Work Text:
Songs resound within the glorious gate
Day and night, a serenade of fate
Masking the noise of burying bones in the wild,
A mountain grave that is forever exiled.
Where does the injustice in this world reside?
Only ghosts understand
All the sufferings of man.
----Ballad of Xuan
1. He excels in cooking.
2. His appetite is not always huge.
The longest period he went without eating was about two years, which is the same amount of time he spent in prison.
3. He has a deep affection for animals, so do the animals!
Just look at how he nurtures his Bone Fish! Despite their scary appearance, they are endearing, loyal, clever, and kind (remember how they fought with Jun Wu at the Black Water Demon Lair?).
4. Hua Cheng never pays He Xuan for the information provided, causing his debt to mount.
Hua Cheng deems all information trivial, except those concerning Gege.
5. He IS GOOD at feelings.
This quality is vital for him as an actor. After all, he successfully undertook over fifty roles in heaven over centuries! Concealing his real feelings is a skill essential for a spy without being caught. Undetectable doesn’t mean absent.
"An actor has to burn inside with an outer ease." (Michael Chekhov).
6. He is neither short-tempered nor prone to swearing.
While fanfics like to portray him swearing, he never utters it in TGCF. In fact, his words, though sometimes sharp, maintain a rhythm, structure, and elegance in Chinese. He favors succinct idioms (a kind of four-character word) (e.g., " 清闲如旧 ,” " 纵运之法 ,” “ 恕不奉陪 ,” “ 大材小用 ,” “ 仗义执言 ,” “ 置身事外 ”), which implies his scholarly side.
7. His initial plan for revenge did not include Shi Qingxuan recognizing Ming Yi as He Xuan.
What Shi Qingxuan was supposed to know: Shi Wudu failed to pass the tribulation and died. Ming Yi also died in it. He Xuan was a long-dead person whose fate was exchanged with him.
What Shi Qingxuan actually knew: Shi Wudu failed to pass the tribulation and was killed by the Black Water Submerging Ships. Ming Yi was also killed by the Black Water Submerging Ships. The Black Water Submerging Ships’ real name is He Xuan. His best friend Ming Yi is He Xuan.
8. After returning the fan, he never meets Shi Qingxuan again, including during the Puji Shrine Feast.
He repaired the fan to let Shi Qingxuan safeguard the Imperial City, taking it as a final farewell. His ashes were not in it! Does any ghost want their ashes to be in a weapon? It is easy to get destroyed!
9. Ming Yi.
We bear the weight of our sins.
10. Within the Nether Water Manor lies a room containing his family's mementos.
His mother's recipes, his father's hand-carved weiqi ( 围棋 ) pieces, his little sister's rattle and hairpin ( 簪子 ), Miao’er’s poems, and an embroidered wedding dress she never finished.
11. He never regrets.
No need to rest in peace until the revenge is completed.
12. He was raised with love. His family loved him so much, and he loves his family too.
That’s why he never lost himself in the hundreds of years of revenge. That’s why, after his revenge, he still exists.
“The ones that love us never really leave us.”