Jiang Yingcheng

Biodata

Power Progression

Her documented progression concerns Merit Points, system purchases, and system-supplied equipment, rather than cultivation realms or combat ranks. Her later reputation as a martial prodigy is an exaggeration of victories achieved with hidden weapons 10 27 28 318.

Background / History

Jiang Yingcheng remembers being a college student about to enter her second year. In that memory, she died while attempting to rescue a woman who had jumped into the water, then awakened in the body of Great Rui’s eleventh princess. However, 007 tells her that her previous identity was actually the system 996; she initially rejects the idea that she could have been an intangible string of data 1.

The Heavenly Dao reshapes her speech, behavior, and mental maturity to fit her young body. Her former-life memories become emotionally detached stories rather than experiences she can fully draw upon. By the time she defends Jiang Xingran in the snowy courtyard, she largely acts through a child’s instincts 1.

Her princess identity originates in a baby swap. Fang Siwan, then Consort Fang, exchanged her newborn son, Lin Jinshu, for the daughter of her elder sister, Fang Yiwan, to protect him from Noble Consort Rou. Yingcheng is therefore Fang Siwan’s biological niece and adopted daughter. After learning the truth, she remains devoted to the woman who raised her 8 27.

According to 007, the original plot treats Yingcheng as a “fake princess.” After the male lead takes the throne, she faces rejection, an abusive marriage, and execution. Her mission is to survive until the story ends, initially by securing the protection of Jiang Xingran, the seventh prince destined to restore Great Rui 1 4.

As her bonds with the imperial family deepen, Yingcheng increasingly acts to protect relatives, servants, soldiers, and officials rather than merely secure a survival backer. Her purchases, warning notes, maps, and investigations become resources for Great Rui’s military and political recovery 115 124 392 528 545.

Her concealed parentage eventually becomes part of an active political crisis. While she and Jinshu are away from the palace, Prince Jing tells them that their flight has condemned Consort Wan and caused the Crown Prince to order them wanted. Yingcheng recognizes that he is lying rather than accepting his account as fact. She subsequently uses selective revelations about the Cold Palace labyrinth and Prince Xin’s parentage to disturb the princes’ alliance 432 438 440.

After finding her injured father in Beiming and helping care for him, she continues to fear that exposure of the swap will end their relationship. Jiang Yanchuan finally tells her that Consort Wan confessed to protect her from a charge of deceiving the emperor. He accepts the circumstances behind the swap, reassures her that she will always have him as her father, and promises continuing paternal care for Jinshu as well 446 448 466 467.

By the aftermath of Prince Xin’s failed rebellion, Yingcheng holds the title Princess Mingcheng. She remains a familiar presence in Chongyun Hall, checks the records of newly appointed officials, and celebrates her secure place in the imperial family when the year’s first snow recalls the beginning of her story 545.

Appearance

Yingcheng has fair, delicate skin, a rounded figure, and pronounced baby fat. Her small stature repeatedly limits what she can reach or lift 1 8 14.

• Eyes: Clear, almond-shaped eyes that adults find especially expressive 13 39.
• Smile: Two faint dimples appear when she smiles 28.
• Hair: Worn in two carefully arranged buns during the assassin confrontation 33.
• Voice: Soft, sweet, and babyish, including when she is angry 2 11.
• Clothing: Padded winter skirts and jackets; her clothes are noticeably finer than those of Jiang Xingran and his mother 1 14 33.
• Early injury: A forehead wound from being pushed down the stone steps, treated with ointment intended to prevent scarring 1 4.
• Growth and weight: Her festive clothes become too tight after she grows rounder over two months. She is upset by Qingbi’s implied suggestion that she lose weight 209.
• Campaign appearance: While tending her injured father, she wears the clothes from their earlier meeting and has soot on her face and sweat around her nose and temples from brewing medicine 448.

Personality

Yingcheng strongly craves family affection. She freely clings to the normally intimidating emperor, asks to be picked up, and delights in being held. Learning that Fang Siwan is not her birth mother does not diminish her attachment: she remembers being tucked in, fed the best portions of meals, and sung lullabies 4 8 39.

Her generosity often takes the form of sharing things she treasures. She gives pastries to Jiang Xingran, saves sweets for her father, decorates Xingran’s shabby bag with doll charms, and sacrifices her desired treats to buy medicine for Noble Consort Qing. She also accepts unwanted lessons so that Lin Jinshu can remain near Fang Siwan 6 11 28 41 49.

She is mischievous, impulsive, and proud of her supposed brilliance. Her plans frequently involve fake crying, staged falls, or excuses to avoid school. This behavior is not always harmless: her accusation against Zitang results in a flogging even though the maid did not kick her. Her anger at cruelty can also become ruthless, as when she privately suggests poisoned wine for Zuilan 13 23 31 46.

Despite her boldness, she remains easily frightened and sensitive to rejection. She worries that adults dislike her and fears exposing her unusual knowledge because 007 warns that she could be treated as supernatural and burned alive 5 18 38.

Her attachment to her father becomes particularly intense. She repeatedly admires his appearance, defends his character, and regards his safety as more important than her own obedience or savings. Believing him endangered can drive her to reckless escapes or overwhelming violence; afterward, she can suffer nightmares and repeated waking visions of his death 2 317 421 446 471.

Her confidence in frightening situations is inconsistent rather than absolute. She cheerfully chats with Zhong Chengwang during a largely staged hostage crisis and taunts Prince Jing while guarded by powerful allies, but is frightened and inexperienced against Chi Yimian and shudders at the bloody aftermath of an assassination attack 142 171 250 552.

Yingcheng enjoys scandal, beauty, praise, and wealth. She is easily diverted by handsome adults, attractive women, soldiers’ physiques, pastries, and the possibility of hidden treasure. Although initially embarrassed by Xian Town’s exaggerated claims about her martial prowess, she soon enjoys the crowd’s flattery 84 115 318 474.

Her growing strategic instincts coexist with childish impracticality. She considers using rumors against Prince Xin, promoting treasure-related business across Great Rui, and shaping foreign opinion against Yishui, yet still devises escape plans that overlook her short legs, hidden guards, and the emperor’s experience 254 329 342 520.

Her loyalty is reciprocal. She wants to protect unnamed soldiers, repay officials who spent their own money to help her, and equip the relatives she loves with medicine and treasures. This gratitude can nevertheless embarrass its recipients because she freely investigates—and unintentionally broadcasts—their private affairs 115 392 527 528.

Abilities & Skills

Overheard Inner Voice

Certain people can hear Yingcheng’s thoughts—and the system exchanges conveyed through them—without her speaking aloud. She does not realize that her supposedly private conversations are being overheard 3 7 24.

• Apparent condition: Emperor Mingze concludes that mutual affection enables the phenomenon. Yingcheng’s liking Jiang Xingran alone does not initially allow him to hear her 7.
• Known listeners: Include the emperor, Changshun, Tan Songsong, Fang Siwan, Cheng Yunmeng, Noble Consort Qing, Hu Hongyuan, Lu Yao, Duke Wang, Yuan Liangping, and some court officials 6 8 12 14 18 24 25 35 37.
• Later development: Jiang Qiuyu unexpectedly hears her thoughts after she welcomes him as a “loving” brother 50.
• Sibling development: Jiang Xingran and Lin Jinshu both begin hearing her thoughts during the confrontation with Huai’an. Their mothers later explain the mutual-affection prerequisite, surprising them because they had treated her coldly 60 68.
• Additional listeners: Later evidence includes Jiang Tinghuai, Kan Nianzhen, Kan Ruifeng, the Grand Empress Dowager, Tan Xinran, Cheng Yongyan, Liaochen, Yu Xingmian, Jiang Lifeng, Guan Zhili, and further military and civil officials 70 71 84 101 122 161 209 369 531.
• Appointment-related observation: Han Jing and Spring Renewal Valley’s residents believe their ability began after the emperor gave them official posts. Liang Qilüe also hears her thoughts after receiving an appointment and affectionately accepting her. The episode records their interpretation, not a conclusive replacement for the earlier affection condition 464.
• Practical effect: Her inner commentary supplies leads about corruption, assassination, foreign agents, and future threats to royal children 5 22 25 37.
• Later political reach: Her thoughts expose rebel troop movements, identify untrustworthy officials, reveal an enemy king’s actual escape route, and disclose the affiliations of foreign spies 474 500 528 545.
• Limits: Not everyone hears her. Those excluded are often bewildered by the reactions of listeners 37 39.
• Secrecy: The emperor instructs listeners not to reveal the phenomenon to people who cannot hear her 42. Liaochen receives a specific warning not to tell Yingcheng herself 122.
• Charm-associated transmission: During her search for her injured father, Jiang Yanchuan hears her thoughts through the charms she gave him and realizes that she is nearby 446.

System-Assisted Intelligence

007 supplies knowledge of the fictional world’s plot, allowing Yingcheng to learn hidden identities, past wrongdoing, and predicted events. This is system-provided information, not demonstrated independent omniscience 4 10 35.

• Identifies the false top scholar as the Northern Frontier’s second prince, Su Hongzhen 24 25.
• Locates a surviving witness to Duke Wang’s framing 35.
• Provides information about the fourth prince’s theft, scapegoating, and the Pan Family’s connection to Gu Yurou 49.
• Supplies a map and verbal directions to the hidden assassin 31.
• Explains that Ji Xiangyang’s restored strength will last no more than another two minutes, enabling Yingcheng to stall 33.
• Limits: She struggles with a map containing only two red dots, forgets important information, and sometimes loses 007’s immediate assistance when it becomes distracted or goes offline 5 31 32 49.
• Supplies information about spies in Chancellor Tan’s household and predicted dangers from Tan Yueze and Tan Siyuan 68.
• Reveals Beiming’s mineral wealth and its abduction of mechanism master Li Hongjun 71.
• Exposes Su Hongzhen’s child-swapping and succession scheme, including his poisoning of the Northern Frontier’s king and drugging of the First Prince 92 93.
• Uncovers Song Liqun’s bribery and disclosure of the emperor’s itinerary, followed by the private-army conspiracy reported by He Puyu 99 101.
• Identifies Zeng Wencheng’s sale of the emperor’s birth details and Rou’s former attachment to Prince Jing 126.
• Identifies Xing Hengyi, “The Child,” as a Martial Arts Grandmaster using the Bone-Shrinking Technique for disguise, assassination, and spying 238 239.
• Reveals Xu Suxue’s origin as a shadow guard disguised as a Zhujin princess and the future threat she poses to the Crown Prince 259 260.
• Locates useful people, including a mechanism master, a water-management expert, and a farming specialist, whose skills could benefit Great Rui 459.
• Reveals the King of Beiming’s southern escape route and separate treasure caches 474.
• Identifies the orphanage captives’ connection to Yanchu’s Third Prince and exposes additional officials and military forces supporting Prince Xin’s rebellion 500 528.
• Protective withholding: System Bro refuses to let her inspect the redwood box’s secrets because of the danger they could pose if her false-princess identity is exposed 239.
• Reliability limits: A mysterious attacker enters an underground chamber that the system had previously judged safe, and System Bro again falls silent or cuts off during her later search for her father 238 472.

Merit Shop Access

Yingcheng can exchange points earned through good deeds for items from 007’s shop 10.

• Available categories include food, everyday supplies, and knowledge absent from the setting 10.
• Medicinal purchases include a Poison-Removing Pill intended to counter Noble Consort Qing’s poisoning 28.
• Limit: Purchases depend on her point balance; helping Qing consumes the points she could otherwise spend on treats 28.
• Later medicinal resources include strengthening pills, Flesh-Regenerating Pills, Bone-Mending Salve, Medicine Balls, and potent medicinal herbs 81 392 464 466.
• Military offerings include mechanical designs, weapon blueprints, and advanced strategies. Her supplied blueprints and tactics are eventually manufactured and practiced by Great Rui’s forces 115 398.
• Purchasable intelligence includes martial legends’ exclusive manuals, wealthy merchants’ private secrets, and Zhujin’s international spy network. She considers these as gifts but tries to conserve points instead 329.
• Her accumulated reserves eventually permit large purchases for many loved ones without a substantial visible change in her balance. Exact totals remain unstated 392.
• She is willing to spend her stored points on an emergency rescue of her father, although the supplied scene does not establish such an expenditure 471.

Improvisation and Social Leverage

Yingcheng combines her childlike appearance, princess status, and access to powerful adults to confront people who mistreat others 15 30.

• Brings Changshun into Miaoxi’s false summons, exposing the maid’s connection to Noble Consort Rou 15.
• Stages a crying performance against Zuilan while avoiding broken porcelain and dirty food on the ground 30.
• Falsely announces the emperor’s arrival to distract Ji Xiangyang and create an opening for his defeat 33.
• Uses snacks and small gifts to approach guarded siblings 6 49 50.
• Combat limitation: She has no demonstrated martial-arts training and explicitly wishes she knew martial arts 38.
• Protects Xingran from scrutiny by appearing guilty rather than revealing his involvement in an earlier attack on Huai’an 60.
• Uses tears, visible injuries, and pointed accusations to steer the Lin family dispute, privately acknowledging that she has falsely accused the Lin boys 110.
• Fabricates a story about being knocked down by a burly eunuch to direct Lu Yao toward a suspected fake eunuch 200.
• Uses selective truths about the Crown Prince’s punishments to make Fang Yiwan withdraw her request to see Jinshu 417.
• Gives Prince Jing genuine but incomplete information about the underground labyrinth, then stages an apparent return to her body to manipulate his doubts 440.
• Attempts to turn public accounts of the Yishui attack and invented stories about Prince Xin into political weapons 254 520.
• Limits: Her performances can be exposed. Jiang Yanchuan retrieves the threatening letter hidden in her sleeve and reveals that she herself wrote it 406.

Divine-Vessel Impersonation

Yingcheng repeatedly presents herself as Venerable Jiayue or a divine vessel. Her apparent supernatural insight is produced through system-assisted access to personal information and theatrical delivery; the supplied events do not establish actual divine possession 86 235 369.

• Publicly exposes Xi Zhenghao’s childhood secrets after he challenges her presence in the hall. His humiliation helps persuade Kou Wencheng to kneel and welcome Venerable Jiayue 86.
• Uses the divine-vessel act while consulting Luo Fuying’s life record, intending both to support her claimed identity and expose the Yishui princess 235.
• Repeats the act before a Pingxu envoy; Jiang Lifeng hears her delighted private appraisal of her own performance 369.
• Recognizes that bringing Jiayue back too soon after she has supposedly “awakened” may make the deception obvious, and considers a written warning instead 372.

Hidden-Weapon Use

Yingcheng can operate concealed weapon cases and distribute them to allies. Their effectiveness depends heavily on circumstance: Chi Yimian avoids repeated volleys, while Scarface’s bandits are overwhelmed by her large supply of boxes 250 317.

• Uses Poison Needles against Chi Yimian and shares replenished cases with the other children 250.
• Personally shoots down Scarface’s bandits after being terrified by the apparent threat to her father 317.
• Supplies weapon cases that Lei Zhixin uses in a coordinated defense against assassins 552.
• Supply distinction: System Bro demonstrably replenishes her pouches, and witnesses repeatedly question the number of boxes she produces. The evidence does not establish a formally unlimited ammunition reserve 250 317 552.
• Physical limits: She nearly falls while trying to dance with a heavy sword and is easily outmatched by Jiang San when swinging a staff. Hidden-weapon victories do not remove her lack of demonstrated martial training 260 495 496.
• Poison uncertainty: Qiao Yunbai invents a dramatic account of the weapons’ poison effects; his claims about bleeding, rot, and destruction over three days are not established properties of her weapons 272.

Mapping, Recruitment, and Practical Care

Yingcheng increasingly turns system information into concrete assistance through maps, notes, recruitment, and basic caregiving 124 448 459 545.

• Maps and warnings: Draws topographic maps identifying treasure stores, useful witnesses, and mineral deposits. Her maps guide military searches and later become tangible sources of wealth for Great Rui 475 508 545.
• Writing: Initially relies heavily on Yuan Liangping and other adults for warning notes. By the witchcraft-doll incident, she has practiced writing with her brothers and “Brother Yuan” and plans to make handwritten notes herself 68 125.
• Recruitment: Uses warmth, food, medicine, promises of opportunity, and knowledge of personal grievances to seek capable allies, including Liaochen, Zhong Chengwang, Yu Xingmian, and the Spring Renewal Valley residents 122 143 160 459 464 466.
• Treasure enterprise: Proposes a partnership in which she supplies treasure maps, Ying Sinan handles formations and traps, and Ying Minxing manages marketing. This is a proposed venture, not proof that every planned business is realized 342.
• Caregiving: During her father’s two days of unconsciousness, helps change dressings, wrap bandages, wipe his face, and comb his hair. She also learns to brew medicine and cook porridge 448.
• Public reassurance: Helps abandoned Jiayu commoners to their feet and tells them that her father will care for Rui’s people, encouraging trust and disclosures about hidden stores 477.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Pastries and sweets — Her favorite treats and frequent gifts to relatives; she carries them in paper bundles or inside her clothes 6 7 11.
• Poison-Removing Pill — Purchased for Noble Consort Qing, who accepts it as a possible remedy for damage caused by Rou’s poisoning 28 29.
• Great Tonic Pill fragment — Given to Emperor Mingze as a “little snack”; Yingcheng acknowledges privately that its nourishing effect is modest 28.
• Gold beans — Intended to buy better food for Cheng Yunmeng and Jiang Xingran; later used in gifts, inducements, and her schemes involving the adults who accompany her 28 152 329.
• Backpack and stuffed-doll charms — Uses the charms to cover Xingran’s worn bag and gives another to Jiang Qiuyu as a token of sibling affection 49 50.
• Warning notes and topographic maps — Convey intelligence about spies, military dangers, treasure stores, mineral deposits, and witnesses. She often recruits others to write or assist with them 68 124 475 508 528 545.
• Hidden Weapon Cases and Poison Needles — System-supplied concealed weapons used against Chi Yimian, Scarface’s bandits, and later assassins. The emperor publicly claims that he gave her the weapons for protection, shielding her from questions about their origin 250 254 317 552.
• Flesh-Regenerating Pills and Bone-Mending Salve — Redeemed in bulk for the people she cares about; the pills are described as especially useful for external injuries 392.
• Medicine Balls and medicinal herbs — Distributed during her recruitment of Spring Renewal Valley residents; her medicinal supplies also aid Lu Jingchu’s recovery 464 466.
• Potent Knockout Powder — Intended to incapacitate her guardians so she can search for her father. She scatters powder over the apparent sleepers during an escape that the adults secretly facilitate 471 472.
• Charms given to Jiang Yanchuan — Associated with his ability to hear her thoughts while she approaches him during the mountain search 446.
• Caregiving bundle — Contains clean clothes, bandages, and pastries bought before she sets out to find her injured father 446.
• Warm bead — Given to Guan Zhili as a meeting gift outside Jiayu City 475.
• Rare treasures — Secretly stuffs numerous treasures into Jiang Tinghuai’s robe while hugging him; he notices but allows her to believe the surprise has succeeded 527.
• Improvised staff — Wields an oversized wooden staff during the orphanage uprising. Jiang San cuts it in half and later kicks away the broken remainder 495 496.
• Redwood box — Brings the box from Prince Xin’s hidden chamber to the emperor. A dismantlable jeweled hairpin among its ornaments conceals a note 239.
• Witchcraft doll — Planted in her sweet box with the emperor’s birth date and hour as apparent incriminating evidence; not a demonstrated magical tool belonging to her 125.
• Threatening letter — Writes a letter threatening her father, then tries to conceal it during her accusation against Wei Jianyun’s group. Its discovery exposes her deception 406.

Relationships

• Jiang Yanchuan / Emperor Mingze — Her acknowledged imperial father. Her uninhibited affection draws unusual tenderness from him, while her thoughts guide investigations and state decisions 4 22 25 39. She later finds and nurses him while he is injured, repeatedly risks disobedience to stay near him, and equips him with protective supplies. Once her parentage is openly discussed, he explicitly promises that she will always remain his daughter and receive his love 446 448 467 474.
• Fang Siwan / Consort Fang / Consort Wan — Adoptive mother and biological aunt. Yingcheng values her daily care over blood ties and tries to reunite her with Jinshu 8 10 41. Siwan confesses the swap to protect Yingcheng from being charged with deceiving the emperor, and Yingcheng urgently defends her motives when she learns of the confession 467.
• Fang Yiwan — Biological mother. 007’s account exposes her manipulation of Jinshu and apparent ambition to become empress dowager through him 8 27. Yingcheng later counters her attempt to obtain access to Jinshu through the Crown Prince, suspects her connection to Prince Jing, and refuses to regard her as her mother 417 421 469.
• 007 / System Bro — System companion, adviser, and shop provider. Yingcheng calls it “System Bro”; their exchanges mix guidance with teasing and exasperation 1 10 13. It replenishes her hidden weapons, guides treasure searches and rescues, and sometimes withholds information to protect her, although its silence or interruptions can heighten her anxiety 239 250 329 446 472.
• Jiang Xingran — Seventh imperial brother and intended survival backer. His distrust stems partly from the previous Yingcheng helping Huai’an accuse him. Her protection gradually earns practical gestures of gratitude, although he continues questioning her changed behavior 20 30 48 50. He begins hearing her thoughts when she shields him from scrutiny, later offers to replace her as Zhong Chengwang’s hostage, and remains part of her protective sibling circle 60 68 142.
• Cheng Yunmeng / Consort Lan — Xingran’s mother, whom Yingcheng calls Auntie Yunmeng. Yingcheng helps her, shares food, and exposes plots against her household; Cheng comes to regard her as a rescuer 14 15 29. Information from Yingcheng’s thoughts guides the search of a Cold Palace well, where a letter offers evidence supporting Cheng’s long-delayed grievance 53.
• Lin Jinshu — Biological cousin and study companion; Fang Siwan’s swapped-out son and the original story’s male lead. Yingcheng seeks closeness despite his jealousy and resentment of her pampered life 8 40 41 50. She calls him her little brother, defends him against Huai’an and the Lin household, proposes that he live near the emperor, and coordinates with him while dealing with Prince Jing. Both children receive reassurance of their place in Jiang Yanchuan’s family 60 110 113 440 467.
• Jiang Qiuyu — Eighth imperial brother. She welcomes him into her group and vows to protect him after learning of Huai’an’s predicted abuse 50. He offers himself as a substitute hostage for her, though her thoughts also expose her prank of placing bugs in his pouch 142.
• Jiang Tinghuai / Crown Prince — Affectionate elder brother whom she tries to protect from poisoning, hostile marriage schemes, and political manipulation. He comforts her, supervises outings, offers to take her place as a hostage, and receives concealed gifts of rare treasures. Her mischief repeatedly implicates him in skipped lessons and unauthorized excursions 141 142 209 255 260 271 417 527.
• Jiang Yuexi / Second Princess — Elder sister whose planned sword-dance confrontation Yingcheng interrupts. Yuexi catches her when the sword proves too heavy, comforts her, and is moved by her grief over the tragic future awaiting Yuexi and the Crown Prince 259 260.
• Jiang Huai’an — Fourth imperial brother and source of repeated threats. Her revelations expose his framing of Xingran, future violence, and theft-related injustices 1 22 49. Her report of his treatment of her and Jinshu leads to three months of confinement. She later asks to play with him, influencing his release under continued separation from Rou 60 200.
• Jiang Yunjian — Sixth imperial brother. Their classroom conflict leads Yingcheng to uncover his unpaid gambling debts and then investigate his protector, Huai’an 48 49. He receives one month of confinement following the later confrontation involving her pastries and mistreatment of the younger children 60.
• Jiang Monian — Joins Yunjian in taking the pastries she did not intend to share with them. Her report contributes to his one-month confinement 59 60.
• Changshun — Trusted eunuch and affectionate caretaker. Yingcheng warns of his predicted poisoning and seeks punishment for the eunuch involved; he escorts, carries, and protects her 3 7 27 32. He continues to conceal her thought-hearing ability and adapts official reports to incorporate the leads she inadvertently provides 174.
• Noble Consort Qing — Recipient of Yingcheng’s protection and medicine. She responds with gratitude, renewed hope, and gifts of sweets 18 28 29.
• Noble Consort Rou / Pan Jingwan — Major antagonist whose household repeatedly threatens Yingcheng and her loved ones. Rou attempts to use a planted witchcraft doll and Yingcheng’s changed personality against her; Yingcheng retaliates by investigating Rou’s past and connection to Prince Jing. The emperor later removes Rou after her challenge over Yingcheng’s concealed weapons 125 126 254.
• Lu Yao — Embroidered Uniform Guard commander who turns Yingcheng’s revelations into investigative leads, including those concerning the impostor scholar and Duke Wang 25 35 37. Becomes a devoted, candy-supplying protector and assistant. He maneuvers to draw out her intelligence, assists with her notes, and is sometimes jealous of the attention she gives other capable “uncles” 92 160 174 200 528.
• Yuan Liangping — Official who draws out her commentary and later serves as a teaching assistant, covertly collecting information for the emperor 24 48 49. Frequently helps write her warning notes and military materials, and contributes to her writing practice 124 125 508.
• Duke Wang — Calls her into an affectionate “Grandpa Wang” relationship with sweets. Her system-assisted questions help uncover the witness needed to challenge his wrongful accusation 35 46.
• Liu Hongfei — Renowned scholar who conducts her initiation ceremony and first lesson 41.
• Kan Nianzhen / Empress — Affectionate “Empress Auntie.” Yingcheng’s thoughts expose dangers to the Crown Prince and strengthen Nianzhen’s resolve to confront the conspirators. Their public closeness at the banquet carries political implications, and Yingcheng later enters the embattled palace to check that she and the consorts are safe 70 255 535 538.
• Kan Ruifeng — General whom she affectionately regards as a smiling grandfather. She intends military resources for him and his soldiers; he later tries to reassure her during the emperor’s apparent disappearance, and her maps aid his forces’ recovery of mineral resources 70 115 471 545.
• Grand Empress Dowager / Great-Grandmother — Receives warnings about a dishonest former suitor and becomes fiercely protective of Yingcheng. She initially defends the child after the threatening-letter episode before learning what Yingcheng actually wrote 83 84 406.
• Liaochen — Martial Arts Grandmaster whom Yingcheng brings into the palace and who is appointed her imperial guard. He repeatedly protects her, accompanies her schemes, helps preserve her privacy, and decisively intervenes when Jiang San threatens her 121 122 171 467 496.
• Zhong Chengwang — Initially takes her hostage during a desperate assassination ruse. She learns his family’s tragedy, bargains for his escape, and wants to recruit him as her father’s bodyguard. He later accompanies and protects her alongside Liaochen and the other “uncles” 142 143 144 160 171.
• Yu Xingmian — Leader of the Ink Rain Association and a valuable intelligence ally. She shares pastries with him, seeks his help with information and outings, and treats him as an unusually knowledgeable uncle. He becomes one of her frequent protectors and helpers 160 161 368 474 477 520.
• Wu Leyong — Foreign associate whom she draws into her plans. Provides Human-Skin Masks for their prison outing and later cooperates with the adults’ staged escape operation 149 150 472.
• Jiao Hongmiao — Revenue Minister and adult ally. Becomes involved in the Lin household dispute and the children’s unauthorized outing, and later distracts Yingcheng by mentioning properties the officials can offer the emperor 110 113 527.
• Jiang Yi’an / Prince Jing — Imperial uncle, political schemer, and dangerous opponent. She confronts him at the Heavenly Fragrance House, exposes his agents and connection to Rou, and later manipulates his suspicions while in his residence. Her selective disclosures aim to weaken his cooperation with Prince Xin 126 171 173 174 432 438 440.
• Jiang Silin / Prince Xin — Rebel prince whose secrets, agents, and military movements become targets of her intelligence gathering. She considers countering his destructive rumors with fabricated scandals of her own 239 240 440 520 528 539.
• Sheng Shixu — Changlan prince whom she identifies privately as a “future overlord.” He offers her snacks at their first supplied meeting and later joins the children’s dangerous encounters, including the fight against Chi Yimian 209 232 250.
• Guan Zhili — Beiming prince whom she warmly approaches with a bead after his surrender. She defends him from mistreatment, fights to help him during the orphanage uprising, and reveals information establishing his connection to Prince Xin. He becomes an important companion during her return toward the capital 475 481 496 501 531 535.
• Jiang Lifeng — Youth whom she praises, teases, and helps protect from Pingxu spies. He participates in the ambush that captures the would-be kidnappers and subsequently learns what her Jiayue performance involves 364 368 369.
• Ying Sinan and Ying Minxing — Proposed partners in her treasure enterprise: Sinan supplies formation-breaking and trap-dismantling expertise, while Minxing supplies commercial ideas and marketing 329 342.
• Liang Qilüe — Elder whom she calls “Grandpa Liang.” Her gifts, affection, and knowledge of his connection to the Wei clan help draw him into the emperor’s circle during the Spring Renewal Valley recruitment 464 465.
• Kui Wen, Kui Yang, and the rescued children — Companions in the orphanage uprising. They protect her despite being poorly armed, later discover that she is a princess, and receive pastries and an invitation to treasure hunting from her 495 496 500.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Notable Quotes

“D-don’t bully Seventh Brother!” 1

“I, Jiang Yingcheng, am smart!” 13

“Once you take my doll, we’re a loving brother and sister!” 50

“But someone has to save the world!” 81

“Leave a little thing like this to me, Chengcheng, with complete confidence!” 150

“Don’t be afraid, Crown Prince Brother, Chengcheng is here!” 271

“Chengcheng will provide the Treasure Maps, you’ll provide the skills, and Grandpa Ying will handle the marketing.” 342

“My name is Jiang Yingcheng.” 475

“Chengcheng is a princess!” 545