Lost You Forever
Lost You Forever is a 39-episode Chinese fantasy drama from Tencent Video. It aired from July 24, 2023 to August 16, 2023, and all episodes are out. In the US it streams officially on WeTV (VIP, episodes 1-3 free), checked October 25, 2026. It is adapted from a novel by Tong Hua.
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Viewers who like layered love triangles, wounded heroines and second leads who steal the show
The story, without spoilers
What to Expect
We haven't watched this one. This section is based on the official episode synopses, the production's own descriptions and Chinese coverage, and we'll replace it with a verdict once we have one.
The first half of season 1 is a small-town story. Xiao Yao, disguised as a man for much of it, runs a clinic with a couple of adopted helpers, nurses a silent, traumatized stranger she calls Ye Shiqi back to health, and slowly gets drawn into the politics of the gods' clans. The setting draws on the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经), with clans descended from mythical beasts, nine-tailed foxes and nine-headed serpents, rather than the cultivation sects of a typical xianxia drama.
The pacing is slow and the tone is melancholy. Each of the three men represents a different kind of love: Cang Xuan the family bond that comes before everything, Tushan Jing a gentle devotion he cannot quite act on, and Xiang Liu a sharp, dangerous attachment neither of them will name. Chinese coverage and viewers' comments largely agreed that the ensemble was the draw, and Tan Jianci's Xiang Liu became a breakout role; he was widely described in Chinese media as the drama's biggest surprise. Some viewers complained that season 1 spends a long time on setup and ends without resolving anything.
Season 2 is shorter and heavier. With only 23 episodes, it moves quickly through war, politics and a string of farewells, and Chinese coverage describes it as more tragic than the first season. If you're starting now, it helps to know that season 1 is not a complete story: its last episode leaves Xiao Yao's engagement, Tushan Jing's obligations and Cang Xuan's rise all hanging, and the payoff for most of its threads comes only in season 2. Viewers who disliked the cliffhanger said so loudly online in 2023, and the year-long wait between seasons became part of the drama's reputation.
The production also drew attention for its scale. It filmed for about six months in 2022 at Hengdian and in Xiangyang, and Chinese coverage praised the costumes and the distinct look given to each clan.
Content notes: there is torture, blood-drinking, self-harm by a supporting character, war violence and a heroine with deep abandonment trauma.
The drama was well received. English Wikipedia gives a Douban score of 7.8, without a date or vote count. It won Drama of the Year at the 2023 TV Series Awards and Best Work at the 9th Wenrong Awards, and it was named a Quality Drama of the Year at the 2024 Capital TV spring conference.
The Story
Xiao Yao has been hiding for decades. Once the eldest princess of Haoling, daughter of a famous warrior queen, she vanished as a child and now lives under a plain, borrowed face as Wen Xiaoliu, a cheerful, slightly shady doctor in the river town of Qingshui. She drinks, jokes, takes in strays and avoids anyone who looks powerful. Then she rescues a badly beaten man from a ditch, crosses paths with a beautiful and frightening demon who wants her blood, and attracts the attention of a prince who has been searching for her for a very long time.
Lost You Forever (长相思) is a Tencent Video fantasy romance starring Yang Zi, with Zhang Wanyi, Deng Wei and Tan Jianci as the three men in her life. It's adapted by Tong Hua (桐华), the author of the novel behind Scarlet Heart, from her own book, and she wrote the screenplay herself. The first season has 39 episodes and aired in summer 2023; a 23-episode second season followed in July 2024. The Chinese title means "endless longing" and is also the name of a famous kind of classical poem.
Release Notes
Season 1 premiered on Tencent Video on July 24, 2023, and members' episodes ran through August 16, 2023, with 39 episodes and three bonus episodes. Season 2, 23 episodes, premiered on July 8, 2024, and finished on July 27, 2024, airing at the same time on Jiangsu TV. Viki's listing for season 2 runs to August 9, 2024, probably reflecting a slower international release. The drama was produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures and Star Lotus, directed by Qin Zhen (秦榛), and filmed in Hengdian and Xiangyang in 2022.
Internationally, WeTV carries both seasons, including a 10-episode season 1 special edition and separate versions with Thai and English audio for some episodes. Viki has season 2 only, and from the US on October 25, 2026, all 23 of its episodes were free with ads. Netflix carries the drama in some Asian countries as a single 62-episode season. We couldn't check Netflix in the US, UK, Canada or Australia.
The opening theme for season 1 is "Nothing is as Good as You" by Jason Zhang. The soundtrack also includes "Lost You Forever" by Yisa Yu as Xiao Yao's theme, "See and Miss One Another" by Yang Zi, and character songs for Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu, the latter sung by Tan Jianci himself.
Does Lost You Forever have a happy ending?
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We have not finished this one ourselves; this is based on outside sources.
In Brief
Ending spoilerShow the ending in brief
The full story ends bittersweet. Season 1 ends open, with Xiao Yao restored as princess and her feelings unresolved. In season 2, Xiao Yao marries Tushan Jing after years of separation and danger. Cang Xuan unifies the land and rules alone. Xiang Liu, who quietly saved her again and again, dies in the final war without her knowing everything he did for her.
Full Ending Explained
Full spoilersShow the full ending
This account comes from Chinese and Taiwanese coverage of the season 2 finale (mainly beauty321, NOWnews and Bella) and the character outlines on Chinese Wikipedia, not from watching. Some of these sources mix in details from the novel, so treat the specifics as provisional.
Season 1. Cang Xuan eventually finds Xiao Yao and takes her home to Haoling, where she gets back her true face and her place as princess. Tushan Jing, the man she nursed as Ye Shiqi, returns to his clan but can't free himself from his engagement to Fangfeng Yiying. Xiao Yao, feeling betrayed when she learns that Yiying is expecting his child, agrees to marry Chishui Fenglong, Cang Xuan's ally. The King of Xi Yan passes the throne to Cang Xuan. The season ends with all three romances unresolved.
The wedding. In season 2, Xiao Yao's wedding to Fenglong is interrupted when Xiang Liu, in his disguise as Fangfeng Bei, arrives and asks her to walk away from it. She leaves with him. Taiwanese coverage says Tushan Jing had a hand in arranging this. The marriage never happens.
Cang Xuan's war. Cang Xuan sets out to unify the realm by force. His political choices put Xiao Yao second more than once, and a plot involving Tushan Hou nearly kills Tushan Jing. At her lowest, Xiao Yao herself comes close to dying, and Xiang Liu spends one of his nine lives to save her. Chinese Wikipedia says Fenglong later dies in battle.
Xiang Liu. In the final war, Xiang Liu draws the enemy army away and is killed under a storm of arrows. Coverage says that before his death he removed the shared-life bond that tied his fate to Xiao Yao's and erased memories of himself so she wouldn't grieve. She learns the truth only afterward, through a wedding gift he left her: a laughing doll with a hidden message wishing her safety and a home.
Xiao Yao and Tushan Jing. Xiao Yao marries Tushan Jing in a small ceremony attended by both kings, Cang Xuan and Ah Nian. They leave court life and go to live quietly in the mountains. Cang Xuan rules, and marries for politics. Chinese coverage describes the ending as happy for Xiao Yao and Jing and heartbreaking for Xiang Liu's fans.
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Cast and characters
The novel behind it
The drama adapts Chang Xiang Si (长相思) by Tong Hua (桐华), first published in 2013 in three volumes. It is the last part of her loose Shan Jing Hai Ji (山经海纪) cycle of myth novels. Tong Hua also wrote Bu Bu Jing Xin, the novel behind Scarlet Heart, and she wrote this drama's screenplay herself. As far as we know, there is no official English translation.
Differences from the Novel
Ending spoilerShow the differences
Because Tong Hua adapted her own novel, Chinese coverage generally describes the drama as close to the book. The biggest structural change is the split: the drama covers the story in two seasons, and season 1 stops partway through the novel's arc. The wedding interruption and the gift Xiang Liu leaves are described by Taiwanese coverage as famous scenes from the book that the drama kept. We haven't found a reliable, detailed comparison of what was cut or added, and we'll update this section when we do.
Novel Ending
Full spoilersShow how the novel ends
According to Chinese coverage, the novel also ends with Xiao Yao marrying Tushan Jing and with Xiang Liu dying in battle after secretly undoing the bond between them, so that she would not die with him. Many readers consider Xiang Liu's ending one of the most famous heartbreaks in Chinese web fiction. We haven't confirmed the novel's final chapters ourselves.
- Original title
- 长相思
- Author
- Tong Hua 桐华
- First published
- Other, 2013
- In English
- No official translation that we know of
Words and customs you'll hear
Older brother, used for real brothers, older male cousins, and close older male friends, and sometimes affectionately between couples.
Full explanationHE, BE, and OE圆满结局 · 悲剧结局 · 开放式结局 · yuánmǎn jiéjú · bēijù jiéjú · kāifàngshì jiéjúFan shorthand for a drama's ending type: HE is a Happy Ending, BE a Bad (sad) Ending, and OE an Open Ending.
Full explanationXianxia仙侠 · xiān xiáChinese fantasy about immortals, gods, demons, and humans cultivating toward immortality, set across heavenly and mortal realms.
Full explanationClassic of Mountains and Seas
The Shan Hai Jing (山海经) is an ancient Chinese book of geography and myth, full of strange beasts and gods. Tong Hua's world borrows from it: the nine-tailed fox clan of Tushan, the nine-headed serpent Xiang Liu, and the god-clans of Xi Yan, Haoling and Chenrong. It's closer to myth than to the xianxia cultivation dramas many viewers know, though there is magic everywhere.
Gu bonds
Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu are tied by a gu (蛊), a magical parasite from Chinese folklore that binds two lives. Theirs means that if one dies, so does the other. Gu appears across Chinese fantasy fiction, usually as poison or curse; here it becomes a love story.
Cross-dressing heroines
Xiao Yao spends much of the first season passing as a man. Women disguised as men are a long tradition in Chinese storytelling, from the legend of Hua Mulan onward, and audiences accept the disguise as a convention even when nobody on screen should be fooled.
Princes held as hostages
Cang Xuan grew up as a hostage in Haoling, a political guarantee of peace between two realms. Royal hostages were a real practice in ancient China, and it explains why he trusts so few people and wants the throne so badly.
Lost You Forever FAQ
How many episodes does Lost You Forever have?
Lost You Forever has 62 episodes across two seasons: 39 in season 1, which aired in July and August 2023, and 23 in season 2, which aired in July 2024. Each runs about 45 minutes. Netflix in some countries lists all 62 as a single season, which is why counts online differ.
Where can I watch Lost You Forever?
WeTV lists both seasons with English subtitles. From the US on October 25, 2026, season 1's first three episodes were free and the rest needed VIP. Viki carries season 2 only, with all 23 episodes free with ads in the US. Netflix carries it in some Asian countries, which we couldn't check.
Is there a Lost You Forever season 2?
Yes. Season 2 premiered on Tencent Video on July 8, 2024, with 23 episodes, and finished on July 27. It continues straight on from the season 1 cliffhanger and completes the novel's story. Jiangsu TV aired it at the same time, and it's on WeTV and Viki internationally.
Does Lost You Forever have a happy ending?
SpoilerShow the answer
Minor spoilerReveal whether it ends happily
It's bittersweet. Season 1 ends unresolved. By the end of season 2, Xiao Yao marries Tushan Jing and they leave court life for a quiet home in the mountains, and Cang Xuan rules the unified realm. But one of the three men around her does not survive the final war.
Who does Xiao Yao end up with?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal who she chooses
Tushan Jing. After her engagement to Chishui Fenglong falls apart and years of war and danger, Xiao Yao marries Jing in a small ceremony with both kings, Cang Xuan and Ah Nian present. They go to live quietly in the mountains. Xiang Liu's fans tend to find this ending painful.
What happens to Xiang Liu?
SpoilerShow the answer
Ending spoilerReveal Xiang Liu's fate
Xiang Liu is killed in the final war in season 2, struck down by arrows while drawing an enemy army away. Before his death he secretly breaks the gu bond that would have killed Xiao Yao with him. She learns what he did through a gift he left her for her wedding.
Is Lost You Forever based on a novel?
Yes. It's based on Chang Xiang Si (长相思) by Tong Hua, first published in 2013 in three volumes. Tong Hua, who also wrote the novel behind Scarlet Heart, wrote the drama's screenplay herself, so it stays close to the book while splitting the story into two seasons.
Can I read Lost You Forever in English?
Not officially, as far as we know. We can't find a licensed English translation of Tong Hua's Chang Xiang Si, and the original is in Chinese. Fan translations may circulate, but we don't link to them. If an official English edition is announced, we'll add it here.
Who sings the Lost You Forever theme song?
Season 1's opening theme, "Nothing is as Good as You," is sung by Jason Zhang. Yisa Yu sings "Lost You Forever," Xiao Yao's theme, and Yang Zi sings "See and Miss One Another." Tan Jianci, who plays Xiang Liu, sings his character's song, "Can't Wait."
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