After All, Children Of Others Could Never Compare To Children Of One's Own.

After all, children of others could never compare to children of one's own.

She turned to Wei WuXian and pointed at him, "Wei Ying! Listen to me! Protect Jiang Cheng, protect him even if you die, do you understand?!" Madam Yu raged, "Did you hear me?! Don't talk nonsense to me, I'm only asking you- did you hear me?!" Wei Wuxian couldn't struggle out of Zidian. He could only nod his head.

Jiang Fengmian stared into his eyes. Suddenly, he reached out. Only after pausing in the air did he finally touch Jiang Cheng's head, slowly, "A-Cheng, be well."

Wei WuXian, "Uncle Jiang, if anything happens to you, he won't be well."

Jiang FengMian turned his eyes to him, "A-Ying, A-Cheng... you must look after him."

The Validity of Jin Guangyao’s Lookout Towers

There’s been a lot of discourse for a while about the validity of the lookout towers that Jin Guangyao builds in his capacity as Chief Cultivator: whether or not they were a good or bad thing, whether they helped civilians or not, and what the real motivation behind building them was. I’ll be going over my thoughts on these lookout towers, using quotes from the exr, fanyiyi, and boat-full-of-lotus pods translations as well as a translated snippet from @jiangwanyinscatmom for every instance the lookout towers are mentioned in the story. Be warned that with this in mind, this will get long. Analysis under the cut:

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Do you know what I find absolutely ball achingly hilarious?

That JC stans literally make shit up and see what they want to see.

"WWX giving up his golden core to JC was romantic... If it was any other 'ship' (🤢) it would be seen as such, but because it's them it's not"

No... It's not because it's "them" (but there is zero chemistry there either way, not to mention the fact WWX only has eyes for LWJ even from being a teen or the glaringly obvious fact JC is homophobic!) It's the fact it wasn't romantic at all, you morons...

WWX did not do that out of love, it was out of obligation. The fact he had to actually think about it and convince himself he was doing the right thing should be enough to show even the simplest of people that he actually didn't want to do it. When it's an act of love it's instinctual, it's automatic and natural. Not lying in bed at night reminding yourself you have a 'debt' to pay back, the words to selfish people said to you before they died and trying to convince yourself it is the right thing to do.

It also wasn't romantic of JC to take it knowing fine well WWXs story had major plot holes in it and made zero sense when thought about logically. He had a lifeline this whole time and never used it when he was starving and being attacked by dogs? Don't be so bloody stupid. JC took that opportunity knowing it was suspicious and he didn't care how he was getting a new golden core. That's not romantic, that's selfish.

Guess the JC stans must have skipped those pages huh? Just like the pages of the book where JC is homophobic about MXY before he knew it wasn't MXY. Or the times he actually hits JL to the ground on more than one occasion? Must have missed those too.

Uh. Hm. Damn it. Even my favorite SVSSS pairing had less red flags. And those two had distinctly different courting styles in the first place. But at least Mobei-Jun tries to change his behavior.

Jiang Yanli: Jiang Cheng’s Bargaining Chip

I feel like I said this before in passing during my first read, so I wanted to go through it more in-depth this second time around. Note that this post will not be covering the validity of xuanli’s marriage or love for each other. I will only be addressing Jiang Cheng’s change of heart surrounding his opinion of Jin Zixuan and why I think this has everything to do with Jiang Cheng’s loss of established power after the fall of Lotus Pier. Bear with me, now, as a lot of these scenes are located all over the place in the book, but with the exception of a few scenes, everything that I will be using will come from exr’s chapt. 69.

The relationship between Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan before the Sunshot Campaign is not a good one on account of Jin Zixuan’s treatment of Jiang Yanli:

Neither Wei Wuxian nor Jiang Cheng liked to play with him; only Jiang Yanli wanted to feed him the food that she made. Jin Zixuan, however, didn’t really like to pay her any attention. This made Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng yell with anger in a few instances.

This already-soured blood is what prompts the fight that ends xuanli’s engagement in chapt. 18, in which Jin Zixuan insults Jiang Yanli to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s faces in a crowd of their peers. In this event, both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are moved to violence at Jin Zixuan’s words, though Wei Wuxian ensures that Jiang Cheng never throws a punch. And although Jiang Yanli doesn’t make her feelings on the matter clear when Wei Wuxian goes to her to apologize, Wei Wuxian understands later that she “must’ve been feeling quite dejected on the inside” for what transpired. This makes me feel that, even though Jiang Yanli was nice to Jin Zixuan where her brothers (and yes, I am counting wwx as such because Jiang Yanli counts wwx as such) aren’t, neither understood the depth of her feelings until much later.

Up until this point, we have not seen xuanli actually interact with each other; that chance comes when the Sunshot Campaign happens. We can assume with the engagement broken off that Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli do not meet again until the soup incident, which is where Jin Zixuan falsely accuses Jiang Yanli of trying to steal credit from a servant, publicly chastising her after her entire clan has been slaughtered just months prior, causing her to burst into tears despite her “easy temper.” Here, we get the damning critique that Jin Zixuan “had never understood her, and hadn’t ever wanted to understand her either.” We also get the first omission of Jiang Cheng from Jiang Yanli’s defense. Only Wei Wuxian is said to defend Jiang Yanli; Jiang Cheng only shows up in the retelling to pull Wei Wuxian off of Jin Zixuan.

Fast forward to the flower banquet directly after the war ends. Because of the soup incident, Jiang Yanli refused to even give Jin Zixuan “a proper look” before Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian take her back to Yunmeng. But Jin Zixuan, in turn, immediately begins to ask after Jiang Yanli, post-war. There is no mention of whether he ever directly attempts to appeal to Jiang Yanli, herself, but he approaches Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng at his clan’s flower banquet back in capt. 49 with the intention of once more asking after her. Wei Wuxian, understandably, reacts poorly to this:

Wei WuXian heard his own raging shout, “Jin ZiXuan! Don’t you forget about what things you said and what things you did? What do you mean by this, now?!”

To which Jin Zixuan responds:

“Sect Leader Jiang—this is our sect’s flower banquet, and this is your sect’s person! Are you going to look after him or not?!”

Wei Wuxian ends up storming off, but not before Jiang Cheng  chastises him and apologizes to Jin Zixuan for his behavior. He even answers Jin Zixuan’s questions and starts a conversation!

…Jiang Cheng’s voice came, “Wei WuXian, you can just shut your mouth. Young Master Jin, I’m sorry. My sister is doing quite well. Thank you for your concern. We can talk about this next time.”…

…He then began to converse with Jin ZiXuan.

This is a startling departure from his attitude towards Jin Zixuan’s transgressions against his sister in the Cloud Recesses, and while Jin Zixuan is being cordial, the Langya debacle was much more serious than his words during the lessons. Yet Jin Zixuan is the one to demand and be given an apology for being reminded of his past abhorrent behavior, whereas none was demanded (by Jiang Cheng) or seems to have been offered on Jin Zixuan’s end to Jiang Yanli for that same behavior that victimized her, not even to her brothers on her behalf. Plus, Jiang Cheng’s attitude cannot be said to be for Jiang Yanli’s benefit, as we know that she has completely removed herself from anything related to Jin Zixuan since the soup incident, and her feelings remain unchanged up to xuanli’s next in-person interaction at Phoenix Mountain, in which Jiang Yanli does not come of her own will:

Wei WuXian, “Don’t worry. As long as he doesn’t make shijie cry again, I don’t even want to pay him any attention. You shouldn’t have brought her in the first place.”

Jiang Cheng, “The LanlingJin Sect insisted on it. I didn’t have the face to refuse.”

Wei WuXian, “More like Madam Jin insisted on it. After this, she’d definitely find some way to urge shijie and that male princess to one place.”

She even seems uninterested in being there outside of seeing her brothers:

Jiang Yanli usually had an almost bland face, her features mild. However, as she saw her two younger brothers wave at her, her face immediately lit up. She lowered her fan. Shyly saying a few words to Madam Jin, she walked to the edge of the watching platform and tossed out two flowers at them.

vs.

Suddenly, a row of cultivators wearing white, gold-lined robes rushed out, dressed in light armor and riding on broad stallions…

..Madam Jin immediately patted on Jiang Yanli’s shoulder. Holding her hand, she dragged her to the edge of the watching tower again, pointing to her the riding formation of the Lanling Jin Sect.

Clearly, even if Jiang Yanli is still harboring (seemingly) unrequited feelings for Jin Zixuan, she is unwilling to entertain the thought of a relationship anymore. So why, then, would Jiang Cheng suddenly change his opinion of Jin Zixuan from a “peacock” who treats his sister poorly to “my sister loves him, so what can I do but reinstate the engagement?”

I posit that Jiang Cheng’s change is directly tied to the fall of Lotus Pier. With the Jiang massacre, Jiang Cheng is without any real power or allies of his own. The post-war Jin are very obviously amassing power, and the other three great clans are allied via 3zun’s sworn brotherhood. Jiang Cheng has no friends so cannot enter the sworn brotherhood, and his power is held in the hands of Wei Wuxian, who he can neither claim via blood relation nor use as a bartering chip since he isn’t a Jiang. So his only other option to gain an alliance to the other great clans is through Jiang Yanli’s marriage. And what’s an easier route than reinstating the engagement that was already previously an option now that the other party seems willing (and desperate) to forget the past and start anew?

Part of this is also tied up in Jiang Cheng’s own insecurities about his authority as a clan leader, which is provoked from the gossip at the Phoenix Mountain hunt. But when he begins to admonish Wei Wuxian on the behaviors brought up in gossip, he is easily diverted from it by Wei Wuxian’s nonchalance. He then turns the conversation to Jin Zixuan:

Jiang Cheng smirked, “Don’t carry your sword, then. It doesn’t matter. But don’t provoke Jin ZiXuan from now on. He’s Jin GuangShan’s only son, after all. The future leader of the LanlingJin Sect will be him. If you beat him up, what should I, the sect leader, do? Beat him up with you? Or punish you?”

Jiang Cheng is actively trying to court favor with the Jin but cannot do that if Wei Wuxian refuses to show grace to his social “betters”. And Wei Wuxian calls him out on this, particularly as his altercations with Jin Zixuan have all been in defense of Jiang Yanli:

Wei WuXian, “It’s not impossible? Have you forgotten what he did in Langya? You’re telling me that it’s not impossible?”

Jiang Cheng, “He’s probably regretting it.”

Wei WuXian, “Who cares if he regrets it. Do we have to forgive him just because he apologized? Look at what his dad’s like. Maybe he’ll be the goddamn same in the future, killing time searching everywhere for women. Have shijie be with him? You could take it?”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was frozen, “See if he dares!” After a pause, Jiang Cheng glanced at him before he continued, “But, it’s not like you have a say in whether he’s forgiven or not. Sister likes him, so what can we do?”

Jiang Cheng starts by defending Jin Zixuan by assuming that Jin Zixuan feels bad, making no mention whatsoever of any changed behavior of the other man’s that would justify such an assumption. It is only after Wei Wuxian brings up Jin Guangshan’s reputation that he even begins to defend his sister, but, once again, he pauses and pivots in defense of Jin Zixuan, this time by placing the blame on Jiang Yanli’s “feelings” for why they “must” make nice, because he knows that Wei Wuxian isn’t moved by appeals to power or reputation. Nevermind that two months prior, Jiang Yanli had chosen to leave the Phoenix Mountain hunt with Wei Wuxian, and in the scene immediately after the above conversation, Jiang Yanli is reluctant to talk about “why would someone like another person” and deflects to asking Wei Wuxian if he likes someone, instead. Reinstating the engagement is not Jiang Yanli’s present will, which only leaves Jiang Cheng’s will to consider.

Jiang Cheng’s priority when it comes to Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s relationship is not his sister’s feelings or well-being but ensuring that he can ally his recently demolished clan to the new leaders of the cultivation world where he has been locked out by every other avenue. And he is willing to overlook every red flag Jin Zixuan displays towards Jiang Yanli in order for this engagement to go through.

Finally, after throwing a few glances at the man next to him kneeling meticulously straight and proper, Wei WuXian pressed the palms of his hands together, and muttered in his heart, ‘Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, it’s me. I’ve disturbed your peace yet again.’

‘I just really wanted to bring this man here for the two of you to see. Consider the two bows just now as the bow for the Heaven and the earth and the bow for the parents. Please help me keep this man beside me. I’ll save the last bow for now. When the right time comes, I’ll make up for it……’

–Chapt. 87: “Core” Part 9, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

1) “Wei Wuxian is oblivious to his own and Lan Wangji’s feelings!” Yes, a man oblivious to his feelings would definitely bring someone back to knowingly complete partial wedding vows.

2) Wei Wuxian wouldn’t enter the ancestral hall back in his first life after the former Jiang leaders’ deaths, but he comes willingly to do wedding bows. This was always gonna be his final act in Lotus Pier, his goodbye to the Jiang Clan as he leaves the past in the past and finally moves forward with his life.

At last, everyone understood; Lan WangJi would silence anyone who tried to argue with Wei WuXian. Yet, there would always be those fearless ones who’d speak up regardless, their tones mocking, “Wei WuXian, you really are the Yiling Patriarch, aren’t you? What a dictator. Now you want control over our speech?”

–Chapt. 80: “Core” Part 2, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Lan Wangji defends Wei Wuxian; the cultivation world calls Wei Wuxian the dictator. No matter what action Lan Wangji takes to stand with Wei Wuxian, the cultivation world will never dare to lay blame at his feet.