"Nirvana in Fire"/"Lang Ya Bang" Group Read: Discussion Post for Chapters 130 - 145

[x_los]

Weeks 32, 33, 34 and 35 of the "Lang Ya Bang" book club, chapters 130 - 145 (inclusive). This discussion will draw to a close, and the next session will open, on January 2nd.

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 145

[x_los]

I guess a xingtai army is a standing army with discretionary powers.

Isn’t Prince Yu supposed to be confined in his house? Why is he busting out to visit the prison all the time?

Reinforcing the narrative of Banruo's fallen kingdom in the drama not only enriches Prince Yu, it also makes those loose threads feel more meaningfully integrated with the whole story and better-illustrates the thematic parallels between her mission and Changsu's.

Re: Chapter 145

[superborb]

Maybe it's been long enough? (Or the Empress lifted the punishment, which seems somewhat of an overstep normally.)

I have heard a lot of negative opinions about tying Prince Yu's narrative to the Hua, but I think it ends up as a more compelling narrative overall.

Re: Chapter 145

[x_los]

Yeah I could see finding it politically unsavoury but in terms of the balance of the novel and character, I do think it works out better.