"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 30 - 33

[x_los]

Week 8 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 30 - 33. This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on June 27th.

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 30

[x_los]

Poor Sima Wei's dad, he didn't do shit. Exile is a LOT, as a punishment, but I guess the crime was pretty severe! (Kick his ass, prince Mu.)

God, the Emperor hastily backtracking on punishing Prince Jing--this dude sucks.

Yu is an idiot if he really thinks Jing and Nihuang are going to be grateful for this.

'I will certainly repay you in kind' aha yeah Nihuang, ominous 'you'll get what you Deserve' vibes here

I love 'Prince Jing GOT this palace intrigue shit, he just thought: this is too stupid to waste my time thinking about'

Why does Little Prince Mu mention the relative sizes of the residences? IDGI.

Re: Chapter 30

[dragonyphoenix]

The title, Committing Crimes, reminded me of this scene from Repo Man.

In the drama, my impression was that Mu Qing and his men found Sima Lie first. Here they actually break into where the Imperial guards rest to beat the man up.

I think Sima Wei wasn't exiled. As I'm rereading, I see the son was exiled but the father demoted in rank. But exile for either of them does seem extreme compared to the milder punishments given to lady Yue and the Crown Prince, particularly as she was the mastermind.

Nihuang keeping her emotions in check until the Emperor starts talking about punishing Prince Jing and then her face is all "oh no you didn't"! Hee

Yu is an idiot if he really thinks Jing and Nihuang are going to be grateful for this. It could be a sign that he's more about appearance than substance.

Why does Little Prince Mu mention the relative sizes of the residences? That is odd. He says it in relation to her avoiding the palace (and I love that he says the palace isn't a good place) and of course the palace would be larger than both of their residences, but so what?

Chapter 31

[x_los]

I actually really like that disillusioned Prince Jing was canny enough to read this in a way Changsu, who is still more inherently decent than he believes himself to be, hadn't even *imagined* doing, or even the idea thereof occurring to Prince Jing as a possible reading of the situation. And Changsu is right that it really shows that while Jingyan's mind is now capable of encompassing terrible possibilities, he remains stringently moral and pro-active about that (despite the palace working hard to grind these qualities out of him).

Jingyan's 'military!!' speech is a bit snottily preachy, but less so than the tv version thereof.

Re: Chapter 31

[dragonyphoenix]

I'd say Prince Jing picked up that paranoid mindset because he's been interacting with people in the palace all those years, but they've had him out in the field as much as possible.

Look at Xie Bi, bringing Prince Jing to Snow Cottage and then excusing himself from entering. Finally picking up some subtlety.

in the future if any conflict arose, the Yunnan Mu clan would undoubtedly choose to support me. I feel like the Mu clan would have supported him without this. Nihuang can't have a high opinion of either of the princes contending for the crown.

Chapter 32

[x_los]

Zhiji wars all over again.

Really bright Yujin here. I hope we hear more from Yujin when he knows more about Changsu's aims (he does know he's Lin Shu by the end, doesn't he?).

Yujin and Jingrui are really intimate here. Feels like a Thing.

Re: Chapter 32

[dragonyphoenix]

Yujin and Jingrui are really intimate here. Feels like a Thing. Yes, but Jingrui being so upset about Mei Changsu ignoring him also feels like a Thing.

Chapter 33

[x_los]

Why can't they tell Xia Dong is Xia Dong and her gender if she's literally right there, fully visible to them?

Oh so Xia Dong DID train the two of them! What was with that bit about the other martial sect then? Tch. Over-qualified layabouts.

Oh they're blood siblings and TWINS in this version of the story, I see.

Xia Dong is the most fun I've had in ages, you love to see it.

water-armor?

Weird that the boys aren't just carrying some weapons? Like, any?

Re: Chapter 33

[superborb]

I think they just came from the palace, so couldn't have weapons? Maybe?