**Headphone Warning**
Oh, y’all — I KNOW I’m just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to connections and revelations in this story, but the connections back to Volume 1 were SENDING me! I had to re-watch the OVA after reading these chapters and I have a feeling I’ll be going back to that first season a LOT as I read this volume!
PLEASE no spoilers, hints, or clues, but you ALL, I am LOVING this story and how MXTX is a genius in connecting all the threads together — I cannot WAIT to see what’s in store! I was so giddy this reaction!
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I don't think we can assume that preteen HC made that little shrine. It's a full-sized building with a roof, at least, big enough for three adults and a kid. But HC found it and no one tends to it regularly enough to chase him out, so he is acting as its caretaker when he can, bringing the daily flower, sleeping there at times. 😭 but also…awwwwwwww!! HC, already devoted, already sincere, already obedient, and still feisty, intense, a little scary, fearless, never meek. And desperately in need of something or someone to focus on and give him a direction for all that power and emotion. Xie Lian is unknowingly creating a monster with his little attentions here – one that will be on his side forever. If Anya in Spy x Family is going to become a villainess, Hua Cheng should be her role model, haha, with Loid and Yor as her unwitting trainers. I thought they animated Hua Cheng's facial expression perfectly during the scene where Xie Lian reinacts telling the boy to live for him. now we know that Hua Cheng couldn't actually see him, only hear him. To see him act it out must have been strange for Hua Cheng.
Xie Lian, Xie Lian…keep wearing white, darling, no matter how dirty it might get. You can always wash it later, right? (Well, maybe Mu Qing would have to do the washing?) So, it turns out his father isn't careless or self-absorbed and ignoring Yong'an's troubles. I love the dichotomy of the king's words about Xie Lian. I think there's both some resentment and tremendous pride. Becoming a god is proof of how amazing his son is but it left the King without an heir or anyone of sufficient rank to just talk to, much less rely on for support. The queen can only offer personal comfort, not governmental.
If Xie Lian had stayed human and gotten some maturity, he and his father could have grown closer as he taught Xie Lian through practical involvement in the running of a kingdom. Xie Lian was treated more like a precious princess. The heir to the throne would more commonly have been dogging his father's footsteps from an early age, present at meetings and receptions and audiences, overhearing/partaking in the discussions with ministers and the Guoshi, being sent out to assess situations in person, instructed on the economics of the kingdom, learning about the cutthroat politics behind the scenes, dealing with the wealthy and powerful, facing many complex situations that involve "only one cup", making the hard choices, privately stressing out and lamenting the ability to fix everything for everyone.
I thought it was interesting that no one has been chosen yet (that we know of) to be the next king. Qi Rong isn't from the paternal bloodline – his mother was the sister of the queen, not the king and then his father was a nobody. But at this point, three years after Xie Lian's ascension, they should have named a new successor – Qi Rong anyway or someone else from a side branch of the king's family, several generations back, even. Of course, they were originally planning that Xie Lian should be around long enough to get married and have a child, ascension to happen later.
It could be taken as another sign or foreshadowing of Xianle's eventual downfall that they haven't made any preparations for the next generation, along with the drought that no one worried about until it was too late, and we shouldn't forget that Xie Lian's ceremonial procession only made it around the capitol 3 times (3 years of prosperity and peace). One year of poor rainfall somewhere far away (where the rivers come from) or in your immediate area isn't all that disastrous overall – if the next year is back to normal. A slow lessening of rain over a longer period of time is too gradual for most people to get worried about – they just make minor adjustments until it hits a point where you can't make any more adjustments. Then people realize…and freak out (and start dying).
Maybe the Guoshi is seeing even more signs or maybe he's just a doom-and-gloom pessimist (probably the former) but either way, his advice, the king's pragmatism, Mu Qing's practicality and lack of sympathy, Feng Xin's disinterest until Xie Lian directs him – no one but Xie Lian thinks there is any real solution and Xie Lian is only hoping he'll figure one out. We know this is all going to shit but it's still hard to watch Xie Lian struggling to find a way to fix it.
I think they could animate the lanterns beautifully, actually. Think of Gusu's secret library reveal in MDZS, or even Gusu's wall with all the rules etched into it. In fact, I think animation might be the only way to give us a gorgeous, grandiose, mind-blowing visual of it, even if they have to use some CGI to really make it pop.
I love listening to the discussions because you make connections between the small details i don't notice/forget!
It's like you're enlightening me, Gushi Romania 😄
Also painfully irrelevant but your dog seems really adorable
I cried three times as I read this novel. So I understand you.
My favorite flashback chapters (at least so far). Hong-Hong is the cutest. Worst home-life, it sounds like, but he is still the cutest. 😳
There are so many parallels in this novel and it's so intresting when you notice the way everything connects, or rereading it and noticing parallels you didn't notice at first. Another intresting parallel from this novel that you didn't notice is that at the start of the novel and donghua it's mentioned that Hua Cheng got the title "crimson rain sought flower" because he held his umbrella over a flower in the rain. The way this parallels with these chapters is really intresting.
The dots are finally connected as we reach that little shrine in the rain! But aside from that, everything's racing down the highway to hell……
Nobody was prepared for the situation change when a 17-year-old XL suddenly ascends in his pj, so maybe the king has to rush the construction of all his 8000 temples in 3 years because he may think his son is not powerful enough and needs even more believers as a actual god. And since the power of the god is directly related to his believers, what can be more efficient than having more temples to spread this belief? But during this time, the nation bank vault may be drained up and causing the remote nations like Yong An to suffer, this with the drought adding in…the white calamity may as well just sit back and enjoy some human face disease while Xian Le collapsed down on its own. But still, evil ghost is always more than ready to add fuel to the fire.
FX and MQ are like the 2 exhausted secretaries chasing after their over-energetic boss and had to be always ready to do crisis PR when the CEO did something stupid once again…
Not spoiler just additional information , I think there is a miscommunication in saying “ it happens according to the heavens’ will”. The heaven here means the law of the universe, not the heaven realm or the individuals that lives there. Big events like kingdoms falling/dynasties changing and some exceptional people ’s life, their paths happen according to the law of the dao/universe. No HO has the right to govern/ interfere the fates of these fixed point in history. (If they did, they themselves are defying the heaven) If the world is a stage, heaven officials are just one of its actors. Just like human. Of the three realms, heaven officials, human and ghosts, humans are the squishiest and short lived but have more advantages like doing good deeds and then gain great merits. HO and ghosts can do good deeds but they don’t gain merits from that. That’s why HO rely on their worshippers to do offerings on their behalf and share the merits with them. They are also restricted on some things, like they can’t show themselves to morals. There are things they can’t do but human can. I am not gonna tell you what cause spoiler 🤫🤫 great reaction ❤️ looking forward to next week
That scene of Honghong-er in the shrine and the "live for me" hits me so hard man, I'm like the other way around I'm such a crybaby hahah so I teared up as you were reading it xD
The ties back to the present are super cool, the novel really takes to understand more and more about the characters with such detals as we go through, MXTX is a genius indeed.
Great reaction and discussion as always Romania <3
I absolutely love when you see the dots connecting in your head, and your reactions to them!! It's the best! And omg, your reaction to the last chapter had me tearing up slightly too 🥺🥺
I meant to say this in the last video but I forgot: I don't think qi rong has any claim to the throne because he's from the mother's side of the family. The royal family is from xie lians father's side.
Also, I think we do get the behind closed doors of other parents in mdzs. Aside from the jiang parents, daddy jin and his wife also very openly didn't get along, and we got the whole tragic story of lan wangjis parents.
And I also don't usually cry over sad things in stories, so I always think it's really impressive when a story manages to get me to tears.
I have a theory. I think the reason hua cheng didn't go out to find food isn't cause of the rain, I think it's cuz he doesn't care if he starves to death. He did tell Xie Lian that everyday he is suffering and everyday he wishes for death. Little Hong was so suicidal and Im guessing Xie Lian and replacing that flower everyday is the reason he keeps going.
I guess u will probably cry for this novel. 😂 Although I didn’t cry when I read, I cry quite often after I watch some fan made video of HuaLian. I can share with u some later after u finish the whole novel. 😊
I believe u will love Hualian the most after finish reading, haha