#qihua

despite it's dark themes i genuinely adore how t97 managed to create an almost picturesque and mesmerizing imagery for the pairings in qjj. so here are my favourite parts of each one of them:

cezhou and the daylight meadows as well as the moonlit fresh snow

keeping the fox and wolf analogies aside, the characters were introduced individually with shen zechuan being the sneak and the one representing the once that hid in the darkness of the night or the one treading in fresh white snow (basically also his cold, vindictive nature). unlike xiao chiye who despite of being trapped- had been compared to the vast daylights and the sun beams that ran undeterred through terrains and meadows and one drank water from the rivers; and it's wonderful how the closer they got the more intermingled they were: with xiao chiye crying in shen zechuan's arms at night in the snow or shen zechuan travelling to meet xiao chiye near the riverbank with the daylight prominent. or when they both secretly treaded a path towards a watchtower just so they could wait from dusk till dawn and witness the first ray of sunshine before bidding adieu. the greens of the meadows and the fresh white snow, the daylight and the shine of the moon are such prominent themes with them and it's wonderful.

songyu and the green lush of the trees (& obviously the qin)

i think it's a popular opinion that their first meet was the best one in the novel. i would also argue that their image runs green in the back of my mind because 1. yao wenyu's green robes (i would say that's a courtesy of fanarts but oh well) 2. healing in the midst of nature. it has been mentioned that the place where the characters stayed at in zhongbo had a pond as well as decent lush of the trees. not to forget songyu's first meeting that had qiao tianya cross some greens before catching yao wenyu playing his qin. hence: i always interpret the presence of the same as the constant cycle of growth and wilting that takes place around them evident in the condition that yao wenyu is suffering through (in the latter part of the novel) as though even if the pain of the inevitable never leaves, their remaining moments would be theirs to hold and that they would stay. their beginning from the first strum of the qin to learning it to the penultimate moment of qiao tianya breaking it- from the constant tension to the ultimate loosening of the string- evident in what was found to be destined to have lost. regardless, he ventures on a spring date alone, fulfilling his promise as if the blossoms were the remanants he could finally hold, a promise he wanted to be fulfilled (it's the fucking trees y'all).

qihua and their adaptive rhythm, dust and oily snacks

despite of the fact that they didn't really get as much time as in the novel, I'd say their imagery was rather moreover shifting/ transitioning. from marriage wagons as their first meet to witnessing hua xiangyi punishing qi shiyu's annoying concubines, things were rather oddly doomed yet had a hilarious ridiculousness with them. that is until hua xiangyi penned those accounts as a way to aid qi zhuyin, from spending nights with hereby conversations to gradual build in trust and companionship. what really stuck with me was their adaptive nature regardless of their surroundings- whether a political marriage or downfallen financial records or the sickeningly sad news of the death of the empress dowager- hua hewei. spending a day in sweltering heat of the market snacking on oily food or making red mush to apply on the other's lips- maybe the same mush that left a print while eating the snack. they could spend a hearty walk among the crowd and yet sit under the lamp as qi zhuyin could lean on hua xiangyi's advice just a bit so that she could pick her sides. a trustworthy ally, a friend and an evergrowing lover. perhaps, to adapt is how i see them in my image because that's what they had been doing since the moment they were born, with an innate, socially accepted expectation to adapt without complains except this time, they did it for each other and with each other and i'd say- it worked out beautifully.

au where hua xiangyi has tiktok and tries the “im so hungry i could eat xx” trend (I've watched like 30 and they all make me laugh sjdjsjjs)

Chrysanthemums and lilies. Qi Zhuyin has half a mind to start questioning soldiers because where the hell did someone find all this? Whoever left this for Third Lady Hua must’ve sacrificed quite the amount for it. It’s a petty feeling, but Qi Zhuyin feels rather—put out, that she herself hadn’t thought of such a thing. Not that Hua Xiangyi needs such a thing.

Author: orchidwine

Fandom: Qiang Jin Jiu

Ship: Hua Xiangyi/Qi Zhuyin

Rating: E

Summary:

Wearing your heart on your sleeve is akin to opening the city gates to your enemies. This harsh truth is even truer for women in noble clans, and most especially to those close to the Empress Dowager. Hua Xiangyi has always kept her aunt’s words in mind, and that is why she’s Qudu’s most beloved Third Missy Hua. No one really knows her aside from the image she portrays to the public. Yet, in the presence of Qi Zhuyin, she has willingly allowed herself to be read like a book. (Or: What really happened in that tent on Chapter 245)

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