[Mainland Chinese Web Drama 2020] Love and Redemption 琉璃美人煞

[XxchinesedramacrazexX]

I cannot wait to watch ep 20 today yayayaya! This drama is truly a gem! Everyone on this thread gave me the confidence to continue watching ngl lool

[Minnieee33]

anyone know why they aren't uploading this drama on Youtube?

[223karoli]

17 hours ago, Sweetisa said:

Omg Sifeng escaped death for the Nth time today, he really is the most unfortunate ML in drama history 

 

i am so angry they tortured him so much CONTINUOSLY.. i even left a message in weibo @ the drama acct to stop torturing him already lol

[eclipse02]

1 hour ago, Minnieee33 said:

anyone know why they aren't uploading this drama on Youtube?

I think because they want us to watch it on their platform/apps. But theirs not user friendly for non chinese speakers..

Tonight episode is so funny, finally Tengshe appears in mortal realm, and became 

Spoiler

XJ's pet 

I think Shiming really did matchmaker XJ with HC  that's why that stupid stone light up at XJ & HC. Poor SF, your rival is tough,,,

 

[Nat_93]

I’m the only one that still don’t hate HC? He reminds me of Night God from Ashes of Love.

[gladiolii]

44 minutes ago, Nat_93 said:

I’m the only one that still don’t hate HC? He reminds me of Night God from Ashes of Love.

Nope, same. I'm a sucker for complicated villains and HC is so complex you can peel him back like an onion. My read on his character: the reason why he wants XJ to be unfeeling is because he's projecting. Having feelings = abandoning his duties as lord of the realms. In his mind he wants his god of war back, and he wants that god to be unfeeling so she can protect the realms for/with him. He's unwilling to be honest with himself re: his feelings for her, keeps insisting he's motivated by duty only. He cultivates using the unfeeling mantra--as a deity who has only ever known how to be unfeeling, deviating from that is to deviate from "dao" (the natural order of the universe). There was a conversation between him and his shifu that showcases who he is in a nutshell: "If one has not known love, then how can one talk of missing love?" Watch his minor facial tics in that scene, it definitely affects him more than he is willing to admit. He has no self-awareness, and arguably even more of an emotional infant than XJ. This is a trial for him as much as it is for XJ, but as a villain we already know he's bound to fail his trial because our XJ is bound to succeed.

[XxchinesedramacrazexX]

I'm honestly not quite sure whether HC likes XJ...it's interesting because it really seems like he's in denial over his feelings for her. Though it's too bad his love is based on pure selfishness if he really does "love" her  also I definitely dislike HC but the actor is so attractive so it's hard to completely hate him LOL

[ayang23]

These are interesting thoughts (the debate about whether HC likes/loves XJ or not)! I'm leaning towards that HC does have some kinds of feelings for XJ. In episode 18 or 19, when XJ's heartbeat was going wild due to SF's kiss, one disciple (I forgot her name) came in to check on her. After she told XJ that her intense heartbeat was related to "love," HC overheard that conversation. The look on his face showed signs of unhappiness, and perhaps even jealousy. For sure he was disturbed lol. Also...when HC destroyed the flower lamp thing, he put another piece of the Kunlun tree into the pot. The flower lamp grew...so does that mean that deep within his heart, XJ is in it?! It might still be too early in the story to really know his true feelings, but we'll see. I suspect that he does like her more than just a friend/mentee.

 

I'm only up to episode 19, and so I can't say too much about HC's character/I will have to continue monitoring his character development. Unfortunately, it's very hard for me to say I like HC as a character. Though I do think his character is interesting and his character adds another complex layer into the story overall. So props to the writer! Overall, I feel similar to what XxchinesedramacrazexX said. HC is a character that is selfish and his actions and behaviors seem to stem from his desire to "keep the heavenly realm" at peace.

Edited August 25, 2020 by ayang23

[pad-hari]

Hahahathis video is so funny, if only we can understand Chinese, it will be more fun.

Jinmi vs Xuanji

https://video.h5.weibo.cn/1034:4540829910630418/4540841257604598

Cr:Weibo

[Nur_Yana]

57 minutes ago, pad-hari said:

Hahahathis video is so funny, if only we can understand Chinese, it will be more fun.

Jinmi vs Xuanji

https://video.h5.weibo.cn/1034:4540829910630418/4540841257604598

Cr:Weibo

waiting for someone to rough translation..

[eclipse02]

1 hour ago, pad-hari said:

Hahahathis video is so funny, if only we can understand Chinese, it will be more fun.

Jinmi vs Xuanji

https://video.h5.weibo.cn/1034:4540829910630418/4540841257604598

Cr:Weibo

It's so funny... especially in this scene:

Jinmi "Pity your boyfriend..."

XJ "But we eventually get married"

JM "We also get married, even has a son"

XJ "But your son is like the other guy (Night God Runyu)" 

[Nur_Yana]

28 minutes ago, eclipse02 said:

It's so funny... especially in this scene:

Jinmi "Pity your boyfriend..."

XJ "But we eventually get married"

JM "We also get married, even has a son"

XJ "But your son is like the other guy (Night God Runyu)" 

To be honest...I never finish watch ashes of love...watching 1st ep...then I dropped it till now. 

[Minnieee33]

I love ashe of love too, but I don't like comparing them since the storyline is quite different.. 

 

I think HC likes XJ. He said in one of the episode that XJ is his love trial. 

Spoiler

Once he return as the white emperor, I don't think he still likes her. He just want to use her as a weapon like before. 

 

[ayang23]

2 minutes ago, Minnieee33 said:

I love ashe of love too, but I don't like comparing them since the storyline is quite different.. 

 

I think HC likes XJ. He said in one of the episode that XJ is his love trial. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Once he return as the white emperor, I don't think he still likes her. He just want to use her as a weapon like before. 

 

Spoiler

Gah! That makes me so angry!!!! But it's probably how his character is.

 

[XxchinesedramacrazexX]

22 minutes ago, Minnieee33 said:

I love ashe of love too, but I don't like comparing them since the storyline is quite different.. 

 

I think HC likes XJ. He said in one of the episode that XJ is his love trial. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Once he return as the white emperor, I don't think he still likes her. He just want to use her as a weapon like before. 

 

Spoiler

Wait a sec...he said tht? Which ep is this? :O

 

[Minnieee33]

Spoiler

Near the end of Ep 28

 

[gladiolii]

11 hours ago, ayang23 said:

These are interesting thoughts (the debate about whether HC likes/loves XJ or not)! I'm leaning towards that HC does have some kinds of feelings for XJ. In episode 18 or 19, when XJ's heartbeat was going wild due to SF's kiss, one disciple (I forgot her name) came in to check on her. After she told XJ that her intense heartbeat was related to "love," HC overheard that conversation. The look on his face showed signs of unhappiness, and perhaps even jealousy. For sure he was disturbed lol. Also...when HC destroyed the flower lamp thing, he put another piece of the Kunlun tree into the pot. The flower lamp grew...so does that mean that deep within his heart, XJ is in it?! It might still be too early in the story to really know his true feelings, but we'll see. I suspect that he does like her more than just a friend/mentee.

I agree, the show seems to be hinting at him feeling something romantic for her, or like Siming said, how is it possible that he could grow a heart lamp as a practitioner of the unfeeling mantra? For me, I think it's a bit strange to even apply the words "jealous" and "selfish" to him, because remember, he is a high deity in a mortal shell. He has zero concept of human feelings and moral boundaries, or at most he's only beginning to comprehend what those are (and rejecting them). As supreme ruler he is convinced there is no way he could be wrong and completely inflexible in his worldview. Simply put, he might as well be a rock that has just gained consciousness.

 

He's definitely going to spiral down and do much worse, and like most viewers, I naturally don't want a HE for him--being brought low by human emotion (the very thing he thought was beneath him!) would be poetic justice for him. We love our CP so we are naturally frustrated with HC coming between them again and again. This conflict is part of the fun for me though, and part of what makes him so compelling. I appreciate good storytelling, and a convincing villain is almost always a must have to make me care. It's *very* hard for a writer to create a nuanced villain that doesn't devolve into a caricature, with a consistent logical progression that stays true to that character's integrity (however wrong he may actually be). And credit where credit is due, the actor does a great job with his microexpressions to show that he is actually affected. The combination of good writing and good acting makes him so much fun to watch for me. I almost always end up replaying his scenes to figure out what little clues I might have missed, so it's very hard for me to hate him. Scared of him? Hell yeah. Terrified, even. But I can't help it, he's way too much fun.

 

Sorry for writing a thesis in defense of a villain.  I generally agree with all of you and merely wanted to elaborate on my previous thoughts. We're only a little past the halfway mark though, so he might still change my mind. If it helps anyone, go watch Liu Xueyi climb a mountain and whine about it the whole way in the behind the scenes clip--the guy is hilarious and nothing at all like his character. I got whiplash from how different he is from his character. 

[eclipse02]

It seems they have live interview on Youku.. Cheng Yi is in red king costume.. i think he's shooting drama right now, what a busy fellow..  he's so handsome...

[ayang23]

@gladiolii thank you for sharing your thoughts! I definitely always love reading different perspectives because they make the whole experience of watching the drama together fun! Great writing/art will create space for the viewers to have different interpretations (and this drama is fulfilling this!)

 

Your thoughts actually makes me ponder about another idea/theme: good verses evil. Often times in stories, the heavenly relam is associated with "good/virtuous," "always right," and "fight evil." (Which probably explains HC's character and his own justification for using XJ as an object, sadly). With HC being the villain and diety of the Heavanly relam in this story, this character clashes against this association. So this begs a question that perhaps the author is giving to its viewers, what is good and what is evil/how do we know what is good and what is evil?

 

On the other hand, lol Cheng Yi/SF is so playful on set haha!

 

[Sweetisa]

Our CY can sing too! Such a talented boy, he deserves all the success this drama is bringing to him!