History Series / NirvanaInFire

* {{Wuxia}}

* BelligerentSexualTension: Lots of it between Prince Yu and Banruo.

* DestroyTheEvidence: [[spoiler: Marquis Xie used the martial arts skills of the Zhao family]] to get rid of incriminating evidence and people.

* DoubleInLawMarriage: A really strange example in that Jingrui belongs to both the Xies and the Zhaos so they are in a sense in-laws through him. Then his little sister (from the Xies) and his older brother (from the Zhaos) get married so they are double in laws. Jingrui laughingly notes that when his sister has her baby he'll be both a paternal and maternal uncle.

* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: Jingrui has two surnames. His mother gave birth on the same night as her friend at the temple they were staying at. That same night they were attacked and the two baby boys were mixed up in the darkness and confusion, making it impossible to tell which baby belonged to which mother. When one of the babies died after a few days, things became even more complicated. With no way to decide which family the baby belonged to, the emperor declared that he should belong to both of them and be given both their surnames. [[spoiler: However the real switcheroo is that Jingrui's real mother Princess Liyang was pregnant with her lover's baby and then was forced to marry Marquis Xie. She realized her husband was trying to kill her illegitimate son but had actually killed her friend's baby by accident. She perpetuated the confusion with the Zhao family in order to protect Jingrui from the Marquis. Jingrui finds out his true parentage at his birthday party, see Family Disunion.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The book Mei Changsu keeps reading and writing in that showed up episode 1. [[spoiler: It's actually a travelogue about the people, customs and lands of the Hua Tribe - Consort Xiang (who is Princess Linglong) and "Records of the Land of Xiang", and the key to Consort Jing figuring out that Mei Changsu is actually Lin Shu]].

* ChekhovsGun: The book Mei Changsu keeps reading and writing in that showed up episode 1. [[spoiler: It's actually a travelogue about the people, customs and lands of the Hua Tribe -> Consort <b>Xiang</b> (who is Princess Linglong) and "Records of the Land of <b>Xiang</b>", and the key to Consort Jing figuring out that Mei Changsu is actually Lin Shu]].
** The letter Xie Yu writes [[spoiler: is actually a confession of the entire process by which the Chiyan army and Prince Qi were framed which is later used as the spring board on which to re-launch the investigate into the old case.]]

* ChekhovsGun: The book Mei Changsu keeps reading and writing in that showed up episode 1. [[spoiler: It's actually a travelogue about the people, customs and lands of the Hua Tribe and the key to Consort Jing figuring out that Mei Changsu is actually Lin Shu]].

* EveryoneIsRelated: As with most aristocracies, most of the main characters are related somehow. The Grand Empress, the current emperor's grandmother, is pretty much the great grandmother to everyone in Lin Shu's generation.

* ChekhovsGunman: You know that "beast" Jingyan's soldiers have been trying to catch since the early episodes? It's almost the end of the series and they finally caught it! [[spoiler:Turns out it's actually one of the few survivors of the Chiyan Army Nie Feng, who helps reveal how Lin Shu himself survived and the nature of his illness.]] And that book Mei Changsu keeps reading and writing in that we saw in episode 1? [[spoiler: It's actually a travelogue about the people, customs and lands of the Hua Tribe and the key to Consort Jing figuring out that Mei Changsu is actually Lin Shu]]. And that letter Xie Yu writes [[spoiler: is actually a confession of the entire process by which the Chiyan army and Prince Qi were framed which is later used as the spring board on which to re-launch the investigate into the old case.]]

* BlatantLies: When Lin Shu tells Nihuang [[spoiler: he has 10 years left to live.]]
* CapturedOnPurpose: Lin Shu walks right into the Xuanjing Bureau and Xia Jiang's hands

* ChekhovsGunman: You know that "beast" Jingyan's soldiers have been trying to catch since the early episodes? It's almost the end of the series and they finally caught it! [[spoiler:Turns out it's actually one of the few survivors of the Chiyan Army Nie Feng, who helps reveal how Lin Shu himself survived and the nature of his illness.]]

* HoneyTrap: Banruo's sister disciple is set up as this to get information out of Lin Shu's messenger Tong Lu.

* TheChessmaster: Mei Changsu, do I need to say more? And Consort Jing who maybe even more of a Chessmaster than Mei Changsu. [[spoiler: She tampers with the Emperor's medicine to induce insomnia, restlessness and hallucinations, which all contributed to him having nightmares which she then convinced the Emperor is caused by restless ghosts and can only be resolved by setting up a memorial plaque.]]

* CapturedOnPurpose: Lin Shu walks right into the Investigation Bureau and Xia Jiang's hands

* DirtyCop: The Investigation Bureau is supposed to be completely neutral in party politics and loyal only to the emporer, but Xia Jiang uses the faction disputes to protect his own personal power.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: The ultimate reason why Prince Qi was framed and the emperor threw him under the bus. He was just too good and had too many loyal followers, making him a threat to the throne and the powerful Investigation Bureau.

** [[spoiler: The best example is when Lin Shu tricks Xia Jiang into leading our protagonists straight to Weng Zhi's secret location by manipulating him to infer that they have already discovered his location themselves.]]

* HonorBeforeReason: Jingyan's default setting. Lin Shu tries his best to make him behave more strategically, but [[spoiler:has to give in when Jingyan refuses to leave Weng Zhi in prison to be executed, even though breaking him out is an extremely dangerous move that will potentially waste all of Jingyan's political gains so far.]]

* MotiveEqualsConclusiveEvidence: Jingyan is the only person with a vested interest in rescuing the traitor Weng Zhi and our heroes know he will be instantly (and correctly) blamed for it. [[spoiler:Lin Shu has to carefully set things up so that the emperor thinks that this obvious connection is being used by Xia Jiang to frame Jingyan for the break out.]]

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: When Jingyan insists on breaking the falsely accused Weng Zhi out of prison.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Marquis Xie]] is obviously an evil nutcase, but has just as obviously developed some kind of twisted but genuine love for his family, as seen in his and his wife's moving and passionate discussion after [[spoiler:the fallout of Jingrui's birthday party]]. [[CompleteMonster He just won't let a little thing like love get in the way of his ambitions]].

** [[The emperor has Consort Jing set up a secret shrine to the dead Consort Chen, who committed suicide after her son Prince Qi's execution, in order to appease her restless spirit and stop his bad dreams.]]
** [[When Lin Shu is finally able to perform the proper funeral rites for his dead father it's a very emotional moment.]]

* DoubleInLawMarriage: A really strange example in that Jingrui belongs to both the Xies and the Zhaos so they are in a sense in-laws through him. Then his little sister (from the Xies) and his older brother (from the Zhaos) get married so they are double in laws. Jingrui laughingly notes when his sister has her baby he'll be both a paternal and maternal uncle.

* DestroyTheEvidence

** [[spoiler: The best example is when Lin Shu tricks Xia Jiang into leading our protagonists straight to Weng Zhi's location by manipulating him to infer that they have already discovered his location themselves.]]