[Mainland Chinese Web Drama 2020] Three Lives Three Worlds The Pillow Book 三生三世枕上书

[Megan]

4 hours ago, Ninky said:

Actually i am satisfied with Ji Heng’s

end. It is a lifetime of banishment to the demon realm, never to step foot outside it and live a life of eternal loneliness as she will never find love.

But was she confined to the demon realm in the book?

[MayanEcho]

1 hour ago, Megan said:

Have they forgotten that Ye Hua literally chooses Bai Qian over his clan every time. And he would probably have wanted to be buried in Qingqiu or anything to be close to her? 

 

Dong Hua and Lian Song may be fine with him getting buried in Qing Qiu. However, they aren't the parents and grandfather of Ye Hua. Ye Hua is also still first and foremost the crown prince. Bai Qian as the fiancee can not really dictate what would be the funeral of the heir to the throne of another clan.

 

What I'm pointing out is that the celestials might have been lenient with her if she did not judge Ye Hua hastily and completely disregarded whatever good he did. She did not at all remember that Ye Hua before going to mortal realm almost died and lost cultivation to revive her master. Granted, Ye Hua gravely and thoroughly wronged her in the past, but if she did not block him from talking with her, and explain his side, rather than him getting sunned and rained on for days and nights before his death battling Qing Qang, will Tianjun ask DH for help retrieving YH's body? Will Consort Lexu go to Qing Qiu to confront BQ?

 

This is where the Bais are weak. They are quick to judge, they don't wait for explanations. BQ, and FJ, even if they are both very perceptive, require at times an in your face kind of conversation to catch up and understand. By then, it's either already pointless or almost not possible to turn things around anymore.

 

This will sound very callous, but BQ's assumptions, stubbornness, and refusal to see YH when he was alive did her in. She had let her anger consume her. It's too late showing all affections and care and telling him how much she loved him - YH won't know nor hear those anymore. Neither will his family be soft on her as she mourns.

 

So even if YH will forgive BQ anytime, it doesn't mean that the celestials also will. And since he's dead, nothing can stop them carrying out their funeral traditions for their prince, nor would they feel obliged to include his fiancée BQ to be part of final send off.

[UnluckyWhiteCat]

If anyone wants a link to the audiobook for Pillow Book, there one I'm using is on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS8YlTEm6uE&list=PLTJaWZoVPdT3yMNmh-w6m34C1JGYDQx1g&index=1

 

 

The Upper Volume has sound effects and the lines are read by both male and female voice actors, but the Lower Volume is just someone reading it through. 

 

There's also one for Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btEM29eF9Ao&list=PLTJaWZoVPdT17e3PquGAjAaDWhjnch1dd

 

[Megan]

Hmm...recollection of yesterday’s ELOD musing. I was listing all the times Feng Jiu was doubtful about Dong Hua’s love for her.

1) she thought he was a dream when he said they were married (ok, she has amnesia, so i’ll give her that one)

2) when Dong Hua kisses her at the festival and she asks if he is dreaming or will he leave her again.

3) crying that she wants to stay in the dream because she thinks they cannot be together outside.

4) when they leave Aranya’s Dream, Feng Jiu asks about their status now that they are no longer pretending to be Xize and Aranya

5) choosing home decor sounds unreal

6) fancy wedding gown feels like a dream

7) almost forgot...planting Aranya and Shen Ye’s tree.

 

Maybe Dong Hua should have given the ring to her sooner....

[Ninky]

2 hours ago, Megan said:

Have they forgotten that Ye Hua literally chooses Bai Qian over his clan every time. And he would probably have wanted to be buried in Qingqiu or anything to be close to her? 

 

I don’t remember that...

He cannot use die zhou shu in holy blue sea. As its at the place where the sky and land meets, it cannot be compressed. This was in the book. Not sure if the English version left this out though.

[MayanEcho]

8 minutes ago, Megan said:

Hmm...recollection of yesterday’s ELOD musing. I was listing all the times Feng Jiu was doubtful about Dong Hua’s love for her.

1) she thought he was a dream when he said they were married (ok, she has amnesia, so i’ll give her that one)

2) when Dong Hua kisses her at the festival and she asks if he is dreaming or will he leave her again.

3) crying that she wants to stay in the dream because she thinks they cannot be together outside.

4) when they leave Aranya’s Dream, Feng Jiu asks about their status now that they are no longer pretending to be Xize and Aranya

5) choosing home decor sounds unreal

6) fancy wedding gown feels like a dream

7) almost forgot...planting Aranya and Shen Ye’s tree.

 

Maybe Dong Hua should have given the ring to her sooner....

 

Registering the marriage and declaring himself as Qing Qiu's son-in-law in the Bincang ceremony were more than enough proofs he's serious of her as his empress. 

 

Again, grain of truth about that low IQ.

 

He's giving the ring made of half his heart because when he dies, the Tiancang cage he provided her will not protect her anymore. 

 

The heart ring is his parting gift to keep her safe after he dies, and for her forgiveness. FJ gave that stipulation that she will forgive him if he carves out his heart 200 years ago in Aranya's Dream.

 

“If I want you forgive me, what should I do, Xiao Bai?”

 

What did she say? 

“Carve your heart out. I heard that when one wants to declare his feelings, there is nothing more sincere than to carve his heart out. Mortals die when their hearts are removed, so when death is made into remembrance, such memory cannot fail to be significant nor can it fail to be sincere.” (PB2, p473)

[Ninky]

2 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

 

Dong Hua and Lian Song may be fine with him getting buried in Qing Qiu. However, they aren't the parents and grandfather of Ye Hua. Ye Hua is also still first and foremost the crown prince. Bai Qian as the fiancee can not really dictate what would be the funeral of the heir to the throne of another clan.

 

What I'm pointing out is that the celestials might have been lenient with her if she did not judge Ye Hua hastily and completely disregarded whatever good he did. She did not at all remember that Ye Hua before going to mortal realm almost died and lost cultivation to revive her master. Granted, Ye Hua gravely and thoroughly wronged her in the past, but if she did not block him from talking with her, and explain his side, rather than him getting sunned and rained on for days and nights before his death battling Qing Qang, will Tianjun ask DH for help retrieving YH's body? Will Consort Lexu go to Qing Qiu to confront BQ?

 

This is where the Bais are weak. They are quick to judge, they don't wait for explanations. BQ, and FJ, even if they are both very perceptive, require at times an in your face kind of conversation to catch up and understand. By then, it's either already pointless or almost not possible to turn things around anymore.

 

This will sound very callous, but BQ's assumptions, stubbornness, and refusal to see YH when he was alive did her in. She had let her anger consume her. It's too late showing all affections and care and telling him how much she loved him - YH won't know nor hear those anymore. Neither will his family be soft on her as she mourns.

 

So even if YH will forgive BQ anytime, it doesn't mean that the celestials also will. And since he's dead, nothing can stop them carrying out their funeral traditions for their prince, nor would they feel obliged to include his fiancée BQ to be part of final send off.

Stubbornness and refusal to listen is a negative trait across the nine tailed fox clan. This is the same whether is Bai Qian or Feng Jiu. Both characters are stubborn, sometimes to a fault. This applied when they all got angry with Dong Hua over the “wedding no show”. Bai Yi regarded tradition and face very seriously, so did Bai Zhi, hence all that buhaha over it. That plus the innate stubbornness of the nine tailed foxes made it worse.
 

And to be honest, if someone callously takes my eyes away the way he did, I would be very angry for a very long time.
 

Its clear in the book that she loves him but the return of all those painful memories felt like everything happened just yesterday. She felt angry and betrayed but she still loved him regardless at that point.

 

Bai Qian needed to feel that “loss” so that she will learn some lessons from it. By the time Bai Qian married Ye Hua and was featured as a background character in The Pillow Book, she had already changed quite a lot.

 

She became a rather good wife and mother. It’s not hard to see that she has learnt to let the past go and move on into her HEA.

That’s why I always stress that people need to see the big picture. There are reasons people act the way they do. Le Xu is technically his surrogate mother (his real parents are Mother and Father God) but because she did give birth to him and loved him as a son, it is natural to be angry with Bai Qian. She had also seen how he had suffered for her. 
 

There are two sides to a coin as with everything in life.

[MayanEcho]

13 minutes ago, Ninky said:

He cannot use die zhou shu in holy blue sea. As its at the place where the sky and land meets, it cannot be compressed. This was in the book. Not sure if the English version left this out though.

 

Sadly, it isn't in the translated text. 

[FoxontheMoon]

6 hours ago, Ninky said:

The King of Qin is pretty damaged due to his turbulent childhood, it is no wonder he acted the way he did. 

Did reba ever find out that she save the king when they were young?

 

To me I feel it was kinda cruel that he end up killing the two how save him when they were young and broke up the lover and one of them is his lover too sigh...

[Ninky]

2 minutes ago, FoxontheMoon said:

Did reba ever find out that she save the king when they were young?

 

To me I feel it was kinda cruel that he end up killing the two how save him when they were young and broke up the lover and one of them is his lover too sigh...

It’s just too tragic a story. This book was a prequel to the actual story. The next book after the prequel is about her young son. He is grown up in that book.

[UnluckyWhiteCat]

8 minutes ago, MayanEcho said:

 

Sadly, it isn't in the translated text. 

I'll make sure to put it into my copy when I get to that section. 

[Ninky]

15 minutes ago, MayanEcho said:

 

Sadly, it isn't in the translated text. 

Yep I had guessed this was the case but it was in the Chinese version and it was Zhong Lin who explained why Dong Hua could not use Die Zhou magic. This spell actually compresses two different planes together. 
 

For example when Dong Hua played chess with Lian Song, he actually technically compressed the space between Nine Heavens and Fan Yin valley.

 

But because of where the Holy Blue Sea was located, he could not compress the two planes together so he could not talk to his Xiao Bai directly. That’s why he sent the two letters via Yan Chi Wu so her bff can send the message.

 

But as fate would have it,  YCW ran into his enemies and almost died. He went into a coma for months...

 

I am probably going to translate scenes with missing stuff for the blog as well. This is a very important thing omitted in the English version.

[FoxontheMoon]

7 minutes ago, Ninky said:

It’s just too tragic a story. This book was a prequel to the actual story. The next book after the prequel is about her young son. He is grown up in that book.

I only watched it cuz Reba lol so if the next book came out I probably don't kno I was related to this one lol

[MayanEcho]

2 minutes ago, Ninky said:

Stubbornness and refusal to listen is a negative trait across the nine tailed fox clan. This is the same whether is Bai Qian or Feng Jiu. Both characters are stubborn, sometimes to a fault. This applied when they all got angry with Dong Hua over the “wedding no show”. Bai Yi regarded tradition and face very seriously, so did Bai Zhi, hence all that buhaha over it. That plus the innate stubbornness of the nine tailed foxes made it worse.
 

And to be honest, if someone callously takes my eyes away the way he did, I would be very angry for a very long time.
 

Its clear in the book that she loves him but the return of all those painful memories felt like everything happened just yesterday. She felt angry and betrayed but she still loved him regardless at that point.

 

Bai Qian needed to feel that “loss” so that she will learn some lessons from it. By the time Bai Qian married Ye Hua and was featured as a background character in The Pillow Book, she had already changed quite a lot.

 

She became a rather good wife and mother. It’s not hard to see that she has learnt to let the past and move on into her HEA.

 

 

True about the eyes. Rage over it is more than worth what Su Jin got, and for Ye Hua having no balls over it...he in fact proposed giving the eyes.

 

And the alcohol didn't help BQ either.

 

It was a war within herself on her conflicting feelings for YH and her clouded judgment due to assumptions and planted ideas of Su Jin.

 

The nine-tailed foxes are admirable how steadfast and loyal they are, but their stubbornness and pride can also be misplaced. That, and their adherence to not losing face. Dang, had they known for DH's case, them being laughing stocks will never equal to all of them potentially losing their lives. 

 

The family did not intervene for BQ and YH, and though they're part right Zhe Yan and Bai Zhen that they must not interfere in war between couples, Qing Qiu was losing its face on the inhospitality of BQ to Jiuchongtian crown prince.

 

Anyhow, it's good that three years after they had another chance to right what went wrong, and be a happy family with Ali. Not many would get that chance again. 

[Ninky]

1 minute ago, FoxontheMoon said:

I only watched it cuz Reba lol so if the next book came out I probably don't kno I was related to this one lol

There is a drama of the next book already. The King’s Woman was made after that drama.

[Ninky]

3 hours ago, Megan said:

But was she confined to the demon realm in the book?

Yes. Dong Hua made it happen by giving the Miao Hua mirror to her brother. He never ever wanted to see her again in exchange for getting the Qiu Shui poison out of her system.

[jimmylyne]

@Ninky you are right about Diezhu sorcery...

 

@Megan @MayanEcho

 

PB2 page 468/469

 

Because the poison could not be left in her body for too long, curing it
would take at least 6 or 7 days. Bringing her back to Red Demon clan
would take another day. In Dijun's careful estimation, the Diezhu sorcery
could not be used in the Blue Sea, so he wrote two letters and bid Yan
Chiwu to deliver them to the Blue Sea. One was to be given to Fengjiu, the
other to the wedding planners, her mother and Zhonglin. The story was
briefly explained inside each other these letters. The letter written to
Fengjiu's mother and Zhonglin had also suggested that there was no need
to announce a postponement to the guests, lest their wedding become a
joke. They should instead explain that the Blue Sea's tradition was to invite
their guests for a week-long visit. The week-long feast inside the stone
palace was for those who received an invitation. Afterward, there would be a feast at the entrance of the Blue Sea for those who didn't receive an
invitation. The main reception would take place when he came back in
eight days.
His arrangement was nothing less than solicitous. Unfortunately, those
solicitous letters did not arrive at the Blue Sea on time.

[Ninky]

3 hours ago, Megan said:

But was she confined to the demon realm in the book?

Actually @Megan, why don’t you read the Chinese version? Time to shake the rust off the language . It would clear up a lot of your questions as well.

 

I was able to still keep up with my Chinese over here in Australia by reading books. I also have friends who have migrated here from Sg and China so I speak to them in Mandarin.

[Ninky]

7 minutes ago, jimmylyne said:

@Ninky you are right about Diezhu sorcery...

 

@Megan @MayanEcho

 

PB2 page 468/469

 

Because the poison could not be left in her body for too long, curing it
would take at least 6 or 7 days. Bringing her back to Red Demon clan
would take another day. In Dijun's careful estimation, the Diezhu sorcery
could not be used in the Blue Sea, so he wrote two letters and bid Yan
Chiwu to deliver them to the Blue Sea. One was to be given to Fengjiu, the
other to the wedding planners, her mother and Zhonglin. The story was
briefly explained inside each other these letters. The letter written to
Fengjiu's mother and Zhonglin had also suggested that there was no need
to announce a postponement to the guests, lest their wedding become a
joke. They should instead explain that the Blue Sea's tradition was to invite
their guests for a week-long visit. The week-long feast inside the stone
palace was for those who received an invitation. Afterward, there would be a feast at the entrance of the Blue Sea for those who didn't receive an
invitation. The main reception would take place when he came back in
eight days.
His arrangement was nothing less than solicitous. Unfortunately, those
solicitous letters did not arrive at the Blue Sea on time.

The Chinese version explained WHY it cannot be used. Nothing was their fault why the wedding went south. It was just “as fate would have it” and “murphy’s law”.

 

But translation is probably never going to be perfect but hey it is a perfect opportunity to retranslate some

important scenes as our ongoing blog content to fuel our obsession. Hahaha!

[MayanEcho]

8 minutes ago, jimmylyne said:

In Dijun's careful estimation, the Diezhu sorcery
could not be used in the Blue Sea,

 

Woot, that's where I missed it! It's so...well, so small a description. Thanks @jimmylyne Also, @Ninky, @UnluckyWhiteCat, the Mandarin text it is more elaborated in this part, right? Looking forward to the additional notes/details whenever you can.