#jealous zhao yuanzhou

[phantom248]

Li Lun's display of jealousy is a mixture of murder, choking, and some stabby stabby. In other words, very explosive and dangerous for recipent.

On the other hand, Zhu Yan, or Zhao Yuanzhou as he later styled himself, did not show his jealousy in a dangerous or possesive way. His jealousy showed up in very petty manner.

After his death, the ways in which he could show his jealousy was very limited, but still very annoying to recipents.

Wen Xiao flirted with anyone as usual? Drizzle.

Xiao Zhuo looked at anyone for a moment longer? Rain.

Wen Xiao talked to someone sincerely for some time? Raining cats and dogs.

Xiao Zhuo got flirted by someone and he responded back in oblivious manner? Hail storm.

The worst of it was faced by Li Lun when he finally managed to cultivate human form and started accompanying Zhuo Yichen. Poor tree always had to endure a rain cloud hanging only over his head that would pour whenever he got closer to the former commander of demon hunting bureau. It painted a very comical sight, the serious former demon hunter followed by a man with a rain cloud raining over his head. Many were convinced that this was some sort of curse, but Li Lun knew better. He was aware of how petty and jealous that monkey could be.

But Li Lun was the pettiest of them all. And he had a perfect plan this time to deal with his ex.

"Is that-" Wen Xiao's voice cracked as she watched Li Lun who had siddled extremely close to Xiao Zhuo, closer than what decency would dictate. Beside her, Ying Lei sniggered, unable to help himself,hiding behind a weirded out Bei Jiu, while Pei Sijing rolled her eyes.

Zhuo Yichen was sitting under the shade of the umbrella, so he was unable to see what exactly had sent his friends into a hysterical fit. "Li Lun wanted to fix the Zhao Yuanzhou's umbrella. We even had to stay at the last village behind to wait for artisan to make repairs."

"It sure is a very... creative way to deal with your curse." Pei Sijing remarked, her lips twitching up.

Ying Lei was now rolling on the ground with laughter. "Zhuo darren, Li Lun darren, it was very kind of you to repair da yao's beloved umbrella. I am sure he would be very happy if he could see it."

As if an answer to that, the small localized cloud hanging on Li Lun cracked with thunder, pouring down much harder, as if trying to crack the oiled paper on the umbrella. Li Lun smugly adjusted the object, making sure to snugly cover himself as well as Zhuo Yichen under it.

"Oh I am sure he will be very happy indeed," Li Lun purred, the eye catching depiction of a small blue dragon tightly entertwined with a pagoda tree drawn on the umbrella glinted in the light.

As if in answer to his clearly provocative response, it rained even harder if it was possible.

[phantom248]

Zhao Yuanzhou has teeeny tiny feeling that this is what Li Lun must have felt when ZYZ went and made other frenimies which turned into friends.

Zhuo Yichen: Li Lun, my old arch enemy.

Zhao Yuanzhou : ... I thought I was your arch enemy?

Zhuo Yichen : I have a life outside of you, Zhao Yuanzhou.

[kseniyagreen]

Zhao Yuanzhou blackmails an ancient demon, but it seems that his blackmail infuriates someone else - for a different and at the same time similar reason.

One of those moments when Zhuo Yichen's indignation cannot be attributed to the fact that he is allegedly jealous of Wen Xiao.

(Of course, someone can say that the good boy Zhuo Yichen is simply against such frivolities, at least I think that's how he justifies it to himself 😉)

[randomingoftherandomness]

Hello, a fic on pretty Zhuyan in Pretty Dress with jealous zyc and other members being protective fending off people ? 😅💖

A/N: I’m waiting for my meds to kick in so there may be some typos and shit here, but I thought I would take a stab at this while trying to calm my allergies ✌🏼 Thanks for the prompt Nonnie! Hope you enjoy this x

—

There was no way they were letting Xiao Jiu be the bait. Not when he had blinked so sweetly and tilted his head to ask them, “What��s a gentlemen’s club?”

Ying Lei was also out of the question because… Well. There’s no fooling anyone with that mane of his.

Herself and Pei Sijing are the wrong genders for this task, which left the toss up between Zhao Yuanzhou and Xiao Zhuo. Something that the demon quickly ended with a smile that was very much all-knowing and a curious sparkle in his eyes that never broke when he looked at Xiao Zhuo as he took the pile of clothes, and winked at the blushing commander of the Demon Hunting Bureau.

If Wen Xiao didn’t know better, she’d have thought that the great demon had some trick up his sleeve.

And when he finally emerged from the room all dressed up, the thought had stuck in the backs of her teeth. Even if the first thing that slipped off her lips was an awed, “Are you sure you weren’t born a succubus?”

Zhao Yuanzhou tittered at that.

Wen Xiao was sure that she had seen it all when it come to this strange mating dance between her old friend and the great demon — the little trinkets the demon likes to leave for Xiao Zhuo, the small teasings that were just as earnest as the quiet promises, or the lingering touches in battle that Wen Xiao isn’t even sure they both were aware they were doing.

All that and more, yet none of it could prepare her for the way Xiao Zhuo stood absolutely stock still at the sight of Zhao Yuanzhou veiled and dressed in the finest courtesan silk they could procure at such short notice. Pale fabric trails behind him as he walks right up to Xiao Zhuo and the in the weak autumn sunlight, Zhao Yuanzhou peers up with smiling eyes.

"Do I look pretty, Xiao Zhuo-daren?"

It takes a strong woman to resist the temptation to smack her brow when Xiao Zhuo promptly blushed a distinct shade of red at the way Zhao Yuanzhou eased his body against his own.

Certainly, even Wen Xiao herself isn't immune to pretty things, but the very obvious way that Xiao Zhuo is gawking and sputtering at the great demon proves that he is the right man for the job.

"If the two of you are very much done trying to commit acts of indecency in front of a child, let's get this show on the road." Wen Xiao delicately coughs into her hand, shaking her head at how Ying Lei's efforts to cover Xiao Jiu's eyes are met with the boy-genius whining that he has seen much worse than two people flirting, why thank you very much.

Taking Pei-daren by the hand, she leads their merry band of misfits out to the waiting carriage. But not before spying on the gentle softening of Zhao Yuanzhou's gaze and Xiao Zhuo's answering tilt of his head. There's a quick touch from the demon to Xiao Zhuo's wrist. Barely there before he is walking ahead and Xiao Zhuo is following behind with pursed lips and a determined grip to his sword.

Wen Xiao calculates the risk that there'll be some lecherous fool losing a finger or two tonight if they get too handsy with a certain commander's demon. Internally strategizing, she factors in the need to keep their Xiao Zhuo-daren calm and as un-murderous as possible when Zhao Yuanzhou inevitably flirts his way too close to the sun.

Honestly.

Was the great demon part nine-tailed fox or something?

[barananduen-blog]

FAVORITE CDRAMAS - 2024

This year, I finished 33 dramas (including minis, movies, one variety show, and some left over from previous years). Among those, these were my favorites, including a short "about" summary or an "explain this poorly."

NOTES

All of these are ancient costume dramas, unless noted specifically.

I don't care if a drama has a happy or a sad ending, as long as it's well written.

THE STARS: These are the ones that I not only super enjoyed, but also score great on all critical aspects: plot, writing, character depth, visual appeal, and the ability to capture and hold the viewer's attention. ✅Recommend! THE CHECKMARKS: They're great and I really, really enjoyed them, and they made me squee too🥰 but they're not as technically perfect as the ones above. Still awesome dramas, and I recommend them! ✅Recommend! OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT: They're not a third tier, or an honorable mention. Generally, they're not that great technically, or missed the list by a botched ending, or something in the technical aspects was missing, but I enjoyed them nevertheless and want to talk about them for some reason. Other than that, they're just listed in the order in which I watched them.

SUBTITLES: Please help stop the prejudice against Mango subtitles. Everything I've watched from them this year has had excellent subs.

ON ROMANCE: Though I appreciate it, I'm not really all that much into the romance aspect of dramas. I say this because I know many people watch them specifically for the romance, and I've seen comments asking how soon the couples kiss. At the end of a drama, I tend to not even remember if they kissed or not (unless it was memorable - either because it was a very good kiss or a very bad one😂). So, with that disclaimer said...

THE STARS

"A JOURNEY TO LOVE" Liu Shishi, Liu Yuning, Alen Fang, He Landou, Chen Youwei, Wang Yizhe

I watched half of this in January and it was broadcast after I posted my faves from last year, so it goes in this year's list.

Premise: Emperor is kidnapped. No one really wants to rescue him. Ning Yuanzhou (Liu Yuning) puts together a team of Ocean's Eleven Ning's Six to bring him back, including an assassin, a crossdressing princess, an angry doctor, a womanizing archer, an engineer puppy, and an animal-loving defense specialist.

"LOVE YOU SEVEN TIMES" Ding Yuxi, Yang Chaoyue

Left over from 2023.

Premise: Seven shorter stories strung together by the overarching plot of trying to recover the God of War's powers and figuring out what happened with a powerful evil fairy.

"BELL RINGING" Li Daikun, Song Fangyuan

Mixture of modern and ancient, but modern is main. Twelve 20-ish minute episodes.

Explain it Badly: The tragic story of what happens when you don't read the fine print when signing a (magical) contract. [I reviewed it properly here.]

"THE LEGEND OF SHEN LI" Zhao Liying, Lin Gengxin

Explain it Badly: The goddess of war has become a chicken. An unfeeling immortal feels. This is catastrophic. But first, he buys the chicken.

"IN BLOSSOM" Ju Jingyi, Liu Xueyi

Premise: Coroner gets kidnapped and subjected to a forced face transplant by jealous socialite who wants her boyfriend. Socialite marries coroner's BF but is killed at the wedding. Coroner, who now looks like the socialite, teams up with former boyfriend (who doesn't know about the face swap) to solve cases.

"UNCHAINED LOVE" Dylan Wang, Chen Yuqi

Left over from 2022, actually.

Explain it Badly: The empire's Most Eligible Eunuch, who everyone wants to bed, and the concubine who really Does Not Want to die with the dead emperor. [I wrote about it more properly here.]

"CALL ME BY FIRE - SEASON 4" Singing variety show

Not a drama, but I'd really be remiss if I didn't include it here. The grip this show had one me! I'll just copy what I wrote before:

Explain it Badly: Call Me by Fire is going to ruin me for normal concerts. What do you mean your show doesn't have singing, dancing, playing instruments, Peking Opera, acting a whole cinematographic mini movie with costumes, flying and dancing on wires, fighting live without doubles, the multilevel moving stage burning, explosions, drowning, trees falling, *WHEEEZE!* and fake rain all at once?! ...That explains it pretty well, actually.

I started watching this for Miyavi and then I was HOOKED.

THE CHECKMARKS

"WHITE CAT LEGEND" Ding Yuxi, Zhou Qi, Ding Jiawen, Zhang Yicong, Feng Man, Anwaer Kuddusjan

Explain it Badly: Catboy detective (Ding Yuxi, of course; he has the white cat role pegged) adopts a golden retriever puppy and four other fools to solve cases and get a government job. And then there's the orange cat.

"DRAMATIC SELF-HELP STRATEGY" Jin Zixua, Hao Fushen

Mini-drama from 2023. 25eps x 10min

Premise: Actress transmigrates into a drama she's acting in ... as a character who's about to be killed because her husband has just died! She must save him, solve the mystery of his murder to save herself, break a time loop, and return to the real world.

A hidden gem. The mystery is pretty well done in this drama, which is super rare, especially in minis.

"NANCHENG BANQUET" Wang Youshuo, Zhao Zhaoyi, Xia Ningjun

Explain it Badly: Assassin loses her memory, becomes a cartoon bunny sunny fake eunuch, the emperor's bad-influence bestie, and her grumpy former target's employee. Everyone's lovely. [I explained it properly here.]

"LOVE IN THE DESERT" Alen Fang, Hankiz Omar

A Secret Third Option (Why I liked it): I really enjoyed watching this; it was very different from other costume dramas. From the setting (desert tribes instead of high-society cities) to the soundtrack, to the "This is allowed now?" moments, this was different in a good way. The costumes were so many (about 1 every 2 eps for FL, and a whole bunch for 2FL, + other characters) and every single one of them was top notch; the best I've seen in a cdrama so far.

"LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY" Esther Yu, Ding Yuxi

Almost a Star: This was a super fun drama. :D It's lighthearted, and the first five episodes are laugh-out-loud funny. Everyone's really nice, even most of the villains - you end up feeling for them as well, and most of them redeem themselves. And all characters are fully fleshed-out, even the mini-villains the party encounters along the way. Esther's costumes are SO pretty, too. [I did a proper review of it here.]

"BLOSSOM" Meng Ziyi, Li Yunrui

Almost a Star: This drama surprised me by doing time travel AND "going against fate" differently. I also liked how, despite looking like it would go in that direction, it wasn't a revenge drama, but the protagonist really tried to make life better for everyone. Good plot, good writing all throughout, good characterization, keeps your interest. The first full-length drama I watch from a director whose minis I enjoy. Definitely recommend!

OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT

"SECRETS OF THE SHADOW SECT" Hu Yiyao, Lin Zehui

Mini drama. 24 eps x 12 min

Almost a Checkmark. Honestly, I don't remember why this wasn't a checkmark. But I also honestly cannot remember the ending. So maybe that had something to do with it. However, before that, the cinematography and sets were beautiful and the plot was interesting and well-written. The characters were engaging, as well.

"HEART OF ICE AND FLAME" Huang Tingting, Li Daikun

Mini drama. 24 eps x 10 min. Cliffhanger ending.

Ep 24 is a cliffhanger and a hook for a new plot. You can take ep23 as an ending, if you want, I guess. The production value was low, but the plot was good, and the main characters were such endearing dumbasses. The two leads play 3 characters/personas each, and each has their own distinct personality and has iconic moments. ML's main persona (dumb prince) unknowingly marries all 3 of FL's, each for different reasons, and she (in reality a former general) plays along because she wants his heart (literally). Then there's the wizard who's stuck in a snow avalanche but can still send and receive messages. And Chen Zihan, who played Tragicomic Ghost in Word of Honor, plays the mother of scorpions here. TW: If you have a phobia of bugs, probably skip this one.

"BUTTERFLIED LOVER" Rain Lu, Zhao Yiqin

Mini drama from 2023. 22 eps x 20 min

I pretty much try anything from this director because he's honestly top notch. Absolutely stunning works, visually!

Ancient vampires, pretty much. The only reason it didn't rank higher for me was personal - as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I'm not really into plots that focus only on the romance. But if you enjoy romance plots, I definitely recommend you check this out!

"THE DOUBLE" Wu Jinyan, Wang Xingyue

Almost a Checkmark. Revenge plot and fake identities. For most of the drama, I thought this was amazing, and then I wasn't too thrilled about the ending arc. But the drama was really well done. Visually beautiful, with fun and interesting characters, and multiple, parallel plots, which is something I like. Amidst all the tragedy, it also had two comic relief characters that I enjoyed a lot (the turtle cousin and the attendant who apparently didn't know how to use stairs).

"LOVE'S REBELLION" Zhang Linghe, Jing Tian

Reason to Watch It: Appreciate Zhang Linghe looking 🔥 sometimes evil and sometimes not, and a pretty whale town that reminded me of Kilika from Final Fantasy X (mostly X-2 because of the pastel colors). The characters and their interactions were fun. The villains did a good job being hateable. Pity the frustrating omission of a key fight - what was so problematic about ML's brain-fight with the demon that they had to cut it?? We were left wondering what happened in there.

🔇NSFW Audio! Use headphones while playing video🔇 "MISTAKEN LOVE" Shao Yuqi, Li Daikun

Mini drama. 24 eps x 10 min

A drama that you "watch for the plot" The "plot" = *points at video above* If you watch dramas for the kissing scenes and you don't mind every character being toxic, this is a drama for you.

Really good artistic direction (sets and costumes, camerawork, colors, lighting, music timing, etc.), and honestly the best kissing scenes I've seen in a cdrama (note I did say Chinese drama, and I've only been watching since 2021). And extra kudos to Duan Yixuan for her brave dubbing of FL (note: same voice actress who dubbed Bai Lu in "Till the End of the Moon"). Why "brave?" *points at the video again*😳

"THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL" Zhao Lusi, Liu Yuning

Almost a Checkmark. Would have been a solid Checkmark if not for the last episode. I have nothing against what the last ep told us, but rather against how they told it. It could have been 15-20min long and it would have been stronger for it. I do understand that the dragging was meant as a narrative parallel to how the characters wanted to extend the time they spent together as much as possible (as shown by the very slow soup-drinking and dregs-scraping), but, personally, I lost my patience with the method. Then, on the second half of that ep, it would have been nice if, instead of just showing the meeting from a neutral POV, they'd done it from the protag's POV, letting the viewer experience her emotional turmoil and distraught-ness, much like they did when she was diving for pearls at the beginning. Finally, the very last scene, with the camels, told a story but felt detached; they could have shown an aged version of the character leading into that narration.

I'm currently watching other December releases, but if they make the list, I'll include them in next year's.

[joyouslee]

Fangs of Fortune - thoughts about Li Lun

Spoilers up to Ep 9 below cut

I'm starting to wonder if Li Lun isn't (wholly) a villain? Why would he make it clear to Zhuo Yichen that Zhao Yuanzhou was forced to/ had no choice but to kill his father and brother? If he's trying to sow discord among the team, why would he give Zhuo Yichen an excuse to forgive Zhao Yuanzhou when Zhao Yuanzhou is himself admitting his guilt each time he's asked?

He also revealed Zhao Yuanzhou's relationship with the Baize goddess - he knew how close they were, like siblings. The revelation really seems like something that would actually help his relationship with Wen Xiao, not hurt it. (And the way Li Lun said it - it was more like, you were so close with her, and yet everyone still thought you evil. Like Li Lun felt angry on his behalf. )

We know that he did something that ZYZ was very angry about - presumably killing the prior Baize goddess. Even locked away (by ZYZ?) he's still powerful enough to come into the human world and possess people/ control weaker demons.

ZYZ said that he made an oath to protect the Wilderness. There's the scene in Ep 4 with ZYZ and Li Lun where their blood mingles and the tree grows that parallels the original goddess' oath with Cheng Huang.

Did Li Lun also make the same oath with ZYZ? Did ZYZ promise "forever" at that time (to protect the Wilderness together with Li Lun), which would explain Li Lun's bitterness towards ZYZ's promise to Wen XIao when he said, do you mean just now or forever? (beyond the very jealous ex vibe he continues to exude)

Li Lun thinks being human is better than being a demon, and got Cheng Huang to open the Kunlun Gate so that demons can enter into the human world. Perhaps from his perspective he's saving the demons he can, letting them go someplace better than the place that is dying due to the lack of the goddess' protection.

The quote from Bai Jiu's mother about love turning to hate but still containing love... that seems like it's a good description of Li Lun. He loves ZYZ, but hates that ZYZ wants to return demons to the Wilderness, or hates that he's planning on getting killed?

Li Lun's the one who's obsessive and unhinged, but from ZYZ's expression whenever Li Lun shows up, and how well he knows him, it's clear he has strong feelings about Li Lun as well. There's a lot of disappointment, but why would he be disappointed unless he had high expectations before? ZYZ never really uses any lethal force against Li Lun, either - he's mostly defending the others.

What is the Eye of Truth? Did ZYZ give his to Li Lun? Does Li Lun carry a part of ZYZ with him always???? I'm going to go feral if this is what happened.

Ahhhhhhhh I'm turning unhinged and obsessed about this show!! With all the twisty motivations and reversals in this drama, I'm so looking forward to finding out their story. I don't think that after all these other stories are full of people who are doing bad things for good reasons, that there isn't a good reason for Li Lun, too.

[tenillypo]

Old Lies, New Truths by Tenillypo

Words: 2219 Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan/Zhuo Yichen Characters: Zhuo Yichen, Zhao Yuanzhou | Zhu Yan, Wen Xiao (Fangs of Fortune) Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Episode: e07 (Fangs of Fortune), POV Zhuo Yichen, Too Many Swing Metaphors, Pre-Zhao Yuanzhou/Zhuo Yichen, Confused Zhuo Yichen, Jealous Zhuo Yichen Series: Part 6 of Missing Pieces Summary:

"What are you doing?" "I'm sitting on a swing," Zhao Yuanzhou said. He glanced at him over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "I assume you're familiar with the concept." He gripped the rope, idly swinging his legs. "A push, if you please." Zhuo Yichen stared at him, outraged. "You can't be serious."

Or, Zhuo Yichen confuses flirtation with being cruelly hazed, but somehow manages to survive the humiliating ordeal.

read the fic

[smileandlove21]

Bitter Taste

Zhao Yuanzhou has never been a jealous type. It was not in his vocabulary to begin with. He knows Zhuo Yichen was the most sought-after bachelor before he became a demon, and even until now, women like to flirt with him. 

He is confident that his Xiao Zhuo will not flirt back because Yichen does not know how to communicate well with women. It was his weakness even before they met. He would rather talk to a tree than talk to a woman. 

Not until that young lad visited Tiandu. Wen Xiao introduced him as Hua Mingze. The heir of the Hua family from the west of Tiandu. His family has always been close with the Zhuo family. Before the tragedy happened, Mingze always visited Yichen. 

Zhao Yuanzhou was not interested in that human at all. What concerns him is that ever since he arrived, Zhuo Yichen's attention is always with him. They always go out of Tiandu to visit the stalls that Mingze missed. The only time he gets to see Zhuo Yichen is during dinner, which frustrates the great demon. 

"Are you silently cursing him in your mind?" Li Lun asked as they watched Zhuo Yichen and Mingze stroll around Tiandu. Yichen was laughing at what Mingze said, which infuriates Yuanzhou. 

Zhao Yuanzhou drags Li Lun to spy or rather check on Zhuo Yichen. What he is witnessing does not sit well with him. If Zhao Yuanzhou can cast a spell to turn that man into a frog, then he already did so. 

"He does not want me away from him, but I rarely see him ever since that man arrived! How am I supposed to spend time with him if his free time is taken by that mongrel?" Yuanzhou cannot help but burst out his feelings to Li Lun, who just lazily listens to his nonsense talking. 

"You should talk to your demon hunter slash dragon demon instead of whining like a baby. Do you also plan to throw a tantrum like what Zhuo Yichen did last time?" Li Lun teasingly said, but Yuanzhou jabbed him in the chest, making the other laugh at his friend's misery. 

The two demons went back to the Demon Hunting Bureau and went on with their day. Li Lun returned to the wilderness by the time the sunsets, leaving Zhao Yuanzhou alone with thoughts. He then remembered the tantrum Zhuo Yichen did when he got jealous of Li Lun. 

"So this is how it felt, Xiao Zhuo." 

During dinner, Zhuo Yichen noticed that Zhao Yuanzhou was quiet. He was usually chattering with Ying Lei or teasing Bai Jiu, but he only heard silence. Yichen looks at Wen Xiao, then the goddess turns to Yuanzhou, then back to Yichen. She just shrugged, not knowing as well what seemed to trouble the great demon. 

"Zhao Yuanzhou, are you okay? You seem awfully quiet," Zhuo Yichen asked, but the great demon was too occupied playing with his food than responding back to him.

"Is he sick? Can you tell what's wrong so I can get the medicine for you?" Bai Jiu asked as well. They are not used to the great demon being silent. 

"Huh? What was that?" Zhao Yuanzhou asked as his trance was cut off by Ying Lei's jab on his side. 

"You are playing with your food, and we have been asking you questions, but your mind is flying elsewhere." 

"It's nothing. I will take a rest now. Goodnight everyone." Yuanzhou stands up then walks away from the dining hall.

Zhuo Yichen looks at his retreating back. He knows that there is something wrong as Zhao Yuanzhou always places a kiss on his head or forehead before heading to his quarters. They still sleep in separate rooms, but sometimes they tend to visit each other's rooms.

"I have to go." 

Zhuo Yichen immediately ran in the direction of Zhao Yuanzhou's quarters when he saw Mingze in the hallway. His belongings are already packed.

"What's wrong? I thought you were set to leave two days from now. Did something happen?" Zhuo Yichen asked Mingze. 

"My father needed me to go back. It seems that I cannot escape my fate as my wedding is all set. This would be goodbye, Yichen." Mingze responded with a sad smile. 

"You can still visit even when you are married. You can bring along your wife." 

"Maybe, maybe not. Thank you for accommodating me. It seems that your beloved cursed me to hell and back for the last few days. Tell him that I will not take you away, which is what he would be thinking." Zhuo Yichen laughs at that, as he also knew that Yuanzhou has been following them. 

Zhuo Yichen asked an attendant to help Mingze with his things before he set out to find his monkey. He neglected his monkey for the last few days since Mingze needed a friend to share his burdens. Yichen wanted to be there for him, as he also helped him during the time he lost his family. 

As always, he found his monkey sitting on the tree beside his quarters. Zhao Yuanzhou felt his presence, but he chose to ignore him. He would rather stay quiet, as his emotions are already out of control. 

"Mingze already left. He cannot run from his responsibilities as much as he wanted to," Zhuo Yichen said, which earned a scoff from the great demon. 

"Is that why he chose to stay here? You are his escape, is that it?" 

Zhuo Yichen wanted to laugh but chose not to. His great demon is clearly jealous of Mingze, and he noticed it ever since he arrived. Yichen did not purposely make the ape demon jealous, as he just naturally spent time with his childhood friend in need. All they did was stroll around Tiandu and nothing more. 

Yichen approached the demon until he could reach his hand. Zhao Yuanzhou lets him hold it but remains his eyes away from Zhuo Yichen. The demon hunter plays with his fingers then pulls Zhao Yuanzhou down the tree, causing the great demon to fall on top of Yichen. 

"I like you on top of me; you do love it too, right?" 

Zhao Yuanzhou instantly reacted to Zhuo Yichen's seduction. He looks at Zhuo Yichen below him and sees his blueish eyes full of lust and love in them. Yichen knows that Yuanzhou always responds to his seduction because he rarely does it. Only for his great white ape demon. 

"You are not being fair, Xiao Zhuo! I'm supposed to be angry, not aroused!" Zhao Yuanzhou exclaimed, standing up from their position. Yichen laughs at his reaction as he too stands up and walks towards him. 

"I will not look at Mingze or anyone like how I look at you, Yuanzhou. Mingze just needed a friend much like how Li Lun is to you. Besides, you know where we are always," Zhuo Yichen said, placing a hand on Yuanzhou's chest. Yuanzhou looks away, knowing he was caught by his beloved. 

"Are you not purposely making me jealous as revenge from last time?" 

"No. Why would I bother to do that when you get jealous of every person I talk to? You even got jealous of Bai Jiu before." 

"I did not! You are too busy to spend time with me yet you don't want me away from you. Kinda unfair, don't you think?" 

Yichen leans in for a quick peck in Yuanzhou's lips, which made the ape demon smile. 

"Being in love with the commander of the Demon Hunting Bureau has its disadvantages, but I will make sure to spend time with you again. We can actually start right now," Yichen said with a smirk, pulling Zhao Yuanzhou with him as they headed towards his quarters. 

Zhao Yuanzhou did not waste anymore time and immediately started their own version of spending time. He will make sure the whole Tiandu knows who this commander belongs to, as he will scream in pleasure until the sun rises. 

[hyog-blog]

I actually pegged Li Lun as an ex-lover from day one, his vibes were so XD But the further we went, the more dramatic it got. I actually never got to hate him even when he did the evilest things. Because he must have loved Zhu Yan A LOT to start hating him with the same amount of passion. And he could never move on. And in a way, neither did Zhao Yuanzhou. It's like, with Zhuo Yichen he found a hope for a better future, self-redemption, and living a life in general. But Li Lun was still such a huge part of him, of what he went through while growing up. How do you define a 30,000-year relationship? I can't even imagine the scope of it and the various stages they went through.

He might have been the past, but that past was still very much alive and if Li Lun came through earlier, before he had to die, they could've had a cooler and more versatile polycule (I guess, maybe? Li Lun does seem to be of the jealous type, but ZYC is a very loveable boy so I think they could all find a way to co-exist).

Still thinking about it. All of it.

I found the complete script of the scene where ZYZ gives his Truth Eye to Li Lun and they had to delete a few lines BECAUSE:

Zhao Yuanzhou: From now on, I will not use my eyes to see through you, BUT ONLY MY HEART.

Li Lun: What if one day, even if you use your heart, you still cannot see through me?

ZYZ: That depends on you.

Even those queer-blind rookies at the censors' office couldn't miss this one.

Also, when Li Lun gives his powers to ZYC he BEGS HIM TO HELP HIM SAVE ZHAO YUANZHOU.

[phantom248]

Zhuo Yichen is literally the center of every "love" triangle in fangs of fortune, huh?

With Li Lun and Zhu Yan

With Wen Xiao and Zhao Yuanzhou

And with Ying Lei and Bai Jiu

I don't know how Pei Sijing and Pei Siheng escaped his orbit but goodness if she was sent to his bureau to spy by chongwu camp I am pretty sure he would have been in that trio too.

[kseniyagreen]

I also thought about these masks - three masks of Zhao Yuanzhou and three in one mask of the villain.

And now I think that their images are in some way mirrored (as is often the case with the images of the villain and the protagonist).

They are both very theatrical characters. Zhao Yuanzhou loves to act and appears in the story at the beginning like a very theatrical villain.

The real villain also looks like such a theatrical "villain behind the curtain".

So these theatrical masks here are not at all accidental. They both have a tendency to hide behind a role. They both have a tragic past. Zhao Yuanzhou wants to get all the human experience. The human villain wants to get all the demonic power.

The tragedy of both begins with a kind of love story went wrong. And later, some parallels are traced between the theme of the jealous mermaid and Li Lun.

The villain and Zhao Yuanzhou are both ready to sacrifice in some way. They both had traumatic encounters with death and are willing to go through the experience of death to free themselves from limitations (at least in the beginning, Zhao Yuanzhou had such a motive)

What makes them different is that Zhao Yuanzhou is obviously still able to love and see with his heart.

But also because Zhao Yuanzhou's masks are made of cardboard, and the villain's mask is made of metal.

There is always something real in Zhao Yuanzhou's roles, and he seeks living contact with others through these roles, and does not simply use them for protection or deception.

While the villain hid from contact with others so reliably that he did not notice how he had already ceased to be alive.

The villain burns his body to achieve immortality and power. Zhao Yuanzhou sacrifices his body in the end not even to free himself, but to save what is dear to him. And through this he overcomes death.

[randomingoftherandomness]

hello, hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

i'd love a fic thats abt zyc being rlly moody/jealous/sad over the fact that zyz and wx are basically fated lovers/soulmates whatever

(esp since one of the ost lyrics goes along the lines of 'i refuse destiny')

much love <3

-柠檬

A/N: Hi 柠檬! Apparently this is a popular trope because you're the second person to prompt this of me. To the Anon who prompted me the first time, I am gonna combine your prompt with 柠檬's.

fic prompt: jealous/lonely/conflicted/sad zyc who sees zyz and wen xiao's 'fated love' kinda thing going on and is like shit man im supposed to kill him also damn why isnt it me typa vibes

Enjooooy! 😘

--

It is hard to ignore the gaping ache in his chest at the way Wen Xiao is laughing at something the great demon has said. Harder still to pull his eyes away the demon's handsome face twists in surprise at her reaction, a smile curling at the corners of his lips as he shapes a reply.

Zhuo Yichen can do little else but stop and stare, and yearn for them to turn his way. To look back at him. Just once. To see him standing here, right behind them, watching, waiting for just one moment in the warmth of their gazes.

They are two halves of a whole. The Baize Goddess and the Great Demon of the Wilderness who are quite literally the protectors and guardians that shape the balance of the world.

The thought turns the wine in his cup, the finest his coin can buy, bitter like ash.

Somewhere in the pavilion, Ying Lei has roped both Xiao Jiu and Pei-daren into some silly game they made up on the spot. Their, Ying Lei and Xiao Jiu's, voices cut through the evening air. Yichen really should make sure they aren't being too rowdy, but he finds that he cannot move from this spot where he has the best view of Wen Xiao and Zhao Yuanzhou.

Running his thumb over the hilt of the hilt of the Cloud Light Sword, he feels the gaping maw in his chest pulse with an acute ache that steals his breath away.

Any day now, Zhao Yuanzhou has promised to teach him the next level of sword formations and deepen his understanding of wielding the Cloud Light Sword. The difference between what he understood just a month ago and what he can do now is night and day, and then there is the vow he made to kill the demon.

One that he has not failed to continuously remind him on time and time and again.

Wen Xiao's gentle amusement carries through the courtyard, pulling his focus back to where she and the demon are pressed shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the moon.

Sitting up on the tree, it feels like they're a thousand miles away. Untouchable and unreachable by mere mortals like him. Yichen keeps his eyes on them, each heartbeat a dull throb of longing for them, the pain of wanting consuming him from the inside out.

[fiftysevenacademics]

Poor Zhuo Yichen. The jealous ex saying he doesn't deserve to kill Zhao Yuanzhou is to be expected. But this random demon none of them have ever met before? That hurts.

This exchange is so funny

Out of context, in context...

But also...with so many people wanting to kill the suicidal demon, Zhuo Yichen's existence seems to be the only thing keeping him alive.