I was originally introduced to this work by my S/O when she suggested we read it together before bed. It took us about 6 months to get through (we were only going about a chapter at a time), but we recently finished. Needless to say, I have some thoughts.
The basic story is that our protagonist, Li Yu, is “transmigrated” to Ancient China (or to the setting of a book he was reading, at least). From there, he is tasked with “taking down” a tyrant by “attacking his heart.” What follows is a tale of intrigue, love, and fish. Might this work be right for you? Read on to find out.
What Worked For Me
- The work is (generally) light fun. The couple (generally) has a very cute dynamic, and I came to like all of the main characters by the end of the story.
- The work focuses on an LGBTQ couple, and homophobia isn’t really an issue in-universe.
- I go back and forth on how much homophobia I want in a given work, even if zero is acceptable in the real world. In general, I think homophobia should have some effect on the narrative if the story is set in a time and place that’s notably homophobic (like America in the 2020s). Since this work is set in a more fantastical place and time, I found it easier to shrug off homophobia’s absence. Again, to be clear, I’m not saying stories featuring LGBT characters should focus on either dealing with or the effects of homophobia. Instead, I’m saying that its inclusion, unfortunately, often makes a story feel more “realistic” to me.
- While this wasn’t my first exposure to “transmigration” (which, in my mind, shares a lot of DNA with “isekai”), it was the first story I’ve read that focused on a setting that I would broadly describe as “Ancient China.” While I don’t have the context to say how this work compares to its peers in the genre, for me it was refreshing change of setting.
- The story includes some competent detective work. Characters are shown logically thinking through various situations and mysteries (e.g. how to defend a town from bandits, how a person evaded capture, etc).
What Didn’t Work For Me
- The author is fond of repetition, often repeatedly spelling things out that even someone half paying attention would’ve picked up on. This is further compounded by how often the author reuses certain pet phrases, like a character being “satisfied.” Some readers may choose to give the author a pass, as these issues could be due to the translation. The frequency of the repetition made this hard for me to do, however.
- There is a storyline fairly early on in the work (about 35% in) involving gaslighting and sexual assault. The inclusion of these topics aren’t the issue; my main concern was with how they were handled. The basic set up was that the tyrant wanted to have sex with Li Yu and more or less dragged him to bed. Li Yu, not happy with the prospect of being assaulted, punched him and ran away. From there, the story does NOT delve deeper into questions of modern vs “ancient” beliefs, privilege, or the tyrant’s upbringing. Instead, the situation is resolved when Li Yu decides he “overreacted,” because he “wanted to be thought of as a wife, not a concubine.” To me, the resolution feels more like authorial intrusion than an in-character response. I take some solace in the fact that this happens only once. With all of that said, I would completely understand if it turned someone off from the story, though.
- I don’t like how poison is used in the story. Aside from the fact that it makes no biological sense, it also allows the “disabled tyrant” to regain his voice. Sure, some of the ways the tyrant communicated stretched credulity (can you really express that much with just eyebrows?), but at least it helped round out his character. I also don’t love how it plays into the narrative (intentionally or not) that disabilities should be “cured.”
- I don’t like how the story treats some of its characters. Bao 4 in particular comes to mind. He is often described as slow or dumb, but the kid is only a year or two old in the narrative. This, in turn, makes his older brothers’ actions / temperaments seem far too mature for their age. The hand-wave explanation is that they’re “fish demons” but does it really make sense to have a one year old speaking and writing calligraphy? Maybe not.
- After their relationship develops, the eponymous disabled tyrant is portrayed as obsessive (with regards to the protagonist). Apparently that is seen as positive (and a trope) in this novel’s genre, but it was a big red flag for me.
- The “true” final villain had some issues. The final confrontation with them was laughably short, their actions didn’t always align with their motivations, and their presence in the story was much darker in tone than the rest of the work.
- The story includes a few birthing scenes. They are not described in any great detail, but I could understand them taking a reader by surprise if they were going into the story blind. Then again, with how fast and loose this work is with biology, maybe I shouldn’t have been taken off guard.
- It is a crime that the Jinjue princess was never named in the narrative (let alone that she didn’t get more time in the spotlight).
Conclusion
As a reader in North America, I would describe this work as niche. It’s a fan translation of a Chinese web novel, after all. If I hadn’t shared this work with my S/O, I likely never would’ve found this work (let alone finished it). With that being said, it had enough new ideas to keep me interested. The work may be far from perfect (and it definitely has more than a few problematic aspects), but given that we were able to read all 150+ chapters for free via fan translation, I can’t complain. Ultimately, that’s what I want to celebrate about this work: the time, energy, and passion that must’ve gone into its creation. Beyond that, if some of what I mentioned above didn’t scare you off, this one might just be worth a look.
