i really like LN13 and i want to talk about why!
there is also some stuff about 14 and 15 in here but shhhhh
fundamentally LN13 has to be a reset, in the same way that LN5 was a reset because LN4 was once an ending, so was LN12. We need a narrative reset after a much heavier LN. We are also just moving into a new part of the story, and in much the same way LN5 and 6 set up a lot for the following major arc about the locust plague and relations with Shaoh and the western families of Li and Countries across the border, LN13-15 do the same for what i imagine is going to be a larger narrative about a potential smallpox plague.
LN13 is fundamentally about change. Everyone is changed by the past year, and if they haven't circumstance have that will force change from them. This is integral to the beat of the story that is LN13, the night visit, the relationship of Jinshi and Maomao and its consummation. Their surroundings are trying to force a change, (court, Jinshi's staff and family, the pleasure district, their stations) and they have both changed enough that they think this is achievable. The visit falls apart because of how little things actually have changed, Jinshi is set up and accosted by a women he didn't invite into his home after repeated attempts to drug him (he was glad to see Maomao, and excited by the prospect, but it doesn't change the fact it is very similar to experiences with assault) Maomao meanwhile regresses hard, she is right back to submissive and beheadable and treating the situation like she is a courtesan and Jinshi a client, and that this is a transaction even.
Nothing has actually changed and that is why it fell apart, and LN13 shows us nothing but changes, because everyone else gets to change and grow, but Jinmao are locked in half in the cage until they pick a side, and the only side they will pick is out of the cage, so nothing can change until he is free.
I would also say LN14 and 15 are also a lot about this, kind of a bridge gap between the WC2 and smallpox arcs
The pleasure district has changed. Most notably to Maomao, Meimei is gone, bought out. Pieces of her life that she knew would change suddenly are, she is happy for Meimei, but also saddened by the change. The apothecary doesn't need her, Sazen and Kokuyou were running the place just fine, and Chou-u doesn't even speak to her iirc. In 14 (which yes doesn't fix any issues of 13 feeling a certain way, but i think is important to mention in this arc of change) Maomao explicitly notes she doesn't even recognise that many courtesan's or customers anymore, the driving conflict that Zulin's sister is against is the lack of change, the Princesses have kept their positions too long and it is driving conflict.
court has changed. Lakan's faction has weakened to the point of someone hanging a body in his office, but he hasn't he is just as uncaring and lazily pointing out the culprits. Lakan's relationship with Maomao also has not changed from 6, where he will act psychotic and it is a problem, but one that is intrinsically tied to Maomao's refusal to claim her place as a member of the La clan imo. Again in the immediate next volume, Lakan does not act nearly as bad when Maomao is existing in her role as the La clan Princess, even in 16 he is more than happy to just have her in the estate and eating something on the other side of the room. Maomao's refusal to accept her place in the La clan stalls the development of Lakan, who refuses to let go of her.
the rear palace has changed and it also hasn't. Jinshi has not managed the place in a good few years now, at 13 the Emperor has had no more children, and promoted no new consorts to fill 3 high consort positions that have been empty for years. The lack of changes in the rear palace isn't knew, but it is preventing Jinshi freedom and change and growth, because his freedom is contingent on strong healthy son of the Emperor to secure the Ka line.
the medical office actually has changed. Doctors like Li and You have been promoted, and new court ladies have been hired, and ones we don't even know of fired. it is for that reason that Maomao is allowed growth in this area, she is being treated like a Junior doctor, the same rank as Tinayu. Tianyu who does not change with these changes is punished for it later in 15, growth and changed have to be forced upon him.
in a similar way Yao and Enen, are being punished by the narrative still for a lack of change, being yelled at by Changsha for refusing to grow and change as people have been trying to make/encourage them.
i think Ah-Duo and Maomao's conversation is also incredible relevant to this theming as well. Ah-Duo is trying to change the what one could argue she thinks of as the night that ruined her life for Maomao, and Maomao herself, queen of ignoring and running from her problems, refuses. The girl that avoided Jinshi's advances for years is gone, and in her place someone more than willing and ready to accept them even with all that it means. That is a massive change and a huge growth for her, even if she only halfway there.
Light Novel 13 is yes lighter and sillier than the previous novels with the exception of the ending, but it has to be as it transitions us into the next phase of the narrative. I personally think that LN14-16 are much more tonally in line with the 6-9 range more than the 10-12 WC2 arc which also makes a lot of sense as part of this reset like LN5. I think we are maybe getting 1 more novel before we take another hard dip into heavier and darker, i would not be surprised if Maomao is kidnapped late in 17 and we get a cliffhanger ending with the reveal of her captor to the audience, or early into 18 with a hopefully pacing more like 4 than 12 but likely somewhere in between.
anyways yeah, LN13 is great and sets up the arc about growth and stagnation and i love the ways it goes about it, because it is impossible to read LN13 and not feel how much has changed since we were last in the capital.
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