After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine - Vol. 2

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine Volume 2 by Liu Gou Hua. Cover by Fish (@mofumofish), Illustrations by SeokSu. Translated by Faelicy and Z. Yan. Published by Seven Seas. These books are a decent length, but they go by so quickly when reading them! In this volume, we continue following the machinations of Jiang Suizhou (JSZ) as he uses deception to survive the cut-throat political climate. Devastated by the harm he's caused his superior in the Rites department, he decides to do everything he can to save him from execution. Politically, JSZ is always walking the tight-rope, pretending to be hateful toward Huo Wujiu (HWJ), ineffective against Pang Shao, and deferential to his incompetent older brother Emperor. It's a delicate skill and the intrigue of what would happen next kept me reading. The other, arguably more important, part of the story is the relationship between HWJ and JSZ. This is the volume where they've thoroughly defrosted their feelings towards one another, and have started to earnestly trust each other in their schemes as true partners. I found it adorable how they slowly started to rely on each other emotionally, seeking validation and comfort when things wouldn't go to plan. The two of them are fighting their own growing feelings for each other, and it's all ridiculously wholesome. I also found it interesting that the narrative establishes that HWJ has always had an interest in men, while JSZ doesn't, but falls for the other anyways. I thought the narrative would have spent more time on JSZ maybe dealing with his new found feelings towards the same sex, but he doesn't really seem bothered by it other than the fact that he thinks HWJ doesn't reciprocate. I got the vibe that he may have had a historical/fictional crush on HWJ to begin with, even when he was a modern professor. That means JSZ is living out his historical romance dreams right?! 🤣 The assassination attempt at the end of the book was both surprising and totally expected, but it was amusing to see HWJ completely decimate the enemy. Seeing their little campout afterwards was also cute, and hilariously anti-climactic. As much as I enjoy the political machinations, I appreciate that this book has tilted to focus back onto the main characters. I was a little late on this post since the book released on Marcy 17th, but the next volume is out July 14th, so we still have a decent wait.