#tgcf draft vs. final

[mxtxfanatic]

Chapt. 16 goes from when the ox cart finally pulls into the village to when San-lang leaves mysteriously after Xie Lian hangs up the charmed door curtain. This content covers to the end of Chapt. 6 in the 7seas edition. More details under the cut:

Major changes:

The biggest change in Chapt. 16 comes from everything after Xie Lian decides on drawing his own divine image. The part where San-lang says that Jun Wu must hate this god is still present, but the conversation is actually extended, now, and gives way to a slumber party-esque night where they stay up for a long time chatting while Xie Lian gives him a rundown on the details of what went into the make of a Yueshen costume. The visit from the villagers also goes a bit different, with some changed and added interactions. The most important thing, however, is that Xie Lian and San-lang seem to be engaged in a game of fucking with each other, where Xie Lian continuously tries new ways to reveal San-lang as non-human, and San-lang counters by teasing the possibility while circumventing his plans, unlike in the draft where Xie Lian gives up this plan after checking his hair.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian wakes up and sends off the old man and his ox before discussing with San-lang where the youth would stay, rather than in the draft where he only remembers after almost leaving.

Xie Lian is now said to repeatedly ask to help carry the junk bag back, only to be ignored by San-lang.

San-lang now say that the place he lived in “before” wasn’t a good place as explanation for why he’s fine with Puqi Temple after the two arrive.

The sentence listing furniture that Puqi Temple already had—sans the table—is gone. The candle that he lights is now said to be gifted by one of the villagers rather than by a stranger as he collected scraps.

Rather than playing with the tube of bamboo sticks, San-lang now plays with the candle flame.

Xie Lian doesn’t sweep the temple before laying out the mat.

Xie Lian doesn’t shy away from revealing his second curse shackle to San-lang, and San-lang also now explicitly changes the subject because, according to him, it must not be something Xie Lian wants to talk about. This leads into one of the aforementioned changes above.

San-lang no longer says that they’d discussed The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods in the cart ride, nor does he offer to draw the image for Xie Lian, himself.

Lian still asks for his opinion, but rather than the narrative saying that Xie Lian can’t tell when San-lang is being genuine or fake, now it says that the youth may be scathing in his assessments but he’s always fair and gives credit where it’s due.

Xie Lian is now both awed and suspicious of the San-lang’s painting of his divine image because there are details in it that he didn’t mention to San-lang but were still included. The coral earrings are mentioned.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: Garment Redder than Maple, Skin As White As Snow

Back at it again with a new arc! Starting from Chapt. 12, we start at Xie Lian back in the heavens and end on the heavenly officials' stumped dialogue about why Hua Cheng would come help Xie Lian. In the 7seas edition, this is all content from Vol. 1, Chapt. 5: Red-Clad Ghost, the Burning of the Martial and Civil Temples, ending on the very first page of Chapt. 6, which shares the same title as this section in the revisions.

Major changes:

Rather than the section starting with a conversation with Ling Wen, it starts with how the fear of another Human Face Disease breakout was a "false alarm," wasting the time and efforts of the Middle Court which dispatched half of its gods to investigate, and Xie Lian immediately joins the communications array upon returning to the heavens.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian says that his reascension has been more tiring than when he was collecting trash.

Feng Xin no longer mentions sealing Xuan Ji. He just says that General Pei needs to come deal with her.

Qi Rong is still not named. He is only "The Green Ghost."

The questions that were previously posed by Xie Lian—what about the corpse forest and was the green ghost present—are now discussed without him asking. Mu Qing brings up the presence of the forest, and Ling Wen (rather than Feng Xin) responds that the Green Ghost wasn't present. Xie Lian speaks up to ask if Xuan Ji was the Green Ghost's underling.

When Xie Lian speaks in the communications array, it does not get quiet or awkward.

Xiao Pei doesn't chime in to defend General Pei. All explanation-heavy responses come from Ling Wen.

When Xie Lian asks about the child spirit, Mu Qing doesn't chime in and play dumb. Ling Wen, once again, responds and say they found no traces of it.

Xie Lian says out loud that he only knows of the "four great tales" rather than just thinking it, and when he asks what the "four great calamities" are, Mu Qing no longer chimes in with a snide comment. This means that Xie Lian's response about how difficult it is to be a mortal is gone.

Ling Wen's explanation of who the Green Ghost is now stops after she says that he's the only "calamity" not in isolation and is also not a calamity. Xie Lian then asks if he just emerged to be annoying rather than this being a part of Ling Wen's explanation.

Ling Wen now explicitly states that Jun Wu is the one who destroyed White No-Face.

There is an added sentence during the explanation of Hua Cheng burning down the temples and shrines of the 33 heavenly officials that Jun Wu "doesn't like conflict" and prefers to focus on maintaining the balance between the three realms, which is why he did not help them.

[vinelark]

fic writer meme

thank you [checks notes] @megafaunatic, @cairoscene, @englishsub, @yuebings, and @cafecliche for the tags ilu

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 15! which is solidly 14 more than i ever expected to have on there when i made the account

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 277,844

3. What fandoms do you write for? on ao3: mdzs/cql, tgcf, shl, and dc. in groupchats/dms/my own head i’m running wild all over the place

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? 🐉 this river runs to you 💍 i’ll have you and you’ll have me 🪐 i will be chasing a starlight ⚔️ you’re the trouble that i always find 🌊 a wave crashes to shore

5. Do you respond to comments? not often; i have made multiple attempts to start replying regularly but all have eventually failed in the face of me desperately wanting to show my earnest and genuine appreciation for each comment vs. wanting to hide my blushing face under a pillow every time. also, because of who i am as a person, each time i sat down to do it i ended up spending hours making little progress and eventually decided that i will make an effort to spend those hours writing or commenting on other fics instead. i am honored by each and every one though!!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? while i tend to write angst it is always firmly of the “with a happy ending” sort. the one exception is my shortest fic (originally posted on twitter) never been away so long, which is more of an ambiguous/open ending with implied angst. i dooooo outline the eventual happy ending in the endnotes, though. also as it CURRENTLY stands buy back the secrets ends on one hell of an angsty note, but there are two more chapters in the works to fix that.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? despite the wangxian star trek au having like 20k of deliriously happy post-misunderstanding sex, i think trrty has to have the happiest ending because not only does the fic end happily, but there are also multiple very happy codas in which wwx gets a good night’s sleep, finally gets to bang his dragon boyfriend, and, my personal fav, one by aubreyli where wangxian go flying in a thunderstorm.

8. Do you get hate on fics? not so far, for which i am grateful but mostly lucky.

9. Do you write smut? occasionally; on ao3 there’s the aforementioned trrty coda, plus the aforementioned cowritten wangxian pon farr sequence 💪

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written? hmm, i’m not opposed to crossovers—i’ve read some really fun ones (recent fav crossover read here)—but i’d have to be really compelled by both source materials and have a very clear vision for how they interact to want to write one myself. i’ve written a few fandom fusions (aforementioned wangxian star trek au; i also started a wangxian dragon age au but again, no dragon age characters were going to show up, just the world/setting) but no full-on crossovers. i did have one partially drafted wangxian fic that was going to have a hua cheng deus ex machina, alas.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i’m aware of! it’s not something i really go looking for/concern myself with, but so far, like with fandom hate, i’m grateful to not have encountered it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes! my wangxian wedding fic was translated to russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? i co-wrote seventy thousand words of published fic with @feyburner! and probably two hundred thousand words of unpublished fic and outlines and story ideas just for fun. even when we aren’t co-writing we tend to talk through our individual fics with each other so we’re pretty in sync when it comes to writing. i also spent like a year in @cairoscene’s DMs concocting whole outlines/zerodrafts for batfam fics together that i still cherish and reread (notable favs: tim drake ella enchanted au, concept where the waynes are cursed to suddenly feel nothing but apathy about tim and he has to deal with that, story where robin!tim gets de-aged and oops red hood is the first one to show up…). i’d say the OCBFEU is fic-adjacent and cowritten by a group of us. also shoutout to the mdzs threadfic @cafecliche and i brainstormed/zerodrafted where lan qiren gets cursed into an owl and post-cql wei wuxian is the one who unknowingly saves him.

14. What's your all time favorite ship? oh yeah it’s [loud truck goes by]

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? cyborg!wwx…i still think of you fondly. the only ao3 fic i’ve ever posted knowing i probably wouldn’t finish it but wanted to share just for fun.

16. What are your writing strengths? pangs… mining little character details for humor (or, more often, for more pangs)… i also think i’ve really improved my action writing/pacing over the last few years.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? i write actual drafts/prose fairly slowly, which can be frustrating for me. also like @yuebings i often get very caught up in trying to perfect one small part of a draft before moving on. ummmm describing outfits/settings for reasons other than immediate plot-relevant details, i’m terrible at that + remembering to do it—i literally make myself do a What Are We Looking At Here Pass while revising sometimes.

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics? i’m not totally sure what this question is asking tbh, but it’s something i think can be done incredibly well—and, like with many things in storytelling, it’s the sort of thing where if you don’t actually speak the second language you need to be willing to put in work beyond a cursory google to try to achieve what you’re doing, and be willing to admit if it’s beyond your capabilities. i really like how the portuguese dialogue in bbts ended up and that’s 100% because @tigerjpg translated it for me and also already understood the scene/concept/characters; without them i would have found a different way to approach that scene. also, stylistically, i personally like when dialogue in other languages isn’t italicized unless there’s a real reason for it to be.

19. First fandom you wrote for? oh it was [a second loud truck whooshes by]

20. Favorite fic you have written? right now it’s bbts, because i think it’s also the fic i’ve had the most fun writing. trrty, though, will always hold a special place in my heart.

and i tag! @tlumeti, @burins, @smilebackwards, @bonesbuckleup, @hearteyeshayley, @sonosvegliato

[mxtxfanatic]

TGCF Draft vs. Final: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan

First off, ignore that "chapter change," it is the same chapter title in Mandarin as the 7seas release's "The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan." I'm just personally working through the why's of how I'm getting a different translation of this and haven't yet changed it. The chapter title for 7seas' chapt. 2 is completely gone; it skips from "the third ascension" to "the ghost takes a bride..." This newly categorized segment of chapters in the final version covers content in chapters 1-3 of the 7seas release, the first chapter starting from the "three days later" and ending on the Xianle trio finding the little shrine to the Earth God/local god.

Major changes:

The only major change in this chapter is the scene where the Xianle trio come across the small shrine. In the draft version, the trio find the shrine to ask the local god for directions. The god comes out, is cowed by the brilliance of "Fu Yao" and "Nan Feng," directs them to the nearest big shrine, and disappears. In the final version, they only coincidentally stumble across the broken-down shrine, and the local god never appears. Instead, Xie Lian digs out a steamed bun from his robes to give as an offering, prays to the god for protection, and when asked by Fu Yao why he's "wasting his time" praying to a god that seems to have been long-abandoned, Xie Lian says,

“话不能这么说，对我来说是一个馒头的事，但是对人家而言可能很重要呢……诶诶诶，干嘛拉我。” "To me, it’s one steamed bun’s affair, but as far as everyone else is concerned, maybe it is very important…"

He is summarily dragged away by the other two with Fu Yao admonishing him about how it's "not important" and how Xie Lian should worry about his own lack of worshipers before praying to others.

Minor changes:

The tea master doesn't look at the bridal procession as it passes.

Xie Lian says "hello" to the silver butterfly.

When Nan Feng and Fu Yao introduce themselves, Xie Lian tells them he wasn't asking for their names instead of just thinking it.

Fu Yao is no longer obsessively wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, though he still ignores the tea Xie Lian pours for him. Also, it's stated that Xie Lian is the one who poured them tea, rather than tea just appearing in front of them, and Nan Feng thanks him, politely, for it.

The paragraph about how intelligent the two are is replaced with Xie Lian analyzing their characters, saying that Nan Feng is more cooperative than Fu Yao despite Nan Feng having the more explosive temper while Fu Yao appears "refined."

The part about Xie Lian going towards the forest to camp is deleted. He suggests they find somewhere to stay, and they just start walking on the road until the reach the tiny shrine.

Small note that I may revisit when I've read deeper into the revisions, but all mentions of what Ling Wen's palace does is gone. We don't get an explanation of her role, Xie Lian doesn't say he got the scroll from her (even though he does), the efficiency of her palace's work is omitted, etc. I don't know why this change was made, but yeah, as of now there's no explanation of what, exactly, Ling Wen does in the heavens.

[mxtxfanatic]

Alright, so I have good news and bad news: the bad news is that I’m gonna be pausing the comparison posts for a bit, possibly a week if not longer to work on a Hua Cheng bday thing. The good news is that the ghost bridegroom arc edits have a twist that I absolutely think y’all should actually read, so I’m thinking about putting it up for y’all!

[mxtxfanatic]

TGCF Draft vs. Final: Chapts. 1-2

The only difference in Chapter 1 is that the story of Xie Lian's first banishment is completely changed. It erases the events of the Xianle civil war from Xie Lian's mythology: the part where he's warned by Jun Wu that the gods are forbidden from meddling in the mortal realm, the fact that Xie Lian voluntarily descended to help his kingdom, or any mention of him being "unwilling" to accept his "punishment" of being banished. The final only says that he fell from heaven because his people, unwilling to believe that they could worship a god so and still suffer as they did, turned on him, and the subsequent lack of worship caused him to fall back to the mortal realm. There's also more emphasis on the fact that the other gods used to watch him for entertainment for years starting from the ill-fated parade until they got bored and simply tuned out. Any mention of his powers being sealed is erased.

Chapter 2 is where we really get into the plot and character changes.

Major Changes:

Mu Qing and Feng Xin are no longer generals. They are just ascended gods, with their "general titles" becoming their Daoist names.

玄真将军，乃是坐镇西南方的武神，坐拥七千宫观，在人间可谓是声名显赫。 General Xuan Zhen was the Martial God of the Southwest who possessed seven thousand temples; his name in the human world was considerably distinguished...

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 1: The Scrap Immortal, Third Time Entering the Heavenly Capital, 7seas

vs.

慕情乃是坐镇西南方的武神，法号“玄真”，坐拥数千宫观，香火繁盛。 Mu Qing, Daoist name “Xuanzhen,” was the martial god overseeing the southwestern region, seated embraced by a thousand temples, incense and prosperity.

—Chapt. 2: The Scrap Immortal Ascends to the Immortal Capital for the Third Time, me

In the above quote, mxtx also apparently decreased the amount of temples dedicated to Mu Qing, a fact I did not catch until I made this post 😭

Keeping up with the titles change: Ling Wen directly refers to Mu Qing and Feng Xin by name, and neither she nor the narration call them “zhenjun,” anymore. However, she, herself, is still referred to as “zhenjun” by the narration.

The gods of the middle court are not "deputy gods" but "god attendants" now.

在八百年前，曾是侍立在仙乐宫太子殿座下的一名副将。 Eight hundred years ago, he was a deputy general at the Xianle Palace of the Crown Prince.

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 1: The Scrap Immortal, Third Time Entering the Heavenly Capital, 7seas

vs.

而在八百年前，他曾是仙乐宫太子殿座下的一名侍神。 Yet 800 years prior, he once served under the crown prince’s temple of the Xianle Palace as a god attendant.

—Chapt. 2: The Scrap Immortal Ascends to the Immortal Capital for the Third Time, me

Mu Qing's aggression is reduced by a lot. He speaks less (thank god) and doesn't immediately come out attacking Xie Lian, instead, quietly informing him that his ascension destroyed a lot of stuff. However, you can still catch hints of Mu Qing's viper personality, such as still directly ensuring that nobody lends Xie Lian helpers for his mission. Also in the final edit, Xie Lian says that he couldn't recognize Mu Qing by his voice because the latter never used to speak to him "so gently" in the past. His sarcasm is yet unchanged.

The aggression taken from Mu Qing seems to have been directly applied to Ling Wen, who is lowkey meaner to Xie Lian. She's not offering him help or a way out of convos as often as she does in the draft version. It seems like she's really pissed about the work she has to do fixing up Xie Lian's destructive entrance lmao!

Minor changes:

Xie Lian offers to sweep the main street of the immortal capital to earn merits, and Ling Wen has to talk him down from it, a joke that seems to replace Xie Lian asking her if she would pay him the amount of merits owed if she kicks him down from the heavens.

Xie Lian doesn't enter into a "gambling channel" of the communication when he first joins. It's just dead silence. He also doesn't need the passcode to enter because Ling Wen gives him all of that info and directly tells him to enter to seek help about resolving his debt issue.

Small notes that aren't changes:

Xie Lian's "palace" is not the same as everyone else's "palaces." His palace is 宫/gōng which is a just a regular palace, but everyone else's palaces are called 殿/diàn, which are palaces of worship (though his "crown prince's palace" is 殿/diàn, just not "The Palace of Xianle"). If you see me refer to the other gods' abodes as "temple palaces," it's to stay true to that distinction. This isn't a revision change, it's just that both can be translated as "palace" in English so no other translation made the distinction.

[mxtxfanatic]

Mxtx removed that stupid ass defense where Mu Qing weakly claimed he kicked Hong’er out the military “for his own good,” despite his lack of care about the boy from jump:

风信惊了：“……我操了！你为什么要把他赶出军营？！他���罪你了？！” Feng Xin was astonished. “What the fuck...?! Why’d you do that? How’d he piss you off?!” 慕情满脸是血地道：“我只是让他回去，打仗又不是什么好事！我怎么知道他会疯成这样，记仇到现在！……” Mu Qing’s face was covered in blood. “I just made him go home— it’s not like it’s good to fight in a war! How could I have known he’d wind up being this crazy and holding grudges all this time—” 他没说完，又是狠狠一拳送上，“砰”的一声，几乎打歪了他的脸。花城微笑道：“你当初是为什么赶我走，当我猜不出来吗？嗯？” Hua Cheng cut him off with another punch, so forceful that Mu Qing’s face almost contorted when it landed. Bam! Hua Cheng smiled. “Did you think I couldn’t guess why you kicked me out? Hmm?” 慕情目光一闪。花城又嘻嘻地道：“事到如今，谁才是废物，很清楚了不是吗？” Mu Qing looked away, and Hua Cheng snickered. “I guess it’s clear which of us is actually useless trash, hm?” “...” 慕情仿佛被戳了痛脚，吐了一口血，一字一句地道：“幸好把你撵走了，不然留你在军中，让你慢慢靠近太子、整天盯着他脑子里不知想什么龌龊东西吗？那可太恶心了！” Mu Qing spat out a mouthful of blood and grimaced like he’d been stabbed where it hurt. He replied, spitefully slowly, “Thank goodness I kicked you out. If we’d kept you in the army and let you get closer to His Highness, were you going to watch him all day with your mind full of unspeakable filth? Disgusting!”

—Vol. 6, Chapt. 93: Cave of Ten Thousand Gods—Faces of the Ten Thousand Gods Revealed, 7seas

vs.

风信惊了：“你为什么要把他赶出军营？！他得罪你了？！” Feng Xin was stunned, “Why did you need to drive him out of the army?! Did he offend you?!” 慕情满脸是血地道：“你忘了国师怎么说他的？他是……” Mu Qing, face full of blood, said, “Did you forget what Guoshi said about him? He’s–” 他没说完，花城又是狠狠一拳送上，“砰”的一声，几乎打歪了他的脸。而慕情吐了一口血，一字一句地道：“幸好把你撵走了，不然留你在军中，让你慢慢靠近太子、整天盯着他脑子里不知想什么龌龊东西吗？那可太恶心了！” He hadn’t finished speaking before Hua Cheng ferociously delivered another fist with a “bam,” practically knocking his face askew. And yet, Mu Qing spat a mouthful of blood and said, word by word, “Fortunately I drove you out, otherwise, what, keep you in the army, allow you to slowly approach the crown prince, staring at him all day long and thinking who knows what filthy things in your head? That would be too sickening!”

—Chapt. 148: Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, Visage of Ten Thousand Gods Revealed (pt. 5), me

PRAISE GOD!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[mxtxfanatic]

Oh, since it’s definitely gonna take me a long (long) time to get through tgcf and I’ve been skipping around anyways, if y’all have specific scenes later in the novel that you want to know the status of, let me know!

[mxtxfanatic]

I know others have done mini tgcf draft vs. final edition comparisons, but I’m currently going through the final version rn for language practice and wanted to ask: would anyone want more in-depth notes on exactly what mxtx changed? Or is the stuff floating around already good enough?

[mxtxfanatic]

It’s not like 7seas is the only company that did it since tgcf is published the world round, but it just the misfortune of the fact that tgcf took 4 or so years for mxtx to edit rather than the mere months it took for the final versions of her other two novels to come out after their drafts were released. Companies were probably just looking to capitalize off the popularity of the book while it was still her shiny new story rather than waiting forever for the final draft and potentially missing the wave. (Doesn’t necessarily help that 7seas keeps finding ways to sell and resell the same tgcf in as many different ways as possible, but—) That’s why I’ve been doing the draft vs. final comparisons, cause it’s looking like we might not be getting an English translation (fan or official) for a while lol

@grandmaster-paradox Yeah, the version of tgcf that has been licensed and published all around the world has been the rough draft. The final draft only dropped in 2023, and as far as I know, the only official licensed publication of it has been the censored version in China (the uncensored version is up on jjwxc, though). The 7seas version (and all their different, fancy re-releases) are all still the draft.

[mxtxfanatic]

TGCF Draft vs. Final: Garment Redder than Maple, Skin As White As Snow

Back at it again with a new arc! Starting from Chapt. 12, we start at Xie Lian back in the heavens and end on the heavenly officials' stumped dialogue about why Hua Cheng would come help Xie Lian. In the 7seas edition, this is all content from Vol. 1, Chapt. 5: Red-Clad Ghost, the Burning of the Martial and Civil Temples, ending on the very first page of Chapt. 6, which shares the same title as this section in the revisions.

Major changes:

Rather than the section starting with a conversation with Ling Wen, it starts with how the fear of another Human Face Disease breakout was a "false alarm," wasting the time and efforts of the Middle Court which dispatched half of its gods to investigate, and Xie Lian immediately joins the communications array upon returning to the heavens.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian says that his reascension has been more tiring than when he was collecting trash.

Feng Xin no longer mentions sealing Xuan Ji. He just says that General Pei needs to come deal with her.

Qi Rong is still not named. He is only "The Green Ghost."

The questions that were previously posed by Xie Lian—what about the corpse forest and was the green ghost present—are now discussed without him asking. Mu Qing brings up the presence of the forest, and Ling Wen (rather than Feng Xin) responds that the Green Ghost wasn't present. Xie Lian speaks up to ask if Xuan Ji was the Green Ghost's underling.

When Xie Lian speaks in the communications array, it does not get quiet or awkward.

Xiao Pei doesn't chime in to defend General Pei. All explanation-heavy responses come from Ling Wen.

When Xie Lian asks about the child spirit, Mu Qing doesn't chime in and play dumb. Ling Wen, once again, responds and say they found no traces of it.

Xie Lian says out loud that he only knows of the "four great tales" rather than just thinking it, and when he asks what the "four great calamities" are, Mu Qing no longer chimes in with a snide comment. This means that Xie Lian's response about how difficult it is to be a mortal is gone.

Ling Wen's explanation of who the Green Ghost is now stops after she says that he's the only "calamity" not in isolation and is also not a calamity. Xie Lian then asks if he just emerged to be annoying rather than this being a part of Ling Wen's explanation.

Ling Wen now explicitly states that Jun Wu is the one who destroyed White No-Face.

There is an added sentence during the explanation of Hua Cheng burning down the temples and shrines of the 33 heavenly officials that Jun Wu "doesn't like conflict" and prefers to focus on maintaining the balance between the three realms, which is why he did not help them.

[mxtxfanatic]

There aren’t a lot of changes between chapters 14-15, so I’m combining these. Chapt. 14 goes from the moment Xie Lian asks the youth about how Hua Cheng came to be known as “Crimson Rain Sought Flower” to the moment the youth sees Xie Lian’s curse collar on his neck for the first time, and Chapt. 15 goes from there to Xie Lian calling the youth “San-lang” for the first time. Both chapters are fully covered in Chapt. 6 of the 7seas edition. More (though less than usual) under the cut:

Chapt. 14 minor changes:

Xie Lian doesn’t say the part about how they’ll “never return” if they take the wrong path when he realizes that it’s Zhongyuan.

Xie Lian doesn’t turn around after knocking the old cart driver out because he sensed a “strange movement” behind him. He turns around to check on San-lang.

Chapt. 15 minor changes

Xie Lian now bows to the surrounding crowd of ghosts when he apologizes for “provoking them.”

Rather than the random ghost asking who else but a cultivator could have killed the slain ghosts, Xie Lian offers up the idea that the one who killed them may not have been a cultivator at all.

Xie Lian asks if San-lang is willing to do the palm reading after San-lang asks him if he wants to, now. The part about Xie Lian being careful not to touch San-lang’s hand during the palm reading is gone.

Xie Lian’s speculation about San-lang being a ghost king and his motives for riding the ox cart with him are gone. In the paragraph in the draft, everything after “clear palm prints…” has been deleted.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: Garment Redder than Maple, Skin As White As Snow

Back at it again with a new arc! Starting from Chapt. 12, we start at Xie Lian back in the heavens and end on the heavenly officials' stumped dialogue about why Hua Cheng would come help Xie Lian. In the 7seas edition, this is all content from Vol. 1, Chapt. 5: Red-Clad Ghost, the Burning of the Martial and Civil Temples, ending on the very first page of Chapt. 6, which shares the same title as this section in the revisions.

Major changes:

Rather than the section starting with a conversation with Ling Wen, it starts with how the fear of another Human Face Disease breakout was a "false alarm," wasting the time and efforts of the Middle Court which dispatched half of its gods to investigate, and Xie Lian immediately joins the communications array upon returning to the heavens.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian says that his reascension has been more tiring than when he was collecting trash.

Feng Xin no longer mentions sealing Xuan Ji. He just says that General Pei needs to come deal with her.

Qi Rong is still not named. He is only "The Green Ghost."

The questions that were previously posed by Xie Lian—what about the corpse forest and was the green ghost present—are now discussed without him asking. Mu Qing brings up the presence of the forest, and Ling Wen (rather than Feng Xin) responds that the Green Ghost wasn't present. Xie Lian speaks up to ask if Xuan Ji was the Green Ghost's underling.

When Xie Lian speaks in the communications array, it does not get quiet or awkward.

Xiao Pei doesn't chime in to defend General Pei. All explanation-heavy responses come from Ling Wen.

When Xie Lian asks about the child spirit, Mu Qing doesn't chime in and play dumb. Ling Wen, once again, responds and say they found no traces of it.

Xie Lian says out loud that he only knows of the "four great tales" rather than just thinking it, and when he asks what the "four great calamities" are, Mu Qing no longer chimes in with a snide comment. This means that Xie Lian's response about how difficult it is to be a mortal is gone.

Ling Wen's explanation of who the Green Ghost is now stops after she says that he's the only "calamity" not in isolation and is also not a calamity. Xie Lian then asks if he just emerged to be annoying rather than this being a part of Ling Wen's explanation.

Ling Wen now explicitly states that Jun Wu is the one who destroyed White No-Face.

There is an added sentence during the explanation of Hua Cheng burning down the temples and shrines of the 33 heavenly officials that Jun Wu "doesn't like conflict" and prefers to focus on maintaining the balance between the three realms, which is why he did not help them.

[mxtxfanatic]

Chapt. 13 starts at the paragraph where Xie Lian says that he actually has a favorable impression of Hua Cheng and ends when the "mysterious youth" tells Xie Lian to ask what him anything he wants about "Hua Cheng." This section is entirely in Chapt. 6 of the 7seas edition, ending right at the very first picture in the chapter.

Major changes:

There aren't actually major changes in this chapter except for the part where Xie Lian is reading the mythology surrounding himself. The changes are small on the surface, but have many plot-relevant foreshadowings hinted at. For instance:

There is an added line about how favored Xie Lian was by Jun Wu. Because of this, one of Xie Lian's monikers at the height of his popularity was "Xiao Jun Wu."

Xie Lian is the second youngest god to have ascended, second only to Jun Wu (or his made-up backstory), himself.

It is explicitly stated that Xie Lian's third ascension is due to the merits he gained from collecting scraps.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian doesn't clear his debt at this time.

The part about how other heavenly officials would sometimes randomly drop bits of advice or comments into the communications array is gone so that only Xie Lian does this. He also does this because he feels guilty about the debt, now, rather than just to get closer to the other gods.

Ling Wen doesn't tell Xie Lian to stop; he stops on his own because of the non-responses.

The part about how being a thrice-ascended god with no followers was embarrassing is gone, but there is an added part about how Xie Lian worshipping himself is bad because "isn't the point of being a god to have your followers brag about you?"

Xie Lian doesn't land in Puqi Village on purpose; he's caught on a cloud again and falls into the village. The village is also not named from the start like in the draft.

A little random but there is no mention of Puqi Temple already having a table.

The explanation that Xie Lian is reading the mythology booklets to "stop creating awkward situations" with his ignorance on the state of affairs is gone, leaving the suggestion that he's just doing it to pass the time.

Rather than being "taken aback" at the sight of the maple forest like in the draft, Xie Lian now just smiles at the memory.

The lines that Xie Lian reads about himself are different. Rather than it calling him a "martial god, misfortune god, and a rubbish god," it just says "Xianle crown prince Xie Lian."

Xie Lian reads the dscription under his name before commenting that it's unfair because "all gods are equal."

The part in the draft about how Xie Lian is reading up on the other gods so as not to be discourteous when meeting them later is gone. He just reads them because he doesn't want to read his own any long.

Xie Lian tries to discreetly check out the youth before he sits up.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: Garment Redder than Maple, Skin As White As Snow

Back at it again with a new arc! Starting from Chapt. 12, we start at Xie Lian back in the heavens and end on the heavenly officials' stumped dialogue about why Hua Cheng would come help Xie Lian. In the 7seas edition, this is all content from Vol. 1, Chapt. 5: Red-Clad Ghost, the Burning of the Martial and Civil Temples, ending on the very first page of Chapt. 6, which shares the same title as this section in the revisions.

Major changes:

Rather than the section starting with a conversation with Ling Wen, it starts with how the fear of another Human Face Disease breakout was a "false alarm," wasting the time and efforts of the Middle Court which dispatched half of its gods to investigate, and Xie Lian immediately joins the communications array upon returning to the heavens.

Minor changes:

Xie Lian says that his reascension has been more tiring than when he was collecting trash.

Feng Xin no longer mentions sealing Xuan Ji. He just says that General Pei needs to come deal with her.

Qi Rong is still not named. He is only "The Green Ghost."

The questions that were previously posed by Xie Lian—what about the corpse forest and was the green ghost present—are now discussed without him asking. Mu Qing brings up the presence of the forest, and Ling Wen (rather than Feng Xin) responds that the Green Ghost wasn't present. Xie Lian speaks up to ask if Xuan Ji was the Green Ghost's underling.

When Xie Lian speaks in the communications array, it does not get quiet or awkward.

Xiao Pei doesn't chime in to defend General Pei. All explanation-heavy responses come from Ling Wen.

When Xie Lian asks about the child spirit, Mu Qing doesn't chime in and play dumb. Ling Wen, once again, responds and say they found no traces of it.

Xie Lian says out loud that he only knows of the "four great tales" rather than just thinking it, and when he asks what the "four great calamities" are, Mu Qing no longer chimes in with a snide comment. This means that Xie Lian's response about how difficult it is to be a mortal is gone.

Ling Wen's explanation of who the Green Ghost is now stops after she says that he's the only "calamity" not in isolation and is also not a calamity. Xie Lian then asks if he just emerged to be annoying rather than this being a part of Ling Wen's explanation.

Ling Wen now explicitly states that Jun Wu is the one who destroyed White No-Face.

There is an added sentence during the explanation of Hua Cheng burning down the temples and shrines of the 33 heavenly officials that Jun Wu "doesn't like conflict" and prefers to focus on maintaining the balance between the three realms, which is why he did not help them.

[mxtxfanatic]

The second chapter of this segment starts off with the Xianle trio walking into a city and finding a shrine to Nanyang and ends on Nan Feng asking about the ostentatious bridal procession passing by again. There's lots of rearranging happening here—things being moved around but otherwise still present—so bear with me as I figure out exactly how much detail I want to get into lol. This one is also way longer, so more under the cut:

Major changes:

Fu Yao and Nan Feng are crueler to each other??? Xie Lian says the Nanyang statue doesn't match Feng Xin, and Fu Yao immediately laughs and calls it "atrocious," forcing Xie Lian to step in to diffuse their brewing fight. When Nan Feng calls Fu Yao "useless" and says Xie Lian should send him away, Fu Yao responds by (unprompted) telling Xie Lian why Nanyang is so popular with women to embarrass him, to which Nan Feng calls Mu Qing (yes, actual Mu Qing) a "floor-sweeping ingrate*". This is now one of the only surviving arguments fully written into dialogue between the two characters.

Xie Lian is also much more no-nonsense about their bullshit, and the narrative does a lot less to soften the blow of Xie Lian's words on them, erasing mentions of awkward silences, pauses, smiles, etc. during certain scenes such as these:

扶摇道：“太丑了！” “Too ugly!” Fu Yao exclaimed. 谢怜噎了一下，才道：“扶摇，不能这样说女孩子。” Xie Lian choked for a moment, then chided, “Fu Yao, you can’t talk about girls like that.” 平心而论，扶摇说的是实话。那少女一张脸蛋扁平无比，活像是被人一巴掌拍扁的，五官说平平无奇都有些委屈，若一定要形容，恐怕只能用“鼻歪眼斜”了。 If he had to be honest, what Fu Yao said was true. That girl’s face was incomparably flat, looking exactly like someone had leveled it with a slap. It would almost be an insult to say her features were plain; if they must be described, then only “crooked nose and slanted eyes” could be used.

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 2: Three Clowns, Night Discussion on the Palace of Tremendous Masculinity, 7seas

vs.

扶摇道：“太丑了！还不如没有。” Fu Yao said, “So ugly! It’d be better not have her as a believer.” 平心而论，扶摇说的是实话。那少女满脸缠着绷带，绷带下透出一丝猩红，恐怕不是伤疤就是胎记。但她跪地默默祈福，神色虔诚，谢怜回头，语重心长道：“扶摇，不能这样说女孩子。” Objectively speaking, what Fu Yao said was the truth. That girl’s entire face was wrapped in bandages that seeped scarlet, perhaps a scar or a birthmark. Yet she kneeled silently to pray for blessings, expression pious, and Xie Lian turned his head and said earnestly, “Fu Yao, you shouldn’t say this kind of thing about a girl.”

—Chapt. 4: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan (pt. 2), me

and

扶摇也停手了，震惊且嫌弃地道：“落灰里了你还吃得下去！” Fu Yao stopped too, and appeared shaken and disgusted. “How can you eat it when it’s rolled in the dirt?!” 谢怜趁机比了个手势，道：“停，停，停。我有话要说。” Xie Lian used this chance to raise his hand. “Stop, stop, stop. I have something to say.” 他隔开两人，和颜悦色地道：“第一，你们口里说的那位太子殿下，正是本人。本殿下都没说话，你们不要把我当武器丢来丢去攻击对方。”顿了顿，又加了一句，“我想你们家二位将军是绝对不会这样的，你们如此有失体统，他们颜面何存？” He separated the two and said, looking amicable, “First, That Highness the Crown Prince you two speak of happens to be me. This Highness hasn’t even said anything, so don’t sling me around like a weapon to attack each other.” He paused for a moment, then added, “I don’t think your generals would ever behave like this. If you two act so indecorously, you’ll ruin their reputations.”

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 2: Three Clowns, Night Discussion on the Palace of Tremendous Masculinity, 7seas

vs.

扶摇也停手了，震惊道：“全是灰你还吃，脏不脏啊。” Fu Yao also stopped and said with astonishment, “It’s covered in dust and you were still going to eat it, filthy or not.” 谢怜趁机隔开两人，和颜悦色地道：“第一，你们口里的那位太子殿下，正是本人。本殿下都没说话，你们不要把我当武器丢来丢去攻击对方。我想，你们家两位大人是绝不会做这种有失体统之事的！” Xie Lian seized the opportunity to separate the two, amiably saying, “First, the Crown Prince, His Highness out of your mouths is precisely me. This Highness didn’t speak, so don’t use me as a weapon you can pick up and cast aside in attacking others. I don’t think that either of your houses’ darens would engage in this kind of lack of decorum!”

—Chapt. 4: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan (pt. 2), me

At times, Xie Lian also actively appears to be fucking with Fu Yao and Nan Feng, reminiscent of how San-lang fucks with the duo during the Banyue arc. For example:

谢怜把脖子上的绷带解下来，道：“真的是摔的！我还顺便把脖子也扭了。现在已经差不多好了。” Xie Lian removed the bandages on his neck and said, “I really fell! I even conveniently twisted my neck. It’s already almost better, now.” 扶摇道：“这也是能顺便的？你怎么不顺便把脑袋也掉了？” Fu Yao said, “This can also be ‘convenient’? Why didn’t you conveniently drop your brains, too?” 谢怜道：“你怎么知道我没掉过？” Xie Lian said, “How do you know I didn’t?”

and

下一刻，南风与扶摇的目光俱是凝了起来，落在他脖颈之上。 The next second, Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s gazes hardened as their eyes fell on his throat. 一只黑色项圈，环在他雪白的颈项之间。 A black collar encircled his snow-white neck. 觉察到他们的目光，谢怜微微一笑，转过身来，道：“第一次看到真正的咒枷？” Sensing their stare, Xie Lian gave a light smile and turned around. “First time seeing a real cursed shackle?”

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 2: Three Clowns, Night Discussion on the Palace of Tremendous Masculinity, 7seas

vs.

绷带一圈一圈落在谢怜脚边，两人突然卡住。觉察到他们异样的目光，谢怜摸摸脖子，笑眯眯地道：“怎么啦？第一次看到真正的咒枷吗？” As the bandages fell, circling and circling Xie Lian’s legs, the two people abruptly choked. Sensing their peculiar gazes, Xie Lian stroked his neck, smiled beamingly, and said, “What’s the matter? First time seeing a genuine curse collar?” 一只黑色项圈，环在他雪白的颈项之上。 One black necklace looped above his snow-white neck.

—Chapt. 4: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan (Pt. 2), me

The "ugly girl" is called so because her face is wrapped in bandages that seem to reveal some sort of scar or birthmark, rather than her face, itself, being "ugly." This is likely a merging of characters to replace Lang Ying, since I heard he got deleted.

Small changes:

The trio only hide themselves when the girl walks in.

The girl isn't named in this chapter.

We don't hear the girl's prayers, and the scene is treated more somberly than in the draft. However, we do hear Xie Lian tell her her skirt is ripped rather than that being whispered to her. She runs out of the temple in fear rather than in tears. The part where it's said that the rip looks intentional is gone.

Almost all of Fu Yao and Nan Feng's bickering is relegated to background—Xie Lian telling them to stop fighting like they're children while he's being the adult in the room— rather than being written out in dialogue, or Xie Lian deescalates them before they can start.

Xie Lian still asks about why Nanyang is popular with female believers but is now interrupted by seeing the rip in the girl's skirt. Fu Yao brings it back up again later, unprompted.

There is no poetry recitation by Fu Yao about big-dick Nanyang.

The story of Mu Qing harassing artisans for not getting his image right is gone. All the paragraphs about why divine statues aren't accurate is reduced to "not every artisan sees their god, personally," and is used by Xie Lian to calm down Nan Feng's rage at Fu Yao insulting the Nanyang statue.

The story about the emperor creating the "Juyang" error is gone. It just says that "someone" made an error once that stuck.

Xie Lian re-dresses himself after giving his outer robe away without prompting from Fu Yao.

Fu Yao directly asks why Xie Lian doesn't get his cursed shackle removed by Jun Wu, and Xie Lian says he'd be too embarrassed to ask him after their battle.

Xie Lian interacts with Fu Yao and Nan Feng more like an adult interacting with small children who can't stop fighting in the car during a road trip.

The tea master's musings are deleted. The three start the scene already in the shop with tea in front of them.

We get our first spiritual energy exchange between Nan Feng and Xie Lian. Continuing the trend of "we don't know what Ling Wen does," Xie Lian uses this spiritual energy to directly call Ling Wen for more info.

*Nan Feng didn't just call Mu Qing an "ingrate," he called him an "ingrate to friends."

TGCF Draft vs. Final: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan

First off, ignore that "chapter change," it is the same chapter title in Mandarin as the 7seas release's "The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan." I'm just personally working through the why's of how I'm getting a different translation of this and haven't yet changed it. The chapter title for 7seas' chapt. 2 is completely gone; it skips from "the third ascension" to "the ghost takes a bride..." This newly categorized segment of chapters in the final version covers content in chapters 1-3 of the 7seas release, the first chapter starting from the "three days later" and ending on the Xianle trio finding the little shrine to the Earth God/local god.

Major changes:

The only major change in this chapter is the scene where the Xianle trio come across the small shrine. In the draft version, the trio find the shrine to ask the local god for directions. The god comes out, is cowed by the brilliance of "Fu Yao" and "Nan Feng," directs them to the nearest big shrine, and disappears. In the final version, they only coincidentally stumble across the broken-down shrine, and the local god never appears. Instead, Xie Lian digs out a steamed bun from his robes to give as an offering, prays to the god for protection, and when asked by Fu Yao why he's "wasting his time" praying to a god that seems to have been long-abandoned, Xie Lian says,

“话不能这么说，对我来说是一个馒头的事，但是对人家而言可能很重要呢……诶诶诶，干嘛拉我。” "To me, it’s one steamed bun’s affair, but as far as everyone else is concerned, maybe it is very important…"

He is summarily dragged away by the other two with Fu Yao admonishing him about how it's "not important" and how Xie Lian should worry about his own lack of worshipers before praying to others.

Minor changes:

The tea master doesn't look at the bridal procession as it passes.

Xie Lian says "hello" to the silver butterfly.

When Nan Feng and Fu Yao introduce themselves, Xie Lian tells them he wasn't asking for their names instead of just thinking it.

Fu Yao is no longer obsessively wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, though he still ignores the tea Xie Lian pours for him. Also, it's stated that Xie Lian is the one who poured them tea, rather than tea just appearing in front of them, and Nan Feng thanks him, politely, for it.

The paragraph about how intelligent the two are is replaced with Xie Lian analyzing their characters, saying that Nan Feng is more cooperative than Fu Yao despite Nan Feng having the more explosive temper while Fu Yao appears "refined."

The part about Xie Lian going towards the forest to camp is deleted. He suggests they find somewhere to stay, and they just start walking on the road until the reach the tiny shrine.

Small note that I may revisit when I've read deeper into the revisions, but all mentions of what Ling Wen's palace does is gone. We don't get an explanation of her role, Xie Lian doesn't say he got the scroll from her (even though he does), the efficiency of her palace's work is omitted, etc. I don't know why this change was made, but yeah, as of now there's no explanation of what, exactly, Ling Wen does in the heavens.

[mxtxfanatic]

Chapter 5 starts from the description of the fake bridal procession (all the sedan bearers being burly men) and ends when Xie Lian gets into the bridal sedan, which in the 7seas translation covers the end of chapt. 2 and up until, again, Xie Lian enters the bridal sedan disguised as a bride in chapt. 3. Details under the cut!

Major changes:

Every scene where the tea master is a character is cut except for when he tells Xie Lian to compensate him for the pillar. Xie Lian is the one who figures out what the group of men were attempting to do with their bridal procession and dummy bride. Any other lore contributions from the tea master and the conversations they spark simply don't exist anymore.

Xie Lian also appears less self-conscious about things. He smiles despite having the bad makeup on, unlike in the draft where he avoids doing so as to not scare Xiao Ying. He also directly engages her in convo in the temple scene pt. 2.

We get more sniping between Xie Lian and Fu Yao:

扶摇又道：“太丑了！” “Too ugly!” Fu Yao commented again. 恰好茶博士提着铜壶上来，谢怜想起他昨日神气，道：“店家... The tea master just happened to be coming over with the copper teapot. Xie Lian recalled his attitude yesterday, so he asked, “Shopkeeper, I saw that group of people banging drums and gongs yesterday...

—Vol. 1, Chapt. 3: The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan, 7seas

vs.

扶摇又道：“太丑了！” Fu Yao said, again, “So ugly!” 谢怜道：“你不要老一看到女子就开口评定美丑，很伤人心的。” Xie Lian said, “Don’t always open your mouth on sight to judge whether a woman is beautiful or ugly. It’s very hurtful.”

—Chapt. 5: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan (pt. 3), me

...and this added-in interaction:

那少女往前走了一步，愣愣地看着谢怜。扶摇皱眉道：“你看什么？” The girl took a step forward, appraising Xie Lian for a while. Fu Yao frowned and said, “What are you looking at? 谢怜听他口气不善，道：“不必如此。别吓着小姑娘了。” Xie Lian heard that his tone of voice was unkind and said, “Don’t be like this. Stop scaring the little guniang.” 扶摇无言片刻，道：“你确定能吓着她的是我而不是你？” Fu Yao was silent for a brief moment, then said, “You sure the person scaring her is me and not you?”

Minor changes:

Xie Lian no longer comments on Fu Yao's eye-rolling in this chapter. Fu Yao also isn't said to be rolling his eyes.

The boy calling the ghost bridegroom an "ugly freak" is gone, probably in line with the fact that Lang Ying is gone and so the gang don't have a ready scapegoat.

Xiao Ying (the "ugly" girl) is finally named! She introduces herself at the end of the chapter when she appears in the temple to thank and help Xie Lian. She also seems a lot less timid than her draft counterpart, not crying or hesitating in her words, even jokingly asking Xie Lian if he's "getting married tonight" after seeing him in his disguise.

The convo between the Xiao Ying and the boy is streamlined: he calls out Xiao Ying for trying to stop them, she accuses him of ripping her skirt, he insults her (though the part where he falsely claims she ripped her skirt herself is gone), and Xie Lian punches him. No more prolonged back and forth. Xie Lian is the only one said to initially show distress at the convo when the boy starts to push Xiao Ying, now, though Nan Feng still shatters his teacup and moves to intervene.

The group of men don't join the boy in berating Xiao Ying.

The spiritual energy exchange and the convo with Ling Wen that happens in this part in the draft happened in the temple scene of the last chapter in the final draft, except again, more streamlined without the exchanged pleasantries.

Five chapters in and still no hint of Ling Wen's work. Any convo sparked by complaining about her palace's inefficiency is gone.

Xie Lian is now the one to reject Fu Yao's suggestion to make a civilian girl their bait, not Nan Feng.

The paragraph about how one could "tell" that Xie Lian is a man dressed in women's clothes is gone, replaced, instead, with Fu Yao and Nan Feng being horrified at Xie Lian's terrible makeup application.

Fu Yao mentioning that the ghost seeing an ugly bride might provoke it to rage (right after Xie Lian says "it's all the same in the dark," changed from "it's all the same under a veil") is gone.

Xiao Ying doesn't return Xie Lian's clothes (making note cause idk if this will be important later).

Xiao Ying directly asks to be taken along with the trio when they go up the mountain, and only when Xie Lian rejects this does she settle for helping him fix his disguise instead.

Xie Lian directly asks Fu Yao and Nan Feng if they want to see his makeover under the veil, and they both reject his offer. Seeing how he does pass for a bride under his veil, though, still makes them break out in goosebumps.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan

First off, ignore that "chapter change," it is the same chapter title in Mandarin as the 7seas release's "The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan." I'm just personally working through the why's of how I'm getting a different translation of this and haven't yet changed it. The chapter title for 7seas' chapt. 2 is completely gone; it skips from "the third ascension" to "the ghost takes a bride..." This newly categorized segment of chapters in the final version covers content in chapters 1-3 of the 7seas release, the first chapter starting from the "three days later" and ending on the Xianle trio finding the little shrine to the Earth God/local god.

Major changes:

The only major change in this chapter is the scene where the Xianle trio come across the small shrine. In the draft version, the trio find the shrine to ask the local god for directions. The god comes out, is cowed by the brilliance of "Fu Yao" and "Nan Feng," directs them to the nearest big shrine, and disappears. In the final version, they only coincidentally stumble across the broken-down shrine, and the local god never appears. Instead, Xie Lian digs out a steamed bun from his robes to give as an offering, prays to the god for protection, and when asked by Fu Yao why he's "wasting his time" praying to a god that seems to have been long-abandoned, Xie Lian says,

“话不能这么说，对我来说是一个馒头的事，但是对人家而言可能很重要呢……诶诶诶，干嘛拉我。” "To me, it’s one steamed bun’s affair, but as far as everyone else is concerned, maybe it is very important…"

He is summarily dragged away by the other two with Fu Yao admonishing him about how it's "not important" and how Xie Lian should worry about his own lack of worshipers before praying to others.

Minor changes:

The tea master doesn't look at the bridal procession as it passes.

Xie Lian says "hello" to the silver butterfly.

When Nan Feng and Fu Yao introduce themselves, Xie Lian tells them he wasn't asking for their names instead of just thinking it.

Fu Yao is no longer obsessively wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, though he still ignores the tea Xie Lian pours for him. Also, it's stated that Xie Lian is the one who poured them tea, rather than tea just appearing in front of them, and Nan Feng thanks him, politely, for it.

The paragraph about how intelligent the two are is replaced with Xie Lian analyzing their characters, saying that Nan Feng is more cooperative than Fu Yao despite Nan Feng having the more explosive temper while Fu Yao appears "refined."

The part about Xie Lian going towards the forest to camp is deleted. He suggests they find somewhere to stay, and they just start walking on the road until the reach the tiny shrine.

Small note that I may revisit when I've read deeper into the revisions, but all mentions of what Ling Wen's palace does is gone. We don't get an explanation of her role, Xie Lian doesn't say he got the scroll from her (even though he does), the efficiency of her palace's work is omitted, etc. I don't know why this change was made, but yeah, as of now there's no explanation of what, exactly, Ling Wen does in the heavens.

[mxtxfanatic]

Chapt. 6 covers from the moment the "bridal procession" starts up the mountain and ends when the Xie Lian hears the chuckle of a man or youth, which is all content in Chapt. 3 of the 7seas release. More under the cut!

Major changes:

This entire exchange (followed by Nan Feng accidentally referring to Xie Lian as "gongzhu" LOL):

扶摇在外面凉凉地道：“小姐，你怎么了？高龄出阁，喜得流泪吗。” Fu Yao from outside said coldly, “What’s wrong, xiao jie? To marry at such an old age, you should be shedding tears of joy.” 新妇出阁的确都是要在花轿上啼哭的。谢怜啼笑皆非，道：    “不。只是我忽然发现这送亲队伍里少了很重要的东西。” It’s true that all brides want to cry on the bridal sedan when getting married. Xie Lian, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, said, “No. It’s only that I suddenly realized this bridal procession seems to be missing something very vital.” 南风道：“少了什么？该准备的我们应该都准备了。” Nan Feng said, “Missing something? We should have all prepared completely.” 谢怜道：“少了两个陪嫁丫鬟。” Xie Lian said, “It’s missing two dowry maids.” “……” 外边两人不约而同看了一眼对方，想想对方女装的模样，俱是恶寒。扶摇道：“你就当家中贫穷，没钱买丫鬟，凑合着吧。” The two outside inadvertently glanced at the other at the same time, imagined the other in women’s clothes, and shuddered viciously. Fu Yao said, “You manage a poor household and don’t have the money to buy a maid. Just make do.” 谢怜反问道：“穷还养得起你们？” Xie Lian asked, rhetorically, “Poor and yet raising you all?” 扶摇道：“我们好养。” Fu Yao said, “We are easy to raise.” 谢怜：“整天砸来砸去浪费食物还好养？” Xie Lian: “All day long mucking up things to come, mucking up things to go, and wasting food, yet easy to raise?” 扶摇：“公主，你话这么多，当心被驸马嫌弃。” Fu Yao: “Gongzhu, your words are a lot, take care that fuma doesn’t shun you.” 谢怜：“驸马爱我，不会嫌弃的。” Xie Lian: “Fuma loves me, he won’t shun me.” 扶摇：“爱你还过了这么多年才娶你。” Fu Yao: “Loves you, yet so many years have passed before he took you as a wife just now.” 谢怜叹了口气，道：“唉，他也不想的，我不怪他。” Xie Lian released a breath of air and said, “Alas, he was also surprised, but I don’t blame him.” 扶摇道：“我看你已经被那狐狸精迷住心窍了！” Fu Yao said, “I see you’re already enchanted by that fox-spirit!” 谢怜道：“你怎么突然换了本子？从小姐出阁到公主下嫁又到狐精魅人，好好演完一个不行吗。” Xie Lian said, “Why did you suddenly switch plots? From “xiao jie leaves the inner chamber,” to “gongzhu marrying down,” to “fox spirit charms people,” is performing the entire play properly an impossibility?” 南风喝道：“你们够了没有！还上瘾了是不是！” Nan Feng interjected, “You all haven’t had enough!? Still addicted?!”

Minor changes:

Only Fu Yao goes to the government official to borrow military officials for the bridal procession, and there's nothing about him needing to "demonstrate his powers" and explain in detail their plan.

The military officials aren't angry because they look down upon Fu Yao and Nan Feng but because Fu Yao states to their faces that they only need to be good enough to protect themselves so that they (Xianle trio) can focus on the ghost bridegroom, insulting the officials' pride.

We finally get a hint at what Ling Wen's palace does! Fu Yao asks if Ling Wen's palace informed Xie Lian of the presence of binu in Yunjun Mountain, and when Xie Lian denies it, he complains about their lack of efficiency.

The binu intro description paragraphs are reduced to one, as well as erasing the tidbit about how Middle Court officials struggle with binu while Upper Court officials can deal with them effortlessly.

Nan Feng takes much longer to notice and comment on Rouye's existence.

When Nan Feng, shocked at Rouye's appearance in the fight, slaps the sedan during his questioning and almost breaks it mid-battle, Rouye quickly flies over and smacks his hand and then Fu Yao interrupts to tell him to focus on the fight, rather than how the draft only has the Fu Yao part.

Fu Yao no longer says "come back to help," rather, he says that they should settle the mortals, first, so that they will no longer be impediments, probably to align with the cut concept that Middle Court officials, specifically, struggle to deal with binu and thus "Nan Feng" and "Fu Yao" can't reveal their true powers in front of Xie Lian.

Fu Yao and Nan Feng no longer have that extended "moment" where they pause after leaving Xie Lian behind. Instead, they still accidentally lock eyes after Fu Yao complains under his breath, but Fu Yao immediately turns his head and moves hastily away.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan

First off, ignore that "chapter change," it is the same chapter title in Mandarin as the 7seas release's "The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan." I'm just personally working through the why's of how I'm getting a different translation of this and haven't yet changed it. The chapter title for 7seas' chapt. 2 is completely gone; it skips from "the third ascension" to "the ghost takes a bride..." This newly categorized segment of chapters in the final version covers content in chapters 1-3 of the 7seas release, the first chapter starting from the "three days later" and ending on the Xianle trio finding the little shrine to the Earth God/local god.

Major changes:

The only major change in this chapter is the scene where the Xianle trio come across the small shrine. In the draft version, the trio find the shrine to ask the local god for directions. The god comes out, is cowed by the brilliance of "Fu Yao" and "Nan Feng," directs them to the nearest big shrine, and disappears. In the final version, they only coincidentally stumble across the broken-down shrine, and the local god never appears. Instead, Xie Lian digs out a steamed bun from his robes to give as an offering, prays to the god for protection, and when asked by Fu Yao why he's "wasting his time" praying to a god that seems to have been long-abandoned, Xie Lian says,

“话不能这么说，对我来说是一个馒头的事，但是对人家而言可能很重要呢……诶诶诶，干嘛拉我。” "To me, it’s one steamed bun’s affair, but as far as everyone else is concerned, maybe it is very important…"

He is summarily dragged away by the other two with Fu Yao admonishing him about how it's "not important" and how Xie Lian should worry about his own lack of worshipers before praying to others.

Minor changes:

The tea master doesn't look at the bridal procession as it passes.

Xie Lian says "hello" to the silver butterfly.

When Nan Feng and Fu Yao introduce themselves, Xie Lian tells them he wasn't asking for their names instead of just thinking it.

Fu Yao is no longer obsessively wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, though he still ignores the tea Xie Lian pours for him. Also, it's stated that Xie Lian is the one who poured them tea, rather than tea just appearing in front of them, and Nan Feng thanks him, politely, for it.

The paragraph about how intelligent the two are is replaced with Xie Lian analyzing their characters, saying that Nan Feng is more cooperative than Fu Yao despite Nan Feng having the more explosive temper while Fu Yao appears "refined."

The part about Xie Lian going towards the forest to camp is deleted. He suggests they find somewhere to stay, and they just start walking on the road until the reach the tiny shrine.

Small note that I may revisit when I've read deeper into the revisions, but all mentions of what Ling Wen's palace does is gone. We don't get an explanation of her role, Xie Lian doesn't say he got the scroll from her (even though he does), the efficiency of her palace's work is omitted, etc. I don't know why this change was made, but yeah, as of now there's no explanation of what, exactly, Ling Wen does in the heavens.

[mxtxfanatic]

And finally, Chapt. 11 to finish out the ghost bridegroom arc! This is the final chapter in the "A ghost marries..." series, and covers from when Nan Feng returns after the bugle sound (the bell in the draft version) to right at the end of the mission before Xie Lian returns to the heavens, which covers to the end of Chapt. 4 and into a good bit of Chapt. 5: Red-Clad Ghost, the Burning of the Martial and Civil Temples in the 7seas version when Xie Lian returns to the heavens. Details under the cut:

Major changes:

...Would you be mad at me if I said Xiao Ying actually doesn't live? Cause, uh, yeah... The plot twist to Xiao Ying's character is that she was actually the local god that Xie Lian had prayed to, earlier, and he discovers this when he finds a cold steamed bun on the ground where he had left Xiao Ying resting. The trio discuss it, and Xie Lian comes to the conclusion that she must have finally dissipated after feeling like she had been no help to anyone and that she had only persevered for so long because of "an obsession” (keep this in mind for a later date 😉)

Rather than the bandaged Lang Ying being the one discovered with the Human Face Disease, Xie Lian finds it on one of the bride corpses as he begins to gather them. His reaction to the disease is much more terrified, as he immediately blows the corpse up. Nan Feng and Fu Yao's reactions are also much more grave, and it is the reason Fu Yao "breaks character" to order the god attendants of Xuanzhen Palace to come down to take charge. And because the disease was found on a recent person despite having been "eradicated" centuries ago, the situation as a whole is taken as an active public health emergency—quarantining the area and burning all the corpses—rather than how in the original, it was able to be brushed off as Lang Ying being "cured" (because he was dead). Fu Yao tries to reassure Xie Lian that maybe it was just a "similar-looking" disease rather than the real thing, and Xie Lian, clearly still upset, says that he hopes so. It is on this somber note that the ghost bridegroom arc ends.

The tea shop debriefing doesn't happen. All conversations that happened in that scene are transferred to mountain after Xiao Pei takes Xuan Ji away.

This is also sort of an aside, but I forgot to mention that since the Lang Ying convos don’t happen, Qi Rong is also not named as the Green Ghost. Whether this edit was made to show that nobody knows what his name is, yet, or serves no great purpose other than “Nan Feng didn’t grill Lang Ying so the name doesn’t come up” has yet to be determined.

Minor changes:

General Xiao Pei doesn't come with soldiers. He is initially a solitary figure.

There's nothing about Xie Lian wanting to ask who the man was, because Nan Feng automatically introduces them. Xie Lian also doesn't look at Xuan Ji when "General Pei" is introduced.

Because Xuan Ji was knocked out in the last chapter, in this chapter, hearing "General Pei" wakes her up rather than her already being awake and struggling in Rouye's bindings like in the draft.

The part about Xie Lian filling Nan Feng in about his discoveries before Xuan Ji question is replaced by him feeling sympathy because he thinks she's forgotten what General Pei looks like.

Xiao Pei no longer calls Xuan Ji "general," but he does use the formal "you" when speaking to her.

Xuan Ji doesn't cry when Xiao Pei says that General Pei "has business;" her expression now flattens.

Xiao Pei calls two god attendants to take Xuan Ji away, not soldiers (since he brought none).

Xie Lian says that maybe they should stop Xuan Ji from cursing General Pei, but Xiao Pei says that General Pei told him that he's not afraid of being cursed, since he's been cursed at all his life, which is what truly sets Xuan Ji off.

Xie Lian no longer asks how they plan to handle Xuan Ji. He directly goes into her resentment being too strong to use a suppression method, but Xiao Pei changes the subject to the real history between General Pei and General Xuan.

The sentence about Xie Lian rubbing his forehead over the story is removed, along with the paragraph about Xie Lian being unable to judge "as the laughingstock of the three realms." The only remnant is now a verbal comment he makes about how the real losers of the situation were the 17 murdered brides.

Rather than the scene going into those 17 brides rotting, Fu Yao now appears (alone) in the next moment. Nan Feng comments here that he "thought he ran away," Fu Yao still says that he's the one who called on the Palace of Ming Guang to deal with Xuan Ji, and Xie Lian intercedes to prevent a fight. This is also where Fu Yao comments about Xie Lian still being in the wedding clothes, though without the parts about Lang Ying (who no longer exists).

The conversation about none of the heavenly officials of the Upper Court being "easy to deal with" happens here, because Fu Yao brings it up in response to Nan Feng saying it didn't matter that he didn't remind Xie Lian about his clothes because Xiao Pei isn't a talkative person. This then naturally leads into Xiao Pei's ascension story as before.

When Nan Feng disagrees with Fu Yao's assessment of the Upper Court gods, Fu Yao calls Feng Xin, "Divine Juyang" and Nan Feng responds by calling Mu Qing a "Divine Floor-Sweeper." Xie Lian says it would be better if they played the idioms game with all their energy.

What interrupts their fight is the smell of the rotting corpses filtering over. This also reminds Xie Lian to look for Xiao Ying, who is now missing. Cue the major change above.

The smell also awakens the villagers, and after scaring them, they walk back down the mountain themselves rather than being escorted down by Nan Feng.

There are no soldiers to clean up the scene. The trio do it, themselves.

TGCF Draft vs. Final: A Ghost Marries a Crown Prince on a Bridal Sedan

First off, ignore that "chapter change," it is the same chapter title in Mandarin as the 7seas release's "The Ghost Takes a Bride, the Crown Prince Mounts the Bridal Sedan." I'm just personally working through the why's of how I'm getting a different translation of this and haven't yet changed it. The chapter title for 7seas' chapt. 2 is completely gone; it skips from "the third ascension" to "the ghost takes a bride..." This newly categorized segment of chapters in the final version covers content in chapters 1-3 of the 7seas release, the first chapter starting from the "three days later" and ending on the Xianle trio finding the little shrine to the Earth God/local god.

Major changes:

The only major change in this chapter is the scene where the Xianle trio come across the small shrine. In the draft version, the trio find the shrine to ask the local god for directions. The god comes out, is cowed by the brilliance of "Fu Yao" and "Nan Feng," directs them to the nearest big shrine, and disappears. In the final version, they only coincidentally stumble across the broken-down shrine, and the local god never appears. Instead, Xie Lian digs out a steamed bun from his robes to give as an offering, prays to the god for protection, and when asked by Fu Yao why he's "wasting his time" praying to a god that seems to have been long-abandoned, Xie Lian says,

“话不能这么说，对我来说是一个馒头的事，但是对人家而言可能很重要呢……诶诶诶，干嘛拉我。” "To me, it’s one steamed bun’s affair, but as far as everyone else is concerned, maybe it is very important…"

He is summarily dragged away by the other two with Fu Yao admonishing him about how it's "not important" and how Xie Lian should worry about his own lack of worshipers before praying to others.

Minor changes:

The tea master doesn't look at the bridal procession as it passes.

Xie Lian says "hello" to the silver butterfly.

When Nan Feng and Fu Yao introduce themselves, Xie Lian tells them he wasn't asking for their names instead of just thinking it.

Fu Yao is no longer obsessively wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, though he still ignores the tea Xie Lian pours for him. Also, it's stated that Xie Lian is the one who poured them tea, rather than tea just appearing in front of them, and Nan Feng thanks him, politely, for it.

The paragraph about how intelligent the two are is replaced with Xie Lian analyzing their characters, saying that Nan Feng is more cooperative than Fu Yao despite Nan Feng having the more explosive temper while Fu Yao appears "refined."

The part about Xie Lian going towards the forest to camp is deleted. He suggests they find somewhere to stay, and they just start walking on the road until the reach the tiny shrine.

Small note that I may revisit when I've read deeper into the revisions, but all mentions of what Ling Wen's palace does is gone. We don't get an explanation of her role, Xie Lian doesn't say he got the scroll from her (even though he does), the efficiency of her palace's work is omitted, etc. I don't know why this change was made, but yeah, as of now there's no explanation of what, exactly, Ling Wen does in the heavens.