Some thoughts about Mu Qing’s and Lan Chang’s history because very little acknowledge the incident while it almost costed Mu Qing life.
my analysis and headcanons under the cut!
So first things that we learn about the event in which LC died: the baby was premature and the spirit was supposed to serve the creator. Noted.
FENG XIN IS SUCH A BITCH FOR THIS ONE I CAN’T BELIEVE MU QING STILL HAD AN INTENTION TO SAVE HIM AFTER THAT.
However we know for sure she recognised Mu Qing. And must definitely he recognised her too. There’s no way a person like him would not know her, her story was too big and painful. Mu Qing chooses to save her face, protecting her identity:
They both are being very polite respecting each others decision to not reveal their identities. Mu Qing keeps the act up even tho revealing their story and making her admit he didn’t hurt her intentionally might help him to save himself :
I think in this scene Mu Qing actually lets her know it’s him and suggests some kind of a lie they can both tell so she can save her dignity and he can stop being accused of murder
My theory is that Mu Qing found her already in the process of the ritual and tried to save her, and it def wasn’t his idea to give her a C-section. MY MAN STUDIED MEDICINE HE’S HIGHLY COMPETENT AND CAN TELL IF IT’S TIME TO DELIVER.
It has to be said that by the seventh book Mu Qing is already drained by the whole story. And everything is already fucked Jian Lan’s name is uncovered and the father is known. So when he chooses to state that Lan Chang was the one controlling the spirit and making him claim Mu Qing was the one to kill her simply because she was Feng Xin’s lover and hated his former friends is an ungraceful move. It’s interesting that he once again looks at her(they seem to do that a lot) - and that she herself never (!!!) in the whole story confirms the theory that Mu Qing has killed her. To think about it she’d be happy to admit it - to be that crazy woman who lost it from love and hate and to possibly get rid of Feng Xin’s pestering. She’s already tried to pull this stunt.
Good thing Xie Lian sees right throgh the heavenly propaganda. Thank you for being reasonable, king, you’re absolutely right. And who might be that person?
The White-No–Face of course.
The fetus actually listens to him and is afraid of him. And oh, boy, I admire a little how evil Jun Wu is:
We know he’s very familiar with Mu Qing and Feng Xin, obviously they interested him as the ways to influence Xie Lian. He knows them well enough to create their clones. He was probably the one who started the rumour and framed Mu Qing to corner him.(still, seems like he underestimated the god because he never agreed to betray the crown prince).
And upon learning the fact that he is the creator of the fetus spirit we feel the creeps, how closely Jun Wu was watching everyone who had something to do with the prince. He had long since deeply entangled himself in their lives, devised a plan to exert more pressure on Mu Qing and Feng Xin and create a potential source of conflict between them.
He performed a ritual on the woman, most likely arranging everything so that Mu Qing would be nearby, and of course, he couldn't pass by.
It's not surprising that Mu Qing, at his young age, was unable to free the spirit, because the power of the Heavenly Emperor was much stronger. The man is a twisted psychopath and honestly I love his character for this.
Bonus: I'm not sure whether Jian Lan survived the ritual she's described looking older? Anyway, I assume she didn't, and that this incident left Mu Qing absolutely heartbroken. He recently buried his own mother and seeing another person dying in his arms was absolutely devastating. He buried Lan Chang with dignity, in his own outer robe, because the bloody mess of her clothes seemed inappropriate.
Sometimes a family is you, your feral awful cannibal cousin, the kid of the man who your cannibal cousin is possessing, a ghost child, your ex-student who thought you killed his entire family and everyone in his kingdom, your ex-personal guard and ex personal attendant that you had nuclear falling out with, the ghost of a child soldier you keep in a pickle pot, a war criminal girlboss that keeps Heaven from falling apart, your only devoted follower/ lover, your genderfluid friend, the ghost of a former would be consort of your fallen kingdom and her evil fucking fetus
