Yang Xingjian

Biodata

Background / History

Mission from Prince Shao

Yang Xingjian belongs to the aristocratic Hongnong Yang Clan and serves as chief clerk to Prince Shao. After hearing in Youzhou that Baozhu had died suddenly of illness, the prince refused to accept the report and sent Yang to Chang’an under a concealed identity to investigate. He bestowed a Silver Fish Bag on Yang as a mark of exceptional trust 21.

Disguised as a merchant, Yang followed clues from one of Baozhu’s discarded burial shoes and spent days making inquiries. He eventually found her alive, confirming her identity after witnessing her pierce a willow leaf with an arrow at a hundred paces 21.

Yang mistook Wei Xun for a violent servant who had abducted the princess. Physically incapable of rescuing her, he followed the travelers and sought an opportunity to approach her. Despite injuries and repeated setbacks, he refused to reveal her identity 21.

Baozhu’s False Identity

When Yang finally met Baozhu, he identified himself through his official documents and a message invoking her brother’s childhood name, Little Fox. Baozhu explained that Wei Xun was her guard rather than her captor, though Yang initially remained suspicious 21.

With Xiagui’s gates sealed and officials checking travelers, Yang supplied a Household Register allowing Baozhu to pose as Yang Fang Xie, his deceased daughter. Fang Xie had died in an epidemic the year before last; her registration remained uncanceled because Yang’s elderly mother could not bear to let her go. The borrowed identity enabled Baozhu to pass the authorities’ initial screening 21 22.

Yang took a room at the Sun Family Inn as her father and guardian. He also persuaded Thirteenth Son to return to Lotus Flower Temple for roll call, arguing that the novice’s arrest at the inn could implicate Baozhu 21.

Confinement in Xiagui

After Baozhu revealed that she had been buried alive, Yang interpreted the attempt on her life as a move against Prince Shao: eliminating her would deprive the prince of support inside the palace. He avoided openly criticizing the emperor 22.

Yamen runners subsequently raided the inn in search of the Green-Clothed Slave. Yang physically shielded Baozhu and revealed his sixth-rank appointment when the runners threatened them with arrest and torture. He and Baozhu then coordinated a cover story in which Wei Xun was a recently hired servant who had fled 22 23.

Although Magistrate Wu Zhiyuan verified Yang’s credentials, he moved the supposed father and daughter into the Reflection Pavilion under the pretext of protection. Yang recognized their situation as house arrest and advised Baozhu to accept the household’s gifts and dress nobly, reassuring Wu while preserving their dignity 23.

Yang repeatedly challenged Bao Lang’s unsupported accusations, treatment of prisoners, and interest in Baozhu. His attempts to write to Prince Shao were blocked, leaving him unable to obtain help from his patron 24 29 31.

Cooperation and Escape

Watching Wei Xun obey Baozhu gradually weakened Yang’s belief that she was being coerced. He helped maintain the fiction of her illness while Wei Xun supplied misleading pulses to visiting physicians, then claimed that a snake demon was tormenting his daughter to further confuse the investigation 32.

Yang also interpreted the stolen note’s reference to Yang Zhen’s refusal of a bribe, recognizing that its wording implied a threat rather than a simple boast. When Baozhu proposed approaching Bao Lang to secure Thirteenth Son’s release, Yang pleaded with her not to endanger herself 33 35.

The prison break created enough confusion for Yang to lead Baozhu and their donkey quietly out of the magistrate’s residence. They relocated to an obscure inn, where he judged from rising rice prices and public hunger that the city could not remain sealed much longer 38.

Hearing Chen Yu recount Yingniang’s murder reminded Yang of his own daughter and moved him to tears. He abandoned the idea of surrendering the pearl thief to the authorities. After Wei Xun killed Bao Lang, Yang advised leaving the severed head somewhere officials would discover it 38 39.

Journey to Lingbao

Before leaving Xiagui, Yang purchased a curtained ox cart with brocade bedding so Baozhu could rest during the journey. He continued east with her companions, worrying that he had failed to find a suitable maid for her 40.

During the passage into Lingbao County, he drove the cart and entertained Thirteenth Son with the story of the county’s name. After Baozhu became soaked during a playful fight in a stream, Yang tucked her beneath a quilt in the cart 43.

Yang himself developed a severe fever by the time they reached the county seat. A physician diagnosed an ordinary chill aggravated by prolonged anxiety and exhaustion. Baozhu arranged medicine and hired an attendant, while Wei Xun carried the weakened clerk to bed. Yang remained unconscious when Baozhu later checked on him 44 49.

Appearance

Yang is a frail, middle-aged scholar whose dignified bearing contrasts sharply with his disheveled appearance during the pursuit of Baozhu 21.

• Hair: Graying and thinning noticeably under the strain of travel and confinement 29.
• Facial hair: A carefully maintained beard or goatee, mockingly described by Wei Xun as three tufts of “rat whiskers” 29 34 44.
• Official dress: Dark green robes, a silver belt, and a stiff, winged black gauze cap when formally receiving officials 23 24.
• Early injuries: Bruising on his neck and other injuries accumulated during his encounters with Wei Xun 21.

Personality

Yang is intensely loyal to Prince Shao and persistent in protecting Baozhu. His fear does not prevent him from shielding her against armed runners or refusing to abandon his mission. He considers her safe return both a personal duty and an essential service to his patron 21 22 29.

His aristocratic upbringing shapes his strict concern for hierarchy, etiquette, and relations between unmarried men and women. He initially interprets Wei Xun’s informality as evidence of dangerous insubordination and dislikes associating with a common-born knight-errant. Direct observation nevertheless leads him to reconsider his judgment 21 29 32 43.

Beneath his formal manner, Yang is emotionally vulnerable. Baozhu’s resemblance to his late daughter in age and liveliness repeatedly revives his grief. He becomes more patient about waiting for her toilette and recognizes the possibility of youthful romantic feelings between her and Wei Xun 23 34.

Abilities & Skills

Political Judgment and Persuasion

Yang relies on official standing, coordinated explanations, and verbal maneuvering rather than force 21 22 23.

• Provides Baozhu with a usable registered identity and aligns their answers before official questioning 21 23.
• Uses his rank and Silver Fish Bag to halt the runners’ threats; the bag entitles him by convention to courtesies associated with upper fifth rank 22 24.
• Recognizes gifts as an attempt to placate them and understands Wu Zhiyuan’s competing obligations 23.
• Gives an intentionally unhelpful description of Wei Xun that closely resembles Bao Lang 24.
• Acknowledges that his methods work better against civil officials than against a coercive military officer such as Bao Lang 29.

Scholarly Knowledge

• Identifies the allusion to Yang Zhen in the pearl thief’s note and explains its threatening implications 33.
• Recounts Lingbao’s former name, the divine-talisman story, and its connection to Laozi and the Tao Te Ching 43.
• Instructs the travelers in formal greetings and rules of propriety, often without success 33 43.

Hu Whirling Dance

• Performs an unexpectedly accomplished Hu whirling dance after becoming drunk on two cups of wine 38.
• His agile dancing does not reflect martial training; he knows no martial arts 38.

Equipment / Items

• Silver Fish Bag and Fish Tally — Official identification bestowed by Prince Shao despite Yang’s lower-sixth-rank appointment 21.
• Appointment certificate — Ministry of Personnel document on Yellow Wisteria Paper, recording his name, birthplace, and physical features; verified by Xiagui officials 21 23.
• Household Register — Contains Fang Xie’s uncanceled registration, used to establish Baozhu’s cover identity 21.
• Travel funds — Withdrew one hundred taels of gold from the Persian Money Shop using a voucher; limited what he carried to reduce the risk of robbery 29.
• Two-wheeled ox cart — Purchased for Baozhu, with canopy curtains and brocade bedding beneath its plain exterior 40.

Relationships

• Prince Shao / Li Yuanying — Patron and superior. Entrusts Yang with investigating Baozhu’s reported death and grants him exceptional official identification 21.
• Baozhu — Princess under his protection, publicly posing as his daughter. She appreciates his loyalty, insists that Wei Xun apologize to him, and carefully arranges his treatment when he falls ill 21 29 44.
• Yang Fang Xie — Deceased daughter whose household registration becomes Baozhu’s cover. Memories of her dressing and speaking revive Yang’s grief 21 23 34.
• Wei Xun — Initially regarded as Baozhu’s captor. Their mutual dislike persists after the misunderstanding is clarified, but Yang comes to recognize his restraint, intelligence, and obedience to the princess 21 29 32 33.
• Thirteenth Son — Young novice whom Yang persuades to leave the inn for Baozhu’s safety; later listens eagerly to Yang’s historical tales 21 43.
• Wu Zhiyuan — County magistrate whose lower rank allows Yang to exert pressure, but who nevertheless confines him and Baozhu in the Reflection Pavilion 22 23.
• Bao Lang — Adversary responsible for their confinement and obstructed appeals for help. Yang confronts his accusations and repeatedly objects to his use of Baozhu as bait 24 29 31.

Notable Quotes

“Such insolence! Which of you dares kill an official of the imperial court!” 22

“My daughter is a person. Can you use her to find stolen goods? What utter nonsense!” 31

“But so long as any of us has a breath left, we must never let matters reach the point where you need to risk yourself.” 35