#he was even eventually willing to do it when fan xian was so insistent against the marriage

[mira-likes]

I found the scene of Fan Xian and Fan Jian jumping around with the discipline ruler and putting on the anger/punishment act very entertaining, but I just saw someone’s comment that like “Fan Jian knows he can’t hit him” and that made me pause. Can Fan Jian get away with flogging Fan Xian (the emperor’s biological son) if he wants to? How much of his approach to parenting Fan Xian is down to him being well aware that the emperor is looking over his metaphorical shoulder?

[guzhuangheaven]

#i feel like fan jian is generally super hands off with fan xian and i don't mean it in a literal punishment way#like fan xian gets to cause whatever chaos he wants even when it puts censure on the fan family. and fan xian can even do it on purpose#and fan jian might frown a bit like. you'd better know what you're doing. but he never stops fan xian#he'll check in and give advice but otherwise let him do his thing#the only time he really tried to pressure fan xian was when fan xian was against getting married to wan'er and inheriting the treasury.#but notably those were also things that the emperor wanted fan xian to do.#and i've previously thought like. wow. especially for those times fan jian is like a super laid back dad#prior to this i've never wondered how much he feels he CAN do#given that the emperor wants fan xian mixed up in all these plots and wants fan xian to show him what he's made of#like it seems like the only thing fan jian can really do is be there to try and mitigate the fallout. which he does...#but then... as far as the emperor sees it... fan jian's position as a father is just another performance (that should know its limits)?#(i mean fan jian himself does NOT see his position as pure theatre. he's ready to go against the emperor to defend fan xian's interests.#he was even eventually willing to do it when fan xian was so insistent against the marriage#but that's a different discussion entirely. specifically when it comes to how much he can do TO fan xian... i wonder how he does see it.)

why leave this in the tags

I found the scene of Fan Xian and Fan Jian jumping around with the discipline ruler and putting on the anger/punishment act very entertaining, but I just saw someone’s comment that like “Fan Jian knows he can’t hit him” and that made me pause. Can Fan Jian get away with flogging Fan Xian (the emperor’s biological son) if he wants to? How much of his approach to parenting Fan Xian is down to him being well aware that the emperor is looking over his metaphorical shoulder?