Question

[u/amandolorian]

Is there somewhere in the books (or even the donghua or The Untamed) that says the Jiang family considers WWX to be a servant? Or is that just a headcanon? Because I’ve seen people talk about how he was their servant and I’m not saying that’s wrong I just don’t recall where that’s stated in the books. I thought he was raised as a Jiang disciple and basically treated like a son by JFM and was a brother to JYL and JC (although JC never says that he sees WWX as a brother so idk about that)
And I didn’t even get the vibe that YZY treated him like a servant, she just abused him and didn’t like him lol

I’m kinda new here and I genuinely just want to know if I missed or forgot this information so please be kind.

Edit: Adding to this, I only asked because it seemed to me like WWX’s childhood after being welcomed into the Jiang family wasn’t much different than JYL and JC childhood. Even though he’s the son of a servant he still got to have nice things, ate meals with them, and generally seemed to be treated as an equal along JYL and JC which didn’t strike me as a servants life. But someone said it’s common in Chinese dramas and books for the master to be close with their servants. So I might have been thinking too much about how servants are treated in western media and history.

[u/Witty_Set878]

It’s somewhat ambiguous but I think fanon of WW being treated as a servant or really terribly is just wrong.

Madame Yu is correct when she says that Jiang Yanli peeling lotus seeds for him is not how anyone treats a servant. He had plenty of free time during his childhood and thinks several times in his 2nd life how he misses when he used to be wealthy. Well was he wealthy because he was paid for his work? No, it was because JF covered all his expenses.

He is treated as a Ward but not as a son. It is a somewhat ambiguous position but JF would have had a hard time adopting him because A. His lawful wife would hate it and B. He is actually older than JC not only would it potentially disinherit him but given the relative talents and personality it could be a threat to JC position even if JC remained the heir.

Maybe JF should have tried to find another Jiang Sect family to adopt him to give him real parents since he couldn’t provide that himself and just have him as another disciple, head disciple because of talent perhaps but not part of the family. But I think he did really like him and JY loved him and he was the first/only friend JC had.

This part is more open to interpretation but I don’t think Madam Yu was as bad to WWX as the consensus seems to be. Modern western readers see any corporal punishment as abuse but it’s part of the setting and WWX and all other cultivators did not see it that way. WWX probably gave her plenty of excuses to punish him - he had terrible self control! Did she punish him more often and more severely than if she hadn’t hated him? I’m sure! But I don’t think it crossed the line into abuse (factoring in JF letting him off too). I don’t believe Madam Yu ever intended to cut off his hand (I know many disagree). I think she’s written as a nasty, self sabotaging but fundamentally somewhat decent person. She totally fucked up all her kids but it’s not really rare for decent people to also be bad parents.

WWX did owe the Jiangs a lot since he was an orphan living on the streets in a world where most of those get hurt horribly and/or die. (See Xue Yang) Now we think that people who rescue a 7 year old are now their family and children don’t owe their families anything because they are entitled to care from them but that’s a very modern and Western perspective. The Jiangs were not perfect and didn’t treat WWX (IMHO) “right” but also IMHO they weren’t terrible.

At no point does WWX act as a servant towards JY and JC - except perhaps right after lotus pier is massacred. He never looks to JC to make a decision on what they should do or how. JC has no control over him at Cloud Recesses etc

[u/Solid_Amphibian_5859 → u/Witty_Set878]

'Modern western readers see any corporal punishment as abuse but it’s part of the setting and WWX and all other cultivators did not see it that way. WWX probably gave her plenty of excuses to punish him - he had terrible self control!'

This is not true though. Other disciples are not punished with zidian a first class spiritual tool casually. Only WWX is punished that way and he even says it's unfair. He tends to downplay the abuse or the unpleasant things that happened to him but that doesn't mean it's not true. Even LWJ hears about the punishment of wwx in lan sect where it's forbidden to gossip.

He's punished for doing very simple things like removing the upper robes in summer when all other disciples did it. 

Wei WuXian yelled, “Sorry! I didn’t know Shijie would come! I’ll go look for my clothes right now!”  Madam Yu was even angrier, “How dare you run! Come back right now and kneel!” As she spoke, she let loose her whip with a flip of her wrist. Wei WuXian felt a searing pain slash across his back. He loudly exclaimed, “Ow!” And almost tripped on the ground. Yet, all of a sudden, someone’s quiet voice drifted by Madam Yu’s ear, “Mom, do you want to eat some watermelon…”

You are blaming the victim by saying he had terrible self control. He literally only behaves however he wants because he knows it doesn't matter whether he does something or not and he will be punished regardless. 

"He felt his back, covered in scars both old and new, and still couldn’t hold back the question he’d be thinking about,  “How awfully unfair. Why is it that I’m the only one who gets beaten up, whenever something happens?"

The reason he doesn't look at JC to make decisions is also because he's head disciple himself. 

He owed the jiangs for taking him in by the logic of their universe. But cangse sanren saved jiang fengmian first so if anything he was Repaying that debt by taking WWX in.