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

[MayanEcho]

18 hours ago, Megan said:

Currently watching episode 47. When Shen Ye asked Feng Jiu about Aranya’s feelings towards him at the end, was he referring to the moment when Aranya realized he left her estate without a word, or at the moment of her death?

 

From the time he left until her demise, since they never saw each other anymore from the time of Xiangli Que's death.

 

17 hours ago, Megan said:

Qinghua’s death was too light. Not only does she mistreat her daughter, but to harm both her own innocent people and the innocent owl clan while she lies in luxury....seriously, confinement and madness was too good for her.

 

Towards the rest of her life, she was again "betrayed", this time by the daughter she loved and protected. When she descended to madness, she must see and feel Aranya everywhere, as it's the taboo name she was uttering the most.

 

When Qinghua's feeling cold, somewhere in her mind, there's a crying infant that she has thrown in the snake pit, fending for herself, unprotected from elements. Yet that daughter grew up and died the clan's saviour,  even her beloved Junou owes her her life.

 

Ah, who knows what she dreams of if she can still sleep?

 

It's understandable that she would hate anything and anyone that reminds her of Xiangli Que. She didn't have to kill them though. It's just right that Junou would turn out to be her waterloo, as even if she loved her, she also deposed her.

 

17 hours ago, Megan said:

what happened to Aranya’s evil uncle in the end anyway?

 

Probably the same fate as Qinghua.

[Megan]

4 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

It's understandable that she would hate anything and anyone that reminds her of Xiangli Que. She didn't have to kill them though. It's just right that Junou would turn out to be her waterloo, as even if she loved her, she also deposed her.

It’s also weird that she can love one of Xiangli Que’s daughters and hate the other at the same time. I mean to Qinghua, what differentiates them besides age and the period they were born. If she could tolerate her new husband and Changdi, why not Aranya?

[Megan]

Watching episode 48. Why didn’t Aranya’s brother try interfering on her behalf and doing a more proper investigation? After all, he’s now in charge. Sure Qinghua has more influence but he could have done something!

[SilverDawn]

@Megan, Aranya's brother isn't the one who is really in charge. He doesn't know it but he's simply Qinghua's pawn; she would not allow him to investigate anything. He's a person with a good heart thinkng his kingdom is in danger, not believing Qinghua would endanger and kill her own people just to get the result she wants. The "enemy" is not far and they are pressed for time. 

Qinghua planned this really well I'd say. She knew this otherwise idle prince is longing to make a name for himself and protect his people. His strength in this case became a weakness Quinhua could use. 

[Megan]

Finished episode 48. It made angry and teary.

forget about Qinghua as the villain here. She’s bad, we expect that and we hate her for it.

but what about Aranya’s brother? Seriously, you’d rather believe in your cold mother who threw your sister in the dungeon than your own sister? Are you an idiot?! And then to call Guards to escort them when he knows well that Aranya is now a public criminal for framed regicide! Any goodwill I had for him before is gone.

And I understand why Xize stopped Shen Ye from destroying the clan, but did he have to show that respectful nod to Qinghua? And couldn’t he have tried to dethrone that rotten royal family? None of them deserve the throne.

and Shen Ye’s Attack was disappointing. The book description was way better. At least the creation of the dream was impressive, hinting at an echo of a Dong Hua’s power

 

[MayanEcho]

2 hours ago, Megan said:

It’s also weird that she can love one of Xiangli Que’s daughters and hate the other at the same time. I mean to Qinghua, what differentiates them besides age and the period they were born. If she could tolerate her new husband and Changdi, why not Aranya?

 

Qinghua was also just hanging on. And waiting for a chance. She will not kill Xiangli Que years after if she could tolerate him. She lives by his side as his wife for her and Junou to survive. In PB2, pp286-287

 

"...Your father was frighteningly treacherous. I had rather die than live, but the only thing I could do was sticking by his side..."

 

If she didn't stay as the Queen of her husband's murderer, Junou might not even be born. She wanted to commit suicide, but for unborn Junou, she must live. As for Aranya,  she was conceived at the height of Qinghua's hatred of Xiangli Que. As narrated by SMY to FJ,

 

In stories passed down, Lady Qinghua had been faithful that year. She originally wanted to follow her husband in death, but since she was pregnant with Junuo, anxious with love, Xiangli Que promised he'd allow her to keep his brother's blood if she would only stay alive, and thus she survived. Qinghua gave birth to Junuo as wished and raised her like a precious treasure. Afterward, she gave birth to Aranya who was Xiangli Que's flesh and blood. But because she had hated Xiangli Que in those days, she personally threw the newborn child into a snake pit the moment she came out of her mother's womb. This was also the beginning of Aranya's pitiful fate. 

Keeping Junuo was a reluctant tactic Xiangli Que used that year as a last resort. The more he saw how clever and beautiful the child was growing up each day before his eyes, the longer the thorn in his heart grew. Xiangli Que was soon determined to get rid of her. Unfortunately, Lady Qinghua guarded her child almost too carefully. (PB2, pp140-141)

 

54 minutes ago, Megan said:

Seriously, you’d rather believe in your cold mother who threw your sister in the dungeon than your own sister?

 

But he doesn't know that, right?  That Qinghua trumped up the charges to Aranya? Xiangli He does not even live in the same palace as they do. Think about it Megan, what would he really know?

 

Xiangli He will not easily believe that his stepmother will purposely get him killed by agitating the Night Owl tribe, leaving no choice for the Biyiniaos but to fight back, led by him.

 

54 minutes ago, Megan said:

And then to call Guards to escort them when he knows well that Aranya is now a public criminal for framed regicide! Any goodwill I had for him before is gone.

 

Again, he doesn't know that she is framed. Furthermore, Aranya and Xi Ze were the intruders in the camp. They turned up uninvited.

 

54 minutes ago, Megan said:

And I understand why Xize stopped Shen Ye from destroying the clan, but did he have to show that respectful nod to Qinghua? And couldn’t he have tried to dethrone that rotten royal family? None of them deserve the throne.

 

Xi Ze's nod is an acknowledgement of the other person's presence, apart from Qinghua was his mother-in-law. She might be guilty of a lot of things.  It doesn't mean that Xi Ze will also dispense of his manners. 

 

Xi Ze did not initiate the deposing of Qinghua since he was also their son-in-law.  There are other archmages in the shrine who could have done it way back when Xiangli Que murdered his brother. By lineage Junou is the heir without He, Aranya,  and Changdi since she's the only child of the former King.

 

54 minutes ago, Megan said:

Shen Ye’s Attack was disappointing. The book description was way better

 

Censor will not pass the decapitation of hundred spies who tried to stop Shen Ye leaving the shrine on his way to the river, if that was included in the drama version. Besides, what was shown in the drama was an emotionally overwhelmed Shen Ye attacked at all sides by Qinghua's command. Nonetheless, he did show that he can do the diezhou sorcery, and he took away the seasons.

[Megan]

Oh yeah, watching Shen Ye talk to Qinghua reminded me of Xuanren

[Megan]

11 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

Nonetheless, he did show that he can do the diezhou sorcery, and he took away the seasons.

If you are referring to the attacking spell, it is not so obvious or impressive. The latter is.

[MayanEcho]

1 hour ago, Megan said:

If you are referring to the attacking spell, it is not so obvious or impressive. The latter is.

 

The one Xi Ze deflected? I rather thought Shen Ye planned to aim it mainly to Qinghua. 

[Megan]

9 minutes ago, MayanEcho said:

 

The one Xi Ze deflected? I rather thought Shen Ye planned to aim it mainly to Qinghua. 

I figured based on the book and Moye’s words, it was more of a mass Attack. 

[MayanEcho]

2 minutes ago, Megan said:

I figured based on the book and Moye’s words, it was more of a mass Attack. 

 

In Xi Ze's words, meant to exterminate the clan. It doesn't look much in the drama, likely due to CGI or special effects constraints. Plotwise, it's still deadly enough to wipe out everyone in the river bank if not for the archmage's intervention.

 

It's satisfying to see the fear in Qinghua's face, realising she had gone too far ordering the killing of an archmage.

 

[Megan]

2 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

 

It's satisfying to see the fear in Qinghua's face, realising she had gone too far ordering the killing of an archmage

There was fear? She didn’t look that scared.  
even when the snow appeared, she just looked at it like it was just a minor annoyance.

[Megan]

Finished episode 49. Poor Shen Ye. But Dong Hua really impresses me here with his concern for Feng Jiu, voice, avenging her against Miao Luo, etc.

I like Xuyang.

some faults to be found. They couldn’t let a Dong Hua know he wrongly accused his pet fox? And couldn’t they show a better camera angle if Jiheng was going to run away?

jiheng, if Dong Hua wasn’t taken in by your looks before, he ain’t going to now. Especially since Feng Jiu is second only to her aunt.

[Megan]

I’m pretty sure I asked this before but anyway....remind me why couldn’t Feng Jiu or Si Ming recover the Lingbi Stone after it was buried? Surely they knew it was in danger after knowing demons were in conspiracy with the first prince.

[MayanEcho]

1 hour ago, Megan said:

I’m pretty sure I asked this before but anyway....remind me why couldn’t Feng Jiu or Si Ming recover the Lingbi Stone after it was buried? Surely they knew it was in danger after knowing demons were in conspiracy with the first prince.

 

The Chengyu citizens or royalty would expect to find the Lingbi Stone when they fix the collapsed tomb and dig out the trapped bodies. 

 

FJ and Si Ming are only focused on finishing the mortal realm trial. FJ won't be in the position either to still remember the stone, considering her emotional state. 

[Megan]

13 minutes ago, MayanEcho said:

 

The Chengyu citizens or royalty would expect to find the Lingbi Stone when they fix the collapsed tomb and dig out the trapped bodies. 

 

FJ and Si Ming are only focused on finishing the mortal realm trial. FJ won't be in the position either to still remember the stone, considering her emotional state. 

What about Si Ming then?

i thought they were going to let the bodies stay there after what the dowager empress said. Or at least only Xuanren knows to access the Stone, and he died.

[MayanEcho]

6 minutes ago, Megan said:

What about Si Ming then?

i thought they were going to let the bodies stay there after what the dowager empress said. Or at least only Xuanren knows to access the Stone, and he died.

 

Drama POV, SXR said they will still honour the brother, and YQT of course. Anyhow, they would still dig the place to fix it, and to retrieve YQT and the others, whatever was remaining there when they get through the rubble. Unless Chengyu builds another burial place, SXR will also be buried in the Imperial tomb after his demise.

 

Si Ming can only tell DH about the Lingbi stone if he was asked, which he was not on what went through the mortal trial. 

 

Besides, the consensus was that the Soul Locking jade shattered when DH escaped the wicked lotus realm. Only FJ is sure of what it was, and she would never go to Jiuchongtian to tell that.

[MayanEcho]

@UnluckyWhiteCat Thanks for including some of the details that weren't there before. It's like rediscovering Pillow Book with more hidden delights. 

 

The Emperor approves. 

 

[Megan]

Finished episode 50. While I am happy Dong Hua is treating Feng Jiu right...is now the time to be romantic when people are risking their lives to guard Miao Luo?

Meng Shao; you are admirable.

still feeling irked that Junuo wants to sweep their sins under the rug. I get they want to move on, but I still feel like there needs to be closure before that can happen.

isnt it a bad idea to plant the tree in case Miao Luo breaks out? I’m pretty sure the tree suffered from all that miasma....

[UnluckyWhiteCat]

@MayanEcho I'm glad someone else is enjoying it too~~ Did you see the part I pointed out about the fight between XY and DH yet? Never fails to make me laugh. XD

 

Also, there's actually another note I totally forgot to make, but in Chinese, a lot of curses involve using family members, and these tend to also be the rudest curses you can use. They're kind of like the equivalent of saying f**k or something similar, but they're usually really hard to properly translate, and I felt like it might be too jarring for people to read in the text when Hamster's translation is so much more toned down, so I didn't really change them, and I think I only marked out a pretty minor one. In the text, there are actually a bunch of places where there's some of this kind of cursing going on. I'll explain a few below, not all of them, for anyone who's still curious: 

 

许久，她轻轻吹了一口气，丝帕的一角微微扬起，她心中咯噔一声：爷爷的，不是幻觉吧？

At length she softly heaved; the handkerchief’s corner slightly rose. Her heart thumped loudly: Dear me, this isn't a hallucination?

*So what's bolded there is actually the curse, literally 'grandfather,' but what she's actually saying is a little more like: F**k, this isn't a hallucination?

 

凤九在心里咬住小手指：“他爷爷的，真的是姬蘅。”

Fengjiu mentally bit her little finger, “Dammit, it really is Jiheng.” 

*This one is a little closer, same as above, so: “F**k, it really is Jiheng.”

 

凤九额头上青筋跳了一跳：“避你大爷的嫌，陪你大爷的一会儿，浇了五六个时辰的雨...

The veins on Fengjiu’s forehead were popping blue. “To hell with rumors and company. You’ve been in the rain for ten or twelve hours...

*Also similar, but this one is a little more awkward I feel. So its closer to: “F**k your avoiding suspicions, f**k your keeping you company. You’ve been in the rain for ten or twelve hours...

 

... 遥遥不知从何处扯来一柄长剑，杀气腾腾地指向东华，喝道：“你奶奶个熊的冰块脸，累得老子在此等你半日...

... From somewhere, he drew a long sword, and with murderous intent, pointed it at Donghua and shouted, “Damn you, Ice Face. Your gramps has been waiting for half a day.

*Similar idea here, so he's saying: “F**k you, Ice Face. Your gramps has been waiting for half a day. 

 

明明是他老人家将计就计编出这场戏，他老人家倒是溜得快，却将自己推出来唱压轴，他大爷的。

That old man had obviously plotted this entire comical play. Then at the end, that old man made a speedy escape and pushed him out to sing the finale instead. Damn him. 

*I think I was actually the one who changed this one to the above, but yeah, it's also much ruder: Then at the end, that old man made a speedy escape and pushed him out to sing the finale instead. F**k him.

 

So, in conclusion: I'm sure you didn't expect that FJ (and the other characters except maybe XY) curses like that did you? Now that I've ruined your images of her... have fun. XD

 

Also, I think I'm actually going to put them into my own copy with all the other changes / annotations I made, so if anyone wants it, pm me cause I don't want to spam anyone with more emails, but I definitely won't be done with it for at least another six months or so though, so if you don't mind receiving an email from me six months in the future, I'll be happy to send it over.