Chu Changqi

Biodata

Background / History

Marriage and seizure of the Ming Group

Chu Changqi was born an illegitimate son into a family near the bottom of the upper-class hierarchy. After university, he joined the Ming Group, where his handsome appearance, refined manners, and professional ability earned Old Master Ming’s approval. He courted and married Ming Mei, the elder’s cherished daughter, while secretly preparing to seize the family’s business 87.

When Ming Mei became pregnant and Old Master Ming temporarily withdrew from the company because of ill health, Changqi put his plans into action. Within roughly six months, he swallowed half the group’s assets, ruthlessly destroyed his own family, and pushed several businesses allied with the Ming family toward bankruptcy. He concealed these actions while continuing to present himself at home as an ideal husband 87.

Imprisonment and abuse

When Ming Mei sought a divorce, Changqi smashed their surroundings and imprisoned her shortly before she gave birth. He maintained that the numerous women he used to expand his business interests were merely “tools” and that Ming Mei remained his only love. Her rejection provoked him to bring other women into their home, but he never recovered her affection 87.

Ming Mei deliberately appeared indifferent to their son to prevent Changqi from exploiting their bond. Changqi instead used the child’s isolation against him, telling the young Chu Yilan that neither parent loved him. Tormenting his son became a source of pleasure 87.

When Yilan was nearly two, Old Master Ming and his longtime allies struck back, rescued Ming Mei and Yilan, and dealt Changqi a devastating setback. Yilan subsequently enjoyed a happy childhood until age seven; his initial account leaves the next period unexplained 87.

Later control and disappearance

Changqi later regained control over Yilan’s life. At Old Master Ming’s funeral, he maintained a courteous public façade while privately crushing Yilan’s pet turtle to punish him for keeping a living creature. Ming Lin witnessed the act and approached Changqi in admiration 159.

Changqi repeatedly subjected Yilan to homemade torture devices, treating pain as a means of enforcing obedience. Yilan also remembered a fire in which Ming Mei urged him to flee; Changqi dragged him away when he tried to fight the flames 159 170.

During a later escape, Yilan shot Changqi in the leg. Changqi disappeared into the sea and was not found, but survived and fled to C Country. The shooting and fall left him with chronic ailments. Abroad, he expanded his power and continued gathering information about Yilan, intending eventually to return and reclaim Hengtai 87 170 173 177 188.

Appearance

• In his youth: Handsome and refined, with an outwardly mild, respectable manner 87.
• In later life: Tall but unusually gaunt, with one crippled leg and a cane. His left arm is bandaged after being wounded during his escape from Yilan 169.
• Family resemblance: His features closely resemble Yilan’s, although their bearing is markedly different. Seeing Changqi leads Shen Lian to suspect that this resemblance explains Yilan’s dislike of his own face 169 177.
• After his capture: Increasingly withered and physically debilitated, with blurred vision and severely degraded senses of smell and taste after months of tube-feeding 216.

Personality

Changqi hides cruelty beneath polished manners. He smiles through insults, performs affection convincingly, and maintains public courtesies even while abusing his family. In private, he enjoys fear and suffering; when frustrated, he attacks dependents such as his doctor or chooses another captive on whom to vent his anger 87 159 170 171.

His possessiveness is inseparable from his ambition. He treats Ming Mei’s rejection as an intolerable injury and attempts to make Yilan another version of himself—or, failing that, someone too damaged and isolated to live normally. He wants his son to pursue power and status, yet resents the ruthlessness Yilan turns against him 170 173.

Despite his brutality, Changqi fears death and has little tolerance for his own pain. Under Shen Lian’s torture, he abandons his dignity and offers money for release. He briefly recognizes himself as the true “monster,” but later still fantasizes about using a final visit to Ming Mei’s grave to bind himself to her again 170 171 173 216.

Abilities & Skills

Business strategy and deception

• Planned the seizure of Ming assets from the beginning of his employment, concealing his intentions from both Ming Mei and her father 87.
• Exploited Old Master Ming’s absence to acquire assets and undermine allied companies 87.
• Spent his exile expanding his resources in preparation for a return 173.

Psychological manipulation

• Used affection, humiliation, pain, and rejection to control family members and followers 87 157 170.
• Encouraged Ming Lin’s devotion while comparing him unfavorably with Yilan and privately dismissing his worth 157 159.
• Tried to sever Yilan’s attachment to living things and make him believe he could never be accepted or loved 159 173 177.
• Ultimately failed to retain this psychological hold: Yilan faced him without fear and declared his defeat 177.

Torture-device design

• Personally developed mechanical torture devices, including a chained submersion bathtub and an electrical chair 170 172.
• Used his inventions on Ming Mei, Yilan, and other captives 170.
• Installed effective soundproofing in his yacht’s torture chamber; it later prevented his guards from hearing his own screams 173.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Cane — Supports his crippled leg; also used to beat his private doctor 169 171.
• Yacht — Escape vessel equipped with a torture chamber, guarded by his remaining followers 169 170.
• Homemade torture equipment — Includes chain collars, a mechanized bathtub, an electrical chair, and several additional devices later turned against him 170 172 173.
• Life-support machines and medication — Keep him alive after his capture despite severe pain and recurring medical crises 216.

Relationships

• Ming Mei — Wife whom he courted through deception, imprisoned, and tortured. Her lasting contempt became central to his resentment 87 170 173.
• Chu Yilan — Biological son and longtime abuse victim. Yilan eventually dismantles his network, captures him, and denies him both reconciliation and a final confrontation 167 177 216.
• Old Master Ming — Father-in-law and former patron who rescued his daughter and grandson. Changqi later realizes that the elder had recognized his dangerous tendencies and offered him a chance to choose differently 87 177.
• Ming Lin — Devotee who calls him “Father,” not his biological son. Changqi cultivates his imitation of Yilan while regarding him as an inadequate pawn 157 159.
• Jin Lei — Former associate connected to the network Yilan investigates; overseas transfers involving Jin Lei and Ming Lin lead to C Country 102 103 169.
• Liu Li — Trusted enforcer whom Changqi considers his most useful “blade.” His disappearance immediately raises Changqi’s suspicions 170.
• Shen Lian — Abduction target chosen to hurt Yilan. Shen escapes restraint, turns Changqi’s equipment against him, and explicitly acts to avenge Yilan 170 171 172 173.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Exposure and pursuit

• Ming Lin’s imitation of Yilan revives memories of Changqi’s methods and raises suspicion that he survived 158 159 160.
• Yilan’s investigation begins uprooting Changqi’s planted spies. Ming Lin is arrested, and Changqi is driven into hiding as his men and financial resources dwindle 167 173.
• Changqi recognizes that Yilan has reversed their old pursuit: he is now the one being hunted 167.

Shen Lian’s abduction

• Changqi’s armed followers abduct Shen Lian and take him to the yacht. Changqi regards obtaining Shen as worth losing more than half his men during his escape 169 170.
• He tortures Shen, but loses interest when Shen pretends to become unresponsive and defeated 170.
• Shen overpowers Liu Li, exchanges clothes with him, and sends him away in a small boat. Rather than risk the stormy sea, Shen hides on the yacht’s exterior 172 173.
• Shen returns through a window, breaks Changqi’s injured leg, and subjects him to his own devices. Yilan and Sun Binghe arrive after the yacht docks 171 172 173.

Defeat and captivity

• Injured and feverish, Changqi attempts to frighten Yilan with reminders of his childhood torture. Yilan remains unmoved, tells him “You lost,” and orders Nie Sheng to return him alive to Qu City 177.
• Months later, Changqi suffers cardiac arrest and is resuscitated. Yilan refuses to visit and requests no further updates unless Changqi dies 216.
• Changqi waits for a chance to repent at Ming Mei’s grave, but receives only continued medical intervention. His last documented condition is restrained, dependent on care, and pleading internally to be allowed to die 216.