Hundred-household Li

Biodata

Background / History

Command of Bailing County

Li headed the Bailing County Hundred-household Office for years. With a transfer reportedly scheduled for the following year, he had largely stopped attending to routine affairs. He sought promotion to deputy thousand-household and collected money to bribe officials throughout the hierarchy 3 4 6 19.

His influence extended beyond the office: he was the Jade Green Pavilion’s biggest backer before his death. His household also accumulated substantial possessions, and his wife later stated that they had paid Thousand-household Liu tens of thousands of taels to secure his promotion 18 20.

Lin Lang’s Promotion Duel

Li accepted three thousand taels from Liu Wu to arrange an arena duel against Lin Lang for the probationary hundred-household appointment. Believing that Lin Lang’s Golden Body Child Skill had been broken, he initially expected Liu Wu’s scheme to succeed 4 5.

The match lasted one incense stick, with the winner receiving the appointment and the loser being sent to gather intelligence in Great Song. Li prohibited deaths, poison, and concealed weapons, but permitted everything else. When Lin Lang defeated Liu Wu and moved to break his legs, Li intervened; their exchanged palm strike forced each man back half a step 4 5.

Recognizing Lin Lang’s first-rate cultivation and mastered Golden Body Child Skill, Li declared him the winner and personally delivered his appointment document. At the subsequent banquet, Li concluded that Lin Lang had deliberately outmaneuvered Liu Wu and tried to establish goodwill with the rising officer 5 6.

The Great Song Assignment

Li visited the injured Liu Wu intending to demand several thousand more taels in exchange for sending another officer to Great Song instead. He found Liu Wu already murdered and his money gone, and suspected Lin Lang of responsibility 8.

Li then used the vacant intelligence assignment to pressure Lin Lang for money. Instead of paying, Lin Lang volunteered for the dangerous mission and requested the official dispatch. Li was astonished that his subordinate would risk Great Song rather than give him a bribe 8 9.

When Lin Lang returned, he sent his intelligence directly to the Eastern Depot while Li was visiting the Jade Green Pavilion. Li angrily protested being bypassed, having hoped to submit the report himself and claim its credit, but ultimately granted Lin Lang leave 15.

Failed Promotion and Displacement

During Lin Lang’s leave, Li led an attempt to capture Tian Boguang. More than a dozen Jinyiwei died, and Li returned injured as the only survivor. Tian Boguang had spared him out of concern that killing a hundred-household would bring stronger court experts after him 16.

Li subsequently demanded twenty thousand taels to recommend Lin Lang for a hundred-household position. Lin Lang refused. Shortly afterward, Thousand-household Liu announced Lin Lang’s promotion through the Eastern Depot’s intervention, placing him in charge of Li’s office 16 17.

Having rendered no meritorious service in the preceding two years, Li was denied an early promotion and reassigned to the Thousand-household Office pending a vacancy. Resenting the loss of authority and income, he warned Liu that Lin Lang might bypass him too. Lin Lang overheard the complaint and decided to retaliate 17.

Death and Cover-up

Preparing to leave for Pingyang Prefecture without promotion or substantive duties, Li sold his possessions, converted the proceeds into banknotes, and dismissed his servants. He intended to use the money to persuade Thousand-household Liu to help him again 18.

Lin Lang entered Li’s home that night and announced his intention to kill him. Li drew his Xiuchun Blade and attacked first, trusting his more than twenty years of saber training. Lin Lang defeated him within three moves, pierced his chest, and revealed that he was a Martial Arts Master 18.

Lin Lang took more than twenty thousand taels and Li’s Eight Gates Golden Lock Saber manual. He then killed Li’s wife and burned both bodies to obscure the wounds. By guiding Flag Officer Sun’s deductions, he pinned the murders on Tian Boguang and received orders to pursue the supposed killer 18 19.

Personality

Li treated official appointments and dangerous assignments as opportunities for personal enrichment. He accepted Liu Wu’s payment to arrange the promotion duel, planned to sell him an exemption from the Great Song mission, and later demanded twenty thousand taels for a recommendation that did not guarantee Lin Lang’s advancement 4 8 16.

His dealings with others depended heavily on their position. He greeted Thousand-household Liu obsequiously and offered lavish hospitality, yet slapped a woman at the Jade Green Pavilion when she accidentally spilled wine on him. When Lin Lang threatened his authority, Li attempted to sideline him and later complained about him to their superior 15 16 17.

Li repeatedly underestimated Lin Lang. He mistook the reversal of Liu Wu’s sabotage for a carefully staged deception, then assumed that decades of saber practice would overcome Lin Lang’s newly acquired swordsmanship. He recognized the fatal gap in their strength only after being mortally wounded 6 18.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Cultivation

• Mid first-rate realm: Li was an established first-rate expert before Lin Lang’s breakthrough 2.
• Palm combat: His intervention in the promotion duel produced an exchange in which both he and Lin Lang retreated half a step 5.
• Defensive limitations: After that exchange, Li judged that Lin Lang’s Golden Body Child Skill might make him the stronger fighter 5.

Saber Combat

• Had practiced saber arts for more than twenty years 18.
• Attacked Lin Lang’s neck with a Xiuchun Blade, but was forced onto the defensive in their first exchange 18.
• Could not withstand three moves from Lin Lang’s sword technique at Martial Arts Master level 18.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Xiuchun Blade — Drawn against Lin Lang during their final confrontation 18.
• Eight Gates Golden Lock Saber manual — A first-rate saber manual taken from his chest after his death; Lin Lang later gave it to Wang Wu and Jia Liu 18 21.
• More than twenty thousand taels in banknotes — Held after liquidating his household possessions; stolen by Lin Lang 18.

Relationships

• Lin Lang — Subordinate, successor, and killer. Their conflict escalated through failed extortion, disputed intelligence credit, and Li’s attempt to undermine him before Thousand-household Liu 8 15 16 17 18.
• Liu Wu — Subordinate who paid Li three thousand taels to arrange the promotion duel. Li intervened to stop Lin Lang from further injuring him, then planned to demand another payment to spare him the Great Song assignment 4 5 8.
• Thousand-household Liu — Direct superior and intended patron for promotion. Despite receiving substantial payments from Li’s household, Liu reassigned him without advancing his rank 17 18.
• Li’s wife — Unnamed spouse who shared his promotion plans and managed preparations for their move. Lin Lang killed her after she discovered Li’s corpse 18 19.
• Flag Officer Sun — Long-serving subordinate. Lin Lang used Sun’s knowledge of Li’s recent enemies to establish Tian Boguang as the supposed murderer 19.
• Tian Boguang — Target of Li’s disastrous arrest attempt; later falsely blamed for killing Li and his wife 16 19.

Notable Quotes

“No poison or concealed weapons. Everything else is permitted. Begin.” 4

“And there will only be a vacancy for you if I move up. Every Hundred-household post is like a hole with a radish already planted in it.” 16

“How is this possible? You're a Martial Arts Master?!” 18