The "Xiao-Wei!" scene: a novel and drama comparison

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Here's the scene from the book (vol. 2, ch 12-13).

At the words “Crow tribe,” Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei both stopped dead in their tracks.

At the same moment, a painfully hoarse voice rang out and interrupted Fourth Uncle. “Hold it!” Some note in that voice sounded inexplicably ominous.

Shen Wei pulled Zhao Yunlan behind him, gaze growing cold. A line of short, unremarkable-looking people in black robes stood in a neat row across the entrance to the Yao Market. Every one of them had pitch-black wings on their backs.

The Crow tribe had arrived.

Chapter 13
“SHEN WEI!” Zhao Yunlan grabbed Shen Wei’s wrist. Even blind, there was no missing the piercing-cold killing intent that was suddenly radiating from him.

When Shen Wei spoke, his voice held no trace of his usual refinement. Instead, it was dark and ominous. “How dare the Crow tribe harm you? Wretched, ungrateful things! Even death by a thousand cuts or their total extinction could never make up for—”

Every syllable dripped with bloodlust, but his seething was broken off when Zhao Yunlan wrapped both arms around him. Instinctively, Shen Wei began to struggle fiercely, but then inspiration struck Zhao Yunlan.

“Xiao-Wei!” he exclaimed. Shen Wei went utterly still in his arms.

After a moment, Shen Wei turned and gave Zhao Yunlan a disbelieving look. Voice trembling, he said, “Wh-what did you call me…?”

“Shhh. Listen to me. Don’t move.” Zhao Yunlan closed his eyes and opened his Heavenly Eye. His perception through it had become a bit blurry, overwhelmed by the Yao Market surrounding them. He tugged Shen Wei slightly back, and the two of them blended into the crowd of yao.

Context in comparison to the drama:

• In the novel Weilan relationship, Zhao Yunlan doesn't really have those moments of deferring to the Envoy/Emissary that we see in the drama, eg, when Zheng Yi is taken away. He's more arrogant and manipulative (not that drama!Zhao Yunlan isn't also manipulative). He's also forging a romantic relationship with Shen Wei out of sheer will, as Shen Wei keeps holding back and trying to retreat (because he feels unworthy?). Unless I've forgotten something, they're not operating together politically like they do with Ye Huo or in other cases. Zhao Yunlan certainly hasn't introduced him to his superiors or officially recruited him.


• When Zhao Yunlan is blinded, he discovers he can see with his Heavenly Eye. This allows him to see people's merits and demerits, and he sees that everything Shen Wei does is a merit, but the merits are all immediately swallowed up by Shen Wei's darkness, rather than hanging around to bring him luck like they would on a regular person.


• A Crow was more directly responsible for Zhao Yunlan's blindness in the novel, vs in the drama, where Ya Qing took Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong to meet Ye Zun, but the blindness was caused by Zhao Yunlan's using the Dial as a shield.


• The Crow elder isn't named in the novel, and we don't know anything about her actions or agenda. Also, Zhu Hong isn't present for this scene; Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei come to the Yao market alone.

I think this scene is a fascinating illustration of the differences between the Weilan relationships in the novel and the drama. (I'm only halfway through the novel, so please do feel free to correct my takes! And for the drama, too, of course.)

My reading of the novel version is that, when faced with the Crow that caused Zhao Yunlan's blindness, Shen Wei is overwhelmed with rage and darkness. This could be read as losing control and his "true" or base nature rising to the fore. His "bloodlust" rises, and he's going to commit murder out of vengeance.

Compare this to the drama, where Shen Wei is furious, sure, but mostly because Ya Qing is working with Ye Zun to threaten the peace. He uses his energy to fling Zhu Hong across the clearing, trusting Zhao Yunlan, even while blind, to catch her. And then he explicitly passes judgement on Ya Qing as the stern Envoy (despite Ya Qing being outside his jurisdiction), not personally. He's protecting Zhu Hong (a proxy for the SID?) and the world, rather than Zhao Yunlan explicitly.

In the novel, Zhao Yunlan first grabs hold of Shen Wei, and I feel like he's trying to protect Shen Wei from himself. I don't understand the cosmology, but what happens if Shen Wei commits a serious misdeed? Does his base/dark self start to consume him? Does his determination to be meritorious become unstable?

In the drama, yes, Zhao Yunlan is trying to stop the Envoy from overstepping and executing Ya Qing in anger, but his concern is as much for the future relationships between the three peoples as it is for Shen Wei's self, I think? It's political -- he just uses the personal means at his disposal to enact that politics.

Anyway, in the novel, when Shen Wei struggles in Zhao Yunlan's arms, Zhao Yunlan tries calling him "Xiao-Wei!" since he has a pretty good idea by then that Shen Wei is 10,000% into him, but Zhao Yunlan has mostly been the more active partner/pursuer. In the drama, the "Xiao-Wei!" cry is more out of the blue -- more an artefact of the novel than an obvious progression from their fairly equal dynamic.

In both instances, Shen Wei blue screens. "What did you call me?"



Then, in the novel they make their escape. (Zhao Yunlan doesn't directly answer Shen Wei's question.)



In the drama, Zhao Yunlan repeats himself somewhat quizzically, diffusing some of the tension, and then switches gears, stepping up as Lord Guardian. When he physically stumbles, Shen Wei catches him and holds him upright, but Zhao Yunlan's focus is on brokering a truce. Fourth Uncle steps in, too, and promises an election for High Chief. The personal threat to Zhu Hong is set aside, and the situation explicitly framed as political, to be solved through politics and establishing jurisdictional boundaries. Which makes the "Xiao-Wei!" thing sit a little weirdly, but also makes it really powerful because it's so out of context: even the Envoy in full flight can be derailed by this unexpected endearment from his one true love.

(Of course, it also meant that I spent the entirety of the YOHE sequence expecting it to come up again. ;-p)

Thoughts? Preferences? What have I misinterpreted? How do you feel about the drama adaptation of this scene? (Does it come down to "prefers politics" vs "prefers violently protective relationships"? *g*)


Note: I also posted a few scrappy quotes and notes from the Li Qian case in the novel.

Comments

[china_shop]

Aw, thank you for saying! (I'm 99% tv version myself. *high fives you*)