#through his concern for the lower classes and the watchtower program (which cql frames as being a play for more power but isnt necessarily

[clementinecoastline]

the irony of the fact that nie mingjue judges meng yao for stabbing others in the back and acting dishonorably, but then it’s meng yao stabbing wen ruohan in the back that saves nie mingjue’s life, ends the sunshot campaign, and makes him a hero.

it’s not just commentary on classism and the like (meng yao not being able to fight with honor like nie mingjue wants him to because a. he doesn’t have any honor as a bastard + son of a sex worker, and b. he doesn’t have the power to do so as a weak cultivator) but also on the differences between ideologies and strategies.

nie mingjue is willing to sacrifice his life on principle. he will die simply because he refuses to deviate (pun unintended) from the nie sect cultivation methods. nie mingjue values honor and pride and justice above all. meng yao is someone who will do whatever he has to in order to survive.

and it’s meng yao’s route that is more effective. nie mingjue is caught and forced to kneel before wen ruohan. it is meng yao’s blade from which wen ruohan’s blood drips.

and in the end, in the grand scheme of things, it is meng yao who survives. he survives when all of his honorable counterparts die or are otherwise incapacitated or made miserable or are just his precious er-ge, the exception to the rule (but not for long). nie mingjue dies. jin zixuan dies. lan wangji is forever changed by the betrayal of his sect and his grief. wei wuxian and the wens are dead. jiang cheng is an emotional wreck torn apart by rage and grief.

the only one who survives alongside him is nie huaisang, who is also a weak cultivator who rejects norms and fights dirty, who uses strategy to achieve his goals instead of brute force. it is nie huaisang, who is also at a disadvantage compared to the others, who is also dishonorable (defying the expectations of the cultivation world and the legacy of his ancestors), who survives and ultimately outlives meng yao and defeats him when all others failed.