Eastern Depot

Biodata

Organization

Authority and Jurisdiction

• The Eastern Depot was responsible for confiscating the Xiang Prince’s Residence, creating a potential liability when its connection to the Demonic Cult’s Holy Maiden became known 9.
• Its relationship with the Western Depot combines formal cooperation with institutional rivalry. Chen Yi states that depot rules authorize the Western Depot to act over the Eastern Depot’s head 4 9.
• Western Depot Thousand Household Min Ning was assigned to oversee the Eastern Depot. Chen Yi’s later appointment likewise placed a Western Depot officer in command of its personnel 5 21.
• Neither the Lin faction nor the Ding’an faction could directly appoint its director; both sought influence through the Directorate of Ceremonial 18.
• The office has a poor reputation among Capital City’s commoners and strained relations with civil officials and ministers 12.

Headquarters

• Location: Near Donghua Gate, though farther from the palace than the neighboring Western Depot 8.
• Facilities: A main hall, offices, a tea room, a drill ground, and a File Room staffed by clerks 8 15 28.
• Records: Its files include old criminal complaints and material concerning Prince Jing’s Manor, which Chen Yi orders collected after assuming command 25 28.

Notable Personnel

History

Establishment

The Eastern Depot was established shortly after Min Ning’s birth. The late emperor subsequently withdrew his favor from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Together with the Guard’s involvement in the chancellor’s case, this contributed to the rapid decline of the Min Household, whose standing had rested on Min He’s service as a Pacification Commissioner 13.

Collusion with the Demonic Cult

Under Xue Youge, the Eastern Depot cooperated with the Bright-Dark Divine Sect, commonly called the Demonic Cult. The arrangement rested on mutual benefit rather than loyalty: Xue valued his official position and initially did not know that Yin Tingxue was the sect’s Holy Maiden 9 11.

Cult infiltration extended into the depot’s ranks. Chief Constable Song Shengbao and two agents attempted to seize Yin Tingxue from Chen Yi, who killed all three 4. After Chen Yi also eliminated sixteen cult members, Xue sought to pressure him through a memorial and Li Hundred Household 8 9.

Chen Yi outwardly agreed to cooperate, then convinced Li that the Holy Maiden’s emergence could expose the depot’s dealings. Presenting his killings as an effort to protect the office, he obtained Xue’s normally restricted Copper Bone Art in exchange for the warning 9.

Engineered Break with the Cult

Chen Yi instructed Min Ming to spread rumors that the Eastern Depot served the Demonic Cult and protected its Holy Maiden. Disguised as Song Shengbao in a chief constable’s uniform, he separately persuaded cult members that the depot intended to betray them 11.

The rumors alarmed Xue precisely because the underlying collusion was real. Suspecting the cult of trying to coerce him, he reduced contact with its members and ordered an investigation into the Holy Maiden’s emergence. Chen Yi also directed Min Ning to deliver two cult members’ heads to the depot, further widening the rift 12.

Assault on Headquarters

The Demonic Cult launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Depot. Xue rallied the initially disorganized defenders and ordered the Holy Maiden killed on sight. Well-equipped, martial-trained depot personnel recovered sufficiently to push back cultists in the surrounding alleys 13.

An Eastern Depot chief constable then attempted to kill Yin Tingxue despite Min Ning’s efforts to shield her. Chen Yi intervened, carried Yin Tingxue away, and killed twenty-one depot men in the alley on the eighteenth day of the tenth month, in the third year of Great Yu’s Huanglong era 14.

Inside headquarters, Xue fought and crippled the cult elder before Chen Yi attacked him from behind and killed him. Chen Yi disguised another corpse as the Holy Maiden and announced that Xue had died heroically after slaying the elder 15.

Western Depot reinforcements eventually made the battle one-sided. Wu Qingsheng had deliberately delayed intervening to weaken the Eastern Depot, but had not expected Xue’s death. Chen Yi’s public praise of the fallen won him substantial goodwill among the survivors 15.

Succession and Internal Resistance

The Lin faction sought to install Chen Yi as acting director after Xue’s death. Although Chen Yi twice refused Lin Yan’s proposal, Empress Dowager An subsequently appointed him on Grand Secretary Lin’s recommendation 17 18 21.

Wang Gu and several chief constables resented an outsider from the Western Depot taking command. Wang used an old Infant Tower complaint to draw Chen Yi into the countryside, where he and fourteen guards surrounded and attacked him. During the confrontation, Wang admitted that the Ding’an faction had tolerated the tower’s abuses to undermine the Lin faction 21 25 26.

Chen Yi defeated the attackers, maimed Wang, and ordered the surviving agents to rescue the children, transfer them to the Foundling Hall, and arrest everyone involved in building the tower. After assuming command, he ordered the depot’s clerks to gather all records connected to Prince Jing’s Manor 26 28.

Demon-Quelling Day and Jade Elegance Estate

When Demon-Quelling Day arrived unexpectedly, Empress Dowager An ordered both Depots and the Directorate of Celestial Observations to investigate 36.

Chen Yi’s review of Prince Jing’s records identified Jade Elegance Estate as a suspected Five-Stone Powder trafficking site. He later surrounded the estate with a combined force of nearly sixty Eastern Depot agents and Western Depot chief constables, timing the raid to catch its contraband shipment 37 48.

The operation defeated Feng Ying and Feng Luo and secured confessions from the estate’s stewards. It also reinforced Chen Yi’s reputation among both Depots for decisive action and harsh punishment, while provoking numerous impeachment memorials because of the estate’s powerful backers 49 50.

Martial Arts and Equipment

Copper Bone Art

A defensive martial art written by Xue Youge and circulated within the Eastern Depot, normally withheld from outsiders 9.

• Tempers the skin, membranes, sinews, and bones, eventually extending to organ training and marrow cleansing 10.
• At full mastery, provides copper-like skin and iron-like bones that ordinary metal weapons cannot breach 10.
• Used by both Xue and an Eastern Depot chief constable during the headquarters assault 14 15.
• Does not provide complete protection: the cult elder injures Xue through deftly applied force despite his defensive cultivation 15.

Operational Equipment

• Sabers and official uniforms: Used by depot agents and chief constables; Song Shengbao and his companions appear in Embroidered Uniform Guard uniforms 4 14.
• Waist tokens: Used with official clothing to establish an officer’s identity; Chen Yi obtains one for his impersonation of Song Shengbao 11.
• Soft silk armor: Worn by Xue beneath his python robe, though destroyed during his duel with the cult elder 15.

External Relationships

• Empress Dowager An — Appoints the acting director and issues investigation orders to both Depots 21 36.
• Western Depot — A sister organization with supervisory authority and a pronounced rivalry; nevertheless provides reinforcements and participates in joint operations 4 9 15 48.
• Lin faction — Controlled the depot’s political sphere under Xue and promoted Chen Yi’s candidacy to preserve its influence after his death 18 21.
• Ding’an faction and Prince Jing — Maintain supporters inside the depot and oppose Chen Yi’s leadership. After Wang Gu’s failure, Prince Jing’s circle plans another attempt on Chen Yi during the Prayer Daoist Grounds 25 28 36.
• Do Not Use Tower — Spreads Chen Yi’s allegations about the depot’s cult connections through Min Ming. Empress Dowager An later orders the organization warned and some of its spies removed 11 21.