Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花 - Episode 12 (Recap)

kakashi: The changes are subtle and you have to look closely to see them but oh boy, Crown Prince Ye Hua's life has been turned upside down. We spend most of this episode up in the Nine Heavens though, with pleasant and less pleasant deities. Fengjiu still tries to get clo... I mean "repay her debt" to Dijun, but it is much more difficult than she imagined.
JoAnne: Thankfully, she manages to be cute as a button without being irritatingly coy and only slightly babyish.

Episode 12

The thieving Taoist priest has grabbed Bai Qian's fan and ventures to prove that it's his, by knowing all about it. He is even threatening to turn her over to the authorities for stealing!! I am happy to see that Ghost Princess Yan Zhi has stepped closer ... and bam, she grabs the greedy man's arm. That fan, she says, belongs to an old friend of hers. First chance the fan gets, swoop, back to Bai Qian.
Which actually wasn't what she meant to have happen, at least not that way. Did you see her little look of surprise?

When Yan Zhi shows the crowd what that Purity Fan can do - summon the wind and rain - the crowd is completely on their side. Haha, the Taoist priest even gets hit by lightning, then scrams. Friendly Yan  Zhi advises Bai Qian to hide the Fan better, else it could attract trouble.
It's funny, because she doesn't strike me as particularly friendly, or traditionally 'nice.' Instead, I see her as someone for whom right and wrong matters, and whose decisions are factual, perhaps even impartial at times. 

When Bai Qian taps her nose with the fan, Ghost Princess is painfully reminded of Si Yin, who used to do the same. Awwww. Realizing how much the artifact means to the Princess, Bai Qian gives it to her as a gift. Because the Princess insists, she asks her to do something for her, but we don't get to see what it is. What we do get to see is the Lion Beast, who watches it all from behind some baskets. He is excited to see the Princess there, but decides to stay hidden for the time being. 
I think Si Yin is her soft spot.

Back in her hut, Bai Qian takes the snake out of the basket. She is a bit sad that it has been sleeping all the time and even fears it might have gone into hibernation already. Naturally, she takes the snake to bed with her. OMG. She is cuddling with the Dragon Prince!!! 
To her, he's a snake. That's just weird. Why not the kitten, or the bird?

Ye Hua is still in heaven, getting his wound redressed by a physician. The doctor notices that the wound wasn't caused by Crimson Hellfire at all, but by yellowseed! Ye Hua quickly lies that he accidentally touched it (hey! he knows how to lie!) and dismisses the doctor. His 3rd Uncle is in the room, smirking. He always does, doesn't he.
Ye Hua's tiny little facial expressions are quite funny to me.

He is eager to get his nephew's reaction about Su Jin's upcoming marriage, but Ye Hua still doesn't care and likely will never care. Okay, on to official court business then (Uncle Three had to stand in for Ye Hua while he was gone, haha, he hated it). It's about the troublesome Mermaid Clan (with previous connections to Qing Cang) - Ye Hua will have to personally lead an army to quell the disorder. Of course, he will. If necessary, he will start a war, he says. Other juicy information: Li Yuan's (that's the banished Ghost Prince) mother was from the Mermaid Clan.
I'm kind of hoping we get to see this universe's idea of a mermaid. What's their spirit animal? A giant carp?

It is hard to notice, but Crown Prince is slightly absentminded while his uncle is still talking about the Mermen and how to best go about it. Kiss-flashback. This is good.

That little snake's outrage still makes me laugh pretty hard. It's the horns, it's too cute.

Then, Uncle Three gladly starts talking about personal business. Actually, Ye Hua's business. Is there a slight trace of concern in Ye Hua's face? But no, Uncle Three only wants to talk about the engagement. It seems Heavenly Father is in a rush to turn it into marriage. Ye Hua is annoyed about that, if only so slightly, and maybe a bit anxious. He excuses himself abruptly and seeks out Star Lord Si Ming.
He's a major geek, isn't he? He strikes me as a boy on the cusp of puberty, one for whom girls are pretty much objects of confusion because up until yesterday, they still had cooties.

Which leaves us with Uncle Three and a new character: It is Ye Hua's cousin Zhi Yue. She is spoilt and annoying. Whose child is she? Doesn't matter. She is in love with Dijun. Uncle Three tells her to snap out of it. She can be in love with anybody, but not Dijun. He is as cold as ice and as unmoving as a rock. He may in fact have very well jumped out of a rock, says Uncle Three: his origins are unknown. The annoying cousin doesn't care one bit and I don't care one bit for her. Bye.
See ya. Wouldn't wanna be ya.

In the meantime, Ye Hua has interrogated Si Ming about all things Jade Purity Fan (which, by the way, cannot be easily located on earth, just like the deities). His comment about the story that Si Yin and Mo Yuan faked their deaths to be together: "How could there be something so absurd?". Si Ming admits that was Dijun's idea. If the Jade Purity Fan used to be Si Yin's artifact, what is it doing in the mortal realm?, the Crown Prince asks. He could have dropped it during the battle, Si Ming suggests and they seem to settle for that explanation. He also asks whether there is something "questionable" about that mortal, but Ye Hua quickly sends him away.
To me the obvious next question would have been that if those two disappeared and now the fan is in the mortal realm, did they disappear to the mortal realm? Sidenote: really loving that we get to hear Si Ming a lot.

Down in the mortal realm, Bai Qian has gotten a new quilt for the cold season! It's very red (and too bright, the Crown Prince thinks). The snake has been asleep for eight days when it suddenly wakes up. She is so happy! He notices the lack of the Purity Fan, but it's bedtime, so she starts to take off her (she thinks too plain, he thinks plain but elegant) clothes. He screams at her to stop, she is an unmarried woman, but you ain't seen nothing yet, dear Prince. Hugging him close like she has been all this time, she settles to sleep.
Where is she getting all this stuff? How is she getting all this stuff? Oh, I know, she sold some fruit. Okay. Whatever.
Actually, she said she got this from a friendly lady. 

And oh boy, does he like it. He transforms. And stays in bed with her, under a quilt that looks very much like a wedding quilt. He looks blissfully happy.
He looks awkwardly thrilled, haha. But what I wonder is, is he really still in snake form? When we see him like this is this a representation of how he feels, or how he is? Because the next scene just shows her sleeping with the snake.

Bai Fengjiu searches the Fox Den for something distinguished belonging to her aunt, something that would make others (she means Dijun) respect her by association. There is nothing at all there though. No matter, back to the Heavens she must go! She hands Mi Gu the scroll with the spell and disappears, telling him the official story is she is "going travelling" for a few years. Thanks to the scroll, Zhe Yan realizes why Bai Qian has gone missing. Finally! And now go search for her!!!
That actually didn't take very long, you clever little foxes. Mi Gu is so adorable, too. Isn't he?

Her mother is devastated (blaming herself for everything; why did she send her daughter to Kunlun Mountain!). She had recently divined she would have her next ascension trial soon (to "God"). She was certain there wouldn't be any issues this time, but now? She wasn't ready as high immortal to take on Qing Cang! Ah, but luckily, she gave her daughter half of her essence not too long ago, the men remind her. That means she couldn't have died. Plus, there wasn't any celestial sign of her death either (that happens with the ancestors of ancient gods). It means she's alive!
Quick! Go find her! Wait, don't. We need this in order for her and Ye Hua to fall in love.

Up in the Heavens, Fengjiu is stuck outside Dijun's palace. But then comes along a Goddess (disguised as a man... careful there, little fox, do not tell just anyone that your aunt likes to dress up as a man too!), who seems mischievous, full of confidence and fun. She wants to help! Her name is Cheng Yu. We later learn that she used to be a mortal (before she ascended through cultivation) and used to be in love with 3rd Uncle Lian Song. She knows the only suitable (but slightly humiliating) way for her to get into Taichen Palace is to pose as a maid!
What could possibly go wrong with that idea?

Si Ming spots her immediately when she wants to enter with a new flock. He warns her to be careful, Dijun is very disagreeable and will kick her out if she's found out! She doesn't care much though, haha. She does get a bit scared later when the maids tell her that those who break the rules are "thrown to the lower realm". In fact, there seem to be a long list of women who attempt to catch Dijun's eye, posing as maids. Haha.

So that friendly advice might actually have been a little mean-spirited...

Foxy Princess is pretty clueless about being a maid, of course. She gets told to do the chores ... she isn't to bring tea or anything else to the God. In short, she is not to see him. The stupid cousin from earlier is also always lingering there, making sure no pretty maids get near Dijun. Bleh. Apparently, she is slightly higher in rank than Fengjiu. It's probably the only reasons why our fox hasn't bitten her nose off yet. 
Do it anyway, Fengjiu. She's irritating.

The poor thing is so tired after all the hard work, haha. But not even a glimpse of Dijun!

When the Goddess comes to check for her, Fengjiu is much impressed that Cheng Yu used to be 3rd Prince's lover - with emphasis on "used to be". In the fox tribe, they choose their mates for life. The goddess says she cannot wait to meet the world's number one beauty (that is Bai Qian) and Fengjiu is very happy about hearing her say that. *dies of cute*
I can't imagine anyone else pulling off that wiggle. Maybe Er Xi from Love O2O? Anyway, Fengjiu is the cutest thing. You have to love her!

Comments

Not enough Crown Prince! But OMG, did you see his smiles?! Of course, him being with a mortal and obviously falling in love is going to be a huge problem later, but let's forget about this for the moment. This is going to be SO CUTE.
I wasn't expecting that, but I welcome it!

Also cute: Fengjiu. No wonder that crossdressing goddess immediately took a liking to her. On top of that, I get the feeling she likes to create a bit of excitement in that boring place. Still waiting to see Dijun shaken.
It's a toss up which prospect interests me more: Ye Hua or Dijun, fools for love.