After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine

by Liu Gou Hua

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 378
Series: After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

A strange thesis becomes one professor’s reality when he’s transmigrated to the past and awakens as a doomed prince in this hit danmei (Boys’ Love)!

When an outrageous thesis hits the desk of esteemed history professor Jiang Suizhou, his initial reaction is pure skepticism. Dubiously sourced, this thesis tells the story of the legendary General Huo Wujiu, a man renowned for his valor—that is, until he was captured. Stripped of his rank and incapacitated, the general suffered further humiliation by serving as a gift and concubine to his enemy’s brother—the cut-sleeve prince. For three grueling years, Huo Wujiu lived as a prisoner until he finally escaped and sought vengeance against those who dared to torment him.

Convinced this story is purely fiction, Jiang Suizhou brands the thesis a failure–does his student think he was born yesterday?! But Jiang Suizhou quickly learns that it was no mere tall tale when he wakes up as the cut-sleeve prince himself!

Now, stuck lording over his concubine and prisoner, Huo Wujiu, Jiang Suizhou must navigate a treacherous imperial court and avoid the general’s future wrath–lest he wind up with his head dangling from the turrets. His only option? Ally himself with Huo Wujiu. Using his vast knowledge of history, the clever professor devises strategies to shield the incapacitated former general, all while treating him with the utmost care. Yet, Jiang Suizhou’s strategy could backfire if Huo Wujiu were to get the wrong idea about his intentions…

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with volume one of Liu Gou Hua’s After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine; it’s not one I’d seen other readers talking about, or seen people posting fic about, or anything like that. It was a bit of an impulse-buy based on the storyline… I’ve read several transmigration type stories now and it’s not quite that that attracted me, but more the fact that essentially the “disabled god of war” of the title is a disabled prisoner of war being humiliated, and how the author managed to make a romance work in that context.

I am pleased to report that it’s fairly slow-burn, and we’re not being expected to believe that everything’s fixed at first sight! Things aren’t even fixed by Jiang Suizhou turning up in the historical prince’s body. Thankfully, he’s not set up to arrive after things have gone wrong already (as per Shen Yuan turning up after Shen Jiu has already been abusing Luo Binghe in The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, or Jing Shao’s do-over in The Wife Comes First which comes after he’s already carelessly hurt Mu Hanzhang in bed), so he manages to avert outright atrocities, meaning it all feels a bit more realistic that Huo Wujiu could eventually trust him.

I do know that Huo Wujiu’s injuries are actually going to be healed, despite their extensiveness now, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that — magically healing disabilities is an awkward topic, though I don’t know how much Chinese society or Chinese writers have reckoned with stuff around disability. My impression/understanding is “really not much at all”, so that is worth knowing going in. Huo Wujiu manages to be pretty badass from the wheelchair.

Anyway, things proceed slowly but surely, mostly focusing on the political aspects, Jiang Suizhou’s new body’s health (he’s actually pretty frail, essentially chronically ill himself) and only gradually bringing the two of them closer. They’re definitely not confiding in each other yet, even.

I also quite enjoyed that Jiang Suizhou does not really do a lot to hide that he’s no longer the same guy, at least around some members of his household who seem like potential allies. He’s smart: he could probably have figured out how to fool them. But he chooses instead to confide in them enough to make better allies of them, and I’m very curious how that’s going to turn out in the longer run in this story.

All in all, a lot of elements I find interesting, and I’d say the writing/translation feels a touch better than The Wife Comes First, which was my other recent danmei read, which is nice — I’m starting to get a feel for what I like/don’t like in danmei and English translations thereof!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)