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cherryhua · 2 years

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The Tragedy of Qi Rong :

Let me start by saying despite all the things Qi Rong did ( and yes, his loud cursing included ), I've never found him a detestable character, but more of a pathetic - and to an extent - a tragic one . I've talked before about the similarities between Xuan Jie and Hua Hua, and how MXTX used her character to defend Hua cheng's feelings and behavior, by giving is a real example of what true obsession and stalking looks like, and i feel like she did the same thing with Qi rong and Xie Lian, only in this case, not to defend Xie Lian's Behavior, but more so to shed light on his less attractive side for the lack of better words, and to an extent his arrogant past self.

Let me start by saying that first of all, "this ancestor" is definetly not the dumb, naive person people portrays him to be. Granted, he has tons of flaws, but stupidity is definitely not one of them. He never failed, not once, to directly see through a lot of characters flaws, and even predict the novel's twists. For example, in book 2, he was the first one to point out to Xie Lian that he needs to properly "educate his servants'' ( referring to Mu Qing ), as he can see that it will come a day where - Mu Qing - will bite the hand that fed him, and use Xie Lian as stepping stone to rise higher than him. He also stated that Hong Hong Er was no normal child, very strong and tenacious and that he only looked pathetic in front of Xie Lian. He foresaw the fall of Xian le before Yong'An rebelion, recognized Hua hua's Ashes when no one else did, called jun Wu a faker, Pei su a leg-hugging dog, orchestrated the gilded banquet massacre, Xuan Ji's whole bride scheme and let's be real here : he become -a near- devastation.

Initially Qi Rong is not, or at least was not a heartless cruel person, but the environment he grew up in made him see only the bad in people, as well as having an elitist and mob mentality. In book 2 we got a little glimpse on his backstory : Qi Rong was born, and raised in an abusive home ( his father was a drunk abusive father and husband ), after returning to the palace, it was clearly indicated that everyone looked down at him and his mother and indirectly isolated them. Soon after, his mother will pass away in a gruesome way, and he will be raised by the Queen : Xie Lian's mother, to fulfil her sister's last wish,This little detail will come off handy later, to show case that Qi Rong was never wanted by anybody, directly or indirectly except by his mother and Gu Zi, or at least that's how he saw things. I mean even the king had his objections but did tolerate him eventually because...well, he is from royal blood after all. The book states clearly that Qi Rong, and despite the queen's good intentions, spoiled him greatly, and never dared to punish him for anything he did, as a respect for her sister's memory. This way of doing things, plus Qi rong's trauma, his hatred for his Yong'An "commoner" blood, and his privileged background, made him a person with no understanding for what "consequences" and "taking accountability" means, as well as becoming a bully trying to erase his commoner Yong'An heritage, by only focusing on his royal title and what comes with it : as the Prince Xiao Jing he can do whatever he wants, and nothing and no one can say anything about it.

As a Child, Qi Rong also had a deep admiration and devotion to his "Cousin Crown Prince '', since he was the first person to openly defend him and help him as a little boy from the bullies who pranked him. And his Devotion was highlighted throughout the entire book 2, he even begged the Queen to gift him a carriage for his birthday so he can use it to bring his cousin crown prince on it back home ( not gonna lie, this part made feel bad for Qi Rong y'all ! ) , and waited days in front of the mountain where xie Lian was training, without having any knowledge when Xie Lian will decide to visit home, as long as he gets to be with his cousin Crown Prince, he won't mind waiting for days .Though, Xie Lian never treated Qi Rong badly, he never treated him good either. he didn't pay any attention to him, and usually when he did, it's either to scold him or criticize something he did ( rightfully so ), but throughout the entire book 2, Xie Lian never took time or the initiative to thank Qi rong for his devotion, and maybe take him under his wing and properly educate him, since Qi Rong only listened to Xie Lian.

Qi Rong also was described as being this tasteless Ghost, who copies others in a very cheap way. In My opinion, Qi Rong copying the other two Ghost kings is not a sign of lack of taste or whatnot, but it's an indirect message to showcase how much Qi Rong was craving acceptance as well as how deep his inferiority complex is running: if raining blood will make others like him and look at him with respect then he will do it, even if it comes off tasteless, it's still a bloody rain after all.

And speaking of inferiority complex and acceptance, I think Qi Rong's love for Xie Lian turned to pure hatred because he truly and genuinely believed that Xie Lian cared for him for who he is, that's why he defended him from the other kids, and that's why he helped him with his prayer, Unlike others who looks at him with condescension, and only treats him with a fake respect due to his title as prince Xiao Jing. And so Xie Lian's constantly ignoring him, scolding him, criticising him, never showing any signs of gratefulness to all his efforts, made him sink even more in the idea that he will never be good enough to anyone, not even to his Cousin Crown Prince, with the "white lotus heart". At the end of his arc, he sacrificed himself to save Gu Zi, just like he would wait days in front of the mountain to escort Xie Lian back home : he finally found someone who loved him, and i mean genuinely loved him and accepted him : not out of duty like the queen , not as Prince Xiao Jin like the palace attendance, not as the green ghost like Xuan Ji and the minions following him, but as the loud, cursing, crad, tasteless, human eating Qi Rong. Of course, we can argue that Gu Zi was just a child, with the innocence of children. and Qi Rong was possessing his father. Nevertheless, Qi Rong was a father figure for Gu Zi for a long time, and although he tried to get rid of him on my occasions, and even threatened to eat him, Gu Zi always followed him. We can all agree that our parents are not perfect, but we love them regardless ( yes I know, they don't threaten to eat us lol ) and Gu Zi is no different.

I feel like Qi Rong was just a more tragic version of Xie Lian's desire to be loved and accepted, and MXTX delivered that beautifully since i never disliked his character throughout the whole novel, i was even mad at Xie Lian in some parts of how he treated Qi Rong, that's how i knew he is a well written character.

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cherryhua · 2 years

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First of all, thank you for accepting me in the fandom, and the platform in general. I am in no way shape or form, a professional review\analysis character but only a huge fan of TGCF , and I love to scratch the plot as a fan as well as a long time Danmei reader and share my little thoughts with the fandom. please feel free to call me out on my bs,i love discussions and food for thoughts.

The reason behind this post is to add my little two cents regarding something that, I believe in my humble opinion, is a little something about HuaLian that doesn't get enough attention. Hua cheng is portrayed as this romantic,obsessed bad boy, who has no interest or compassion towards others ( which to an extent is true, but i'll get into that in a bit), and Xie Lian being this good, oblivious meatbun, who made some mistakes and now just roams aimlessly in peace.

putting Hua Cheng in front of Xie Lian is literally like one of them looking into a mirror ( just with a different set of clothes hehe ) , and in order to explain my point I'll divide it into little parts,so this might be long but please bear with me.

- Arc and character development :

when we Meet Xie Lian at the beginning of the novel, we meet him at the end of his arc ( or close to it ), his rise and fall, taking responsibility and humbling himself, and realising his limits and make peace with it was already done in the past ( Book 2 and 4).What remains to complete his arc is him finding his happy ending, which is mainly: learn to love himself again ( and of course being with Hua Hua). loving oneself, is not limited to gaining confidence, or self worth, but it's also the gain of freedom to be oneself without any fear of judgement, including to love for one's selfish reasons : in the past, Xie Lian, loved his country, his people, his friends and his parents either because that's the natural thing to do or out of responsibility and commitment. However, his love for Hua Cheng is different: he fell in love, deeply to almost a damaging degree because he found THAT missing piece that will finally complete him, but as someone who always puts others first, this realisation was something new, extremely scary, but freeing . ( ''only after meeting you, did i realise is such simple thing to be happy").The same thing is applied to Hua cheng, we meet him at the beginning of the book, but at the end of his arc, he has matured, took control over his fate and changed it, avenged his God, and made himself the strongest to protect him, however his arc needed his happy ending to finally be completed : knowing he is worthy of love too ( and of course being with his Taizi Dianxia ).

Their arc, and character development is always mirrored through book 2 and 4, only it's backwards: they always meet at crucial points of their lives, when one is rising and the other is falling, yet at the same time being each other's light at the end of the tunnel,And I think that's MXTX's way of telling us that these two are destined soulmates despite the impossible circumstances surrounding them them . at the beginning of book 2 ( which is the start of their arcs) : in their first meeting, Xie Lian was this magnificent, privileged, powerful Crown prince destined to only greatness, who's confident, low-key arrogant ( and little sassy hehe ), loved by his parents, friends and people and overall at the highest points of his life,. While Hua Cheng, was this impoverished, bullied self hating child. who's abused by his family ( and it's heavily implied that his mother died out of illness), beaten by strangers, and is in so much pain and agony that he wishes to put an end to everything, himself included. This encounter resulted in Xie Lian ( being in the highest point ), saving Hua Cheng from falling to his death ( who was at his lowest point), but this encounter was the start of the change in both of their lives.

The second time they met, was in the Xie Lian small temple, at that time Xie Lian had ascended to godhood ( the highest level a human can reach ), and was dealing with the whole Yong'an fiasco, which would eventually be his downfall. At that moment, Hua Cheng was dealing with su*cidal thoughts, poverty, being homeless, hunger, bullying.. ( the lowest state a human can reach), in a moment of despair, He asked Xie Lian what is the meaning of life, since he is in such pain he doesn't want to live anymore, ' tell me God, what should i do?', to which Xie Lian asks to make him his reason to live, and if he doesn't have a reason, then he should live for him, making him that reason. This moment of guidance is also mirrored again in the present at the end of the novel, when hua Cheng was at the edge of dying. in a moment of despair Xie Lian broke down " no one listened to me talk for years, just tell me what should i do ?", to which Hua Cheng replied that he is Xie Lian's most devoted believer, and as long as Xie Lian is in this earth, he will refuse to die. Of course, we need to read a little between the lines here, there was no doubt that if a God has no believers, or statues he will vanish from existence, but what kept Xie Lian alive up until this point, was his one true believer's existence : Hua cheng, and because of his Love and devotion he will defy death itself to come back and live, and continue on living for Xie Lian, the ame way Xie Lian is the reason that kept ( and still keeping ) Hua Cheng alive.

A third, and important instance and the real changing point in both of their arcs is in book 4 : When Xie Lian met Wuming ( Hua Cheng ) as Bai wuxian. The outcome of this interaction was : Hua cheng dying a second time, sacrificing himself to save Xie Lian's humanity, while Xie Lian deciding to take responsibility for his deeds, Resulting in Xie Lian's second banishment, getting his powers sealed, his Luck sucked dry, and becoming a magnet to evil fortune, and finally he become this nobody, impoverished scrap collecting guy, living for the sake of living. While Hua Cheng's fate changed, raised as a ghost king, his luck turned from bringing disasters to bringing only good fortune, and the rest is history.

After this, the two never met again. Part of it is due to Xie Lian's bad luck, but another part is that their character development is almost completed, and what remains to finally give it closure is their final meeting.

There are many other instances like this throughout the story which i won't go into all of them all otherwise i would be writing for days hehe.

- character treats :

Hua Cheng is described as this nonchalant, non caring ,cold, sassy, strong, know-it-all guy, which are all true characteristics of his. He's also known for not caring about anyone who isn't Xie Lian, not even himself. Xie Lian is no different either, but a lot of those character threats are not as obvious as Hua Cheng's for the simple reason that Xie Lian is polite, and keeps most of his thoughts to himself. Xie Lian is very snarky, and thankfully because we are reading the novel from his point of view, we get to know when he is mentally rolling his eyes, or being genuinely annoyed with something. Xie Lian also forgets everyone's existence when Hua Cheng is present, he's just a little low key about it. I think the reason why one is outspoken about how he feels while the other keeps it to himself, is how the two were raised and brought up : Xie Lian after all was a royalty, a crown prince who was properly educated, although we know there were times where that education was blown away by the wind ( ehm book 4 ehm ), reason why he isn't lacking any manners ( and it will be unfair to say Hua cheng does, only he feels that his good manners are only for his Dianxia, he doesn't care too much if the rest of the world found him rude), but also, because Xie Lian was born, and raised in privileged environement , he was always surrounded by good, and hope since he was little, everyone was nice to him, respected him and loved him, or at least pretended to be, after all he was the king and queen's only child.Unlike Hua Cheng who was born into poverty in an abusive environment, he only saw the evil side of humanity since he was a child, making it very hard for him to have the slightest consideration to anyone's feelings, or at least feel obliged to be nice to anyone. After all, no one was ever nice to him, so why should he burden himself with casual formalities ? Of course, other than being sassy queens, the two of them also share the same insecurities : Both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng thought they were unworthy of love. Both of them were petrified by their past selves, and both of them made peace with the idea that they're destined to be alone.

- Morals :

Both Hua Cheng and Xie Lian shared the same views, that in my humble opinion summed up the message behind TGCF : first, Fate is something that can be changed and controlled, thus you get to decide which path you walk in, and when you do, you should accept the consequences of it. Second, when you love someone, you love them for who they are, in their glorious and lowest moments, and not for what they are.

The two expressed these ideologies throughout the book simultaneously, but I think Hua Cheng takes the credit for this more than Xie Lian in the fandom : Hua cheng told Xie Lian in HX arc : "the one standing in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is 'you' and not the state of you", but Xie Lian also told Hua Cheng in the Banyue arc : "If I like you, you can be a beggar and I will still like you. If I dislike you, you can be an emperor and I will still dislike you". and this is one of the reasons why the two support each other's decisions despite sometimes not agreeing ( like the Gambles den for example) .

Hua Cheng Also made it clear, that people have the freedom to choose which paths they walk on, himself included.it doesn't matter if you would succeed or fail, what matters is are you brave enough to take that step, and stand up for what you believe in. This way of thinking is expressed by Xie Lian over and over again as well, especially through the first book, when he openly defies the heavens or when he chooses to create a third path, one that aligns with his own beliefs .

- Love for each other :

Hua Cheng's Love started in the past, while Xie Lian's in the present. I see a lot of comments saying that Hua Cheng falling in love was too easy and didn't make sense. isn't that what love is ? emotions are never meant to make sense. With that said, Hua Cheng feelings started as a child's admiration, and slowly turned to love and a deadly obsession ( deadly to himself since he died for his love three times ) and it only kept on growing every time he met Xie Lian and got to get a little glimpse on who he TRULY is ( keep in mind that of all people, Hua cheng was the only one who saw Xie Lian at his best, and at his worst). The same also happened with Xie Lian, he met Hua cheng for the "first" time on the ox Cart, and instantly thought "damn bruh ,you fine AF!", to the point he couldn't look at him directly into his eyes without feeling uncomfortable ( which reminds me of a similar incident in book 1 : when Xi Lian was with Hong Hong Er in the cart, having the same conversation they are having on the current Ox Cart, which is Hua Cheng introducing himself and telling Xie Lian that he has nowhere to go.Hua hua was also so shy he couldn't look at Xie Lian straight in the eyes without blushing --> remember what i said about mirroring their experiences ? *wink**wink ) , but this admiration only kept on growing until it reached an explosive, destructive level, especially after finding out who Hua Cheng is to him. Hua cheng might have died for Xie Lian before, but i have no doubt in my mind that Xie Lian would do the same for Hua cheng in an instant : remember in the last extra ( the birthday gift one ), Xie Lian, while dealing with the most agonizing pain, he ran away looking for Hua cheng; and held into him with a deadly grip more than he would held into his own life, asking him to stay by his side and never to leave him again : he can take the pain, he can take thousands of swords piercing his heart, but he can't take Hua cheng being away from him.

Overall, in my humble opinion, although Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are present as different individuals ( which they are in some aspects), they also have so much in common that I feel it's a crime not to point it out.

#tian guan ci fu #wu ming #xie lian #tgcf spoilers #yin yu #shi qingxuan #lang qianqiu #feng xin #qi rong #xianle trio #tgcf manhua #tgcf novel #tgcf art #tgcf donghua #tgcf meta #tgcf liveblog

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