Yang Xingjian

Biodata

Background / History

Family and Entry into Office

Yang belongs to the Hongnong Yang Clan, an illustrious lineage that produced holders of the Three Ducal Offices over four generations and numerous examination graduates. Despite this background, he failed the Classics Examination twice and ultimately entered official service through hereditary privilege. His inability to qualify through the examinations remained a source of private shame 88.

By middle age, his career had advanced only to an idle lower-sixth-rank appointment at Prince Shao’s Residence. Wang Sui, who later became Abbot Tanlin, was one of his former superiors 76 215.

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.

He was sufficiently alert by the gathering of Wei Xun’s fellow disciples at the Peach Blossom Spring Inn to recognize the danger posed by the assembled martial artists. After they subdued the inn’s other occupants, he pulled Baozhu into his room and urged her to summon the authorities. Baozhu answered that they were already on the martial artists’ side 57.

Recovery and the Investigation into Baozhu’s Apparent Death

Alarm over Baozhu’s exposed position spurred Yang to recover from most of his illness within a day and night. He shared her view that the mysterious object associated with Chen Shigu should remain under their control, since even a false claim that it could overturn the dynasty might become dangerous in hostile hands 72.

When Baozhu asked about Lu Songzhi’s death, Yang confessed that he had arranged Lu’s assassination on Prince Shao’s orders. The assassin was Tuoba Sanniang, with whom he had negotiated indirectly without seeing her true face. He also produced evidence that Zhou Mingzhi had prescribed a powerful emetic before Baozhu’s apparent death. This helped establish how harsh treatment and the absence of attendants could have left her fatally dehydrated, though her hurried burial remained unexplained 72 73.

Yang continued to warn Wei Xun about the distinction between his station and Baozhu’s. He praised the princess’s instinctive ability to recognize and direct talent, emphasizing that either Prince Shao or her younger brother could eventually restore her position and protection 73.

Chan’guang Temple and Tanlin

After surviving an attack at a murderous rural inn, Yang proposed lodging at Chan’guang Temple near Luoyang. Its abbot, Tanlin, was his former superior Wang Sui, whom Yang respected as a learned retired official. Baozhu became receptive to the proposal after hearing about the temple’s hot springs 76.

At the temple, Yang and Baozhu speculated about Guanchuan’s apparent invulnerability, with Yang drawing on stories of Buddhist cultivation. His unfamiliarity with martial arts left him unable to distinguish religious claims from practiced combat techniques 85.

During a dangerous crowd disturbance, Wei Xun lifted Yang to a suspended tightrope to save him from being trampled. Unable to balance on it, Yang clung to the rope with all four limbs 87.

Tanlin subsequently revealed that Chen Shigu had passed the Presented Scholar Examination in his twenties before abandoning office. Yang initially insisted that the successful scholar and the tomb robber must be different men, then publicly lost his composure when Tanlin confirmed they were the same person. The revelation struck directly at Yang’s unresolved shame over his own examination failures 88.

When the Hall of Returning to Impermanence caught fire, Yang warned Baozhu. After Wei Xun admitted killing Tanlin and Guanchuan, Baozhu devised a scheme to present Tanlin’s remains as an unburned living Buddha and obtain donations for famine relief. She assigned Yang to write a false testament supporting the deception 100.

Yang also successfully sent a letter to Prince Shao through Huo Qilang. On reaching Youzhou, she presented it at the prince’s residence, where Li Chengyin recognized Yang’s correspondence and helped her gain access to the ailing prince 103.

Life in Luoyang

After an official’s procession humiliated Baozhu, Yang explained to Wei Xun that her distress arose from being treated as an ordinary person rather than a princess. He advised avoiding confrontations with high-ranking officials by taking her into a roadside shop before their processions approached 140.

Following an attempted abduction by traffickers, Yang helped Baozhu sit down and angrily condemned the criminals’ willingness to seize women in broad daylight inside the city 141.

To provide Baozhu with some recreation, he arranged a banquet and performances at the Golden Wave Pavilion. He discreetly displayed his Silver Fish Bag to persuade the proprietor to accommodate an anonymous party of apparently exalted standing. He later joined Baozhu and Thirteenth Son in supporting a visit to Changqiu Temple and a viewing of the City Procession before leaving Luoyang 142 143.

Baozhu’s Abduction and Appeals for Help

When kidnappers attacked the party’s courtyard, Yang was fetching water after the tea kettle boiled dry. An assailant kicked him from behind into a dry well, breaking his leg. From below, he glimpsed a shadow on the wall that appeared to show someone carrying a burden toward the gate. Wei Xun hauled him out, treated the fracture, and sent him to seek official assistance 149 150 153.

Despite his injury, Yang rode the donkey to the Imperial City and struck the Dengwen Drum. Guards initially treated him as a troublemaker, but his credentials eventually gained him entry. Prefect Dou Jing refused to receive him, avoiding involvement with Prince Shao’s politically vulnerable household 153.

Judicial Registrar Yu Xun and County Commandant Geng Changren initially suggested that Fang Xie, who had served as the Guanyin Attendant, had ascended to immortality. Yang furiously rejected this explanation and claimed that his daughter was already pledged to Prince Shao as a secondary consort. The claim forced the officials to promise an investigation without revealing Baozhu’s true identity 153.

Yang refused to leave the prefectural hall and spent the night on its floor in an unsuccessful effort to compel Dou Jing to appear. Geng Changren eventually carried him home and privately promised to have all eight city gates watched. Yang understood the commandant’s hope of advancement and encouraged him with the prospect of future rewards 153.

Back at the courtyard, Yang found Wei Xun’s allies continuing the search. Qiu Ren accepted a piece of gold from him and reset his broken leg. Yang then relayed the authorities’ account that previous Guanyin Attendants had also disappeared under the guise of supernatural ascension, providing the searchers with an important connection between Baozhu’s abduction and the earlier cases 153 154.

Confronting the Luoqing Guild and the Rescue’s Aftermath

When Wei Xun traced the kidnappers’ escape route to the Luoqing Guild, he brought Yang, Tuoba Sanniang, and Qiu Ren to confront its leader, Cao Hong. Yang wore his official robes and deliberately identified himself only as an officer of a prince’s residence. By withholding Prince Shao’s name, he allowed the guild’s guards to assume he served the locally powerful Prince of Qi. Cao Hong ultimately confessed to abducting Baozhu and the previous Guanyin Attendants 170.

With the investigation implicating people beyond the reach of ordinary local officials, Yang reluctantly placed his hopes in Wei Xun’s band of martial artists. He recognized that there was no time to obtain help from Youzhou 174.

After Baozhu’s rescue, Yang paid Qiu Ren forty-five taels of gold for ginseng to aid her recovery. Though he regarded the transaction as extortion, he acknowledged Qiu Ren’s medical skill: his own broken leg had recovered enough in a little over twenty days for him to hobble a few steps 177.

Yang moved the party to a house beside a Wuhou Post while Luoyang searched for the Prince of Qi’s killer. He reluctantly allowed Wei Xun to nurse Baozhu, abandoning plans to hire female attendants because each additional person increased the risk of exposing them. When Baozhu awoke, he urged immediate departure, but she refused to leave before punishing the prince’s surviving accomplices 177.

Yang knelt to apologize for failing to protect her, then explained that the law and prevailing hierarchy would not ordinarily impose a death sentence on a prince for abusing common women. He doubted that the Prince of Qi’s ceremonial armor and imitation imperial trappings would suffice as proof of rebellion, until Baozhu invoked the precedent of Prince Yiyang’s downfall 178.

When Wei Xun later feared that Baozhu intended to take her own life, Yang responded with calm resignation. He interpreted her desire to die after humiliation as an expression of uncompromising imperial pride rather than contempt for life, a response sharply at odds with Wei Xun’s desperation to save her 180.

Northern Journey and the Chengde Ambush

During the journey north, Yang offered to recommend Zhou Qingyang for an official position, but she rejected his proposal. His concern over Baozhu and Wei Xun’s intimacy intensified after he encountered Wei Xun leaving her room at dawn with his clothing disordered 187 189.

Military tensions trapped the party in Zhongqiu, where Yang’s official documents offered little protection: his connection to Youzhou could itself arouse suspicion. After Baozhu heard a play falsely romanticizing her life, Yang explained the failed marriage proposal involving Han Yun and investigated the story’s origins. Disguised as a scholar collecting local customs, he questioned a Han family servant while Wei Xun listened nearby 190 191.

In Chengde, Yang privately admonished Wei Xun to protect Baozhu’s reputation as they approached Youzhou. He argued that the qualities Wei Xun admired in her were inseparable from the privileges and education of her birth. Wei Xun answered that he would not linger after reaching their destination. Yang also obtained the party’s Travel Pass and learned that Chengde prohibited taking locally purchased horses into other military domains 197.

The party was subsequently ambushed by regular Chengde troops. With his injured leg and cumbersome ox cart hindering escape, Yang raised his Silver Fish Bag and tried to negotiate as an imperial official. A cavalryman struck him in the head with a saber before he could finish. The soldiers stripped him of his identification and threw his apparently lifeless body into a roadside ditch; the passage explicitly describes it as a corpse 198.

Later Survival and Imperial Rewards

Later chapters depict Yang alive again. During Wei Xun’s recovery, Thirteenth Son proposes borrowing brush and ink from Registrar Yang, and Yang subsequently appears celebrating his own promotion. The supplied account does not explain the transition from his apparent killing in Chengde to these later appearances 210 215.

After Li Yuanying ascended the throne, Yang received exceptional rewards for his steadfast loyalty. The court recognized his deceased daughter Yang Fang Xie as the emperor’s Virtuous Consort. The account of his elevation credits him with insisting on a marriage alliance during Prince Shao’s darkest political circumstances, when even the prince’s consort’s Cui family had betrayed him. Fang Xie’s posthumous recognition was understood as repayment to Yang rather than affection for a woman the emperor had never met 215.

As the Virtuous Consort’s father, Yang was ennobled as Duke of Wei and received an active appointment as administrative officer of Princess Chengtian Princess Wanshou’s household. His new standing enabled him to obtain honors for his wife and privileges for his sons. At his promotion banquet, he delighted his relatives, friends, and colleagues with another vigorous Hu whirling dance 215.

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. His temples turn white after his injured, sleepless vigil at the prefectural hall 29 153.
• 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.
• Leg injury: Breaks his leg when kicked into a dry well and subsequently uses a crutch and shoulder sedan. The impairment still hinders him during the Chengde ambush 150 153 170 198.
• Later vigor: Performs with striking agility at his promotion banquet despite being in his forties 215.

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.

His cultivated dignity conceals considerable insecurity about scholarly achievement. Learning that Chen Shigu had attained and discarded the examination success Yang himself never achieved causes an unusually public collapse of composure 88.

Yang combines personal courage with a pragmatic understanding of institutions. He can see through officials’ polite evasions and exploit their ambitions, but Baozhu’s abduction exposes the limits of his rank and connections. Even while injured and repeatedly rebuffed, he refuses to abandon his appeal for help 153 170 174.

His loyalty does not make him question every aspect of aristocratic privilege. He accepts the unequal treatment of imperial relatives and commoners as an entrenched political reality, and interprets Baozhu’s suicidal intentions through the values of imperial honor. These convictions distinguish his outlook from Wei Xun’s more personal determination to preserve her life 178 180.

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.
• Arranges a banquet discreetly by allowing a proprietor to see his Silver Fish Bag without openly announcing Baozhu’s identity 142.
• Invokes Fang Xie’s supposed betrothal to Prince Shao to force reluctant Luoyang officials to take her disappearance seriously 153.
• Understands Geng Changren’s ambition and encourages his assistance without explicitly promising a particular office 153.
• Gains entry to the Luoqing Guild by truthfully but ambiguously identifying himself as an officer of a prince’s residence, allowing others to assume he represents the Prince of Qi 170.
• Obtains travel documentation and explains restrictions on the movement of horses between military domains 197.
• Before the Chengde ambush, sometimes helps deter ordinary bandits by displaying his official identification and applying pressure or persuasion 198.

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.
• Knows palace customs, the political circumstances surrounding Baozhu’s failed marriage negotiations, and precedents relevant to accusations of rebellion 73 178 190.
• Speaks the official dialect of Chang’an with conspicuous precision, a trait that attracts a Chengde clerk’s interest 191 197.

Investigation and Covert Arrangements

• Tracks Baozhu’s movements while disguised as a merchant, using her discarded burial shoe as an initial clue 21.
• Arranges Lu Songzhi’s assassination on Prince Shao’s orders through indirect negotiations with Tuoba Sanniang 72 73.
• Produces evidence concerning Zhou Mingzhi’s prescription before Baozhu’s apparent death 72.
• Is assigned to compose a false testament for Tanlin as part of Baozhu’s famine-relief scheme 100.
• Poses as a scholar collecting local customs to question a Han family servant about the story behind a play. His oath promises that the information will not pass through his own lips or pen, while Wei Xun listens nearby 191.

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.
• Repeats the dance at his promotion banquet after becoming Duke of Wei, displaying vigor and agility despite his age 215.

Equipment / Items

• Silver Fish Bag and Fish Tally — Official identification bestowed by Prince Shao despite Yang’s lower-sixth-rank appointment. Chengde soldiers strip these identifying possessions from him after striking him down 21 198.
• Appointment certificate — Ministry of Personnel document on Yellow Wisteria Paper, recording his name, birthplace, and physical features; verified by Xiagui officials. Taken by the soldiers during the Chengde ambush 21 23 198.
• 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. Later uses payment certificates when purchasing expensive ginseng for Baozhu 29 177.
• Two-wheeled ox cart — Purchased for Baozhu, with canopy curtains and brocade bedding beneath its plain exterior. Its cumbersome movement complicates escape during the Chengde ambush 40 198.
• Crutch — Given to him by Geng Changren after his night at the prefectural hall; used while recovering from his broken leg 153 170 178.
• Travel Pass — Obtained in Chengde; records the party’s animals and prevents them from leaving with additional locally purchased horses 197.

Relationships

• Prince Shao / Li Yuanying — Patron and superior. Entrusts Yang with investigating Baozhu’s reported death and grants him exceptional official identification. Yang also arranges Lu Songzhi’s assassination on his orders. After ascending the throne, Li Yuanying honors Yang’s daughter as Virtuous Consort and rewards Yang with the title Duke of Wei and a new household appointment 21 72 215.
• 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. Yang later seeks official help for her abduction despite a broken leg, assists the search, and manages practical arrangements after her rescue. His defense of hierarchy and imperial honor sometimes places him at odds with her wishes or Wei Xun’s priorities 21 29 44 153 170 177 178 180.
• Yang Fang Xie — Deceased daughter whose household registration becomes Baozhu’s cover. Memories of her dressing and speaking revive Yang’s grief. Later posthumously recognized as Li Yuanying’s Virtuous Consort, making Yang the emperor’s honored father-in-law 21 23 34 215.
• 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. He eventually relies on Wei Xun and his fellow disciples to recover Baozhu, while continuing to object to the lovers’ disregard for social boundaries. Shortly before the Chengde ambush, he privately urges Wei Xun to restrain his conduct and protect her reputation 21 29 32 33 174 189 197.
• Thirteenth Son — Young novice whom Yang persuades to leave the inn for Baozhu’s safety; later listens eagerly to Yang’s historical tales. Warns Yang not to touch the sleeping Wei Xun, whose defensive reflexes could seriously injure him 21 43 177.
• 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.
• Tanlin / Wang Sui — Former superior whom Yang initially respects as a learned, accomplished retired official. Tanlin’s revelation about Chen Shigu’s examination success shatters Yang’s assumptions about the martial world. After Tanlin’s crimes and death, Yang is tasked with writing the false testament used in Baozhu’s relief scheme 76 88 100.
• Tuoba Sanniang — Assassin hired indirectly by Yang on Prince Shao’s orders to kill Lu Songzhi. Later accompanies him, Wei Xun, and Qiu Ren to the Luoqing Guild 72 73 170.
• Huo Qilang — Carries Yang’s letter to Youzhou and gains access to Prince Shao through the household’s recognition of his correspondence 103.
• Geng Changren — Luoyang County Commandant who returns the injured Yang home, gives him a crutch, and promises to watch the city’s eight gates for Baozhu’s abductors. Yang recognizes his ambition and encourages him with the prospect of future favor 153.
• Dou Jing and Yu Xun — Luoyang officials whose evasions frustrate Yang’s appeal for help. Dou refuses an audience, while Yu initially treats the abduction as a supernatural ascension before Yang invokes the missing woman’s connection to Prince Shao 153.
• Qiu Ren — Treats Yang’s broken leg and later sells him costly ginseng for Baozhu. Yang fears his threatening manner and resents his demands for payment, but acknowledges the effectiveness of his medicine 153 177.
• Zhou Qingyang — Renowned physician to whom Yang offers an official recommendation; she refuses and warns Wei Xun against entanglement with the powerful 187.
• Wife and sons — Yang’s later elevation enables him to secure honors for his wife and privileges for his sons 215.

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

“You are court officials, not peasants who blindly believe in ghosts and spirits! How dare you spout such rubbish!” 153

“Public service offers fertile ground for cultivating virtue. Good seeds bear good fruit. County Commandant Geng, you will surely be blessed in the future!” 153

“This is not holding life cheap, but holding herself precious.” 180

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