Idgaf i refuse to believe Shen Jiu deserved the title of "villain". Both the original PIDW from Bingge's perspective ans SVSSS from Shen Yuan's perspective are biased and I do not believe he is some irredeemable horrible guy. Asshole, yes. Bitter, cynical, paranoid, etc etc etc, also yes. But villain? No. From what I remember, the two 'crimes' canonically addressed were either dismissed (not a sexual predator) or justified (killing the Qius).
I could write an essay about it, but i would want to reread the series and properly source things and i simply do not have the time rn. But if i ever reread the series..........
Re: child abuser status. From what i remember, the child abuse accusations come from him beating students but i feel like yall are forgetting physical punishments (whipping, glogging, caning, beating, etc) are acceptable punishments in xianxia universes????? Like literally, every person of lower status who is punished for something is beaten. Again, gotta reread the novel to be 1000% sure, but if physical punishment is your only argument for child abuse, literally every person in xianxia novels would be an abuser. Every Lan, Jin, Jiang, etc from MDZS. Chu Wanning from erha. Prince Jing from DTBPF. I'm sure other peak lords in SVSSS had servants and disciples whipped or caned or something at some point.
If someone can cite exactly how Shen Jiu's conduct differs, please prove me wrong. But if physically punishing disciples is your only evidence, you are falling for Bingge's/Shen Yuan's bias.
??? Slavery was also acceptable in historical/xianxia times, and punishing slaves was also pretty acceptable. By your logic, Shen Jiu is also not justified in killing the Qius?
