MAJOR SPOILERS. This review is only for people who have already read it and want to know more about how this story ties into the first book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
Here we come to the second book of the series.
It all starts with Rendi, son of Nobody and his wife Nothing. Wait no that's Mara.
So Rendi arrives at the Village of Clear Sky (not to get mixed up with the Village of the Moon Rain), and all we know about him is that he's running away (like Minli!) and that he's wealthy (not like Minli: not used to chores, pg 21. And pg 20, scoffs the "best room in the inn" bc it's not even as good as his father's servants' rooms). But as he stays longer and longer and learns more and more, he starts sounding awfully familiar . . .
Take, for example, on pg 73-75, he gets very angry at the well and only stops when he sees how much he looks like his father. Sound familiar? Then, keep going a few pages forward and on pg 78 Rendi tells a story about Magistrate Tiger . . . from the point of view of the son. After that, on pg 96, Madame Chang tells a story about the WangYi's wife swallowing a pill story and how she turns into a toad and jumps to the moon. That will come into it later. A few pages after, Rendi is going to the well again when he runs into Mr. Shan, looking into the well. Mr. Shan breaks the partition of the well's wall and tells Rendi not to jump in . . . and Rendi thinks it's funny but Mr. Shan looks at him and Rendi becomes serious. So Mr. Shan leaves and Rendi looks at the well (pg 107) and he suddenly has a vision of someone, something - a dark green blur - leaping into the gaping hole of the well, angry roars echoing upward.
┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉
— p 107 —
Suddenly, he had a vision of someone, something - a dark green blur -
leaping into the gaping hole of the well, angry roars echoing upward.
Rendi shivered.
┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉
Does that sound familiar? Well it should, because in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Da-A-Fu trick the Magistrate Tiger (MT) into jumping in the well after his "son" (the reflection). Mr. Shan is warning Rendi not to become (just going to say it for you) his father, MT. Because Rendi is the one who's going to kick his father out of the City of Bright Moonlight (C of BM).
Then turn the page at 108 and Rendi is in his room, gathering his stuff so he can head out, and the last item is a smooth, blue-and-white rice bowl. Coincidence? I think not.
The second story he tells, on pg 110, is also about MT bc it's always smart to tell stories about something you have first-hand experience with, right? So he tells a story where MT steals the answers to three riddles from his children - except they don't know the third, so he only gets two prizes: one is a blue and white rice bowl. It is an amazing prize because the first emperors ate from it. So why did Minli have it? Because the emperor gave it to her parents when she was born. Well, the second prize is an enormous gang, which is really a tub, it's so huge - a whole person could fit in it < remember that when you read the third book in the series ;)
So he finishes his story and Peiyi says too bad the third question about the snails is unanswered - because it's what happened to her family. They go fix the dispute and Rendi asks Peiyi about Mr. Shan. Remember how Rendi got mad at the well? Well, he tried to break it apart but couldn't. Later, Rendi and Mr. Shan are there and he breaks it with his hands (Mr. Shan, not Rendi). How is he so strong? That will come into it later. So they're talking about Mr. Shan (pg 131), and Peiyi says he came back for the first time without his book and now he's acting lost. Why? Because the book is the same one the sage and the mountain had on pg 64 - it's the Book of Fortune; and Mr. Shan is the Old Man of the Moon . . . maybe the same moon that got moved from the Village of Clear Sky!
On pg 132, Peiyi points out to Rendi this was the first time he's shown concern for someone else and Rendi smiles. This is kind of the turning point of the story where Rendi starts to change, becoming less like his father and more like a human being 🙌 Then along comes pg 137 - new guests have arrived and Rendi is startled by one of them having a tiger's paw on his belt. Then the man makes a joke about being one of Duke Zhe's men . . . ohhh dearrrr. Duke Zhe is a real person . . . and he's here for Rendi. He's looking for him, but has no idea what he's looking for because he's never seen Rendi. pg 144, Peiyi makes a connection and Rendi, it says, feels as if an iron shirt were being tightened around him bc he so doesn't want to go back. But then Madame Chang offers to
tell a story, saving Rendi (he didn't know how to react to that and the
men noticed how panicked he seemed until she averted their attention).
This is one of my favorites in the book bc everything begins to make
sense after everything seems confusing. So there's a dirty white (not
green!) tiger who terrorizes a village. They give him a baby rabbit and
long story short, as he takes care of it, he starts turning into a man
and helping villagers in distress. So they go to the sage in the mtn,
the Old Man of the Moon (ig that was before Tiwan), asking him about the
half-man-half-tiger, and he answers the questions and turns to leave,
muttering (can you guess?) - "I believe I will have to start
limiting these questions. I think next century I will start answering
only once a decade, or maybe once every ninety-nine years..."
(little hint there that this was long before Minli). Then the villagers
go back and one day the potter is making a bowl when his daughter comes
into the village holding a jade-white rabbit in one hand and the hand
of a young man in the other. He wants to marry her and promises to help
and protect the village as well, so the potter consents but asks about
the scar on the man's forehead and he says he's always had it . . . the symbol of power . . . the Wang
symbol! WangYi used to 1) have a pet rabbit and 2) be a white
tiger! And then he married the potter's daughter and went on to save the
village from six suns and become emperor! The potter paints the white
bowl with a rabbit on it...so apparently he
made the blue-and-white rice bowl and gave it to WangYi and his
daughter, and WangYi became emperor which is why Duke Zhe tells MT that
the first emperors ate out of it...because they did.
Later, Rendi talks to Mr Shan who says he'd lost it and had forgotten until "she" reminded him - the she is Madame Chang who reminds him about his Book of Fortunes! Then, on p161 Rendi asks why she was talking about the moon and he says the moon is a symbol of harmony and peace! Sound familiar at all? Because that's what Tiwan searches for by staying in the tree for 99 days. And when Rendi asks Madame Chang if Tiwan finds the secret on p93, she says "What do you think?" So...what do you think? Back on p161, Mr Shan tells Rendi you can't have a home w/o peace. This is particularly interesting because WangYi, remember, loses his wife and his pill because he is constantly yelling and acting like a tiger. Just like the MT loses his son bc his son runs away from all the yelling and anger of someone who acts like a tiger - all bc there's no peace. Just like there was no peace between Master Chao and Widow Yan - so Jiming ran away and Master Chao lost his son...because there was no peace so there was no home. Mr Shan is very wise when you know, roughly, what he's talking about. So Rendi leaves Mr Shan but before he does, he sees the room behind Mr Shan and notices a blue cloth bag...and that's all. What is he doing with just a bag? That is the same bag the OMOTM (aka Mr Shan) uses to store ribbons his gdaughter makes! His gdaughter...or maybe Madame Chang?
Then, p179, after Rendi's been kidnapped by traders who suspect his identity, he realizes they are going to rob Duke Zhe after they drugged his wine and Rendi is worried bc he knows they'll think he did it since he poured the wine. And then Rendi wants to stay, wants to clear his name and make sure they don't think badly of him. This is more evidence of how he changes from being a spoiled replica of his father to a muscular, hardworking, caring young man who sees what other people don't and hears what other people don't hear: that the sky is missing a moon and it cries at night. On p184, after they save him, he realizes and he's so grateful for the people who pulled together to help a rude, unfriendly boy...and even more surprising, he asks if the toad is ok! He has concern for a toad he almost killed a few chapters ago (purposefully). Rendi definitely changes in this book.
p187 he's angry bc they're going to amputate the toad's squashed leg, and Madame Chang says, "Sometimes the best decision is a painful one, but it is never one made out of anger." In WTMMTM, the Mt's son (Rendi) makes the painful but wise decision to throw the MT out of C of BM - not out of anger, though. It says he's sad but needs to bc the MT is ruining the city. Rendi remembers Madame Chang's words - and acts on them. Back on p201, Rendi talks to Duke Zhe and called the Magistrate by his nickname, MT. Duke Zhe corrects him and says his name is Magistrate...Wang. Like WangYi - the last name has been passed down.
p204 he tells another story about the MT and how he, Rendi, fell into the gang and his sister took an inkstone (!) and broke the gang so he wouldn't drown but the MT gets mad that it's broken so Rendi takes the bowl and leaves. What happens to the gang? You don't find out until the third book but it comes into it, so apparently the MT has it put back together. Since she only cracked it and let the water pressure do the rest, it broke into several large pieces so it's not crazy to assume it was good as new aside from the 3 or 4 cracks in it. This the MT has in C of BM until Rendi kicks him out - leaving the gang behind.
p212 Rendi changes even more. He's ashamed that all the time he's been hearing these wails, he's only thought of himself and how hard it is for him to hear. So he gets up and decides to help whoever is moaning. Rendi has changed sm since he arrived at this middle-of-nowhere village.
p216 he's finally come to the place that moans all night - it's the same cave where the White Tiger was! That's the cave that the White Tiger lived in until the village gave him the rabbit to take care of, transforming him into WangYi and living with them - until he lands on the sun after his wife lands on the moon (as a toad - which is probably why Madame Chang cares for the toad). LATER, the cave is inhabited by the Green Tiger who is MT's angry spirit, haunting the Village of the Moon Rain, asking for a sacrifice, but instead being outsmarted by A-Fu into jumping in a well after his reflection.
But before any of that can happen, Rendi comes to the cave in the hill and wonders, where's the mountain? The answer is, the mountain that the sage (OMOTM) lived on is gone now...which is why Mr Shan says he doesn't have a home and hasn't for a long time - bc Mr Shan's mtn got moved by Peiyi's ancestor (p14) or, the Mtn Spirit. And on p223-228, everything fits into place and the last puzzle piece slowly settles in...or so you think.
p238 explains where the book is and w the book AND the mtn gone, Mr Shan is even more lost. p237 might explain the moon, definitely explains the moans. p243, Mr Shan/the sage/the OMOTM holds up the bridge, again showing his incredible strength, and finds his book at last. And on p248...the secret to peace is forgiveness. Mr Shan asked WangYi if he truly forgave his wife - once he truly does, he lives on the sun and gets to see his wife, no more yelling. Master Chao and Widow Yan forgive each other and Jiming comes back and marries Mei Lan. If Rendi can forgive his father, there will be peace in the land...and sure enough, that is exactly what happens. p262...Mr Shan is also the Spirit of the Mtn.
p265 - Rendi's stories were about him...were Madame Chang's about her? he asks.
The answer, though she doesn't give it to him, is yes.
She is WangYi's wife, the immortal bc of the pill. The Moon Lady, forced to stay near her home, the mtn (swallowed by Jiming, so she can't live in it), and to be a person while she waits to go back home. That's why she tells Peiyi she will always be there - bc w a moon in the sky, she'll visit every night.
Then things get even clearer and more exciting: on p274 Rendi is going to find Madame Chang and ask Mr Shan where/why she's gone if she has - but instead of finding Mr Shan guarding the moon like he was supposed to, instead Rendi finds the spot empty . . . With two copper coins in place of the moon! These are the two copper coins that Minli has. p277, when everything comes crashing together for Rendi, I think that might be my favorite part but I have no idea bc I love all the bk.
But p277 when he thinks of Madame Chang saying only a mtn could hold up a moon, well Mr Shan held up a bridge, that was holding up the moon . . .
Mr Shan. The sage . . . the Spirit of the Mountain . . . the Old Man of the Moon. And Rendi finally knows it.
p286 is an other favorite. Here's where it all finally wraps up. Rendi gives Peiyi the blue-and-white bowl that Wang ate out of and he also gives her the two copper coins from the OMOTM. Peiyi says she can't take it so he says give it to Mei Lan and Jiming then and they can give it to their children and then grandchildren, etc. So she gives it to them as a thank-you/wedding gift and they in turn give it to their first child, Minli. Then when Minli grows up, she encounters the king of the City of the Far Remote/City of Bright Moonlight where Rendi now rules (and if you've read the third book, after he gives them the farming equipment, he gives her the gang that the MT left behind when he was kicked out).
So that's where the story ends - but not the series (thankfully). The third book makes everything even more clear, so stay tuned for that review.
Later, Rendi talks to Mr Shan who says he'd lost it and had forgotten until "she" reminded him - the she is Madame Chang who reminds him about his Book of Fortunes! Then, on p161 Rendi asks why she was talking about the moon and he says the moon is a symbol of harmony and peace! Sound familiar at all? Because that's what Tiwan searches for by staying in the tree for 99 days. And when Rendi asks Madame Chang if Tiwan finds the secret on p93, she says "What do you think?" So...what do you think? Back on p161, Mr Shan tells Rendi you can't have a home w/o peace. This is particularly interesting because WangYi, remember, loses his wife and his pill because he is constantly yelling and acting like a tiger. Just like the MT loses his son bc his son runs away from all the yelling and anger of someone who acts like a tiger - all bc there's no peace. Just like there was no peace between Master Chao and Widow Yan - so Jiming ran away and Master Chao lost his son...because there was no peace so there was no home. Mr Shan is very wise when you know, roughly, what he's talking about. So Rendi leaves Mr Shan but before he does, he sees the room behind Mr Shan and notices a blue cloth bag...and that's all. What is he doing with just a bag? That is the same bag the OMOTM (aka Mr Shan) uses to store ribbons his gdaughter makes! His gdaughter...or maybe Madame Chang?
Then, p179, after Rendi's been kidnapped by traders who suspect his identity, he realizes they are going to rob Duke Zhe after they drugged his wine and Rendi is worried bc he knows they'll think he did it since he poured the wine. And then Rendi wants to stay, wants to clear his name and make sure they don't think badly of him. This is more evidence of how he changes from being a spoiled replica of his father to a muscular, hardworking, caring young man who sees what other people don't and hears what other people don't hear: that the sky is missing a moon and it cries at night. On p184, after they save him, he realizes and he's so grateful for the people who pulled together to help a rude, unfriendly boy...and even more surprising, he asks if the toad is ok! He has concern for a toad he almost killed a few chapters ago (purposefully). Rendi definitely changes in this book.
p187 he's angry bc they're going to amputate the toad's squashed leg, and Madame Chang says, "Sometimes the best decision is a painful one, but it is never one made out of anger." In WTMMTM, the Mt's son (Rendi) makes the painful but wise decision to throw the MT out of C of BM - not out of anger, though. It says he's sad but needs to bc the MT is ruining the city. Rendi remembers Madame Chang's words - and acts on them. Back on p201, Rendi talks to Duke Zhe and called the Magistrate by his nickname, MT. Duke Zhe corrects him and says his name is Magistrate...Wang. Like WangYi - the last name has been passed down.
p204 he tells another story about the MT and how he, Rendi, fell into the gang and his sister took an inkstone (!) and broke the gang so he wouldn't drown but the MT gets mad that it's broken so Rendi takes the bowl and leaves. What happens to the gang? You don't find out until the third book but it comes into it, so apparently the MT has it put back together. Since she only cracked it and let the water pressure do the rest, it broke into several large pieces so it's not crazy to assume it was good as new aside from the 3 or 4 cracks in it. This the MT has in C of BM until Rendi kicks him out - leaving the gang behind.
p212 Rendi changes even more. He's ashamed that all the time he's been hearing these wails, he's only thought of himself and how hard it is for him to hear. So he gets up and decides to help whoever is moaning. Rendi has changed sm since he arrived at this middle-of-nowhere village.
p216 he's finally come to the place that moans all night - it's the same cave where the White Tiger was! That's the cave that the White Tiger lived in until the village gave him the rabbit to take care of, transforming him into WangYi and living with them - until he lands on the sun after his wife lands on the moon (as a toad - which is probably why Madame Chang cares for the toad). LATER, the cave is inhabited by the Green Tiger who is MT's angry spirit, haunting the Village of the Moon Rain, asking for a sacrifice, but instead being outsmarted by A-Fu into jumping in a well after his reflection.
But before any of that can happen, Rendi comes to the cave in the hill and wonders, where's the mountain? The answer is, the mountain that the sage (OMOTM) lived on is gone now...which is why Mr Shan says he doesn't have a home and hasn't for a long time - bc Mr Shan's mtn got moved by Peiyi's ancestor (p14) or, the Mtn Spirit. And on p223-228, everything fits into place and the last puzzle piece slowly settles in...or so you think.
p238 explains where the book is and w the book AND the mtn gone, Mr Shan is even more lost. p237 might explain the moon, definitely explains the moans. p243, Mr Shan/the sage/the OMOTM holds up the bridge, again showing his incredible strength, and finds his book at last. And on p248...the secret to peace is forgiveness. Mr Shan asked WangYi if he truly forgave his wife - once he truly does, he lives on the sun and gets to see his wife, no more yelling. Master Chao and Widow Yan forgive each other and Jiming comes back and marries Mei Lan. If Rendi can forgive his father, there will be peace in the land...and sure enough, that is exactly what happens. p262...Mr Shan is also the Spirit of the Mtn.
p265 - Rendi's stories were about him...were Madame Chang's about her? he asks.
The answer, though she doesn't give it to him, is yes.
She is WangYi's wife, the immortal bc of the pill. The Moon Lady, forced to stay near her home, the mtn (swallowed by Jiming, so she can't live in it), and to be a person while she waits to go back home. That's why she tells Peiyi she will always be there - bc w a moon in the sky, she'll visit every night.
Then things get even clearer and more exciting: on p274 Rendi is going to find Madame Chang and ask Mr Shan where/why she's gone if she has - but instead of finding Mr Shan guarding the moon like he was supposed to, instead Rendi finds the spot empty . . . With two copper coins in place of the moon! These are the two copper coins that Minli has. p277, when everything comes crashing together for Rendi, I think that might be my favorite part but I have no idea bc I love all the bk.
But p277 when he thinks of Madame Chang saying only a mtn could hold up a moon, well Mr Shan held up a bridge, that was holding up the moon . . .
Mr Shan. The sage . . . the Spirit of the Mountain . . . the Old Man of the Moon. And Rendi finally knows it.
p286 is an other favorite. Here's where it all finally wraps up. Rendi gives Peiyi the blue-and-white bowl that Wang ate out of and he also gives her the two copper coins from the OMOTM. Peiyi says she can't take it so he says give it to Mei Lan and Jiming then and they can give it to their children and then grandchildren, etc. So she gives it to them as a thank-you/wedding gift and they in turn give it to their first child, Minli. Then when Minli grows up, she encounters the king of the City of the Far Remote/City of Bright Moonlight where Rendi now rules (and if you've read the third book, after he gives them the farming equipment, he gives her the gang that the MT left behind when he was kicked out).
So that's where the story ends - but not the series (thankfully). The third book makes everything even more clear, so stay tuned for that review.
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