random NiF rewatch thoughts

[glass_icarus]

Palace/court life in NiF is one of the things I find endlessly fascinating about it. I continue to want More Ladies and More Jingyan at basically all times, but on this rewatch I also found myself getting stuck on Prince Ji, who is pretty intriguing in his own right!

In the show we aren't led to think very much of him because he's a well settled, harmless elder, and clearly uninterested in politics when he could be out there enjoying life's entertainments. His extremely strong sense of family loyalty, regardless of the actions of any particular family member, also doesn't particularly inspire sympathy upon first glance- best exemplified by poor Cai Quan's frustrated face when he speaks up for Prince Yu and Prince Xian, lol. The emperor is well aware of Prince Ji's character and lack of political ambition, and is quite willing to indulge his younger brother as a result, so maybe we find him a little bit unlikable/irrelevant by proxy.

At the same time, Prince Ji has a deeper understanding of the emperor than I think anyone gives him credit for. He might not be as clear on the big political-picture things as the strategic geniuses MCS, Xie Yu, Xia Jiang, Qin Banruo, the emperor himself, etc., but when it comes to the imperial family, does anyone know the emperor's blind spots better? If Prince Ji wasn't so sharp-eyed, how could he save Tingsheng- his one true act of political disloyalty- right under the emperor's nose? I don't think it's just that he's politically harmless; I think he leveraged his family sentiments in a way the emperor didn't anticipate, because the emperor sees his responsibilities toward the next generations as much less important than their responsibilities toward him.

What if everything Prince Ji does in the show is out of family loyalty? Maybe he can see full well what his brother's "parenting" is like. Maybe his indiscriminate soft-heartedness is his attempt to make up for the emperor's various fatherhood-fails, even if his approach doesn't work for Prince Yu and Prince Xian. That conversation he has with MCS towards the end of the series is pretty shattering when I think about it. I kind of wish I could see him interact with Consort Jing. *___*

Comments

[eglantiere]

yes! i always thought that prince ji, aside from genuinely being a jovial uncle with a taste for good music, also took one look at his brother's mindset and went to ruthlessly develop a bertie wooster image that would shield him from the emperor's paranoia most effectively. how would he have stayed this safe afterwards?

i do wonder, though, how much of his behavior during the rescue, especially later with the emperor, was authentic, and how much he understood what was happening, and played along. and yes, him and consort jing! hopefully they will have a chance to mingle during jingyan's reign.

[coffeeandink]

i always thought that prince ji, aside from genuinely being a jovial uncle with a taste for good music, also took one look at his brother's mindset and went to ruthlessly develop a bertie wooster image that would shield him from the emperor's paranoia most effectively.

This is also my impression. I also think he's a model for Yujin, or at least the Yujin we see in the beginning: very socially and politically astute, and mostly directing that astuteness at being uninvolved and seen as frivolous. (To be clear, I think this is conscious on Prince Ji's part and not entirely on Yujin's.) And as we see later with Yujin, Prince Ji is much sharper and more observant than he tends to let on.

I don't think it's accidental that Prince Ji survives much longer than the strategic geniuses.

[schneefink]

I completely agree. I wonder how much Yujin is aware of how much of Prince Ji's persona is on purpose and for a reason, or at least realizes later. And I wonder if, after the Emperor's death, Prince Ji will allow himself to show more interest in/knowledge about things other than entertainment.

[glass_icarus]

I think Yujin in the show is already in the process of realizing some of the things Prince Ji isn't saying, that precious sharp boy. He definitely looks up to Prince Ji as well as his father, and he seems to have modeled himself after them both- Prince Ji more so in the beginning, since Yan Que didn't pull his head out of his ass re: parenting before MCS came along and so didn't give Yujin anything to go on, really.

I could see Prince Ji going Consort Jing's route of becoming more visibly involved as the emperor's power declines, though probably not too far because of his family loyalty? On the other hand, his love of entertainment goes beyond its use as a social shield, so maybe he won't.

[glass_icarus]

Oh man, his relationship with Yujin!!! SO the best in so many ways, and also really painful bc Yan Que wasn't winning any dad of the year awards before MCS came by to spout off some harsh truths.

I don't think it's accidental that Prince Ji survives much longer than the strategic geniuses. - ha, yes.

[glass_icarus]

Yes, how much of the cluelessness was bc he genuinely wasn't sure he wanted to know? His jovial uncleness made me sad in the way that Consort Jing makes me sad, bc what a horrible position to be in for people with genuinely soft hearts.