First Concubine

Biodata

Background

Jinxiu was born to a concubine and a minor official who served as a registrar at the Court of Imperial Banquets. Her mother, formerly an embroideress, lived under Jinxiu’s strict legal mother 2 14.

Jinxiu loved her legal mother’s nephew, but both families opposed their marriage. After failing an examination, her cousin joined the army and left for the southwest. Jinxiu entered the Marquis’s Residence willingly, hoping to improve her mother’s life and avoid another marriage. She also hoped her cousin might someday return and persuade Xu Weibei to release her, although he had made her no promise 14 15.

Her ancestral home was in Jiangnan, and she rarely ate wheat-based foods 55.

Appearance

Jinxiu is described as a delicate beauty with dark hair, a slender waist, and a full figure. Farm work left her complexion sun-darkened, contrasting with the fair skin of her neck 1 14.

Personality

Jinxiu is quiet, reserved, and cautious. She is also gentle and attentive: she regularly looked after Fourth Concubine, helping her when she got into trouble and making food and clothes for her 2 8 39.

Her devotion to her cousin sustained her through life in the residence, but his marriage to another woman left her feeling that she had no future. Gu Wanning regarded her as thoughtful and steady, while worrying about her self-sacrificing attachment 36 38.

After her illness, Jinxiu became deeply anxious about the events she had seen in a dream. She feared harming Qin Lie and worried about Jiaoniang’s future, but remained determined to protect those she cared for 65 66 177 222.

Skills

Embroidery and needlework

Jinxiu learned needlework from her mother and earned money by selling her work 15.

• Her work includes double-sided embroidery; one table screen sold for sixty taels, with smaller pieces fetching more than twenty taels altogether 15 25.
• She sewed clothes for Fourth Concubine and offered Gu Wanning an embroidered handkerchief 15 39.
• She said a small double-sided embroidered fan took her about three days to make and sold for ten taels 108.
• She stayed up late altering children’s garments for disaster victims 155.

Story Role

Life in the Marquis’s Residence

Before Gu Wanning’s transmigration, Jinxiu and the other concubines were subject to strict household rules and demanding farm labor. After Xu Weibei returned, Jinxiu denied sending him a complaint about Gu Wanning, saying she had sent him only clothes. Later, she requested an audience with him, but he refused to see her 1 2 8.

Jinxiu helped Gu Wanning plant corn, then admitted that she did not want to serve Xu Weibei because she loved her cousin. She offered Gu Wanning a hundred-tael banknote inside an embroidered handkerchief; Gu Wanning returned it and said Jinxiu could explain any reason she could not attend the marquis herself 14 15.

Heartbreak and recovery

Jinxiu secretly sent embroidery earnings to her cousin’s mother, hoping to win her approval. When she visited the family after Gu Wanning allowed the concubines to go out, she discovered that her cousin had returned and was marrying someone else 38.

After standing in the rain, Jinxiu developed a fever and lost her will to live, refusing medicine, food, and water. Gu Wanning urged her to live for herself, while Fourth Concubine stayed at her side. Jinxiu briefly began eating again but then fell into an unresponsive sleep 37 38 39 40.

An imperial physician could not explain her condition, so Gu Wanning hired a spirit medium. Jinxiu woke during the ritual, coinciding with Xu Weibei’s flourishes with a peachwood sword. She recovered physically but remained subdued afterward 40 41.

After her illness

Xu Weibei told Gu Wanning that Jinxiu could be given a dowry and released if she wished to marry. Jinxiu later asked whether Gu Wanning still intended to leave the residence and said she would go with her. She attended the Grand Princess’s flower-viewing banquet with Gu Wanning and the other concubines, though her heartbreak continued to weigh on her 39 45 50.

After her illness, Jinxiu began worshipping a bodhisattva daily. When Gu Wanning asked who would care for Xu Weibei’s young daughter, Jinxiu volunteered eagerly and promised to treat the child as her own. Her determination to remain in the residence and raise the girl puzzled the others 54.

Qin Lie and the dream

While Jinxiu waited to ask Xu Weibei about the child, he told her he intended to give her to General Qin Lie. She initially misunderstood and thanked him, but begged to stay when he clarified his decision. Xu Weibei kicked her away when she clung to his leg, and she fled to Gu Wanning for help 60 61.

Jinxiu proposed that Qin Lie might withdraw if he learned she refused to marry him. She then told Gu Wanning about vivid dreams she had experienced during her illness, including a life in which Xu Weibei died, the Marquis’s Residence and Gu family fell into ruin, and she married Qin Lie. In that dream, she treated Qin Lie coldly, only learning after his death that he had made arrangements for her. She feared that marrying him again would lead to his death, though she recognized him as a good man. Gu Wanning believed her and asked her to share what she remembered 64 65 66.

Jinxiu later recognized Lü Fuyi, a woman she remembered from the dream. There, Lü Fuyi had helped her visit Qin Lie’s grave and sent her gifts; Jinxiu regretted the possibility that Qin Lie might have lived had he married Lü Fuyi instead 76.

When impostors posing as Imperial Guards abducted Gu Wanning, Jinxiu sought Qin Lie’s help and rode with him in pursuit. She reunited with Gu Wanning after the attackers were subdued 113 114 120.

Jiaoniang and later life

Although Gu Wanning initially agreed to take responsibility for Jiaoniang, Jinxiu prepared bedding and small gifts for the girl and became closely involved in caring for her. She came to regard Jiaoniang in a motherly way, worrying about her eventual marriage and dowry 71 72 77 177.

Jinxiu helped distribute congee and clothes to disaster victims. When Qin Lie intervened in a riot at another congee stall, she worried about his injuries and attended to him afterward 155.

Qin Lie continued to pursue her. Seeing his bandaged arm reminded Jinxiu of his death from an untreated injury in her dream, and she offered to marry him if he resigned. She said she could support them with her embroidery, but Gu Wanning encouraged her not to begin their life together as a sacrifice or try to bear all her fears alone 220 222 223.

Gu Wanning later sent Jinxiu a wedding dress for her planned marriage. By a subsequent visit, Jinxiu had married Qin Lie and was pregnant; Qin Lie had asked Hua Ying whether the pregnancy could be ended 255 307.

Relationships

• Gu Wanning — The marquis’s principal wife. She returned Jinxiu’s money, sought help during her illness, and encouraged her to find reasons to live. Jinxiu later said she would accompany Gu Wanning if she left the residence, confided her dream to her, and sought Qin Lie’s help when she was abducted 15 37 38 40 45 65 113.
• Xu Weibei — The marquis whose first concubine Jinxiu became. She did not want to serve him and found his imposing presence frightening; he later said she could leave with a dowry if she wished to marry. His attempt to give her to Qin Lie against her wishes distressed her 14 38 39 60 61.
• Zhou Yaya (Fourth Concubine) — Jinxiu’s closest companion among the concubines, who regarded her as both an elder sister and a motherly figure. Yaya offered to take Jinxiu’s place with Xu Weibei and cared for her during her illness 7 16 39.
• Qin Lie — A general who pursued Jinxiu and later became her husband. Memories of their marriage and his death in her dream initially made her reluctant to marry him; her concern for his safety remained strong as their relationship developed 65 66 155 222 307.
• Jiaoniang — Xu Weibei’s daughter, whom Jinxiu eagerly volunteered to raise. Jinxiu cared for her as a mother would, and Jiaoniang defended her when she thought Qin Lie was bullying her 54 177 222.
• Lü Fuyi — A woman connected to Qin Lie whom Jinxiu remembered as kind from her dream. In that dream, Lü Fuyi helped her visit Qin Lie’s grave after his death 76.
• Her cousin — Her legal mother’s nephew and the man she loved. Jinxiu hoped to marry him, but he returned from the army and married another woman 15 38.
• Her mother — A former embroideress who taught Jinxiu needlework. Jinxiu entered the residence partly to improve her life, but her mother later refused Jinxiu’s attempt to help her live independently 14 15 38.
• Zisu — Jinxiu’s personal maid, who was distressed by her illness and fetched Third Concubine to examine her 37.

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