"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 13-16

[x_los]

Week 4 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 13-16. This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on May 30th.

I'll be doing a weekly post with thoughts on this community. Feel free to join in/discuss. If you'd like to join the Discord, contact superborb for an invite.

Chinese text: https://sj.uukanshu.com/book.aspx?id=17338
English translation: https://merelhyn.tumblr.com/post/641747965727358976/the-langya-list-epubpdf

SPOILER POLICY: I personally don't give a fuck or even like to give unearned credence to the concept, so since I'm writing the post, anything's fair game.

(If anyone is interested in dankodes running further poetry content during or after NiF, please let me know what you'd be keen to discuss. I'm happy to work with you on that. I'll probably ask this again once NiF draws to a close.)

 

Comments

Chapter 13

[x_los]

- I’d no idea Yujin and Jingrui went to school with Prince Yu. That adds a new layer to their relationships.

Chapter 14

[x_los]

- This is extra awkward and painful if Changsu really is still bitter about Li’s expulsion and demise. His death is now a pious bargaining-chip in the insincere mouths of people who did nothing to prevent it, and who don't honour his teachings or memory (though they may well have also been his students).

Chapter 15

[x_los]

- The LAST thing these two need is the emperor’s special dick-energy intensification perfume.
- This character's moment of wary chagrin is what’s often missing for me in face-slapping harem drama: the sense of any social consequences for making an idiot of yourself like this, with big public displays of poor behaviour others will hear of.
- Interestingly, it feels like Changsu doesn’t anticipate Tingsheng (or Prince Jing's involvement with him) at all.

Chapter 16

[x_los]

- I don’t love what either the writer or the TL has done with the choppy, ESL way Feiliu speaks
- Prince Jing had an official consort, who died, and now has two concubines. That's often unclear in the drama. What does it mean, that his concubines were assigned?
- So does Changsu figure out here and now who Tingsheng is? Is his coughing fit a result of his getting overly emotionally agitated?

Re: Chapter 14

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

This is why my petty soul relished in their immediate humiliation after.

Re: Chapter 16

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

In the drama, if i recall they reduced the number of his wives to one?
Prince Yu tries to butter him up and invite him and his wives to a party and there is an awkward moment following the invitation: i am your brother and you don't even know i only have one wife?

Re: Chapter 13

[halfcactus]

This also piqued my attention! And it actually made sense as a way to explain how he's better at talking to/dealing with people than the isolated Crown Prince. But yeah, interested to see how this affects his relationship with Yujin and Jingrui.

Re: Chapter 15

[halfcactus]

The LAST thing these two need is the emperor’s special dick-energy intensification perfume.
THANK YOU for putting this so succinctly.

Interestingly, it feels like Changsu doesn’t anticipate Tingsheng (or Prince Jing's involvement with him) at all.
I suppose it makes sense for him to not suspect Prince Jing's involvement, but it did really seem that he didn't anticipate Tingsheng! I'm extremely curious to find out what MCS does know, because that entire scene (and the way it played out so differently from the novel) took me by surprise.

Chapter 15

[halfcactus]

- Yan Yujin running away from the thick air of apparently toxic masculinity and political maneuvering is my mood and aspiration during family gatherings.

- Can't get over the way that Yujin just casually explained the princes' super special, super rare perfume that was very invigorating and especially good for stimulating yang energy. It's incredibly hilarious, but I do wonder if it's a case of 1) too much perfume, 2) fancy perfume not always compatible with your skin/body chemistry. Maybe Prince Yu and the Crown Prince have too much evil in their skin? Would Prince Jing wear it better?

- Jingrui crushing on a new character called Lady Yun since childhood was COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED TO ME. For 14 chapters I assumed he only had eyes for MCS. XD

- MCS's dramatic love advice, and even more dramatic ominous stage whisper about how someone as pure as Jingrui ought to have a happy ending: I am now imagining the Jiangzuo Alliance secretly following him around and playing accompanying background music whenever he has a Moment.

- Didn't realize until now that Tingsheng's name is not a name, but just an indication of where he was born.

- The entire Tingsheng interaction scene plays out so differently, with very interesting divergences (though it was pretty painful to read). Loved: Jingrui's well-meaning but wrong-footed sympathy for Tingsheng; MCS's observation that Tingsheng was unresisting but in his bones unyielding, which we the reader also see by the way that Tingsheng cares for his books and insists that he can carry them, but lets Jingrui lead him away; the air of mystery in which the chapter ends.

Re: Chapter 15

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

That's funny because i was not surprised that Tingsheng's existence was news to him (he would have had to 1, either be in contact with someone in the secluded courtyard 2, guess that a person related to a now dead person was just pregnant at the time of his death and that, against all odds, managed to hide and keep the baby alive) but thought Prince Jing's involvement logical, if there is Tingsheng, Jingyan will be around.
The part where the concubine Just Happened to Be Pregnant At the Righ Time is still pretty well, it's fate or just soap opera twist to me.

Re: Chapter 13

[dragonyphoenix]

That surprised me too. The tv series seems to have more of an age difference than the book does. That might create more of a distance between the characters although Yujin seems close to the emperor's brother.

Re: Chapter 14

[dragonyphoenix]

It does set up Changsu's connection to the scholar Li Cong. Later, the connection between MCS and Li Cong is used to get another famous scholar to attend the debates. In the tv series, the connection isn't made clearly (or I just missed it). But I remember wondering who these scholars were when watching NiF.

Re: Chapter 14

[superborb]

Yes, I agree this makes it seem much less 'MCS just has all the people like pokemon', which I found a flaw in the drama.

Re: Chapter 16

[superborb]

Maybe emphasizing that he didn't choose the concubines, they're there for political reasons? (Political may just be because as a prince he needs some.)

Re: Chapter 15

[superborb]

I KNOW I was confused who this Lady Yun they were talking about was!!