MXTX Novel Musings

This may seem shameless to you, but if you could spare some time, could you ask @mxtxfanatic on why I was blocked by them? I am not aware of what lines I have crossed with them, but at the very least I would like to know what it is so I may avoid such social faux pass with others in the future. Or, if it is just a bug that caused with it, which is not unsurprising, I would like to remedy this misunderstanding with them, if you would be so kindly to me?

If that doesn't appeal to you, I would like to ask my question. I would have asked @mxtxfanatic but as you can see, it is not doable. Hence, I ask for your thoughts: in the MDZS setting, if a cultivator clan leader were to be incapacitated in a manner that renders him unable to continue leading the clan, or if he were simply to die, and he doesn't have any blood heir to carry on the clan, does the responsibility to keep the clan alive fall to the furen/madam, or one of his subordinates? I am cooking something and I need to know this. Or you could ask @mxtxfanatic for this if you do not feel like it.

Drink plenty of water and eat your meals regularly, may a better week come to you.

(Whispers) I'm totally late to this party as I was disassociating a bit due to life lol, sorry, I am very sorry, and I will have to Nie Huaisang it a bit and say "I don't know, I really don't know".

But, I can answer your question! I think the safest assumption is that the seat of the clan would pass onto the next family relative. We see this in the case of Jin Guangshan who, cut off all possible avenues for Jin Guangyao to be a legitimate heir without his say. He gave him his generation's character name of "guang" instead of the "Zi"of Zixuan and Zixun. Jin Zixun, the cousin had more of a chance to be next in line than Jin Guangyao. And Jin Guangshan spitefully tried to make sure Jin Guangyao couldn't inherit his seat up to possibly try to make another illegitimate male child, Mo Xuanyu, his heir over him. Not once does Madam Jin get taken into account as a potential holder of that seat, and most likely due to the unfortunate idea that a husband's ruin, is also the wife's. Jin Guangyao was willing to run his clan legacy to the ground by killing all male heirs as they were the ones to hold social respect when it came to a show of prestige.

The seat of clans would fall to a male family member over the furens, or daughters, female cousins, aunts, more often than not. The outlier of this was Lan Yi, the only female clan leader thus far named on page,and unconventional due to that in the high circles of cultivation society, its still looked upon as relatively strange, and not something that has been repeated since.

There's a consistent layer of sexism and classism that surrounds the major clans. This includes the lack of respect towards women even if they may be exceptional as in the case of Lan Yi.

I.... can't answer this normally so we have to make do like this @ladysunami .

然而,摩挲一阵,江澄便强制自己将丝丝敌意克制起来。

他虽很不愉快,但身为一门之主,却也有更多的考量,不能像金凌这种 小子那般冲动。自从清河聂氏衰落之后,如今三大世家里,兰陵金氏和姑苏 蓝氏两家由于家主私交甚笃,本来就甚为亲近,他独立把持云梦江氏,在三 家之中可以说处于孤立状态。含光君蓝忘机是威望甚高的仙门名士,其兄长 泽芜君蓝曦臣则是姑苏蓝氏的家主,兄弟二人一向和睦,能不撕破脸皮,最 好不要撕破脸皮。

再来,江澄的佩剑“三毒”与蓝忘机的佩剑“避尘”从未正式交锋过,鹿 死谁手犹未可知。他虽有这枚家传宝戒“紫电”在手,蓝忘机那具“忘机”琴 却也有赫赫威名。江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风,没有十成把握,他不考 虑和蓝忘机动手。

江澄慢慢收回了摩挲那枚戒指的左手。看来蓝忘机已打定主意要插手此 事,他再做恶人也不方便。暂且记下这一笔。江澄做出权衡,转头见金凌仍 愤愤捂嘴,道:“含光君要罚你,你就受他这一回管教吧。能管到别家小辈 的头上,也是不容易。”

他语气嘲讽,也不知是在嘲讽谁。蓝忘机从不争口舌之快,听若未闻。 江澄话中带刺,又是一转:“还站着干什么,等着猎物自己撞过来插|你剑 上?今天你要是拿不下这大梵山里的东西,今后都不必来找我了!”

金凌狠狠瞪了魏无羡一眼,却不敢去瞪罚他禁言的蓝忘机,收剑入鞘, 对两位长辈施了礼,持弓退走。蓝思追道:“江宗主,所毁缚仙网,姑苏蓝 氏自会如数奉还。”

江澄冷笑道:“不必!”选了相反的方向,信步下山。身后客卿噤声跟 上,心知回去免不了一通责罚,愁眉苦脸。

However, after a moment of contemplation, Jiang Cheng forced himself to reign in his hostility.

Although he was very unhappy, as the head of a clan, he had more to take in consideration than a young man like Jin Ling, and couldn't act upon impulses. With the decline of the Qinghe Nie Clan, among the three other major clans, the Lanling Jin Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan were already extremely close due to the close personal relationship between their clan leaders. He, independently leading the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, was in a relatively isolated position among the three. Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji, was a highly respected figure to those who were cultivator's and his elder brother, Zewu-jun, Lan Xichen, was the head of the Gusu Lan Clan. The two brothers had always been harmonious, it was better to avoid such a public falling out and avoid breaking any ties.

Just as well, Jiang Cheng's sword "Sandu" and Lan Wangji's sword "Bichen" had never actually clashed, and the outcome of such a battle had yet to be seen. Although he possessed the family heirloom ring "Zidian," Lan Wangji's guqin "Wangji" is as also equally renowned. What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage, and without absolute certainty of victory, he would not consider engaging Lan Wangji in combat.

Jiang Cheng slowly withdrew his hand that had been touching the ring. It seemed Lan Wangji had made up his mind to intervene in this matter, and it would not do for him to play the villain when it was no longer convenient. The matter would be set aside but he would remember it. Jiang Cheng weighed his options, then turned to see Jin Ling who was still covering his mouth indignantly, and said, "Since Hanguang-Jun intends to discipline you, accept his guidance this time, It's no easy feat for him to extend his authority over the youths of another's house."

His tone was mocking, and it was unclear just who he was mocking. Lan Wangji was never interested in verbal sparring and acted as if he hadn't heard. Jiang Cheng's words were laced and barbed, he spoke again, What are you standing there for? Waiting for the prey to stumble and run into your blade? If you can't get what lurks on Dafan Mountain today, don't bother coming to look for me again!"

Jin Ling shot a fierce glare at Wei Wuxian, but didn't dare to aim it at Lan Wangji, who had silenced him. He sheathed his sword, bowed to the two elders, and retreated with his bow. Lan Sizhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, the Immortal-Binding Nets that were destroyed will be compensated in full by the Gusu Lan Clan."

Jiang Cheng sneered coldly, "No need!" He chose the opposite direction and strolled down the mountain. The guest disciples followed behind him silently, their faces pulled long with worry, knowing that they would inevitably face punishment upon their return.

So we'll start here regarding the context I will be extrapolating on for this:

“江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风，”

Here alone there are already three major words of emphasis 最-zuì- most, 的-dí really(major emphasis of declarations) 就是- further emphasis of something being exactly and precisely stated. "What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage,".

It has been established at his introduction that Jiang Cheng set up the nets as a cheat for Jin Ling. He is at the advantage of being able to do this as he has the power to do it without those below him having their dissent acknowledged and it affecting him.

He has the advantage to threaten a nameless (to him) and supposed mo dao cultivator (and it is later established he does torture and kill people he suspects, even when he is wrong, and is unquestioned (due to his status). Jiang Cheng did not expect Lan Wangi to interfere with his own morally crooked actions, as he ironically just told Jin Ling to kill those of crooked practices.

He is angered at his cheats being ruined by Lan Wangji, thusly categorizing himself exempt from moral duplicity. But he is very aware of the disadvantage he is now in, power-wise, as well as politically. He cannot blatantly dismiss Lan Wangji, nor can he outright attack Lan Wangji who is well respected by cultivators despite not being within the major political sphere and well liked by his brother who is one of Jiang Cheng's fellow leaders.

He cannot afford to isolate himself further as his tie to Lanling Jin is proxy of Jin Ling. Where he could kill and harrass a nameless mo dao user, he does not have that advantage when confronting Lan Wangji. Either aggressive avenue he pursues would be to his detriment, disrespectful at minimum to the entirety of the Lans if he continues mocking Lan Wangji, and seen as weak physically if he did fail in a battle losing any superfluous respect he holds amongst the sects and clans as one of its leaders. He does not have the pragmatic knowledge either to engage Lan Wangji in a battle to confidently say he can win without a doubt.

He can however continue to take it out on Jin Ling who he is blatantly mocking in stand in for Lan Wangji, and others below his status as his guest disciples dread repercussions from him for this interaction and none can choose to stand against him.

"Is the narrative implying Jiang Cheng would never fight someone where he was at the disadvantage", barring extraneous situation (one being when he is protecting Jin Ling from Nie Mingjue's power jockeyed with resentment corpse), yes. That has become his modus operandi ever since he chose to condemn Wei Wuxian as a power hungry traitor and agrees to his death for the power hungry Jin Guangshan out of resentment. We also see shades of this when he continued to tell Wei Wuxian to let Wen Chao parade and tried to stop him from protecting Mianmian. He does not pursue impulses that are to his major disadvantage and when they are failures as well as repercussions despite doing the right thing, he instead put the onus of blame on the victims.

"Choose your battles" is indeed the philosophy Jiang Cheng has in comparison to Yunmeng Jiang's "Attempt the impossible". Because where one can and does end in failure, his way is nihilistic but certain, especially in his continued path as a politically isolated leader. Is he necessarily cautious, no, he just understands who exactly he can condemn without repercussions to himself and he will not engage in battles that he cannot afford to lose face over.

But even the examples of him fighting at a disadvantage—Nie Mingjue’s corpse, the second siege—were situations that he jumped into thinking that he had the advantage. He ran to Guanyin Temple to fight the weak cultivator Jin Guangyao, not the fierce corpse Nie Mingjue. And he couldn’t even beat Nie Mingjue or Jin Guangyao: he got injured due to his own inability to control his anger and had to be sat down, and then he and Jin Ling had to be rescued (again) from Nie Mingjue by Wen Ning. In the second siege, he expected to get the drop on a “powerless/weaponless” Wei Wuxian through sheer numbers. They were not expecting Jin Guangyao to 1) have a working yin tiger tally that he 2) used to trap all the cultivators who showed up, and the only reason why Jiang Cheng was “willing” to risk himself in this fight was because he was unwilling to accept being rescued by Wei Wuxian (again).

I have one gripe and that is calling Jiang Cheng a terrible character. Jiang Cheng is a great character. Interesting, motivated, complex in his own way and utterly terribly hateable because of his actions, inactions, thoughts, motivations and behaviour.

I.... can't answer this normally so we have to make do like this @ladysunami .

然而,摩挲一阵,江澄便强制自己将丝丝敌意克制起来。

他虽很不愉快,但身为一门之主,却也有更多的考量,不能像金凌这种 小子那般冲动。自从清河聂氏衰落之后,如今三大世家里,兰陵金氏和姑苏 蓝氏两家由于家主私交甚笃,本来就甚为亲近,他独立把持云梦江氏,在三 家之中可以说处于孤立状态。含光君蓝忘机是威望甚高的仙门名士,其兄长 泽芜君蓝曦臣则是姑苏蓝氏的家主,兄弟二人一向和睦,能不撕破脸皮,最 好不要撕破脸皮。

再来,江澄的佩剑“三毒”与蓝忘机的佩剑“避尘”从未正式交锋过,鹿 死谁手犹未可知。他虽有这枚家传宝戒“紫电”在手,蓝忘机那具“忘机”琴 却也有赫赫威名。江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风,没有十成把握,他不考 虑和蓝忘机动手。

江澄慢慢收回了摩挲那枚戒指的左手。看来蓝忘机已打定主意要插手此 事,他再做恶人也不方便。暂且记下这一笔。江澄做出权衡,转头见金凌仍 愤愤捂嘴,道:“含光君要罚你,你就受他这一回管教吧。能管到别家小辈 的头上,也是不容易。”

他语气嘲讽,也不知是在嘲讽谁。蓝忘机从不争口舌之快,听若未闻。 江澄话中带刺,又是一转:“还站着干什么,等着猎物自己撞过来插|你剑 上?今天你要是拿不下这大梵山里的东西,今后都不必来找我了!”

金凌狠狠瞪了魏无羡一眼,却不敢去瞪罚他禁言的蓝忘机,收剑入鞘, 对两位长辈施了礼,持弓退走。蓝思追道:“江宗主,所毁缚仙网,姑苏蓝 氏自会如数奉还。”

江澄冷笑道:“不必!”选了相反的方向,信步下山。身后客卿噤声跟 上,心知回去免不了一通责罚,愁眉苦脸。

However, after a moment of contemplation, Jiang Cheng forced himself to reign in his hostility.

Although he was very unhappy, as the head of a clan, he had more to take in consideration than a young man like Jin Ling, and couldn't act upon impulses. With the decline of the Qinghe Nie Clan, among the three other major clans, the Lanling Jin Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan were already extremely close due to the close personal relationship between their clan leaders. He, independently leading the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, was in a relatively isolated position among the three. Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji, was a highly respected figure to those who were cultivator's and his elder brother, Zewu-jun, Lan Xichen, was the head of the Gusu Lan Clan. The two brothers had always been harmonious, it was better to avoid such a public falling out and avoid breaking any ties.

Just as well, Jiang Cheng's sword "Sandu" and Lan Wangji's sword "Bichen" had never actually clashed, and the outcome of such a battle had yet to be seen. Although he possessed the family heirloom ring "Zidian," Lan Wangji's guqin "Wangji" is as also equally renowned. What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage, and without absolute certainty of victory, he would not consider engaging Lan Wangji in combat.

Jiang Cheng slowly withdrew his hand that had been touching the ring. It seemed Lan Wangji had made up his mind to intervene in this matter, and it would not do for him to play the villain when it was no longer convenient. The matter would be set aside but he would remember it. Jiang Cheng weighed his options, then turned to see Jin Ling who was still covering his mouth indignantly, and said, "Since Hanguang-Jun intends to discipline you, accept his guidance this time, It's no easy feat for him to extend his authority over the youths of another's house."

His tone was mocking, and it was unclear just who he was mocking. Lan Wangji was never interested in verbal sparring and acted as if he hadn't heard. Jiang Cheng's words were laced and barbed, he spoke again, What are you standing there for? Waiting for the prey to stumble and run into your blade? If you can't get what lurks on Dafan Mountain today, don't bother coming to look for me again!"

Jin Ling shot a fierce glare at Wei Wuxian, but didn't dare to aim it at Lan Wangji, who had silenced him. He sheathed his sword, bowed to the two elders, and retreated with his bow. Lan Sizhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, the Immortal-Binding Nets that were destroyed will be compensated in full by the Gusu Lan Clan."

Jiang Cheng sneered coldly, "No need!" He chose the opposite direction and strolled down the mountain. The guest disciples followed behind him silently, their faces pulled long with worry, knowing that they would inevitably face punishment upon their return.

So we'll start here regarding the context I will be extrapolating on for this:

“江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风，”

Here alone there are already three major words of emphasis 最-zuì- most, 的-dí really(major emphasis of declarations) 就是- further emphasis of something being exactly and precisely stated. "What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage,".

It has been established at his introduction that Jiang Cheng set up the nets as a cheat for Jin Ling. He is at the advantage of being able to do this as he has the power to do it without those below him having their dissent acknowledged and it affecting him.

He has the advantage to threaten a nameless (to him) and supposed mo dao cultivator (and it is later established he does torture and kill people he suspects, even when he is wrong, and is unquestioned (due to his status). Jiang Cheng did not expect Lan Wangi to interfere with his own morally crooked actions, as he ironically just told Jin Ling to kill those of crooked practices.

He is angered at his cheats being ruined by Lan Wangji, thusly categorizing himself exempt from moral duplicity. But he is very aware of the disadvantage he is now in, power-wise, as well as politically. He cannot blatantly dismiss Lan Wangji, nor can he outright attack Lan Wangji who is well respected by cultivators despite not being within the major political sphere and well liked by his brother who is one of Jiang Cheng's fellow leaders.

He cannot afford to isolate himself further as his tie to Lanling Jin is proxy of Jin Ling. Where he could kill and harrass a nameless mo dao user, he does not have that advantage when confronting Lan Wangji. Either aggressive avenue he pursues would be to his detriment, disrespectful at minimum to the entirety of the Lans if he continues mocking Lan Wangji, and seen as weak physically if he did fail in a battle losing any superfluous respect he holds amongst the sects and clans as one of its leaders. He does not have the pragmatic knowledge either to engage Lan Wangji in a battle to confidently say he can win without a doubt.

He can however continue to take it out on Jin Ling who he is blatantly mocking in stand in for Lan Wangji, and others below his status as his guest disciples dread repercussions from him for this interaction and none can choose to stand against him.

"Is the narrative implying Jiang Cheng would never fight someone where he was at the disadvantage", barring extraneous situation (one being when he is protecting Jin Ling from Nie Mingjue's power jockeyed with resentment corpse), yes. That has become his modus operandi ever since he chose to condemn Wei Wuxian as a power hungry traitor and agrees to his death for the power hungry Jin Guangshan out of resentment. We also see shades of this when he continued to tell Wei Wuxian to let Wen Chao parade and tried to stop him from protecting Mianmian. He does not pursue impulses that are to his major disadvantage and when they are failures as well as repercussions despite doing the right thing, he instead put the onus of blame on the victims.

"Choose your battles" is indeed the philosophy Jiang Cheng has in comparison to Yunmeng Jiang's "Attempt the impossible". Because where one can and does end in failure, his way is nihilistic but certain, especially in his continued path as a politically isolated leader. Is he necessarily cautious, no, he just understands who exactly he can condemn without repercussions to himself and he will not engage in battles that he cannot afford to lose face over.

But even the examples of him fighting at a disadvantage—Nie Mingjue’s corpse, the second siege—were situations that he jumped into thinking that he had the advantage. He ran to Guanyin Temple to fight the weak cultivator Jin Guangyao, not the fierce corpse Nie Mingjue. And he couldn’t even beat Nie Mingjue or Jin Guangyao: he got injured due to his own inability to control his anger and had to be sat down, and then he and Jin Ling had to be rescued (again) from Nie Mingjue by Wen Ning. In the second siege, he expected to get the drop on a “powerless/weaponless” Wei Wuxian through sheer numbers. They were not expecting Jin Guangyao to 1) have a working yin tiger tally that he 2) used to trap all the cultivators who showed up, and the only reason why Jiang Cheng was “willing” to risk himself in this fight was because he was unwilling to accept being rescued by Wei Wuxian (again).

I have one gripe and that is calling Jiang Cheng a terrible character. Jiang Cheng is a great character. Interesting, motivated, complex in his own way and utterly terribly hateable because of his actions, inactions, thoughts, motivations and behaviour.

I.... can't answer this normally so we have to make do like this @ladysunami .

然而,摩挲一阵,江澄便强制自己将丝丝敌意克制起来。

他虽很不愉快,但身为一门之主,却也有更多的考量,不能像金凌这种 小子那般冲动。自从清河聂氏衰落之后,如今三大世家里,兰陵金氏和姑苏 蓝氏两家由于家主私交甚笃,本来就甚为亲近,他独立把持云梦江氏,在三 家之中可以说处于孤立状态。含光君蓝忘机是威望甚高的仙门名士,其兄长 泽芜君蓝曦臣则是姑苏蓝氏的家主,兄弟二人一向和睦,能不撕破脸皮,最 好不要撕破脸皮。

再来,江澄的佩剑“三毒”与蓝忘机的佩剑“避尘”从未正式交锋过,鹿 死谁手犹未可知。他虽有这枚家传宝戒“紫电”在手,蓝忘机那具“忘机”琴 却也有赫赫威名。江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风,没有十成把握,他不考 虑和蓝忘机动手。

江澄慢慢收回了摩挲那枚戒指的左手。看来蓝忘机已打定主意要插手此 事,他再做恶人也不方便。暂且记下这一笔。江澄做出权衡,转头见金凌仍 愤愤捂嘴,道:“含光君要罚你,你就受他这一回管教吧。能管到别家小辈 的头上,也是不容易。”

他语气嘲讽,也不知是在嘲讽谁。蓝忘机从不争口舌之快,听若未闻。 江澄话中带刺,又是一转:“还站着干什么,等着猎物自己撞过来插|你剑 上?今天你要是拿不下这大梵山里的东西,今后都不必来找我了!”

金凌狠狠瞪了魏无羡一眼,却不敢去瞪罚他禁言的蓝忘机,收剑入鞘, 对两位长辈施了礼,持弓退走。蓝思追道:“江宗主,所毁缚仙网,姑苏蓝 氏自会如数奉还。”

江澄冷笑道:“不必!”选了相反的方向,信步下山。身后客卿噤声跟 上,心知回去免不了一通责罚,愁眉苦脸。

However, after a moment of contemplation, Jiang Cheng forced himself to reign in his hostility.

Although he was very unhappy, as the head of a clan, he had more to take in consideration than a young man like Jin Ling, and couldn't act upon impulses. With the decline of the Qinghe Nie Clan, among the three other major clans, the Lanling Jin Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan were already extremely close due to the close personal relationship between their clan leaders. He, independently leading the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, was in a relatively isolated position among the three. Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji, was a highly respected figure to those who were cultivator's and his elder brother, Zewu-jun, Lan Xichen, was the head of the Gusu Lan Clan. The two brothers had always been harmonious, it was better to avoid such a public falling out and avoid breaking any ties.

Just as well, Jiang Cheng's sword "Sandu" and Lan Wangji's sword "Bichen" had never actually clashed, and the outcome of such a battle had yet to be seen. Although he possessed the family heirloom ring "Zidian," Lan Wangji's guqin "Wangji" is as also equally renowned. What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage, and without absolute certainty of victory, he would not consider engaging Lan Wangji in combat.

Jiang Cheng slowly withdrew his hand that had been touching the ring. It seemed Lan Wangji had made up his mind to intervene in this matter, and it would not do for him to play the villain when it was no longer convenient. The matter would be set aside but he would remember it. Jiang Cheng weighed his options, then turned to see Jin Ling who was still covering his mouth indignantly, and said, "Since Hanguang-Jun intends to discipline you, accept his guidance this time, It's no easy feat for him to extend his authority over the youths of another's house."

His tone was mocking, and it was unclear just who he was mocking. Lan Wangji was never interested in verbal sparring and acted as if he hadn't heard. Jiang Cheng's words were laced and barbed, he spoke again, What are you standing there for? Waiting for the prey to stumble and run into your blade? If you can't get what lurks on Dafan Mountain today, don't bother coming to look for me again!"

Jin Ling shot a fierce glare at Wei Wuxian, but didn't dare to aim it at Lan Wangji, who had silenced him. He sheathed his sword, bowed to the two elders, and retreated with his bow. Lan Sizhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, the Immortal-Binding Nets that were destroyed will be compensated in full by the Gusu Lan Clan."

Jiang Cheng sneered coldly, "No need!" He chose the opposite direction and strolled down the mountain. The guest disciples followed behind him silently, their faces pulled long with worry, knowing that they would inevitably face punishment upon their return.

So we'll start here regarding the context I will be extrapolating on for this:

“江澄最无法容忍的就是落于下风，”

Here alone there are already three major words of emphasis 最-zuì- most, 的-dí really(major emphasis of declarations) 就是- further emphasis of something being exactly and precisely stated. "What Jiang Cheng could never tolerate the most was being at a disadvantage,".

It has been established at his introduction that Jiang Cheng set up the nets as a cheat for Jin Ling. He is at the advantage of being able to do this as he has the power to do it without those below him having their dissent acknowledged and it affecting him.

He has the advantage to threaten a nameless (to him) and supposed mo dao cultivator (and it is later established he does torture and kill people he suspects, even when he is wrong, and is unquestioned (due to his status). Jiang Cheng did not expect Lan Wangi to interfere with his own morally crooked actions, as he ironically just told Jin Ling to kill those of crooked practices.

He is angered at his cheats being ruined by Lan Wangji, thusly categorizing himself exempt from moral duplicity. But he is very aware of the disadvantage he is now in, power-wise, as well as politically. He cannot blatantly dismiss Lan Wangji, nor can he outright attack Lan Wangji who is well respected by cultivators despite not being within the major political sphere and well liked by his brother who is one of Jiang Cheng's fellow leaders.

He cannot afford to isolate himself further as his tie to Lanling Jin is proxy of Jin Ling. Where he could kill and harrass a nameless mo dao user, he does not have that advantage when confronting Lan Wangji. Either aggressive avenue he pursues would be to his detriment, disrespectful at minimum to the entirety of the Lans if he continues mocking Lan Wangji, and seen as weak physically if he did fail in a battle losing any superfluous respect he holds amongst the sects and clans as one of its leaders. He does not have the pragmatic knowledge either to engage Lan Wangji in a battle to confidently say he can win without a doubt.

He can however continue to take it out on Jin Ling who he is blatantly mocking in stand in for Lan Wangji, and others below his status as his guest disciples dread repercussions from him for this interaction and none can choose to stand against him.

"Is the narrative implying Jiang Cheng would never fight someone where he was at the disadvantage", barring extraneous situation (one being when he is protecting Jin Ling from Nie Mingjue's power jockeyed with resentment corpse), yes. That has become his modus operandi ever since he chose to condemn Wei Wuxian as a power hungry traitor and agrees to his death for the power hungry Jin Guangshan out of resentment. We also see shades of this when he continued to tell Wei Wuxian to let Wen Chao parade and tried to stop him from protecting Mianmian. He does not pursue impulses that are to his major disadvantage and when they are failures as well as repercussions despite doing the right thing, he instead put the onus of blame on the victims.

"Choose your battles" is indeed the philosophy Jiang Cheng has in comparison to Yunmeng Jiang's "Attempt the impossible". Because where one can and does end in failure, his way is nihilistic but certain, especially in his continued path as a politically isolated leader. Is he necessarily cautious, no, he just understands who exactly he can condemn without repercussions to himself and he will not engage in battles that he cannot afford to lose face over.

But even the examples of him fighting at a disadvantage—Nie Mingjue’s corpse, the second siege—were situations that he jumped into thinking that he had the advantage. He ran to Guanyin Temple to fight the weak cultivator Jin Guangyao, not the fierce corpse Nie Mingjue. And he couldn’t even beat Nie Mingjue or Jin Guangyao: he got injured due to his own inability to control his anger and had to be sat down, and then he and Jin Ling had to be rescued (again) from Nie Mingjue by Wen Ning. In the second siege, he expected to get the drop on a “powerless/weaponless” Wei Wuxian through sheer numbers. They were not expecting Jin Guangyao to 1) have a working yin tiger tally that he 2) used to trap all the cultivators who showed up, and the only reason why Jiang Cheng was “willing” to risk himself in this fight was because he was unwilling to accept being rescued by Wei Wuxian (again).

Wei Wuxian was never meant to be Jiang Cheng’s equal, and never does Jiang Cheng ever publicly claim Wei Wuxian as such; not by way of being raised in the same sect, not by way of being his direct childhood companion and not by even sworn brotherhood.

Wei Wuxian is not Jiang Cheng’s brother, and Jiang Cheng, because of his own insecurities, selfishness and brittle pride, would never accept Wei Wuxian as anything else. Whatever fondness existed was marred and poisoned long ago, leaving nothing but hatred and insecurities that Jiang Cheng never truly found the courage to face.

Also the fact that the Jiangs never did anything to raise his status is speculation and irrelevant - it’s clear that in the cultivation world gossip will continue no matter what the official narrative is. For example, Jin Guangyao has the highest status in the cultivation world, and yet many will dismiss him as merely a prostitute’s son.

wwx cannot be a brother, as in a whatever "legal definition of adopted into the family brother", because that will make him a candidate for the next clan leader. madam yu and her family will 100% raise a stink if that happens.

wwx is head disciple for the rest of the clan to show where he stands in the hierarchy within this clan, which is below the clan leader and his family but above the rest of the clan.

like, mdzs for me is a story which says that by leaving the oppressive systems behind one can achieve happiness. and one of such oppressive systems is the importance of bloodline. after ressurrection wwx by all means isn't cssr and wcz's son by blood but he does care their sentiments, their wishes and their will with him. lzs doesn't share any blood with wangxian but he is a part of their family. jyl and wwx are a sister and a brother in all but blood. so, by not only leaving the cultivation world's politics behind but by also simply being two powerful cultivators in a marriage that cannot have any children wangxian go against the partriarchal society in which blood and power are two most important thing, even though one (blood) is more important than the other (power), and that is framed as a good thing

Oooh, I’ve never thought of the whole bloodline thing! Not sure if I’d agree that mdzs posits bloodline, itself, as an oppressive system—the Wen siblings and remnants exist as contrast—but that bloodline inheritance is a problem. Jiang Cheng inherits Madam Yu’s insecurities and then tries to pass them on to Jin Ling, who finally rejects it, which is ultimately what saves their relationship. All of Jin Guangyao’s crimes can be tied back to him fighting for his bloodline inheritance against his father who refused to give it. The Wen remnants are persecuted and ultimately massacred for the “bloodline inheritance” of Wen Ruohan’s crimes, and then when mindless fierce corpse Nie Mingjue is raging, he picks his targets out of who shares bloodlines with the people he hated most in life.

However, familial relationships are just as often exploited or wholly disregarded by "sibling characters" when convenient. Lan Xichen actively goes against his blood-related brother to publicly support and prop up Jin Guangyao's lies. For all that you add 3zun in this "siblings" category, Jin Guangyao murders Nie Mingjue and sets Lan Xichen up as his accomplice, if not his fall-guy. Jiang Cheng uses his relation to Jiang Yanli to forge a relationship with the Jin, against Jiang Yanli's own comfort and regardless of her safety or feelings about the matter. Later, he uses "loyalty to family (or his mother's expectations of him)" to justify persecuting Wei Wuxian and killing innocents as proxies. The boy who murders Jiang Yanli uses "well, Wei Wuxian killed my brother" as an excuse to absolve him of the culpability of murdering not-Wei Wuxian. The guy at the second siege uses the death of his parents to justify wanting to kill Wei Wuxian again, despite the fact that the man had already died once due to the actions of the cultivation world, meaning his "vengeance" should have theoretically already been fulfilled. Jin Zixuan dies because he 1) trusted Jin Guangyao and 2) sides with his cousin, who was undeniably in the wrong, over respectfully and calmly engaging with Wei Wuxian to deescalate the situation safely. As a walking corpse, Nie Mingjue targets anyone with Jin blood to kill, which includes both Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian in Mo Xuanyu's body.

And then, let's not forget the sibling relationships you did leave out of your example: Jin Guangshan's kids. Jin Guangyao murders two of his siblings and is indirectly responsible for the death of the third. He leverages his relationship with both Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun to encourage the latter to ambush Wei Wuxian and the former to show up and escalate the situation, leading to the death of both. He weaponizes the incest reveal to silence Qin Su in order to preserve his own reputation, then sets her up to take her own life in a way that seals her spirit, preventing her from being questioned in the afterlife. And he leverages a similar incest claim to drive Mo Xuanyu out of the Jin Clan by claiming incestuous harassment, leading Mo Xuanyu back to be abused by his maternal family and also commit suicide.

What Wei Wuxian did was help the people he owed a debt to, people who risked their lives to save him and JC and put everything on the line simply because helping WWX and JC was the right thing to do. They were Wen! Wen Ruohan was winning! Capturing and presenting the Jiang Heir would’ve given them prestige and riches like no other! And instead they risk everything to save them.

And when time passed and they were the ones who needed help, JC refused and WWX acted with honour. He saved the lives of people because it was the right thing to do. Because a 1year old toddler isn’t evil, a grandma isn’t evil and a bunch of people born with the name ‘Wen’ doesn’t mean they’re evil.

And then Jiang Cheng takes part in the murder of these people. No he leads the charge to massacre the people Wei Wuxian gave everything to protect. He is there when they slaughter them all and dump their bodies in a blood pool and lie to the world about it. He upholds those lies and is famous for ending the Villainous Yiling Laozu. Wei Wuxian believes that A-Yuan is dead because he knows that even a child won’t be spared!

And then after Wei Wuxian comes back, it just never stops. From being whipped and being almost killed again to having a dog set on him, to outright homophobia. Jiang Cheng’s constantly saying slurs against the body of Mo Xuanyu and trying to slutshame Lan Wangji until it gets so bad that Wei Wuxian qi deviates.

Wei Wuxian is so furious that the man he loves is being degraded and humiliated that he spits up blood and collapses. He asks Lan Wangji to take him away from Lotus Pier and never wants to return. He just takes in the ranting and raving of JC to forever be his subordinate and serve under him quietly and apologises but has no intention of anything else.

There is nothing to ‘reconcile’ because there is nothing there. JC Stans may be okay with someone saying homophobic slurs against their loved one and holding up a banner of ‘why can’t we all get along’ about a man who’d throw you to the wolves to save his own skin and pride, but Wei Wuxian is not, most people are not and people who genuinely like WWX and JC both as characters aren’t either. The only thing in common Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng have is Jin Ling’s well being and thats it.

The massacre of the Wens that WWX had at the burial mounds was absolutely unforgivable (we know that JC doesn’t care for the wellbeing of strangers; only those of people he knows and cares for - this is similar to his mother. From his own experience, caring for strangers or people you owe nothing to only brings harm to the people you love - you must choose carefully which battles are worth fighting. This is why he considers WWX to have a “hero complex.”) None of that justifies straight up murder of innocent people, though. This is the biggest point against JC. Although WWX at this point had already lost control over who he killed (Jin Zixuan, completely blacking out at Nightless City) and may have gone on to kill more innocent people, the Wens didn’t deserve to die. We also don’t know if JC necessarily wanted to kill him or just imprison(?)/subdue him or anything like that; WWX ended up dying bc of his own spiritual rebound.

Directly or indirectly, WWX caused the death of JC’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law (the blame cannot be placed on WWX, as he absolutely always tried his best to do the right thing. I also acknowledge that WWX felt all this grief just as much as JC did; however, JC blames WWX, partly because WWX’s actions and partly because of his own helplessness.)

I completely disagree with the argument that JC is selfish trash who would throw anyone under the bus to save himself and his pride. While WWX did give up his core for JC, JC also willingly risked losing his own core (and did lose it) to draw Wens away from WWX when they were on the run after Lotus Pier was destroyed. I truly believe that before Jin Zixuan and especially Jiang Yanli’s death, Jiang Cheng cared deeply for WWX and would’ve sacrificed himself for him just as WWX would’ve done for JC.

Additionally, while it wasn’t WWX’s fault (ofc he couldn’t just sit back while everyone planned to kill him), Jiang Yanli’s fault was a direct consequence of WWX’s existence and actions. Especially because JC has already lost so much, I don’t blame him at all for blaming WWX for Jiang Yanli’s death (and Jin Zixuan’s death, of course, which was directly WWX’s fault).

I don’t think “simmering in snide spite and jealousy” is a correct description of the way JC sees WWX. We can see many instances where JC is clearly proud of WWX, cares about him, and defends him in front of others at his own expense (going against his mother when she was whipping him, defending WWX when LWJ was growing hostile after WWX started practicing demonic cultivation after returning from the Burial Mounds - although LWJ obviously had good intentions). While JC was certainly jealous of WWX, he was not proud of this fact and did not ever truly wish WWX harm until Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s death, which to JC was unforgivable and likely the turning point / point of no return in their relationship.

Another major theme you missed is that actions have consequences that one must accept whether they want to or not. Throughout every flashback, Jiang Cheng does things that push Wei Wuxian away until they reach the current status of their relationship in the novel, but also, everything that he does to alienate Wei Wuxian as the “cause” of all his life’s ills leads directly to half the tragedies he faced. He doesn’t get to tell Wei Wuxian about why he lost his core in the end because telling him this after years of abuse, leading the charge for his death twice, falsely accusing him of killing his family, and then spending 13 years gleefully killing innocents as proxy for him absolutely overshadows that one good act. On top of that, Jiang Cheng’s loss of his golden core was not an intended consequence of his actions, which is why he blamed Wei Wuxian for that too.

As Jiang Fengmian said, Jiang Cheng needed to be mindful of the things he says and does because some things cannot be taken back. Punishing Wei Wuxian for the loss of his golden core can’t be taken back, because Wei Wuxian already sacrificed his own golden core to him. Refusing to acknowledge his debt to the Wen siblings can’t be taken back, because they were already murdered through his tacit approval. Participating in the Nightless City murder pledge banquet can’t be taken back, because it already led to the murder of his only sister due to his negligence. Leading the first siege can’t be taken back, because Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants are already dead. And all those things lead to 1) the reveal at the second siege that that cultivation had spent 13 years lying to their own children about the reason they “had” to kill Wei Wuxian, thereby damaging their reputations in the eyes of said children, 2) the reveal in the ancestral hall that Jiang Cheng had publicly and gleefully persecuted to death the very people responsible for his current power and prestige, leading to his breakdown, and 3) Jin Guangyao’s scathing rebuke in Guanyin Temple about how almost every post-war tragedy that was blamed on Wei Wuxian was actually a direct result of Jiang Cheng’s petty jealousies being exploited to alienate and target Wei Wuxian, leading to yet another breakdown. And at the end, Jiang Cheng has to live with all of these truths being made public knowledge, also by his own hand. So no, this isn’t “they are unwilling to dredge up past regrets,” this is “Jiang Cheng has no right to settle accounts with Wei Wuxian, because not only would it devalue all the good things they actually did for the other but he would also come out as the one owing the most.”

2) There are actually other characters described as "domestic slaves" or the daughters of one in the story, too: Mo Xuanyu's mother (daughter) and Wang Lingjiao. Wang Lingjiao also calls Madam Yu's two servants "slaves" when admonishing them, to which Madam Yu corrects that they are servants and Wei Wuxian muses snarkily that a domestic slave is using the term to insult others like she isn't one, herself.

But for those with neither weibo nor twitter, here are the screenshots:

The way she translated all the scenes of drunken 3 has me convinced that she actually doesn’t like Wangxian. And using ‘sinister’ and ‘evil’ to falsely describe some of WWX’s actions and smiles, constantly having characters call him annoying and making LWJ ‘chide’ WWX as if he doesn’t like him being playful, or making LWJ seem overly strict and even hypocritical in his words and actions makes me feel like she doesn’t like WWX or LWJ either.

Like this is so blatant

Wei Wuxian was never meant to be Jiang Cheng’s equal, and never does Jiang Cheng ever publicly claim Wei Wuxian as such; not by way of being raised in the same sect, not by way of being his direct childhood companion and not by even sworn brotherhood.

Wei Wuxian is not Jiang Cheng’s brother, and Jiang Cheng, because of his own insecurities, selfishness and brittle pride, would never accept Wei Wuxian as anything else. Whatever fondness existed was marred and poisoned long ago, leaving nothing but hatred and insecurities that Jiang Cheng never truly found the courage to face.

Also the fact that the Jiangs never did anything to raise his status is speculation and irrelevant - it’s clear that in the cultivation world gossip will continue no matter what the official narrative is. For example, Jin Guangyao has the highest status in the cultivation world, and yet many will dismiss him as merely a prostitute’s son.

What Wei Wuxian did was help the people he owed a debt to, people who risked their lives to save him and JC and put everything on the line simply because helping WWX and JC was the right thing to do. They were Wen! Wen Ruohan was winning! Capturing and presenting the Jiang Heir would’ve given them prestige and riches like no other! And instead they risk everything to save them.

And when time passed and they were the ones who needed help, JC refused and WWX acted with honour. He saved the lives of people because it was the right thing to do. Because a 1year old toddler isn’t evil, a grandma isn’t evil and a bunch of people born with the name ‘Wen’ doesn’t mean they’re evil.

And then Jiang Cheng takes part in the murder of these people. No he leads the charge to massacre the people Wei Wuxian gave everything to protect. He is there when they slaughter them all and dump their bodies in a blood pool and lie to the world about it. He upholds those lies and is famous for ending the Villainous Yiling Laozu. Wei Wuxian believes that A-Yuan is dead because he knows that even a child won’t be spared!

And then after Wei Wuxian comes back, it just never stops. From being whipped and being almost killed again to having a dog set on him, to outright homophobia. Jiang Cheng’s constantly saying slurs against the body of Mo Xuanyu and trying to slutshame Lan Wangji until it gets so bad that Wei Wuxian qi deviates.

Wei Wuxian is so furious that the man he loves is being degraded and humiliated that he spits up blood and collapses. He asks Lan Wangji to take him away from Lotus Pier and never wants to return. He just takes in the ranting and raving of JC to forever be his subordinate and serve under him quietly and apologises but has no intention of anything else.

There is nothing to ‘reconcile’ because there is nothing there. JC Stans may be okay with someone saying homophobic slurs against their loved one and holding up a banner of ‘why can’t we all get along’ about a man who’d throw you to the wolves to save his own skin and pride, but Wei Wuxian is not, most people are not and people who genuinely like WWX and JC both as characters aren’t either. The only thing in common Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng have is Jin Ling’s well being and thats it.

The massacre of the Wens that WWX had at the burial mounds was absolutely unforgivable (we know that JC doesn’t care for the wellbeing of strangers; only those of people he knows and cares for - this is similar to his mother. From his own experience, caring for strangers or people you owe nothing to only brings harm to the people you love - you must choose carefully which battles are worth fighting. This is why he considers WWX to have a “hero complex.”) None of that justifies straight up murder of innocent people, though. This is the biggest point against JC. Although WWX at this point had already lost control over who he killed (Jin Zixuan, completely blacking out at Nightless City) and may have gone on to kill more innocent people, the Wens didn’t deserve to die. We also don’t know if JC necessarily wanted to kill him or just imprison(?)/subdue him or anything like that; WWX ended up dying bc of his own spiritual rebound.

Directly or indirectly, WWX caused the death of JC’s parents, sister, and brother-in-law (the blame cannot be placed on WWX, as he absolutely always tried his best to do the right thing. I also acknowledge that WWX felt all this grief just as much as JC did; however, JC blames WWX, partly because WWX’s actions and partly because of his own helplessness.)

I completely disagree with the argument that JC is selfish trash who would throw anyone under the bus to save himself and his pride. While WWX did give up his core for JC, JC also willingly risked losing his own core (and did lose it) to draw Wens away from WWX when they were on the run after Lotus Pier was destroyed. I truly believe that before Jin Zixuan and especially Jiang Yanli’s death, Jiang Cheng cared deeply for WWX and would’ve sacrificed himself for him just as WWX would’ve done for JC.

Additionally, while it wasn’t WWX’s fault (ofc he couldn’t just sit back while everyone planned to kill him), Jiang Yanli’s fault was a direct consequence of WWX’s existence and actions. Especially because JC has already lost so much, I don’t blame him at all for blaming WWX for Jiang Yanli’s death (and Jin Zixuan’s death, of course, which was directly WWX’s fault).

I don’t think “simmering in snide spite and jealousy” is a correct description of the way JC sees WWX. We can see many instances where JC is clearly proud of WWX, cares about him, and defends him in front of others at his own expense (going against his mother when she was whipping him, defending WWX when LWJ was growing hostile after WWX started practicing demonic cultivation after returning from the Burial Mounds - although LWJ obviously had good intentions). While JC was certainly jealous of WWX, he was not proud of this fact and did not ever truly wish WWX harm until Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli’s death, which to JC was unforgivable and likely the turning point / point of no return in their relationship.