Yang Aijin

Biodata

Background / History

Family Ruin and Forced Labor

Yang Aijin grew up in the Central Capital as the daughter of Great Zhou’s vice minister of personnel. When she and Yang Ailian were ten, their father was framed, the Court of Judicial Review confiscated their family’s property, and their father and brothers were beheaded. Yang Ailian later explains that the second prince had retaliated after their father refused to give the twins to him as concubines 12 13.

The sisters were sent to an army camp, where they washed clothes, cooked, and performed other labor. At fifteen, officials began taking them into the countryside for men to select as wives. Their small, frail appearance made them undesirable to men seeking strong farm workers, while the sisters deliberately disguised their beauty to discourage selection 12.

Remaining unmarried carried a greater danger: Great Zhou’s law required unmarried women to be sent to military camps as prostitutes at sixteen. Aijin says that she and Ailian had resolved to die rather than submit to that fate 12.

Marriage to Zhou Yao

Zhou Yao chose both sisters as wives shortly before their sixteenth birthday. After their marriage, Aijin introduced herself and recounted their family’s destruction. Zhou Yao comforted the twins and promised to avenge their family 12 13.

Their new home offered food, clean water, livestock, and fresh vegetables despite the surrounding drought and famine. Aijin initially found this security so extraordinary that she questioned whether she was dreaming. Zhou Yao prepared red-braised pork and longevity noodles to celebrate both their marriage and the sisters’ approaching birthday 14 15 16.

Zhou Yao also ordered Wuying to bring the women of the Yang family back from the border, or to punish their abusers if they had already died. Meanwhile, the second prince’s interest in the twins persisted: Zhou Yao killed an elderly martial artist who had been watching them on the prince’s behalf 17 21.

Household Life and Literary Work

After more than ten days of nourishing food, Aijin and Ailian regained their health and began making clothing and quilts for the expanding household. With Zhou Yao’s guidance, they learned to use unfamiliar cotton and made padded outfits for themselves and him 28.

The sisters’ explanation that novels were popular in Great Zhou and neighboring countries helped inspire Zhou Yao to write Dream of the Red Chamber. Both became enthusiastic early readers, finishing his first ten chapters and repeatedly asking for the continuation. They subsequently wrote down his dictated chapters, assisting him as the novel gained popularity 29 30 37 44.

Reunion with Qiuye and Qiuyu

When Zhou Yao brought home another pair of twin wives, Aijin recognized them as Qiuye and Qiuyu, childhood acquaintances whom she and Ailian had not seen since the Yang family’s downfall. The four embraced and wept. Fearing that their emotional reunion had offended Zhou Yao, Aijin offered to accept punishment in the others’ place; he assured them that no punishment was intended 48.

Aijin later revealed that she and Ailian had originally been betrothed to a son of former Prince Zhou Shun, though she did not know which son. Qiuye and Qiuyu had the same arrangement. Knowing his own parentage, Zhou Yao privately suspected that all four had originally been intended to marry him 19 50.

Appearance

• Beautiful features: Zhou Yao immediately recognizes the twins as exceptional beauties despite their dirty faces and unpleasant smell 8.
• Petite build: Aijin and Ailian are described as slender, small, and initially frail-looking 12 47.
• Improved health: After receiving regular nourishment in Zhou Yao’s home, both develop healthier complexions and appear to gain some weight 28.

Personality

Aijin is the more deliberate and observant twin. Years of hardship have taught her to read people’s expressions, and she recognizes that Zhou Yao’s bearing does not resemble that of an ordinary country villager. She also hesitates when asked who framed her father, leaving Ailian to explain the second prince’s involvement 12 13.

She is protective of those close to her: she embraces Ailian as they grieve their family and later volunteers to bear any punishment following their reunion with Qiuye and Qiuyu. Her gratitude toward Zhou Yao centers on the safety, affection, and freedom from hunger that their marriage provides 13 48.

Aijin has loved novels since childhood. She becomes absorbed in Dream of the Red Chamber, discusses its characters with Ailian, and eagerly presses Zhou Yao for more. The sisters had previously considered writing a novel themselves but did not know how to begin 29 30 31.

Abilities & Skills

Needlework

• Skilled at sewing through years of practice 28.
• Makes clothing and quilts for the household 28.
• Learns to work with cotton after Zhou Yao explains its use 28.

Literacy and Transcription

• Reads and discusses the first ten chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber 30.
• Writes down later chapters from Zhou Yao’s dictation alongside Ailian 37 44.

Domestic Work

• Experienced in washing, cooking, and cleaning through military-camp labor 12 36.
• Helps care for the household chickens and prepares meals, including stewed chicken, rice, and vegetables 36 37.
• Initially does not know how to prepare Zhou Yao’s red-braised pork or longevity noodles 16.

Relationships

• Zhou Yao — Husband and protector; promises to avenge her family and supports her literary interests 13 30 37.
• Yang Ailian — Younger twin sister and closest companion; shares her exile, marriage, household duties, and transcription work 12 28 37.
• Father — Former vice minister of personnel; executed after refusing the second prince’s demand for the twins 12 13.
• Qiuye and Qiuyu — Childhood friends affectionately addressed as younger sisters; later become her fellow wives in Zhou Yao’s household 48 50.
• Second Prince Zhou Xian — Persecutor whose pursuit of the twins led to the Yang family’s destruction 12 13 21.

Trivia

• Zhou Yao interprets the “Jin” in Aijin’s name as symbolizing beauty, wonderful things, and nobility; he suggests that this may have reflected her father’s intentions 12.