#qi zhuyin ( threads. )

[zarasu]

I've started reading Qiang Jin Jiu and I have a feeling that this book is going to take over my life.

I will wait to make a thread about 'why you should read qjj' until I read a bit more but my impressions so far are:

Basics about qjj: it's a webnovel, it's a danmei, it's xianxia and has a lot of court intrigue. Apparently there will also be a lot of smut later, which I look forward to.

The mc, Shen Zechuan, is very smart, very cunning and ambitious but hides it behind a gentile mask and is, above all, very very beautiful.

So beautiful, in fact, that this one prince legit dropped his teacup when he saw him (I'm still laughing about that).

His love interest, Xiao Chiye, is the youngest prince of Libei, a region in the north. He's very smart too, but he's also incredibly rude, intentionally cultivates a reputation of being a lazy drunkard and hates Szc with a passion.

You can probably guess it: it's enemies to lovers. Now, I'm normally not a great fan of that trope but well. There's this scene fairly early on when they're still teenagers and have a fight and they're literally rolling around on the floor, pulling at each other's hair and Szc bites Xcy so hard he leaves a scar behind.

And ngl, that was the moment where it had me. That was hilarious.

They're still enemies where I'm at right now, but there's already so much romantic tension, my god.

The court intrigue is really fun as well. It's thankfully well explained (or I'd be lost, I freely admit that) and I enjoy that all the characters have well thought-out motivations and reasonings behind their actions.

Also, so far, at least two strong female characters have been introduced, which is not that common in a danmei, but which I very much enjoy. The empress dowager, who rules through the emperor and everyone knows it, and a female general called Qi Zhuyin who might just be a lesbian and who will maybe actually get a female love interest? Don't quote me on that though, I don't really know anything yet.

Anyway, really enjoying this read so far, looking forward to telling y'all more later!

#qiang jin jiu #shen zechuan #xiao chiye #reading qjj

[hamliet]

A Game of Thrones: Ming Dynasty Edition

Or, Hamliet received a recommendation for Qiang Jin Jiu (thanks @khunsimp​)  saw the premise of enemies-to-lovers, disgraced sons, and sins of the father themes, was like “that’s my jam,” and read 164 chapters in a single weekend. (There’s still like. ~120 to go that aren’t yet translated #fun). 

It is indeed my jam and is essentially the love story of Mulan’s Shang and 2ha’s Shi Mei. I’m kidding, the leads are their own characters (very much so!) but that’s whom I kept comparing them to in my mind. 

Shen Zechuan is a particularly compelling character. He’s introduced as a somewhat pathetic figure, a PTSD-stricken teenager who’s lost everyone he ever loved, was never really treated as a son by his father, and yet is being tortured and sentenced to die for the sheer fact that he is his father’s only surviving son. His father supposedly committed treason, for which Shen Zechuan pays the price. But then the story switches, and you see Shen Zechuan’s cunning nature, which is in many senses just as pitiful but dangerous. I mean the guy’s skinning people alive by chapter 30 so. 

Xiao Chiye at first was, to me, likely to be less interesting as a character because I’m not usually into the physically driven characters--but I was wrong. He’s equally as well-developed and complex as Shen Zechuan, and his continual struggles with duty, his love for his family, and his internal struggles are compelling. His relationships with his family is particularly heartwarming. The scene where he tells his father he’s fallen in love with a man, essentially coming out to him, was deeply touching and wholesome--which stands out all the more because of the story’s extremely dark tone (which I’ll talk about later).

The plot is highly complex. It's also very political, which I enjoy, although I will admit that not having the conclusions yet definitely means some parts feel fragmented at this stage--but they probably won’t feel this way by the end. I’m highly intrigued by the mysteries surrounding Bai Cha, Shen Zechuan’s mother, and by the premise of Qi Zhuyin and Hua Xiangyi’s relationship (also, canon lesbian couple! Who are complex characters! It’s like the characters from Female General and Eldest Princess ended up in a good story!) 

The story’s tone is quite dark--I literally have no expectations for any character besides, I’m told, the main pairing and the lesbians to get a happy ending. It’s very tragic and violent, dark and exploring the worst of humanity more so than the best. Hence, why I compare it tonally to A Song of Ice and Fire. However, that doesn’t mean the story is nihilistic--for the most part, it’s really not. That dark tone is its strength as much as it is also my largest critique. 

For the latter element, there are chapters where the story can almost feel as if it is wallowing in that darkness--I’m not sure, for example, I needed the scene of a pregnant concubine being drowned, nor the told-to-us backstory of Mu Ru if she was never going to be properly explored before dying. Nor Li Jianheng’s tragic childhood, which was almost too much to bear especially with the ending he got. A lot of the unnecessary elements also seem to concern violence against women, and while it does have really nice female characters with arcs, this was... a lot. 

However, as hinted above, the darkness does make the beautiful, loving, heartwarming, and yes, funny (the novel has a great sense of humor) moments shine more brightly. The way Xiao Chiye is clearly light to Shen Zechuan, and his own redemption might pave the way for Shen Zechuan’s growth. The story hinted early on that Shen Zechuan might have to choose between his hatred and his will to live, and recently picked up those threads again with Xiao Chiye’s father’s wariness of Shen Zechuan’s demeanor. I think this is a worthy theme and really hope it’s further developed through his character.

But this idea--that hatred helps him live--ties into two other strong themes of the novel: wanting to live no matter what it costs, and the cost of victory/defeat. Whether on a physical battlefield or a political chess game, trade negotiations, torturing a prisoner, a marriage, the story is constantly asking the characters what the cost of victory is, and when it is worth it and when it is not--when a defeat can truly be a victory in some sense. I’m very interested to see how these ideas continue to develop. 

Anyways, I quite enjoy this novel, especially the main characters, and am interested to see where it goes! Personally, the writing is less my taste than MXTX’s works (which are very, very character driven in a personal way, and have a distinct kindness to their tone), but it is extremely well written and the two leads are excellent characters. The themes are worthy questions, and it’s truly moving and enjoyable. I definitely recommend it! 

#qiang jin jiu #shen zechuan #xiao chiye #cezuan #xiao ce'an #shen lanzhou #hamliet reviews