Chen Yixiao

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Chen Yixiao (陈逸萧)
Alias(es)	Xiao Yi (萧逸), an assumed identity used while traveling abroad 217 218
Gender	Male
Age	In his twenties during the journey to Cold Pass City 248
Affiliation	Heavenly Phoenix Kingdom; imperial family 267
Occupation/Role	Sixth Prince; imperial mission leader; later takes charge of affairs in the conquered Dragon Abyss Kingdom 575 865
Parents	Heavenly Phoenix Emperor and Noble Lady Qi; raised under the Empress’s name 436 575
Spouse	Zhang Zhixi; formerly married to Ou Ruoxuan 436 461
Status	Alive; overseeing Dragon Abyss affairs at his latest documented appearance 865
First Appearance	First documented mention in the supplied context: 46

Background / History

Chen Yixiao is the Heavenly Phoenix Emperor’s sixth prince. His birth mother, Noble Lady Qi, died, after which his maternal grandfather—a sixth-rank official—left the Capital with the Qi family to serve elsewhere. Chen was raised under the Empress’s name and initially did not know his true parentage. After learning the truth, he contacted his maternal relatives and obtained imperial permission to invite them to his wedding with Zhang Zhixi 436.

As a child, Chen nearly drowned in the palace’s Lotus Pond. Five-year-old Ou Ruoxuan saved him, but Ou Baiqing found them unconscious and pretended to be unconscious herself. Chen consequently believed Baiqing was his rescuer. The keepsake necklace he associated with Baiqing actually belonged to Ruoxuan 46.

When Ruoxuan was fourteen, General Han secured an imperial betrothal between her and Chen. Already devoted to Baiqing, Chen resented the arrangement, humiliated Ruoxuan before and after their wedding, accepted Baiqing’s accusations, and ordered Ruoxuan beaten. He refused to investigate Ruoxuan’s explanations, and their marriage remained unconsummated 46.

The marriage eventually ended in divorce. Chen later tried to reconcile through letters and gifts, all of which Ruoxuan returned untouched. By the time he traveled with Song Yaoyao under the name Xiao Yi, he recognized that reconciliation was hopeless. When he secretly watched Ruoxuan’s subsequent wedding, he accepted her choice and resolved not to disturb her new life 218 461 575.

Appearance

• Normally handsome and refined: Described as an elegant young gentleman, with fair skin and delicate features that attract attention at Cloudsong 215 216.
• After the weapons mission: Appears in coarse hemp clothes with a filthy face and tangled hair. Song Yaoyao initially fails to recognize him; his appearance is the result of hardship, not a deliberate beggar disguise 215.
• Travel disguise: Song Yaoyao applies makeup that makes his face ordinary and unlikely to attract women’s attention 223.
• Formal wedding attire: Wears bright red wedding robes and holds one end of a red silk length shared with Zhang Zhixi 438.
• Palace assault attire: Wears night gear and a black face covering during the attack on Dragon Abyss’s Imperial Palace 779.

Personality

Chen’s treatment of Ou Ruoxuan exposes his early gullibility and cruelty. His attachment to Ou Baiqing makes him accept accusations without investigation and dismiss the woman who actually saved him. Later regret does not restore the relationship, but he eventually respects Ruoxuan’s refusal to reconcile and her decision to remarry 46 218 575.

In official service, he shows endurance, loyalty, and responsibility. Despite numerous wounds and heavy losses on the weapons mission, he immediately seeks Song Yaoyao after learning she has entered enemy territory. He also refuses to abandon longtime guards left in bandit captivity 215 218.

Chen distinguishes private affection from national duty. In Dragon Abyss, he limits what he shares with Zhang Zhixi because she is a princess of that kingdom, even while trusting Song Yaoyao enough to transfer command to her. His political ambition becomes explicit when he proposes claiming Dragon Abyss’s throne 598 603.

His relationships also reveal a less formal side. He uses ordinary first-person speech rather than princely self-address with Song Yaoyao, a habit reserved for people he knows well. With Zhang, his initial resentment of an imposed marriage gradually gives way to intimacy and a promise not to take another woman 325 326 403.

Abilities & Skills

Hearing Song Yaoyao’s Inner Voice

• Can hear Song Yaoyao’s thoughts and her conversations with Guagua, gaining access to information she has not spoken aloud 348 603 713.
• Can also perceive the accompanying video revelations 603.
• Conceals this knowledge from Song Yaoyao: when she explains Nian Cenyi’s death, he feigns surprise despite already having learned about it through her thoughts 603.
• Initially keeps the phenomenon secret from Zhang Zhixi. She gains access independently after their formal wedding and her entry into the Imperial Jade Register 327 439.

Military Leadership

• Secures a thousand local soldiers through an imperial token and coordinates their concealed deployment below Rooster-Cry Mountain, with a signal flare marking when they should advance 264.
• Organizes simultaneous operations against the Imperial Palace and ministers’ residences in Suyu City 778.
• Accepts command of sixty thousand surrendered soldiers and agrees to honor Song Yaoyao’s promise that they will receive treatment equal to Heavenly Phoenix troops 811.
• Receives firearms, explosives, and instruction from Song Yaoyao before the palace assault; no specific weapon model or proficiency level is documented for him 778 779.

Intelligence and Political Negotiation

• Uses evidence concerning Lu Manzhu’s falsely accused grandfather to draw her out for recruitment, valuing her border authority and rapid military advancement 211.
• Maintains informants, including Monkey’s team near Suyu City, and knows how to access covert Heavenly Phoenix contacts within the capital 586 598.
• Offers Nian Hengzhi and Nian Qiyu protection in exchange for service to Heavenly Phoenix, initially withholding sensitive intelligence until they accept his terms 714.
• Discloses hidden succession threats, including Nian Siting’s feigned disability, private army, and use of gu poison, as well as Nian Fengyuan’s concealed parentage and forged accession edict 717.
• Encourages rival princes to form a coalition against Nian Fengyuan rather than act separately 729.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Imperial token — Enables County Magistrate Liu to borrow a thousand soldiers from the local garrison 264.
• Binoculars — A gift from Song Yaoyao following the bandit-suppression operation; Chen personally visits her to collect them 266.
• Mini Tiller — Given by Song Yaoyao in recognition of their shared hardships. The initial fuel supply is free, but further fuel must be purchased from her 403.
• Firearms and explosives — Supplied by Song Yaoyao for the Suyu City palace operation 778.
• Military Tally — Entrusted to him after Song Yaoyao subdues Prince Xiao’s sixty thousand private troops 811.
• Suyu City residence — A maintained property with two courtyards, purchased years earlier and used as the group’s lodgings during the Dragon Abyss mission 598.

Relationships

• Heavenly Phoenix Emperor — Father and sovereign. Assigns Chen imperial missions, instructs him to protect Song Yaoyao, and redirects him to investigate the Dragon Abyss coup 215 575.
• Noble Lady Qi — Deceased birth mother. Chen learns of his biological connection to her family only after having been raised under the Empress’s name 436.
• The Empress — Chen’s acknowledged maternal figure during his upbringing; his ignorance of his true parentage prevents the Qi family from attending his first wedding 436.
• Ou Ruoxuan — Former wife and actual childhood rescuer. Her returned letters and gifts end his hopes of reconciliation; he later respects her remarriage 46 218 575.
• Ou Baiqing — The woman he mistakenly credits with saving him. His unquestioning devotion to her contributes to his abuse of Ruoxuan 46.
• Zhang Zhixi — Wife; former Cloudsong chief and Dragon Abyss princess. Their relationship begins with captivity and coerced wedding bows, develops into a formal marriage, and later becomes a political alliance during the Dragon Abyss crisis 217 219 438 603.
• Song Yaoyao / Princess Jiahe — Trusted mission partner and honorary younger sister. Their sibling identities begin as a travel cover; he later entrusts her with operational command 218 277 327 598.
• Lightning — Personal guard who manages access to Chen’s courtyard and witnesses Zhang’s forceful pursuit of him 323 325.
• Concubines Liu and Duan — Former members of his manor’s rear courtyard. He relocates them to a separate estate with their needs provided for rather than leaving them destitute 326.
• Qi Yan — Maternal cousin, the eldest legitimate son of Chen’s eldest maternal uncle. Chen arranges medical assistance for him after a serious private injury 436 439.
• Nian Cenyi — Father-in-law and Dragon Abyss emperor. Chen withholds the late emperor’s attacks on Heavenly Phoenix agents from Zhang to avoid damaging their marriage and her relationship with Heavenly Phoenix 575 603.
• Nian Hengzhi and Nian Qiyu — Dragon Abyss princes whom Chen attempts to recruit through guarantees of safety and privileged intelligence 714 717.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Weapons Delivery and Cloudsong Captivity

• Serves as a decoy while Song Yaoyao secretly delivers firearms to the frontier. More than a hundred assassination attempts leave him wounded and his party heavily depleted; the attacks stop once foreign powers realize the weapons are elsewhere 215.
• Immediately heads toward the Heavenly Mystic capital to protect Song, following his father’s instructions 215.
• Falls into a trap at the Heavenly Immortal Inn. Cloudsong’s third chief drugs the party, strips them of their possessions, and takes them to the stronghold; Ten Fragrance Softening Powder prevents escape after they awaken 216.
• Gives Zhang Zhixi the false name Xiao Yi, but rejects her demand that he become her husband. Wedding bows nevertheless take place under coercion 217 218 219.
• Escapes, buys a horse with fifty taels, and finds Song after three days without food. He leaves signs for his escaped guards and later insists on returning for the two still missing 215 217 218.
• Accompanies Song’s rescue party to the Bandit Inn, where she incapacitates the bandits nonlethally and negotiates the guards’ release 218 219.

Bandit Suppression and Growing Trust

• Cooperates with County Magistrate Liu against Rooster-Cry Mountain’s bandits, whose defenses include cliffs, poisonous miasma, dangerous creatures, and a single narrow approach 264.
• Participates in the destruction of several additional strongholds. Their chiefs are punished, minor bandits are handed to the authorities, and the sites are burned to prevent reuse 266.
• His extended travels with Song soften her assessment of him: although she continues condemning his treatment of Ruoxuan, she recognizes his otherwise dependable conduct 218 266.

Marriage to Zhang Zhixi

• Zhang reappears with Dragon Abyss envoys seeking Chen after discovering her royal origins. The resulting imperial marriage arrangement displeases him 311 312 323.
• Zhang insists their earlier vows already make them spouses, accompanies him home, and uses a pressure-point strike to immobilize him during an unwanted advance 323.
• Their relationship subsequently becomes intimate. Chen accepts Zhang’s demand for exclusivity, sends his concubines to a separate estate, and promises not to take another woman 325 326.
• Their formal wedding takes place in the Capital. Song gives them an illustrated album recounting their story, and Chen’s newly reconnected maternal relatives attend with imperial approval 435 436 438.
• The next day, Chen and Zhang pay respects at the palace before he arranges a physician and Song’s trained surgical students to assist Qi Yan 439.

Dragon Abyss Intervention

• Receives orders to investigate Nian Cenyi’s imprisonment during a palace coup and recruits Song Yaoyao for the mission 575.
• On reaching Suyu City, transfers command to Song because his wife’s Dragon Abyss nationality complicates the sharing of Heavenly Phoenix secrets 598.
• After learning Nian Cenyi has been murdered, reveals his intention to claim Dragon Abyss’s throne. Zhang supports him on the condition that she personally kill Nian Fengyuan 603.
• Helps destabilize opposing factions by delivering forged imperial edicts, negotiating with surviving princes, and passing information intended to divide Zhu Qin from Nian Fengyuan 659 714 717 728.
• Organizes the palace assault and subsequently accepts responsibility for sixty thousand surrendered troops 778 779 811.
• Expresses alarm when Song deliberately allows herself to be abducted to expose Nian Xiaoqing, checking that she is unharmed and warning that she took too great a risk 844.
• After Dragon Abyss falls, takes charge of its affairs and resumes appearing under his original face rather than his disguise. The supplied context confirms his administrative role, but does not document a coronation 865.

Notable Quotes

“Princess Jiahe, we’ve been through life and death together. There’s no need to stand on ceremony.” 277

“I draw a clear line between public duty and private feelings!” 598

“As long as you’re willing to work for our Heavenly Phoenix Kingdom, I promise that no matter what happens, we’ll keep you both alive and safe!” 714