#especially on occasions in which the flaws in mq's logic (that he admits himself later on in the novel) go unexplored

[miixz]

Mu Qing being chosen as the major representation for lower class struggles in the TGCF fandom (as far as I've seen it at least) is a choice that I find... interesting.

I understand where it's coming from, of course, and I see how his bitterness at the class system could be relatable, but it feels odd to me that Hua Cheng is missing from those discussions while we've seen that he was very much not living in any luxury as a child. He was in fact worse off than MQ who got to study cultivation and work for the prince.

I don't quite know how to put this into words, but I do think it says something about unconscious biases that the man who was able to ascend and enjoy being at the highest class he could possibly aspire to be while doing nothing to further criticize those systems is the one propped up, while the one who did achieve success but through unconventional means isn't.

Being the king of a city full of ghosts just isn't as glamorous of a fantasy to live vicariously through as a golden palace in the heavens, I suppose, in spite of this being something MXTX is actively criticizing in her book.