Chapter Twenty-One: Nonsensical — Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

After the battle in the Han province, the empress cannot sleep. Her nightmares mix Hunduns with the voices of the people she killed, and Qin Zheng choking her while she is suspended in a dismembered body. When Qieluo wakes her, she stares at the ceiling before dragging herself up. She looks out at the ocean and tries to convince herself that her actions prevented a refugee crisis like the one her ancestors faced two hundred years ago. She believes she proved that girls belong on the battlefield.

Qieluo warns her that an address from the throne is about to air. The Dragon Head Flag fills every screen in Huaxia before Qin Zheng appears in full armor. He announces that conscription will no longer discriminate by gender: every girl between twelve and twenty-four with a spirit pressure over five hundred units is now eligible for service. He also declares that all non-pilot young adults between eighteen and thirty, regardless of gender, must serve at least one year in infantry units. The empress is horrified—she had only suggested a voluntary sweep for high spirit pressure girls, not forced conscription. She decides to return to Chang'an to confront him.

Back at the palace, she learns that the quarantine chamber behind the throne room has been completed. Qin Zheng has moved there from the university medical school. The entire hallway and private rooms are now part of the sterile zone. She enters from the balcony. Inside, a massive glass wall seals off the throne and dais. Qin Zheng looks disheveled, wearing a short black robe and fuzzy slippers, with messy hair and deep shadows under his eyes. He slides a book through a transparent box in the glass—Collected Discourses on Labor and Exploitation, annotated by him. He insists she must understand basic laborist concepts before they can have political conversations.

He then suggests they go to bed together, meaning they will enter a dream realm to argue privately. She agrees, and they move to partitioned beds on either side of the glass divider. He makes the glass opaque with a dial. They exchange insults and banter, and she licks the glass to disgust him. Eventually they fall asleep and enter a shared dream.

In the dream, Qin Zheng takes her to Handan, his birthplace. He reveals he razed the city. A Chrysalis battle erupts around them—a qílín and a Three-Legged Crow clash, and the Yellow Dragon soars overhead. He explains that in his time, the seven nations constantly fought, and the only way to end war is to win decisively. He then shares his traumatic past: his mother was captured and forced to service enemy soldiers, and he was taken as a child to a lab where he was subjected to brutal experiments. He was given the name Qin Zheng and trained by a female mentor, General Mi, who gave him a book on laborism and taught him about class struggle. He eventually killed the old pilot king and seized power.

The empress then shows him her memory of the ocean, where Hunduns glowed around her and seemed to understand her desire not to kill them. She argues that the war is nonsensical and that communication with Hunduns might be possible. Qin Zheng counters that all war is nonsensical; victory gives it meaning. He insists that the sacrifices of past pilots must not be rendered meaningless, and that the truth must die with them. He warns her that if she falters again, he will execute her for treason. The dream ends with Hunduns crushing her in the cockpit of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Key Events

The empress wakes from nightmares and watches Qin Zheng's broadcast announcing gender-neutral conscription and mandatory infantry service.
She returns to Chang'an and enters the newly completed quarantine chamber.
Qin Zheng gives her the Book of Laborism and insists she learn its concepts.
They enter a dream realm together, where Qin Zheng shows her the destruction of Handan and his traumatic childhood as a lab subject.
The empress shows him her ocean encounter with Hunduns, arguing for communication over war.
Qin Zheng rejects her argument, insisting victory is the only meaning, and threatens execution if she falters again.
The dream ends with the empress being crushed by Hunduns.

Character Development

Qin Zheng is revealed in a new light. His disheveled appearance and exhaustion humanize him, but his backstory explains his ruthless ideology. His childhood as a lab subject and his mother's captivity shaped his belief that only decisive victory can end suffering. He is not merely a tyrant; he is a product of trauma who has chosen a path of absolute control. His threat to execute the empress shows his commitment to that path, even at the cost of their personal connection.

The empress grows more conflicted. She begins to question the war's foundation after her ocean encounter, and she is willing to risk Qin Zheng's wrath to share that truth. Her refusal to accept his framing of the war as necessary shows her growing independence and moral courage. She also demonstrates vulnerability, both in her nightmares and in her reaction to Qin Zheng's past.

Qieluo and Wan'er react to the conscription announcement with surprise and doubt. Wan'er, who usually supports Qin Zheng's policies, frowns at the forced service, hinting at a potential shift in loyalty. Yizhi appears briefly, and the empress feels discomfort when he interrupts their private moment, suggesting a growing awareness of the power dynamics around her.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Nonsensical war: The empress directly calls the war nonsensical, arguing that the gods manipulate both sides for their benefit. Qin Zheng agrees but insists that victory gives meaning to the sacrifice. This theme questions the purpose of conflict and the cost of blind obedience.

Truth vs. victory: Qin Zheng explicitly states that victory is what gives war meaning, not truth. He demands that the truth about the gods' manipulation die with them, prioritizing the dream of freedom over factual reality. This conflict drives the chapter's ideological clash.

Class struggle: The Book of Laborism and General Mi's teachings emphasize that class, not state borders, divides people. Qin Zheng's revolution is framed as a class war, but his methods—forced conscription—contradict the voluntary spirit of that ideology.

Dream realm as memory sharing: The dream realm allows both characters to share traumatic memories, creating a space for vulnerability and manipulation. It symbolizes the intimacy and danger of their relationship.

Sacrifice of predecessors: Qin Zheng invokes the ghosts of past pilots to pressure the empress into continuing the war. Their sacrifice becomes a moral weight that she must carry, even if the war is based on a lie.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is pivotal because it reveals Qin Zheng's backstory and the source of his ideology, making him a more complex antagonist. It also establishes the central ideological conflict of the novel: whether the war's meaning comes from victory or from truth. The empress's attempt to communicate with Hunduns introduces a possible alternative to endless conflict, but Qin Zheng's refusal to consider it sets up a future rupture between them. The threat of execution raises the stakes and foreshadows a potential betrayal or rebellion. Additionally, the conscription policy creates a moral dilemma for the empress and may alienate her from Qin Zheng's regime.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Qin Zheng believe that victory gives war meaning, and how does his past support this view?

Qin Zheng's childhood in Handan, where he witnessed constant warfare and his mother's captivity, convinced him that peace is impossible without decisive victory. His traumatic lab experiences taught him that power is the only way to protect oneself and others. He sees the war against Hunduns as a continuation of that struggle, and he believes that only by winning can the sacrifices of past pilots be honored.

2. How does the empress's ocean encounter challenge Qin Zheng's ideology?

The empress's experience with Hunduns suggests that communication might be possible, which would undermine the necessity of war. She argues that if the gods are manipulating both sides, then fighting only serves their interests. This challenges Qin Zheng's belief that victory is the only goal, because it implies that the war itself might be a lie.

3. What does the dream realm reveal about the relationship between the empress and Qin Zheng?

The dream realm allows them to share intimate memories and vulnerabilities, but it also becomes a space for manipulation and threats. Qin Zheng uses it to show his past and to pressure her, while the empress uses it to show her ocean encounter. The dream ends with violence, symbolizing the fragility of their connection and the ideological gulf between them.