[LP CYOA] 傳

[treave]

And incredibly dangerous too boot

Considering that Yang Xue is your grandfather-in-law and Li Ming is your father-in-law...

Say, was our deal with Yuhua Hall an exclusive one?

Yup.

 

[Nevill]

Uh, maybe I'll do a write-up if it becomes relevant.

I find myself very interested with Miao people and their customs. Not in the least because of a certain recent development.

What is their opinion on extramarital sex? I know it happens all the time, but what does their culture as a whole has to say about the matter? What happens if Qilin has a child and we would not be able to marry her for some reason? What would be the consequences for her? For her family? For us? What are the responsibilities of a spouse? Chi family is very liberal about some matters, but does this reflect their people's opinion, or is it limited to a single family?

 

[Baltika9]

Nevill, are you suggesting Jing ditch his kids?

 

[Azira]

There are probably considerations of honor at stake. Though I suspect they're less rigid about these in the unorthodox world.

 

[Nevill]

Nevill, are you suggesting Jing ditch his kids?

I am asking questions, nothing more. What are we expected to do in this situation, what would we be allowed to do as the spouse to the Wudu heir, and what we wouldn't be able to do, what are our responsibilities, what are the alternatives, how would it affect our standing in jianghu, etc. Basically, I want to understand our situation better.

 

[Baltika9]

Well, the Wudu already consuder us their Young Master, so anyone that fucks with them fucks with us.

 

[treave]

I find myself very interested with Miao people and their customs. Not in the least because of a certain recent development.

What is their opinion on extramarital sex? I know it happens all the time, but what does their culture as a whole has to say about the matter? What happens if Qilin has a child and we would not be able to marry her for some reason? What would be the consequences for her? For her family? For us? What are the responsibilities of a spouse? Chi family is very liberal about some matters, but does this reflect their people's opinion, or is it limited to a single family?

Responsibility needs to be taken, and if there is a dispute regarding children out of wedlock or marriage you'll have to pay a price should you want to avoid that responsibility.

You probably can't afford Qilin's price given her stature (unless you cut them in on that condom deal), so you'll be relying on their goodwill. But given the Chi clan's influence, they can pretty much act however they want without caring about tradition anyway. No one is going to call them out on it, and they're a pragmatic sort.

As for a spouse's responsibilities, you'll have to be a good, supportive husband and nurture the fortunes of the Wudu Cult. That's all they expect of you. Anything else would be your own initiative.

 

[Jester]

Vote A

 

[SirArvedeth]

Voting for B.

 

[Tribute]

And as for "you don't want treave to write awesome fights", we'd still be completing Zhang's challenge, we'd just be doing it as a Lone Sword of Justice instead of some punk who's good at barehand fighting and decent at swordplay who has a scary teacher.

I was against A to begin with, but this sort of trivializing of LORD ZHANG and His glorious teachings is approaching dangerously close to heresy. Zhang Jue, the Southern Maniac, Slayer of oni, is not merely scary; He is destruction personified, an unstoppable whirlwind of violence who has made one species of mythical creature extinct, and would also have succeeded in making another one extinct if the cowardly beast had not slunk away from His righteous fury.

Paid for by the Zhang Jue Appreciation Society and friends of Zhang Jue

I don't think anyone else in the jianghu has heard of that one yet, was my point. I am trying to look at the two from the perspective of the Eight Sects. Of course we know Zhang is much more than a psychopath who likes to murder people for no reason, but his reputation among the jianghu seems to be pretty singularly focused.

 

[Tribute]

Also, regarding this whole dismantling the secret police apparatus that has been under the eunuchs' thumb for decades thing, it clearly shows the idealism and naivety of the new Emperor, who thinks a benevolent rule is all that is needed to keep his subjects in line, and the added fact that he did not appoint the eunuch Gao Ying, perhaps his best covert agent, to any position in this new, important constabulary to continue his intelligence operations, demonstrates a lack of trust that may signal a changing of the guard, particularly with the introduction of a new young talent who seems to have the Emperor's ear, and an opportunity for his foes to capitalize on this chink in his armor and set his staff at each other's throats.

Well, I don't regret Operation Immortal one bit, but from a certain perspective, it could be argued that offing the old man would have hardened Shun for the harsh reality of being an Emperor. I love Yu, but his retarded LIBRUL suggestions (holding the Emperor accountable? Are you fucking nuts?! Who are you gonna put in charge of that, one of those Grand Eunuchs? Great fucking idea.) are horrible and I don't think that Shun should implement them. This is where Jing can act as a mediating force between Gao Ying's straight-up ruthless pragmatism, and Yu's idealistic, pie-in-the-sky bullshit.

The interesting thing is that while Shun has a very strong position openly - nobody would dare publicly oppose Shun's rule after Operation Immortal - a few clever observers (i.e. the Grand Eunuchs) can take a look at his cabinet, bide their time, and wait for the cracks to appear. His hand is strong now, but sometimes when you're winning, you get careless, lose sight of things, and before you know it, you've gotten complacent and the enemy has the last laugh.

This stuff is making voting A look way more important than just giving Jing a new position, more legitimacy, and a good excuse for completing Zhang's challenge. Are we sure we want to leave Shun (and possibly even Yu) out to dry, here? I know we don't want to disappoint Yunzi, but Shun and Yu may be more fucked than we first thought if Jing leaves now.

 

[Rex Feral]

That's just paranoia, remember Yu and Shun are way more intelligent than us so they know what they're doing. They also have Gao Ying and Tulu Houdu. We are surplus by comparison.

 

[Tribute]

Possibly? A lot of it is the "You're the only one I trust" from Shun. Unless you're suggesting that we need to wean Shun off from Jing, or "You're the only one I trust" is Jing's "Would you kindly", or something.

 

[Rex Feral]

He said it would be a relief for him to have our help since he trusts us. Not that we are the only he trusts. 10 sentences before, he stated about Gao Ying:

“Are you sure you can trust him, Shun?”

“I would trust him with my own life on this,” says your friend.

 

[Nevill]

Are we sure we want to leave Shun (and possibly even Yu) out to dry, here? I know we don't want to disappoint Yunzi, but Shun and Yu may be more fucked than we first thought if Jing leaves now.

I don't get it.

We've dealt Shun the best possible hand when he was prepared to deal with outcomes that were much worse - and still prevail - and yet he somehow 'needs us' and, apparently, would not be able to handle the heat without us. If he needs Jing to babysit his every move, he is not cut to be the Emperor, and, thankfully, this is not the case. He would be glad to have his trusted friend around, but that's about it. There is no dire need for us to stay - the people Shun surrounded himself with are far more capable of dealing with the intrigues and politics than we are. This is not our place.

Actually, being around while it's formed and being instrumental in its formation is likely to leave Jing with more independence than fucking off to the Fire Cult challenge now and then coming back and trying to join up later. treave has basically said as much

I don't get this as well. How does becoming an imperial agent in an official organization under someone's command make Jing more independent than doing whatever he wants? All we would get in A in comparison with joining later is a higher post and better pay - in what manner is it connected to making Jing more independent when he will be on a leash either way? Why do we even need to officially join the ranks instead of helping investigators from behind the scenes whenever our interference is needed?

I do not want a goverment job. Shun is cool and everything, but we gave the dude his country on a silver platter, and he has enough competent people to manage it. Meanwhile, can we go become khan now?

 

[Tribute]

A higher post and better pay comes with more leeway, not to mention more influence in how the organization is set up to begin with.

 

[Rex Feral]

Higher post and better pay? This LP is starting to resemble my life. I'd rather do things I can't do in real life.

 

[Kipeci]

What does Jing care about 'better pay'? Money comes where he finds it, if he needs cash he can practice medicine for a while and wait for condom royalties to start rolling back in.

 

[Nevill]

treave, is there any way a marriage with Qilin could coexist with Jing running a khandom?

I feel like my two dreams came crashing into each other. Qilin is too awesome and just plain nice to simply ditch her, and doing so after - well, if, but we all know how it is - she got pregnant is a very assholish thing. On the other hand, a khandom was a personal goal of mine since the prologue.

The Wudu clan is not about to move from their historical homeland in Guzhou for us, their heir has no business outside of the country where all the money are, and what kind of spouses would we be if we were to live our lives separated by hundreds of kilometers? The only way we could do both if Qilin were so madly in love with us that she abandoned her family, and this is neither smart nor healthy. Or is there some other way to reconsile these goals that I am missing?

Or was restoring the Ashina tribe never an option in the first place and we should abandon the idea because it is outside of the scope of the LP? Because even if we marry Qilin I would want to assemble our people, wrestle Yunzi from the Fire Cult's grip and give the control over the tribe back to her. I want to do something for her, even if we can't be together.

...Though wouldn't it be ironic if she preferred to stay with the Fire Cult now?

 

[Kipeci]

There's always conquering China as the Khan.

 

[Nevill]

I reserve this option (aka Yang Xue route) for when Gao Ying shows his true colors and turns Shun into a dictator.

 

[Esquilax]

I reserve this option (aka Yang Xue route) for when Gao Ying shows his true colors and turns Shun into a dictator.

What true colours? The guy is fanatically loyal to Shun and probably not out for personal power all that much. He's basically who we were before the court exiled us. I really don't get why you have such an axe to grind against BRO Ying; sure, the guy is ruthless, but he is completely trustworthy when it comes to watching Shun's back. The guy also saved our life when he easily could have let both Jing and Cao'er fall to their deaths.

My theory is that Ying's loyalty is such that he probably saved Jing's life because that's what his liege would have wanted. The guy is frightening and machine-like at times, but that sort of loyalty is also pretty incredible as well.

 

[Baltika9]

The guy also saved our life when he easily could have let both Jing and Cao'er fall to their deaths.

And again when we were duking it out with Yang Xue. It would have been so very simple to just abandon us to our fates and tell Shun that "there was nothing I could have done."

 

[Nevill]

His vision of what a proper monarch is is very narrow-minded.

I await the results of his cave flooding plan with barely concealed glee. He approved of this plan so much.

 

[Esquilax]

His vision of what a proper monarch is is very narrow-minded.

I await the results of his cave flooding plan with barely concealed glee. He approved of this plan so much.

What's your alternative?

The chamber is now open, you obviously can't let the crazy fuck wander around the tunnels, so waiting for nature to take its course is out.