u/GuavaLavaNoBanana

Li is a world inspired by Ancient China, even though it is not an authentic blow-by-blow recreation. We know that the current Emperor is a lenient ruler, and Jinshi does not overuse his authority as well. That being said, there are still certain rules in place, whether they are implicit or explicit:

- The Emperor’s word is law, which no one can refuse it. That’s why Ah-duo ended up tethered to the Emperor.

- No one can say the official name of a male in the Imperial family

- A higher up can order someone of lower social status. Ex. Jinshi commands Maomao to get on his shoulders in the cave.

- An implicit rule is that the Emperor needs to create heirs and also balance the political factions by visiting consorts.

- Another implicit rule is that no one wants to mess with Lakan

- A consort can’t leave the Rear Palace after spending a night with the Emperor

- The Ma Clan must protect members of the royal family. That’s why Gaoshun beats up Basen when Jinshi gets his scar

- No one can explicitly verbally abuse a member of the Imperial family Ex. Lahan reminds Lakan of this right before the Shi Clan rebellion, citing that even Maomao would be punished

- A consort leaving the Rear Palace is a form of treason Ex. What Jinshi says about Loulan after he discovers her deception

- Any one who commits treason will be executed, in addition to close family members. Ex. The Shi Clan rebellion, where the Shi Clan children would have also been executed if the Emperor had not shown them mercy

- Attempting to kill a consort is a crime. The punishment also extends to family members. Ex. Fengming’s execution and Maomao’s dismissal

- Attempting to kill a child of the Emperor is a crime. Ex. Lihua and Shin. I could even say that the Emperor punishing and banishing Luomen when he thinks his son dies because of malpractice falls in line with this bullet.

- Attempting to kill a member of the royal family is a crime Ex. Suirei trying to execute Jinshi

- Dissecting the body of an imperial is a crime
Ex. The case of Kada

- Promissory notes should be honored Ex. Maomao and Zulin’s dad

- SA is still punishable, as we see with a case in either LN 7 or LN 8, IIRC

- Men in Li can take multiple wives or consorts

- Women who work for brothels like the Verdigris House are considered to be “owned” by the Madame

That being said, are there any other “rules” that can be considered crimes if they are broken? I’m asking because someone mentioned that Maomao asking Jinshi to execute her by poison (she doesn’t know he’s the Imperial brother here), is a form of disrespect, and I didn’t see it that way. To me, it was just a strange conversation that made Jinshi uncomfortable, as it reminded him of the power imbalance. And then there are other times that Maomao teases Jinshi, or behaves more casually with him, or even tells him off after they’ve gotten closer both before and after she learns his true identity. Perhaps a lot of this is at the discretion of the current ruler. I feel like a lot of characters do things that aren’t perfectly aligned with Ancient Chinese standards, so it’s hard to know exactly what is a crime and what isn’t. We only have the established rules in Li that the author has set out for us.

A tangent question I have is this: Did Maomao ever mention that she could be punished if she tugs Jinshi’s hair too hard while drying it? Someone else mentioned this, and I don’t remember reading it in the LNs

For context, I don’t know Japanese and I’ve only read the LNs in English, and then watched the anime in Japanese with English subs.

1. I’ve heard from others in the sub who can understand both Japanese and English that Maomao comes across as rude in the English LNs, and is actually quite polite in Japanese. Another point of confusion is that Jinshi laments at a point in the LNs that Maomao always has to be polite with him. Do Japanese readers feel that this is the case?
2. Li is heavily inspired by Ancient China, with some western influences (ex. feifas, CPR). For those who are knowledgeable about Ancient China (I am not), how authentic are character interactions in KnH? And how “polite” is Maomao with respect to her behavior in the story’s setting, towards Jinshi and towards others (excluding some of her more extreme moments like her sniffing rampage, flipping women’s skirts)? From my perspective, not every character interaction adheres to authentic Ancient Chinese standards. And other characters “overstep” their stations as well. For example, Basen yells at Jinshi after he tries to kiss him, Maamei tells Jinshi off when she mistakenly assumes he plans to take Zhizi as a concubine, Suiren banters with the Emperor, etc. To me, it seems that the Ancient Chinese inspiration influences things like the rules of the Rear Palace, or men having the option to be non-monogamous, or that the Emperor is the Son of Heaven whose word is law. But everything else doesn’t strictly adhere to a given set of rules.

Where exactly is Chue from? This is the country where she was born, when she used to be known as Begaru.

IIRC, she made her way over to the Western Province to see her mother, who was a Mi Clan spy. That was how she was discovered by Vice Minister Lu and recruited to work as a Mi Clan spy for Li.