Jiang Zhizhou

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Jiang Zhizhou (江之洲)
Alias(es)	Xiaozhou / Xiao Zhou; Adviser Jiang; Heir Apparent Jiang 6 136 224
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Marquis of An’s Residence; formerly served Northern Liang’s Emperor Duan Ziqian; later acknowledges Yang Qing as his master 154 279 585
Occupation/Role	Heir apparent of the Marquis of Anguo; former County Office adviser; covert imperial agent; secret envoy to Southern Xun 136 154 170 224
Family	Eldest son of the Marquis of Anguo; elder brother of Jiang Zhihuai 155
Status	Alive in his latest directly documented appearance 735
First Appearance	Chapter 4, “A Plan of Action” 4

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Established standing: top-five martial expert	212	Jiang and Bu Er are identified as ranking among the martial world’s five strongest experts. This establishes his standing rather than recording a breakthrough.
Improved martial arts; realm unnamed	270	Bu Er explicitly notices that Jiang’s martial arts have improved while watching him traverse an underground rock wall. Yang Qing believes undistracted training would take him further.
Application of the Origin-Returning Divine Art	333	Finds the manual and applies its Unity Method with Bu Er, circulating their powers through Yang Qing’s meridians to restore his body.
Master–servant bond with Yang Qing	585	Willingly acknowledges Yang Qing as his master. The Rootless Wood heals his grave injuries, and the completed bond lets Yang briefly draw on Jiang, Bu Er, and Mu Feng’s combined strength.

Background / History

Jiang Zhizhou is the eldest son of Northern Liang’s Marquis of Anguo. Sent to Western Chu as a hostage in childhood, he grew up under oppressive conditions and remained separated from his family for nearly twenty years. Meeting Yang Qing profoundly changed his life, creating a bond that outlasted the hostility between their countries 108 154 155.

Jiang initially understood his hostage-taking as the result of Regent King Duan Hongzhuo’s pressure. Later evidence reveals that Northern Liang’s Late Emperor had secretly engineered the circumstances behind it. Jiang saw the Late Emperor’s final instructions at twenty; restrictions on his mission also prevented ordinary private contact with his family 156 207.

In Yan Prefecture, Jiang served as an adviser at the County Office. Although he subsequently held no official post under Yang Qing, soldiers continued calling him “Adviser Jiang.” His uncle’s death and the death of the master he shared with Yang remained motives for his involvement in the bandit investigation 6 26 136.

Personality

Jiang is guarded about both his identity and his feelings. When Yang Qing addresses him as “Xiaozhou,” he reacts sharply but insists that the person who answered to that name died ten years earlier. His apparent distance conceals continued assistance: Yang later identifies him as the person secretly helping him 6 26.

His devotion to Yang is practical and sometimes overprotective. He monitors Yang’s medicine, challenges evasions about his failing health, and repeatedly tries to keep him away from political danger. That fear can override his judgment: his attempt to stop Bei Chen’s apparent attack causes an irreversible death and a rupture with Yang 70 149 231.

Jiang combines restraint with a willingness to use lethal force. He kills attackers during his urgent embassy journey, yet deliberately gives Xiao He only a light wound when escaping the capital. Despite his abilities and hereditary position, he rejects the assumption that personal success must mean high office or service to the throne 171 224.

Family loyalty makes him reluctant to condemn Jiang Zhihuai outright. He initially hopes his brother will explain himself and worries about hurting their parents. After repeated betrayal, he becomes willing to abandon the Jiang family’s traditional obligation to the imperial house, with his father’s acceptance 199 200 279.

Abilities & Skills

Swordsmanship and Internal Power

Jiang is an elite swordsman who can project Sword Qi and later mobilize Profound Power 212 235 710.

• Breaks a saber and kills its wielder during an ambush on the road to Southern Xun 170.
• Defeats three mounted crossbowmen through rapid sword strikes, evasive movement, and disruption of their horses 171.
• Detects a concealed attacker and wounds him with Sword Qi before forcing him to reveal himself 235.
• Limits: His sword cannot penetrate the Shadow Guards’ Black Iron Armor. Protecting Duan Ziqian simultaneously further restricts his options 221.
• Power suppression: A cliff in Spirit Mountain prevents him from using internal energy, turning an otherwise manageable descent into a life-threatening fall 273.

Lightness Skills, Perception, and Infiltration

Jiang’s mobility and awareness support both combat and covert work 71 200 206.

• Descends from a tavern’s upper floor and removes a suspicious man from a crowded street before onlookers can react 71.
• Notices faint breathing from hidden fighters inside his family residence and recognizes an ambush 200.
• Uses his knowledge of palace guard deployments to reach the historical library without raising an alarm; distracts one guard and strikes another’s mute acupoint 206.
• Evades Bu Er after realizing he is being followed 30.
• Climbs a roughly fifty-foot, smooth-sided platform with ropes and daggers before returning to bring Yang Qing up 635.

Investigation and Political Strategy

Jiang gathers intelligence, evaluates factional rivalries, and directs operations when Yang Qing cannot act 150 334.

• Examines wounds on a corpse and concludes that Wu Tianyong’s connections to Northern Liang do not establish who sent him 124.
• Investigates differences among Duan Hongzhuo’s officers and assesses the rivalry between Xiao Shandong and Tan Wenjie 149 150.
• Secures Gao Zhanqi’s cooperation by offering a dangerous chance at freedom 78.
• Identifies an opportunity to support Ouyang Lin after his apparent break with Mo Yi, then helps him escape an attack 334.
• Recognizes that the case against Bei Chen may be bait and initially agrees to exploit the setup rather than react impulsively 230.

Gu and Formation Knowledge

Jiang understands important details of Gu Insects and the Cloudflower Illusion Formation, but is not presented as a formation specialist 78 268 354.

• Correctly infers that Gao Zhanqi can suppress the mother Gu Insect despite not carrying it himself. Gao’s suspicion that Jiang might be another practitioner remains unconfirmed 78.
• Knows that his grandfather used cloudflower stone to devise the formation that helped Northern Liang defeat Yijiang 268.
• Explains that the Cloudflower Illusion Formation attacks waking consciousness but cannot affect someone whose consciousness is clouded 268.
• Escapes a disorienting rock formation by closing his eyes and moving through its shifting terrain 211.
• Limit: Both Jiang and Bu Er are explicitly described as knowing little about formations compared with Yang Qing 354.

Healing and Survival

Jiang applies cultivation knowledge and improvised care to protect injured companions 273 333.

• Uses medicine from Bu Er’s belongings to stop his bleeding, moves both companions into a sheltered cave, and repeatedly fetches water to cool their fevers 273.
• Performs the Unity Method with Bu Er over six hours, restoring Yang Qing’s body and removing the immediate danger to his life 333.
• Unity Method limits: It does not grant Yang Qing the ability to cultivate. Losing concentration during the procedure could endanger all three participants 333.
• Helps gather and direct energy into Yang Qing under Jiangli’s guidance, contributing to his physical recovery and the removal of Emperor Zhetian’s bloodline mark 710.

Shared Bond with Yang Qing

Jiang’s voluntary acknowledgment of Yang Qing as his master joins him with Yang, Bu Er, and Mu Feng as a connected whole 585.

• The Rootless Wood emerges to heal Jiang after the bond forms 585.
• Yang Qing gains access to their combined power despite having no inner power of his own 585.
• Limit: Yang cannot reliably summon that strength at will; it is treated as an emergency resource rather than ordinary combat power 585.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sword — His principal weapon, used for close combat and projecting Sword Qi; unable to cut Black Iron Armor 124 221 235.
• Daggers — Used as concealed weapons and climbing tools. He loses one during the Spirit Mountain descent 171 273 635.
• Jade pendant — Given by his father as a token for obtaining help from Shopkeeper Liu of the Liu Family Bookshop 156.
• Masks and identity papers — Uses Northern Hawk’s disguise supplies after his estate becomes unsafe 143.
• Smoke Pellet — Covers the escape from Xiao He and the Imperial Guards, though its fumes worsen Yang Qing’s condition 224.
• Hollow stone Buddha — Retrieves it after surviving a cliff fall and preserves it intact upon discovering something concealed inside 211.
• Origin-Returning Divine Art — Manual containing the Unity Method used to restore Yang Qing’s body 333.
• Emergency bamboo tube — Gives it to Bu Er before answering an imperial summons, stating that help will come if it is used in mortal danger; its mechanism is not explained 256.
• Drunkenness-mimicking pills — A bottle supplied by Yang Qing to simulate intoxication without the harm of drinking 204.

Relationships

• Yang Qing — Childhood connection, closest companion, and later acknowledged master. Each repeatedly protects the other; they hope to travel freely together, though Jiang’s killing of Bei Chen severely strains their bond 108 149 150 231 585.
• Marquis of Anguo — Father. Their reunions require secrecy, and the marquis provides assistance while warning Jiang against emotional decisions and overshadowing his sovereign. He later orders Jiang to leave the capital for his safety 156 223.
• Jiang Zhihuai — Younger brother, two years his junior. Resentment over paternal favoritism and succession leads him to imprison their father and send death warriors after Jiang 155 157 201.
• Jiang Yuan — Deceased uncle and former Yan Prefecture military governor. His death is central to Jiang’s warning about the prefecture’s corruption 4 6.
• Bu Er — Fellow protector of Yang Qing and frequent combat partner. They cooperate in healing Yang, rescuing companions, and opposing Emperor Zhetian 125 333 641 710.
• Duan Ziqian — Former sovereign and covert employer. Jiang protects him during the coup, but imperial suspicion, control over Jiang’s father, and coercive appointment offers turn their relationship hostile 204 221 223 256.
• Duan Hongzhuo — Political adversary whose agents compromise Jiang’s estate and whose ambitions threaten both Northern Liang and Western Chu 108 143 156.
• Duan Hongxing / Prince Ding / Liufang — Initially a decisive ally during the palace coup; later sends men after Jiang’s group following their departure from Spirit Mountain 221 279.
• Bei Chen — Northern Hawk operative who fights beside Jiang during the coup. Jiang later mortally wounds him while stopping an apparent attack on Yang Qing; Bei Chen’s true intent remains unresolved 221 231.
• Gao Zhanqi — Gu practitioner recruited through Jiang’s offer of a perilous route to freedom 78.
• Ouyang Lin — Martial ally whom Jiang assists against Mo Yi’s men and later helps rescue from captivity 334 415.
• Pei Buji — Overwhelmingly powerful martial figure whom Jiang initially attacks to protect Yang Qing; subsequently accompanies the group through further dangers 280 308 415.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Yan Prefecture and the Bandit Investigation

• Meets Yang Qing publicly as a commoner, then rejects his familiar address during their midnight reunion 4 6.
• Warns Yang to leave Yan Prefecture while continuing his own involvement in the bandit affair 6.
• Admits that their master’s death must be avenged and offers continued help with Yang’s plans 26.
• Survives an expected death because Yang Qing saves him at the last moment 39.

The Capital and Yan Pass

• Travels south to help Yang deal with Northern Liang’s marriage delegation, bringing intelligence about its members and possible hidden motives 70.
• Intercepts a suspicious operative during the delegation’s arrival and subsequently recruits Gao Zhanqi 71 78.
• Confronts Yang over deliberately enduring thirty blows outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation 84.
• Accepts Yang’s plan to accompany him to Northern Liang after resolving the Yan Prefecture crisis 108.
• Carries out missions at Yan Pass and advises Suotu to use specialist road-and-bridge troops for an ambush route 135 136.

Northern Liang: Family Betrayal and the Coup

• Abandons his compromised estate, adopts a disguise, and begins probing Duan Hongzhuo’s faction 143 149 150.
• Secretly reunites with his father and warns that the household’s trusted personnel may have leaked their arrangements 156.
• Accepts a secret embassy to Southern Xun, surviving repeated attacks and a dangerous border crossing 170 171.
• Escapes Jiang Zhihuai’s trap with a deep shoulder wound. His father’s subsequent transfer to the palace protects him from his captor but gives Duan Ziqian leverage over Jiang 200 201 202 204.
• Discovers the mysterious soldiers later identified as Prince Ding’s Ghost Army 211 212 221.
• Protects Duan Ziqian during the coup until the Ghost Army defeats the Shadow Guards 221.
• Refuses high office, follows his father’s urgent warning to leave, and escapes with Yang Qing and Bu Er toward Fan City 222 223 224.

Fan City, Spirit Mountain, and the Western Regions

• Kills Bei Chen during an apparent attack on Yang Qing, causing an open break between the companions 231.
• Later accepts a seal while Duan Ziqian names him and Yang Qing his Pillar Ministers 240.
• Answers a renewed summons and accepts a covert investigation into the former dynasty’s dragon vein 256.
• Guides the group through cloudflower-stone tunnels and survives the Spirit Mountain descent while protecting Yang Qing 268 272 273.
• Repels Duan Hongxing’s pursuers and declares himself ready to end his family’s traditional service to the throne 279.
• Supports the decision to flee to the Western Regions after the group acquires half of a proclamation coveted by Northern Liang’s rulers 308.
• Finds the divine manual that enables him and Bu Er to save Yang Qing, then helps establish an alliance with Ouyang Lin 333 334.

Resistance to Emperor Zhetian and Heavenly Law

• Suffers a grave injury from an unseen controller’s single attack. His voluntary bond with Yang Qing enables the Rootless Wood to heal him 583 585.
• Works overnight with Bu Er to disrupt Emperor Zhetian’s resentment-gathering scheme 641.
• Helps strengthen Yang Qing’s body through an energy-gathering procedure, then stands with him against Zhetian 710 711 712.
• Joins hands with Yang and Bu Er when they expect heavenly punishment; the lightning instead strikes Zhetian. Yang subsequently pulls the wounded Jiang and Bu Er to safety 718 719.
• In the Demon Grassland, remains protective of Yang but is urged by Jiangli to trust his improved resilience rather than immediately administer medicine after every injury 735.

Notable Quotes

“Our master's death must be avenged.” 26

“If you won't tell me, our dealings in Northern Liang end here.”
— Pressing Yang Qing to explain his failing health 149

“My ambitions have never lain at court. Why should I force myself to stay? Such a filthy place is certainly no place for me to linger.” 223