Hey hamliet I want to read QJJ but it’s a little intimidating...could you tell me a bit what it’s like? CP dynamic and what kinda story it is (tragedy, hopeful, plot-heavy or romance-heavy?) thank you! I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.
Hi! Yeah, it's definitely plot-heavy and... complex. I feel you! It's also romance heavy, though. They're really well intertwined.
The main pairing is enemies to lovers, and it's told equally from both of their points of view. As for their dynamic:
Shen Zechuan is the youngest son of an accused traitor who barely survives a massacre of a battle thanks to his elder sworn brother saving him at the cost of his own life. Because Shen Zechuan is the only survivor of the battle and of the Shen family, he's arrested and tortured as a scapegoat. Shen Zechuan’s father was a “prince” (think governor more so than a blood prince) and his mother was a courtesan concubine (plus he was the 8th son), so his status even in his home was pretty low and his blood brothers weren’t really part of his life.
Meanwhile, after Xiao Chiye’s elder brother wins a decisive battle, Xiao Chiye is sent to the capitol city as a sort of hostage to prevent any thoughts of rebellion in his elder brother’s mind (because the kingdom is reeling from the Shen incident). Xiao Chiye is the youngest son of another “prince” (governor) who is also a renowned general. He’s the second son, though, and his father, despite being a tough general, is a romantic who never remarried after his wife’s death. Xiao Chiye is very much like his father, but his elder brother is rather like his mother, yet still a formidable military strategist. You can see the parallels and contrasts.
Anyways, Xiao Chiye hates being a glorified hostage and leaving his home, so when he sees Shen Zechuan, he blames him for his circumstances and kicks him hard enough to kill him. He survives, barely, but is left with lingering health issues from the kick and the torture.
Five years pass, and then Shen Zechuan is finally freed from the temple he’s been confined in and ends up reluctantly working with Xiao Chiye to uncover several political plots. They have a one night stand, and then... feelings start developing even as the political situation gets more and more unstable. Xiao Chiye pretty quickly realizes Shen Zechuan is actually after 1) revenge, 2) proving his father was not a traitor, and 3) plans to rebel himself...
It’s pretty antagonistic early on, but there’s a fascination between them and really good foiling (they’re opposites, yet similar; they’re yin and yang). Xiao Chiye is the more sentimental despite being the more traditionally “manly” one, and is the heart to Shen Zechuan’s mind. Shen Zechuan thinks all he has left is hatred, but Xiao Chiye reminds him that he’s human and that humanity comes with a full spectrum beyond just ‘hatred.’ Xiao Chiye likes challenges and taming wild animals, but he needs to actually tame himself. Shen Zechuan is, in meme-terms, dead inside, yet his greatest desire is to live. Xiao Chiye is full of life and vigor, yet he is much more cavalier about his life. Their dynamic is pretty great, going from tension and what’s basically hate sex to “oh how I love you so” and “he did not want this person to hurt anymore, ever again” in a way that feels more than natural.
Thus far only about 2/3 are translated, but a new chapter is translated every 3 days, so you don't have to wait long. I also got spoilers from some very very helpful people who are able to read it in Chinese and took pity on me.
It's both tragic and a happy ending. The main pairing gets a happy ending, as does one of two side pairings (the wlw one--yes, there’s canon lesbians--gets a happy ending; the secondary mlm one sadly does not). Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye get a happy ending not just through life, but through accomplishing a lot of goals, family, etc. So it's happy.
Don't get attached to most other characters though, because the author is pretty brutal. And yet the characters are so likable it's hard not to. There's also an issue with... there are no real "enemies." Even most of the antagonists are genuinely not bad people, and there are two perpetual themes that come up: what is the cost of victory? and the idea of scapegoating. Sooo a lot of the antagonists are scapegoats and what happens to them isn’t “fair” even in a poetic sense. From what I've heard what happens to one of said antagonists at the end will Make Me Unhappy, but I've also heard it is indeed framed as tragic.
