Chu Lange

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chu Lange (楚澜歌)
Alias(es)	Princess Yongning; Ge’er, an affectionate name used by her parents 73 79 327
Gender	Female
Affiliation	Imperial family of the Yu Kingdom 327
Occupation/Role	Princess; beauty-shop proprietor 73 307
Father	Emperor Chu Wenzong 369
Mother	Empress Cui Zhao’an 395
Sibling	Little Wukong, her biological younger brother 184 395
Love Interest	Yuan Ye, her personal guard and childhood companion 396
Relative Age	One year older than Jiang Yourning/Chu Youning 185 237
Status	Alive; receives conditional permission to marry Yuan Ye if he reaches the Palace Examination 369 370 396
First Appearance	Chapter 59, the earliest appearance documented in the supplied passages 59

Background / History

Chu Lange grows up surrounded by material luxury. Her normally frugal father insists on the best food, clothing, and daily necessities for her, but she remains unhappy with the emotional distance between her parents. After her birth, Cui Zhao’an loses two children, and Lange repeatedly witnesses her mother crying alone and her father drinking in isolation 395.

Nanny Mei’s explanations reinforce Lange’s belief that her parents married for duty rather than love. Lange concludes that each parent can cherish her separately, but that they cannot cherish her together. Even as their relationship improves, she becomes reluctant to seek affection from them 395.

Yuan Ye becomes her personal guard when she is five. Lange initially entertains herself by teasing him—drawing turtles on his face and replacing his sword with a wooden one—but their companionship develops into dependable, attentive care. He catches her when she falls, notices illness immediately, and returns her to her palace whenever she falls asleep elsewhere 395.

Her friendship with Jiang Yourning gives her a new source of belonging through outings, snacks, treasure hunting, and shared mischief. The recognition of Little Wukong as her younger brother further heals the imperial household. When Yourning is revealed as Chu Youning, the emperor’s sister, Lange welcomes the change despite her friend suddenly becoming her aunt 395.

Fate in the Original Story

In the storyline remembered by Jiang Yourning, Chu Haoze drugs Lange with a substance said to have no antidote. A young guard sleeps with her to save her, then kills himself in atonement after ensuring her survival. Lange subsequently dies after failing to assassinate Haoze. Yourning suspects that the guard is Yuan Ye, but the passage presents this identification as her inference 65.

Personality

Lange is proud, blunt, and quick to defend her royal dignity. Her early confrontation with Jiang Yourning begins with an angry demand for respect, yet she is readily drawn into gossip, snacks, and playful companionship. She becomes noticeably happier through their shared work and adventures 59 65 72.

Her generosity is especially pronounced toward people she considers her own. She refuses a share of gold she helped uncover for Yourning, gives her half the palace treasure, and promises to accept punishment on her behalf. She also refuses to treat Yuan Ye as an interchangeable subordinate, insisting that he understands her better than anyone 65 72 74 75.

Her apparent innocence coexists with calculation. She uses palace gossip to provoke Consort Zheng, threatens a maid’s family to secure secrecy, and later stages a tearful performance to escape her father’s matchmaking. Nevertheless, she can panic under direct parental anger; when her scheme is exposed, she confesses without implicating Chu Youning 89 368 369.

Abilities & Skills

Court Influence and Scheming

Lange uses her rank, access to palace personnel, and familiarity with her parents to carry out disruptive or protective plans.

• Mobilizes palace staff for excavations across more than half the Imperial Palace 73 75.
• Recruits Laundry Bureau maid Qiu Ying to spread information to Consort Zheng, offering advancement and a reward while demanding secrecy 89.
• Assembles palace maids with red moles between their brows for Jiang Wanrong’s search for a prophesied benefactor 92.
• Uses carefully qualified statements and pill-induced tears to persuade her father to stop selecting husbands for her 368.
• Can maintain formal princessly conduct before outsiders despite her informal behavior with friends 327.

Commerce and Promotion

Her interest in earning money develops through Jiang Yourning’s example, though her spending remains impulsive.

• Negotiates a share of a fishing catch by having Yuan Ye help cast the net 95.
• Earns her first substantial personal income by selling five Kaluga sturgeon for 1,000 taels 110.
• Plans to sell ordinary fish to the palace for its regularly stocked ponds 111.
• Secures premises for the proposed beauty salon and later promotes its services through paid demonstrations 135 307.
• Needs practical guidance on demand and replenishing fish stocks; her initial success leads her to imagine unsustainable daily profits 110.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Pleasure barge — A large vessel brought by Yuan Ye for her lake outing with the Jiang sisters 93.
• Directory of unmarried men — Contains entries and portraits used to assess potential prince consorts; Qing Qianxue holds its top ranking 235 236.
• Teary-Eyed Pill — Produces convincing tears during the emperor’s staged illness and her own matchmaking deception 355 368.
• Princess’s residence — Hosts her New Year’s scheme. She sells its furnishings to fund food and beauty treatments and replaces expensive lanterns with cheaply made ones 367 370.

Relationships

• Chu Youning / Jiang Yourning — Closest friend, later revealed to be her imperial aunt. Their shared adventures transform Lange’s palace life; Youning also supports her business plans and helps her pursue Yuan Ye. Lange continues treating her as a little sister despite their formal generational difference 112 370 395 396.
• Yuan Ye — Personal guard, childhood companion, and mutual love interest. Lange never regards him merely as a subordinate. His insecurity about their unequal status initially keeps him from accepting a future with her 65 395 396.
• Chu Wenzong — Doting but controlling father. He indulges her materially, punishes her disruptive behavior, and attempts to choose her husband before granting Yuan Ye an examination-based route to marriage 169 357 369 395.
• Cui Zhao’an — Mother. Lange’s childhood is shaped by Cui’s grief and emotional withdrawal; later, Cui questions the emperor’s interpretation of Lange’s supposed romantic distress 368 395.
• Little Wukong — Biological younger brother, initially known to her as “Little Short Legs.” They share mischief and jealousy over Qing Qianxue’s closeness to their aunt 184 214 355.
• County Lady Baojin — Companion and rival for Youning’s attention. They compete over outings, cooperate in searching for husbands, and share embarrassment after mistaking Bai Zhi for a man 234 236 243.
• Jiang Wanrong — Friend and ally. Lange assists her palace search and uses information she provides to retaliate against threats to Yourning 89 92.
• Qing Qianxue — An early object of admiration. Lange praises his appearance and mysterious bearing, but later challenges his unusual familiarity with Youning 65 214 236.
• Chu Zhaohua — Great-aunt whose political marriage and suffering make Lange determined to control her own marital future 228 236.
• Xie Ciyan — Cousin. His interest in Jiang Wanrong becomes a subject of Lange’s enthusiastic gossip 65.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Friendship and Palace Treasure Hunt

• Lange’s early exchanges with Jiang Yourning move from confrontation to friendship. She recognizes Yourning even through a conspicuous disguise and joins her debt-collection escapades 59 62 64 65.
• While digging for gold with Yourning and Yuan Ye, she proudly describes their haul as an “empire” conquered for her friend. Their work eventually uncovers twelve thousand taels of gold 72.
• Taking her new enthusiasm for money into the palace, she orders extensive excavations and uncovers twelve chests of jewels beneath the abandoned Morning Dew Palace 73 74.
• She keeps half the treasure, sends half to Yourning, and promises rewards to the workers. The emperor’s subsequent excavations expose buried bodies, illicit objects, and a captive man connected to Consort Liang’s scandal 74 75.

Earning Money and Opening the Beauty Shop

Event	Chapter	Significance
Asks for an income-generating idea	94	Admits that she can barely afford food from Yourning’s tavern.
Sells her sturgeon catch	110	Sells five for 1,000 taels and offers another free in exchange for help teaching palace cooks to roast one.
Agrees to a beauty salon	112	Enthusiastically accepts Yourning’s proposed partnership.
Secures premises	135	Finds a location and brings Yourning to inspect it.
Opens the beauty shop	307	Attracts shoppers with varied cosmetics and skincare, then demonstrates upper-floor services through three visibly transformed customers.
Raises additional spending money	370	Sells fish caught from a frozen lake and gives Youning a generous New Year’s pouch.

Palace Cooperation and Diplomatic Duties

• Lange attempts to become Yourning’s actual sister by acquiring adoptive parents, but tells her furious father that the plan did not work. He confines her to Perching Phoenix Palace 169.
• She supports Yourning’s schemes against the princes by urging Yuan Ye to participate and later arranging gossip aimed at Consort Zheng 84 89.
• Alongside Youning, she welcomes the Flourishing Kingdom delegation and helps preserve their formal public roles 327.
• At Youning’s request, she befriends the concealed Princess Wuya and keeps her close and safe during the delegation’s stay, with Yuan Ye expected to guard her 329.
• She joins Youning and Little Wukong in exaggerated mourning when the emperor pretends to be critically ill 355.

Choosing Yuan Ye

• Fear of a political marriage leads Lange to compile and consult a directory of eligible men. Youning’s teasing suggestion of Yuan Ye prompts Lange to insist that she will make him her consort and care for him for life 235 236 237.
• In the side story, Lange reads romance books to understand her feelings and recognizes Yuan Ye as her childhood sweetheart. She kisses his nose while he appears asleep; he privately reciprocates her affection but withdraws because he considers himself unworthy of her 396.
• After her parents favor another suitor, Lange seeks Youning’s help. Youning draws out Yuan Ye’s feelings with truth-inducing medicine and obtains his commitment to earn the standing necessary for their marriage 357 396.
• Lange stages apparent relationships with women to make her father abandon his matchmaking. He initially permits her to choose a respectable male partner, but returns unexpectedly and exposes the scheme 368 369.
• Lange admits that she loves Yuan Ye while protecting Youning from blame. Wenzong offers conditional approval: Yuan Ye may take the civil or military Imperial Examination the following year, and the marriage will be permitted if he reaches the Palace Examination 369.
• Wenzong subsequently reassures Lange that his promise is binding. Yuan Ye thanks her for taking the first “ninety-nine steps” and promises to make the final effort toward their future himself; no completed examination or wedding is documented in these passages 370 396.

Notable Quotes

“Jiang Yourning! Look! This is the empire this princess conquered for you!” 72

“Of course! He’s spent more time with me than Father and Mother have. Aside from the State Preceptor, Yuan Ye is my favorite!” 65

“Yes! I’ll take responsibility for him to the very end!” 237