So, we've talked quite a bit about Hou Yi before, but his story always seems to start with him slaying the 10 Suns, doesn't it? He never seems to have much going on before The Incident. Well, one of my sources may shed a bit of light (no pun intended) on his pre-banishment history.
See, my newest book says that a god named Yi, who is the descendent of the Black Emperor, hung out on Riyue Mountain (the place where the sun and moon set) and was in charge of making sure the stars stayed in their lanes and didn't bump into each other. A celestial traffic cop, if you will. Now, my source doesn't say anything about this Yi being the same Yi that shot down the suns and, as it's written in English, I don't know if they're spelled with the same characters, but when has that ever stopped me before? These are called sh*tposts for a reason!
Besides, I think it fits with Hou Yi and his role in his most famous myth really well. As a deity who spent a lot of time on the mountain where the suns set every night, it would make sense if he knew and was friends with them. This would add another possible reason to why Di Jun would choose Hou Yi specifically to try and convince the suns to chill out- he was hoping their friend could talk some sense into them. As a consequence, it seems a lot less stupid that Di Jun would be surprised "the arrow guy he commissioned to shoot arrows shot arrows at the people he pointed him at" (Red, OSP). He probably thought their friend would be thr last person to hurt them.
It also makes the fact that he did shoot shoot them down all the more tragic and juicy! They were his friends, he knew them, and he tried to get them to see reason, but he failed. He couldn't convince them, and the world was still dying. He had to do something. Anything. Even if it meant killing them with his own hands. And then you add in my idea that he, Shen I, and Erlang killed the suns together but Hou Yi took all the blame himself-!
Oh the DRAMA!!!
Sh*tpost Masterlist