Rong Che

Biodata

Power Progression

Rong Che’s martial development uses internal energy, meridians, and a dantian rather than named cultivation realms.

Background / History

Rong Che was sent to an enemy kingdom as a hostage shortly after his birth, while Ning Shujin was unconscious from hemorrhaging. His mother pursued him with troops on the third day after giving birth but failed to recover him. He remained a hostage for eighteen years 117.

His captors repeatedly attacked the few comforts he found. At eight, a guard killed and roasted his pet rabbit, his only companion at the time. At eleven, the enemy emperor had his secretly stored Rong Kingdom plum wine used to wash chamber pots. At fifteen, Rong Che rescued Lin Fei from a powerful minister who had nearly sexually assaulted her, repeatedly striking the man with an inkstone 117.

Despite his captivity, Rong Che secretly supported the Rong Kingdom’s war effort. He killed thousands of enemy officers and supplied crucial intelligence, securing military achievements he regarded as necessary to retain his position as crown prince 113.

Appearance

• Build and complexion: Tall and slender, with exceptionally fair skin and a cool, noble bearing 115 119.
• Facial features: Sharply defined features, thin lips, and striking purple, phoenix-shaped eyes 112 113 115.
• Resemblance: Inherited Ning Shujin’s beauty 119.
• Injuries: Captivity left him with extensive blade wounds and scars; his wrists became visibly thin as his health deteriorated 112 115.
• Clothing: Wears bright-yellow crown-prince court robes after returning home. His wedding attire is an elaborate, four-layered scarlet bridal gown with a veil 112 119.

Personality

Rong Che is proud, guarded, and fiercely resistant to being controlled. Years of humiliation made him gloomy and irritable, and he initially responds to unwanted touch with a dagger at Rong Yuheng’s throat. He can endure extreme pain without surrendering his defiance, refusing his father’s demands even while being beaten 112 115.

Initially, he treats his own life as a tool for revenge and political advancement. Rong Yuheng’s willingness to sacrifice his strength for him changes that outlook: Rong Che explicitly retracts his earlier claim and says he values Rong Yuheng more than martial power 113 116.

His difficulty accepting love comes from fear rather than indifference. Because his captors destroyed the people and things he cherished, he believes affection puts its recipient in danger. He denies loving Rong Yuheng in an attempt to protect him, even while longing to remain with him 117 118 119.

Rong Che is protective toward those he considers family. He shields Rong Yuheng from Ning Shujin’s attack, shows Xie Rong leniency to avoid troubling his husband, and refuses to deceive the dying Lin Fei about his feelings. Her death nevertheless drives him into a killing frenzy in which he briefly fails to recognize Rong Yuheng 117 121.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts and Internal Energy

A formidable fighter despite his damaged body, Rong Che combines close combat, weapon handling, and internal-energy attacks 112 120 121.

• Secretly trained for thirteen years while held hostage 112.
• Catches Rong Chi’s sword between two fingers and turns it against him 120.
• Catches a crossbow bolt and throws it back through two attackers’ heads 121.
• After mastering Rong Yuheng’s transferred energy, kills dozens of skilled armed men with a single palm strike 121.
• Can be incapacitated by sealed acupoints or pierced pipa bones, though he forcibly overcomes the latter restraint while trying to save Lin Fei 112 120 121.

External-Wound Healing

Rong Che possesses a healing ability that can rapidly close external injuries 112 121.

• Heals a bone-deep facial wound with a touch 112.
• Attempts to combine healing with internal-energy transfer to save Lin Fei 121.
• Cannot repair the fatal damage to Lin Fei’s internal organs 121.

Drug Recognition

Experience with drugs during captivity gives Rong Che an exceptionally discerning sense of smell 120.

• Recognizes Crane’s Crown Red in soup by scent 120.
• Is not immune to incapacitating substances: Enchanted Incense affects his mind, and Rong Yuheng later drugs him unconscious 117 119.

Military Knowledge and Intelligence Work

• Supplies crucial intelligence to the Rong Kingdom during the war 113.
• Secretly assassinates enemy officers while living inside the enemy kingdom 113.
• Studies a military treatise while waiting outside the Regent’s Palace 113.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dagger and throwing dart — Carries concealed weapons during his first encounter with Rong Yuheng; Rong Yuheng confiscates the dagger 112.
• Sword — Uses a sword taken from the Heavenly Prison during his revenge attack on the imperial palace 121.
• Scarlet wedding gown — Hand-embroidered by hundreds of embroideresses over more than half a month for his marriage to Rong Yuheng 119.
• Regent’s Palace wealth — Receives ledgers representing the residence’s entire wealth as betrothal gifts 120.

Relationships

• Rong Yuheng — Non-blood-related imperial uncle, rescuer, martial master, and husband. His father is Rong Yuheng’s sworn elder brother. Their relationship includes coercion and restraint, alongside Rong Yuheng’s lifesaving treatment and Rong Che’s eventual open commitment to their marriage 112 113 116 119 120.
• Ning Shujin — Mother and the Rong Kingdom’s only female general. She attempts to exchange her life for his through a life-swapping gu, but stops after learning he is recovering. She accepts his relationship with Rong Yuheng and witnesses their wedding bows 117 119.
• Rong Chen — Father and emperor. After eighteen years apart, they are emotionally distant. Rong Chen orders him to assassinate Rong Yuheng and beats him for refusing; Rong Che later kills him during his revenge for Lin Fei 115 121.
• Lin Fei — Cherished as a younger sister and family member, but never a romantic partner. She once takes half of a two-hundred-stroke punishment for him and later dies shielding him from crossbow bolts 119 121.
• Rong Chi — Adoptive younger brother and rival for succession. Frames Rong Che for murder and arranges his attempted assassination; Rong Che kills him after Lin Fei’s death 113 120 121.
• Xie Rong — Rong Yuheng’s close friend and retainer. Reports their relationship to the emperor, then uses Enchanted Incense to question Rong Che’s motives despite having received his leniency 116 117.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rescue and Return to Court

Rong Yuheng finds Rong Che bloodied inside a golden cage, breaks him out, and protects him from poisoned crossbow bolts. Rong Che conceals his surname by introducing himself as “A-Che,” but Rong Yuheng already knows his identity. After the Rong Kingdom wins the war, they return to the capital, where Rong Che reunites with Ning Shujin and receives an order to marry Lin Fei 112.

Broken Betrothal and Recovery

Rong Che regards Lin Fei only as a younger sister. Rong Yuheng gives up his half of the military tally in exchange for annulling their betrothal and allowing Rong Che to choose his own consort 114.

When Rong Chen orders him to exploit Rong Yuheng’s affection and assassinate him, Rong Che refuses. Rong Yuheng rescues him from the resulting beating, treats him in a medicinal spring, and transfers ten years of internal energy to him. Rong Che accepts his marriage proposal and calls him “husband” 115 116.

Fear of Attachment and Marriage

Xie Rong’s Enchanted Incense draws out memories of captivity and Rong Che’s conviction that loving someone will bring them harm. After denying his feelings and escaping the Regent’s Palace, Rong Che urges Rong Yuheng to marry someone else 117 118 119.

Rong Yuheng gives him a month, then announces a wedding without identifying the intended consort. On the wedding day, he drugs Rong Che, dresses him in bridal clothes, and brings him to the Regent’s Palace. The two complete their wedding bows before Ning Shujin. Rong Che later challenges the coercive arrangements but publicly affirms that he wanted to marry Rong Yuheng 119 120.

Imprisonment, Revenge, and the Throne

Rong Chi leads a hostile crowd against the newlyweds, then has two commoners murdered and blames Rong Che. Rong Che allows himself to be arrested rather than risk damaging Rong Yuheng’s reputation by resisting 120.

In the Heavenly Prison, Lin Fei unknowingly brings him poison supplied by Rong Chi. When the assassination attempt escalates to crossbow fire, she shields Rong Che and dies. He masters his transferred internal energy, kills Rong Chi and the attackers, and storms the imperial palace, where he slits Rong Chen’s throat 120 121.

Rong Yuheng brings him out of his killing frenzy and takes away his sword. After burying Lin Fei and mourning at her grave for several days, Rong Che returns with Rong Yuheng to claim the throne 121.

Notable Quotes

“Father, in all your eyes, I am merely a pawn for you to manipulate, a blade that kills without shedding blood. But only by his side can I feel that I am a living person.” 115

“Not a hostage prince, not the crown prince, just Rong Che!” 115

“The regent was willing to marry me, and I was willing to marry him. What business is it of yours?” 120

Trivia

• Xiao Cheng portrays Rong Che opposite Jiang Chiyan’s Rong Yuheng during an audition. Their final confrontation ends with an unscripted kiss 89.
• The historical side story explicitly pairs Rong Che with Xiao Cheng and Rong Yuheng with Jiang Chiyan. The closing author’s note asks readers to treat it as their past-life story 112 121.
• Rong Che’s favorite pastries are green plum pastries 117.
• Rong Yuheng has a sheet of Rong Che’s writing framed above their bridal bed and calls it his rarest treasure, much to Rong Che’s embarrassment 119 120.