Thinking about the political set-up of the royal family of Xianle. Because I never really paid attention before because there is so much else in Xie Lian's life to focus on but: it makes no sense to me.
So, Xie Lian is the crown prince. As far as we know, the only person in his generation in the royal family apart from Qi Rong who is a) very much unfit to rule a bathtub, let alone a whole ass country and b) related from Xie Lian's mother's side, so presumably not even close to being considered a successor, even if there wasn't his entire personality disqualifying him.
And Xie Lian doesn't want to rule. It doesn't fit his character and he says so at several instances in the novel before his first ascension. He sees how his father, a good man, not a great man, certainly, but well-meaning and relatively competent, makes for an average king and doesn't want to carry the burden to see what the logistics of ruling would do to him. Rightfully so, I can't see Xie Lian ruling without him being ruined by it, so good choice so far.
Accordingly, he fucks off to cultivate with the express goal to ascend. Which makes sense for him personally! He is an exceptionally talented cultivator! Ascension is highly unlikely, but as the state preceptor of Xianle says himself: If Xie Lian can't do it, no one can.
But! Gods famously can't interfere in mortal affairs (like the whole point of the Fall of Xianle arc) and therefore most certainly can't run a country. So, with Xie Lian's relatively high probability to ascend and absolute refusal to carry on his dynasty, what would have been Xianle's future plan?
And, as far as I can tell from the novel - which is very much in line with a lot of issues around the political and social situation in Xianle - there wasn't one. The king of Xianle was middle-aged, didn't seem to cultivate or of spectacular health given how fast he succumbed to illness during their time as refugees. There should have been a plan of his succession. Xie Lian didn't have siblings, nor any other obvious relatives that we're introduced to. Prior to his ascension, the king and queen seem to have presumed that his stint as a cultivator was temporary, trying to get him to marry and carry on his royal lineage. Disregarding now, how Xie Lian expressly didn't want that - him ascending put a stop to that route. A god can't be king. There should have been some mention of Xianle's political future, now that the next in line to the throne is ineligible due to being of another dimension.
Like I know it didn't matter. The fall of Xianle and the end of the Xie dynasty were a foregone conclusion with Xie Lian's ascension. MXTX didn't have to come up with an alternative. But it just struck me how Xie Lian has this prominent political position in his homeland that he can't fulfiill anymore because he became something greater and no one seems concerned with filling that gap for him. Not even himself. He expresses anxiety about becoming king before his ascension but he never expresses concern about what will happen to Xianle now that he can't be king. Which to be fair, he only had a few years at most to worry about before the fall of Xianle began and in that time he learned how to be a god.
But still... you would think someone in the crown prince's vicinity would mention what to do now that the crown prince is functionally incapacitated and it's just so in line with everything else in the political situation of Xianle that no one... does.
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
areudirty
origamiaround
gracieabrams
vaporwave
kianamaiart
