#ZhangGongAn update: book Xu Deng is definitely not the same character as series Xu Dong, although I still think there might be some inspiration there. (It might also be wishful thinking, because I liked series Xu Dong so much.)
#ZhangGongAn: I am obsessed with the Lan Jue-Wang Yan-Gu Qingzhang (Shulin)-Liu Zhihui dynamics in the flashback scenes here; it’s even messier than in the show. (For one thing, instead of unnamed scholar friends on the periphery, it’s Liu Zhihui, a single troublesome dude getting involved.)
#ZhangGongAn: Also obsessed with Zhang Ping being every bit as autistic rep as in the show, and how much he infuriates Lan Jue, to the point where he feels himself regressing back to the old self who hadn’t spent ten years pretending to be refined and serene. 😂
LJ: “You don’t understand, I was just different from them, a different kind of person, and it was very hard for me!”
ZP: “All people are different from one another.”
LJ, sulking to himself: You’re different too! Why doesn’t it bother you?!?!
Meanwhile, Chen Chou, wandering through the snow in the gathering gloom, being directed to a place to shelter by an old woodcutter who then suddenly vanishes and discovering that it’s an old, abandoned temple full of cobwebs: Why do all the genre tropes have to happen to me?!
#ALeagueOfNobleman gave us so much and I would never complain, but it did hold back the scene where Lan Jue faints while being impeached in front of the Emperor* and wakes with his son howling at the bedside, officers from the Ministry of War turning his room upside down, and an expressionless** Wang Yan standing at the head of the bed to inform him he’s been… poisoned!
Then a messenger comes in to say that Dali Temple wants to take over the case from the Ministry of Justice because it’s so politically important and Wang Yan gets to tear his head off. 😄
it’s Wednesday
** I know, that’s what it says in the text, but we can all imagine his expression
Zhang Ping has a new boss who can’t stand him, thinks he’s a smartass sent to spy on him, and keeps yelling at him… and he’s right (except for the spying part)! Get that boy some forensic rigour, Feng Tai!
Zhang Ping, meanwhile, is grateful for all these useful tips. His new boss really cares about helping him improve! It gives him a warm feeling.
#ZhangGongAn: after putting this book aside for several weeks, I’m back!
Many thanks to past me for writing this thread so I could refresh my memory of what’s going on. Unfortunately, the current mystery is deeply connected to nuances of Daoist texts, the bagua, feng shui, and character riddles, none of which Google Translate has handled well. I’ve been skimming through Lan Peizhi, Wang Mowen and Zhang Ping being impressed with one another’s cleverness & just assuming they’re correct about it.
#ZhangGongAn: pleased to say I did get all the way through Arc 4 in the end! I can't wait to read it again in human translation and actually understand what's going on. 😓
This arc did have some more pressing downsides: the case was tied to people from a defunct Northern kingdom, so—in the MTL at least—there's a fair amount of the word 'barbarian' being thrown around, etc. I stress the MTL because I'm not sure if (a) that's a fitting translation at all; (b) it's the word a human translator into English these days would pick, if so. That makes it hard to say how much the anti-Northern-Asian attitudes should be ascribed to the characters vs. the narration, you know?
The final resolution of the case is also aided by the Ministry of Justice torturing the main suspect to get him to confess, which is very not cool.
#ZhangGongAn: Delighted to announce that Xie Fu, the county magistrate who was demoted to be Zhang Ping’s deputy and still has not got around to quitting this vale of tears because someone needs to organise things around here, is still around and apparently going to be important to the case in Arc Five.
#ZhangGongAn, Act 5: Lan Jue started out reminiscing about his late wife, switched to the Zhang Ping track in his brain, and (not shown) cracked himself up while staring into space such that the servant coming to see him turned right around, telling himself, “Minster Lan has been very stressed lately!”