#Liu Tongyi

[yakarmi]

SPOILERS FOR THE IMPERIAL UNCLE!!!

*Me rooting for Prince Huai to end up with Yun Yu the entire novel*

Yun Yu at the end, after Prince Huai confesses to him: Actually, we’re related. So no. We can never be together.

Me: ……………..

Betrayal.

I’m getting over it. I like Liu Tongyi. Just…. 😭

[unforth]

@esper-aroon has enabled me, so here let me scream at y'all about The Imperial Uncle.

Okay, so I recently read The Imperial Uncle (Huang Shu) by Da Feng Gua Guo from Peach Flower House and I really loved it??? It's first person pov, mlm, about the Emperor's uncle Jing Chengjun, who is mistrusted by everyone simply because of who his parents were and his position, and so he's basically given up on trying to convince people that he's actually a nice, decent person without ulterior motives. He's super trapped by his position, and there's so much he can't say and do, and he's also a hopeless romantic, like, from his own mouth all he really wants is to sleep beside and wake up next to someone who actually gives a shit about him, and even that is basically out of reach in his life. Like, the book starts with his wife (who he has never once had sex with) storming into a meeting he's having and announcing he's a cuckold and she's pregnant.

But also, this poor bastard really thinks he knows what's going on and his very smart. Very unreliable narrator. He's actually kinda a hilarious, impulsive himbo. But the TL:DR is that his loneliness and isolation and the extent to which he's politically trapped routinely lead him to make absolutely terrible decisions.

E. Danglar's translation is absolutely gorgeous, too, and... idk, if you love political plots, melodramatic idiot main characters, a dose of pining, and a slow burn that eventually pays off, come take a look??? (some people think it's a love triangle??? idk, I never really got that vibe, I never felt it was really in doubt which of the two potential dudes he'd end up with, but maybe I only feel that way because I got it right, lmao).

Anyway, I can't stop thinking about how these two idiots end up finally finding each other and getting together, and I have an entire AU in my head (a modern corporate one) and part of another (canon divergent from like a decade before the book starts), and I just want people to love this book as much as I did and scream with me about it.

[fallloverfic]

Rating: General audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom:  皇叔 - 大风刮过 | Huáng Shū - Dà Fēng Guā Guò

Relationships: Jing Chengjun/Liu Tongyi

Tags: Post-Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Boys Kissing, Boys in Love, Established Relationship, Anxiety, Men Crying, POV Liu Tongyi, Implied/Referenced Homophobia

Summary: While living together in contentment, Liu Tongyi thinks about his missed moments with Jing Weiyi, and they talk about Prince Huai's paintings.

Sight beyond sight (1,670 words, complete)

(Also for folks who don't know, you can get a physical and ebook copy of the English translation of The Imperial Uncle on Peach Flower House)

[duckprintspress]

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

Gonna yoink a tag from @profiterole-reads on this meme.

3 ships you like:

Hua Cheng/Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu)

Liu Tongyi/Jing Chengjun (The Imperial Uncle)

Mo Ran/Chu Wanning (The Husky and His White Cat Shizun)

First Ship Ever: uh I guess it depends on definitions, probably Min Farshaw/Rand al'Thor (Wheel of Time)? But they're canon so maybe that doesn't count. So, hmm... Lina Inverse/Gourry Gabriev (Slayers) or Yuuki Miaka/Nuriko (Fushigi Yuugi; tho really I just supported Miaka harem rights, she deserved all those bishies at once) are ones I can remember from high school that aren't canon (tho Lina/Gourry kinda sorta is? it's canon adjacent at least...)

Last Song You Heard: Honey Magnolia by Brian Fallon was the last song in my car yesterday afternoon. One of my favorite songs, the first year I heard it, it was my most-listened to track of the year.

Currently Reading:

Salad Days by Jing Shui Bian

Copper Coins by Mu Su Li

Currently Watching: Nirvana in Fire is the only thing I'm currently actively trying to carve out time to watch.

Currently Consuming: water is the only thing in reach.

Currently Craving: lunch, but it's a little early.

Tagging: I usually figure out who to tag from our notes, but right now our notes are a disaster because we have a couple posts exploding a bit, but here's some names in there I recognize... @qbdatabase @stjohnstarling @paintedpigeon1 @smehur @eastofakkala @faejilly and anyone else who wants to!

[nemainofthewater]

Huge congratulations to Liu Qingge from the Scum Villain's Self-Saving System!

Write in candidates are:

-Liu Mingyan (SVSSS) nominated by @inimitablereel

-Liu Tongyi (The Imperial Uncle) nominated by @lacommunarde

-Liu Sang (DMBJ) nominated by @hermetichulijing, @justawanderingbabbit, @foxofninetales, @onmyo-jin, @missfangirll, @hils79 and @daydreamorama

Best Character surnamed: Liu

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgot anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

[foxghost]

This week's read: Jun You Ji Fou (Are you ill?) by Ru Si Wo Wen

Free to read in its entirety on jjwxc, 324,826 words, HE, plenty of H/C, actual enemies to lovers, translation in progress. You know that post on tumblr that goes 「enemies to lovers」 but actually enemies-to-reluctant-temporary-partners-to-mutual-pining etc etc finally actual 'til death do us part lovers? This is that book.

The Chu faction led by Chu Mingyun and the Su faction led by Su Shiyu are diametrically opposed within the imperial court, and therefore so are Chu Mingyun and Su Shiyu. One day Chu Mingyun decides to deal with Su Shiyu by … pretending he's in love with him. Spreading the rumour that he's in love with him. Mostly because it'd really bother Su Shiyu and distract him, sure but also because Su Shiyu is too proper to be mean to him about it.

Naturally, they slow-burn fall in love for real, except they're still enemies because 道不同不相為謀 , 志不同不相為友(Those on different paths cannot make plans together, those with different aspirations cannot be friends). And even though they're both so obvs about having fallen in love — especially Chu Mingyun — neither would believe the other person is really in love, and not say acting for the sake of using the other person for political gains. Oh, the angst! The pain!

This book is a breath of fresh air. Well-written, (relatively) well-plotted albeit a bit predictable, but I just love how unapologetically happy it ends. Your main CP gets a happy ending, your side-CP(s) gets a happy ending, the world gets a happy ending, even people who really ought to traditionally be killing each other let bygones be bygones and move on. Which, unrealistic of course, but whatever, it's marked 「HE」 and I have expectations. Those expectations were exceeded. Even the fade to black smut scenes were beautifully worded. /sigh so pretty

君有疾否，相思無醫。 Are you ill, sir? Yearning has no cure.

It is currently being translated by Dust Bunny and the translation is EXCELLENT. Go read, go comment, go review, go give them all the attention and encouragement. You will LOVE to see this completely translated.

10/10 recommended without reservations

[randomidiocyncrazies]

lmao it’s thinking about Imperial Uncle time again! spoilers about the last thing Prince Huai hears from his Emperor-nephew below the cut

okay I Get That Qizhe’s status a the emperor means he’s terribly isolated and wants to cling to the only person who treated him like a normal person when he was a kid, but honestly his whole guilt-trip about “I’ve always trusted Uncle, but Uncle never trusted me” is pretty bullshit

he literally did not want Zhang Bing, the best detective they have who does not give a heck about court politics and is 100% devoted to The Truth of the cases he investigates (un-bribable to fake a verdict), to investigate the Prince Huai conspiracy because he was worried that he couldn’t find a pretext to keep his cousin-uncle alive if they had gone through the proper channels... which implies he really did consider the possibility of Prince Huai trying to usurp the throne for realsies 

(seriously, out of the people who set the trap in the first place, Liu Tongyi is the only person who thought Prince Huai’s involvement in the failed rebellion was fishy, and attempted to appeal for a thorough investigation. makes sense why he’s the one Prince Huai ends up with in the end honestly)

i mean, it’s likely that Qizhe wanted to use his cousin-uncle’s seeming involvement in the failed coup as a pretext to place him under life-long house arrest. so maybe he really does believe in Prince Huai’s innocence all along, but pretends to be suspicious of him for the chance to keep him inaccessible to anyone else? and his reluctance to involve Zhang Bing is motivated by the fear that he has no justification to keep his uncle under house arrest (and thus all to himself) if he’s officially declared innocent, rather than what he implies to Liu Tongyi in the Painted Willow extra—that he’s afraid he cannot justify keeping Prince Huai alive if the matter was officially investigated through the proper channels...?

i don’t really buy this theory (like, him actually trusting in his cousin-uncle’s innocence the whole time and planning to keep him imprisoned on false charges anyway, just so he could keep the guy to himself) because like, what is he gonna do when Prince Zong wakes up? kill him so he doesn’t say whatever he was going to say about Prince Huai’s involvement? regardless of whether Prince Zong kicks the bucket, Zhang Bing is going to get suspicious about the circumstances surrounding Prince Huai’s failed coup sooner or later anyway... sooner, if Prince Zong didn’t die naturally. with Liu Tongyi also being unconvinced of Prince Huai’s guilt, and with Liu Tongyi and Zhang Bing being investigation friends, they might eventually get to talking shop about the case, which would be a problem

like obviously Qizhe has the power to silence them or whatever, but it’d be hard to make it all seem above-board? Qizhe isn’t a dumbass, he knows officials like Liu Tongyi and Zhang Bing are beneficial to the court. plus the longer Prince Huai is kept prisoner “as a suspect”, the more the moral purity faction would call for an investigation (or his execution), so idk if he could really put it off forever. there’s also Prince Huai’s reaction to the life-long house arrest plan to consider too—from what happens in canon it’s clear he would not be cool with this. and even if Prince Huai is completely content in being kept as a prisoner and doesn’t try to escape, the whole scheme still seems far more trouble than it’s worth.

anyway. i don’t think Qizhe trusted his uncle as much as he says he does, tho his trust in his uncle is definitely more than this uncle’s trust in him. like, his distrust of Prince Huai on some level is completely understandable, given his status as the Emperor, so while i’m a bit dismissive of his whole “I’ve always trusted you” guilt-trip (like. buddy i don’t think that’s true lol), i think it makes more sense than him actually telling the truth that he always, without fail, trusted in uncle

[foxghost]

Chapter 12 though

- Prince Huai reminisces as he walks very slowly next to Liu Tongyi for the length of an entire chapter

- Liu Tongyi, who has been hearing Prince Dai yell “uncle” at Prince Huai at a short distance behind them for an entire chapter while Prince Huai spaces out: I’m just going to not say anything and try very very hard not to laugh

[foxghost]

excerpt of 皇叔 ／ Imperial Uncle by Da Feng Gua Guo, chapter 29, no spoilers --- in which Chengjun accidentally invited all of his love interests to a flower viewing party

and not a single internal dialogue of his finds this awkward at all, the DENSE IDIOT THAT HE IS

柳桐倚接過，道了聲獻醜，楚尋便再抬袖拂弦，琴聲似清泉流瀉，柳桐倚將笛橫於唇邊，一縷笛音，便如悠悠晚風，繚繞雲間，漾起泉上漣漪。 Liu Tongyi takes it, and says a humble phrase to begin. Chu Xun lifts his sleeves again to brush at the strings. The sound of the guqin is like a clear spring flowing; Liu Tongyi places the flute by his lips, and a thread of flute note, like a curl of unhurried evening breeze lingers on between the clouds; setting off ripples on a pool.

晚霞已褪，天色墨藍，銀星乍現，廊外暮靄深重，花色濃豔。唯有晚風悠然，杯中酒澈如泉。 The sunset's glow has faded; in ink-blue skies above, silver stars blink into existence. Outside the covered gallery, evening's mist deepens, and the flowers are rich and full. Only the evening breeze is at leisure, and inside our cups, the wine is as clear as a spring.

我與雲毓握著酒杯倚在座椅中，笛音琴樂中，我沒醉，又好像醉了。 Yun Yu and I leans back in our chairs, holding our wine cups. In the sound of the flute, in the melody of the guqin, I'm not yet drunk, yet it seems I’m intoxicated.

此時的一切，都彷彿暮色花香中的一場酣夢，讓人不願醒。 Everything right now is just like a wine dream in twilight and flowers' fragrance. It makes a person unwilling to wake.

[foxghost]

you know how sometimes in English there are words with a suffix that makes it look like it means the opposite of that word, but then it actually means both it and the opposite of that word?

In Chinese:

好容易 / lit: very easy 好不容易 / lit: very not easy

means the same thing: “With much difficulty”

[foxghost]

man... 張公案 really makes you Understand why ppl are so suspicious of 叔 lol. 叔 keeps writing off his power in IU, but 張公案 paints a clearer picture of his political influence (also the memory of him meeting Liu Tongyi as the principle graduate in IU ch12 is Completely Different in 張公案 ch27🤣🤣 叔's POV: "the playful words I’d planned to say to him were locked behind my lips forever" meanwhile, Everyone Else's POV: *Prince Huai literally grabbing LTY's hands in public after complimenting his looks* "Do you remember? You and I once—")

the characters in 張公案 are really neat too! Da Feng has a way with conveying characterization even when they don't have much screentime. (tho i gotta say, sometimes i don't entirely follow the logic of the mysteries😅)

I barely remember this book because it's mystery and DFGG updates it so slow I stopped reading after the first one, but I totally remember that scene -- Prince Huai grabbing Liu Tongyi's hands to engage him in talk and then everyone in the room basically going

=口=|||

(which explains the inner/outer dialogue difference in IU entirely, he just CAN'T READ A ROOM)

And I remember his description being 風華絕代, and everything in Imperial Uncle suddenly making sense 'cause uncle's drop dead gorgeous. XD

[foxghost]

Thank you so much for the excellent translation of Imperial Uncle! There are a few extras that were released with the physical book(s) (酸湯麵 in the simplified chinese edition、醉酒 in the taiwanese edition、鬼皇帝)... Are there any plans to translate those extras in the future?

Once again, thank you for such a wonderful translation!

=3= You're very welcome!

I do have plans to eventually translate 酸湯麵, the Qizhe related extra, but not the other two. 醉酒 is pretty ooc, and 鬼皇帝 is extended universe, and only one very short scene at the end actually has anything to do with the main characters, and it's VERY long for an extra.

(Those 3 lines were seen by the reincarnated ghost emperor, who's now the son of a merchant that works with Yun Yu. It's a short scene where Yun Yu happens to run into Chengjun and Liu Tongyi in the same port, and then drinking too much because Yun Yu's totally not over him)

[foxghost]

Do modern webnovels use 起承転結 (kishotenketsu) structure? I feel like Imperial Uncle qualifies, but I struggle with identifying this stuff.

起承轉合 in narrative (it was meant for classical essays) is like the Hero's journey. It's so generalised that most narratives will fit. tbh, I would say most modern web novels just happens to fit. 

There's usually a meet cute （起）and then throw as many obstacles/tropes in between the lead as possible sometimes in a dartboard fashion（承）until the story starts to drag and CP breaks apart, so at this relationship bottleneck one of the couple almost dies（転） to make them realise how important the other person is and then they get (back) together and the book ends （合） \o/

... Oh no i sound jaded don’t i

We can make Imperial Uncle fit that, but I think the more “typical” novel fits that much more than hers does, since what’s supposed to come at 75% for her books would come at the 50% mark, and the only way to make the structure fit again is the repeat it as a cycle from 50-100%, and tack another “end” in the extra. So, more like

起承轉 (起承轉合) 合

There might even be a last small loop of it through the end, after Chengjun says goodbye to Liu Tongyi, and the loop starts at the coconut / skull scene. Liu Tongyi points this out by telling him that chengjun scared him 3 times, that’s 3 turning points.

None of DFGG’s stuff fits into typical "web novel". She gives us a beginning, a plan, a plot, draws us into it, and when we’re in deep and totally convinced that this is what the book is all about, she pulls the rug right out from under us and drops us right into the ACTUAL story.

[foxghost]

Thank you so much for translating Imperial Uncle. It’s an excellent story and your translation is first class. I was even compelled to write my first review. The story is still in my head and I’ve already re-read large sections of it. I’m still not 100% sure about Qizhe’s feelings - familial only or something more? And the face mask bit - why did that cause alarm? On the strength of this translation, I’m going to read your current project, Joyful Reunion. Thanks again for your superb efforts!

I READ YOUR REVIEW =3= thank you that is so lovely

and I hope you enjoy Joyful Reunion <3 it is longer, much much longer

Qizhe's feelings are both ambiguously familial and possessive, the way a child would feel about a favourite uncle. He doesn't want Chengjun to marry, he doesn't want other children to have his attention, and these feelings grew stronger as he grew more isolated after becoming emperor, as Chengjun was the only one to ever spoil him like a child. Even calling him "Chengjun" in front of everyone was a calculated, possessive act — now that he's done it, no one else was allowed to call him Chengjun.

And then this gets long and spoilery so it's under a cut ...

As for the mask ...

If you go back several chapters to when we met Yun Zai (Wan Qianshan), his backstory suggested that Yun Zai was an estranged son who hated his father, and that he basically had nothing to do with his family.

So after knowing how long it takes to make the mask, and the bruise, chengjun comes to this conclusion:

Yun Zai is angry enough to punch Yun Yu in the face, therefore he must not hate his father, but is instead Yun Tang's plan B, sent away from the family so that if their plan to take the throne fails, he won't be implicated

one day the Yuns may try staging a coup again

The mask is not a spur of the moment affair, therefore Yun Yu has disguised himself as Yun Zai before, therefore the family was in contact

if they were in contact, then Yun Yu knew about his brother being plan b, but DID NOT TELL QIZHE. If Qizhe knew then he wouldn't have shown up with so little protection.

Yun Zai and Yun Yu will try to kill Qizhe to avenge his father / possibly force Qizhe to abdicate

Chengjun is wrong about this on multiple levels. Actual course of events:

Yun Zai (former conspirator's son) starts trailing Liu Tongyi's ship, with Chengjun on board.

Qizhe leaves the capital to see Chengjun.

Zhang Bing knows Chengjun, Liu Tongyi, and Yun Zai are in the same spot and Qizhe's off to see them and sends Yun Yu a letter.

Chengjun (former conspirator) meets with Yun Zai (former conspirator's eldest son, possible Yun Tang's coup plan B) and have a closed-door meeting alongside Liu Tongyi (former chancellor who helped former conspirator escape from the capital)

Qizhe shows up and inserts himself in between the two people who have the most motive to kill him (Chengjun and Yun Zai) in a last ditch attempt to drag his uncle home and keep him in the harem somewhere (I'm only half kidding, if he agreed to go back to the capital and drank that "poison" I'm pretty sure he'd end up under house arrest for the rest of his life)

Yun Yu shows up to stop his brother from killing Qizhe (Then he gets punched in the face because: how dare you suggest I'd do such a thing for the father i hate)

He borrows a mask from his brother on the pretext that he needed to cover up the bruise. That, or he already had it made. Liu Tongyi confirmed that people from the Court of Judicial Review (Zhang Bing) knew how to get one made.

Yun Yu goes to see Chengjun AS Yun Zai, to check if his own brother was lying. Staying after getting caught was probably because he wanted to see Chengjun again ...

after finding out that his brother was (probably) telling the truth, Yun Yu sets up a drinking party with Yun Zai and Qizhe, and my guess is that Qizhe was the one who wanted this meeting. He's hiring, after all.

Chengjun comes to totally wrong conclusions and bust up the party

[foxghost]

You've captured 大风's style very accurately when translating 皇叔, thank you for the fantastic work! Were there any memorable linguistic bits that stood out to you as you were translating it? (Just reread chapter 30 today, and Yun Yu's "望王爷能早日登大宝，掌天下。也望到时，皇上不会忘记臣与家父今日的忠诚" takes on a completely different meaning after everything's revealed. 大风 loves her multiple meanings and foreshadowing)

Thank you anon! It was definite a challenge.

What really stuck out to me was the simplicity and elegance of her words.

任誰年少，都曾輕狂。

Or the way she just builds a scene. Like the moment Liu Tongyi turns around at the banquet. Before Liu Tongyi turns, our impression of him was of the night/full moon/sweet osmanthus which stood for Chengjun's pure curiosity of him, and then as soon as he turns around it's day/the sun/bright bundles of crape mytle.

夜色散盡，晨光和熙，桂香縈繞，桐葉如碧，紫薇花濃。

And he goes from curiosity to love at second sight.

Although, I may just be remembering all the bits that took me the longest to translate, OTZ