"NIRVANA IN FIRE"/"LANG YA BANG" GROUP READ: DISCUSSION POST FOR CHAPTERS 34 - 37

[x_los]

Week 9 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 34 - 37. This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on July 4th.

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 34

[x_los]

Isn't the suicide pill in the teeth a signature Soviet thing? Weird to see it extrapolated out much earlier.

People are always loosing teeth in these things! Well I am here to tell you, after the Toast Incident, that this is no joke, and not a light matter for a one-sentence dismissal--

Thinking about it, if Changsu starts off NOT knowing about his Aunt Liyang's past and thus Jingrui's actual parentage, does that mean a lot of the Birthday Party is a plot he makes from Chang'An? Like, a pretty recent development/response to what he learns here? Kind of harsher to do it while knowing Jingrui as a person again/after his aunt starts to reveal her secrets willingly in an emergency.

Oh, green for poison again.

'the events of the past are like a mountain buried deep in thick snow' I mean literally in this case

Re: Chapter 34

[dragonyphoenix]

Thinking about it, if Changsu starts off NOT knowing about his Aunt Liyang's past and thus Jingrui's actual parentage, does that mean a lot of the Birthday Party is a plot he makes from Chang'An? What an interesting idea. As far as I can tell, the text we've read so far is ambiguous on whether or not he knew Jingrui's parentage ahead of time.

On page 257, the start of the prevent Nihuang from drinking the wine arc, we learn Princess Liyang used to be a fiery young woman and at some point became cold and unapproachable. The text makes it clear that Mei Changsu's investigation did not turn up when or why this happened.

On page 261, after learning of the wine, Mei Changsu asks who the Empress Dowager could have disapproved of so completely that she used the wine. When Princess Liyang replies that it was a hostage prince sent from Southern Chu, we get this: Mei Changsu’s confusions cleared immediately. This could be read that 1) he immediately understands why the Empress Dowager so disapproved of the man, or that 2) he already knows who Jingrui's father is and her story just filled in some of the background for him.

I think the most potent argument that he already knew is Miss Gongyu's presence in the city. Granted she's part of his spy network, but I think the main reason she's there is to reveal information at Jingrui's birthday. The poison wine arc had been finished in the previous chapter; we don't know how much later this is, but Yujin says he hasn't been to Miaoyin house in a long time and that Miss Gongyu must be missing him. This suggests that Miss Gongyu was in the city before Princess Liyang visited Mei Changsu. Doesn't prove it though.

Re: Chapter 34

[superborb]

Yeah, I got the impression that because Gong Yu had to have been recruited prior, he must know the parts of this that are relevant for her revenge on Xie Yu, and it's just details that need to be filled in.

Re: Chapter 34

[dragonyphoenix]

Isn't the suicide pill in the teeth a signature Soviet thing? I got curious and looked it up. According to an article in The Vintage News, this type of poisoned pill was invented by British and American secret services during WWII.

Atlas Obscura has an interesting article.