Jiang An

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Jiang An (姜安)
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Jiang family; formerly connected to the Liu family through marriage; formerly an imperial court official 15 335 366
Occupation/Role	Ministry of Rites official; later chief examiner of the Spring Imperial Examination; ultimately an opera performer serving a palace-associated troupe 15 232 366
Family	Former husband of Liu Yuyan; father of Jiang Shuyue, Jiang Wujie, and Jiang Chen 224 335 340
Status	Alive; divorced and punished for embezzlement. Unable to leave the Imperial City and dependent on opera earnings and tips 335 366 367

Background / History

Early Life and Rise

Jiang An came from a family that had depended on agricultural labor and wild greens. His mother raised him after his father died young 321 339.

His belief in fortune-telling began with predictions about his education and wealth. After finding a pouch containing twenty hundred-tael silver notes, he used the money to improve his appearance, hire a storyteller to promote him, and commission poems from poor scholars for use at literary gatherings. Further predictions about examination success and marriage into a powerful family reinforced his trust in the fortune-teller 229.

He placed third in the imperial examinations and attracted Liu Yuyan with his handsome appearance. He married into her family and relied on the Liu family’s resources and connections to advance 90 160 196.

Huahua later reveals that Jiang An had also performed opera at private banquets in his youth. After accepting money from a powerful patron, he arranged the destruction of that patron’s family to conceal their connection 339.

Career and Public Standing

Position / Event	Chapter	Details
Third place in the imperial examinations	90	His youthful appearance and examination success helped establish his prestigious public image.
First-rank official serving in the Ministry of Rites	15 28	Despite his own ministry assignment, he interfered in Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue affairs and made a student his scapegoat.
Demotion to fourth rank	28	His objection to Princess Chaohua marrying Shen Zhiyi backfired. He lost three ranks and six months’ salary.
Chief examiner of the Spring Imperial Examination	232	The emperor accepted the Crown Prince’s proposal to give him responsibility for the examination, creating an opportunity to expose misconduct.
Examination fraud exposed	328 334 335	Chen Yongwang’s inability to answer questions exposed the substitution of his essay. The emperor ordered the top hundred candidates to take another Palace Examination.
Forced opera performer	366	His embezzlement warranted execution, but Liu Yuyan and her father pleaded for mercy. The emperor instead sentenced him to perform opera.

Appearance

• Youthful appearance: Handsome and refined; his appearance on horseback after placing third in the examinations was compared to a refreshing spring breeze 90.
• Persuasive presentation: Even when older, he remained good-looking enough that his staged tears could make him appear pitiable rather than merely weak 339.
• Public apology costume: Wore white robes with loose, disheveled hair while kneeling outside the Marquisate, deliberately presenting himself as an exhausted, suffering father 230.
• After his downfall: Appeared to age more than a decade within a few months. Liu Yuyan could barely recognize the former gentle, refined official 367.

Personality

Jiang An values reputation, career, and financial control above his children’s welfare. After his demotion, he explicitly considers his daughter less important than his career. He resents his sons’ success because their growing influence threatens his control and may enable them to investigate his past 28 160 193.

His preferred approach is to disguise hostility as affection. He uses apologies, gifts, tears, and appeals to filial duty to pressure relatives while preserving the appearance of a caring father or devoted husband. His kneeling performance initially convinces spectators that Jiang Shuyue is cruel and unfilial 189 230 231 245.

He is also vain and deeply superstitious. He believes his charm has secured the devotion of Liu Yuyan and the Qin sisters, while a Daoist’s designation of Shuyue as a “calamity star” becomes justification for abandoning her 90 229 334.

His aggression usually depends on indirect schemes rather than physical confrontation. When faced with Zhou Yunshen, Prince Huai, or the possibility of angering the Empress Dowager, he becomes frightened and retreats. Liu Yuyan ultimately describes him as insecure, selfish, and proud, blaming others whenever his plans fail 231 232 321 367.

Abilities & Skills

Acting and Emotional Manipulation

Jiang An can maintain a gentle, respectable manner while pursuing hostile intentions 16 230 339.

• Presents Qin Wanru’s arrival as an innocent arrangement for a vulnerable relative 16.
• Uses silence, trembling, and tears to suggest grievances without making direct accusations 230.
• Invokes fatherhood, marriage, and concern for elderly relatives to impose guilt 231 245 340.
• His performances become ineffective when Shuyue counters with her own apparently meek, forgiving persona 230 231.

Political and Reputational Scheming

He uses official access, rumors, intermediaries, and family connections to attack others 15 158 160 328.

• Attempts to frame Zhou Yunshen for leaking Military Selection questions; Zhou’s refusal to set the questions blocks the scheme 111.
• Plans false molestation accusations to disqualify Jiang Chen on character grounds 158.
• Adopts a rumor campaign suggesting Chen is guaranteed to place highly, hoping success will then look like cheating 160.
• Substitutes Chen Yongwang’s examination essay and accepts merchants’ money to secure success for their sons 328 361.
• His dependence on the Liu family becomes a major weakness once they withdraw their support 335 340.

Opera Performance

Jiang An performed at private banquets before his official career. This background later determines his punishment when the emperor assigns him to an opera troupe 339 366.

• Usually performs at South Bridge with a troupe associated with the palace 366.
• Is specifically summoned to a palace banquet to play the White Snake Lady 366.
• Becomes dependent on rewards and tips rather than official power or family wealth 366 367.

Baleful Energy

His rage after the family separation begins gathering baleful energy, threatening to turn him into a baleful being 342.

• The transformation does not complete: Zhou Yunshen repeatedly kicks him and smashes him into a wall, dispersing the energy 342.
• No completed cultivation advancement is documented for him.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Plotting Against His Wife and Children

The early family revelations identify Jiang An as the architect of an infant substitution involving Shuyue and Jiang Liuli. He intended to have the real Shuyue killed, but the assigned man spared her because he believed she could later be sold for a high price 15.

With Old Madam Jiang’s assistance, he brings Qin Wanru into the residence as a supposed cousin while concealing their longstanding affair. Shuyue and Jiang Chen later overhear plans to have Liuli slowly poison Liu Yuyan with Thousand-Day Dream, making her insane so the conspirators can seize the household 16 18.

His marriage arrangements are similarly financial. He originally wanted Liuli to marry Zhou Yunshen for access to the Marquisate’s holdings, but substituted Shuyue when Liuli refused the match 16 18 340.

Exposure of the Qin Affairs and Liuli’s Parentage

Scandals involving Qin Wanru and her younger sister become public. Jiang An attempts to contain the damage through weeping declarations of devotion, but illustrated stories commissioned by Zhou Yunshen spread the affair through the capital 75 79.

The household later learns that Qin Wanru’s child with Jiang An was stillborn. She bought a replacement baby from Chen Hao, Jiang An’s trusted confidant, who continued blackmailing her and sleeping with her. Matching bird-shaped birthmarks expose Chen Hao as Liuli’s biological father, leaving Jiang An stunned 90.

He nevertheless continues defending Liuli after her misconduct at the National Temple. His family rejects their explanations, and Liu Yuyan eventually orders her belongings sold or burned and tells Jiang An to stay away from her courtyard 91 94.

Sabotaging Jiang Chen

Jiang An initially intends to ruin Chen’s reputation so the Lin family will reject him, expecting the failed marriage to destroy his son emotionally. The successful betrothal frustrates that plan and enrages him over wealth he expected to control 25 26.

He escalates to false accusations and rumors before the Military Selection. Mei Niang secretly informs Liu Yuyan, allowing the Liu family to respond with military discussion gatherings that strengthen Chen’s reputation instead. Chen ultimately takes first place 158 160 161 193.

At Chen’s wedding, held at the Liu residence, guests openly mock Jiang An’s diminished standing. Chen has him plied with alcohol and left in a guest room. Liuli reaches him there, strips and binds him, stuffs his trousers into his mouth, and decorates him with a large red flower 196.

Attacks on Shuyue and Her Marriage

Jiang An questions Shuyue’s parentage after she is falsely accused of adultery. Liu Yuyan rejects his accusations and orders him to apologize, while Jiang Wujie warns that the family’s future depends on Shuyue’s forgiveness 224 230.

His public apology is another attempt to damage her reputation. Shuyue overturns the crowd’s sympathy by recounting his failure to defend her and invoking Zhou Yunshen’s investigation. Zhou then forces Jiang An to retreat 230 231 232.

Later confrontations also cost him money: Shuyue obtains his handprint on a 50,000-tael IOU, witnessed by Commander Qin, while Murong Tianci pressures him into offering compensation after Jiang An calls him a ghost 292.

Drugging Scheme and Pregnancy Hostility

Jiang An obtains an addictive dark paste from Lan Ruoyue after asking whether it will make Liu Yuyan obey him. Lan warns that even slight exposure can have lasting effects and that an excessive dose could kill her 302.

Liu Yuyan subsequently discovers tampered sachets and aromatics handled by Chunhua. She has the substances altered and redirected to Old Madam Jiang, intending to turn her husband’s preparations against his own household 320.

News of Shuyue’s pregnancy further alarms Jiang An. He privately wants to eliminate the unborn child, while publicly lecturing her about pregnancy, noble conduct, and family reputation. Prince Huai forces him to spend nearly 30,000 taels on gifts and supplements for her 320 321.

Divorce and Separation

At the examination scandal’s public reckoning, Liu Yuyan requests a divorce. Jiang Wujie produces a blood-written Daoist confession identifying Jiang An as the man who ordered Shuyue abandoned after she was labeled a “calamity star” 334.

The emperor grants the divorce and orders Jiang An to leave the residence within three days. The Liu family asserts Liu Yuyan’s ownership of her dowry property. Jiang An’s attempt to win her back with music ends with him being drenched in dirty wash water and becoming the subject of satirical paintings and stories 335.

His subsequent appeals fail as Shuyue exposes the substituted marriage and Wujie contradicts him. Liu Yuyan publicly recounts twenty years of mistreatment and slaps him twice. Huahua reports that his remaining fortune has fallen to four points 340.

Liu Yuyan then announces that her children will take the Liu surname and severs ties with the Jiangs. Jiang An’s rage nearly produces a baleful transformation, but Zhou Yunshen prevents it 342.

Final Downfall

Without Liu support, Jiang An lives in hardship with Old Madam Jiang and Liuli. Merchants demand repayment for examination bribes, while investigators accelerate preparations to arrest him. Huahua reveals that he still has just under 70,000 taels concealed in his trousers 361.

His embezzlement is ultimately uncovered. Although spared execution, he is forced into opera performance and publicly displayed at a palace banquet. Creditors and his mother’s theft of his hidden money further deplete his resources; he eventually lives with the troupe rather than endure her demands 366.

When he again approaches Liu Yuyan, she rejects his blame-shifting and reminds him that he cannot leave the Imperial City or find another patron. His remaining livelihood is to perform and accept tips 367.

Original Storyline

In the original novel’s projected course, Jiang An’s schemes leave Wujie crippled and Chen a despised wastrel. He retains a virtuous public reputation, receives imperial commendation, and becomes Minister of Revenue—a future that does not occur in the altered storyline 18.

Relationships

• Liu Yuyan / Madam Jiang — Former wife and principal source of his wealth and connections. She exposes his abuse, obtains an imperial divorce, and reclaims her dowry property 160 334 335 340.
• Jiang Shuyue / Liu Shuyue — Biological daughter whom he abandons, neglects, and repeatedly tries to discredit. She counters his manipulation and embraces the Liu surname after the family separation 334 340 342.
• Jiang Wujie — Eldest son and intended victim of the household conspiracy. He ultimately produces evidence against Jiang An and publicly contradicts his claims 16 18 334 340.
• Jiang Chen — Second son. Jiang An tries to destroy his marriage prospects and Military Selection standing; Chen retaliates during his wedding celebrations 26 158 160 196.
• Old Madam Jiang — Mother and accomplice who conceals his affair and supports attempts to claim Liu Yuyan’s property. Their relationship deteriorates into resentment after their downfall 16 339 361 366.
• Qin Wanru — Longtime mistress presented as a cousin. She conspires with him against Liu Yuyan while deceiving him about Liuli’s parentage 16 18 90.
• Jiang Liuli — Daughter he raised and favored, later exposed as Chen Hao’s biological child. His attachment survives the revelation, though she eventually humiliates him and seeks his hidden money 90 196 292 361.
• Chen Hao — Trusted confidant, Liuli’s biological father, and Qin Wanru’s blackmailer and lover 90.
• Mei Niang — Advises his rumor campaign against Chen, then secretly warns Liu Yuyan to protect her own interests 160.
• Lan Ruoyue — Supplies the addictive substance he hopes to use to control Liu Yuyan 302.
• Zhou Yunshen — Son-in-law and persistent opponent. Protects Shuyue, blocks Jiang An’s political schemes, and prevents his baleful transformation 111 232 342.
• Prince Huai — Uses Jiang An’s fear of imperial authority to pressure and embarrass him, particularly after Shuyue’s pregnancy 320 321.

Notable Quotes

“Don’t worry. Sooner or later, the Jiang Family will be ours for the taking.” 18

“My friend, I appreciate your kindness, but this is my own affair. I did wrong, so I deserve to be punished. Please take the water back.”
— During his staged apology outside the Marquisate 230

“Yue’er, I am your birth father, after all. Even if we haven’t spent much time together, a father and daughter are joined at the heart. I was the one who arranged your marriage, too. Surely you can’t disregard our bond?” 340