Xiao Yuxuan

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Face: Fair, pale, and described as effeminate; his complexion frequently flushes when flattered, angered, or embarrassed 7 8 26.
• Martial clothing: Moon-white brocade martial attire with a jade-inlaid gold belt 7.
• Other clothing: Sumptuous brocade robes and cloud-patterned brocade boots 1 2 30.
• Signs of exhaustion: Dark circles, unsteady footing, and pallor during training; repeated Yang Gang demonstrations leave his clothing soaked with sweat 7 9.

Personality

Xiao Yuxuan treats servants as disposable property and uses household rules to justify extreme violence. He kills Chen Xuan over an alleged glance at his concubine, grows increasingly excited during the whipping, and afterward complains that the corpse will dirty his carriage. His possessiveness extends to his wife and sister: he repeatedly accuses Chen Xuan of looking at or touching women above his station 1 2 10 26.

He is vain, susceptible to flattery, and intensely conscious of his position as heir. He accepts exaggerated praise from his sparring partners and mistakes Su Wanqing’s perfunctory compliments for admiration. Her indifference embarrasses him, while his father’s praise of Xiao Yuting provokes an insistence that his own legitimate birth makes him superior 7 8 9.

His aggression diminishes before people whose approval or authority he fears. He quickly adopts a fawning manner when Su Wanqing tells him to stop abusing Chen Xuan, and he obeys his mother’s public rebuke despite his resentment. After such humiliations, he redirects his anger toward servants and guards 10 28 31.

Abilities & Skills

Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang

Xiao Yuxuan practices the Marquis of Zhenbei’s Residence’s closely guarded supreme martial art, which he publicly demonstrates to impress Su Wanqing 8.

• Demonstrated effects: Produces scorching air and an explosive palm force capable of stirring dust and making a stone lantern three paces away sway 8.
• Named forms: Performs Eight Desolations Burn the Heavens and Subdue the Prison and Shatter the Mountain 9.
• Poor control: Chen Xuan judges his force to be scattered and his blood and Qi superficial, with the technique’s inherent power compensating for weak execution 8.
• Limited endurance: Repeated demonstrations leave him pale, sweating, and weak-legged. Su Wanqing warns that continuing after exhausting his blood and Qi could damage his meridians 9.
• Training history: Chen Xuan later remarks that Xiao Yuxuan has practiced the art for five years while relying on pills, yet still produces unimpressive results 34.

Physical Combat

• Kicks Chen Xuan approximately ten feet across the street during their first confrontation 1.
• Uses a barbed whip to inflict fatal wounds on the original Chen Xuan 1 2.
• His training-ground sparring does not establish genuine superiority: Fatty Wang deliberately exaggerates the effect of a weak palm strike while the other young masters praise him 7.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Iron-barbed leather whip — A glossy black whip stored in a hidden carriage compartment. Its closely spaced barbs tear Chen Xuan’s clothing and flesh during the fatal street beating 1.
• Jade-inlaid sword — Worn at his waist when he confronts Chen Xuan over the rescue reward 30.
• Borrowed steel saber — Drawn from a guard to threaten to sever Chen Xuan’s hands after Xiao Ling’er’s rescue 26.

Relationships

• Chen Xuan — Household slave and target of repeated abuse. Xiao Yuxuan kills the body’s original owner, making himself a central target of the transmigrated Chen Xuan’s revenge 1 2 3.
• Su Wanqing — Principal wife and heir’s consort. He persistently seeks her admiration, but she privately regards him as someone sustained by flattery. She intervenes against his treatment of Chen Xuan 8 10 26.
• Chu Miaoyin — Courtesan recently purchased as his concubine. He treats her gently while using an alleged glance at her as the pretext for killing Chen Xuan 1 2 3.
• Xiao Ling’er — Younger sister, whom he calls Third Sister. He claims to defend her honor after her rescue, but she rebukes him for failing to help and protects Chen Xuan from him 26 30 31.
• First Madam — Mother. She publicly chastises his failure to behave as a future marquis and forces him to accept rewarding Chen Xuan 31.
• Marquis of Zhenbei — Father. His praise of Xiao Yuting’s martial progress aggravates Xiao Yuxuan’s insecurity 8.
• Xiao Yuting — Second brother from the second branch. Xiao Yuxuan resents his attainment of minor accomplishment in the family’s supreme art and disparages his branch 8.
• Sun Fu / Steward Sun — Dispensary steward who attempts to obstruct Chen Xuan’s reward at Xiao Yuxuan’s behest 30.
• Zhang Kui — Guard instructor whom Xiao Yuxuan orders to investigate the poisoning of Xiao Ling’er’s horse 27 28.
• An Jin attendants — Several martial-world attendants serve in his courtyard, giving him access to fighters stronger than himself 38.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Killing Chen Xuan

While returning with Chu Miaoyin, Xiao Yuxuan accuses the stable slave Chen Xuan of staring at her legs. He rejects the slave’s explanation that he was reacting to her ankle bells, invokes household punishments, and beats him with an iron-barbed whip. A final lash strikes the back of Chen Xuan’s head and kills him 1 2.

After Wang Wu confirms the death, Xiao Yuxuan orders the body discarded at a mass grave. Servants temporarily leave it in a woodshed, where a transmigrated soul awakens in Chen Xuan’s body. The new Chen Xuan inherits the original owner’s hatred and vows to settle the blood debt 2 3.

Unwittingly Revealing the Family Art

At the training grounds, Xiao Yuxuan follows a flattering sparring session with a public demonstration of Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang. He hopes to impress Su Wanqing and reassert his standing after his father praises Xiao Yuting 7 8.

His repeated demonstrations allow Chen Xuan’s Heaven Rewards Diligence fate trait to record the closely guarded art and increase its proficiency through observation. Unaware of this, Xiao Yuxuan subsequently kicks over Chen Xuan’s tea tray, scalding his hands, and accuses him of spying on his wife 9 10.

Xiao Ling’er’s Poisoned Horse

When Treading Snow runs wild, Xiao Yuxuan panics while Chen Xuan stops the horse and catches Xiao Ling’er as she falls. Rather than reward the rescue, he kicks Chen Xuan and raises a guard’s saber to cut off his hands for touching his sister. Su Wanqing stops him and uncovers a poisoned thorn in the horse’s hoof 24 26.

Xiao Yuxuan orders Zhang Kui to investigate and later demands that the culprit be caught by sunset. Although briefly suspicious of Chen Xuan’s unusual speed, he accepts the explanation that the slave learned to run while fighting stray dogs for food 27 28.

Failed Opposition to Chen Xuan’s Reward

Xiao Yuxuan attempts to block Chen Xuan’s reward through Steward Sun, then intervenes personally after that effort fails. Xiao Ling’er defends her rescuer and criticizes her brother for staying behind during the emergency 30.

First Madam rebukes him and insists that a Blood-Gathering Pill and ten taels of gold will secure a reputation for generosity. He submits but silently threatens Chen Xuan. His further objections also fail to prevent Chen Xuan’s appointment as Xiao Ling’er’s personal guard at the Listening to Rain Pavilion 31 32.