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Ballad of Sword & Wine (Confusion about an Eastern Pearl scene)

I’m confused about a scene in volume 1 chapter 34, and I wanted to ask if I misunderstood something.

This is the scene where Xi Hongxuan helps Shen Zechuan enter the prison to meet Ji Lei. Shen Zechuan tells Ji Lei that the Empress Dowager sent him to kill him, and he even shows Ji Lei the Eastern Pearl as proof.

But here’s what confuses me:

A few chapters earlier, after Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye bathed together, Shen Zechuan found the Eastern Pearl in his sleeve soaked with water. The novel specifically mentioned that the writing/note inside was already ruined, so he could not read what was written.

If that’s true, then how did Shen Zechuan later confidently tell Ji Lei that the Empress Dowager sent him to kill him? How did he know what the message said if he never managed to read the note? (..unless he was just bluffing)

And another thing: after Shen Zechuan leaves prison with Ji Lei’s confession, Xi Hongxuan internally thinks everything went “too smoothly,” almost like someone powerful had already arranged things behind the scenes.

That made me wonder whether the Empress Dowager actually was backing Shen Zechuan at that moment.

So now I’m confused between two possibilities:

  1. The pearl really did contain orders from the Empress Dowager to kill Ji Lei somehow, and Shen Zechuan figured it out without reading the note.

  2. Shen Zechuan was bluffing the entire time and only used the pearl because Ji Lei would recognize it as the Empress Dowager’s token.

If it was a bluff, then what was the actual message inside the pearl supposed to say?

Did I misunderstand this scene?🥹

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u/KaguraChan7 — 7 days ago
▲ 48 r/DanmeiNovels

Ballad of Sword & Wine (Major hints some of us missed in Volume 1)

I recently finished Volume 3 of The Ballad of Sword and Wine, and before starting Volume 4, I decided to reread Volumes 1 and 2 because this novel is INSANELY dense, so why not clear some doubts before moving further!! And honestly? Some chapters made me scream because the major reveals from Volume 3 were literally hinted at back in Volume 1.

  1. Chapter 9

The first one was during the Spring Festival in Qudu, when everyone gathers; Xiao Chiye, Qi Zhuyin, Lu Guangbai, etc. There’s this conversation where Lu Guangbai explains how Jiang Qingshan forcibly opened the noble clans’ granaries in Juexi to feed the starving commoners after the plague destroyed the harvests. At first it just sounds like background politics. But after Volume 3, it suddenly clicks: THAT was the entire reason someone from the noble clans colluded with the Biansha horsemen and let Zhongbo fall with Shen Wei being a scapegoat. They didn’t want to keep sending grain to Zhongbo because they needed those reserves for themselves. The motive behind Zhongbo’s destruction was literally laid out in Volume 1 and I somehow completely missed it.

  1. Chapter 14

The second moment shocked me even more. Xiaofuzi’s death. We know Li Jianheng beat him badly over the courtesan issue, so naturally everyone assumes Li Jianheng killed him. But during Shen Zechuan and Ji Gang’s conversation afterward, it’s quietly implied that neither Shen Zechuan nor Li Jianheng actually killed Xiaofuzi. Which means Pan Rugui and Ji Lei were involved. Then comes the real insane part: Shen Zechuan realizes that if Pan Rugui was willing to frame Li Jianheng for murder, then they clearly didn’t care whether Li Jianheng lived or died. Also, the current Emperor is sick and has no heir.

If Pan Rugui, Hua Clan, Ji Lei they all didn’t care about the only heir (Li Jianheng) dying… then that means they already had another heir prepared; a surviving son of the Guangcheng Emperor.

And then Volume 3 reveals Xue Xiuzhuo secretly raising those children, including the hidden heir.

LIKE HELLO??? THE NOVEL TOLD US EVERYTHING IN VOLUME 1.

What’s killing me is not even “how did we miss this?” but “how did Shen Zechuan miss this 2nd part?” 😭

u/KaguraChan7 — 9 days ago