Jia Heng

Biodata

Background / History

An accident transported Jia Heng’s soul from a modern life into the body of a young collateral descendant of the Duke of Ningguo. Before crossing worlds, he had served as an armed-police border guard, practiced calligraphy under his Daoist-priest grandfather’s influence, and learned both traditional martial arts and military combat 1 3.

His new body belonged to the son of Jia Si and Dong Shi. Jia Si died during his childhood, leaving Dong Shi to raise him alone. After her death, her former dowry maid Cai and Cai’s family continued caring for him. His branch was impoverished and almost beyond the five degrees of mourning kinship connecting it to the main Jia household 1 6 28.

The previous Jia Heng had attended private school but preferred weapons and fighting to books. He spent time with his maternal cousin Dong Qian and accompanied Jia Rong, sometimes protecting him during quarrels. His studies deteriorated further after his mother’s death 1 2.

After transmigrating, Jia Heng borrowed histories from Jia Lan to identify the world’s political circumstances. He discovered that the Ming dynasty had ended early and been replaced by Chen Han, and that the current year was the fourteenth year of Chongping. He initially pursued scholarship as a route to official service, while worrying that association with the Jia family could compromise his future 1 2.

Appearance

• Face: Refined, handsome features, sword-shaped brows, and clear, bright eyes 1.
• Bearing: Straight-backed and composed, with the military posture retained from his former life 5 29.
• Clothing: Initially wears a blue robe washed almost white; owns only two presentable, finely tailored outfits 1 5.
• Resemblance: His new face is practically identical to his former appearance when dressed in period costume 5.
• Work attire: Wears the blue robe of an Imperial College Canon Clerk while on duty 44.

Personality

Jia Heng is outwardly courteous but unwilling to accept humiliation or coercion. He thanks servants, observes social formalities, and treats prominent acquaintances without either servility or arrogance. Praise and mockery from imperial relatives leave him composed 20 23 48.

His violence is often calculated rather than impulsive. After beating Ningguo Mansion’s servants, he explicitly considers the limits of clan authority, the absence of serious injuries, and the legal consequences. He later deliberately escalates his dispute with Jia Zhen so that Lady Jia can no longer ignore it. Feng Tang recognizes that he plans before acting 19 24.

He views power as necessary for protection, not merely prestige. Defending his engagement, securing an official career, and preparing for invasion are connected concerns: he fears that scholarship alone will not protect Qin Keqing or preserve the realm during approaching disorder 7 8 17.

Within his household, he shows patience and practical concern. He teaches Qingwen literacy, hires help rather than leaving all the chores to Cai, and keeps both refugee sisters Bi’er and Yan’er after learning their circumstances 35 46 49.

Abilities & Skills

Swordsmanship and Saber Techniques

Jia Heng combines his former-life training with a body already strengthened through martial practice 3.

• Learned the 108 forms of the Heavenly Dipper Sword and the Six Harmonies Saber from an older friend of his grandfather 3.
• Pierces a bamboo stalk as thick as an infant’s arm with a sword thrust 3.
• Severs a bowl-thick oak post with one saber stroke, earning Xie Zaiyi’s agreement to teach him archery 4.
• Splits a thick tabletop with a single sword strike during his confrontation with Jia Zhen 26 29.
• Experiences arm soreness after the oak-cutting test because he practices swordsmanship more often than saber work 4.

Unarmed Combat

His training includes traditional unarmed techniques, military combat, grappling, and an Internal Fist style 3 23.

• Defeats four household servants using one hand while holding books in the other 17.
• Uses rapid, controlled strikes and grappling to overpower Lai Sheng and Jia Zhen 17 26.
• Has actual experience killing men during his former border service, lending credibility to his threats 17.
• Deliberately limits injuries when fighting the servants to reduce the possibility of legal retaliation 19.

Horsemanship and Mounted Archery

Jia Heng begins with competent horsemanship but no former-life experience shooting from horseback. Xie Zaiyi becomes his instructor 8.

• His strength impresses Feng Tang and the imperial party, but his accuracy remains poor 20 22.
• Thirty shots with the two-shi bow leave his arms aching and force him to stop 19 21.
• He wonders whether transmigration altered his body, but the cause of his unusual strength is not established 19.

Literary Work and Calligraphy

• Practiced calligraphy for more than a decade before transmigrating; his sharp running regular script surprises Li Wan 1.
• Reproduces Romance of the Three Kingdoms for this world, including its opening Linjiang Immortal, attracting the admiration of scholars and customers 12.
• Negotiates a 240-tael contract for the planned 120-chapter manuscript after rejecting Liu Tong’s initial forty-tael offer 13.
• Teaches Qingwen characters from the Thousand Character Classic and guides her hand to write her name 46.

Memory and Administration

• Quickly learns the Literary Gathering Pavilion’s catalog registers and directs a student to the correct location of Selected Works of Xiao Tong 44.
• Restores misplaced books to their assigned shelves 44.
• Designs an illustrated catalog guide, proposes bookcase signs and a third-floor return point, and develops Book-Searching Compass entries 44 48.
• Plans an accelerated examination route using his strong memory and learning ability; these ambitions remain unfulfilled in the provided chapters 41.

Legal and Political Judgment

• Uses the Great Han Code, kinship distinctions, and the limits of patriarchal authority to resist Ningguo Mansion’s coercion 17 19 29.
• Consults Feng Tang before escalating the marriage dispute and makes Jia Lian a witness to the confrontation 23 24 26.
• Draws a frontier map from Xie Zaiyi’s reports and compares Chen Han’s vulnerabilities with the late Ming situation known from his former life 8 10.
• Recognizes that individual fighting ability alone will not enable him to command armies or defeat invading cavalry 17.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Precious Sword — His personal sword, used in practice and against the pavilion table; he carries it to Rongguo Mansion as a deliberate show of resolve 3 26 29 30.
• One-shi-six-dou bow — Selected from Feng Tang’s collection for regular archery practice 23.
• Two-shi Coiled Dragon Bow — Given to him by Feng Tang 23.
• Borrowed horse and archery gear — Uses Dong Qian’s horse and Xie Zaiyi’s bows, arrows, and practice equipment during training 8 19.
• Canon Clerk token — Issued by Song Yuan upon his appointment at the Imperial College 41.

Relationships

• Dong Shi — Late mother of his new body; encouraged his education and arranged his childhood betrothal. He invokes her dying wish when defending the marriage 1 4 31.
• Jia Si — Late father of his new body; the Qin family’s gratitude toward Jia Si and Dong Shi led to the marriage arrangement 6 28.
• Cai / Aunt Cai — Longtime caregiver and household manager; informs him of the engagement and supports his efforts to preserve it 1 4 7 35.
• Qin Keqing — Betrothed. Her initial favorable impression gives way to concern about his apparent recklessness, before she and Qin Ye reconsider whether his actions were calculated 5 37 40.
• Qin Ye — Prospective father-in-law; accepts the betrothal letter but rebukes Jia Heng for striking a powerful official 37.
• Dong Qian and Cai Quan — Early military contacts who introduce him to Xie Zaiyi; Dong Qian is his maternal cousin, while Cai Quan is Cai’s nephew 3.
• Xie Zaiyi — Riding and archery instructor; also provides firsthand information about frontier warfare 4 8.
• Feng Ziying — Friend impressed by his fighting ability; introduces him to Feng Tang and helps him obtain suitable archery equipment 17 21 23.
• Feng Tang — Senior military mentor and adviser; supplies bows and approves Jia Heng’s resistance to coercion 22 23 24.
• Jia Zhen — Clan head and principal early antagonist; attempts to take his marriage arrangement for Jia Rong and continues harboring revenge after their settlement 8 26 33.
• Jia Rong — Former companion of the body’s original owner; acts as his father’s intermediary despite Jia Heng previously taking a club blow for him 2 9 24.
• Lady Jia — Senior family elder who brokers a temporary peace and gives Qingwen to his household 31 33 35.
• Han Hui and Yu Zhen — Literary friends won through his manuscript; Han Hui recommends him for the Imperial College position and advises him about the publisher’s owner 12 15 48.
• Song Yuan — Registrar who hires and supervises him, praises his administrative ability, and develops a friendship with him 41 44 46 48.
• Qingwen — Maid assigned by Lady Jia; becomes his literacy pupil. He notices her distress after the arrival of the refugee sisters 33 46 50.
• Bi’er and Yan’er — Refugee sisters taken into his household as maidservants; their account of famine reinforces his concern about the realm’s hardships 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Establishing an Independent Future

• Declines Li Wan’s invitation to the free clan school, preferring home study and privately distrusting the school’s condition 1.
• Seeks military instruction as frontier reports convince him that Chen Han faces serious danger 3 4 8.
• Turns his former-world literary knowledge into income through the Ink and Brush Studio contract. The agreed manuscript delivery is divided into fifteen-chapter installments 12 13.
• Learns that the studio belongs to Elder Princess Jinyang and plans to finish two more installments before approaching her about renegotiating the contract 48.

Defending the Qin Betrothal

• Learns that Dong Shi arranged his marriage to Qin Keqing and visits the Qin residence with modest gifts 4 5.
• Rejects Jia Rong’s hundred-tael offer to abandon the engagement, then defeats the servants sent to compel his attendance at Ningguo Mansion 9 17.
• Consults Feng Tang and concludes that a public confrontation will force Lady Jia to address the dispute 23 24.
• At the Green and Red Pavilion, refuses Jia Zhen’s renewed offer, responds to his attack with repeated slaps, and publicly condemns the attempt to purchase his marriage contract 26.
• Defends himself in Rongqing Hall by invoking his mother’s wishes and Jia Zhen’s failure to protect the clan. Lady Jia ends the immediate quarrel, but Jia Zhen’s hostility remains 31 32 33.
• Delivers a formal betrothal letter to Qin Ye, who accepts him as a son-in-law 35 37.

Imperial College and Household Development

• Obtains a Canon Clerk post in Section A of the Literary Gathering Pavilion through Han Hui’s recommendation 40 41.
• Studies examination arrangements while reorganizing the library to reduce routine work and leave more time for reading 41 44.
• Builds his household around Cai, Qingwen, and the newly acquired refugee sisters while continuing manuscript writing, study, and martial training 35 46 49.

Notable Quotes

“Though I, Jia Heng, come from an impoverished branch of the Jia family, I am still a descendant of the Duke of Ningguo. How could I sell my wife for advancement?” 26

“Should that day come, killing the enemy and serving my country would only be my duty as a son of Great Han.” 23

“As head of our Jia family, Jia Zhen neither serves the sovereign loyally and shares the burdens of state above, nor supports our clansmen and relieves their poverty and distress below.” 31

Trivia

• Jia Heng remembers that his counterpart in the original Dream of the Red Chamber appeared only twice, first while awaiting orders after Qin’s death at Ningguo Mansion 25.
• His courtesy name, Ziyu, uses a character associated with a golden spear 41.
• He belongs to the Jia family’s jade-radical generation, while Jia Rong belongs to the younger grass-radical generation; their similar ages and former companionship initially obscured the proper hierarchy in their private speech 9.