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Ling Wen + The Blackwater Arc

There was a moment right after the Blackwater arc that really had me wondering what we get from Ling Wen over the course of the arc, so here we go.

Ling Wen first appears along with Shi Wudu and Pei Ming in Shi Wudu’s golden carriage, to come get Shi Qingxuan. Here, she’s clearly just as worried as Pei Ming is (in my translation, there is a lot of talk about both of their facial expressions dropping/changing over the course of that scene). Additionally, she’s the last to get back into the carriage, and says this to Xie Lian before she leaves:

Also, I like the detail about her picking up the Wind Master fan here! But this is mostly what I like to call a Siri moment—she’s kind of just providing context and narration. Except this time, she knows more than she lets on, and that continues to be the case throughout the rest of the novel (the main example being when Xie Lian calls her about the Brocade Immortal. Oops).

The next Ling Wen appearance happens when Xie Lian+Co come to help with Shi Wudu’s heavenly calamity. This is mostly another Siri moment, but its placement is honestly a little genius—because of the way it contrasts her following appearance.

For contrast, this is her next moment. It’s quite a while after, but the next time she appears is when the Shi brothers suddenly go missing… and she is freaked out. (The first line here is also her dialogue)

First of all, she’s yelling at other officials in the communication array. I don’t think we saw her do that before this point. And then there’s the line about how “she seemed to change into a completely different person”, when she saw Xie Lian.

Also, the fact that she only asks about Shi Wudu and Pei Ming… she’s got priorities, and I don’t blame her. This also is the last Ling Wen appearance before Shi Wudu dies.

The next we see of her, it’s after. It’s not specified whether she knows that Shi Wudu died or not (which I find a little sad). Anyway, here she’s sending Quan Yizhen to Puqi Shrine.

There isn’t much emotion in that moment, which honestly makes me think she doesn’t know about Shi Wudu’s death (at this point, Pei Ming doesn’t know either).

Then, we don’t see her again until the part that describes Shi Wudu’s funeral.

I do find it interesting that, while Pei Ming is mentioned as being the one who brought back Shi Wudu’s corpse, it’s never explicitly mentioned that he was at the funeral, even though Ling Wen was there. I kind of hope he was… but if he wasn’t, what then?

The last Ling Wen appearance of this arc is the one that made me so curious about her presence during it in the first place. Also… 😭😭

She hadn’t smiled in days. Ok, what if I just jumped out the window, what then.

Anyway, even if Ling Wen isn’t physically present during this arc, her concern and emotion is still there, and it also sets up her character a little more for the Brocade Immortal arc, which directly follows.

I just love her so much. And the three tumors make me sad. (Also, Shi Wudu and Ling Wen’s friendship is my favorite ever.)

If you made it here, thanks for reading!