kakashi: We get to Chang Sea in this episode, meet an old friend, make a quick trip to Peach Blossom Valley overnight and see Su Su realize that her quiet husband is in high demand.
JoAnne: If she only knew...
Episode 17
The tall god carries the red fox home in his arms and Uncle 3 happens upon them. Smirk, smirk. He asks what he has in his arms, haha. Dijun, grumpy: "You can't tell from looking what it is?" Uncle Three depends to be shocked, then says what a nice, nice girl the Fox Princess is. He then realizes why Fengjiu is how she is. Ah, the fond memories of being drunk from drunken fruit ...
We used to eat melon balls soaked in vodka... I should do that again this summer.
Dijun carries her further, into the maid quarters and puts her on the bed the maids indicate as hers. All of them quickly leave, haha. He stares at her, thoughtful, if not a little spellbound...
I wish this thing would start, already. I need him to be a fool, a little bit.
... and she grabs his sleeve and pulls him close.
Come on, man...wallow in the cuteness! You know you want to.
We next see them together when she is sober and he is in his study, writing. So ... he was the one who carried her back? And gave her two bowls of hangover soup? No, three, he corrects her. She can add that to the debt she already has.
Does everyone agree that he just keeps adding to the debt so she'll have to spend her life near him? Or is he thinking to overwhelm her and send her away, and then only later will realize he isn't happy without her?
He seizes the opportunity to talk about her aunt then and how well she taught her... and says how she was able to overcome 18 immortals with just one wave of her Jade Purity Fan when she was a discipline in Kunlun. Fenjiu says: "How come I've never heard aunt talk about it?" Noooooooo! Fengjiu!!!
Busted!
Ah, but now he's happy. He assures her he is not an immortal who gossips and her aunt's secret is safe with him. Damn, the little fox almost lets slip that Mo Yuan's body is in Fox Kingdom too, but she stops herself in time. He smiles that he will be able to talk to her about it in person soon, once she comes to heaven.
Haha, he's so pleased with himself.
Down in the mortal realm, Su Su comes home and finds her Ye Hua in the kitchen. This time, he was gone for a year and nine months, and all she can do is cry. He tells her he is making plans for them to stay together for a very long time. She is terrified this could be because his family doesn't like her (hear, hear) or because he already has a wife.
Just tell her! Why can't you tell her!
And now, about those babies she wants? But no, they eat first, because he cooked her something really nice. When he says he has to leave again - and tomorrow morning at that! - she insists he takes her with him. He insists it's too dangerous. But he doesn't insist for long ... how could he, when he is so much in love and she has a point: She'd rather be in danger and with him than not in danger and alone.
That's right babies, stick together. Stick together and be happy.
They head out together the next morning (she's disguised as a man again, right?). She frees her bird companion and then, Ye Hua hands her the Kunlun Fan. She recognizes how similar it looks to the one she gave away, but he says all fans look similar and there's not that many different mountains to paint. Duh.
Yes, she's dressed as a man again.
They walk together and look happy and so darn cute.
They are adorable, aren't they? This must be really painful for us later, Kakashi, if they're this cute now.
But this honeymoon, too, must end - Ye Hua hears voices and tells Su Su to hide behind the trees. Not a second too late! A bunch of very ugly mermen appear between the trees and attack.
They look like a bunch of Smurfs who spend all their money on really ill-advised body mods.
Of course, they are no match for the Crown Prince, but one of them goes for Su Su, when luckily, someone else intervenes ... it's soldiers and archers and ... DIE FENG! Whom Ye Hua immediately recognizes, because he stares at him like an apparition. Is this Mo Yuan?! And when Su Su comes running to hug her husband, he stares even more. Is this seventeenth?! But no, she's a woman and a mortal at that.
Die Feng does a double take over Ye Hua, too. It's a whole series of them all gaping at each other, it was sort of funny. I'm so happy to see Die Feng again! He looks much better in armor than he did as a disciple, though.
Well, Ye Hua takes Die Feng aside and introduces himself as the Crown Prince, travelling undercover. His true identity is to be kept a secret, also from his companion, and instead of "his highness", he wants to be called Hua Ye instead. Pfft. Die Feng is happy to see him there, because those Mermaids are a pain and he's been waiting, hoping for the Celestials to step in.
I really like Die Feng's get-up. He did go a little crazy on the bedazzler though.
He takes them to the Crystal Palace of Chang Sea ... they're entering the immortal world, he declares, where time moves much slower. Su Su is a bit wary about Ye Hua's secretive behavior before. But he laughs it off and then sets her mind on other things, like meeting the "first" immortal in her life (Die Feng).
Oh, look who's also headed for Chang Sea ... Li Yuan! Yup, he wants to go find refuge with his mother people (the mermaids). He is clearly lying about everything to his sister and I wonder whether she has realized she might have made a mistake in freeing him... He even has her trusted guards killed so that no one, absolutely no one can know where they're headed.
And yet she continues to insist she just wants everyone to get along. Get a clue, girl. Ain't gonna happen.
While Ye Hua is speaking some more to Die Feng, Su Su walks around a bit on her own (she brought the copper mirror in case she'd get lost) and happens upon the
Princess Lu Xiu of this place, who is sad ... because she fears she'll be married off to the sinister Mermaid King soon. Su Su hears them fangirl over the Crown Prince - these women have never met him - and finds this pretty amusing.
That green princess, I don't like her.
Ye Hua saves her from being discovered. When she tells him about the intense fangirling over the Crown Prince, he is amused. And then, she mentions that she really wants to smell peach blossoms. Oh. He knows of a place, he says. Ohhhhhhh.
The cute. The cute, oh my God the cute. It's killing me.
"Close your eyes", he says, "I'll take you there". Ten Mile Peach Tree Woods is like paradise on earth. And who wouldn't want Zhe Yan's life? (Btw, Ye Hua made sure he wasn't here before he came - he doesn't want to have to explain things) Well, Su Su is pretty happy with hers too. They drink some wine - hey! That's stealing! Ye Hua says it's fine, he doesn't think he'll ever see the owner again in the future.
I don't follow that logic, but I also don't really care. Ye Hua is smiling.
The logic is: he will "dead" soon and will live in the mortal realm with his love, never to be seen again in the Heavens. I wonder what he means to do once Su Su dies ... but I guess he hasn't thought that far.
I understand why it doesn't matter to him, but it still doesn't make stealing okay.
When she's sad that she won't be able to see these beautiful woods anymore, he tells her he will plant one for her. Ten miles long.
Make it eleven, Ye Hua.
After he has carried her back to her bed in Chang Sea (she is sleeping) he finds a peach blossom on her shoe. But it evaporates in his hand. Poof, like a dream. Gone.
Stop. Do not mess with my happiness.
The Heavenly Lord is rushing the Fox wedding again. Fengjiu destroys a game of Go.
The bowls of nuts that appear regularly in this drama make me laugh, for some reason. For one, it looks like an ancient Chinese fantasy version of a can, complete with label. PPL for ancient times. It has to be, right? Because they spend time each time, showing how much people are enjoying the nuts.
Down in the Fox Den, they worry about what to answer to Heavenly Lord. The bride is missing after all! And they really cannot cancel again. Zhe Yan has an idea: since the Heavens have publicly thanked Bai Qian for re-sealing the evil Ghost Lord, they can just say that she was injured and has to recuperate. Good idea, but for how long can they stall?
At least 70'000 years, probably.
Now, they need to find that reason for the Water King to send for the Heavenly troops. Ye Hua is visiting the military camps, Su Su on his arm. The Princess is following them - she has met Ye Hua last night and is already in love of course, without knowing who he is. Su Su is jealous, awww... When Ye Hua steps into a tent full of wounded soldiers without Su Su, the Princess has all kinds of questions for Su Su. She wants to know whether Ye Hua is married and upon hearing he is, to a mortal, she comes up with plans how to transfer her magic powers onto him, so that he can become an immortal. But first, he'd have to divorce his mortal wife.
These people act like mortals are pets.
Poor Su Su.
Comments
This was a surprisingly busy episode. I was happy that Ye Hua decided to take Su Su with him to Chang Sea... but I'm worried, too. Die Feng (so happy to have him back!!) even told him to send her away from this place, because it is not safe with the impending war.
And yet, I get Ye Hua. It is a tiny bit selfish of him to even have brought her this far and it necessitates that he lies to her about many, many things, but rather than have her turn old and withered in that lonely hut, he wants to enjoy her company one more day, one more night.
I get it, too, but his selfishness goes back much farther than that, really. He never should have started up in the first place. But I'm so glad he did, of course.
Everything is tinged with sadness though. The Peach Blossom trip was so beautiful and she enjoyed it so, so much ... and yet, it feels like it's over before it even started.
Yes, the whole thing has the feel of colossal failure and miscalculation on the part of Ye Hua. I'm sad.
Also, the lying has to stop. Su Su is already insecure about things,
because he never tells her anything and a woman can't live on "trust me"
alone.
Damn straight she can't.
