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[fandomside]

This one is going to depend very heavily on the exact point in canon. Any point post-Guanyin Temple, he is absolutely pulling that lever.

a runaway trolley is heading down a track, upon which wei wuxian is tied up and unable to move. jiang cheng is standing near a lever that can divert the trolley onto another track. However, on this alternate track, there are 100 people tied up. if jiang cheng pulls the lever, he kills 100 people and saves wei wuxian. if jiang cheng does nothing, then he kills no one, but he also allows wei wuxian to die through inaction.

caveats:

all choices that do not specifically involve pulling the lever (ie. trying to stop the train, trying to free any of the people from the tracks, throwing oneself in front of the train) count as "not pulling the lever" and will result in the death of wei wuxian.

neither jiang cheng nor wei wuxian know any of the 100 people tied on the other track. the 100 people are also all regular people, such that their deaths would not have any outstanding political consequences upon the world.

all of the people in the situation except for jiang cheng are unconscious. thus, they are unable to provide any input about the situation.

no one except for jiang cheng himself will know which decision he made. the death or deaths of the people in this situation will never be traced back to him.

[fandomside]

CQL Lan Wangji does not pull the lever; MDZS Lan Wangji does.

a runaway trolley is heading down a track, upon which wei wuxian is tied up and unable to move. lan wangji is standing near a lever that can divert the trolley onto another track. However, on this alternate track, there are 100 people tied up. if lan wangji pulls the lever, he kills 100 people and saves wei wuxian. if lan wangji does nothing, then he kills no one, but he also allows wei wuxian to die through inaction.

caveats:

all choices that do not specifically involve pulling the lever (ie. trying to stop the train, trying to free any of the people from the tracks, throwing oneself in front of the train) count as "not pulling the lever" and will result in the death of wei wuxian.

neither lan wangji nor wei wuxian know any of the 100 people tied on the other track. the 100 people are also all regular people, such that their deaths would not have any outstanding political consequences upon the world.

all of the people in the situation except for lan wangji are unconscious. thus, they are unable to provide any input about the situation.

no one except for lan wangji himself will know which decision he made. the death or deaths of the people in this situation will never be traced back to him.

[fandomside]

NHS could definitely have poisoned/stabbed JGY whenever he liked - he could have done it within a day of figuring out the truth. But he wanted Maximum Destruction instead.

But not even Maximum Destruction takes 16 years. There must have been multiple, evolving plans, each one eventually discarded, with Resurrect WWX being the last of many - maybe even a last resort.

Personally I believe MXY first came up with the idea of bringing back WWX, and NHS rejected it because of its many, many faults, but as time went on and he was running out of ideas, and MXY became more unstable and more inclined to do something drastic, NHS finally said okay, do it if you want to. Here's the spell.

(I love NHS because he's morally gray. He does not get off the hook for giving a gun to a suicidal young person.)

As a plan, resurrecting WWX is not something any self-respecting mastermind would do. Maybe in a secure lab under controlled circumstances, but you will note a lack of controlled circumstances at the Mo Estate.

The first variable NHS can't control is how well will the resurrection spell work? It's never been tried before. Maybe all it will bring back is a highly resentful demonic revenant. Never mind, that will at least stir JGY to action and maybe he'll make a mistake.

The second variable NHS can't control is what WWX will do. One of WWX's primary characteristics is that he can't be controlled. He follows his own conscience and nothing else. Just about the only person still living who can be an influence on him is LWJ. Very well: NHS arranges for the Lan to be there, and gives them a start on the NMJ puzzle at the same time. Wait, the Lan juniors are going to do this hunt on their own, LWJ is only held in reserve for emergencies? Quick, make sure the Lan juniors hear Yiling Laozu stories, maybe it'll help them recognise him when he turns up under their noses.

From that point on, everything is variables and NHS has no control over anything. The Yiling Laozu stories don't work; WWX dodges LWJ entirely and heads off on his own. Quick, lure him to another location. (I headcanon that the dancing statue was left over from another earlier discarded plot and hastily reactivated.) Also, if WWX is wandering the jianghu alone he needs backup; get WN there for him, which will also turn his eyes Jin-wards.

Now things are back on track. WWX has allies and backup. He's met his nephew. He's been wound up and pointed in the right direction. He's following the trail. NHS meets up with him, checks he's sane, gives him some info he'll need. Now to bring another player onto the scene.

This part is something NHS could have planned ahead. He could send WWX to Yi City himself, but he prefers to hide behind XY. If XY hears that WWX has returned, he'll surely want to meet him. XY lures WWX to Yi City, along with a pack of juniors to use as hostages against him (CQL isn't very clear about this, but it's the most logical reading of events.) The juniors are collateral damage, but it's too late to start caring about that now.

And now we're at Jinlintai. And now WWX is... unmasked and running away from Jinlintai, but that's okay. Making the treasure room public and raising doubt in LXC's mind is more progress than NHS has managed in a decade.

By this point, NHS has utterly lost control. WWX was a loose cannon from the start, but now JGY is flailing around in reaction too. It's exactly what NHS wanted. NHS doesn't need to control the board, he just needs JGY to not be in control.

NHS barely has to do anything after that. Put Sisi and Bicao in the right place at the right time, but that was one of his prepared set-pieces. Getting himself kidnapped, easy. Getting Su She killed, easy. Getting JGY stabbed in the heart by the one person he cares about more than anyone else... easy.

From NHS's perspective, the front half of the plot is frantically reshuffling pieces just a few steps ahead of the action, but the back half is an easy downhill glide to the finish line.

People portray NHS as having A Defined Plan all along as soon as he found out but wwx's deductions seems to think he was adapting on the fly and winging at least some of it even as he put pieces in motion and that using mo xuanyu was a relatively late decision. of course this is just wwx's thoughts since nhs being behind things is technically never confirmed in the novel

Yeah, I... find myself in disagreement with many commonly-held NHS headcanons, this being one of them! There is no way that NHS could possibly have Meticulously Lined Up The Pieces Just So because there is just too much variability. In novelverse, he couldn't have anticipated WWX's initial interaction with JL, WN's reappearance (how? did he instantaneously transport himself? from Jinlintai? to Dafan Mountain?), WWX being recognized by LWJ, Wangxian's continued partnership, or JGY arranging the kidnapping of a bunch of teens to lure every single sect leader to the Burial Mounds to murder them. The Wangxian stuff--the core component of the WHOLE STORY!--is only previously known to LWJ! Not even LXC knows about the song! He figures some stuff out on his own, maybe facilitates one hell of an inciting incident in the form of convincing MXY to resurrect WWX, and then exploits the ensuing chaos like a motherfucker.

Honestly, I kind of like it better if MXY Just Did That and NHS gleefully seized the unexpected opportunities that presented. Like, maybe he released the arm hoping that the Twin Jades would be the ones to investigate, accurately predicting that LXC would recognize NMJ and would be willing to keep the discovery secret from JGY if his didi insisted on it. And then surprise! WWX has entered the chat and he's got some unresolved personal drama that NHS can work with!

In CQL, however... okay, so TECHNICALLY he doesn't need WWX for anything NMJ-related, especially since For Legal Reasons There Are No Zombies. But in that canon, JGY is WWX's final curse mark. By having MXY summon WWX in that canon, it ensures both Maximum Chaos For JGY To Deal With and guarantees that JGY must die. Not only die, but die in a way for which WWX is at least indirectly responsible! WWX is curse-bound to lay the groundwork there, which is kind of a fucked-up task to delegate to your friend! Also, NHS in CQL canon can reasonably expect Wangxian to become allies since they were known to be besties (NHS third-wheeled their Yin Iron fetch quest himself!) and LWJ tried to save WWX from falling off that cliff in full view of everybody. In fact, there's a line in Episode 2 where WWX speculates that the Fairy Statue simulacrum they fought (the ACTUAL statue having been sealed during the aforementioned fetch quest in front of NHS) was created deliberately to lure them there by the same person who released the blade spirit. CQL's NHS could be a mastermind... just a very slow-acting one, because. 16 years. Nothing whatsoever about that plan needed 16 years.

[fandomside]

Huh, in my head Fei Liu was younger. I think the actor was on the younger side at time of filming.

Nirvana in Fire Character Age List

Ages are from the beginning of the story. Dates are according to the lunar calendar.

Mei Changsu/Lin Shu/Su Zhe: born Feb 6; 29 (novel)/31 (drama) Tong Lu: 20s Gong Yu: 23-4 Feiliu: 16 (novel)/18 (drama; <2 years younger than Mu Qing)

Mu Nihuang: 27 Mu Qing: 20 (”Just of age”)

Xiao Xuan (Emperor): born Aug 30; 60s Prince Ji: 12 years younger than the emperor Xiao Jingxuan (Crowned Prince/Prince Xian): 35 Xiao Jinghuan (Prince Yu): 32 Xiao Jingyan (Prince Jing): 31 (birthday is not between Sept and Jan 6) Xiao Jingning (novel only): 17 Xiao Tingsheng: 11

Grand empress dowager: 90 Empress Yan: Early 50s (Married to Xiao Xuan at 16, when he was still a 郡王) Consort Yue: late 40s-early 50s (Been in the palace for 35 yrs) Consort Jing: born July 5; late 40s-early 50s (Been in the palace for 30+ yrs) Grand Princess Liyang: 40s (Married for 26 yrs)

Xie Yu: 53 Yan Que: Early 50s, but older than Empress Yan (novel)/57 (drama) Meng Zhi: 37-8 Shen Zhui: 37-8 Cai Quan: 30s (”Youngest of the 6 ministers except for Shen Zhui”) Xia Dong & Xia Qiu (twins): 37

Xiao Jingrui: born April 12; 24 Xie Bi: 23 Yan Yujin: born July 7; 23

Qin Banruo: 27

Baili Qi: 30 Yuwen Nian: younger than 20 Foya (the wolf): 14-15

All ages/birth dates are from the first version of the novel, the drama, or the characters’ respective Baidu Baike pages.

Let me know if there are any mistakes or additions!

[fandomside]

Marquis Yan and the mortifying ordeal of getting your son out of a birthday sleepover that went completely off the rails

[fandomside]

Do you ever think about how Wei Ying, newly arrived at Lotus Pier, must have looked at Jiang Cheng and thought soft and weak.

Jiang Cheng barely knows what it's like to miss a meal, let alone scrounge through the garbage for anything edible. Jiang Cheng sleeps in soft beds every night, not a dirty sack in an alley. Jiang Cheng gets people fussing over him when he's sick, he doesn't struggle on with pain and fever alone.

Walking through town together, streetwise Wei Ying is looking at things through completely different eyes. He shows Jiang Cheng parts of his own home he never knew existed. They have adventures that Wei Ying thinks are frankly pretty tame, but it's obviously the most thrilling thing that's ever happened to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng is obviously better at him at some stuff, the things boys who live in fancy houses grow up being taught. But he wouldn't last a minute out on his own! Wei Ying is going to have to look after his innocent little shidi and make sure he doesn't get into more trouble than he can handle.

Do you ever think of how little Wei Ying might not have known that his parents had died at first. He must have waited for them but they wouldn't have. They just left him behind, do you think he might have felt as if they had left because they didn't love him? Obviously he would have guess later that they had died but just imagine four y/o WY just waiting and waiting 😭😭😭

Don't remind me because my mind goes back to everything I've learned about the importance of nurturing, security, affection, food, and sleep during early childhood years. all of which wwx would've missed. At four, he would've missed them as a matter of survival. He's just forming a picture of himself and his personality now. His emotions are still a little complicated for him to express. His thoughts would've been:

'i'm cold, where's dad?' 'i'm hungry, where's mom?' 'dogs are scary, i want my dad' 'no one is looking at me, where are mom and dad?' 'why won't anyone hold me?' 'why is everything so different?'

He would be basically starved for food, starved for warmth, starved for affection, starved for touch.

He'd also have his first touches with negative attention. People turning away from him, kicking him away from food stalls, dismissing his state. He would've been sick sometimes, from eating something bad or sleeping in bad conditions. He would've felt a near painful need for his parents, for any protection.

Children cling to their parents. They think nothing can defeat them. That security is essential for development. WWX lost that way too early. The fact that he came out so well-adjusted is frankly a miracle.

By the time he was orphaned, he must have already been relatively autonomous and had a positive impression of himself (he probably had amazing and affirming parents) and was in an initiative phase. Basically, baby WWX would've decided to roll up his sleeves and survive. The little kiddo was probably making complex decisions every day on how to get food, where to sleep, which places were safe, who was safe, etc.

WWX probably established his sense of self and competency very early. By the time he was at the Jiangs, he probably considered himself very competent. So baby WWX was like 'I can do it' and it cemented into his being and then he was like 'I'm good at this' and that cemented into his being as well.

It is why WWX's inner voice just oozes I can do it all the time.

He is extraordinarily fortunate to develop in that particular direction. He doesn't remember anything, but childhood certainly left a mark on him.

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Twenty-Seven

The emperor makes a surprise visit to the Eastern Palace. He finds the crown prince drunk and playing with dancing girls. Music and dance is forbidden because of the mourning period for great-grandmother. He overhears the crown prince cursing him out. The emperor has an emotional attack of anger and regret. He orders Meng Zhi to seal the Eastern Palace closed. Meng Zhi asks for an official decree but Gao Zhan helps the emperor fob him off.

Meng Zhi is under a lot of pressure with only a verbal order. He goes to Jingyan and they go through the secret passage to MCS. Fei Liu meets them and tells them Prince Yu is with MCS.

Fei Liu's name for Prince Yu is 'poisonous snake'. Questioning him, Jingyan learns about 'water buffalo'. MCS recovers by blaming it on Nihuang.

Meng Zhi is wearing a horrible brown robe that looks like curtains.

MCS and Jingyan explain to Meng Zhi that he owes Gao Zhan for not letting him insist on a decree, because an official order would be an irreversible step to the Crown Prince's downfall and Meng Zhi doesn't want to be the one responsible for that. (During this scene, MCS and Jingyan are exchanging glances and doing married-couple telepathy.)

Meng Zhi makes a very clumsy attempt at getting the travel book back from Jingyan.

It's the mid-autumn festival soon after. Jingyan and his mother spend time together and he retrieves the book from her.

The emperor's actor, Ding Yongdai, is doing great work in this episode.

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Twenty-Six

Events

MCS explains that he used the naming taboo when he was making annotations in the travel book, because one of the places mentioned is the same as his mother's name. It's unlikely Jingyan will notice anything, but MCS has a bad feeling about it.

Jingrui goes to Southern Chu with Princess Niannian to meet his biodad, who is said to be ill.

Yujin goes after Jingrui and tries to persuade him not to go, but is reassured that he's not abandoning Da Liang forever. They hug, it's adorable.

Jingrui spots MCS watching and goes over to him. MCS apologises and Jingrui takes it with astounding grace, wisdom and maturity.

Prince Yu inspects the special rock he's giving his father for his birthday and is worried about what Jingyan's gift will be. MCS explains his reasoning behind giving the emperor a bow.

The emperor has dinner with his sons for his birthday, then spends the evening with his wives. Yue-guifei is jealous that Jing-fei gets to massage him and does a poor-little-me play for sympathy that succeeds.

The next morning the emperor is unwell

Jing-fei arranges to borrow the travel book from Jingyan.

4th sister stages a meeting with Tong Lu.

Characters

Yujin and Jingrui have been friends since they were babies.

MCS likens Yujin and Jingrui to himself and Jingyan.

MCS sends someone called Zhu Chen to keep watch over JIngrui.

Yu's advisor (Jin?) has been working for him for over 10 years.

The emperor has studied martial arts.

Costumes

Southern Chu doesn't do the sideburn thing the Da Liang noble women do.

Yujin is wearing three plaits going up his head instead of one like most of the men do.

Misc

It's been half a year since MCS bought Su Manor.

Jingrui and Niannian are travelling alone without servants, which is weird.

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Twenty-Five

Events:

Jingyan is given command of the Capital Patrol (Jinling's police force). His mother immediately offers the Emperor sex (well, she invites him to take a nap. But she's offering sex as a thank you. Jingyan is perfectly aware of what she's doing, which is icky).

Jingyan is also given permission to visit his mother any time, which he's much more pleased about.

13 visits MCS to discuss Banruo's network. They've been making headway and she's having personnel problems. They talk about Princess Xuanji.

There has been no word from Xia Dong. MCS isn't worried, but wants to foment discord between the Xia disciples.

Prince Yu is mad about Jingyan's popularity.

Meng Zhi gets caught in the secret tunnel by Jingyan. Jingyan obtains the travel book.

Banruo drags 4th sister out of retirement to infiltrate Su Manor.

MCS informs Jingyan he will surely be promoted to qin-wang (translated as Noble Prince) soon, putting him on level with Prince Yu.

Lots of slow discussion of strategy in this episode.

Names and titles

Banruo and 4th sister both call Princess Xuanji shifu.

It was very lucky that MCS entered the secret tunnel calling out Meng-da-tongling instead of Meng-dage, which would have exposed too much of their relationship to Jingyan.

Characters

Jingyan is always so nervous around his father, especially when he's being rewarded.

The Empress is glad to see Jing-fei rise at Yue-guifei's expense.

MCS's handwriting is different to Lin Shu's partly for lack of wrist strength.

Banruo pulls a dagger on a shopkeeper.

Banruo's motive is simple vengeance.

Banruo and 4th sister are perfectly aware of Xia Jiang's involvement in the Chiyan case.

Jing-fei has a new headdress.

Time and Place

4th sister is living in a town called Xiniu. It can't be more than a day or so from Jinling.

It's been two months since Xie Yu's fall and a year since the show began.

History

The Hua people initially allied with Da Liang, then defected to Da Yu. The Chiyan army spent a year putting down their rebellion.

[fandomside]

his well-being is important to all the morally upstanding characters

Not only that, but the villains don't target him. Even the least moral characters in the show don't say nasty things about him or behave weirdly to him.

Nirvana In Fire is still the best autistic representation I’ve seen.  Fei Liu’s autism is handled with maturity and compassion, literally always.

It’s really clear that Fei Liu will never be able to live independently.  No one ever tries to make him feel like a burden, or like he should Just Try Harder – they just ensure that he always has an appropriate guardian who can give him guidance and keep him safe.

Aside from literally one throwaway line in an early episode about “the mind of a child,” no one ever infantilizes him in a significant way.  Nobody censors their speech around him.  No one leaves him out of their plans (he’s actually central to a lot of plans because of his combat skills), and his guardian’s friends take him out to the red light district at one point.

He’s completely trusted to do the things he CAN do.  He loves fighting, and is so good at it that there’s a comedic scene where Fei Liu is fighting assassins downstairs while his guardian calmly writes a letter upstairs.

Because he’s mostly nonverbal, other characters pay particular attention to his actions.  When he inspects a prospective house very closely and then plays on the grounds, his guardian takes that for approval.  When he leaves some mandarins uneaten despite loving fruit so much he’s liable to make himself sick from eating too much, it’s a sign something’s wrong with that fruit.

He doesn’t always understand social customs or cues, and his guardians politely tell him what’s happening and why throughout the show.  He learns all about giving and receiving gifts without anyone being rude to him.

He’s a really central character who has a consistent and pervasive disability, and he wouldn’t be Fei Liu if he wasn’t autistic.  He wouldn’t contribute to the plot in the same key ways, and he wouldn’t have so many iconic scenes.  He’s one of the heroes, his well-being is important to all the morally upstanding characters, and it’s so important to me that his autism is treated with respect instead of rewarding only the useful traits and shaming him for the rest of his personality.

[fandomside]

《 延禧攻略 》Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)

[fandomside]

Oh, absolutely Sikong Changfeng. He's running a city - and you can't tell me Baili Dongjun or Li Hanyi are giving him much help with admin - and he has a daughter who runs away to fight bad guys whenever she feels like it. But he and Qianluo have an excellent relationship, and he acts in loco parentis to whatever headstrong teenagers trail in from the jianghu. He doesn't put a foot wrong.

These contestants have cleared the (very, very, very low bar) to be the rare breed of cdrama father who is both a (relatively) good father* and ALSO still be alive! And they deserve recognition for this

*some of them clear the bar better than others...

Propaganda, examples, and write-ins absolutely welcome!

[fandomside]

Jiang Fengmian severely fucked up his kids and the whole family dynamic. He allowed his bad relationship with his wife to taint his attitude to his son, although I guess completely ignoring Jiang Cheng is better than actively abusing him. He also somewhat neglected his daughter and acted rashly towards her marriage. Having brought Wei Wuxian into the family unit without clarifying his status (son? servant? chief disciple? mascot? weapon?), he made no effort to address the enormous problems this caused. The ultimate result was that two of his children died and the third was left angry, lonely and bitter.

Jiang Fengmian did not have bad intentions but he was completely incompetent at fatherhood. I tend to weight this heavier than characters like Shan Gudao (evil and crazy, but also made some decent gestures towards being a dad) or Jin Guangshan (actively abusive). Meanwhile, Xiao Xuan was bad at being emperor, and where that intersected with fatherhood he was terrible, but he was probably pretty decent to those of his kids he could deal with on purely personal, as opposed to imperial, terms.

These dads are the sort that have you yelling at the screen. They're the sort of dad who wonders why their children never visit after they've grown up.

Choosing these dads was quite subjective on my part: if you disagree on their inclusion in this poll, let me know!

Shoutout to Dongfang Qincang's dad who is emphatically not alive but isn't letting that stop him from being terrible to his son.

SPOILERS FOR CHARACTERS IN MYSTERIOUS LOTUS CASEBOOK

*an AO3 tag, very much ironic

Propaganda, examples, and write-ins absolutely welcome!

[fandomside]

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Twenty-Four

Events

MCS and Jingyan pledge to each other to investigate the Chiyan case.

The palace bell rings to announce the passing of great-grandmother. MCS collapses.

The CP is eating at the vigil when he should be fasting. When Prince Yu catches him, CP offers him some and he accepts. This emboldens other princes, but Jingyan refuses. The ministers observe and comment on it.

Nihuang returns to the capital and comes to MCS. There are emotions. (I yell at him to kiss her, but he doesn't. This happens a lot.)

Xie Yu is released from prison into exile. His family come to see him off and bribe his guards for a chance to talk. Liyang passes a message from MCS to write a letter detailing what he knows about the Chiyan case and leave it with her. He does so publicly and Liyang takes it without reading it.

The prince with no ambition and Nihuang go to keep vigil at great-grandmother's tomb for a year.

Jingyan visits MCS. They have been discussing military supply chains. Jingyan almost recognises him as Lin Shu.

Xia Dong nearly kills Xie Yu as he's leaving, but Jingrui stops her.

At Gao Zhan's suggestion, the Emperor visits Jing-fei for her birthday and brings extra presents. He finds Jingyan there. Jingyan and his mother work together to get a pardon for an old teacher of hers.

Names and titles

MCS calls himself Su-mou when pledging to Jingyan, 'mou' being a humble way of referring to yourself. I would like to note I heard this without any help from subtitles.

Jingyan, MCS and Nihuang all call great-grandmother tai-nainai during this episode, which is the common word without any imperial title.

Jingyan calls Prince Ning san-ge; Prince Ning calls his brothers by their names, including the CP who's older than him.

Nihuang says Lin-bobo for Lin Shu's father.

Characters

MCS makes a half-hearted attempt to talk Jingyan out of investigating the Chiyan case, knowing full well it won't work.

MCS hoped that he'd be able to reveal his identity to his great-grandmother before she died.

Fei Liu is trying origami and failing.

MCS actually talks! about! his feelings! to Nihuang. He even lets his guard down enough to mention the fire and ice of the poison, which is something he almost never talks about. He was doing so well... and then he started back on "I'll get distracted if people are close to me".

Xie Yu tells his son Xie Bi to look after his mother, but has no other words for him, and nothing for Jingrui. His children really are an afterthought to him.

Customs

MCS kowtows to Jingyan when he pledges to him; JIngyan kowtows in return. The first is fairly normal, the second is very much not.

27 bells are rung for the death of a dowager empress.

Everyone in the palace wears white headbands during the mourning period. The emperor and the princes wear white headbands and sleeveless white robes over their usual silks.

The mourning period means Nihuang doesn't have to fear any renewed attempts at marriage.

There was a general amnesty for criminals after great-grandmother's death, which helped Xie Yu get his sentence reduced from death to exile. However the amnesty doesn't apply to certain crimes, such as the guy who violated imperial naming taboo in the imperial examinations and got exiled over it along with his father (who was Jing-fei's teacher in her youth).

Time and place

By the end of the episode it's summer.

Xie Yu was exiled somewhere called Qianzhou, which is cold. The naming taboo guy was exiled to Lingnan.

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Twenty-Three

Events:

Prince Yu agrees to get MCS in to talk to Xie Yu.

Fei Liu passes a message to Xia Dong, who's still grounded. Xia Jiang senses him but doesn't spot him.

MCS talks to Xie Yu in his prison cell. He starts out by gloating (because it's what Xie Yu expects of him). Then he points out that Xia Jiang might have Xie Yu killed once he is released from prison for the sake of his secrets. Xie Yu protests that he trusts Xia Jiang.

Meanwhile, Prince Yu visits Xia Jiang and says he heard that Zhuo Dingfeng killed a certain teacher, Li Chongxin, as a favour to Xia Jiang.

MCS explains that Xia Jiang now believes Xie Yu has betrayed him by telling Prince Yu about Li Chongxin. Xie Yu capitulates. He says that Li Chongxin forged the handwriting of the general Nie Feng (Xia Dong's dead husband) in a letter saying Lin Xie (Lin Shu's father) was rebelling. Xie Yu then pretended to receive the letter and rush to the aid of Nie Feng, only to ambush the Chiyan army and slaughter them.

Xia Dong and Jingyan are standing in the next cell listening to all of this. Afterward, Jingyan goes straight to his mother even though it's not his permitted day for seeing her.

MCS is brooding in his room; Li Gang and Zheng Ping are worried. He's interrupted by Jingyan in the secret passage. They talk about the Chiyan case. MCS points out there's no point bringing it to the emperor when the emperor was part of the reason why it happened.

Great-grandmother is dying. She calls for xiao-Shu and his mother (her granddaughter).

Characters:

Once again, Prince Yu is merely a convenient tool for MCS.

Xia Chun is the eldest of the three Xuanjing disciples.

The prison guard describes Prince Qi as 'unyielding'.

MCS is very polite to Xie Yu, addressing him by his title. But he's terrifying. Sinister, dangerous, arrogant.

Freshly-harvested tea is available in the markets, but Xia Jiang is being frugal and drinking old tea - or at least serving it to Prince Yu.

Xie Yu's instincts are telling him that MCS has a personal interest in this, but MCS has perfect control, although it's fraying a bit towards the end of their conversation.

As MCS exits the cell, he and Jingyan exchange glances and do this lovely little acknowledgement that just kills me.

Jingyan's first reaction is to think of xiao-Shu.

MCS is horrified at the thought Jingyan might have doubted the innocence of Prince Qi and Lin Xie.

MCS believes Xia Jiang got rid of Prince Qi for the emperor as a "who will rid me of this troublesome priest".

Misc

There's a special 'han' cell for members of the imperial family.

Yan-daifu wears his hair loose jianghu style.

The prison guards expositing for us are father and son.

[fandomside]

If you like Mysterious Lotus Casebook, why not try The Blood of Youth? We have...

Jaded protagonist who has lost all his martial arts and claims to just be a humble member of the jianghu, lying constantly about his prestigious background and the fact he's extremely famous:

(Here he is again but dressed like a woman this time for Plot Reasons):

His new sidekick: a puppy in the form of a teenager with floofy hair. Enjoyer of food, kicker of ass:

The leader of the demon sect who gets constantly nerfed by the narrative because if he was at full power all the time there wouldn't really be much of a plot:

The three of them eating together! Bonding! Bickering!:

Other key characters include:

Woman with chronic illness:

Women getting cool action shots:

This distinctive wig worn by the Purple Guy:

A man, I swear:

One actor who's in one of the tumblr famous cdramas that will make you go 'hey, isn't that that guy from the more tumblr famous cdrama!'

This actor playing a guy in love with an older woman:

These two actors playing Bros:

... hang on this is like half the supporting cast?? well anyway if you enjoying looking at actors and going 'hmmmm i swear i've seen them before' then This is the show for you:

This boat! I'm like 75% its the same boat but its difficult to tell with the lighting:

ANYWAY the acting is great the costumes are great the wigs are great I cried for two days straight please watch the blood of youth