Book 3 Chapter 9-Fortuitous Encounter
Added 2024-12-08 18:08:43 +0000 UTCThank you very much for the understanding and support! I am back with another chapter of Book 3.
Comments
I really love how people really find Kayla's constant amiablity and smiles as scary, intimidating or outright disturbing. I'm not sure if this is her intention but I think it worked either way lol.
Viktor Alexia
2024-12-09 01:02:50 +0000 UTCThanks for asking! A long answer ahead, because this is actually one of the major historical trends I want to explore in the future chapters of Book 3. I've had similar questions looking at Chinese historical figures who did pretty much what you're describing, aka people openly (and sometimes very viciously) going up against someone incredibly powerful even though it risks their lives, and that powerful person not killing them for some reason. One of the major factors here is reputation. The more reputedly dangerous your opponent, the more you can stand out as a forthright and courageous leader if you go up against them. There are countless people who base their entire careers on this and gain much acclaim for it. Sometimes they're sincerely trying to do what they think is the right thing, but there's also a lot of opportunistic hypocrites. Which leads to the question of--why aren't they afraid? One is that even if they end up dead, people will rally around their death and it will rake in a lot of benefits for their family. And as I've mentioned a few times throughout the story, people back then really cared about their legacies (Kayla notwithstanding). A sorry death that translates into widespread and longstanding praise is worth it for many scholars who grew up on these stories. The other factor is on the side of the reputedly dangerous person, or the target. This seemingly all-powerful opponent who murders people without blinking an eye has one great limitation--the Emperor above him. His targets have to be carefully selected if he wants to keep his head attached. If the populace riots because a man who built a popular reputation based on opposing the target gets killed, or if the officials collectively threaten to resign or strike, etc., then the Emperor will exile or execute him, and he knows it. So either he has to endure people attacking him, or he has to be really sneaky about getting rid of them.
umedrop24
2024-12-08 22:19:53 +0000 UTCGood to have you back. While reading this chapter, I've been wondering about Wenyuan's reputation again. On the one hand, seemingly every noblemen or member of the court thinks that he's a dangerous and lethal madman or atleast ruthless and hard to predict. Yet, the people who willingly line up against him, seem to use straightfoward methods to defeat the reforms and undermine his power. Where is the fear? Why aren't they afraid, that he finds or fabricates dirt on them? He's the head of what's essentially the NSA and FBI combined and everyone of his previous enemies is dead, but Lord He just openly antagonizes him and the Conservatives aren't holding back at all. All of this doesn't fit together. People aren't either taking him seriously after all or they're taking completely unnecessary risks to their livelyhood and their very lives.
Insomnia
2024-12-08 19:50:07 +0000 UTC
