#or who's gonna be my xie lian?? i want someone to spoil

[noscio]

so i just got TGCF 6

[diivineray]

Okay I’ve chilled cuz now I’m thinking about xie lian in book 4/5 and DONT READ if you don’t wanna get spoiled

But like the way these two contrast each other so deeply still pains me to this day.

And the way I see and understand both sides.

Especially after you’ve seen everything Xie Lian and Jun Wu went through all to help people. And they were ungrateful. Seriously, the ppl were ungrateful little fucks.

They wanted instant gratification. Sure, fear of what would happen to them causes panic and lack of faith, but ultimately the ppl really are the problem.

One mental image I always have is how Xie Lian was using so much of his power and strength to keep that statue from falling and crushing the people beneath him. It’s not logical to expect ppl to remain calm and faces are popping up on their bodies sURE but it’s the way they screamed and cried and pulled on Xie Lian who needed concentration to be able to IDK keep them fucking alive ?? And it’s a scene that regularly pisses me off because at that moment no one was thinking ‘he’s working so hard to save us’ they wanted a solution right then and now. And again that is fair. It’s a hectic situation.

Jun Wu spending years constructing that bridge and ppl couldn’t wait. It was taking too long. They started putting their faith in other people. I’m sorry but that would be piss me off too. And the fact that their lost faith results in his weakened strength, and the moment the volcano hit and everyone suddenly starts rushing forward to be saved, with Jun Wu’s already weakened state, no one was putting faith in him in that moment. Cuz if they had, his power likely would have gotten stronger. They were only thinking of themselves and saving themselves. Naturally the bridge would break. Not only did the people lose faith in their God but their God lost faith in them.

But all I could think about is how, even in life we try and try and try to help people and often times that help gets thrown back in our faces. Xie Lian made countless sacrifices for people and it still wasn’t enough. He practically gave his body to them to stab and mutilate and it still wasn’t enough.

Because he failed, because Jun Wu failed, something that was really the people’s fault they started to be hated. Looked down on. Their temples burned and destroyed. Statues broken and ruined.

They both wanted to do good, both thought they had what it took and both flew way too close to the sun.

The reality is, you can only do so much. There is a reason God, in Christianity does not intervene. At least in my own view, one it’s just how life is. People live and people die. You can’t save everyone. And if you could, I think the balance would be thrown off. There’s a reason in time travel that bringing back the dead, changing time to bring someone back alters and messes up things.

Humans are imperfect beings. They are going to make mistakes, they are going to be selfish and cruel, and they are gonna suck. But that’s also where they are kind of great too.

The world is not black and white. Mistakes happen, but they can be fixed. And that’s the big difference with xie lian and Jun Wu. What xie lian and Jun Wu couldn’t.

Not even Gods are perfect. Hell, most of them are meant to be seen as such as a way to show humans how NOT to be.

This is also what happens when you’re placed on a pedestal. When you overplay your own hand, when you take on more than you can chew. When you don’t ask for help. When you think because you have power you can do anything. It was a humbling experience for Xie Lian.

Xie Lian had to fall, and live as the very people he was trying to save.

And why I love this book so much is that it could have went the easy route and he could have kept that determination he had in the beginning but instead we see him spiral. We see him lose faith. We see him give into temptation, do some bad things and ultimately almost act out in revenge.

And I will always love the scene where he meets the old man in the rain because that too could have been brushed off so easily.

Xie Lian was waiting for a reason to NOT unleash the plague. He laid in that crater of his, and when that old man tripped over him and spilled his rice he was rightfully upset. Cuz sir what are you doing here just laying in the middle of people’s way?

And the old man got upset with him. And xie Lian already in his head was like ‘I guess there isn’t a good person left’ like he just saw it as ‘they don’t care no one cares’ when firstly he was going about it all the wrong way.

But when that old man started talking to him after they bickered with each other, he gave xie lian that hat. And showed xie lian yes, ppl aren’t perfect but they aren’t all that bad. He had to have a GENUINE interaction with someone to see it.

That person had to be mean first, had to act accordingly, be human for xie lian to see why that meant something. He literally picked xie lian up and told him to try again and not lay in the middle of the road you silly

And that was what he needed to hear. Just ONE person. He didn’t need the world to look at him, he just needed one. And that’s where Hua Cheng’s love comes in after those 800 years.

Jun Wu, didn’t get that. He had Mei Nianqing but after he found out the truth he ran away so naturally Jun Wu is going to take that as abandonment. Which he later uses to show Xie Lian that friends don’t stay. Family leaves. No one ever stays.

And the fact that he had to manipulate things in order to make Feng Xin cuz THAT BOY WOULD NOT HAVE OTHERWISE AND I STAND THAT.

to prove to xie Lian, look see?? Even your most loyal bodyguard doesn’t want to be around you. Isolation.

But just GAH. I’m about to read tgcf cuz now I’m in my feels and ugh i love this series so much 😭😭

[abigail-nicole]

tgcf liveread 9

being the live-read of that time i read tgcf for the first time, truly a magical experience i would recommend to all, if you like gay stories, fantasy stories, or perfectly-written stories, then perhaps buy official english translations of Heaven Official's Blessing

originally tweeted 4/1/2020:

I also can’t want to see this animated, in five years when the donghua gets to it

gays pointing out misogyny

Another little mxtx horror gem featuring bai wuxiang

this Thing Obviously Impersonating Hua Cheng (But Doing A Bad Job) is adding so much extra horror to a scene which is already filled with creepy, fleeting glimpses of Bai Wuxiang. Horror level 10

nicely done confirmation that Fu Yao and Nan Feng were just Mu Qing and Feng Xin for a long time. That was pretty obvious from the dynamics

hahahahshahshsjs omg this dynamic

I literally burst out laughing so loudly at this fourth wall call out by Mu Qing & Feng Xin

the Cave Full Of Statues Of Himself thing is INCREDIBLY creepy !!!!!

i screamed in my empty apartment

.... i need to do some online shopping & process this a second while I think about buying an eighth bathrobe

so this is kinda like Hua Cheng’s stalker cave huh, while he was hoping to play it cool

I say that with LOVE i still adore crimson rain sought flower and hualian

He’s all like I HAD THE RED STRING, I GAVE HIM THE RING, WHY THE ASSHOLE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS GOTTA COME ALONG AND EXPOSE MY STALKER CAVE

Rip feng xin & mu qing who are about to get murdered by hua cheng

who IS the white-clothed man who is CLEARLY the favorite to win Mt Tong’lu’s Next Top Ghost King??? I’m scared of him & Hua Cheng better step up

it’s....Him, isn’t it....!!!!!!!!

HE BOYFRIENDS LOVE EACH OTHER THEIR LOVE CAN WITHSTAND THE STALKER CAVE.

ok I was wrong nothing was impersonating hua cheng But he Was acting suspicious. Like, What If He Finds Out How Long I’ve Liked Him, What If He Realizes I Was A Nerd In School And Filled My Locker With Art Of Us suspicious

ahhhhhhh Clean Water, Pure Air,,,,,, Hualian Happy Together

Xie Lian: oh no

Hua Cheng: what? I won’t let Bai Wuxiang get near you!

Xie Lian: Oh no.....it’s so hot when you’re mad.....

Xie Lian’s reaction to seeing the cave that Hua Cheng filled with statues and art of him: so he DOES like-like me!!!!

When I found out where his ashes were & spoiled it for myself I was so mad & now these cryptic comments are even MORE ROMANTIC

A WISP OF HUA CHENG BACKSTORY? I’M SO STARVED FOR IT

“It’s not like it’s anything hard” UNLIKE XIE LIAN’S DICK AFTER THIS SCENE OH MY GOD I NEED TO LIE DOWN

Hua Cheng is about to Ghost King Level Up!!!!!!!!!!! Watch Out!!!! Oh my god

Every time I turn a page I expect AND SCENE! END OF BOOK THREE!!! is it gonna be KISS? is it gonna be HANDS HOLD JUMP INTO KILN? its gonna be somewhere Maximum Suspense is reached

THE SUSPENSE HERE IS KILLING ME AHHHH it just KEEPS BUILDING

the suspense is so bad that....I better stop reading & tweet every other paragraph so I can scream more about how AHHHHHHHHHH i am about this

I clearly remember every book I read that made me start wanting to eat the pages halfway thru because I was so into it & this is one

REMEMBER WHEN I TALKED ABOUT GHOST KING MAGICAL GIRL FLOWER CROWN MARTIAL PRINCE XIE LIAN WELL

Hahaha and THERE is the end of book 3 okay oh boy someone get me a beta blocker for my heart rate oh god

Predixns: Book-4-flashback.mov then I suspect our dianxia will just turn up in a forest somewhere, having gently jumped ahead several months, been missing, collecting trash, and there will be Some Backstory & we’ll never get the details of how he came out of the Kiln

Predixns the sequel: while dianxia is trapped in the Burial Moun—I mean the Kiln, the world will go to shit & hua cheng will be Big Mad & Take It Out On Everyone

I read this on april fool’s because I am The Fool

More proof xie lian is god of millennials: centuries of eating trash and being free while ignoring the news

Book Four! Starting next time on tgcf liveread part ten!!!!

[inessencedevided]

I'm finally gonna read tgcf

And I decided to record what I already know (or think I know) before I start. Most of it comes from tumblr osmosis. If anyone wants to tell me in the replies how accurate my knowledge is without going into specifics, I'd be delighted

So, what i think i know about tgcf:

MC's name is Xie Lian. He's an 800 year old ethereal trash demon who looks like an 18 year old

He's also really badass and has wraps around his arms (and neck?) that he can somehow use as a weapon

His love interest is a guy who i think is named hua cheng ??? I've also seen the name san lang floating around. So maybe an alias? Maybe he was renamed? No idea

Dude has got an eye patch

Their shipname is hualian

From what I got from a few very !!!!-heavy posts was that he's his bf's biggest fanboy and basically has built a shrine dedicated to him

Him and the yiling laozu compete for best goth look of ancient fantasy China and I'm not sure who is winning

I'm also not sure who wins the most sinister yet weirdly sexy title award because ghost king definitely has a ring to it

I think there's also like ... a kid-fic element to this? I'm pretty sure I've seen gifs of hua cheng as a scrubby little kid (again wei ying vibes)

Moving on, there's a duo of kinda dude-bro seeming ... idk what they are. No idea how they relate to mc or the plot but they're giving me fred and george vibes but meaner

Also I've seen pics of a very buff looking black clad lesbian and I'd read the book for her alone (is she a lesbian? Don't know Don't care she is in my book. This lady could step on me and I'd thank her)

Also there's a windmaster person I've seen floating around (pun not intended but I'm keeping it in)

I'm not entirely sure if this is a headcanon of a person I follow or canon but they may be nonbinary? That'd be awesome. Knock on wood!

Also they may have something with hot black clad lesbian? Also knock on wood for this being canon

Um ... the setting is the heavens but also hua cheng is the ghost king so I'm guessing not only the heavens??? No idea? I've learned that this setting is the basis of a whole freaking genre and I'm excited to delve into it!

Also, Xie Lian is a martial God, I think. I'm not sure if that's already the case at the beginning of the novel or if he ascends at some point during the plot

I have heard a lot about the mc just ... suffering. A lot. Has wei wuxian as a main character prepared me for this?

There's butterflies. I don't know what they're for but they're everywhere so I guess they must be significant. Maybe it's mostly symbolic like the rabbits in mdzs?

Also a lot of umbrellas in fanart. No idea if that choice is only aesthetic though

There is someone wearing a mask with a half sad, half happy expression. I do not know if this person is their own character or another one in disguise but they give me vilain vibes

Due to a gifset, i know that there's a scene where one of the main couple falls down a cliff. Going by precedence in mxtx's other works I'm assuming it doesn't stick

And ... that's it for now

I know I compared tgcf a lot to mdzs in this, but that's the only other mxtx novel I've read so kind of my only point of comparison

Please no spoilers in the replies though i am interested if what I wrote here is terribly off base. I'll be blocking all tgcf tags i can think of now because once I start the novel I expect that the gifs I see will mean more to me than they have until now and so spoil a lot more of the plot for me than before

[tazzmanien]

Tian Guan Ci Fu donghua made me shed happy tears! I watched the first episode and I'm loving it (with two complaints on the side). I'll try to make it short. Spoilers ahead.

The animation is pretty nice. The fights are actually amazing! Xie Lian's strength is showing so brilliantly, that even if you have no clue who he is, you would immediately realize he is a big shot.

Everything about Xie Lian is on point, so I'm not gonna write an essay about how stunning and 100% accurate they made him. So just go see it for yourself.

I'm a huge fan of all the characters so far. The only little exception that kinda bugs me is Xiao Ying. She was supposed to be ugly, but they just made her kinda cute and a tiny bit plain. I don't like the fact that people would actually believe this to be ugly. I know a very minor thing, but it just annoys me somehow. Anyways, the rest are terrific. Fu Yao and Nan Feng are just as astonishingly stupid as I pictured them to be, that I would love to hug their artists. You people are geniuses! What we've seen of Hua Cheng is simply said perfect. I'm in love.

The pacing, music, backgrounds, colors, jokes, dialogs, man almost everything was perfect. Yeah almost. I don't like one specific part of the story telling.

Please hear me out before you hate on me. From the viewpoint of someone who has read the novel twice, read all released manhua chapters at least 10 times and followed every bit of fandom input for a year, I could almost say there is nothing to complain about the donghua.

But, just imagine watching the donghua for the first time, without any prior knowledge of anything. Don't you think that the newcomers will miss out on a big mystery? I feel it's kinda boring to get all those important information about the connection between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian spoiled right in the first episode. Like where is the suspense? How should the newcomers fear the ghost king or be suspicious of his motives? They made HC the nice guy within seconds tbh. I remember reading the scene where the mysterious and dangerous groom picks up the bride and leads her (him) through the forest to god knows where. That was so thrilling. And later I had to wait for several chapters to get to know that Xie Lian saved a boy twice and told that boy to make him the reason to live and that this boy was actually Hua Cheng who worships him.

You could argue that they didn't clearly say that this boy was HC, but come on, the cut and wording and everything was so in the face that even the dumbest idiot would get it.

You could also argue that this is not important to make the story existing, but I can't agree completely. The main story of this book is and always has been Xie Lian and Hua Cheng finding each other, falling in love and defeating the big boss together (with XL on main and HC supporting him). All those enthralling stories in between where just means to an end. I'm not saying that they were boring, but they were just not the main part of the thrill. The mystery about Hua Cheng was at least as important as the mystery about the one we don't want to talk about (still hate them with all my might). So taking away this part makes HC kinda less important right at the beginning of the story.

Anyhow, now you can hate me... I said what I said. I'm still not gonna stop worshipping Dianxia and drooling over Hua Cheng. And I will definitely tell every single living creature I meet to watch the donghua! (Yeah that was short *facepalm*)

[aprilfayelikes]

So I’m reading TGCF... (part 1)

Anyone who’s following me and is planning to read Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s Heaven official’s blessing, please don’t read the parts under the cut, ‘cause I don’t want to spoil you. I’m currently at chapter 32, and since I find MXTX’s storytelling very fascinating, I figured, I might as well blog my way through the novel. I don’t know if it’s gonna be anything interesting, and I’m not used to composing coherent thoughts in English, so please don’t be mean. If it’s uninteresting, just scroll through.

The story of Banyue Pass and overall thoughts

At first I wasn’t really interested in Xie Lian. He seemed nice but very bland. But the more I see of him, the more interesting he becomes. I like how there’s an almost tangible distinction between his thoughts and the way he acts. I also like how he does not judge anyone by what others say. 

He gives off a very strong Kenshin vibe (from Rurouni Kenshin. He was one of my first anime crushes). Like he’s someone who has suffered a lot, therefore is very kind; someone who’s strong enough to be able to afford being merciful; and someone who has made a lot of mistakes, so he understands what it is like to do bad things with good intentions. Basically someone who has lived a lot. And well....  800 years is a lot. Also there’s this unexpressed sadness in the character, that really piques my interest. I can’t wait for the backstory to emerge.

As for San Lang, he won me over in a minute. I love him. His cheeky remarks are to die for XD And I also love how his identity is releaved in like... chapter 30 or something? It was so obvious! And it would have been so cheap to hold the information back. But MXTX was like ‘eh, fuck it, let’s just call him by his name’. Everyone knows who he is at this point. No one was fooled, so why keep pretending?

I like this straightfoward, non-tropey attitude.

The story of Banyue was a really typical MXTX commentary on politics. Hearing the two sides of the story was like watching two children fight in the sandbox... I mean, quite literally (desert and all). It felt childish and meaningless. Blaming others, holding grudges even in death, not taking any responsibility for their own wrongdoings, acting with petty reasons... It’s just very tipical, very realistic, and very sad to watch.

Also, I almost forgot that I shouldn’t read MXTX novels before sleep. God, some of these scenes were downright terrifying and disgusting. Especially the mud face part. That was disturbing. (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE disturbing, just not before bed XD) So this is where I am right now. To be continued, I guess~ :D

[shenglingyuan]

interview with priest from 2012

Hello! KK, the leader of GPS Translations(translation group for Imperfections) wanted to share an early interview with Priest. This one dates back to 2012! She talks about the origin of her pen name, her writing style, writing inspirations, and about “writing” smut =w=

You can listen to the audio recording here. Her voice is really cute and sweet!!!

Host(H): Why did you take Priest as your author name? Priest(P): At first, I only had a reader ID. When I registered as an author in Jinjiang(jjwxc), many of the Chinese names I tried were already taken. I took an English book randomly and used the first word I saw, which was “priest”.

H: Really? Just so casually and randomly? I thought it was religious or something like that? P: Really, really. Because I tried some Chinese names and they were all taken and the website system was asking me to add 01, 06, something like that after my Chinese name. It’s quite annoying, so I went to an English one.

H: When did you start writing? P: On the internet, probably 2007.

H: Which one of your work are you most satisfied with? P: What I’ve written, they don’t have much difference to me. I like them all so I really can’t pick up a favorite one. Maybe my favorite one would be something that I haven’t written yet. I hope in the future you can keep supporting me.

H: What genre would you like to try in the future? P: In the future, probably, some weird ancient background or modern background to express reality, I don’t know which one will I choose as my next one.

H: Can you tell us the type of the CP? P: I can tell you that but probably it will change before I finish, because I once liked zhongquan*, but now I don’t know why but I’ve been liking zhagong more. *one of the CP is very loyal to the other one, will spoil and love the other very much  and can do everything for the other *one of the CP only takes advantage of the other’s feelings, doesn’t really love the other one but only use the other half to get a good time H: I’m not really into zhagong but I think I will--- P: So you’re gonna abandon me :( H: No, I will never abandon you!!

H: Do you have an author you like, BL and BG? P: Yes, I do. I think I like quite a lot in BL, maybe I can’t speak them all out loud because if I list it, it will fill a whole paper. I’ve read a lot and I like a lot. I haven’t read BL type a lot recently. Recently I was reading Yu Hua’s book. I liked him a lot, I’m a really a big fan of him

H: So what good novels have you read recently in BL? P: I recently started liking ghost stories for no reason and I read a lot, a lot, a lot of ghost stories but it seems that most of my readers are not really into it.

H: Which one have you read? P: It’s Liu Gan.

H: Someone told me they read ‘Liu Gan’ and they got scared to sleep alone at night. P: Qing Qiu’s ‘Gui Hua Lian Pan’ is quite good. And I read another one, ‘Tong Hua Zhong Lu Si Li Xie Ji Yi Yuan Guai Tan’, and I read this one today.

H: Is there any possibility that you will write horror stories? P: I’m not sure if I’m good at it because no one told me ghost stories in my childhood, so I can just keep reading others for now.

H: An audience is asking, your work often contains a lot of imagination. The multiple subjects and content, are they related to your professional major or hobbies? Take ‘Final Blue-Signet(Zhong Ji Lan Yin)’ as an example. P: Not really related to my major but I’m kind of like a jack of all trades, master of none, so I have quite a lot of hobbies.

H: Another is asking, is Priest a STEM major? Did you feel confused when you wrote ‘Final Blue-Signet’ because of your mixed background? P: You can say so [that I’m a STEM Major]. But I hope you don’t believe my settings too much because I’m just bullshitting. But I’m not feeling confused by it because after all, I’m the one who wrote them.

H: Where did your inspiration came from for writing ‘Final Blue-Signet’? P: I was waiting in line to buy bread and there was an advertisement board opposite it. The ad has a picture that was very very very big and was very very very complicated, and then I just figured out the story for ‘Final Blue-Signet’.

H: What exactly did the picture show? Why would it make you think of ‘Final Blue-Signet’? P: Because I don’t really get the picture, and I can’t figure out why are they drawing those kind of things. I think the complicated thing is like a magical pattern. So, it’s lovely. While I was in the line and I had nothing to so, I just handed out an essay which is very complicated. Then I took out a little notebook and wrote down my settings and started to set for Final Blue-Signet.

H: What about Qi Ye(The Seventh Lord)’s inspiration? P: Actually, it was difficult to write this one. I spent a lot of time and I tried a lot of settings and dropped a lot of settings, but I cherished them so I don’t wanna give up on them. After, I just combined everything together. So the final product is like everything and unlike everything.

H: Can you describe your own writing style? P: You can say that I’m under the “bullshitting” style.

H: Why? How could you call yourself under the “bullshitting” style? P: Because I think I’m bullshitting from settings to the plot, I just make them randomly and very casually. H: So modest. P: No no no I’m really bullshitting style.

H: You must have an outline. Will you change your plot because of what the readers say to you? P: EHHH? I don’t think this question is in the rehearsal. How could you suddenly ask me this question, just because I said I had a bullshitting style? The hope was all for the best at first. I had an outline at the very beginning but almost every part of the outline can’t stand for more than 30,000 words, it just totally goes out of the outline. Whether I will be influenced by my readers ... it depends because some of my novels, I write them in advance and some I write them at the moment. Those that are written at the moment are more easily to be influenced by the readers.

H: Is Liang Jiuxiao in The Seventh Lord really dead? P: Yes, yes, yes, and yes. It’s true. H: He’s a very popular character among your readers and many of your readers think that he has something with his senior brother*? P: They are thinking too much. *this senior brother is Zhou Zishu of Faraway Wanderers/Tian Ya Ke

H:Do you have preference over the type of CP or genre? P: No I don’t have one. If you read my novels, then you’ll know I don’t have a preferred one.

H: Many of us want to ask you a question. Why is there very few sex plots in your novels? When do you plan to write more sex plots? P: There are more and there are less. Actually I wrote them, I just make them less so you can’t see it.

H: No sex plot is really being “deceitful”. P: Well I forgot to say that I’m also a “deceitful” type of writer.

H: So you just erase all the sex plot like that? P: You can say so.

H: When do you plan to write them and do you have any conditions to do it? P: One: until the day I’m finally good at it, and two: when the internet has a rating for different age.

H: You mean you’re afraid of tainting underage readers? P: Yeah, yeah, yeah … I hope that underage readers can see cute media like cartoons or something instead.

H: Another audience question: you have a very busy life, and you update very fast. How could you balance the relationship between writing, your studying, and your life? P: I’m not actually that busy, I like hanging out. I don’t write novels for a very long time a day. In a day, one to two hours tops.

H: How many words can you write in those one or two hours? P: One or two hours is enough for one or two updates.

H: How many words exactly? P: In my bad condition, about 2000 words, if I’m in good condition, more than 3000 words. H: You are so fast! P: Uhhh, right.

H: You never face the difficulty of not knowing what to write? P: I just said my style is “deceitful” plus “bullshitting” so I think this style can make me happy. Also, my stories, the quality is quite low. I have quite a lot of typos.

H: How do you name your characters in your book? P: Mostly, from dictionaries. A book is very handy, too. I think of a page number and line number, which character of the line then I open it. If it’s really weird, I will do it again. If I think it’s okay, then it’s okay.

H: So casual, just like how you chose your pen name. P: Yep yep, but I’m very loyal to the names. Because I can’t remember them all if I have a lot of names.

H: Thank you for your gentle attitude. Is there anything else you want to say to our audience? P: First of all, I wish you all a happy new year and may your wishes come true. I hope everyone can study well and can read less sex plots to protect yourselves.

H: Thank you for coming today, Priest. P: Thanks, thanks, thanks for your hard work!

H: Well thanks for your hard work too!

Priest is the author of Guardian(2012), Sha Po Lang(2015), Silent Reading(2016), Imperfections(2017), Faraway Wanderers(2010), and more. Masterlist of English translations can be found here.

[friendly-raccoon-neighbour]

Ok I’m gonna ramble here to the void where I can’t spoil my friends. Suicide mentions ahead

recently I’ve been seeing takes that in Book 4, Xie Lian’s parents committed un-alive due to shame of, well, everything plus their perfect son trying to rob a man, and while I see where they come from it just took me by absolute surprise because I never considered it? At all? Like, for me it read like HEAVILY misguided act of love, charged with a lot of despair and pain. For me it was almost unequivocally, if anything, due to their own shame. To them feeling like a burden to his son. I mean, XL's mother *loved* him to bits. She missed him while he was away cultivating and I'm not sure but I think it was mentioned she cried when he left. She also always cooked for them and tried to go above and beyond to support them emotionally, however she could, in their terrible situation. His father on the other hand was always cold and distant, but he did seem to have at least a bit of love for his son, even if he was disappointing. He was, however, very clearly feeling like a weight. He was dying due to his illness but refused to tell anyone, or let the queen tell XL, and endured it because he already felt weak and powerless. Besides the queen doesn't strike me as someone who would do that out of shame. At least not that kind of shame, not shame for her son. Not shame for him committing something against his imposed "purity" and his lost social status Because yes, those were important to them as monarch but the queen raised Qi Rong, the son of her sister who escaped for a commoner man that abused her. Her own sister was so ashamed of what she did that she didn't dare come out when she returned and ended up dying, but the queen supported her and, again, raised Qi Rong, son of some bastard commoner. And she *loved* Xie Lian. We know so little about their relationship but what little we know is love. When XL visits their tomb, he fuckcing ignores the king and weeps over his mother. He hugged her legs when he found them. He tried to follow her. He loved her still. So dunno, for me it's weird. Again, I get where they come from and it isn't baseless either, but for me his mother loved him deeply, and his father was cold but they've already lost everything. I think that once FX left, and they saw XL at his lowest point, they simply... despaired. Hard. I think they simply felt like a burden to their son, a strain. They were certanly ashamed but because they lost their positions and became runaways, powerless. XL's mother at least was worried for him and at a loss of what to do, his father didn't even want to tell them he was sick because he know the medicine would be yet another strain. They left him, and I cannot call it an act of love, but I also can't really see it as an act of shame or rejection to their son. They just couldn't handle it anymore. Nor their situation, nor the pain they thought they were causing Xie Lian

Or idk maybe I missed something important or didn’t understand what happened cause it was 3am, I was suffering and I’m fucking illiterate lmao. Both are equally valid