It is probably fairly obvious from my previous post that the drama veered off quite a bit from the novel so naturally, the ending in the drama is nothing like the ending in the novel.

• In the drama, our hero’s “father” was the big villain but in the novel, Wuji’s master, Lord Chang Qing was the villain. (Lord Chang Qing rules over the sect of Qing Chang as the spiritual leader of all the lands, so Lord Chang Qing, in essence, control the whole world.) Until his Master showed up towards the end of the novel, there really was no one that could go up against our hero. Like I mentioned in my other post, there was no one that could hurt or outsmart our hero in the novel. The biggest obstacle to our two leads’ relationship from beginning to end has always been one thing- our heroine’s desire to go home back to her own time, back to her dying mother.

• To realize her hope of time traveling back to her own time, Fuyao has been gathering special tokens from all over the land and finally has the chance to receive an audition with Lord Chang Qing…after she passes through a special test that could cost her life.

• Fuyao tries to ditch her friends so she could face the dangerous test alone but both of our male second leads end up finding her anyway. (Zhan Beiye and Pei Yuan who are both in love with our heroine.) So where is our hero? At this point, Fuyao finally figures out Wuji’s second identity that makes his title as the crown prince of Tian Quan seems insignificant- Lord Chang Qing’s favorite pupil… the one that is supposed to be the Qing Chang’s next leader. Knowing that the help Wuji has provided her thus far would already make him a traitor to Qing Chang, Fuyao sends our hero away and insists on making the rest of her journey without him.

• Trying hard to ignore the unsettled feeling growing in her as she watches Wuji ride away on his horse, Fuyao comforts herself by remembering Wuji’s assurance that he is his master’s favorite pupil so there is no way Lord Chang Qing would punish him very hard, if at all.

• Puzzled at first when she finds herself crying for no apparent reason when she spots a blood stain on a patch of snow, Fuyao becomes scared for Wuji’s safety once Yuan Bao (our hero’s pet) screams with grief. (Yuan Bao is connected telepathically to our hero, so when he would’ve rushed off to his master, Wuji ordered Yuan Bao to not only stay by Fuyao’s side but to keep her from finding him.)

• Due to Lord Chang Qing’s determination to kill our heroine in the “test”, Fuyao and friends had several close calls and only manages to narrowly pass the test. However, during the test, Fuyao was able to see a vision of Wuji and saw with her own eyes how his limbs are pierced through by chains, imprisoning him in an ice cave. Her heart breaking at the sight of Wuji dying, Fuyao runs towards the vision of Wuji while yelling his name.

• Time to explain why Lord Chang Qing was so set on killing Fuyao. Our heroine was a lotus that had been nurtured carefully by First Lord of Chang Qing. The lotus was so precious to the First Lord of Chang Qing that he nurtured it with his own energy until the flower finally developed a consciousness. Because of the lotus, the First Lord of Chang Qing ended up fighting against the whole Chang Qing sect (yap, the one HE created) and forcefully rip the fabric of time in order to send the lotus into the modern time so she would be safe. (That’s why our heroine was from the modern time in the novel.) To the sect of Chang Qing, the lotus (Fuyao) was the evil thing that caused the downfall of their greatest leader so it is the mission of every subsequent Lord Chang Qing to make sure that if the lotus ever shows up again, it would be destroyed before it could take down their next great leader. (Interestingly, the First Lord of Chang Qing had no expectations that his reincarnated self would continue his story with his precious lotus. He just wanted his precious lotus to have a blissful existence so the decision was completely up to our two leads if they would fall in love with each other or not. We know this because later on, the First Lord of Chang Qing didn’t choose to pass on his own memories (thus his feelings towards the lotus) to Wuji so our hero is free to make his own decisions.)

• Wuji’s master had placed great expectations on our hero because Wuji is actually the reincarnation of the First Lord of Chang Qing. Yap, the same one that started this whole thing. Hoping that pushing Wuji to the brink of death would force him to give up on Fuyao, Lord Chang Qing ends up being the one to give up on his pupil when it becomes obvious that Wuji is just as stubborn as the First Lord of Chang Qing. Here is an interesting conversation between our hero and his master:
As the chains were raised up, Wuji lets out a long breath and “slowly comes to.”
Seemingly not surprised to see Lord of Chang Qing, Wuji mutters “Master…”
After a long moment of silence, Lord Chang Qing asks “Afer suffering so much…are your thoughts clearer?”
Not answering until an expression of anger flashes across his master’s eyes, Wuji asks instead “Master…are you taking care of yourself? Your face…looks kind of pale…”
Visibly moved by Wuji’s question for a brief moment, Lord Chang Qing returns back to his cool manner and answers “I am fine. You better think this through. Once you are the new Lord Chang Qing, then no one can treat you like this anymore. Kill or be killed. Don’t you understand?”
Smiling weakly, Wuji changes the subject “Master…she is following all the protocols to come up to make a request. Why…do you insist on killing her?”
“What a stupid question!” A furious Lord Chang Qing yells “That woman is a demon! She was born to make trouble for Chang Qing. We are charged with the duty to protect this world so how could we allow such a creature to live?!”
“Demon…” With a low laugh, Wuji asks “But…what if she just wants to leave? Since she wants to leave anyway, why not just let her go?”
Unmoved, Lord Chang Qing replies “You can keep staying here then. But nothing will change the result. Tomorrow I will announce my decision. If she dies in the test then I will free you and you are still the chosen heir. But if she survives then you will be killed. You will never be with her in this life.”
Giving his master another gentle smile, Wuji says “I never…dared to hope that I would be able to be with her in this life anyway.”
Puzzled by Wuji’s tone that is strangely devoid of resentment or regret, Lord Chang Qing leaves in a huff “You should just pray that she dies in the test.”

• A brief explanation on why the author used a quotation mark around the wording “slowly comes to” when describing Wuji. Unsettled even though Wuji had all his power taken away by his master, his body badly hurt, imprisoned in an ice cave that most wouldn’t be able to physically handle even for a short time, there were still a few in the Chang Qing sect that wants to kill our hero especially knowing that Lord Chang Qing is really hoping his pupil would still be the next heir. When Lord Chang Qing pays Wuji a visit, he became furious when he saw a giant eagle belonging to a senior member in Chang Qing standing right on top of Wuji’s chest. Knowing full well that Wuji’s weakened body could very well die just from the prolonged pressure from the giant eagle standing on his chest, Lord Chang Qing rescues an already “unconscious” Wuji from the bird. So why all the quotation marks? Because our hero was never in danger from the bird. Quite impatient to just stand on a human, the ferocious bird was quite tempted to kill Wuji…that is until our hero opened his eyes and the giant eagle was promptly intimidated into meekly covering our hero with its body for warmth. Horrified by Lord Chang Qing’s surprise visit, the eagle’s owner had silently commanded the eagle to leave but the intimidated bird instead did our hero’s bidding and obediently resumed its position on Wuji’s chest so when Lord Chang Qing walks in, it would look like his “poor pupil” was close to death.

• Giving up hope on Wuji, Lord Chang Qing decides to make our hero’s “nemesis” Tai Yan his heir. Immensely pleased with Tai Yan when she reports that she had personally killed Fuyao and hands him what supposedly contained our heroine’s life energy, an overjoyed Lord Chang Qing promptly decides to reward Tai Yan by transferring Wuji’s power over to her. Smiling with mild amusement as he looks over Tai Yan’s memories which are filled with youthful attempts to compete with our hero (I guess the whole power transfer things opens up Tai Yan’s mind to him), Lord Chang Qing shakes his head and thought “Why is it all about Wuji?” Tai Yan leaving Chang Qing to chase after Wuji…she stabbed him with her sword…the late night whisperings between Wuji and her…her kneeling in the ice cave caring for his wounds…her sobbing in her room in secret…wiping away her tears and show everyone a smiling face as she tortures Wuji.

Belatedly realizing that he had been tricked all along, Lord Chang Qing tries to cut off the transferring of energy to Tai Yan but by then, it is too late. The energy Lord Chang Qing took into his body that was supposedly Fuyao’s was of course not our heroine’s but was from another source that would ensure Lord Chang Qing’s downfall.

• Greedy for control over everyone in Chang Qing, Wuji’s master has made sure every member of Chang Qing had a Datura (a poisonous flower, but we are obviously not talking about an actual flower here, but a seal in the shape of the vein flower) implanted as part of their energy so he can sap all of their power at will. Unwilling to be controlled by his master, Wuji had been planning for a LONG time to free himself and Tai Yan was always an important part of his plan. For years, everyone in Chang Qing had thought Tai Yan is Wuji’s nemesis but of course, Tai Yan was always secretly working with our hero and creating the necessary distractions to allow our hero to put his plan in place while keeping Fuyao off his master’s radar.

• Wuji finally kills Lord Chang Qing but it was at a steep cost to himself and was only conscious long enough to thank Tai Yan for everything she has done over the years and plea with her to help Fuyao now that she is the new Lord Chang Qing. Holding a dying Wuji in her arms, Tai Yan comes to the realization that as much as she wants to live the thing she wants more than life itself is to have Wuji stay alive. Transferring everything she just received from Wuji’s master over to our hero, Tai Yan dies as she listens to the glorious music of Wuji’s beating heart. Tai Yan is such a memorable tragic character. In the novel, Wuji was imprisoned for 9 months so Tai Yan suffered 9 months of hell where she had to pretend to take joy in torturing Wuji by day and sob out her pain by night in secret. Tai Yan is also the one Wuji send to protect Fuyao whenever she can get away without arousing suspicion.

• With Wuji as the new Lord Chang Qing, of course everything was solved in an instant…at least when it comes to Chang Qing.

• Sneaking into the Chang Qing’s temple after giving herself to Wuji just hours before, Fuyao is moved to tears to find Wuji already there waiting for her knowing full well that their night of passion was Fuyao’s way of saying goodbye. Finally back to her own time and her dying mother’s side thanks to Wuji, Fuyao misses Wuji terribly and becomes frantic once she finds out from a mysterious stranger that Wuji will die in three days time if she doesn’t go back to him. Horrified by her sense of disappointment when she goes back to the hospital to find her mother actually looking healthier, Fuyao is overwhelmed with guilt. Driven almost to breaking point by her guilt, Fuyao finally decides that she will stay by her mother’s side for however long her mother still has left then kill herself afterward in hopes that her spirit will have a chance to be reunited with Wuji.

Recognizing her daughter even if she is in another person’s body, Fuyao’s mother drugs Fuyao then tell her “Who else but my daughter would have such vibrant eyes? Such a shame I can’t wake you up and see those eyes again. Fuyao, I miss you so much but I can’t tell you either that I know who you are.” If she admits that she knows then she can’t do what she is about to do. She can’t make Fuyao live the rest of her life in remorse.

“You are having a hard time right? I am the reason you are having a hard time. Fuyao….you are truly such a kind-hearted child. Go, go where you want to go and do what you want to do.” Gently caressing Fuyao’s hair, Fuyao’s mother smiles “I saw your happiness. I saw the man who devotes his whole being to loving you. What more can a mother ask?” Death is just a long slumber. Now that she knows her daughter is happy she can finally close her eyes in peace. Placing a gentle kiss on Fuyao’s face, Fuyao’s mother whispers “Go…I love you. Forever.”

• Fuyao’s mother turns off her oxygen and dies. After burying her mother, Fuyao also kills herself…which was the way she could go back to Wuji according to the mysterious stranger. Fuyao does make it back to our hero in time and we get our happy ending…at least for our two leads. All the male second leads (all were kings) were in love with Fuyao and they all died refusing to make anyone their queen. (I REALLY like the fact that the drama changed this particular part of the novel.)

 

I can’t say I was all that impressed with the novel’s ending. I liked the part where our hero outsmarted his master but the author kinda overdid it with the tragic self-sacrifice thing (as this particular author is wont to do throughout the story) that it really overshadowed Fuayo and Wuji’s happy ending. I would’ve been plenty happy if the novel ended with the mother-daughter being able to reunite in a dream instead of the somewhat awkward way of getting our heroine back to her time THEN back to our hero again. All in all, there were some parts of the novel I liked more than the drama but the drama did quite a bit to fix the parts of the novel I didn’t care for as well.

Oh, one more thing I want to mention. In the novel, Fuyao’s mother was a lowly palace maid and was forced to hide Fuyao when she found out she had been impregnated by the emperor…especially knowing that if the empress (who was prone to jealous rage) was to find out, then both herself and her daughter would be killed in the cruelest way. Spending the first few years of her childhood locked away in her mother’s closet so no one would know of her existence, Fuyao meets young Wuji by chance. Promising to take Fuyao away with him, young Wuji ended up regretting for the rest of his life after he chose to go back to Chang Qing for a short period of time instead of whisking Fuyao off right then. (To be fair, young Wuji was trying to figure out a way to take Fuayo back.) Mistakenly believing Fo Lian to be the little girl he met, Wuji pushed for his marriage with the princess. However, by the time Wuji meets Fuyao again, he has already figured out that Fo Lian cannot be the little girl he had met in the palace and had the engagement broken off.

 

 

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