Something that I see a lot of people gloss over is the fact that by the time the Shunshot Campaign started Jiang Cheng was around 17 to 18 years old (in the novel at least). They also mention that the Wen sect mocked him by basically calling him āa naĆÆve kid who dares to call himself a sect leader when he has no one under his commandā. We also learn that he manages to rise above this and eventually gets his sect back to its former glory.
However, when I read that for the first time I was absolutely horrified because given the timeline that weād been given I calculated that he was SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD by that point! Kid lost his parents, probably like 70% of his friends, his home was seized, his golden core taken, was leading a rebellion and hoping that his bff/brother was still alive. Stop for a minute and think about how horrifying that is because it is awful. Do you remember being 17? I do, and having such a burden on my shoulders with no one to lean on would have broken me for sure, if not it would have at least been absolutely brutal.
And yes, Lan Xichen was also a young sect leader who was leading a rebellion shile dealing with the loss of a parent. However, despite this he still has Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji, two people who he can depend on. He also has both Nie Mingjue and Jin Guanyao. In other words, he has family and friends at his side.
Jiang Fengmian ragged on Jiang Cheng about how he hadnāt understood the Yunmeng principle of āattempt the impossibleā and he was right. Heās much more like his mother in that sense, heās always been more of a realist and someone who has had drilled into his head that his actions have consequences not only for himself but also for the sect he will lead in the future.
When he finally finds Wei Wuxian he is happy to have him back, however, things get complicated after the Sunshot Campaign ends. As Jin Guanyao explains to us, the other sects were trying to grab as much as they could from the remains of the Wen sect and they would never have allowed such a young sect leader to be as powerful as Jiang Cheng was with Wei Wuxian at his side. He also says that if the other sect leaders hadnāt seen the smaller cracks on their relationship they wouldnāt have exploited them.
Now, this is also incredibly horrifying. Despite all the growing up both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian did they were still teenagers. Adults can read teenagers very easily, they were teenagers once and interacted with other people of the same age which gives them knowledge and experience. Even if youāre just a 21 year old you can easily read what an 18 year old is thinking and know why they do things.
That being said, we donāt get much context as to how Jiang Cheng appears towards the other leaders, we only know what the Wen Clan thought at the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign. However, given what Jin Guanyao says itās safe to say that the other sect leaders saw Jiang Chengās wounds and poured salt or a blade over them just so that they wouldnāt be bested by a child.
Tl,dr; Jiang Cheng was greatly taken advantage of by his elders who saw as well as took every opportunity they could find to weaken his relationship to Wei Wuxian and such a horrifying thing gets glossed over a lot.
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