Chi Hengji

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chi Hengji (池恒霁)
Alias(es)	Chancellor Chi; “Brother Chi,” Jiang Nuan’s familiar address for him 36 53
Gender	Male 36
Age	Fifteen when introduced at court; appointed chancellor at thirteen 36
Affiliation	Great Xia’s imperial court 36 173
Occupation/Role	Chancellor, also described as prime minister; later Jiang Nuan’s prince consort 36 247 250
Family	Husband of Jiang Nuan; father of Commandery Princess Lingxi 248 250
Status	Alive; cured of the congenital illness that originally condemned him to an early death 53 250
First Appearance	Mentioned during Jiang Chengze’s return from disaster inspections 16; introduced in person at court 36

Background / History

Childhood and Appointment

Chi Hengji was exceptionally intelligent from childhood. Although his parents tried to conceal his poor health, their worried expressions and repeated medical consultations allowed him to discover that he was unlikely to live long. Rather than withdraw from the world, he resolved to make his limited life meaningful 250.

Against his parents’ wishes that he remain home and preserve his health, he entered imperial service. Jiang Yunsheng’s willingness to value ability over seniority enabled him to become chancellor at thirteen. At fifteen, he was already recognized for outstanding essays, policy treatises, and practical judgment 36 250.

Disaster Relief and Foretold Death

Chi identified several villages at risk of snow disasters and obtained an imperial decree to conduct relief work with Crown Prince Jiang Chengze. Their intervention minimized losses, but his weak constitution left him ill afterward. Jiang Yunsheng granted him several days of leave before permitting him to return to court 16 36.

When Jiang Nuan saw him in the great hall, her audible thoughts revealed that he had died young in her previous life. Officials briefly mistook her description of him as a key figure in Great Xia’s downfall for an accusation of betrayal. She clarified that his death had deprived the dynasty of an indispensable administrator and thrown the court into chaos. A later scholar had claimed that his survival could have extended Great Xia’s rule by at least a century 36.

Jiang Yunsheng immediately ordered the Imperial Physicians to examine him. They diagnosed only a cold, while Guagua identified an exceptionally rare genetic disease beyond their medical knowledge. The side story states that even the Divine Healer had expected Chi to die before twenty 36 247.

Treatment and Recovery

Jiang Nuan searched her medical books with Guagua’s help and obtained a prescription. Hearing how late she had stayed awake for his sake made Chi feel guilty. She eventually presented the prescription to Gu Qingfeng, who recognized it as suitable for treating his long-standing patient 41 48.

Chi already knew the prescription’s source through Jiang Nuan’s thoughts. He openly admitted this to Gu Qingfeng and warned him not to disclose the thought-hearing phenomenon to her. The treatment restored Chi’s health, allowing him to imagine a future he had previously denied himself 49 250.

At Jiang Nuan’s shop opening, he thanked her with gold ingots and a jointed doll made from rare colored gold. He had crafted the doll in her likeness, but she chiefly appreciated its valuable material. They also adopted the familiar forms of address “Brother Chi” and “Nuannuan” 53.

Service to Great Xia

Chi regularly visited villages near the capital in his spare time to identify overlooked problems and help residents resolve them. During a demonstration of the Curved Shaft Plow, he offered to organize its rollout, secure imperial backing, and test Jiang Nuan’s proposed assembly-line manufacturing method. At court, he credited both her design and the Capital City branch of the Black Earth School 85 86.

During the dispute over northern and southern examination results, he warned that subjective judgments of essays could inflame regional conflict. After the case was settled through separate rankings, he received the imperial decree and began drafting the rules 148 149.

Before leaving on an inspection tour, Jiang Yunsheng entrusted the court to Jiang Chengze and Chi, specifically ordering the chancellor to give the Crown Prince his full support 173.

Correspondence and Jiang Nuan’s Trust

While Jiang Nuan traveled with the emperor, she wrote to Chi about a magistrate committing abuses under his name. That incident gave him an opportunity to maintain correspondence. Her accounts of local specialties and experiences made him wish he could leave his work and travel beside her; she initially misunderstood his letters as a service for obtaining local goods 179 180 248 250.

After Jiang Nuan discovered that others could hear her thoughts and withdrew from them, Chi correctly connected her changed behavior to her visit to Heaven and Earth Mountain. He advised sending only two people she trusted rather than overwhelming her with a crowd. He nominated Jiang Yehua and Cen Xue, candidly telling Jiang Yunsheng that the emperor’s repeated use of her knowledge made him a poor choice 239.

Courtship and Marriage

Chi recognized his feelings when an elderly military noble proposed his grandson as Jiang Nuan’s consort. In an uncharacteristically impulsive act, he sent the prospective rival to the frontier. He later regretted abusing his position and prepared to make amends, but the young man thanked him: military service at the frontier had been his own ambition, previously blocked by his elders 248 250.

When Jiang Nuan returned to the capital after three years, Chi complained that she had greeted everyone except him. His parents interpreted this as evidence that he had finally fallen in love. He invited her to visit Rui’an County and continued helping her with development work after her return 243 244.

Their daily companionship gradually became mutual affection. On Jiang Nuan’s coming-of-age day, Chi proposed; with her consent, Jiang Yunsheng arranged their engagement, with marriage to follow when she was old enough. Chi’s retrospective confirms their eventual wedding 244 250.

Heavenly Screen Side Story

The Heavenly Screen identifies Chi as Jiang Nuan’s future prince consort and introduces him among the twenty-four contributors commemorated in Rui’an County’s Misty Pavilion. Its account publicly exposes his correspondence, jealousy, and persistent courtship 247 248.

According to the Screen, a friend advised him to abandon his distant, white-robed appearance so Jiang Nuan would find him more approachable. They became a couple during a village outing, and he celebrated her acceptance by setting off firecrackers outside the city until morning 248.

The Screen also recounts their marriage and their only child, Commandery Princess Lingxi. Wanting to give one child all their affection rather than risk unequal treatment between siblings, they chose not to have more children. After Lingxi’s birth, Chi sought sterilization from the Divine Healer 248.

Appearance

Chi has a jade-fair face, gentle but spirited features, sword-like brows, bright eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips that suggest a smile. Jiang Nuan repeatedly compares his beauty to that of an immortal 36 53.

• Official attire: Flowing crimson robes 36.
• Preferred informal attire: Flowing white robes, reinforcing his ethereal appearance 53 248.
• Courtship adjustment: After the Heavenly Screen explains that his appearance makes him seem too distant, he resolves to change his clothing style 248.

Personality

Disciplined and emotionally guarded, Chi initially accepts his shortened lifespan without outward despair. His apparent resignation hides both a desire to live and an effort to spare his parents further worry. He avoids romance because he does not want to burden a woman with his impending death, and rejects marriage solely for the purpose of leaving descendants 36 250.

His reserve contrasts with his approachable conduct among villagers and his sensitivity toward Jiang Nuan. Her sincere, unspoken admiration affects him more than conventional flattery. Love brings out an unfamiliar jealous streak, but he remains conscious of the harm his authority could cause: after sending a rival to the frontier, he is relieved that his selfishness has not injured an innocent person 85 248 250.

Abilities & Skills

Scholarship and Political Judgment

• Excels in essays and policy treatises, with an unusually precise understanding of worldly affairs 36.
• Possesses knowledge of astronomy and geography 36.
• Anticipates political consequences, including the risk of escalating regional resentment during the examination dispute 148.

Administration and Public Service

• Identifies villages threatened by snow disasters and organizes preventive relief 36.
• Personally investigates problems in nearby villages rather than relying solely on reports 85.
• Coordinates the promotion and manufacture of agricultural technology, including the Curved Shaft Plow 86.
• Is trusted to support the Crown Prince in managing the imperial court during the emperor’s absence 173.

Hearing Jiang Nuan’s Thoughts

• Hears Jiang Nuan’s inner voice and the information exchanged with Guagua 36 49 173.
• Uses her thoughts to locate her in a crowd and detect her presence while she is invisible 53 173.
• Warns that attempting to tell her about the phenomenon causes breathlessness, which ends when the speaker abandons the attempt 49.
• Tests whether her invisibility also protects her from physical contact, reassuring himself that her intangible mode offers genuine protection 173.

Craftsmanship

• Crafts a small, jointed colored-gold doll in Jiang Nuan’s likeness as a personal thank-you gift 53.

Relationships

• Jiang Nuan — His lifesaver, collaborator, correspondent, and eventual wife. Her ideas renew his ambition for Great Xia, while her treatment gives him a future beyond his expected early death 53 244 250.
• Jiang Yunsheng — His sovereign, who promotes him on merit, seeks treatment for his illness, and entrusts him with supporting the Crown Prince 36 173 250.
• Jiang Chengze — Works with him on disaster relief and later receives his assistance in governing during Jiang Yunsheng’s inspection tour 16 36 173.
• Gu Qingfeng — His physician, whose earlier treatments had limited success. Gu administers the prescription supplied by Jiang Nuan 48 49 250.
• His parents — Urge him to preserve his fragile health rather than enter court. Later, they are relieved to see signs of his romantic attachment to Jiang Nuan 243 250.
• Commandery Princess Lingxi — His and Jiang Nuan’s only daughter in the Heavenly Screen’s account 248.
• Yang Junnan — No actual relationship. The magistrate falsely claims kinship through Chi’s mother to extort merchants; the two have never met 179 180.

Notable Quotes

“Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I will do everything in my power to assist His Highness the Crown Prince.” 173

“Nuannuan, don't feel pressured. These are things from the future, and the future isn't necessarily accurate. It can be changed. You should know that better than anyone.” 248

“It isn't a rumor. It's true.”
— Confirming that he sent a prospective rival to the frontier 248