This is just what I was in the mood for, a 300+ chapter, 4000 page sapphic slow burn court intrigue. The prose (and/or translation?) is more functional than beautiful on a sentence level, but on a plot level, with the overall character arcs, QJMX has some mad skill. Especially when she was writing as she went, chapter by chapter, serial style. (Says me, who canāt plot my way out of a paper bag.)
Every time I thought weād reached a point where it was going to drag, nope, thereās a twist, a plot development, a time skip. Never a dull moment, which is more than I can say for most 100-page books, much less any clocking in at this massive length.
Of course it helps that I go nuts for complex court politics played out at this scale. And morally gray (to put it kindly) heroines.
A few more thoughts in list form:
- If youāre gonna do a romance where one (nearly both) of the protagonists is underage at the beginning, then a 20-year timespan to get to the happy ending, with a complete flip of power balance, is the right choice to make.
- Hurrah! It does the thing I love where obtaining the throne is not the happy endingāitās detrimental to the happy ending, a problem to be solved.
- The way the stress ruins Qi Yanās health is so much more relatable and weirdly gratifying than the superhero protagonists who sail through plots unscathed.
- Thereās an absolutely bonkers side plot where QY offs a lecherous prince by kidnapping the young man heās been aggressively harassing, drugging the young man, covering him in a poison that interacts with the liquor in the princeās system (heās an alcoholic) and makes the prince drop dead at first kiss. Itās non-con as hell, but the groundwork was laid for it, itās a two-birds-one-stone solution to a problem, and I was so far into the suspended reality of the book that I was equally impressed and appalled by the creativity. š
- After the following, Iām also impressed with how grounded and intimate a lot of the biggest reveals were. I was braced for melodrama, and it just didnāt go there as often as I expected. Bonkers spy plots but then real and honest conversations, just the way I like it.
- At one point it was about wide-scale famine and grain storage and the intricate economics of a refugee crisis and thatās the kind of stuff Iāll eat up with spoon.
- Note: I read the translation by @meltsmelts which I think got licensed for publication when I was in the home stretch, the last 50 chapters. I was hustling lest it get ripped out of my grubby hands. I think itās still up for now, but heads up that the official publication should be coming soon.
Reading Progress ā
I rarely do status updates as I go, but JWQS called for it and I wanted to preserve these from Goodreads:
- 10% My brain: itās December, letās just read short, fluffy books the rest of the year / Also my brain: but what about this 300+ chapter wuxia1 novel tho? šš
- 14% The part where the physician tells Qi Yan, āyouāve been through a lot, youāre overstressed, you should rest and recuperate for 3ā5 years.ā š IF ONLY
- 40% I will never understand why I despise imperialism and am anti-monarchy to the bone yet gobble up a court intrigue like candy. Screw your hereditary titles and immoral wealth, but gimme alllll the conspiring and backstabbing and ultra complicated politics. What can I say! I am vast! I contain multitudes!
- 48% This kept me up wayyy past my bedtime last night. āJust one more chapter!ā is so dangerous when thereās hundreds to go
- 69% You know itās good slow burn when itās 212 chapters in and I am filled with glee instead of fury š„š„ (Qi Yan just POISONED HERSELF to take out a rival, we are not in boredom territory)
- 81% The inevitable exposing of Qi Yanās identity is going the way I hoped it would. Not melodramatic but quiet and personal and intensely emotional. Particularly Jingnuās reaction, and her instinctive loyalty. š
- 97% This had me on my feet and pacing last night, I could not sit still with the plot twists. And thatās with knowing weāre fully in HEA territory too š«¢ (QIAN TONG, BOSS MOVE)
Note: I was mistaken when I called it wuxia. Itās a historical c-novel, but itās more about court intrigue than martial arts and thereās no cultivation. My bad for being so hyped about the plot summary I didnāt notice the genre. ā©ļø