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Lord Seventh is by no means for everyone. Centering around a man who's given a second chance to relive a life that initially ended in pain, torment, betrayal, and abandonment, it's largely about the messy machinations of those involved with court life and all that entails. If you enjoy that sort of thing, as well as a main character characterized by a mixture of scheming and lackadaisical cynicism, I encourage you to pick this up. If not, at least know that this is where the majority of this story's focus lies and that everything often feels bleak and meaningless. Maybe this isn't for you if you're looking for a story where the romantic development is the primary focus. (But if you're like me, that might be a selling point.)

That being said, Lord Seventh is extremely thematically coherent and effectively adheres to an internal logic about the almost senseless loop this story is caught it. It is incredibly appropriate that our lead, Jing Beiyuan, is living through this life a second time while resigning himself to the fact that he's probably not going to be able to change much of anything at all because of the finite options that court life gives him. He doesn't particularly want to get too intimately involved with the Crown Prince, Helian Yi, but he also acknowledges that he doesn't want him dead and that anyone else in power would likely spell greater misery for the common people. So he gets involved with him again while holding him at arm's length, because the more personal aspect of their relationship didn't end well the last time. But he still schemes and maneuvers on his behalf, trying to temper it with other schemes and maneuvers that will hopefully cause less bloodshed and limit the prince's power once he becomes emperor. As one can imagine, the results are often mixed and stained with blood of their own.

Throughout the course of this, Jing Beiyuan fully anticipates that he will once again die young, alone, misunderstood, and unfulfilled. Rather than mourning that his second chance will likely end the same as the first, he largely seems to find comfort in it. Anything he does, any mistakes he makes doesn't matter as long as he achieves what he needs to achieve before it comes back to bite him in the ass. He throws himself into laziness and simple pleasures whenever he can, because at least that's something he can do differently from last time. He finds his own cynicism strangely freeing, even as the reader can clearly see that it limits him in turn. It's a very interesting internal dynamic, and in many ways, it's the core of the reading experience.

Part of what he changes in this go-round is getting closer to a young heir of a conquered nation who's being kept hostage until he reaches adulthood. He hopes that getting close to Wu Xi will limit his people's aggressions toward the emperor and, if necessary, give Helian Yi a place to go if one of his older brothers ends up in power or trying to kill him in earnest. He's surprised to find himself fond of the young man as the blunt, earnest Wu Xi ends up incorporating himself more into his daily life as both a student and a friend.

Wu Xi is, interestingly, the light in the dark in this story. Jing Beiyuan very much befriends him for another scheming, cynical purpose, but that doesn't end up going quite to plan when he instead finds himself enjoying his friendship. Wu Xi is largely not involved in a lot of the main plot and the scheming until the very last chapters, which makes any scene with him incredibly refreshing. He's also more straight-forward and honest about his thoughts and intentions than any of the other characters, who are always neck-deep in three-layered lies and false smiles. It feels appropriate, then, that he is ultimately the one who can provide Jing Beiyuan a way out of this bleak, blood-stained cycle that he has come to accept as his life. It's so very, very appropriate that he doesn't feel directly involved in the main plot until the end, because in hindsight, it is incredibly clear that this was always going to be his narrative purpose.

All that in mind, Lord Seventh is exceptionally good at what it does, even if what it does often feels directionless and maddening and cynical. It's very clearly supposed to feel that way, and the sudden ending with it's lack of full resolution to the more politically-oriented plot points is the most appropriate ending it could have. Of course those aspects aren't going to be fully resolved: the whole point is that they're cyclical and unending, and the only way to fully free yourself from them is to walk away and accept that some of your goals are going to be incomplete. You did what you could, and after a certain point, you've got to be able to walk away or let someone else lead you away. The scene partway through where Jing Beiyuan almost finds a sense of relief in Wu Xi jokingly suggesting that he kidnap him and take him home with him is so very telling. It's not a perfect novel, and it drags in places, but it's good at what it does.

I also want to take a moment to give kudos to the translator for delivering an incredibly readable, informative, well-sourced experience. (As well as hilarious commentary at the end of the chapters!) Their presence was especially noted in the first half when Wu Xi is still young and doesn't have a full grasp on the language he's speaking. The stilted, unique, and almost over-literal speech patterns really shone through even through the novel itself being translated, and I have to imagine that took a considerable amount of mindfulness and care. Your hard work is seen and appreciated, and I'm definitely looking into the other works you've translated!