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baihe_media2024-06-13 06:48 pm
douqi) wrote in baihe_media2024-06-13 06:48 pm
To Embers We Return (焚情) Read-Along: Chapters 1 to 10
Ning Yuan (宁远) started serlalising her much-anticipated (especially by me) historical cyberpunk novel To Embers We Return (焚情, pinyin: fen qing, formerly known as Burning Passions but that sounded too much like the kind of historical romance that has a clinch cover with the leads' hair blowing dramatically in the wind) today. Since I know at least one other comm member is reading it as it serialises, I thought I would set up this read-along post.
Here's the updated summary for the novel (I posted about the original summary here):
Here is the link to the novel on JJWXC. I'll write a summary of each chapter in separate comments. Please feel free to join in, even if you're not reading the novel but are have questions/reactions. Obviously, there will be spoilers in the comments!
Here's the updated summary for the novel (I posted about the original summary here):
When Shen Ni returned home covered in glory, the emperor granted her the position of an official of the first rank, as well as the hand in marriage of the woman she had been in love with ever since her youth, Bian Jin.
Bian Jin had once been the empire's sharpest blade — a weapon in human form whose very name filled their enemies' hearts with terror. But after a string of serious battlefield injuries, she could only stand upright with the aid of a mechanical spine.
After their wedding, unresolved conflicts between the two meant that their marriage remained unconsummated, and they continued to address each other as 'shijie' and 'shimei'. Shen Ni kept a record of every single change in the sensitivity readings of every part of Bian Jin's new cybernetic body.
Each time she made adjustments to Bian Jin's body, Shen Ni would wear gloves. She knew her shijie had an obsession with cleanliness, and hated being touched.
Bian Jin: It's just a prosthetic. There's no need for all this fuss.
Shen Ni: The proprieties must be observed.
Bian Jin: Last night, I kept asking you stop, but you didn't. I didn't see you observing the proprieties then.
As Shen Ni was fine-tuning Bian Jin's body, a small mishap resulted in Bian Jin's skin developing a heightened level of sensitivity that only Shen Ni was able to trigger. The temperature in their bridal chamber rose instantly from 'cool' to 'scorching'.
Bian Jin: Are we going to test my body again tonight? Every time my sensitivity readings go up, I'll reward you.
***
Shen Ni straightened her official's hat, and met the 'gaze' of the spybeast hovering in the air. The monster who wanted to destroy the world had finally shown its cold, poisoned claws.
Her human genes summoned her to the aid of the ancient and noble civilisation that had birthed her. She would defend it to her last breath, even if it meant having her guts smeared across the landscape.
Random passerby: Hey, I think the monster who wants to destroy the world might be your wife.
Shen Ni: (nonplussed silence)
Shen Ni: What's there to love about this greedy, corrupt world? Let it be destroyed!
The fall of a degenerate society was close at hand. The land ran red with blood.
Bian Jin, her body now in peak condition thanks to Shen Ni's efforts, placed the point of her sword against Shen Ni's heart. 'Don't you understand?' she said. 'I was just using you.'
Shen Ni, completely drenched in blood, took a step forward. 'And after you're done using me, will you reward me?'
Bian Jin: ...what.
Here is the link to the novel on JJWXC. I'll write a summary of each chapter in separate comments. Please feel free to join in, even if you're not reading the novel but are have questions/reactions. Obviously, there will be spoilers in the comments!
Chapter 5
People immediately start gossiping about why the emperor has chosen to do this. One speculation is that it's a tactic to extract information from Bian Jin that the Court of Judicature and Revision failed to do. Another, very popular one is that it's a means to reduce Shen Ni's power and standing at court, by marrying her to someone who is being investigated for high treason, rather than a princess or other noblewoman. Absolutely no one suggests that it might be because they're secretly in love.
There's also much gossip within the Shuangji Hall's own chat group, which we see through Zeng Qingluo's eyes. She's about to remind her fellow disciples to exercise some self-restraint, when her sixth shixiong (an obstreperous character who was constantly being disciplined by Bian Jin) fans the flames with a long comment about how strict and cold-hearted Bian Jin is, and predicting that Shen Ni is going to have a terrible married life.
At this juncture, someone with '.' as a username and a fairly anonymous profile picture of a snow-covered mountain at night replies, telling him not to worry about her married life and advising him to worry more about what will happen if his document forgeries come to light. Realising that this can only be Shen Ni herself, everyone in the chat group immediately falls silent and begins frantically deleting their messages.
The day of the wedding arrives. Shen Ni takes note of the fact that many senior officials and ministers aren't in attendance, and have only sent gifts. She reflects that this at least saves trouble, since she's just swapped out Bian Jin's spine for a new one, and Bian Jin shouldn't stay too long on her feet welcoming guests.
Once Shen Ni gets dressed in her bridal robes, she heads over to Bian Jin's room, where Bian Jin is also getting dressed. She takes out a special face mask, which she has made for Bian Jin to wear to block out the smells of the crowd. It's adjustable for both opacity (ranging from full transparency to fully opaque) and colour. Bian Jin notes that Shen Ni is calling her 'shijie' again, after addressing her as 'my lady wife' in the previous chapter.
Shen Ni slips the mask onto Bian Jin's face, and it's a perfect fit. Bian Jin wonders how, because it's not as if Shen Ni had the chance to take measurements, then she remembers that Shen Ni has hyperthymesia. Does that means she remembers every single detail about me, Bian Jin wonders.
At the wedding ceremony, as the couple make their final bows to each other, Bian Jin reflects that Shen Ni has now bound her own life to Bian Jin's, and feels somewhat undeserving. She thinks about how it was the xiaoshimei she'd let down who ultimately came to her defence.
Shape of the wedding ceremony because I'm always interested in how same-sex traditional marriage ceremonies are presented: they both wear the femme version of the bridal robes and also both do the bridegroom's role in the festivities following the ceremony (i.e. they both stay out at the scene of the festivities playing host to the guests, rather than retreating into the bridal chamber right after the ceremony).
Eventually all the guests leave, except for two female officials from the Lijing Bureau (the original text has this as 丽景门, and 门 can mean 'sect', but these two are very specifically referred to as female officials, so I'm taking 门 to mean 门 as in 六扇门 (basically, the police) rather than 门 as in jianghu sect), who have been tasked with standing guard over Bian Jin. Auntie Wan tries to stop them from following Shen Ni and Bian Jin into their bridal chamber, but the two officials coldly declare that, as Shen Ni and Bian Jin are married at the emperor's command, it's their job to make sure the marriage is duly consummated.
Shen Ni precedes Bian Jin into the bridal chamber and sits on the bed demurely half-hiding her face with her (round) fan (this must be a version of the ceremony where the faces are hidden by fans not veils, though I am not sure now whether this was an actual specific historical practice or whether I've just watched too many Douyin videos). Bian Jin comes in and immediately plonks her own fan down on the table, thereby destroying any trace of romance there might have been in the atmosphere.
Bian Jin points out that the officials from the Lijing Bureau have followed them all the way here. Shen Ni, seemingly starting to undress, tells Bian JIn that the officials are here to make sure they consummate their marriage. Bian Jin's eyes are drawn to Shen Ni's bare neck, and for no reason at all, her breathing starts feeling a bit laboured. On the subject of consummation, Bian Jin basically thinks to herself, fine, if I have to do it I'll do it.
Shen Ni, having put herself in a state of slight deshabille, opens the door to the Lijing Bureau officials, and asks them if they need to come in to observe the proceedings. The two officials, shocked by this, don't reply. Shen Ni closes the door again, walks over to Bian Jin, and starts slowly loosening Bian Jin's sash (or belt. Help. This is my perennial translation problem).
Shen Ni whispers to Bian Jin that the two officials won't come in now, and all Bian Jin has to do is make some of the right noises. And then she fully unties Bian Jin's sash.
Tech watch: The face mask
Named men: 1.5 (I'm very generously counting 'sixth shixiong' here)
Reverse Bechdel passes: 0
Re: Chapter 5
It's not absolutely clear how Zeng Qingluo is accessing this chat group. A screen? Some built-into-the-eye/brain user-interface? Special lenses?
She thinks about how it was the xiaoshimei she'd let down who ultimately came to her defence.
Something BIGGER than the whipping must have happened, right?
as Shen Ni and Bian Jin are married at the emperor's command, it's their job to make sure the marriage is duly consummated.
Fuck or commit high treason, a variant on fuck or die.
Bian Jin's eyes are drawn to Shen Ni's bare neck, and for no reason at all, her breathing starts feeling a bit laboured
Bian Jin: FOR NO REASON AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Also, in general: AAAAAAAAAAAA
Re: Chapter 5
Wow, what a trip reading that summary was. (I'm having a particularly hard time typing with an incorrectly wrapped band aid on my finger ... who knew peelers could be so sharp!?!).
Did not imagine Shen Ni to be so audacious but alas, at the end, nothing salacious happened. Dang. hahah I want a lot more of these instances. Nothing like a slow buildup to get a nice explosion somewhere down the line. teehee Slowly then suddenly.
I was unclear about how they were viewing the chat, too. Sometimes, it's difficult to picture these futuresque settings.
Since I can't read the original myself, I'll have to continue wondering if your summaries are even better than the story itself. I would not be surprised if it was. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit I sometimes have to look up the definition of some of the words you use. HA HA he
Re: Chapter 5
Ouch, that's a sharp peeler! Hope it gets better soon.
Re: Chapter 5
Truly, they’re so great.
Re: Chapter 5
True power couples fuck and commit high treason
Re: Chapter 5
Shen Ni thinking ah yes it's all for the best that not as many guests come; Bian Jin shouldn't be standing for too long with her replacement spine - got some other ideas of what she should be doing, Shen Ni? Hm?
(I also love the contrast between like
Shen Ni: shijie should not stand too long or exert herself too much and should drink the nutrient broth and you know what, probably best I just carry her everywhere
Bian Jin: *calmly plotting royal murder with a borrowed weapon as a first resort*
)
On the mask: 1) love that Shen Ni demonstrates the colour-changing capabilities by cycling through a literal rainbow. Love wins, etc. 2) I can't be the only one thinking of Other Uses for a material with adjustable opacity/transparency, right?? I just think they could get creative with it. Ahem. Anyway.
Bian Jin thinking 'wait does that mean every smallest detail about me is stored in her memory?' combined with Shen Ni's thoughts last chapter about how she remembers everything that has ever happened between them, even the things she might not want to, definitely pings my foreshadowing/there's-more-to-this-backstory radar. What do you not want her to remember about you, Bian Jin?
And then YES I am extremely with you on thinking there must be more to this than the whipping, to make Bian Jin think of herself as having 'let down' her shimei, and to think that she doesn't deserve such a show of trust from Shen Ni as bringing her out of the prison and tying their lives together. Especially given that what we know of their past so far is that Bian Jin came dramatically to her rescue on the battlefield before dragging her back for said whipping. So then...what did you do Bian Jin? Obviously she's suspected of treason, and while I doubt it's quite that simple I do wonder what exactly transpired during those years she was missing... (Is this just my obsession with betrayals of all kinds, looking for anything to latch onto? Maybe!)
Bian Jin absolutely killing the romance by tossing her fan aside was a delight, especially from Shen Ni's faintly aggrieved but practical POV. And then Shen Ni doing her shameless-but-outwardly-guileless play of asking the two Lijing officials if they need to come in and watch? I love that we seem to be seeing more of her scheming side, and I'm definitely here for more of that.
On sash vs belt: I don't think either would stand out to me as long as it was consistent throughout the scene; given they're in bridal robes here I think 'sash' works. But now I'm going to overthink this every time I come across a 腰带, so thanks for that XD
Re: Chapter 5
Ahaha this has been bothering me FOREVER. I was so happy when the protagonist in Purely by Accident's wedding outfit was described as specifically including a 玉带 which is clearly a belt.
I do wonder what exactly transpired during those years she was missing... (Is this just my obsession with betrayals of all kinds, looking for anything to latch onto? Maybe!)
I think you're on to something! I'm wondering vaguely whether it's a sort of 'must betray the empire for the greater good'/'the empire is the evil one' kind of deal.
I love that we seem to be seeing more of her scheming side
I love scheming Shen Ni so much!
Re: Chapter 5
Where exactly did that virus come from, I wonder. (This is my first encounter with Ning Yuan's work so I have no idea which direction she's likely to go on this kind of thing but I'm very excited to find out!)
Re: Chapter 5