Ashes of Love 香蜜沉沉烬如霜 - Episode 2 (Recap)

kakashi: In episode two, we are still getting to know new people, including some villains, which are great to have in any story. We also get to know more realms, though I still don't understand why we are told there are six realms if we only have: mortal, heaven, demon, bird, and flower? Anyone? Also, we get exposed to an exposed throat-collarbone area. Yes, you have noticed correctly, kakashi is using the same picture TWICE in the same recap, that's how much she likes that exposure. For the record though, I took two separate screencaps. If you want, you can analzye the differences at the end, I put both pictures side by side.
panda: Maybe Lord Puchi and other people like that Rat Immortal belong to a separate general animal realm? Infant GoW looks very good in this screencap K! I think it's his big hand behind her dainty neck that does it for me... that and the intense look on his face :)
JoAnne: I like his profile and his seriousness.

Episode 2

Jin Mi has given Xu Feng water that is for "washing one's feet, bathing and washing clothes" to drink and on top of that, she also pulls him into that water when he tries to fly away. It's a good thing though because the Flower Chiefs are looking for the bird that crashed through their shields with much vigor. Or maybe it's not a good thing because Jin Mi hits him unconscious by accident and he almost drowns. Well, nothing a little mouth-to-mouth won't fix!
I have absolutely no complaints about all these skinship I tell ya. 
Yeah, it's no skin off my nose either.

We thought. But no, she actually needs to cook some medicine for him ("six treasures" made from onion, garlic, soy sauce, celery, parsley, and pepper) that tastes so gross, he awakens. She claims it's especially used to "cure birds that have fallen into water". Ahahahaha. She is endearing. So is he, because I'm sure little princeling has NEVER been treated with this little respect.
I love it! He is mostly stunned anyone would dare be so cavalier in the way they relate with him but underneath I can see he is intrigued. Sidenote- That six treasures medicine sounds like it would make an awesome dipping sauce.
Right? How could that taste gross? It's a pretty basic seasoning combo.

They start bickering about how many times she has already saved him and what it cost her ("four drops of precious nectar"!). She says all is even if he takes her to the Heavens (where she wants to meet that Immortal who can help her Rou Rou). Annoyed, he says that his real form is a bird... and as a bird, he likes to eat fruit. That threat shuts her up :D - but he promises to take her with him in two days anyway (*hot collar bone alert right here, ouf*)
I am just glad she has some form of self preservation :)
At this rate she's going to run out fast, though.

Cut to the Demon Realm... it's dark there and green and COOOOOOL. I always knew Demons are the coolest. At Yancheng Royal Palace, the Demon King is entertaining guests, among them King Gucheng, a clear villain - who gets news about Xu Feng's mishap. The Demons rejoice, because Xu Feng happens to be Demon Enemy Number 1, being the God of War and Commander of the Heavenly Forces and all that. King Gucheng suggests they grasp the opportunity of Xu Feng going missing and attack the Heavens. Evil smirk face.
The demon realm is always cool cos they get to have all the fun! No stupid rules about behaving with propriety at all times and whatnots. Instead, they get to drink and be merry, plan evil stuff and smirk smexily. Gucheng is obviously a bad guy, and one who seems smarter than the Demon King. I like.
I don't like his self-satisfied smirk.

You better hurry, Demons, because the Heavenly Emperor has already sent out thousands of men to search for his son. The Empress (her mouth! I'm so fascinated by her mouth!) wants him to promise that Xu Feng will be made Crown Prince when he's found. Why, you ask? Because she's certain that the Emperor's eldest son, the Night Deity, is behind Xu Feng's disappearance! Seeing how the evil people are conspiring, she urges her husband to strengthen her son's position. The Emperor is not ready to believe her slander.Yet.
I definitely do not like the Empress. She seems very shady and why is she so certain and quick to throw the Night Deity under the bus??? Urgh.
I will smite her.

Time to leave the Flower Realm! Xu Feng only allows Jin Mi to bring her nectar and Rou Rou - then shrinks her to the size of a grape and stores her in his sleeve. The other Flower Fairies are just done repairing and strengthening their shield when he - zoooom - breaks through it. Hahahaaaa. Enraged, one of the Flower Chiefs rushes after him. Jin Mi is feeling rather motion sick in that sleeve and Xu Feng deliberately flies a little faster ... until she almost throws up and he stops to have her have a look at the scenery below. She's so cuuuuute.
She is very cute indeed.
She is kind of charming, isn't she? Dumb as a, well...grape, but charming.

That's when the Begonia Flower catches up with him and suggests he must be one of Sui He's birds. Xu Feng just laughs at that accusation, but doesn't correct her. It was about here I first googled his age, I think. *fans self* After blasting some flowers and pink lights at him, the Begonia has to give up quickly, Xu Feng is just too strong. And hot. Yes, he wields fire.
LOL, I won't write the direction my mind went to after I read your comment K. *smirks*
Okay. Fine. I like the Night Deity better but admittedly, this guy is sexy.

After finding Jin Mi gone and hearing Begonia's sorry tale, the Head Fragrance Chief goes to pay the Bird Tribe a visit. Meet Sui He! The Princess of the Bird Tribe and niece to the Empress. She has better things to do then talk to and fight with Head Fragrance Chief though - like rush to the Heavens when she hears Xu Feng went missing and the Demon army is gathering! Head Pavilion Fragrance not-sure-what-her-real-name-is chief is hurt after the encounter though and because she thinks the birds are the ones who have abducted Jin Mi, she orders her Flowers to stop supplying food to the bird tribe from this day on.
Uh-Oh, trouble in paradise. People should learn to read the room. Head Flower chief should have realized she lost her audience immediately Sui He heard about the missing GoW. 
She's very, very pretty, but you know...birds aren't exactly known to be affectionate creatures. I'm guessing she'll like the GoW because he's a Phoenix?

Xu Feng himself doesn't go to the Heavens just yet, but is making a detour through the Demon Realm. At the border between Demon and Heavenly Realm, a huge army is gathering. There is one Demon King who thinks this is all a bad idea by the name of King Biancheng. Clearly, he is nice, but he almost gets arrested for treason too because the Smirkface Gucheng is badmouthing him. It is Biancheng's very capable daughter Liu Ying who saves him by offering her services to the Demon King.
Ohhhh, I remember the Demon princess from Princess Weiyoung. I liked her there and can already see I'll like her here too.  Why is the Lead Demon King so snot-smart though? Too easily influenced by Gucheng.
We always like the demon princesses, don't we.

Yu Feng makes a flashy appearance then and mocks them for thinking they can just amass an army with no consequences. Slightly intimidated, the Demon King lies that he is only inspecting his troops -  yeah sure. Liu Ying takes the opportunity to measure her skills against Phoenix. He wins with ease, but both seem to like each other instantly. After telling the Demons his army will be ready and waiting if they dare attack, Phoenix leaves, just as flashy as he came. This guy sure likes to show his assets. I mean his Phoenix feathers.
My mind took another very colorful detour :)
Panda can barely comment she's so busy.

In the Heavens, the Empress presents evidence that it must have been Run Yu attacking Xu Feng: little ice spear weapons that she found! That's already enough for the Emperor (HE IS SO STUPID) to call for the arrest of Night Deity. Even when he swears that this isn't his. I don't like how they bully him! >.<
The Empress is vile. I have made up my mind.
The mother of the Crown Prince (or the one most likely to be Crown Prince) is always vile. I knew I would dislike her before she even showed up!

In the meantime, Xu Feng returns to his palace, where he meets Sui He in the garden. It's clear: She has the hots for him and he doesn't care in the least for her. Nice. Sui He discovers a "monstrous object" in Xu Feng's sleeve... haha, it's Jin Mi who regains her real size. Xu Feng introduces her as "just a little monster who wants to pay back a debt of kindness." Uhmmm, Xu Feng? Isn't it you who owes her? When his bodyguard comes and congratulates him on his rebirth, Jin Mi finally realizes what he truly is... a Phoenix.
I thought he meant her debt to Rou Rou.

Comments

Loved it. Am going to write "Loved it" after every recap, maybe. What did I love the most? Maybe that we can already freely hate on the Empress (though wait for it, this drama does a good job in humanizing some of its villains), the Emperor (what a douche!), Gucheng, and Sui He (if you don't hate her yet, you will, though she's also not beyond making you feel sorry for her occasionally). Loved the collarbone the most. Ah, and loved that haughty Xu Feng's pride was hurt so badly by Jin Mi in the Flower Realm, without her even noticing for a second.
Yup, Empress firmly on my hate list, her treatment of the lovely Night God is making me enraged. Gucheng seems like the customary bad guy so his actions do not anger me, for now. Rather, it makes me laugh how easily he can manipulate the Demon King. Sui He is intriguing because she clearly has real feelings for Xu Feng. Guess that means she is going to turn into the stereotypical evil second female lead soon. Drama!! (said in an Oprah voice :)) Bring it on.
I'm not seeing enough of the Night Deity, but otherwise, this is pretty enjoyable and still moving really fast.

Find the differences: