sweetness-ash-like-frost/

The difference between this epilogue in the book and the drama is the book timeline is after the ending, not in the middle of the story like the drama. 

 

Oh I almost forgot, there's another one but sadly no translation.. LOL... 

http://www.now818.com/post/tag/香蜜沉沉烬如霜/

I can't remember where I got the above link, but this one talks about the new Mortal trial epilogue and also about Xu Feng and Jin Mi's second child, whose true form is a Phoenix flower. I can't say how much is true because I read it with google translate LOL, but here's the link for the second child:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.now818.com%2Fpost%2F6874.html

 

 

Thanks...

 

[bluesytb]

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

 I read these scenes a bit differently.

 

For me, Xu Feng utterly gave up on lying to himself and fully embraced the fact that he loved Jin Mi too much to let her go right after the wedding. He forgave her, only he didn't tell her in so many words because he still had his pride to consider. Hence Jin Mi's words as she's dying: "Idiot. You finally admit it" --> ie you should have told me last night. The loving words he said during the wedding were his true thoughts but he only felt free to say them because he knew that they would help with his plan of pushing Sui He to her limits.

 

Definitely agree with this

 

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

As mentioned by another poster above, from the moment Xu Feng sees the stone change color and discovers it was Jin Mi under the veil, he considers himself truly and irrevocably married to her. But it must have hurt both his pride and his heart to discover that Jin Mi wasn't acting of her own volition and even revealed it to the whole room. The fact that she took off her wedding dress didn't help matters either. 

 

YES.  I totally understand JM's pov, though, like she thinks he hates her.  

 

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

He's pretty vulnerable in the post-wedding scene, a bit like a wounded beast. His emotions must be all over the place and he plays it a bit hot and cold. He's finally learned all that Jin Mi sacrificed for him and he feels incredibly guilty. He finally acknowledged the fact that he was still in love with her and forever would be not matter what she did but the fact that she did kill him is still a raw wound. He almost can't believe his dearest wish of being married to her has been granted and feels vulnerable when he thinks he's the only one wishing for a true marriage. He knows everything that has happened in the past is too messed up and entangled but he's willing to grasp onto the chance he's being given of starting again, as equals. And that's when he repeats his words from the wedding, if only in his head. He has no audience to play to and he frees himself by saying them once again. As mentioned above, Xu Feng is a straightforward guy. He doesn't lie. Well except when he was desperately trying to sever all ties with her as a matter of survival but that's another story.

 

I believe he needed more time to fully process everything in order to have a better conversation and understanding with Jin Mi. But the war happened the very next morning. It can actually be seen as good thing too because there's nothing like seeing your loved one dying in your arms to cut through all the richard simmons. His pride, all that was left unsaid and all the misunderstandings became a moot point. It was the perfect reset.

 

You said this far better than I did, thank you.

 

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

I think Xu Feng fully believes her when she says she had nothing to do with Run Yu's plans for war. And as he says: "It's not you I don't trust, it's Run Yu". Now that he's in possession of all the facts, his brain functions at full power and he clearly knows that the Jin Mi of the past was too naive and inexperienced to have plotted anything with Run Yu and the Jin Mi of today has done too much for him to betray him again.

 

As to why he takes her with him to the battlefield, I think he couldn't have done anything else. The safest place for her was probably next to him. The Flower Realm was under attack and anywhere else would have left her vulnerable to a kidnapping from Run Yu while he was stuck on the battlefield.

 

Yup - as I said before, though in my jumbly way (lol), RY was beyond the point of no return here, doing everything in his power to aquire JM. there was nothing that was going to stop the war. 

 

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

 

And there's a logic to him provoking Run Yu. He knows full well that he's handicapped by both the pill backfiring and the fact that he gave up half his cultivation the night before. His only chance to win the battle is to make Run Yu so mad that he would act rashly and make a mistake. Also, he's proud (in the good sense of the word) that he managed to nab Jin Mi as his wife and he isn't ashamed of boasting about it. Plus it needed to be made clear that Run Yu was not attacking for rightful motives so as to preserve the reputation of the Demon Realm. Although I do agree that it was also sweet revenge on Run Yu. The fact that Jin Mi was going to marry Run Yu really grated on him and he reacted very strongly when he learned that Jin Mi Had run away (although he didn't dare believe it was true). So he was like a boastful teenager claiming "I got the girl".

These are all excellent points, and most I hadn't thought of.  I still feel for JM who is inevitably hurt by his words, and in a way, objectified.  

 

7 hours ago, missnymeria said:

If Run Yu had backed down after learning that Jin Mi had married him, he wouldn't have attacked. He didn't want this war but he knew it was inevitable and did everything in his power to win it. Once started, the battle couldn't be stopped and there was no way he would let Run Yu take Jin Mi away now that she was finally lawfully his.

But yes, he did lack the insight that Jin Mi would be likely to sacrifice herself to stop the war. It was outside of his comprehension.

 

EDIT: talking about the drama , not the novel.

THANK YOU!  I wanted to make this point, about XF not going to war with RY/heaven realm if RY had backed down, but I second guessed myself.  I mean its logical since XF has lost half his cultivation & has the add cold  -  going to war at this point is probably not high on list at that point.   

[missnymeria]

2 hours ago, bluesytb said:

These are all excellent points, and most I hadn't thought of.  I still feel for JM who is inevitably hurt by his words, and in a way, objectified.  

I agree. It's not that he objectified her on purpose though. In his mind he was doing the only thing he could have done to win against Run Yu, defend the Demon realm and keep Jin Mi with him, safe. His clueless bird brain just doesn't understand that Jin Mi could be offended or shamed by his words. Silly man.

 

2 hours ago, bluesytb said:

THANK YOU!  I wanted to make this point, about XF not going to war with RY/heaven realm if RY had backed down, but I second guessed myself.  I mean its logical since XF has lost half his cultivation & has the add cold  -  going to war at this point is probably not high on list at that point.  

Exactly. Xu Feng is the god of War and he's very good at it but he does *not* like it. It was made very clear in the mortal realm arc that he was fighting only to bring ultimate peace to the people. With the current state of the demon army, there was no way he would have willingly gone to war against the Heavenly Realm. 

[PaulaL]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:31 AM, rose_loves_ice said:

Oh my gosh! Where'd you buy your posters of the drama? Official posters or unofficial?

 

Hi! They are official posters from the promotion of the drama by I had them made myself from the pictures online. There are some pictures with more than 3000x3000 resolution online and you can have posters made with extremely good quality with that resolution. MIne are 65x95cm and they are gorgeous!!!!! And you can also make mugs and t-shirts and other stuff as long as you have good resolution pictures. I couldn't find anything to buy so I made it myself!

[bluesytb]

20 hours ago, Yui. said:

 

Yes! Thank you for pointing this out. Consent makes the theme of this drama too. XF asks for consent upright and Night "tricks" for consent b/c of JM's influence under the unfeeling pill. And if you think about it the previous Emperor basically never asked for consent when he met JM's mom and Night's mom.

 

Good catch. 

I've been thinking about this  and I think one of the best things about HSALF is how they frame the building of the romance between LM/XF.  They worked together for 100 years, and XF falls for her slowly, and never really "chases" her (maybe in the mortal realm as King Yi, but I suppose you could argue he's kind of an idiot when it comes to romance, as he keeps getting bad advice from his man, lol).  When he realizes how he feels about her (and has regained consciousness, lol) he tells her straight up.  Boom.  He doesn't force himself on her (ok, well there was the time when he acts sick and kisses her then).  And importantly we can see the shift in JM's feelings towards him - there are little glimpses early on (like when JM realizes he's actually quite kind and not just a moody bird)  We see in I think episode 8, where XF goes to meet JM, but is turned away by the flower fairies and he promises to never see her again.  !!  He does NOT go on a rampage to find/take JM away, he just leaves like a dejected puppy.  and  here is where we find out how much JM cares for him, as when she leaves, she faints/has the dream about the frost flower in her heart (I want to tell him that I like him) These scenes are so important (for me, at least, anyway) in setting up that JM is a key player and not just an object for the men to acquire.     

 

I cannot stress how much I hate the chasing trope, like it can die in a fire.  To go back to Sweet Dreams, (which I actually like, despite its obvious shortcomings), they flipped the script. and had DD do the chasing, which was an admittedly interesting dynamic, even though chasing is bad no matter who is doing it.  (and by this I mean it is bad to force/manipulate anyone to be with you)

 

To be honest, (and I might get flack for this) I HATED 10 miles/Eternal love.  I dropped it after that scene where he magics away her clothes, especially after feeling super uncomfortable with the way the main male lead continually forces himself on the main female lead.  Like that scene was a rape scene.  She had no say, he locked her in the room with him and forced himself on her.  She had no agency. 

 

There was another drama, called Flames Daughter, which I ended up hate watching (yeah..I'm not going to do this anymore, lol) Now this one is where I despised the male lead, like he belongs in a dumpster ON FIRE.  He forces himself on the female lead CONTINUALLY,  tells people they're married, when they're not even a couple, not to mention he's like 100+ years older than her and literally knows her father before she was born, and asks to take her away when she turns 18. Not to mention several other absolutely vile things (lies to her constantly, takes away her memories so she'll marry him etc etc).  like WTF writers? (I actually have a story idea about a knight who chops off fingers of men who repeatedly touch her without her consent,  because I was so mad at this drama.)   

 

This was also my problem with Fuyao - like the way Wuji overpowers Fuyao continually, where she's trying to defend herself and he's all cocky and fresh about the whole thing  - they frame it as 'sizzling hot chemistry'  UH?  Those scenes just made me super uncomfortable as FY is trying to defend herself but can't since the power dynamic is in WJ's favour, 

 

I mean HSALF is not perfect, but it was sure a breath of fresh air compared to so many other dramas from the world over, not just cdrama land.                  

[shizniz00]

Jin Mi and Xu Feng withdrawals. one of the best dramas i've seen in awhile.

[ayang23]

Hi, Everyone!!! I've been silently reading this forum, and usually never comment!!! This is my first time actually, and after finishing Ashes of Love this week, all I can say is that despite some gaps during the middle of the drama, overall it was really good, especially the storyline and romance from our leads!!! This drama definitely motivated me to join this forum discussion!!! I've really enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives and point of views! Thank you all for your comments and spoilers bc it saved my sanity while I waited for the viki eng subs haha. Also loved how Deng Lun, Yang Zi, and Luo Yun Shi played their characters so well <3 so sad that the drama is really over now :'(

 

On the other hand, does anyone know if the instrumental ost for ashes of love is out?! I've been trying to find it...but no luck!

[PaulaL]

35 minutes ago, ayang23 said:

Hi, Everyone!!! I've been silently reading this forum, and usually never comment!!! This is my first time actually, and after finishing Ashes of Love this week, all I can say is that despite some gaps during the middle of the drama, overall it was really good, especially the storyline and romance from our leads!!! This drama definitely motivated me to join this forum discussion!!! I've really enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives and point of views! Thank you all for your comments and spoilers bc it saved my sanity while I waited for the viki eng subs haha. Also loved how Deng Lun, Yang Zi, and Luo Yun Shi played their characters so well <3 so sad that the drama is really over now :'(

 

On the other hand, does anyone know if the instrumental ost for ashes of love is out?! I've been trying to find it...but no luck!

 

Hi! Are you looking for the OST with the songs or the music only? You can find all the official songs in youtube. They are about 7. I can give you the links. As for instrumental music only however, I don't know of any official release yet. 

[ValentineJ]

On 9/17/2018 at 2:47 PM, missnymeria said:

 That is a very good description of Xu Feng. I do agree 100%.

 

I do not recommend that you read the book though or it will ruin the character for you. The drama did a great job with him (although they should have given him more screen time and more of a backstory) because the Xu Feng of the book was a forceful abuser with murderous tendencies. He's got stars in his eyes when he's in "love mode" but as soon as he sees Jin Mi paying attention to someone else, he becomes a real bastard, even coming close to killing her twice (right before the mutual cultivation too. Nice.).

 

For the life of me, I don't understand the appeal of the novel and I think the drama is a much better piece of work.

 

 

Yess.  Finally saying what I've been thinking.  It always bothered me how he almost killed her right before they had sex, yet so many readers glossed over it.  Glad he was softened, although I did not like his blind trust towards SH and his parents

[ayang23]

@PaulaL Hi and thanks for your comment!!!! I found the official ost songs on Youtube, and so I'm looking for the instrumental/background ost! But yeah, maybe those background ost haven't been released yet. I hope they do bc those songs were great!!!!!!

[nonski]

Hello!

 

first time posting other than kdrama thread.  even ten miles hadn't made me do so.

Really thankful for all your comments.  

I'm HSALF thirsty right now that I can devour everything HSALF and it is such a relief that at times like this Soompi is such a great place to be.

Love all your thoughts.

Love both the novel and the drama.  Each has its own charm, well of course except for some forceful mutual cultivation.

Well get back soonest to post my own thoughts of this beautiful piece of work.

 

For those who want to read the english translation of the drama NOVEL, you can find it here:

 

Spoiler

HSALF novel

 

[bluesytb]

9 hours ago, ayang23 said:

 

 

On the other hand, does anyone know if the instrumental ost for ashes of love is out?! I've been trying to find it...but no luck!

 I ended up buying the soundtrack on google music - I haven't listen to the entirety of it yet - but am pretty sure there are instrumentals on there - I know I hit at least one of them so far.

 

https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/album//群星/香蜜沉沉燼如霜+(電視劇原聲帶) 

[missnymeria]

9 hours ago, ValentineJ said:

Yess.  Finally saying what I've been thinking.  It always bothered me how he almost killed her right before they had sex, yet so many readers glossed over it.  Glad he was softened, although I did not like his blind trust towards SH and his parents

 Well, I've kind of resigned myself that, in a Chinese drama, no child will ever really turn against his parents, no matter how evil they are. In Ashes it was already pretty extraordinary that Xu Feng opposed his mother so strongly regarding the position of Crown Prince and his marriage to Sui He. Also, he did strongly attack her when she was trying to kill Jin Mi. But that's the extent of his opposition and he was willfully blind to many of his parents' faults.

 

As for trusting Sui He, I thought I would hate that part of the drama before watching but I actually didn't. I think it was more about survival than anything else. He felt so destroyed by Jin Mi's betrayal and her alliance with Run Yu that he had no choice but trusting in someone who had seemingly abandoned everything for him. Although one could argue that after being betrayed to such an extent, he should have been in paranoid mode, not trusting any one ever again. But that was never his personality and the fact that he was so alone and dependent on others made it impossible not to rely on the few people supporting him..

 

After he realized how much he still loved and desired Jin Mi in spite of everything, he resolved to sever all ties with her at all costs and once he started down that road, he had no choice but to trust Sui He. But it's clear he was tortured all along and was afraid that he'd chosen to trust the wrong person. He had also just been expelled from the ranks of the immortals, which cast him adrift from everything he had ever known. Sui He was similarly alone in the world and he could relate to that.

 

The moment a third party (the uncle) started to say the same things as Jin Mi did, he started to waver and be suspicious. Now the question is, Would he have acted on his doubts and suspicions had he not seen Sui He's scar? I want to believe he would have investigated things before going ahead and marrying her but that's just pure speculation.

[ayang23]

7 hours ago, bluesytb said:

 I ended up buying the soundtrack on google music - I haven't listen to the entirety of it yet - but am pretty sure there are instrumentals on there - I know I hit at least one of them so far.

 

https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/album//群星/香蜜沉沉燼如霜+(電視劇原聲帶) 

Thank you so much!!!!!!!! ❤

[Yui.]

I wanna share this ;D Sadly it's only Chinese subbed. Korean reacting to OST.
 

 

And drama:

 

 

Here's also an interesting video I happened to see. Basically, the person commented saying that the more episodes a drama has the more money could be made. It's possible that given the material the original drama with 36 is actual original while the fillers were there to "make money". 

 

 

[bluesytb]

On 9/20/2018 at 10:58 PM, missnymeria said:

 Well, I've kind of resigned myself that, in a Chinese drama, no child will ever really turn against his parents, no matter how evil they are. In Ashes it was already pretty extraordinary that Xu Feng opposed his mother so strongly regarding the position of Crown Prince and his marriage to Sui He. Also, he did strongly attack her when she was trying to kill Jin Mi. But that's the extent of his opposition and he was willfully blind to many of his parents' faults.

Yeah, I've seen some super abusive parents in cdrama land that really don't deserve forgiveness be forgiven time and again and yikes, don't like that! 

I think even how blind XF was to his parents faults, it does makes sense for his character since his brain doesn't operate the way the empress/emperor/RY's does.  Like he has no ulterior motives and doesn't scheme.  (I don't think this makes him dumb, either - as some people do, nor do I think that being manipulative = intelligence)  Even when he starts to see faults, he's still hoping that the Empress will change and then when it comes down to it, be forgiven.  His heart comes before cunning logic.     

 I can imagine he doesn't know how to deal with (and ultimately doesn't deal with well enough) the fact that his mom is instrumental in killing Flower Deity, Wind and Water/harming JM.  Like when he fights with his mom about JM, he still clings to the hope that his mom will stop.  (and of course she doesn't, she escalates) 

I dunno, maybe I'm projecting, but that's how I see it.        

 

 

On 9/20/2018 at 10:58 PM, missnymeria said:

 

As for trusting Sui He, I thought I would hate that part of the drama before watching but I actually didn't. I think it was more about survival than anything else. He felt so destroyed by Jin Mi's betrayal and her alliance with Run Yu that he had no choice but trusting in someone who had seemingly abandoned everything for him. Although one could argue that after being betrayed to such an extent, he should have been in paranoid mode, not trusting any one ever again. But that was never his personality and the fact that he was so alone and dependent on others made it impossible not to rely on the few people supporting him..

Exactly.

 

On 9/20/2018 at 10:58 PM, missnymeria said:

 

After he realized how much he still loved and desired Jin Mi in spite of everything, he resolved to sever all ties with her at all costs and once he started down that road, he had no choice but to trust Sui He. But it's clear he was tortured all along and was afraid that he'd chosen to trust the wrong person. He had also just been expelled from the ranks of the immortals, which cast him adrift from everything he had ever known. Sui He was similarly alone in the world and he could relate to that.

 

The moment a third party (the uncle) started to say the same things as Jin Mi did, he started to waver and be suspicious. Now the question is, Would he have acted on his doubts and suspicions had he not seen Sui He's scar? I want to believe he would have investigated things before going ahead and marrying her but that's just pure speculation.

I like to think he would have too.  Just little things here and there - I don't feel like he ever fully trusted SH, and probably wouldn't have even gone as far to ask her to marry him, if he weren't trying to 'protect' himself from JM.  But as you say, they are in a similar situation SH would be an ally.   

 

19 hours ago, ayang23 said:

Thank you so much!!!!!!!! ❤

Any time!