"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 115 - 124

[x_los]

Weeks 29 - 30 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 115 - 124. This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on November 28th.

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 115

[x_los]

Mei Changsu slightly implies that Xia Jiang’s troups wouldn’t be aware of exactly what they’d done in quashing the Chiyan army, and so wouldn’t be complicit in the act. Can that really be true?

And what was the sequence of events, again? There was a fake letter from Xia Dong’s husband that accused the Chiyan army of treason (on what grounds, or with what evidence? Why was it broadly believed?). Then Xia Jiang’s people led a retaliatory siege on the Chiyan army, which succeeded because it was an ambush and the Chiyan army was on unfavourable territory. Is that the sum of it?

Re: Chapter 115

[superborb]

I think that was the sequence, yes. I think Marquis Ning led the attack on the Chiyan army and might've fabricated some more evidence there?

Chapter 116

[x_los]

- ‘Smoky’ is a very weird word for a region of land.

- Peoples' eyes need to quit gleaming red, what is that?

Re: Chapter 116

[superborb]

The eyes turning red are a trope for strong emotion / anger. It must have its roots in TCM...

Chapter 117

[x_los]

- It surprised me that Changsu's people don’t all know Lin Chen’s background in the book. Is it different from his backstory in the drama?

- It's very weird that Madam Wei absents herself from this conversation about her husband--just an odd moment of self-regulating sexism that sits oddly in a text where Duchess 'as good as a man' Nihuang exists and Jingrui's birthday party shoved many women into such discussions neck-deep.

Chapter 118

[x_los]

- Every time ‘ng’ shows up in an English translation, an angel loses its wings.

Chapter 119

[x_los]

- It really is surprising that the Alliance gets so many of their people killed for the sake of this one ex-general. He's just one guy!

Re: Chapter 119

[superborb]

But BROTHERHOOD!!

Chapter 120

[x_los]

- I think translation could be doing a slight disservice to Jingyan’s speech. The narration praises it for eloquence, but it’s not entirely clear what he’s saying.

- What’s up with ‘(without punishment)’? There are a few strange editorial moments in this chapter like this which could do with a clean-up.

- Poor consort Jing, having to still talk to this poisonous fucker (and, nominally, be married to him)! And how did the grandmother, the Empress Dowager, manage to forgive the Emperor at all?

Chapter 121

[x_los]

- Poor Changsu is too sick to deal with this shit. The man needs to learn to delegate.

Chapter 122

[x_los]

- ‘A pitch that sent dragons singing and tigers roaring’ If you say so? This feels like it might be a set-phrase.

- That's a nice chapter closer.

Re: Chapter 122

[superborb]

I think that's the translator editorializing. A more direct translation would be "a clear and melodious dragon's cry".

Chapter 123

[x_los]

- 'Think tank' is a very weird choice of words, here.

- “but as a woman, she could not possibly bear any ill-will towards a man with such a determined strength of character” If you say so? I didn't know that was a Woman Thing.

- Poor Prince Yu’s wife. He’s just not worth it, girl!

Chapter 124

[x_los]

- For all that we can say Changsu's intervention destroyed Jingrui's family by revealing the truth of it, it also saved Yan Yujin's family by revealing its truth. Not only was Yan Que spared from the murderous and in turn fatal consequences of his own bitterness (which would also have destroyed his son's life), Yujin finally gets a real relationship with his father.

- It's pretty funny for them to learn that they share a high alcohol tolerance like this.