#Lin Jinyang

[sophiahoppia]

✨Prove it✨

💕 #CastleInTheTime #LinJinyang #LiuJia 💕 power imbalance, realization of feelings 💕 4,1k words

📔 https://archiveofourown.org/works/58123747/

[circumference-pie]

NiF + "One Art" [x]

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Pride! I’m thinking some Nirvana on Fire for me

Yujin wishes she’d been born a boy.

If she was a boy, maybe her father would pay more attention to her. If she was a boy, people wouldn’t give her so much grief for spending all her time with Jingrui.

If she was a boy, she wouldn’t be engaged to Lin Shu.

“He’s mean,” she complains, because it’s true. She’s thirteen and has had quite enough of all the other noble daughters telling her what an excellent match her father has made for her.

Lin Xie won her hand for his son in a card game before she was even born. Her father put as much effort into that as he did for anything else involving her.  

Jingrui pats her on the back sympathetically. “Maybe he’ll be less mean when he’s older.”

“Men get meaner as they age,” she tells him, because that’s what Aunt Yan had told her. “It’s a good thing you’re a crybaby – that means in twenty years you might still be nice enough to get a decent wife.”

He puts her in a headlock, even though she’s taller than him, because he’s a son of both a political and a martial family and he has the muscles to prove it.

Lin Shu is going off to war tomorrow. She thinks of going to say goodbye, but figures that it’s a waste of breath. Maybe he’ll get some niceness beaten into him on the battlefield, like Lin Xie had.

At least her in laws are nice. She should probably go to keep Xiao Jinyang company, since she’ll be lonely with her husband and son gone, and Yujin’s future is likely dependant on how much her future mother in law likes her.

Yujin already knows that Lin Shu will be no help at all once she’s married to him.

She hopes they only have girls. It would serve him right.

[jianghushenanigans]

Whumptober Day 10: "You said you'd never leave."

There’s a secret cabinet in Xiao Jingyan’s palace that holds memorial tablets for traitors. If anyone found out about it, everyone would find out about it, and Xiao Jingyan’s name would be included with theirs, and there would be no one left to honour to them.

So no one knows. Not even Lie Zhanying, who he trusts in everything but whose life he will not risk. Not even his mother, who he knows wants nothing more than for him to be alright. Not even Mei Changsu, who wants to know – who really should know – his every secret, so as best to advise him. To plot and scheme and lie for him.

No one knows.

He built it himself, in the dead of night, using what he knows of traps and weaponry to hide the mechanism to open it. He carved the tablets himself, crudely but with great care, more care than anyone showed them, back when they were still alive.

Xiao Jingyu. Lin Yueyao.

He repeats their names over and over to himself in his mind, a mantra.

Grand Princess Jinyang. Lin Xie.

The people he cannot forget. Who cannot be forgotten.

Lin Shu. Lin Shu. Lin Shu.

His mind, his heart, always catches there.

Lin Shu, xiao-Shu.

“Xiao-Shu.”

He clasps a hand over his mouth, but there is no one here to hear him. Not here, all alone in his locked room in the middle of the night, the only time he allows himself to think about them. The only time he allows himself to feel.

Lin Shu, xiao-Shu. His best friend, his everything.

“Xiao-Shu, where are you?” He’s crying. “Xiao-Shu, you said you’d never leave.”

“Xiao-Shu, come back.”

A tunnel away, Mei Changsu cannot sleep.

Crossposted here on ao3

[fandomside]

Nirvana in Fire Rewatch Episode Two

Events:

Meng Zhi and Fei Liu get in a fight.

Xia Dong leaves to investigate the Duke Qing case.

Jinyang arrives home from the front and is bullied by his brothers.

The marriage tournament begins.

The princes court MCS, like he's a girl they're trying to impress.

MCS goes to see his great-grandmother.

MCS and Nihuang talk, before being interrupted by a eunuch beating Tingsheng.

Names and titles:

MZ’s title is Meng-da-tongling, or ‘Da-tongling’.

Jingrui refers to his brother as Xie Bi, no diminutive. His brother calls him da-ge.

Either great-grandmother calls everyone xiao-, or Jingrui was xiao-Rui as a child.

Characters:

Jingrui is not stupid about politics – he instantly understands why the Empress wants to see him (to get a look at MCS).

Meeting great-grandmother is the most emotion MCS has shown so far. They must have been close.

Time:

Nihuang’s father died when she was 17, ten years ago. That puts an age gap of up to five years in between Lin Shu and Nihuang.

Places:

Yunnan has 200k troops. They border Southern Chu and regularly fight them.

Misc:

There are 50k Imperial Guards under MZ’s command.

Xuan Bu from Da Yu is first on the Langya list of fighters.

[ffxvficrec]

by SophiaHoppia 31 different ships for kinktober2024 #1 WenZhou (TYK) #2 ZoSan (One Piece) #3 Jinyang/Liu Jia (Castle in the Time) #4 ZhongXu (JZEU) #5 RenBya (Bleach) #6 VegeBul (Dragonball) #7 ZhaoHan (Yakuza) #8 Chocobros (FFXV) #9 XiaoMin (EWTMY) #10 Akam (Detective Conan) #11 KazuMaji (Yakuza) #12 #13 AshEiji (Banana Fish) #14 Ferdibert (FE3H) #15 #16 ShenMin (JZEU) #17 Sylvix (FE3H) #18 #19 #20 #21 #22 #23 Fluri (ToV) #24 #25 #26 MihawkShanks (One Piece) #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 Words: 1519, Chapters: 8/31, Language: English Fandoms: 天涯客 | Faraway Wanderers - priest , One Piece (Anime & Manga) , 时光之城 | Castle in the Time (TV) , 绝世千金 | Unique Lady (TV) , 如意芳霏 | The Blooms at Ruyi Pavillion (TV) , Bleach (Anime & Manga) , Dragon Ball , 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games) , Final Fantasy XV Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Multi Relationships: Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu , Roronoa Zoro/Sanji , Lin Jinyang/Liu Jia , Xu Jin (The Blooms at Ruyi Pavillion)/Zhong Wumei , Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Byakuya , Bulma Briefs/Vegeta , Han Joon-gi | Kim Yeonsu/Zhao Tianyou , Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia Additional Tags: Kinktober , Kinktober 2024

[kdram-chjh]

Cdrama: Go! My Hero! (2022)

Gifs of Intro of cdrama “Go! My Hero!”

ENGSUB´【PLAYLET】 拜托了！大侠 Go! My Hero! EP01-02 ONER 木子洋_曹婉瑾_王祖一_林子琳 古装爱情 优酷宠爱剧场 YOUKU ROMANCE

Watch this video on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUpwb09M-EY

[acesgroupchat]

Distance Drabbles Day 205:

Fictober Day 9: “Will you look at this?” 99: Mei Changsu/Xiao Jingyan

Prompt number: 9 Fandom: Nirvana in Fire/Langya Bang Rating: Gen Warnings/Tags: Fluff, kidfic

“Will you look at this?” cooed Consort Chen. Concubine Jing turned, and smiled. Princess Jinyang giggled.

Her son had begged and begged to hold the baby. He was still too young, still unsteady on his feet and nowhere near strong enough to lift Xiao-Shu, but he was so earnest and determined that they could not deny him. They had propped him up with pillows, and made sure he was settled and comfortable before putting his little cousin in his lap.

Jingyan, her careful boy, barely moved, but Xiao-Shu, apparently curious, had freed one tiny arm to touch his cousin’s face.

[nillegible]

Uneasy lies (the head that wears a crown) [NiF ficlet]

On the 4th day of the 10th month, the Crown Prince, His Highness Xiao Jingyan, accompanies the three presiding officials to the palace to meet the Emperor.

The Emperor, the Son of Heaven, stares hatefully down at the four of them. His son. His brother. His once dearest friend. Standing beneath him with cold, accusing eyes that make him want to rage. The details, when they recite them with their studiously blank faces make his blood boil. How dare they?

He waits for the triumph on Jingyan’s face, and only curses him further when he detects none of it, no joy, just a fierce kind of burning, not unlike Jingyu’s when… when he stood before this selfsame throne, and… 

What a fool I was, he thinks. What had he gained by his suspicions of Jingyu, a paltry thirteen years of ruling the empire he’d fought so hard for? Thirteen years for Jingyan to take revenge on his brother’s behalf, to wrest his power away, to back the Emperor into a corner and stand before him like this, unrepentant. 

Thirteen years for Jingyan, the bull-headed young man who yelled at him that it could not be true that his brother would conspire against the throne, to finally find the evidence for the betrayal he had suspected. To force the emperor to hear his words at last.

“And what-” says the Emperor, coldly. They have him, there’s no defense he can make. An old man to be ruined most thoroughly while no one speaks of his humiliation to his face. “-do the presiding officials believe is fair compensation?”

The emperor hears their terms, and fury whites out his vision. He pushes himself up to stand, trembling with illness and anger, and points at Jingyan. He cannot bear this humiliation. But he will not beg his own son to let this go.

(Jingyan, the stubborn fool, would never listen.)

I was a fool, he thinks, staring at this son who looks back, chin raised defiantly. As if he is already Emperor. This is not how Jingyu looked, he thinks, and tears that thought violently away. That son is gone, gone after raising this one to be so impossible, filled with the same ridiculous notions… the Emperor’s hand, aged and feeble, shakes where he points. “I will not,” he snarls. And starts to cough.

And coughs, and coughs, as Gao Zhan comes to take his weight. 

The emperor’s heart pounds as he gasps for breath, terrified. 

Is he dying?

But within the haze of terror of the unknown, of the end that he has been so ready to send others to, rises one last vicious thought: 

It would serve Jingyan right. 

The Son of Heaven laughs weakly in between the painful, hoarse wheezes. He has lost. 

*

(The mourning bells sound with a grand finality, marking Mei Changsu’s and Xiao Jingyan’s losses, too.)

*

The Emperor wakes in his own bed, still laughing, invigorated. “My lord rested well?” asks a familiar voice, and he looks up into the exquisitely beautiful face of Noble Consort Yue.

Too beautiful. Too young. He stares, confused, before ordering her out of his bed. It takes until he’s climbed out of bed himself - easily, painlessly - that he realizes that this was her bed. 

Her palace. 

As it had been, years ago. She was who she had been, years ago. This is not the crazed and ill woman he had last seen, ruining herself to gain her son the throne.

“Impossible,” he says, and perhaps his distress had been too obvious because Gao Zhan - precious Gao Zhan, one of the few who had never failed him - appears, inquiring gently after his well being. “We are well,” says Xiao Xuan. “But we would like to depart.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” says Gao Zhan, stepping backwards to make way and send some servants scurrying ahead to pass on the eunuch’s messages and prepare the next palace for the Emperor’s royal presence. Xiao Xuan has to pause before following; he’d forgotten that it had been like this once. That Gao Zhan had not always been at his side (one of his wives often at the other) helping to keep him on his feet.

What happened? Why is he here?

(Is it true, or has he finally lost his mind?)

*

He is back to three years before Jingyu’s betrayal. Before the year Xia Jiang and Xie Yu played that cruel trick that robbed him of peace - he had tried, he had tried so hard to outrun that loss, to tell himself it was worth it to not have the thorn of Jingyu’s rising power and influence in his side. To not have Lin Da-ge’s censorious presence judging his every action. And how long had that lasted? The deaths following him from that moment on, in his grandmother’s grief, in Jingyan’s cold fury, in Yan-er-ge’s studied silence.

The Emperor is not sorry, he was never sorry. He had wanted his son back at times perhaps, when he was feeling sentimental. And Jinyang’s absence had of course taken years to get accustomed to (Liyang had quieted after marriage but Jinyang had stayed her bright and sharp self…) And Lin Yueyao… sometimes. It had been nearly impossible not to want her.

But never more than he wanted his throne. ‘For that, anything,’ he had told himself, disgusted and exhausted that the blood he had spilled to gain the throne was not the end of it, that he must spill more and more to keep his own sons from taking over.

The Emperor has lived this life before, and yet he is no clearer now than he was fifteen years ago (three years from now) when he wondered: Has Jingyu had enough? What will he do, the next time that he disagrees with me?

He had thought he had known the answer, when he sent the poisoned wine to his son. Had thought Lin da-ge had given up on him, and decided to back his nephew to put his own blood on the throne. 

In spite of the way Jingyan had thrown the contrary evidence in Xiao Xuan’s face, the way Noble Consort Jing had insisted that Jingyu had never intended to commit treason, his heart remains unconvinced. Perhaps Jingyu had not hit his limits then. perhaps his child truly had been framed and too heartbroken at the great loss to defend himself. But would he truly have waited, silently, without interfering, and allowed Xiao Xuan to rule for decades more?

He thinks not. 

He… He wonders if he should give Jingyu a chance.

Now that he knows where Jingyan and Jingxuan and Jinghuan’s hearts lie. Knows what lengths Xia Jiang and Xie Yu would go to to mislead him for their own aims.

Things would be different. 

He will make it different. 

Isn’t that why the heavens had given him this chance?

[bookofjin]

Administrative geography of Western Han (34,107)

According to Ban Gu's Book of Han.

Sili司隸

Jingzhaoyin京兆尹

Chang'an長安

Xinfeng新豐

Chuansikong船司空

Lantian藍田

Huayin華陰

Zheng鄭

Hu湖

Xiagui下邽

Nanling南陵

Fengming奉明

Baling霸陵

Duling杜陵

Zuopingyi左馮翊

Gaoling高陵,

Yueyang櫟陽

Didao翟道

Chiyang池陽

Xiayang夏陽

Ya衙

Suyi粟邑

Gukou谷口

Lianzhuo蓮勺

Fu鄜

Pinyang頻陽

Linjin臨晉

Zhongquan重泉

Heyang郃陽

Duixu祋祤

Wucheng武城

Chenyang沈陽

Huaide褱德

Cheng徵

Yunling雲陵

Wannian萬年

Changling長陵

Yangling陽陵

Yunyang雲陽

Youfufeng右扶風

Weicheng渭城

Huaili槐里

Hu鄠

Zhouzhi盩厔

Tai斄

Yuyi郁夷

Meiyang美陽

Mei郿

Yong雍

Qi漆

Xunyi栒邑

Yumi隃麋

Chencang陳倉

Duyang杜陽

Haozhi好畤

Guo虢

Anling安陵

Maoling茂陵

Pingling平陵

Wugong武功

Hongnong弘農郡

Hongnong弘農

Lushi盧氏

Shan陝

Yiyang宜陽

Mianchi黽池

Xin'an新安

Luhun陸渾

Hedong河東郡

Anyi安邑

Dayang大陽

Yishi猗氏

Xie解

Pufan蒲反

Heibei河北

Zuoyi左邑

Fenyin汾陰

Wenxi聞喜

Huoze濩澤

Duanshi端氏

Linfen臨汾

Yuan垣

Pishi皮氏

Changxiu長脩

Pingyang平陽

Xiangling襄陵

Zhi彘

Yang楊

Beiqu北屈

Puzi蒲子

Jiang絳

Huzhe狐讘

Qi騏

Henei河內郡

Huai懷

Ji汲

Wude武德

Bo波

Shanyang山陽

Heyang河陽

Zhou州

Gong共

Pinggao平皋

Zhaoge朝歌

Xiuwu脩武

Wen溫

Yewang野王

Huojia獲嘉

Zhi軹

Qinshui沁水

Longlü隆慮

Tangyin蕩陰

Henan河南郡

Luoyang雒陽

Xingyang滎陽

Yanshi偃師

Jing京

Pingyin平陰

Zhongmou中牟

Ping平

Yangwu陽武

Henan河南

Goushi緱氏

Quan卷

Yuanwu原武

Gong鞏

Gucheng穀成

Gushi故市

Mi密

Xincheng新成

Kaifeng開封

Chenggao成皋

Yuanling苑陵

Liang梁

Xinzheng新鄭

Bing 并州

Taiyuan太原郡

Jinyang晉陽

Jiexiu界休

Yuci榆次

Zhongdu中都

Zishi茲氏

Wu鄔

Pingtao平陶

Jingling京陵

Daling大陵

Qi祁

Shang'ai上艾

Yangyi陽邑

Shangdang上黨郡

Changzi長子

Zhunliu屯留

Yuwu余吾

Tongdi銅鞮

Zhan沾

Nieshi涅氏

Xiangyuan襄垣

Huguan壺關

Xuanshi泫氏

Gaodu高都

Lu潞

Yishi陭氏

Yang'e陽阿

Guyuan穀遠

Shang上郡

Dule獨樂

Yangzhou陽周

Pingdu平都

Qianshui淺水

Xiangluo襄洛

Qiyuan漆垣

Sheyan奢延

Diaoyin雕陰

Diaoyindao雕陰道

Dingyang定陽

Gaonu高奴

Xihe西河郡

Zhongyang中陽

Gaolang皋狼

Pingzhou平周

Lin藺

Lishi離石

Xicheng隰成

Tujun土軍

Yinshan陰山

Yan 兗州

Dong東郡

Puyang濮陽

Baima白馬

Nanyan南燕

Chenliu陳留郡

Chenliu陳留

Xiaohuang小黃

Yongqiu雍丘

Suanzao酸棗

Donghun東昏

Waihuang外黃

Fengqiu封丘

Changluo長羅

Weishi尉氏

Changyuan長垣

Pingqiu平丘

Jiyang濟陽

Junyi浚儀

Huaiyang淮陽國

Yangjia陽夏

Fugou扶溝

Yu圉

Yu 豫州

Yingchuan潁川郡

Yangdi陽翟

Changshe長社

Yingyin潁陰

Chonggao崇高

Xu許

Yanling傿陵

Cheng'an成安

Zhouchengxiu周承休

Yangcheng陽城

Lunshi綸氏

Ji冀州

Zhao趙國

Handan邯鄲

Yiyang易陽

Bairen柏人

Xiangguo襄國

Guangping廣平國

Guangping廣平

Zhang張

Zhaoping朝平

Nanhe南���

Lieren列人

Chizhang斥章

Ren任

Quliang曲梁

Guangxiang廣鄉

Pingxiang平鄉

Guangnian廣年

Zhending真定國

Gaocheng稿城

Wei魏郡

Ye鄴

Chiqiu斥丘

Sha沙

Neihuang內黃

Fanyang繁陽

Liangqi梁期

Liyang黎陽

Jifei即裴

Wushi武始

Hanhui邯會

Hangou邯溝

Wu'an武安

Julu鉅鹿郡

Julu鉅鹿

Guang'e廣阿

Xiangshi象氏

Yingtao廮陶

Songzi宋子

Yangshi楊氏

Jingwu敬武

Baixiang柏鄉

Changshan常山郡

Yuanshi元氏

Shiyi石邑

Fangzi房子

Zhongqiu中丘

Fengsi封斯

Guan關

Pingji平棘

Hao鄗

Liang涼州

Wudu武都郡

Gudao故道

Anding安定郡

Gaoping高平

Fulei復累

Anbei安俾

Fuyi撫夷

Zhaonuo朝那

Jingyang涇陽

Linjing臨涇

Lu鹵

Wuzhi烏氏

Yinmi陰密

Anding安定

Canluan參䜌

Sanshui三水

Yinpan陰槃

Anwu安武

Julei祖厲

Yuande爰得

Xunjun眴卷

Pengyang彭陽

Chunyin鶉陰

Yuezhidao月氏道

Anding安定郡

Fuyi撫夷

Linjing臨涇

Yinmi陰密

Anding安定

Canluan參䜌

Yinpan陰槃

Anwu安武

Yuande爰得

Pengyang彭陽

Beidi北地郡

Maling馬領

Zhilu直路

Xuyan昫衍

Fangqu方渠

Chungu鶉孤

Guide歸德

Lüepandao略畔道

Niyang泥陽

Yuzhi郁郅

Yiqudao義渠道

Yiju弋居

Dayao大𦥼

Not located

Taiyuan太原郡

Yuli于離

Guangping廣平國

Pingli平利

Yangtai陽臺

Chengxiang城鄉

Julu鉅鹿郡

Wutao武陶

Changshan常山郡

Pingtai平臺

Duxiang都鄉

Beidi北地郡

Chudao除道

Wujie五街

Huihuo回獲

County locations and ancient rivers, lakes, and shorelines from The Historical Atlas of China.

I have intentionally stuck to the Hanshu where it differs from the Historical Atlas.

[psqqa]

Nirvana in Fire Character Reference Sheet Roughly in the Order Those Characters Are Introduced

For @howdydowdy, as promised, and for anyone else who, like me, is terrible at names and needs some kind of “Who?? Ohhh right. That guy.” reminder.

Basically, my Nirvana in Fire Journey started with me watching half the first episode, being wildly confused, realizing I was in over my head re: names and thus deciding to go back to the beginning and watch it again But Taking Notes This Time. I watched the whole show with a notebook and pen at my side. I figured I may as well spare you all the labour by typing it up. 

As more information was revealed, I often added it to a character’s initial note, but by and large I’m leaving those extra notes out so you can experience the joy and confusion and anguish of New Information yourself. The exception to this is generally a person’s name, title, and position. E.g. Duke Qing’s name, Bai Ye, isn’t mentioned until a number of episodes after he’s first mentioned, if I recall correctly, but knowing that the person named “Bai Ye” is the same person called “Duke Qing” is exactly why I took these notes for myself in the first place.

Basically this isn’t intended to be a character guide that lays out exactly who a person is, their relationships to the other characters, and their place in the story, but rather something you can look at whenever someone mentions a name that jogs your memory just enough for you to be able to place to person. Which is why the notes tend to be either the context in which the person was introduced or the relationship through which they’re introduced.

Some names and notes are inherently spoilers, but hopefully by virtue of the fact that this is broadly in the order a character is first mentioned/introduced, you can avoid spoilers simply by not scrolling down too far. For those persons where their name or an alter ego comes in significantly after their initial introduction and is a spoiler, they are listed a second time starting with the “new information” and with the note in italics indicating their original entry (there aren’t a lot of these, don’t worry).

I will readily admit that some of my handwritten notes are just a name and then a blank space because apparently I just never actually added a note for them. I haven’t bothered adding those people here. Yes it’s because I’ve forgotten entirely who they are, but I’m pretty sure that means you’ll be okay if you immediately forget who they are too. (That being said, I get the sense there are actually relevant people missing from this list. As the show carried on and introductions became less frequent, remembering them became less difficult.)

The List

Lin Xie –> Commander of the Chiyan Army

Lin Shu –> “Xiao-Shu” –> Lin Xie’s son –> Mei Changsu --> Chief of the Jiangzuo Alliance --> Su Zhe

Lin Chen –> Young Master of Langya Hall –> NOTE: The “Lin” of Lin Chen and the “Lin” of Lin Xie & Lin Shu are both written and pronounced differently. These people are not related.

Northern Yan’s 6th Prince –> Now Northern Yan’s Crown Prince

Minister Xu –> Da Liang’s envoy to Northern Yan

Prince Yu –> Xiao Jinghuan –> 5th Prince of Da Liang

Xiao Xuan –> Emperor of Da Liang

Empress Yan --> Prince Yu’s adoptive mother

Consort Yue --> Crown Prince’s mother

Grand Empress (Dowager) --> Emperor’s grandmother

Xiao Jingxuan --> Crown Prince of Da Liang --> metonym is “Eastern Palace”

Zhuo Dingfeng --> Master of Tianquan Manor

Zhuo Qingyao --> Eldest son of Zhuo Dingfeng --> guy on the horse and later the guy helping the old couple on the boat and later also the guy who calls Xie Yu “father-in-law” (I am telling you this specifically because I am not bad at faces but this guy added so much confusion to my life that was cleared up the moment I realized these people were the same person. And also because my mother is terrible at faces and for like 15 episodes every time he showed up in another random place I would say “that’s horse and boat guy” and she would say “wait what? really???” So I’m assuming at least one other person will share in this struggle)

Xie Yu --> Marquis of Ning

Qin Banruo --> Prince Yu’s strategist

Duke Qing --> Prime Minister --> Bai Ye

Ji Ying --> member of Double Sword Sect

Li Gang --> member of Jiangzuo Alliance

Fei Liu --> Mei Changsu’s bodyguard

Yan Yujin --> Son of Empress Yan’s brother

Xiao Jingrui --> Eldest son of Xie Yu

Mu Nihuang --> Commander of the army in Yunnan --> Princess of Yunnan’s House of Mu 

Xie Bi --> Second son of Xie Yu & Xiao Jingrui’s younger brother

Mu Qing --> Mu Nihuang’s younger brother

Xia Dong --> An officer of the Xuanjing Bureau

Nie Feng --> Xia Dong’s late husband --> Vanguard General of the Chiyan Army under Lin Xie

Meng Zhi --> Commander of the Imperial Guards

Xuan Bu --> From Da Yu --> stronger than Meng Zhi

Gao Zhan --> Emperor’s chief eunuch 

Fei Changshi --> Prince Yu’s guy out looking for Mei Changsu

Prince Jing --> Xiao Jingyan --> 7th Prince of Da Liang

Concubine Jing --> Mother of Prince Jing

“Xiao-Xin” --> Attendant to Concubine Jing

Grand Princess Liyang --> Xie Yu’s wife & Emperor’s sister

Eunuch Zheng --> Eunuch who is mean to Tingsheng

Prince Qi --> late Crown Prince of Da Liang --> Xiao Jingyu

Tingsheng --> servant boy caught reading

“Lao-Wei” --> Mu Qing’s subordinate of some kind

Wei Zheng --> member of Chiyan Army at Battle of Meiling (and survived)

Sima Lei --> member of Royal Guard --> Consort Yue’s preferred suitor for Mu Nihuang

Liao Tingjie --> Son of the Marquis of Zhongsu --> Empress Yan’s preferred suitor Mu Nihuang

Baili Qi --> Mu Nihuang suitor from Northern Yan --> A favourite of the 4th Prince of Northern Yan

Lady/Madam Zhuo --> Zhuo Dingfeng’s wife

Xie Qi --> Zhuo Qingyao’s wife & Xie Yu’s daughter & Jingrui’s sister

Consort Hui --> bullied by the Empress

Young Lady Zhen (I think is what my handwriting says) --> servant being sneaky at late dowager empress’s palace

“Wu-momo” --> older servant with the Bad Wine

Consort Chen --> now dead --> son was a rebel

3rd Prince of Da Liang --> Xiao Jingting --> Prince Ning --> disabled

6th Prince of Da Liang --> no ambition 

9th Prince of Da Liang --> too young to fight for throne 

Former Crown Princess --> late Prince Qi’s late wife

“Qi-momo” --> Grand Princess Liyang’s senior attendant

Gong Yu --> window lady who works with Mr. Shisan --> a musician

Mr. Shisan --> member of Jiangzuo Alliance --> connection to Lin family

Minister Lou --> Lou Zhijing --> Minister of Trade/Finance/Revenue/other words that mean “money” --> Knows about the corpse well --> Crown Prince’s faction

Zhang Jing --> Owner of corpse well house (Lan Mansion) at the time the corpses ended up in the well

Shi Jun --> Servant at corpse well house at relevant time --> has record book

Magistrate Gao --> Gao Sheng --> The Capital Magistrate

Princess Xuanji --> ruler of a previous dynasty --> founded the “Hong Court”

Minister Qi --> Qi Min--> Minister of Justice --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister He --> He Jingzhong --> Minister of Personnel --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister of Public Works --> Prince Yu’s faction

Minister Chen --> Chen Yuanzhi --> Minister of Rites --> Crown Prince’s faction

Minister of Defence --> Li Lin --> Crown Prince’s faction

Bai Xun --> Duke Qing’s brother

Lie Zhanying --> Staff Officer under Prince Jing

Qi Meng --> One of Prince Jing’s men --> fights Fei Liu and commits Great Offence

“General Bian” --> One of Prince Jing’s men

Shen Zhui --> Acting Minister of Finance

Princess Qing He --> Shen Zhui’s mother

Cai Quan --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> Did well-received report on the Bing case 

Han Zhiyi --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Zhang Jianzhen --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Wei Yuan --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Yuan Shiying --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Qin Yue --> Works at Ministry of Justice --> worked on Bing case

Tong Lu --> Vegetable cart guy --> brother of one of the corpse well girls 

Qiu Zhe --> Son of Count (Duke?) Wen Yuan

He Wenxin --> Son of Minister He --> dislikes Qiu Zhe 

Grand Prince Ji --> Emperor’s youngest brother --> Owns hot springs

Yang Liuxin --> A dancer

Hong Xinzhao --> Has “understanding girls”

Xinliu & Xinyang --> Brothel sisters --> their younger brother was murdered by Qiu Zhe

Princess Consort --> Lanjin --> Prince Yu’s wife

Zhou Xuanqing --> renowned scholar

Li Chong --> former Imperial Tutor --> former teacher to Lin Shu

“Brother Zhao” --> Canal transport guy --> Jiangzuo Alliance

Lin Xiangru --> famous literary envoy

Marquis Yan --> Yan Que --> Yan Yujin’s father & Empress Yan’s brother

Lin Yueyao --> Prince Qi’s mother --> Consort Chen

Zhen Ping --> Jiangzuo Alliance --> sword challenger

Xia Qiu --> An officer of the Xuanjing Bureau

Xia Chun --> The most senior of the officers of the Xuanjing Bureau

Prince Jingli --> Consort Hui’s son

Yuwen Xuan --> Prince Ling --> A prince of Southern Chu

Yuwen Nian --> “Niannian” --> A princess of Southern Chu --> student of Yue Xiuze

Yuwen Lin --> King of Southern Chu --> Yuwen Nian’s father

Ouyang Chi - Head of CApital Patrols

Xia Jiang --> Head of the Xuanjing Bureau

Li Chongxin --> Schoolteacher assassinated by Zhuo Dingfeng 

Jun Niang --> former member of “Hong Court” under Princess Xuanji

“Miss Liu” --> Granddaughter of former Chief Secretariat Liu Cheng

Wei Qi --> The general at Jiaxing Pass --> was Xie Yu’s lieutenant for years

Su Tianshu --> Chief of Yaowang Valley --> 7th on the Langya Rich List

Su Xuan --> Su Tianshu’s adopted son --> Wei Zheng

Yun Piaomiao --> Su Xuan’s wife 

Concubine Xiang --> Prince Yu’s birth mother

Zhu Yue --> Head of the Review Court --> Prince Yu’s brother-in-law

Cheng Zhiji --> Elder Master of Feng Hall --> 75 years old

Princess Linglong --> A princess of the Hua Kingdom --> Princess Xuanji’s sister --> Concubine Xiang

Grand Princess Jinyang --> Lin Shu’s mother & Lin Xie’s wife --> Emperor’s sister

Yao Zhu --> Official Fan’s servant who knows The Secret

Official Fan --> Harbouring Xia Jiang

[sovinly]

Hey! Happy Saturday. For the fic prompts thing, idk if I'm doing this right but I would love to see something NIF with fake married/marriage of convenience (canonverse or au, your choice!). I'm fine with either serious or silly :D

Hi! Happy Tuesday! You are 100%doing this right and what I have to offer is an accidentally politics modern AU that was supposed to be silly and then got more serious,so hopefully that’s okay! Thank you for such a delightful prompt! :D

The reporters have had their eyes on Yueyao for most of theevening.

It’s no government event, just a small, public party thatshe’s obligated to attend by virtue of her brother, and so the press ispresent. Freer than they would be otherwise, and not restricted to suchnecessarily polite, approved questions as at a conference.

A pack of dogs eyeing a lovely bone, and Yueyao is runningout of ways to fend them off.

She hides behind Jinyang for the span of a drink, and thentalks with the newly-married Madame Shen about economics, and then chatspolitely with General Mu and his wife, because their families have beenfriendly for a while now.

Then, Yueyao is finally cornered.

“Miss Lin,” the reporter says, all fixed politeness andcoaxing smile, “Do you have any comment on the Crown Prince’s marriageprospects?”

Yueyao keeps her own slight smile steady and her face verystill. Xiao Xuan’s marriage prospects are an open secret, and she has beendreading them being brought to a close. “Certainly, if he were to marry, therewould be an announcement?”

She lets her gaze sweep over the room, casual andunpanicked, maybe looking for her brother or sister-in-law. Yueyao only findsYan Que, is startled when his eyes meet hers and he lifts his brows slightly, butshe only tilts her chin up in a subtle, bare summons.

“You’re very eligible,” the reporter presses, shifting intoa more conspiratorial tone. “Do youhave plans for a marriage?”

Yan Que is only a few feet away, slipping past importantpeople with a few polite deferrals. Yueyao doesn’t have long to make a choice.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Yueyao deflects. Xiao Xuan is caughtbetween wanting Yueyao and wanting Yan Que’s younger sister – Yan Que’s sisteris younger, marriage would have to be a few years off, but the Yan family isvery politically prominent and scholarly. Yueyao is her brother’s sister, hasjust graduated, and knows how to be quiet and polite and lovely. Yueyao doesnot want to marry Xiao Xuan, but she cannot disgrace her family either, cannotupset the careful balance of politics. Xiao Xuan has the power here, and Yueyaois a very good way to remind multiple people of that.

What does she even know of Yan Que? That she liked him quitea bit when they were young, when she was fifteen and he was seventeen and handsomeand well-spoken and sharply funny. But that was years ago, and now she istwenty-three and has her degree and doesn’t know where she placed her carelessjoy, and Yan Que is twenty-five and the youngest diplomat rising through the government,has talked down a major war before it started. She knows he is furious with XiaJiang for some horrible thing that happened these last few years, and that hehas the family and status not to shame her. Would it be so bad, when she thinksthey could still be friends?

The reporter’s gaze is full of hungry teeth. Yan Que’spolished steps draw closer.

“Still, if I were to marry, there would be an announcement,”Yueyao says, calm and even, and her hand settles on Yan Que’s arm as if she hasjust noticed him now. She is asking.

He has always been clever, she sees him understand. And hecould help deflect in this moment, could easily reprimand the reporter bydrawing the distinction between the personal and the political in matters of maritalsacrament, or could reiterate government policies on press statements. If hedoes not want this, he can turn her down gently, with no loss of face foreither of them, with no one but them knowing.

Yan Que’s eyes are dark and gentle when they meet hers for amoment, and his smile is a lively spark of fond mischief that fades tosomething solemn.

“And there would certainly be an announcement if Miss Linwere to marry,” is what he says, and he folds his hand over hers.

The reporter clearly grasps the implication, reigns herselfin lest she give the import away to any of her colleagues, and asks a few moreprobing questions before she takes her win and retreats. Probably to do somedigging of her own, certainly to make an inquiry with Yan Que’s office at thestart of the business week.

“I put you in a difficult position,” Yueyao acknowledges,when it’s just the two of them, but she can’t regret asking. He is kind andjust and easy on the eyes – she thinks she could be safe and happy, married tohim. She doesn’t know that the same is true in reverse.

Yan Que studies her very intently, evaluating and quiet. He’sno fool to realize how complicated and difficult this gambit might make theirlives. But there’s something fond in his face, too, like this is more than pityor altruism for the sake of his friendship with her brother.

“I’ll speak to my parents in the morning,” he says, oblique,like he knows that they might be listened in on even know. His hand still restson top of hers, warm and steady and comforting. “May I bring you a drink,before we talk to your brother and his wife?”

Yueyao thinks they’ll have quite a bit more strategizing todo before Monday morning, but she holding her shoulders straight feels lesslike a pretense, now. She doesn’t pull her hand away from his arm.

“Thank you,” she says, and she smiles. “I’d like that.”

[presumenothing]

meteoric  //  平步青雲

Or, what if the ones framed alongside Prince Qi wasn’t the Chiyan army... but Prince Jing’s instead?

(AO3)

i.

They’re drawing up plans for this week’s drills with Nie Duo – the Chiyan army hardly lacks battle experience over any terrain one could care to name, but Donghai presents a rare opportunity to test that mettle over water – when Wei Zheng crashes into the command tent at a flat-out run, face red with more than mere exertion. “Young Marshal!”

Lin Shu’s gaze flicks quickly from his lieutenant to his father, who nods slightly. Outside of official situations, the Chiyan generals have never been excessively particular about protocol, and whatever made Wei Zheng agitated enough to rush in here is clearly urgent. 

“What is it?” he asks.

“News from the capital, they’re saying that–” is all Wei Zheng manages to get out before they’re again interrupted, this time by the officious tones of a herald.

His father’s gaze meets his again across the length of the table, and Lin Shu doesn’t even need to guess at what they’re both thinking: what could bring a court herald all the way out here?

The answer, it turns out, runs something like this: “Xiao Jingyu and Xiao Jingyan have been found guilty of plotting treason against His Majesty, and are posthumously stripped of their titles. The Chiyan army is hereby ordered to return to Jinling effective immediately. Thus it is decreed.”

It is his father accepting the decree in a perfectly flat voice even as slow horror permeates their ranks like an inexorable tide, because Wei Zheng hadn’t been the only one with friends in Prince Jing’s army – or even Prince Qi’s, for that matter.

It is the dull roar of Jingyan’s name in his head.

(The answer, as far as Lin Shu is concerned, runs exactly like a lie through and through, and he will tear Meiling apart with his bare hands if that is what gets him the truth.

“Xiao Shu.” His father is already starting to roll up the first of many maps covering the table. “Go, get the men ready to return.”

“Father,” Lin Shu protests.

Marshal Lin looks up, but his hands don’t stop moving, even as he tears two letters to shreds and casts them into the fire. 

“We have our orders,” he says finally, but Lin Shu hears We don’t have a choice and – well, they really don’t, not with the damning brand of traitors on the line.

Seventy thousand lives have never weighed this heavy before, even in battle.)

ii.

“What’s going on? Jingyan-gege would never d–”

Someone rounds the corner, and Lin Shu reacts on reflexes newly honed on this return to Jinling – he tugs on Nihuang’s hand so that she stumbles forward mid-sentence with a sharp cry, though he relaxes on recognising the tall figure of her father in matching white and blue.

“Huang-er,” Lin Shu says, and Nihuang startles because he hasn’t called her that since they were much younger but he needs her to listen this once. “You can’t talk about Jingyan or Prince Qi like that, do you understand? Not to me, not to anyone.”

Much as she’d complained about it, it’s a perverse blessing that Nihuang had spent most of the past year in Yunnan with her father, learning the ins and outs of their army.

Mu Nihuang is perfectly capable of holding her own in almost any fight, of that Lin Shu has no doubt, and she’d never known Prince Qi that well anyway.

But Lin Shu had also returned to find the capital of Da Liang deadlier than a knife’s edge, where one wrong question could draw more than blood, and he already has too many people to worry over in this capital for reasons obvious and otherwise – his parents, Aunt Jing, the Chiyan army. Xie Yu, Xia Jiang, Prince Yu and Xian.

He doesn’t know how much of this Nihuang can hear in his voice, how much she’s already guessed, but then she asks “Why?” barely above a whisper and he knows that she doesn’t just mean the reason why their friend’s name is now unspeakable.

“I don’t know yet,” Lin Shu admits, just as quietly. “I’m going to find out, but until then, can you do this for me?”

Nihuang bites her lip before nodding, and Lin Shu steps back, gently pries his hands from her grasp. “Duke Mu,” he says, with a respectful bow.

He is met with an even nod. “Young Marshal Lin.”

They haven’t addressed each other this formally in years – Lin Shu and his almost-uncle, fellow warrior, future in-law. Though the last is no longer to be, now.

One cannot win a battle without sacrifices. He dreams in strategies; this is the first of many. 

Lin Shu draws himself up to his full height. “My father has something to discuss with you this evening, if you’re amenable.”

Duke Mu exhales, tired and knowing. “Is that so.”

(“Lin Shu-gege?” Nihuang says, and he hates how her voice quavers and breaks now, where it hadn’t before.

“Everything’s going to be alright, I promise,” Lin Shu answers, and swears, silent and terribly sure, that he won’t let this be a lie too.)

iii.

The sudden dissolution of the long-standing betrothal between Lin Shu and Mu Nihuang sends shockwaves throughout the court of Jinling – only to be quickly overshadowed the next day by the sudden and violent fallout between Lin Xie and his only son, told in hurried whispers of overheard arguments.

Chiyan’s marshal (its only marshal now, the rumours say) demands a private audience with the Emperor that very afternoon, sweeping past the guards like a raging fire, and the entire city watches with bated breath.

(“I’ve spoken to Wei Zheng and the others. Half the Chiyu battalion can be reintegrated back into the main army, that’ll make just over fifty-five thousand men in total.” Lin Shu hands two lists to his father, names of the men that are no longer his. “Meng-dage says that the Imperial Guard can take perhaps another four thousand, at best. The rest will have be reassigned among the border armies.”

His mother places the tea set on the table – all their servants have been dismissed to a careful distance – and glances over the papers quickly as she pours the tea out. “Including Yunnan?”

Lin Shu receives his cup with both hands, and nods. “Excluding the Mu army would end up drawing the wrong kind of attention to them instead, though we should at least avoid sending any of Chiyu’s ranking officers.”

Even without anyone else around, none of them have given voice to the reasons why this stripping of force is necessary, why seventy thousand men of Chiyan had entered Jinling wearing only the lightest of armour and sword, why Lin Shu is now single-handedly tearing down everything he’s ever built.

None of them need to.

“If the Emperor asks, let him believe that you regret your decision in giving me too much power too soon.” Lin Shu feels his smile twist into something bitter. “He won’t need much convincing on that front, I think.”

His father grunts in wordless assent, only studying the lists for a moment longer before folding them up again, and the room falls quiet aside from the crinkle of paper.

“...Xiao Shu.” If he’s ever heard his mother sound this hesitant before, he doesn’t remember it. “You don’t have to do this. Your father can handle it.”

And that would have been true, in any other situation; but Lin Xie is not the one who’d been tutored by Prince Qi, not the best friend of Prince Jing, not the young prodigy who already commanded a good third of the Chiyan army before the age of twenty.

Jingyan hadn’t even had ten thousand men.

Lin Shu uncurls his hands from where they’ve clenched into fists, shakes his head. “That’s exactly why I have to.”

His parents exchange one of their silent looks, and Lin Shu waits.

Then his father stands to retrieve brush and paper from the side table, while his mother turns back to him, lays her hands over his.

“Don’t worry about my brother, then,” says the Grand Princess Jinyang, with the same smile that he’d learned from her, sharp and blinding. “I know what he wants to hear.”)

iv.

Lin Shu arrives at Langya Hall in the early morning.

The brisk wind on the mountain path clears his mind for perhaps the first time since that day at Donghai, and he thinks that he can understand the draw of this location – could stay here for long, even, if not for everything that had happened on the plains below.

He hands his father’s letter to the attendant which comes over, waving off his explanation of how Langya’s questions work. “Is your master here?” 

The attendant bows politely. “Please wait a moment,” he says, which isn’t really an answer either way, but that really isn’t surprising by this point.

What is surprising is the person who descends the entrance stairs a minute later, the letter vanishing up one billowing sleeve to be replaced by a fan. 

“If you were expecting my father instead, I could almost say the same to you. Well, that’s one question answered and paid for, at any rate.” The young man shrugs easily, all long black hair and flowing white robes. “I don’t suppose you have any more?”

“Two more, actually.” Lin Shu studies the young master of Langya Hall – Lin Chen, his father had told him – with undeniable curiosity. They look more alike than different now that he’s shed his usual attire for plainer clothes, hair falling dark on his shoulders in the half-knot he hasn’t really worn in years, even when Jingyan kept teasing him about trying to look too serious, and –

“Two?” Lin Chen repeats with false shock, flicking his fan open and waving it lazily about. “My, we’re going to be here for a while. No wonder you came this early.”

It’s no longer difficult at all for Lin Shu to imagine how his father ended up fighting for three days and nights here, if they’re both sons anything like their fathers.

He puts all those thoughts out of his mind and asks, “Will you help me overturn Prince Qi’s treason case?” 

The fan doesn’t even waver in its arc. “You’re assuming that he was innocent.”

“Will you help me overturn Prince Qi’s treason case?” Lin Shu asks again, implacably.

Neither of them so much as blink. “Langya Hall has never interfered in matters of the court, by tradition.”

He doesn’t ask a third time, only waits.

The young master snaps his fan closed and points. “And what do you intend to pay with, for such a question?”

Lin Shu smirks. “I’m sure you could use an additional assistant around this hall of yours, correct?”

“You?” There’s nothing fake about the surprise, this time, or Lin Chen’s light snort of amusement. “Aren’t you thinking a little highly of yourself?”

It’s not a no. Lin Shu is the one to shrug, this time. “I’m sure Langya Hall is perfectly capable of judging something like that. Is it not?”

“There are easier ways to get employed, you know.” Lin Chen crosses his arms, closed fan tapping an irregular rhythm, and still doesn’t say no. “And your last question?”

Lin Shu takes a breath; it catches in his lungs. “Is Xiao Jingyan still alive?”

The young master stills, and lets out a sigh before turning away. “You’d best come with me, then.” 

“What, you’re not asking me to pay for this question?” Lin Shu blurts out, and it sounds nonsensical even to him, but his very person feels suddenly immobile from the weight of this final answer.

“Maybe I’m still deciding,” Lin Chen retorts, and tosses a careless glance over his shoulder when Lin Shu still doesn’t move. “Do I need to lay out the red carpet or something, o great Young Marshal Lin?”

(He’s not that person anymore – or at least he can’t be until this is settled and done, but he is still his father’s son, even here in the jianghu.

Lin Shu pushes one foot forward and the next, until they’re standing together on the stairs, and takes one last step. “It’s Mei Changsu, actually.”

“Changsu.” Lin Chen considers this for a moment, nods. “I’m Lin Chen.”

“I know,” he answers in a half-singsong tone.

Lin Chen side-eyes him as they start down a long corridor at a brisk pace. “Oh, is that how you’re going to play this?”

His answering grin almost feels real.)

v.

“Jingyan? Oh thank god, Jingyan–”

[rheaitis]

so I had this weird thought that maybe the reason one can multi-ship the younger non-villainous characters in NiF so easily is that they grew up together and therefore alike. Like that basic shared history and tendencies one does get in cousins whose parents all like each other. Lin Xie and Lin Yueyao were siblings who adopted or got their father to adopt Jingyi (which I’m not sure is the canon name of Consort Jing or not, but I like it very much); Lin Xie and Yan Que were besties and he must also have been close to Lin Yueyao; Liyang and Jinyang were sisters. We don’t see anything or hear much about Prince Mu, but Nihuang fairly obviously also grew up in the same group rather than just being a politically-advantageous fiancee, so they much have been friends. Which gives us (Xiao Jingyu) Xiao Jingyan, Lin Shu, Mu Nihuang, Xiao Jingrui and Yan Yujin. All of whom are exceedingly shippable because the deep affections and affinities are there already.

[pilfered-words]

God I think about this literally all the time.

...ok, slightly less often than I think about Liyang and Jinyang being sisters. slightly.

but like. did Lin Shu and the other princes already dislike each other? or did they have to pivot very quickly to avoid suspicion? when MCS hears about their doings after Meiling, is he surprised and betrayed, or is it no more than he expected? does Jingyan try to turn to them for help when he protests, before he learns not to?

does anyone else spend an obnoxious amount of time wondering what the relationship between Lin Shu and the other princes had been or is it just me

[nif-exchange]

Hello! Thank you for hosting this exchange. I have a question- how will the exchange work? Can I offer anything of my choice to my partner? Or is it a character/pairing/trope based exchange? Thanks!

Hello and thanks for your ask! This is a Secret Santa prompt-based exchange just like Yuletide. However, we wish to be more free rather than restrict to characters and pairings, as it is highlighted in the FAQ  post.Here is how it will work again :

- You sign up (please refer to the FAQ’s) and you will be prompted to enter any 3-5 requests, no restrictions on characters/ships (including friendships)/ensembles/tropes

- Prompts can be anything. Examples are: The Sisterhood of Liyang and Jinyang (Art) / The Chiyan Fight through Lin Shu’s eyes (fic)/ A modern MCS/JY couple video/ translate your favourite Nihuang/Xia Dong smutty non-English fancomic to English

- As it is an exchange, you have to offer your talents as well. :)

- Based on your requests, we will match you to another participant who has talents/offers that match your needs. This participant will be given all your prompts and is required to fulfil any one of them. As in any secret santa, your gifter will remain anonymous to you till the day of the reveal.

- In a similar fashion, you will be linked to a participant whose requests you are required to fulfil as Santa/gifter.

- As with any exchange, we also account for your likes and dislikes. 

Please join us and hope this will become a memorable exchange for our fandom!