#(bc calling off the wedding would be inconvenient and his convenience outweighs whatever trauma might befall other people)

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Ohhhhh, wow, the way the show introduces Jin Guangshan is excellent.

When I first watched, and didn’t know that I was looking at the worst possible human, I was just like “lol what a douchebag,” because his interactions even with his fellow middle-aged male sect leaders come off as smarmy and patronizing. Still, I (a fool!) thought it was nice that he wasn’t holding Wei Wuxian’s impulsivity against the Jiang clan and recognized his own son’s part in it.

On rewatch, though, the discussion about the betrothal had me going AUGHHHHH into my hands, because it’s not really about the betrothal: it’s about respecting the agency of others, and especially of children. Jiang Fengmian says it’s not right to force the children to do something they don’t want to do. Jin Guangshan laughs and says the children just don’t understand, and that they (the authority figures) can ignore it. Transcription of the Netflix translation:

JFM: We, the Jiang clan of Yunmeng, claim the following of one’s nature. We don’t force our children into doing something they don’t like. Although these two children have a troth, it was originally set by A-Li’s mother. Now, since both of them are not willing to honor it, let us cancel it.

JGS: Clan Leader Jiang, the children are too young to understand. It’s a mistake. We can just ignore this.

JFM: Clan Leader Jin, we can set the troth for them, but we can’t marry for them. After all, it’s the two children who are going to spend the rest of their lives together.

JGS: ...Ah.

JFM: I sent a letter to A-Li’s mother. Let’s cancel the troth.

JGS: Clan Leader Jiang, it’s my son’s fault. He ruined such a beautiful union! Since you have made up your mind, I’ll follow your decision. But this should not affect the relationship between our two clans.

On the surface, without other context, it sounds like he’s just bummed about losing an alliance and is maybe even being GRACIOUS--look, he’s willing to forgive WWX punching his heir in the face! The Yunmeng brothers’ distress at the engagement’s abrupt cancellation and their concern about Jiang Yanli’s response also make JGS’s response seem reasonable; he, like our heroes, doesn’t want JYL’s life trajectory altered because of one fistfight. What a guy!

EXCEPT NOT! Because JGS doesn’t express concern over JYL (he doesn’t use the kids’ names at all, I don’t think, which... eek), but rather a complete disregard for the wishes of Jin Zixuan. Despite JFM stating plainly “I’m calling this off because it’s morally wrong to force our children into an unwanted marriage,” JGS processes that as “[his] son’s fault.” JZX “ruined such a beautiful union” by opposing it, never mind that it wasn’t much of a union in the first place if one party openly didn’t consent to it.

And that’s how he responds to his FAVORED kid! That’s the one kid he actually values! Based on this one little scene, his treatment of people he values even less should come as no surprise at all.

(It’s also telling that JGS is left out of the loop re: the Yin Iron. Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen pull JFM aside to discuss it, going so far as to put up some type of anti-surveillance ward. They also state that they’ve already communicated with Nie Mingjue, so the Jin clan is being POINTEDLY left out of this discussion. They know the vibes are bad; they just don’t do anything about it but quietly exclude him when they can.)

#I started to screencap the whole dialogue exchange but life is fleeting and I did not want JGS on my screen for that length of time #(this is also why I 100% think CQL!JGS knew about Qin Su and had the wedding happen anyway) #(bc calling off the wedding would be inconvenient and his convenience outweighs whatever trauma might befall other people) #(also as my friend put it 'JGS interacts with people like someone deleting all the pool ladders in The Sims') #masala necromancy wizard hour