Xie Jin'an

Biodata

Background / History

Before his grandfather received a marquisate, Xie Jin’an lived with his family in a border town. He and Xu Rourou grew up as childhood sweethearts, playing husband and wife before becoming sexually involved at twelve. Their relationship continued before and during his marriage to Liu Wan 11 12.

At sixteen, he approached the Liu Minister’s Residence with winter-plum blossoms and asked for Liu Wan’s hand, invoking Marquis Jing’an’s earlier rescue of her father. The Xie household needed the Liu family’s help because Marquis Jing’an had been imprisoned on suspicion of treason. Liu Wan married into the residence with the Death-Exemption Token left by her aunt, saving the household and allowing the marquis an opportunity to prove his innocence 12 37.

Jin’an privately acknowledges that marrying Liu Wan was not his wish, though he appreciates her intelligence and household management. Over their five-year marriage, she endures neglect while using her dowry to support the residence and its failing businesses 6 11 23 32.

He also has a history of imprisonment for an unspecified incident. The emperor recalls the household invoking the Old Marquis’s service to obtain leniency, while Qing Da credits Liu Wan’s pleading with securing Jin’an’s release 13 18.

Appearance

• Handsome and refined: His elegant robes, gentle manner, and scholarly appearance support his public image as a considerate husband 3 6 11 18.
• Physically weak: He approaches Liu Wan with trembling legs before their palace visit, struggles to lift Xu Rourou, and delivers kicks that Qing Da privately considers feeble 12 20 25.
• Temporary blackened appearance: After the mountain-road disaster, he returns battered and swollen, with his face darkened beyond recognition. Liu Shi’s difficult-to-remove ink—not merely the lightning strike—accounts for the persistent blackness 20 21 23.

Personality

Jin’an values family standing and treats his children partly as assets. On hearing of Wanwan’s beauty, he imagines her marrying into a powerful family to benefit the residence. By contrast, he carefully chooses Huaishan’s name to express expansive ambition and insists that his biological son should not be reduced to concubine-born status. He accepts the name “Zhaodi” for his daughter because he considers a girl’s name unimportant 3 4.

His outward courtesy conceals entitlement and a volatile temper. He expects Liu Wan to obey him and rescue the household from scandals, then blames her when she refuses. When humiliated, he attacks servants, threatens to sell Qing Da, and beats a physician unable to remove the ink from his face. His restraint toward Liu Wan later stems partly from knowing that the residence depends on her 13 14 20 23 27.

He is susceptible to flattery, nostalgia, and superstition. Xu Rourou repeatedly restores his affection by appealing to their childhood bond, while Madam Li’s sympathy encourages his suspicions about Liu Wan. Frightened by the household’s misfortunes, he pays Master Yuantong and gratefully accepts a fabricated protective talisman 11 16 17 25.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Attempted Infant Swap and Concealed Parentage

• Jin’an’s newborn daughter is meant to be replaced by his son with Xu Rourou, allowing the boy to inherit the marquis title while the girl is discarded. Liu Wan wakes and stops the exchange 1.
• His private thoughts confirm that he expected the swap to succeed and knew the midwife had tampered with Liu Wan’s medicine. He wonders how she woke at the crucial moment 3.
• He neglects Liu Wan after childbirth while staying with Rourou, then presses his grandmother to secure Huaishan’s status. Rourou enters the residence disguised as the boy’s wet nurse 3.
• He enthusiastically presents Huaishan to relatives, but his smile freezes when Liu Wan arrives unexpectedly. He subsequently yields to his grandmother’s decision to call Wanwan “Zhaodi” and arrange Rourou’s admission as a concubine 4 5.

Fifth Princess Rescue Scheme and Imperial Punishment

• At Wanwan’s full-month banquet, he presents the “Love Evening Pavilion” and gifts for his daughter. The occasion also conceals a scheme to push the Fifth Princess into the pond so that his rescue would force an advantageous marriage 6 7.
• He jumps into the water but rescues Xu Rourou instead. Xie Zi Mu later admits that he pushed the wet nurse into the pond to disrupt the plan 7 12.
• The Fifth Princess discovers the Late Emperor’s Jade Bead Strand on Huaishan, bringing imperial scrutiny to the supposedly adopted boy. Jin’an cannot prevent her departure to report the matter 8.
• When Liu Wan directly asks whether Huaishan is his son, he avoids answering. His grandmother falsely identifies the child as Xie Jinqiu’s and claims the birth mother is dead 10.
• At court, Jin’an denies intending to compromise the princess, and his grandmother assumes responsibility. The emperor confines her to Charity Hall and docks Jin’an one year’s salary 12 13.
• He blames Liu Wan for not pleading for mercy and attempts to block her departure. Xia Siheng’s guard breaks his hand for disrespecting her newly granted third-rank title 13 14.

Failed Reconciliation and Mountain-Road Humiliation

• Jin’an attempts to reconcile with Liu Wan after recognizing that her imperial title could help the household. She rejects his touch and tells him to spend more time with Rourou instead 16.
• He accompanies Liu Wan to Golden Mountain Temple to retrieve Madam Li, then gives his mother a selective account of his injury. He accepts her unfounded suspicions about Liu Wan’s chastity and relationship with the Ninth Prince 16 17.
• He leaves the temple with Madam Li and Xu Xinbo without informing Liu Wan, stranding her and Wanwan during the rain. Lightning subsequently destroys their carriage, and the three tumble down the mountain 17.
• They return so battered and blackened that the household cannot identify them until Jin’an speaks. He tries to punish Qing Da for beating them and sending them to the authorities, but Liu Wan and others defend the servant’s actions 20.
• Unable to wash away the ink, he fears losing his official post through absence from court. He seeks Yuantong’s help and becomes jealous when Rourou visits Jinqiu with Huaishan 23 24.

Flood Relief and the “Coal Mine Spirits”

• Wanwan recalls an original-story future in which Jin’an gains merit from flood relief, receives a promotion, and improves Rourou’s status. This is foreknowledge, not a confirmed advancement in the altered storyline 21.
• Jin’an submits a memorial volunteering for relief after hearing that the disaster should be easy to resolve. He remains on leave because of his appearance 24.
• He expects an imperial decree to appoint him to the relief mission. Instead, it orders the capture of three “Coal Mine Spirits”; the eunuch identifies Jin’an, Madam Li, and Xu Xinbo as those spirits and has them bound and transported to Anyuan County as auspicious mascots 27 28.
• Ministers later credit the three with helping control the floods. The emperor agrees to keep them in Anyuan longer 40.

Equipment / Items

• Buddhist relic / Sharira: Received from Madam Li for Huaishan after Yuantong predicts that the child will enter the imperial genealogy. Jin’an prioritizes using it to protect his son 17 23.
• Yuantong’s talisman: Purchased through a substantial payment to the monk. Jin’an is told to bow to it three times daily and seek divine forgiveness; Yuantong privately admits that he invented it 25.

Relationships

• Liu Wan — Wife and principal household manager. Her resources saved the Xie family, but his concealed affair and continued neglect lead her to withdraw financial support and refuse to cover its misconduct 11 12 23.
• Xu Rourou — Childhood sweetheart, mistress, and later concubine. He repeatedly promises her better standing, although their relationship develops into quarrels over exposure, jealousy, and her reluctance to attend him while he is blackened 11 24 25 36.
• Xie Huaishan — Biological son with Rourou. Jin’an seeks legitimate status for him while concealing his parentage behind adoption and the false claim that Jinqiu fathered him 3 10.
• Xie Wanwan / Xia Wanwan — Daughter in the Xie household. He sees her potential value as a marriage connection, while she condemns his treatment of Liu Wan and celebrates his humiliations 3 14 20.
• Xie Zi Mu and Xie Zi Xing — Adopted sons selected by the Xie family and raised by Liu Wan. Zi Xing believes neither their father nor grandmother likes them and later deliberately destroys a gift from Jin’an to his mother 10 27 34.
• Old Madam Xie — Paternal grandmother and principal accomplice in securing Huaishan’s position. Jin’an usually yields to her, though he recognizes that her schemes helped cause the family’s punishment 4 16.
• Madam Li — Mother. He seeks her sympathy and support against Liu Wan; they are later sent to Anyuan together 16 17 28.
• Xie Jinqiu — Youngest brother and nominal father of Huaishan under the household’s cover story. Jinqiu’s growing attention to Rourou and the child provokes Jin’an’s jealousy 10 24 33.
• Xia Siheng — Ninth Prince, whose attendant breaks Jin’an’s hand. Jin’an recognizes that he cannot afford to offend the prince but suspects his intervention indicates an improper connection with Liu Wan 14 16.

Notable Quotes

“Grandmother, what are we to do about Huai Shan’s parentage? He is my son. How can he be a concubine-born child?” 3

“A married woman obeys her husband. Who said you could go without my consent?” 14