Gu Shen

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Gu Shen (顾慎)
Alias(es)	“Southern Righteous Merchant”; Imperial Physician Gu 775 800
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Seventh Prince Xia Ting’s faction; Heavenly Crafts Institute 812 818
Occupation/Role	Wealthy Jiangnan merchant; physician; political strategist; General Director of the Heavenly Crafts Institute 783 800 816
First Appearance	Chapter 771

Background / History

Gu Shen initially operates in the Capital City under the deliberately modest identity of a scholar who failed the imperial examinations twice. Behind this façade, he maintains a detailed network of names, finances, and political vulnerabilities, using information to target the Crown Prince’s faction and Jiangnan official Zhang Jing 771.

As a merchant whose wealth rivals the state treasury, Gu Shen develops a commercial empire in Jiangnan while keeping his public record exceptionally clean. He deliberately feeds Prince Yan’s investigators ambiguous clues and abandoned stashes, encouraging the prince to mistake Gu Shen’s constructed image for evidence of deeper backing 775 777 781.

He approaches Prince Yan Zhao Heng with terms that include a share of salt-and-iron profits, three thousand private soldiers, and an official post. Prince Yan accepts in principle, seeing Gu Shen as a potentially useful blade in the struggle for succession 782. Gu Shen then travels toward the Capital under imperial escort, calmly survives an assassination attempt by Prince Yan’s Gray Wolves, and turns the incident into a fabricated case against Prince Yan through Liu Zhong 783 784.

After drawing the attention of both the Crown Prince and Prince Yan, Gu Shen allows their respective assassins and guards to clash in his courtyard. He incapacitates both sides with a bamboo whistle and releases Youming Ghost Scorpions to surround them, ensuring that all parties understand he is not a controllable pawn 794 795.

Summoned to the palace by Emperor Cheng'an, Gu Shen survives a poisoned tea test and identifies the Emperor’s supposed illness as poisoning. He is appointed Imperial Physician, ordered to develop an antidote for Bone Burning Incense, and confined in the Hall of Questioning the Heart while he investigates the culprit 798 800. His research reveals that the poison is part of the “Heart-Burning Fire” ritual, intended to refine the Emperor into a lotus platform 804.

Later, Gu Shen uses an experimental lightning-based treatment plan to gain access to rare materials, the Ministry of Works, and the Star Gazing Platform. His design for a Lightning Bottle impresses master craftsman Ou Ye despite its unconventional purpose 806 807.

When Second Prince Xia Yuan moves against Divine Machine Workshop chief Zhang Gong, Gu Shen intervenes personally, rescues Zhang Gong, and accepts refuge under the Seventh Prince Xia Ting. In exchange for protection and resources, Gu Shen is tasked with safeguarding Zhang Gong and helping build an organization capable of surpassing the Divine Machine Workshop 810 811 812.

Personality

Gu Shen is calculating, composed, and willing to place himself in danger when the potential return is worthwhile. He treats political conflict as a layered game of perception: rather than forcing others to accept his power, he engineers circumstances that make them draw the conclusions he wants 777 796.

He is particularly adept at exploiting suspicion. He wants the Emperor to suspect that he may be an immortal rather than truly believe it, reasoning that suspicion produces caution while belief would invite exploitation 796. His methods are ruthless when necessary, including framing Prince Yan’s men, coercing Liu Zhong into falsifying evidence, and using poison as misdirection 784 797.

Despite this ruthlessness, Gu Shen shows a protective side toward people placed under his responsibility. He rescues Zhang Gong from Xia Yuan’s agents and defends Zhang Gong’s family against the First Prince’s enforcers 810 816.

Abilities & Skills

Political Strategy and Manipulation

Gu Shen excels at turning rival factions against one another while preserving his own leverage.

• Creates an intentionally “clean” public identity that makes Prince Yan suspect hidden imperial backing 777.
• Uses Prince Yan’s fear of political isolation to secure concessions and cooperation 782.
• Turns an assassination attempt into purported evidence of Prince Yan’s rebellion, offering Liu Zhong a path to imperial favor 783 784.
• Recognizes that a prince seeking to use him as a chess piece can become an ally if offered enough benefit and uncertainty 809 810.

Medicine and Poisons

Gu Shen is a capable physician with specialized knowledge of toxins and antidotes.

• Drinks poisoned tea without visible harm due to a constitution that can “fight poison with poison” 798.
• Diagnoses Emperor Cheng'an’s poisoning as Bone Burning Incense, a water-activated poison concealed by fire 800.
• Identifies Heart-Burning Fire as a sacrificial ritual rather than a conventional poison 804.
• Uses a concealed silver needle and vaporized toxin during the preparation of Qin Ma’s medicine, while distracting Little Fuzi with ordinary salt 797.

Martial Ability

Gu Shen is a trained fighter capable of handling armed opponents directly.

• Kills an assassin during the ambush on his carriage and avoids a strike aimed at his throat 783.
• Defeats the Second Prince’s disguised coachman by disarming him and knocking him unconscious 810.
• Demonstrates enough physical strength to dismantle a sealed wooden box with a flick of his wrist 820.

Youming Ghost Scorpions

Gu Shen commands thousands of venomous Youming Ghost Scorpions through a bamboo whistle.

• The whistle incapacitates elite fighters from both the Crown Prince and Prince Yan’s factions 794 795.
• Its effects include mental disruption and paralysis, leaving targets unable to resist 795.
• The summoned scorpions can encircle and intimidate multiple martial artists at once 794 795.

Insight

Gu Shen possesses an ability called Insight, which reveals otherwise hidden information about individuals.

• Identifies Seventh Prince Xia Ting as chronically poisoned and concealing a motive of revenge 812.
• Displays information such as identity, status, objectives, and undisclosed secrets 812.

Engineering and Innovation

Gu Shen applies unconventional technical knowledge to imperial projects.

• Designs the Lightning Bottle, an intricate apparatus using Outer-Heaven Meteorite and Thousand-Year Cold Marrow 805 806.
• Proposes the Lightning Induction Body as a treatment for the Emperor’s condition 806.
• Gains Ou Ye’s cooperation after presenting detailed blueprints and materials 806.
• Is positioned to develop weapons through the Heavenly Crafts Institute alongside Zhang Gong 812 818.

Equipment / Items

• Bamboo whistle — Used to incapacitate opponents and command Youming Ghost Scorpions 794 795.
• Youming Ghost Scorpions — Venomous scorpion swarm under his control 794 795.
• Short blade — Used during the rescue of Zhang Gong 810.
• Silver needle and colorless toxin — Concealed tool used to poison medicine vapor without detection 797.
• Lightning Bottle blueprint — Detailed design for his lightning-induction apparatus 806.

Relationships

• A Wu — Loyal guard who handles Gu Shen’s arrangements and surveillance orders 782.
• Qin Ma — Trusted elderly attendant who communicates with Gu Shen through gestures and helps maintain his ordinary household façade 796 797.
• Liu Zhong — Imperial Household Department eunuch whom Gu Shen manipulates into fabricating evidence against Prince Yan after the carriage ambush 783 784.
• Prince Yan Zhao Heng — Political partner and eventual target of Gu Shen’s schemes; their relationship is based on mutual utility and distrust 782 785.
• Emperor Cheng'an — Employs Gu Shen as Imperial Physician to cure his poisoning and expose the palace conspirator, while keeping him under guard 800.
• Little Fuzi / Xiao Fuzi — Palace eunuch who becomes Gu Shen’s informant in exchange for protection 800 801.
• Second Prince Xia Yuan — Gu Shen’s former patron and current adversary; Xia Yuan brands him a traitor after Gu Shen rescues Zhang Gong 812.
• Seventh Prince Xia Ting — Political ally who offers Gu Shen protection and resources in return for his expertise and service 812.
• Chief Steward Fu — Xia Ting’s representative and guide during Gu Shen’s entry into the Seventh Prince’s faction 810 812.
• Zhang Gong — Chief of the Divine Machine Workshop whom Gu Shen rescues and protects as a key technical asset 810 813.
• Ou Ye — Ministry of Works master craftsman persuaded by Gu Shen’s Lightning Bottle blueprint 806.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Jiangnan Scheme

Gu Shen compiles evidence against Jiangnan officials, feeds Prince Yan’s suspicions, and uses the prince’s investigation to make himself appear increasingly unfathomable 771 777.

Bargain with Prince Yan

He forces Prince Yan into a calculated agreement, then travels to the Capital under imperial escort to begin a larger political operation 782.

Capital City Power Struggle

Gu Shen survives the Gray Wolves’ ambush, frames the attack as Prince Yan’s attempted assassination of a court official, and humiliates the Crown Prince’s and Prince Yan’s elite agents with his scorpions 783 784 794 795.

Imperial Physician Arc

After surviving the Emperor’s poisoned-tea test, Gu Shen becomes Imperial Physician and investigates the ritual poisoning within the palace 798 800 804.

Lightning Induction Project

Gu Shen secures imperial resources for an unprecedented lightning-based cure and begins constructing the Lightning Bottle with Ou Ye 806 808.

Heavenly Crafts Institute Conflict

He rescues Zhang Gong from Second Prince Xia Yuan, aligns with Seventh Prince Xia Ting, and becomes involved in the struggle to control the empire’s military technology and weapons production 810 812 818.

Notable Quotes

“The ‘cleanest’ things in this world often hide the deepest filth.” 777

“If you were a tiger trapped in a cage, with jackals eyeing you from outside… and someone handed you a key in exchange for a leg, would you make the trade?” 782

“Who I am is not important. What’s important is that you are now in my courtyard.” 795