Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms 三生三世十里桃花 - Episode 31 (Recap)

kakashi: Ye Hua seeks confirmation that Bai Qian is indeed his Su Su - and when he has it, he begins to make sure she can never escape him again.
JoAnne: Which is way less creepy than it sounds.

Episode 31

Ye Hua goes straight to Zhe Yan. After putting A-Li to bed right there in the Peach Blossom hut, he thanks the High God for saving his life. That surprises Zhe Yan a little, because the Crown Prince clearly did not want to live back then. But it seems has he found something worth living for now? Ye Hua does not answer, but he quite clearly has, hasn't he.
You bet your sweet bippy, he has!

Zhe Yan invites the somber young man to have some wine with him (Ye Hua is soooo cuuuuute when he drinks all politely) and then asks what he is here for. "Bai Qian of Qing Qiu", says Ye Hua, quick like a shot. And he has three questions related to his betrothed, who seems to interest him greatly all of a sudden: 1) why is Bai Qian so averse to bright lights? 2) Is it really true that Bai Qian was severely injured and slept for 300 years after her battle with Qing Can? and 3) has she once forgotten something? Zhe Yan lies smoothly, about the eye birth-defect, about the 300 years recuperation and therefore, naturally, many things she has no idea about.
I was hoping he'd spill the beans.

Ye Hua is almost thrown off by this, but there is that scar! It cannot lie. Meanwhile, Zhe Yan thinks to himself that this man seems to know things and is probably the one Bai Qian was trying to forget. Ah, fate. Until then I totally didn't realize Zhe Yan didn't know everything. Zhe Yan then asks Ye Hua about why he is always wearing black and gets to hear that story we already know: that he wears black so that both his enemies and his loved ones cannot see his wounds. He smiles so, so sweetly while he tells this story. Like he is very proud of being so smart about this. 
Who cares, he's smiling!

Hearing all this, Zhe Yan is reminded of his brother Mo Yuan again - and he says he has often thought that Ye Hua actually is Mo Yuan. But he is not, says Ye Hua calmly. They drink some more and I get the feeling that a) these two men like each other and b) Zhe Yan misses Mo Yuan an awful lot.
I do, too. I like the clean face, I do...but I also liked the scruff and I miss it. Plus Mo Yuan is different than Ye Hua.

Fate wants it that Bai Qian, on her way to her brother's palace, falls into a hole in the ground in her fox guise and into a cave, basically into Li Jing's lap. He is having some sexy times with a woman there, but when he sees Bai Qian, he freaks out. His A-Yin! A-Yin is finally back! Only, well ... she hasn't exactly been waiting to see him for 70'300 years. That protective anti-ex-boyfriend barrier is hilarious.
It seemed so reflexive, too! Poor Li Jing. You screwed up, buddy, and you are never going to get past that with her.

I am not a hundred percent sure what this meeting does to her, to be honest ... is he still affecting her? In any case, she is quite convincing when she tells him she has long since cut all ties to him and worse, doesn't even care about what he did back then. "There is no love, so naturally there is no blame", she says. He learns of her true identity and that she is of the Fox Tribe (does that mean they could have married?), right before she goes "poof" and disappears without a trace. Come on, you handsome fool. Get over her, it's time.
It seemed like brave talk, to me, but that she actually is still hurt. I don't think she's affected to the point that he could win her back, but I do think she mourns what they might have had.

Ye Hua still has some doubt left. But he has something of Bai Qian's now - the handkerchief! He wants to make a trip to the Heavens to check something (he is allowing Miao Qing to become a maid in his palace along the way, duh), but first drops of A-Li in Qing Qiu. Haha, I love how he has decided Mi Gu should be the little one's nanny. I also love the bit where A-Li says he finds it quite mind-boggling how much older his mother is than his father. And: "Father must be quite regretful that you did not get to be with Mother when you were a child". Awwwwwww.
Um, why would he want to be with her when he was a child? He isn't looking for a mom, kiddo.

Once up in the Heavens, the Crown Prince ignites the Soul Gathering Lamp and burns Bai Qian's handkerchief. The smoke turns green - exactly the same color like when he burnt Su Su's belongings (it looked blue back then, but details!). It is her, there is no doubt anymore! Even if fundamental questions remain: why did she not have an immortal aura when she was on Mount Junji? And why has she forgotten about Ye Hua?
Also, how does he know that only one person in the world would burn green? I mean come on, let's be real.

He tells his 3rd Uncle about Su Su's true identity (it's to be kept a secret for the moment) and our dearest uncle is as amazed as he should be. And of course, the irony of all this doesn't escape him! It was Ye Hua's betrothed all along! All that suffering - for nothing!
Yeah, let's not point that out too often, k?

Ye Hua hopes that Dijun could tell him more about what happened 300 years ago with that Bell and Bai Qian (we know he doesn't know either), but Dijun is already playing mortal somewhere and Si Meng knows nothing of consequence either. It's a dead end.

Bai Qian on the other hand has arrived at her brother's palace, but he isn't home - he is chasing Bi Fang, the phoenix. A fox boy named Yun Sheng welcomes Bai Qian (not sure what he is, a servant of 4th bro? In any case, he's a total Ye Hua fanboy), who notices he is acting strangely. Well, the reason is that 2nd Brother Bai Yi is inside - in a very foul mood. Fact is, he is hugely pissed off about his daughter Fengjiu and the shameful behavior over Dong Hua Dijun. As a parent, I totally get where he's coming from. He doesn't know the half of it though and neither does Bai Qian - she actually thinks Fengjiu is still at the Fox Den. 
I used to tell my daughter when she was little, whatever you do, don't be one of those boy-crazy girls. Now I laugh to think of it - but yes, I get how her dad feels. You don't want your child hurt, you don't want your child to look like a fool or do something regretful. And you do feel like it reflects on you, even when the child is grown enough to make decisions for themselves.

Back to the Fox Den Bai Qian jumps first chance she gets - where she finds A-Li. Imagine her surprise when the kiddo informs her that they will move in with her, since she lied about coming to the Palace with them and would have trouble adapting to it anyway. Oh my gawd. Ye Hua has it all worked out :D The little one says: "As long as mother is present, I can live anywhere". I'd say: resistance is futile.
Such a little doll!

She is quiiiiite disturbed at the prospect of Ye Hua coming to live here (and maybe a tiny bit lusty?) but Mi Gu knows this is totally normal for the Celestials. When the current Heavenly Lord was only Crown Prince himself, his father arranged for him to marry his cousin. HL was very displeased but was forced by his father to go live in his aunt's residence, to help love blossom. And it worked! Oh my gaaaawd.
Mi Gu, you smart boy. Why is there no one for your cutie-pie self? Can't we find a sweet little shrub spirit for you or something?

The funniest part about that sequence is that Bai Qian thinks Ye Hua has come to give her a hard time. Because she broke up that relationship with the Princess! Ahahahahaaaaaaaaa, you're so clueless, Bai Qian. I love you so much. When she hears that Ye Hua isn't here right now, she even thinks of hiding! But the little one is hungry. Nobody has gone shopping and no, Fengjiu isn't here anymore (Bai Qian worries a tiny little bit about this after - since she promised her brother to keep a good eye on her niece). So Bai Qian takes A-Li to the Mushroom Market.
It's next door to the Banana Bodega.

In the mortal realm, things are not going well for Fengjiu. The Emperor won't see her and the other court ladies do everything they can to make sure it stays that way. They have a Taoist priest judge the mark on her forehead and of course, he deems it demonic. Hm, is this his trial or hers?! All she wants is to sleep with this dude, just goddamn let her.
Seriously. It better be some pretty damn epic sex after all this effort, or I'm going to feel really sorry for her.

Fengjiu then decides to enter mortal Dijun's dreams to see what he really desires. I'm SO BORED. His dream is "to be loved by one true heart". Wow, even his dreams are boring.
He's boring with dark hair.

We are saved by a cut to the Mushroom Market and everybody happily gossiping about that child that calls their ruler "mother" and being generally surprised Bai Qian is here and not Fengjiu (who did all the shopping and cooking in the last 300 years, it seems). All of a sudden, Ye Hua is back and I may have squeed a little, because this is my absolute favorite outfit on him.

He's just so damn sexy. How is it possible to be so sexy?

Oh, look! She's happy to see him too. She says "we're eating loquats for lunch today" and he is quite displeased with this. A-Li is growing! He needs something real! He grabs her hand and collects a chicken and fish ... all the while holding her hand and giving the people in the market even more to gossip about.
Little shopping family, so cute! I expected him to bust out with a critique of 'rabbit food'!

When they're back in the Fox Den, the big question is who will cook. Mi Gu, the poor tree spirit, expresses his great fear of fire (of course, he cannot cook! Bai Qian: "There's a first time for everything") and indeed, as soon as he tries (note how Bai Qian and Ye Hua are chatting amiably about how nobody is using magic in the Fox Realm), we hear a shout of pain and alarm from the direction of the kitchen. Oh dear.
Sigh. How could you make a TREE SPIRIT work with fire? Stop being all lusty-eyed and go make some food!

Comments

I love everything about this set-up - everything. Bai Qian's discomfort (but signs of already being quite smitten with this young, handsome fellow who is so obviously into her), A-Li's sweetness, Ye Hua's slyness. He may have been bad at planning before, okay "bad" doesn't even describe what he was!, but now? This is excellent, through and through. His son gets to know his mother and he gets to find out why she does not remember him. And he is near her. Imagine how warm and fuzzy inside he must be feeling. He has found his Su Su! And he will get to marry her!!!!  
I'm feeling his warm and fuzzy in my own heart!