Nirvana in Fire (rewatch), Episode 8

[krait]

AKA, "Nobody Knows How Much of This Was Planned Except Mei Changsu"

Seriously, what's a Divine Talent gotta do to get credit around this town?

Prince Yu: "Good for Mei Changsu. He bought a mansion at random and gave me such a big gift."
Jingrui: "Why must you be involved in this political chaos?"
Banruo: "Mei Changsu seems to be acting on his own."
Mei Changsu, deep in his heart, probably: Random? Chaos? On my own? THIS WAS ALL DONE VIA MY HARD WORK OVER LITERAL YEARS IN ADVANCE, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS RECOGNISE IT!


This is one of those episodes where I can't help but feeling a bit sorry for Prince Yu; he seems to take in stride the idea that Mei Changsu is pitting him against his brother to test them both with various setbacks and chances before choosing a side... Not surprising because it's exactly how his father treats him and the Crown Prince. He's got allies but no concept of friendship (and at this point, maybe no desire for it) - his response to Banruo, when she asks whether he could ever trust Mei Changsu even if he won his services, is, "If I can't even control Mei Changsu, how can I manage the country?" Interesting thing to say of your future advisor to your current advisor! Does he think he controls Banruo? Does he think she agrees?

POOR JINGRUI. He's so torn up by everything lately - he's teasing Yujin when he walks him home, but then comes the attack on Sir Su and the revelation that his own father is behind it, and it really throws him, poor kid. He's practically in tears, and his 'friend' is so calm about it that he borders on rude. (Jingrui's crying because his dad's trying to murder his friend, and your response is "Nobody's carefree. Don't make my decisions for me?" Really?! Mei Changsu, we need to talk about this thing called 'friendship' and how it works.)

Meng and Fei Liu! This episode has such great interactions between them! I adore Mei Changsu's smug face - okay, it's a totally guileless face, but on him it radiates smugness - when he's watching them interact. "Fei Liu, do you like Uncle Meng?" "No!" And then the bit with the apple, and his (smug) poker face when he insists it's for Meng!

The meeting with "Uncle Shisan" is unexpectedly poignant, with the double reminder that Mei Changsu has changed drastically in appearance and has lost most of his family, and then the tension around Gong Yu. This scene features what I suspect is a very rare truth out of Mei Changsu's mouth: I may not look the same anymore, but inside I'm still the same. This sounds like a reassurance for a relative, but when you unpack it, it's not a reassuring or happy statement - you can see throughout the show how much Mei Changsu is Lin Shu on the inside, and how much he hates what he has to be and do.

Comments

[branchandroot]

For real, though, the only thing Mei Changsu does to disguise his true identity is to /not/ actually walk around saying "Hi, I'm Lin Shu, long time no see." He doesn't change his actions or responses or hide anything at all except on the most surface "me, Lin Shu? gee of course not" level. It's no wonder Nihuang spots him right off.

...which suggests that Yujin's later comment is right, and he was /always/ pretty brisk with his younger cousins. Though in Jingrui's case you have to suspect there's also a hefty thread of guilt, there. He saw his opportunity and chose to use Jingrui, one of his baby cousins, as his point of entry for this /whole thing/. And Jingrui is so invincibly upright and virtuous that Mei Changsu can't do as much to guide him as he can for Yujin, as time goes on. I'm betting there's a big swallow of guilt that Lin-Shu-as-was is trying to stifle.

Prince Yu is such a perfect character for the purpose! He's /definitely/ the one most like the Emperor, the one who /sees/ exactly how the Emperor is ruling and adopts all those standards. He's the Emperor's mirror, and I honestly love how frustrated and afraid the Emperor becomes of his mirror. Hard on Yu himself, though.

[krait]

Well, I think his "I am a canny scheming strategist" is the main element of his disguise; anyone who knew Lin Shu knows that Lin Shu Would Never(TM). Lin Shu had martial skill and authority; he'd never have plotted his enemy's downfall from behind the scenes, he'd have called them out and fought openly.

He totally fails to hide his suspicious fondness for Jingyan and Nihuang and the old Lin residence, though. :D

Jingrui really is Too Good, poor guy! He's a sweet baby lamb in a pit of snakes. (Most of whom he's related to. Or at least thinks he's related to. Except Mei Changsu, whom he thinks he's not related to but actually is. THIS KID'S FAMILY.) I'm sure Lin Shu is being eaten alive by guilt.

Jingrui actually said something in this episode that I found really intriguing: during the discussion about how things can't remain the same, when he's longing for his relationship with Mei to be like it was in Lang Province, he says, You are a pugilist I admire.

Considering that Mei Changsu is notorious for commanding pugilists while having no martial arts skills of his own, my interest was piqued. Has Jingrui heard some form of 'explanation' for how an unskilled scholar ended up a leader? (Possibly along the truthful lines of "he possessed superior skill, until he became ill, and other pugilists follow him on the basis of his former ability"?) Or is it an honourary designation? Either way, it caught my attention that everybody in the Capitol knows Mei Changsu can't fight, yet Jingrui calls him a pugilist he admires.

Yu is an excellent mirror of his father, yes! The Crown Prince doesn't see deeply enough, but Yu is exactly as suspicious and manipulative and self-centred as dear old dad. I thought it was a really fascinating parallel, late in the series when Yu's mother is revealed, that so close together we hear the Emperor say "there's no reason he couldn't have ruled [despite his birth]" and Yu say "he was never going to let me succeed to the throne [because of my birth]". The mirror is diverging: Yu gives up on dad-style politicking and scheming, and openly (almost Jing-ishly, given the military nature!) rebels instead.

[lynndyre]

I read a fic where the reason Fei Liu hates Lin Chen (apart from the teasing) is the same reason he refuses to like Meng Zhi- this ep really made me believe it, hee.

Prince Yu is a fascinating bad guy.