The Second Blooming of the Plum Blossoms

惜阴堂主人Apr 2017

3.8

Word count: 127K words
Chapters: 40

Summary

During the reign of Emperor Suzong of the Tang dynasty, the treacherous chancellor Lu Qi destroys the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Mei Kui on a trumped-up charge and then moves against his wife and children. The novel unfolds through the open and covert struggle between loyal officials such as Feng Tianle and the treacherous chancellor Lu Qi, and ends with the emperor's integrity prevailing, the villains punished, and the Mei family's wrongs redressed, while Mei's son struggles against adversity, wins first place in the imperial examination, and becomes chancellor. Interwoven is the love story of Mei Liangyu and Chen Xingyuan, who endure many hardships and finally reach a happy ending. The language is fluent, the plot full of twists, and the whole work rich in romantic legend.

Editor's review

Set in the reign of Emperor Suzong of the Tang dynasty, the book opens with the treacherous chancellor Lu Qi framing and destroying the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Mei Kui, then unfolds the open and covert struggle between loyal officials and the powerful villain, closing with the emperor's integrity prevailing, the villains punished, and the Mei family's wrongs redressed. The main plot line is clear and the opposition of loyal and treacherous sharply drawn; Mei Liangyu's rise from adversity to first place in the imperial examination and the chancellorship carries the inspirational and legendary color common to traditional fiction, while the love line of Mei Liangyu and Chen Xingyuan, who endure hardships and reach a happy ending, adds a layer of emotional tension beyond the political struggle. With fluent language and a twisting plot, it is a good read for understanding traditional chapter-novel narrative and the ethical pattern of loyal versus treacherous. Watch for the sharply divided good and evil characters and the narrative logic by which the injustice is redressed; you can enjoy the story and also observe how traditional fiction organizes conflict and resolution.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy traditional chapter novels and stories of loyal-versus-treacherous struggle
Casual readers drawn to scholar-and-beauty plots and reunion after hardship
Literature enthusiasts interested in the narrative pattern of redressing ancient injustices

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern realist style and dislike sharply divided good-and-evil characters
Readers seeking strict historical verification rather than legendary narrative
Those uninterested in scholar-and-beauty conventions and happy endings

Reading tips

Sort out the three lines—Mei Kui's unjust case, Lu Qi's persecution, and Mei Liangyu's rise—before the love subplot; the structure will be clearer.
Note how the loyal-versus-treacherous opposition drives the plot, and observe the good-and-evil character setup as a feature of traditional narrative.
Compare Mei Liangyu's rise from adversity to first place and the chancellorship with similar traditional novels to understand the common inspirational pattern.

第一回
第二回
第三回
第四回
第五回
第六回
第七回
第八回
第九回
第十回
第十一回
第十二回
第十三回
第十四回
第十五回
第十六回
第十七回
第十八回
第十九回
第二十回
第二十一回
第二十二回
第二十三回
第二十四回
第二十五回
第二十六回
第二十七回
第二十八回
第二十九回
第三十回
第三十一回
第三十二回
第三十三回
第三十四回
第三十五回
第三十六回
第三十七回
第三十八回
第三十九回
第四十回

FAQ

What are the main plot lines of this book?

According to the sources, the main line is the treacherous chancellor Lu Qi destroying Mei Kui on a trumped-up charge and moving against his wife and children, while Feng Tianle and others struggle openly and covertly with Lu Qi, until the emperor's integrity prevails, the villains are punished, and the Mei family's wrongs are redressed, with Mei Liangyu rising from adversity to first place in the imperial examination and the chancellorship. Interwoven is the love story of Mei Liangyu and Chen Xingyuan, who endure hardships and finally reach a happy ending.

Is the ending tragic or a reunion?

From the sources, it is a reunion ending: the villains are punished, the Mei family's wrongs are redressed, Mei Liangyu wins first place and becomes chancellor, and he and Chen Xingyuan endure hardships to reach a happy ending. The whole work has the romantic, legendary color of traditional fiction; read its resolution along the two lines of loyal-versus-treacherous struggle and scholar-and-beauty romance.

How are the language and reading difficulty?

The sources describe the language as fluent and the plot as full of twists; it is a traditional chapter novel that ordinary readers can follow without much trouble. The main difficulty is the large cast of characters, with the loyal and treacherous factions and the love subplot interwoven; sort out the three lines—Mei Kui's unjust case, Lu Qi's persecution, and Mei Liangyu's growth—as you read, and it will go more smoothly.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

惜阴堂主人 Author

Xiyintang Zhuren is an authorial name taken from a studio hall (tanghao) in the field of Ming and Qing vernacular fiction; the writer's real name, native place, and dates of birth and death are not clearly recorded, and publicly available information is limited. Judging from the ten works held in the collection, the author's output centers on the compilation of classical literature and the writing of vernacular fiction. Representative works include Er Du Mei (The Second Plum Blossom) together with its full-length sequel and various divided and Qing-dynasty vernacular editions, as well as a forty-volume collection of classical literary works. These titles are generally classified under classical literature, classic works, and social fiction, with tags also touching on Eastern philosophy and time-travel alternate history, suggesting a diverse range of subjects. Er Du Mei, which traces the joys and sorrows of a talented scholar and a beautiful maiden, features a twisting plot and plain, accessible language; it was one of the more widely circulated Qing vernacular novels, and it is through this work that the name Xiyintang Zhuren is known to later readers.