灯花笑 (Dēng Huā Xiào) by 千山茶客 (Qiān Shān Chá Kè)
Historical [romance] novel set in Ancient China published in 2023.
Lu Tong went to the mountains to study medicine for seven years. When she returned home, she discovered that everything had changed.
Her older sister was harmed by others and murdered. Her older brother was unjustly imprisoned and executed. Her father went to the capital to voice his grievances, but encountered a suspicious flood along the way. Her mother went crazy overnight and died in a fire.
Lu Tong packed up her medicine box and went to the capital for vengeance.
“Pay back your debts with coin, pay back your murders with your life!
If there is no judge, I will be the king of hell!”***
One after another, the noble families in the capital encountered troubles.
The commander of the Imperial Guard, Pei Yun Ying, secretly investigated the matter. A female doctor at Renxin Medical Center became his main suspect.
However… before he could find any evidence, she took action against him first. (Taken and lightly edited from NU. Original source.)
The premise/prompt for the February TBR Challenge was “Previously, In Romance… (suggestions: part of a series, author you haven’t read in a while, Old School)” and it felt like … both everything yet also nothing I’d read recently fit. So we’re going with an author I ~haven’t read in a while – who happens to be one of my favorites. (I’m also currently rewatching/background watching The Double which was adapted from one of QSCK’s novels, and it’s still such a great series and production.) Also … 😅 a book set in Ancient China is “old school” right? Anyway maybe because everything is terrible I didn’t love it as much as I expected – or more that I felt that the romance wasn’t as strong as in some of her previous books … but it’s still a really excellent story, and I have high hopes for the drama adaptation. I think all of her books have been licensed/are planned for or various stages of adaptation. I finished the book a week ago and still keep thinking about it.
Lu Tong (LT) is our heroine and it feels like every QSCK book I read I think “damn, this is her most tragic heroine yet.” … And here we are. The blurb really tells you a lot of it, and yet it’s not even the half of it. Even knowing what had happened, when Lu Tong’s experiences were further described near the end I was crying like a baby. Full on sobbing. QSCK is positively gifted at manipulating your emotions. This is the first QSCK book I’ve read that doesn’t have any rebirth or transmigration. Our poor girl gets no second chances – no way to save her family in a “new life.” Everything is as it is. She’s running headlong to her quest for vengeance. She doesn’t even care about redressing grievances, or clearing names. She just wants people dead. And I respect that. It was also really satisfying to read such a character and story when looking at the current state of our world. I mean obviously it’s fiction and stuff there can’t and shouldn’t translate directly to the real world … but you know. As an escape, it was enjoyable.
LT is incredibly talented and confident. She can adapt to situations, and isn’t excessively stubborn. She’s willing to take a few steps back – but not any losses. For once, we have a story where our heroine is seriously considering killing the hero, not the other way around. (Our bitch does not give a fuck. If you get in her way, she’ll take you down. She actually doesn’t kill indiscriminately, but don’t try to stop her from eliminating the people who murdered her family.) The blurb also softens her time in the mountain. She was actually basically kidnapped. And that’s … kinda the nicest part of it. An absolute gut punch.
Our hero Pei Yun Ying (PYY) definitely falls first. And I love me a smitten hero. As commander of the imperial guard he wields great power, and has the trust of the emperor. I have to admit, he wasn’t my favorite QSCK hero. Don’t get me wrong, I liked him – but he didn’t make a major impression and probably wouldn’t go on my top ten MLs list. (See what I mean about the romance being lacking in this book? I can’t explain why without spoilers, and I always try not to summarize the plot for reviews – but just … yeah. There are absolutely legitimate reasons for it, but my romance loving heart wanted MORE.) PYY’S your typical cnovel/especially QSCK hero. Tall, gorgeous, rich, incredibly skilled both in literature/learning and martial arts. He’s part of a noble family too. Although in this case, he’s basically long separated from his family. Literally he left, and when he returned to the capital years later after establishing himself, moves into his own residence. Which is absolutely unheard of for the time. The only person PYY cares about that has his same surname is his older sister. She’s the sole family member he’s really willing to acknowledge. When you find out why and the actions of his family you’ll be like “ok yes, good move.”
One thing I will say is our guy has perfect timing. PYY comes in to “save the day” a few times, and it never gets old. Even knowing (or expecting, anyway) QSCK is setting this up for a future perfect drama scene … it’s still good. And honestly, that’s skill. There’s no switch flipped, no overt actions, but at one point both PYY and the reader realize he’s caught feelings, and is hurt LT is still guarding against him. (Granted, he did leave a terrible first impression on her, and did try to arrest her a few times, so we can’t blame her too much.)
So many things between our two are traps. They’re both very smart, and the capital is PYY’s territory. There’s one scene where I thought we had something sweet. PYY offers to help LT – he says “who do you want to kill next? I’ll help you.” (It’s a lot more romantic in context, okay?! And in other QSCK books that’s where our hero and heroine start truly working together.) But our quick witted heroine immediately responds basically “I don’t know what you’re talking about – I’ve never killed anyone before.” And I was like 😱. Heh. I would’ve fallen for it and gotten in trouble.
LT seems a bit reckless at times, but she’s pressed for time. She also doesn’t care if she dies as long as she drags down others with her. Her sole purpose is eliminating the people who caused the deaths of her family members. However, she also does a lot of good, and makes friends along the way. We have a really strong found family unit, and they’re all delightful.
One thing I appreciate about QSCK is how well rounded almost every character is. Even the villains largely have reasons for their actions. Maybe not justifiable – utter disregard for people below you on the social strata isn’t okay, though we understand it’s definitely a thing, both past and present – but there are various connections and motivations. It isn’t recklessly evil just for the purpose of plot or obstruction. We also don’t have ridiculous white washing – bad people are bad, sometimes they’re punished, sometimes they aren’t. But for LT’s targets, sometimes they just gotta go. She not only doesn’t have the time for long public trials, she doesn’t care about that. Who will it satisfy? Her family has already been wiped out.
So many things are interconnected here and pulling the threads to see where they’re tangled was a delight. We also have a number of chaos muppets running around, and they’re my favorite types of secondary characters. It was nice that both LT and PYY had strong support networks and close friends surrounding them, and some mutual interaction as well.
With such heavy subjects, there’s a nice balance of humor as well. With LT’s medical skills, even so often being in a disadvantageous position, she manages to get her own. Petty “revenge” in non serious situations, people playing tricks on each other, ridiculous neighbors. I loved all the “aunties” LT and her maid collected as well.
One positive is there wasn’t any major separation between our hero and heroine. In every QSCK book I’ve read so far often there’s the space of a year or more where they aren’t together. Of course we have something slightly similar, but you’ll see it when you read it. It was also satisfying to read a book where our mains are so smart. Just a glance is enough for them to figure out what the other is plotting.
I plan on re-reading this book and think I might actually like it even more the second time around. It’s incredibly complicated – much like LT’s relationship with her “shifu.” I liked at there are definite absolutes, but also a lot that isn’t clearly black and white. The story is incredibly engaging, and I really hope the drama is well done, has a good cast, and carries through the main points. I blew through all 258 chapters in 3-4 days. Could not put it down. I recommend pretty much all of QSCK’s backlist.
Grade: B