Qiang Jin Jiu

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The six prefectures of Zhongbo were offered to foreign enemies on a silver platter, and Shen Zechuan was taken into custody in the capital, reduced to a drowning dog* loathed and condemned by all. Xiao Chiye followed the scent of the furor and made his way over. But instead of setting others on him, he kicked Shen Zechuan with his very own leg, rendering the latter an invalid. Who would expect this invalid to turn around and bite him in a counterattack until he was all drenched in blood? That was the start of an epic feud between both men who tore at each other every time they come face-to-face with one another.

“Fate wants to bind me here for life, but this is not the path I choose. The yellow dust submerged my brothers deep under. I have no wish to bow in submission to an illusory fate. The imperial edict can’t save my troops, and the imperial court can’t fill the stomachs of my mounts. I’m no longer willing to lay down my life for this purpose. I want to surmount that mountain. I am going to fight for myself.”

Note : a ‘drowning dog’ is someone who is down and out, having lost favor or power.

Associated Names
One entry per line
Ballad of Sword and Wine
Bring In The Wine
QJJ
Thương Tiến Tửu
เชิญร่ำสุรา
将进酒
장진주
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Sha Po Lang (15)
Golden Stage (14)
Peerless (7)
Nan Chan (6)
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (5)
Yu Wu (4)
Recommendation Lists
  1. creme de la creme
  2. BL + GL
  3. currently reading/plan on reading
  4. Danmei Recommendations
  5. TBR - fila de espera

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86 Reviews sorted by


mariaphoebe
mariaphoebe rated it
December 15, 2020
Status: 77
Up to now it's great. Since it's too early in the story, I will refrain from reviewing until I read the whole thing. The translation work is top noch though, a huge thank you to the Lianyin team!
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The Backbone of Calculus is Limits rated it
July 8, 2023
Status: Completed
I can simply gush on and on about how incredibly well-written this whole novel is.

This is literally my all-time favourite danmei!

... more>> First of all, I admit that the way the reader just gets thrown into the complicated plot right from the very beginning kind of put me off at first. I was a little confused in the first few chapters.

But man!

What came after the initial bit of confusion was simply AMAZING!

The schemes and mysteries are slowly revealed as you read on and the way everything was tied so beautifully in the end was simply so satisfying.

I like how it was written in the POV of many characters and does not focus on the MC's POV alone.

And the writing style!

The writing style is so incredibly poetic and beautiful. Even the passionate scenes were written in a non-overly obscene but beautiful way. Kudos to the translators for the hardwork!

AND THE ROMANCE

Goshhh. I swear, Lanzhou and Ce'an are just made for each other. They did not overly dramatize how they felt for each other. Like when they realized how they felt, they just acted and got together. No annoying misunderstandings at all.

"Oh, how I love you so." They literally make me feel so single.

The s*xual tension is just chef's kiss!

But I really do recommend this to anyone who might be looking for a well-written and well-balanced plot and romance! <<less
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xstal
xstal rated it
May 14, 2023
Status: --
My all-time favourite danmei.

Every time I pick this up to read, it draws me into a fantastic world of mysteries, love, revenge, scheming, plotting and so much more. It has been a few months since I finished this, but still, it is not over me :) I would randomly pick some chapters to let myself escape into the world of Lanzhou or Ce an.

Rating - all the stars in the sky 🌃😉
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LH_12
LH_12 rated it
May 6, 2023
Status: Completed
I love Tang Jiucing so much. She is talented, meticulous, pays attention to detail, and her stories are always interesting. This novel isn't an exception either; it's so good; the plot is really complicated and amazing; the pace of story telling is perfect; and the characters are well-rounded.

Writing historical fiction is hard; it can become boring because of political discussions and historical facts, but this novel is a masterpiece. It never gets boring. The descriptions of events, government officials, geographical locations, etc. Were detailed but not to the point of... more>> becoming too much. She gave as much information as was necessary for setting the atmosphere. It also helped that there were funny moments too.

Apart from the plot, the characters are amazing too. Both MC and ML are clever and have a strong mentality. At the beginning of the story, MC and ML are in a difficult situation, and troubles keep coming for them. There are constant plots and betrayals against MC and ML. But all of that makes the story more engrossing. It was really interesting to observe how they dealt with problems. I especially liked MC. His character is so complex: he is smart yet sometimes acts recklessly; he is kind but at the same time can be really cruel and twisted; he is strong but from time to time he becomes weak. He has past trauma; his childhood and upbringing weren't good either; all of that affected him, and he became who he is now. His character is so real; I loved him very much. I genuinely think that ML grounded him; if MC didn't love him and restrain himself for the sake of ML, he would have died a long time ago while doing some crazy thing. ML is just a wolf pub—wild, frivolous, but clever and smart. He is too charismatic and lovable. They are too different but match each other perfectly. Their relationship is sweet and wild. I love that even during serious discussion, they can plot and flirt at the same time. As the summary suggests at the beginning, they don't like each other and are considered enemies. Yet because they are both caged and long to break free, and they can only be their true selves in front of each other (because both of them are too clever to be deceived by the act), they get closer. Despite being enemies, they can understand each other. Because of that the development of their relationship was interesting, and reading about them at any stage of it was delightful.

The story is really long, but it's fast-paced and eventful; there isn't a part that seems dragged out or boring. It is brilliant and definitely worth reading. I don't think that Tang Jiucing needs any recommendation, yet I have to say that it's a must-read. <<less
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Liliaa
Liliaa rated it
March 29, 2023
Status: c40
My favorite danmei!

I didn't read properly the first time, and I'm re-reading now hence the chapter 40. It's a little hard to understand sometimes, with the intense politics and scheming, but when you do it's worth it. Reminds me of Game of Thrones but Chinese and gay.

MC (Shen Lanzhou (Zechuan)) is really smart, cunning and cruel. I love him. ML (Xiao Ce'an (Chiye)) is funny, charming and just so loveable. He's also very h**ny.. Which in other books might be annoying but in this, , you can't complain.

The enemies to... more>> lovers is so. Well. Written!! It isn't the basic rivalry you usally see, but the actual Enemies.. I'm talking about them trying to kill eachother. It's really refreshing. Even if you don't like the trope, I'm telling you, read this gem!

World building is as in most Danmei, really good. Also, reading about Shen Zechuan slowly rising back from the pit he was in the start.. It's really thrilling.

I could go on for many paragraphs about this novel, but I'll just say Qiang Jin jiu isn't praised for nothing. <<less
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CriTheMarshall
CriTheMarshall rated it
March 22, 2023
Status: c1
9/10 God this was long. But damn was it a ride. Honestly, even as a big enjoyer of Priest novels, this was a tough nut to get through. All the intricacies of court and military politics, relationships of the past and present, different twists and developments so closely intertwined into each other, the combination of this all makes this novel very challenging to wrap your head around and follow.

This is definitely not a good read for people just getting into chinese novels in general as well as people who don't... more>> really like to read between the lines every other page. But to those who love a good political drama with a dose of an extremely passionate and well developed romance, as well as a wide cast of memorable and interesting side characters, this is a really good read. <<less
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LittleFlowerMJ
LittleFlowerMJ rated it
March 8, 2023
Status: Completed
The Best. Don't leave bad reviews when you're not even halfway of the story. The plot is thick, the romance is SATISFYING, the pacing is good, world build and characterization are good, the drama is good, overall it's VERY GOOD. I don't have ways with words but all I can say is The Best I've read in it's genre
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Beths01
Beths01
March 6, 2023
Status: c1
This novel is my favorite forever, it has a bit of everything, although it is difficult at first to understand all the political intrigue, do not hesitate to continue as it gets better and better.

1000% recommended, do not hesitate to read it ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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kieralikescake
kieralikescake rated it
March 3, 2023
Status: c282
The best danmei I've ever read, period.

This is not a light and fast read, it will drain your brain juice but it's worth it. I just love love LOVE Ce'An and Lanzhou relationship, dynamic, their love languages and everything. Will definitely reread
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mayosamurai
mayosamurai
February 19, 2023
Status: --
My favorite BL of all time.

It’s heavily political but a read that is definitely worth it. We have chapters and chapters dedicated to grains. Who knew we could care so much about that.

The characters are so well written and developed. Honestly, empathized a lot with the “villains”.
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xyzsh
xyzsh rated it
January 3, 2023
Status: Completed
That feeling when you read a novel without reading synopsis even without knowing the name of MC and ML and fortunately it turns out to be really good.
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tidewbleach
tidewbleach rated it
October 22, 2022
Status: Completed
Just a brief summary of some thoughts as there's really too much to write if you want to go in depth on a book like this. Just as a note, while I did give this a 4, that is actually pretty high in my rating trends.

First of all, the translation is excellent, even throughout a story that has a lot of idioms and concepts that can be relatively hard to explain.

A very solid novel with cohesive themes that represents this genre of Chinese danmei really well, even though the genre... more>> is generally over saturated. This is a political/military novel at its core, and while the relationship between MC/ML is definitely there and vital to the plot, don't expect this to include much slice-of-life style romance.

Some things I specifically liked about this novel that I feel stood out to me:

  1. There are relatively, really great women/female characters in this book, which I, sadly, find kind of rare. They hold important roles not only in the nation, but in the plot. The major players all have distinct personalities and motivations that steer their agenda and are not a backdrop in their world at all.
  2. The military battles are well paced, well written, and generally satisfying to read. Whether or not they are realistic or not isn't something I know enough about to judge, but they were at least internally consistent with the author's own world building.
  3. Essentially every moment is written for a reason. Seemingly inconsequential details may become clues to not only who is scheming, but what they are planning to do. No one is omniscient, and all the major characters "villain" and "hero" alike have moments where they missed things to devastating consequences.
  4. Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye. I won't write too much here as plenty of reviews talk about their characters, and of course I like them or I probably wouldn't have finished the book. What I like most about them is that they are both ambitious characters with agency that made them easy to root for.
Of course, these aren't the only things I liked about the book, but I think many of the other reviews cover the other pats to like.

Things to think about:

  1. This book has a lot of characters and factions and locations. While this does make the world feel full, it inevitably can become convoluted and complicated. The plot line within this book has so many layers behind it, and even SZC's thoughts and plans are obscure to the reader. While I actually do like that as I prefer to have a little intrigue in the plot I need to think through myself, I feel like the author was perhaps a little over ambitious with how many plot lines were present. There are many things that happen off-screen in this book and are only obliquely referenced or noted when the result occurs and really requires a lot of concentration to catch the foreshadowing and scheming. Heading towards the latter third of the novel, it almost felt like there was a rush to resolve and reveal so many things that the author even decided to write a summary of the timeline and events that occurred.
  2. Some people have written about how the romance is abrupt, and I can understand that sentiment. This is not necessarily a downside to me, but just something to pay attention to if you are considering reading.
Overall, if you're thinking about reading this book, go into it knowing what to expect. If you like other books of the genre, I would definitely give it a shot. <<less
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dCaitsith
dCaitsith
October 6, 2022
Status: c3
Some of you might think it's too soon for me to write a review when I only just started reading it. But this novel is quite lengthy per chapter and I really don't understand what people find good in this story. So far the interrogator and the King and other people just kept saying SW was a traitor, because he's coward, retreated, blah3x, so he's definitely a traitor; while SZC kept saying "no he's not a traitor" without even a speck of reason. All I read was how his brother... more>> died, his shifu and shiniang took him as if he was their son. That was all. I mean, come on. What makes people keep reading a new novel is how interesting and understandable the start of the story is. Defending someone who you know is sh*t to your death without any reason while your enemies repeatedly forcing you to give a statement that they WANT you to say is definitely a VERY not interesting story. I feel like an idiot reading all of them repeat the words "SW is a traitor. Say it". Forget waiting until his husband come running. No more, thanks... <<less
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Preciousoduh
Preciousoduh rated it
September 29, 2022
Status: c282
I really enjoyed reading this, it did take a while for me to get invested cause of the politics and they were so many names haeww, but the love and welll they match each other makes up for all that.

I really recommend it plus they are side couples but the ending of one of them is sad.

Overall a 9/10 and you should definitely read it.
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ceannn
ceannn rated it
September 18, 2022
Status: --
really a novel worth spending time reading over 200 chapters. Of the many novels of royal and military politics, in my opinion, QJJ is one of the novels with the fewest plotholes. Both political intrigue and the point of view of romance are explained in almost detail. How they fall in love is really cute too, from black to pink. But I kind of didn't really like the ending somehow.

I feel like, a little wrong with the way he got the throne.

... more>>
Spoiler

btw the way cean wants to go home really makes me sad for him huhuhuhu. Especially after returning home most people thought he was not welcome even though his father's intentions were clearly well-intentioned. Like damn it's six years not one or two days, imagining how sad he is every night makes me emotional

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stressyjesse
stressyjesse rated it
August 6, 2022
Status: Completed
Excellent. Outstanding. So so good.

MC - Cunning, ambitious, vengeful, seductive, possibly the most clever character in the text (not just intelligence), endlessly loyal to his true love.

ML - SIMP, so very sexy, muscles, LOYAL, not a 'big dumb brute', the image of a 'very manly man who has both brain and brawn', did I say Simp?, loves his f*cking husband, loves f*cking his husband.

Written really well, the story grips you and doesn't let you go until you complete it. Not only is the story so interesting and fraught with politics,... more>> war and scheming - it is also a paragon of romance. Unfalable romance in the midst of war and politics and opposing sides but not once does the love between the MC and ML waver. I loved that. I loved their unyielding love and trust in each other (also their constant horniness was very satisfying). I couldn't be happier with this story.

Spoiler

Happy ending for the main couple, but there is a death in the second couple, very bittersweet and that hurt so much

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lil_lazybum
lil_lazybum rated it
March 1, 2024
Status: Completed
Overall rating: 5/5

Couple (TopxBottom) : Xiao Chiye x Shen Zechuan, ... more>>
Spoiler

Qiao Tianya x Yao Wenyu, Qi Zhuyin x Hua Xiangyi

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I've decided to write a review after many months after I've already completed it because of how much I love this novel. It is absolutely amazing, and the s*xual tension is SO REAL. Their love is so beautiful and the power struggles are such a great thing to embark on. I absolutely love T97's writing style and the poetic nature of the novel. I am so excited to see what the manhua has in store, and I was beyond happy when Seven Seas announced the licensing.

This novel is very political and takes place in a time where Shen Zechuan is wrongly accused in the beginning, to which Xiao Chiye doesn't like or acknowledge him. Throughout the novel, they go from enemies to lovers, and the development of their love is pretty great. The devotion and love between them is deeply rooted in my being, much so that Xiao Chiye is my number 2 in danmei novels (number 1 being Wei Ying from MDZS) because of his everything.

Do note that Shen Zechuan is not your average shou! My baby is ruthless and a great fighter. One of the things I love in this novel besides the romance is the fight scenes. My favorite fights in particular happen later on in the novel, and it's one of those novels where the top and bottom shine on their own without needing the other to be there. They are great in their own sense and both so very powerful. The fight scenes made my heart pump so hard, and it's all so so so good. This is probably the only novel by far where I've genuinely been hooked to the fight scenes and felt every moment of despair and intent. There are a few angsty moments to point out, but they're not too overpowering or devastating but they will be significant towards the characters in the novel.

Literally, in one sentence, QJJ is one of the best novels I've ever read in my entire life. <<less
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BiMyself rated it
November 10, 2023
Status: c213
This is a novel after my heart. The relationship between the leads is immaculate, I was... more>>
Spoiler

a bit scared that Shen Zechuan was playing Xiao Chiye at first, but I'm glad that wasn't the case

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. From the way the author describes the love and intimacy between the leads to the multiple same s*x couples to the world building was just sublime. Political and war novels are my least favourite genre but I thoroughly enjoyed this. Had to stop at c213 because I couldn't find any good translations and I refuse to let MTL ruin this experience for me, so I'll wait. Looking forward to completing this.

Wow, I got the chance to finish this story and all I can say is 'Wow, what a ride'. I'd like to thank the translators, they did a marvelous job.

I fell in love with Shen Zechuan's character from the onsetof the novel and by extension I also came to love the wolf pup of Libei. Although
Spoiler

their final victories left me reeling with joy, it also left a bitter after taste because all sides had great and formidable characters and personalities that invoked upon them my admiration. Their relentless passion and steadfastness was awe inspiring

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Another character I fell in love with as soon as he appeared was Huo Lingyun, it's a pity his character was drowned out in the chaos.

I particularly loved how the matters of war were never described in cliche black and white terms or as noble heroic ventures, it was described as a bloody and messy affair that it rightfully is. This novel was a beautiful sea of gray stars, with Shen Sechuan shining more brightly than the others. Just considering Shen Zechuan's character, this novel is already a 5/5 minus nada. I won't be getting over this character anytime soon. <<less
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Averyfinegirl
Averyfinegirl rated it
September 25, 2023
Status: Completed
I love this novel soo much✨❤️

it’s is thrilling and very much interesting. I adore the main couple and I love their relationship and how they balance each other, especially the part where Shen Lanzhou calls Xiao Chiye; his husband and how Xiao Ce’an calls Shen Lanzhou his wife. They fit the role perfectly but this does not mean that any is weaker, they are both strong, powerful, intelligent and commanding.

Shen Lanzhou is at the top of the game in politics and Xiao Chiye is almost unsurpassed in the battlefield and... more>> in military affairs.

But I was deeply hurt by the author for cutting short the happiness of the side couple. Yan Weiyu died too quickly and Qian Songyue had too much grief to bear. I think she is just letting us know that life is not always rosy, presently us the harsh reality of things😭

I would definitely recommend to anybody at anytime because it is worth the read! Just that the translator stopped translating at the end of novel but it doesn’t affect anything!🤭 <<less
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leila.z.y
leila.z.y rated it
August 23, 2022
Status: --
The best novel I have ever read.

The characters were inimitable. It was a mythical love story.

... more>>
Spoiler
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In this story, everyone was the hero of their country and it was not even possible to be happy about the death of the enemy.

The battle scenes were described very beautifully and excitingly, and I cried when Xiao Chiye's father was killed.

The policies used in the story were very detailed and heavy, and certainly a lot of knowledge was used in it. I appreciate the author for such great information.

In the end, I am madly in love with this novel and will never forget it.
I wish we all could experience such a legendary love once in our life.

Thanks to the author for such a beautiful and memorable story. <<less
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