Gu Hanyan

Biodata

Background / History

Settlement on Su Mei Island

Gu Hanyan arrived on Su Mei Island with thirty or forty followers and hired workers to reclaim abandoned fields. By the time Tang Wen learned about her, she had lived there for nearly a year. Her good treatment of people attracted additional followers, bringing the Gu group to nearly two hundred. Pirate attacks nevertheless caused repeated injuries and more than thirty deaths over six months 11.

Her origins remained concealed. Ge Ziyun regarded her standing as higher than that of a baron, while she warned him against addressing her as “young lady,” fearing that he would expose her identity. She described revenge and the protection of her younger siblings as her reasons for continuing to live. Su Mei Island’s remoteness offered refuge from powerful enemies 17.

Illness and Indenture

Gu Hanyan’s severe illness unsettled her followers. Brought to Tang Wen on a door panel, she underwent an examination despite her companions’ objections. Tang Wen measured her temperature at forty degrees and diagnosed malaria 11 14.

When Qiao Xiao contemplated robbery to pay for treatment, she forbade it, declaring that she would rather die than disgrace the Gu Family. She also initially rejected Tang Wen’s demand that her group enter his service. Only after he warned that her family had the same illness did she agree to become his personal maid in exchange for saving them. Ge Ziyun prepared the contracts, and her seventy or eighty companions joined the Tang household 15.

After recovering, she promised to fulfill her duties regardless of her personal reluctance. Tang Wen divided their shared tent into separate rooms for himself, Gu Hanyan, and Zhan Junru 16.

Disguise Exposed

Gu Hanyan caught Tang Wen watching her and Zhan Junru bathe, knocked him down with a thrown jade pendant, and confronted him with a sword. During the argument, he noticed the mismatch between her aged face and youthful skin. She admitted that she wore a disguise because revealing her appearance would endanger her family 25.

She intended to purchase her freedom once she possessed enough money and strength to pursue revenge. Tang Wen refused, insisting that she remain his maid for life. Although she threatened to kill him, she ultimately dropped her weapon rather than carry out the threat 25 26.

Teaching and Reconciliation

Tang Wen’s provision of homes softened Gu Hanyan’s attitude: her aura, previously neutral when viewed through his Popularity Eye, began leaning slightly toward him. She nevertheless continued to insist that he respect his maidservants and criticized his intimacy with Zhan Junru without a ceremony or recognized standing 35 44.

Tang Wen recruited her alongside Zhan Shifeng to teach a literacy course using illustrated textbooks. She became absorbed in the material and later taught until after one in the morning because students would not let her leave 45 46.

Following another quarrel, Tang Wen ordered her to wash his feet and humiliated her by pressing a wet foot against her face. He then acknowledged that he had gone too far, tore up her indenture, and offered her one hundred taels to leave. Gu Hanyan refused to depart, citing gratitude for his lifesaving help. She still withheld her secrets because she believed her enemies were beyond his ability to confront, but accepted his comfort and allowed him to hold her 46.

Appearance

• Disguised face and neck: Initially appears plain and well into her fifties. She later admits that this appearance is false 14 25.
• Skin: Described as white and soft as goat’s milk; its contrast with her face helps Tang Wen expose the disguise 25.
• Movement: Approaches with graceful steps after recovering from illness 16.
• Unconfirmed age: Tang Wen compares her body to that of an eighteen-year-old, but her actual age is not established 25.

Personality

Gu Hanyan is proud, sharp-tongued, and protective of her family’s reputation. She refuses to permit theft or robbery even to save her own life, yet accepts servitude when her relatives’ survival is at stake. Once committed, she regards keeping her promise as an obligation rather than an expression of affection for Tang Wen 15 16.

She firmly separates service from sexual submission. Her insistence that maidservants remain human beings deserving respect extends to Zhan Junru, whom she urges not to accept intimacy without proper standing. Her distrust does not prevent gratitude: after receiving permission to leave, she chooses to stay while explaining that Tang Wen’s frivolity and disrespect provoke her anger 25 35 44 46.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts

• Knocks Tang Wen down with a finger-thick jade pendant and immediately brings a sword to his neck 25.
• Tang Wen suspects that she is stronger than Qiao Xiao; her exact cultivation rank is not disclosed 25.
• Controls a saber strike sufficiently for Tang Wen to judge that she used only a tenth of her strength 25.
• Has hearing substantially sharper than an ordinary person’s 44.
• Pulls Tang Wen off a bed and sends him onto a sofa during an argument 46.

Disguise

• Conceals her real appearance behind an elderly-looking face and neck to evade enemies 25.
• The disguise’s mismatch with her uncovered skin exposes it to scrutiny 25.

Literacy and Teaching

• Analyzes the contrasting boldness and sorrow in the poem Tang Wen recites to Yang Yun 23.
• Teaches reading and writing alongside Zhan Shifeng using an illustrated course covering more than two thousand common characters 45 46.
• Advocates discussion and differing opinions in the classroom, even when challenging Tang Wen 45.
• Requests instruction in operating the Mechanical Television used for lessons; Tang Wen promises to teach her 46.

Knowledge of Western Goods

• Recognizes grape wine as an expensive import from the Western Lands and knows how to use a wine opener 23.
• Recalls seeing two bottles exchanged for a Superior Marrow-Washing Pill 23.

Equipment / Items

• Jade pendant — Used as an improvised projectile against Tang Wen 25.
• Sword — Pressed against Tang Wen’s neck after she catches him watching the bath 25.
• Illustrated Language Arts textbook — Studies it before using it to teach household workers 45 46.
• Dream of the Red Chamber — Receives a seal-script copy from Tang Wen after their reconciliation 46.
• Indenture — Written when she enters the Tang household; later torn up by Tang Wen 15 46.

Relationships

• Tang Wen — Physician, former contractual master, and employer as a literacy instructor. Their antagonistic relationship gradually admits gratitude and emotional trust, though she continues withholding her identity 14 15 45 46.
• Zhan Junru — Fellow personal maid who addresses her as “Sister.” Gu Hanyan challenges Junru’s unconditional submission to Tang Wen and argues for her dignity and proper standing 25 35 44.
• Ge Ziyun — Adviser and spokesman who knows her concealed background. She entrusts him with maintaining discretion and encourages him to perform the Tang household’s accounting work well 13 17.
• Qiao Xiao — Loyal protector whose life she previously saved. He offers his life for her treatment and threatens to fight Tang Wen if he mistreats her 15 17.
• Younger siblings — Their protection is one of her central motives for survival and for remaining hidden 17.
• Zhan Shifeng — Fellow literacy instructor; together they divide the students into two classes 45 46.

Notable Quotes

“The Gu Family has always stood upright. We neither steal nor rob, and our hands are clean.” 15

“Little sister, we may be slaves of the Tang household, but we’re still human beings, not cats and dogs for him to toy with as he pleases.” 25

“I don’t want to bring harm upon you. At least, you don’t have the ability to help me yet. Although you’re a Count, my enemies are far too powerful.” 46