xie lian my beloved ♡

melia | 24 | he/she | this blog supports trans and aspec people ♡ | main

[therozanov]

THE UNTAMED | episode 25

[hatchetfielddropout]

fan changyu: do you think i'm too violent 😔

xie zheng: who told you that 🤨 anyway do you want to beat up your ex in a dark alleyway 😊 do you want to kill your uncle instead of kidnapping him 😊

[hatchetfielddropout]

xie zheng: if i really leave, will you remarry?

fan changyu: remarrying can wait, life just goes on.

xie zheng: fuck, that's not a no.

[fierce-little-miana]

Xie Zheng trying to adjust to life in his wife’s village:

[guzhuangheaven]

pursuit of jade: piggies of the fan family

[guzhuangheaven]

pursuit of jade :

What does the Fan family's business have anything to do with a matrilocal husband like you? I am currently also part of the Fan family.

You just know Ningniang will carry that grudge about the pig's tail till the end of time.

[gizkasparadise]

Get a guy who will handwrite a CVS receipt to shame your shitty ex in public

[guzhuangheaven]

pursuit of jade : xie zheng

[plutoonwheels]

guys am I on a fucking roll or what

pt 1, 2, 3

[cassianandfenrysaremyboyos]

5 minutes later

Gongsun Yin being more interested in Xie Zheng's marriage drama than battle strategy is so funny #gossip queen first strategist second

[plutoonwheels]

my prized work

Pt 1,2,3,4

[moonnogginn]

One more hualian referenced from Eternal Faith set photos

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

Silliness aside, I love the little touches about class issues in Pursuit of Jade. It is very clear that the magistrate doesn't usually deal with people who know the law. He is used to doing whatever he wants because no one is literate enough to oppose him. And it royally pisses Xie Zheng off but only because he knows better.

Also the magistrate immediately turning nice when he sees someone in silk. All the rich people look so extremely out of place in Fan Changyu's neighborhood.

The pawn shop owner knew Fan Chengyu couldn't read that contract when she pawned her hairpin and took advantage of that.

It's funny that Xie Zheng has no idea what things cost and how little people live on but it's also terrifying that Xie Zheng has no idea what things cost and how little people live on because he is part of the ruling class. Money means almost nothing to him and it takes up most of Fan Changyu's mental energy.

Xie Zheng clearly has access to much better medicine than Fan Changyu and the money to pay for it. The thugs who cannot find jobs because of war. Everyone around Fan Changyu being excited to eat pig offal and tails while Xie Zheng cannot bring himself to eat it because he would never be offered such a labour intensive piece of an animal and it's gross to him. He has the luxury to find calories gross. It goes on and on

[plutoonwheels]

PoJ textposts be upon ye

pt 1

[plutoonwheels]

you know what time it is

pt 1, 2

[hatchetfielddropout]

i love this dynamic of theirs

fan changyu: so, yeah, you'll marry into my household, but it's just so i can keep our house! pls don't misunderstand, we can divorce anytime after

xie zheng: hmm

fan changyu: hey i know you have to leave once you're better, so just let me know if you'll go with me when we leave the town or if you prefer to stay here, i can prep the divorce papers!

xie zheng: ...i'll go with you.

fan changyu: so sorry this is embarrassing people keep expecting us to consummate our marriage so they're spying on us from outside but i have no hidden motives at all, we can just sleep in the same bed and nothing would even happen

xie zheng, rolling over so he's on top of her: well if we're putting on a show might as well do it properly

fan changyu: *accepts this and moves on* btw are you leaving soon? it should be fine, i won't cling to you, i promise! don't worry

xie zheng, visibly flustered that they're so close to each other: what who's leaving

later on,

fan changyu: oh no yan zheng got dragged into war he probably would like the divorce papers so he can at least be free to do whatever he wants

xie zheng, receiving a care package from his wife containing some sweets and divorce papers: i think this hurts more than this entire war

[audiothoughtsandmisc]

Something I really like about Pursuit of Jade is how Xie Zheng got so integrated into Fan Changyu's normal family and village life that it really feels like he cares for the other people in her life for their own sake as well as hers.

Like, this kind of ML in another drama would kick ass to protect the FL's friends, but too often it feels like they only offer that protection because the FL would be upset otherwise, like they only see the minor characters as extensions of the FL?

Whereas, you can see right from the start that Xie Zheng is fond of ChangNing in her own right. He didn't have to start teaching ChangNing to read and write, Changyu herself is nearly illiterate and wouldn't expect it of him. It feels very like he enjoys literacy and wanted to share that with ChangNing. He didn't have to carry her around during the festival, he wanted to. Parenting and teaching was a novel experience for him and he enjoyed it. (It helps of course that ChangNing is played as the most adorable little sister possible, but still.)

I think you can also see this in the way he makes sure to protect Mr Zhao as soon as he hears the man has been conscripted, by assigning him away from the front lines. Sure, it's probably partially for Changyu, but Mr Zhao is a man who treated his wounds, supported him on his wedding day to Changyu and who treated the Fans like his own daughters. Same for Mrs Zhao, who was nothing but kind to Xie Zheng and people Xie Zheng loves. It definitely gave the impression, that Xie Zheng wanted to protect Mr Zhao because he cares about the Zhaos as people. He would grieve their deaths for himself, not just because it might make Changyu sad.

[majesticbritistic]

I would also love to add that while buying groceries (and clam cream oil for his wife) he also ordered good quality wine safe for older people to consume. Shows that he cares for them as family too.

But it is also true that he does certain things only for the sake of Changyu’s benifit, like getting rented for 30 taels (he’s Wu’an Hou if he wanted to investigate Qi Min he could have found numerous other way, he already knew about the rice picules), or writing calligraphy for the entire neighborhood so that his wife gets to maintain a proper communal bond with her neighbours. He loves Lin’an for Lin’an but also for Changyu and both the truths co-exist without cancelling one another and I find that beautiful and nuanced. 🥹🫶🏻