After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine vol. 2 by Liu Gou Hua: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine vol. 2 by Liu Gou Hua

The second volume of the story of Jiang Suizhou, a modern-day history professor who has transmigrated to past, continues where the first left off. As Prince of Jing, the sickly brother of what he knows to be the last emperor of the current dynasty, he uses his knowledge of what’s to come to change the outcome more favourable for himself.

Jiang Suizhou’s main aim is to try to prevent Huo Wujiu, the enemy general who’ll eventually be victorious, from killing him, as he knows will happen. He’s a bit out of his depth with Huo Wujiu though, because the present reality doesn’t match the history records. Huo Wujiu is his prisoner and his concubine, like a paper he was grading before he transmigrated suggested, much to his anger.

Huo Wujiu is badly injured because of the torture he’s been submitted to. Jiang Suizhou, together with his two advisors, both pretending to be his concubines, have come up with a plan to find a doctor for him. Jiang Suizhou will fall gravely ill—thanks to a poison—and when the imperial doctors are unable to heal him, he can summon his own doctors.

The plan works better than he could believe. The doctor is capable and in no time at all, he can make Huo Wujiu’s legs work again. Not that they tell Jiang Suizhou. And he tells Jiang Suizhou that his sickly constitution is because of poisoning in his childhood and can be reversed.

The second volume was full of court intrigue. Jiang Suizhou is busy trying to thwart the schemes of the emperor’s uncle, the Grand Chancellor. He’s successful, but it brings the chancellor’s wrath on him. Soon, his life is in danger. Luckily for him, Huo Wujiu isn’t as helpless as he appears.

But the best part of the second volume was the development of the relationship of Jiang Suizhou and Huo Wujiu. It emerges during long hours when Jiang Suizhou sits by Huo Wujiu’s bedside when he suffers from the effects of the healing process, and blossoms in their scheming against the emperor. There’s still secrets between them and many misunderstandings of each other’s intentions, but some sweet moments too. And the ending brings clarity to one thing: Jiang Suizhou has definitely caught feelings.

This continues to be well-written and entertaining. There’s nothing unnecessary, no fillers and no repetitions. The characters are well-formed and the plot is interesting. The romance is slow-burn, but worth rooting for. I’ll definitely read more.

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine Vol. 1 by Liu Gou Hua: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

After the Disabled God of War Became my Concubine vol. 1 by Liu Gou Hua

Continuing with my streak of most recent danmei publications in English. Liu Gou Hua is also a new author to me and they turned out to be a very good writer. The narrative flows without repetition and the plot seems to be actually leading somewhere.

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine is a transmigration danmei novel with a historical setting. History professor, Jiang Suizhou, has just finished rebuking a thesis by his student that seems to be based on imagination, only to find himself transported to a world that is exactly like the thesis described. He’s Prince of Jing, whom history doesn’t know much about, as he was a frail, chronically ill person who died young. His older brother, Jiang Shunheng, is an emperor in exile, and the last emperor of Jing dynasty. And Prince of Jing is just about to take a captured and tortured enemy general, Huo Wujiu, as his concubine, forced by the emperor to humiliate Prince of Jing and Huo Wujiu both.

Having studied the era for years, Jiang Suizhou is well-versed in who is who and how things work, but now his most important guideline is the thesis, which is based on the marriage that history knows nothing about. And according to it, Prince of Jing will die in three years at the hands of General Huo as a retaliation for the suffering in his household.

Jiang Suizhou’s objective is clear: avoid dying. He needs to treat Huo Wujiu, now Madame Huo, so well the general won’t want to kill him. That’s easier said than done. Prince of Jing has a reputation of a cruel man and compassion is out of character. The emperor is a foolish brute controlled by his uncle and enjoys nothing more than tormenting Prince of Jing and Huo Wujiu both. Jiang Suizhou knows that the empire will fall in three years when Huo Wujiu returns to north, but he can’t just hide and wait it out. But he’s almost powerless in the court and every little thing he tries leads to other people suffering.

On the home front, he needs to help Huo Wujiu heal from the torture without rousing suspicions. Outwardly, Madame Huo doesn’t seem to warm up to the prince, but the reader knows he’s taken an unexpected view of the frail prince and thinks he’s in need of protecting. And that has made him regard the prince’s two male concubines with hostility. He’s jealous even, when the prince spends many nights with them. Little does he know that the concubines are Prince of Jing’s advisors. The volume ends with a tiny cliffhanger of them giving advice that will likely infuriate Huo Wujiu and wipe away the goodwill Jiang Suizhou has managed to build.

This was a very good start for the story. It was a bit slow at first, and the pace didn’t really pick up much, but there was nothing unnecessary, the court intrigue was good, and everything happened in a logical order. Jiang Suizhou was a good character in a tight spot balancing between the emperor’s wrath and Huo Wujiu. The latter didn’t have a large role in the first volume, but he managed to make a difference in Jiang Suizhou’s life already. Despite Huo Wujiu’s budding jealousy, the romance didn’t really go anywhere yet, but it has a good foundation here. Prince of Jing’s head eunuch, Meng Qianshan, was a good comical addition with his constant misunderstandings and good-natured meddling.

I think there might be revelations in the future about a deeper connection between the past and the future. Jiang Suizhou looks exactly like Prince of Jing, he shares family name with the emperor, and Prince of Jing’s real name wasn’t revealed. Jiang Suizhou doesn’t know it, as it’s one of the things archives never mention. I’m looking forward to reading more to see where all this leads to.