Liu San

Biodata

Appearance

Liu San is an older slave with a scarred, broad, greasy face and a harsh voice repeatedly compared to a cracked gong 6 11 16.

• Eyes: Triangular and bloodshot during his confrontation with Chen Xuan 22.
• Footwear: Worn straw sandals at his introduction 6.
• Later injuries: A swollen right knee, two broken front teeth, and facial swelling after falling onto bluestone 18 22.
• Distinctive speech: His missing front teeth give his voice a pronounced whistle 22.

Personality

Liu San bullies the slaves beneath him while flattering those above him. He shifts his own water-delivery duty onto Chen Xuan, assigns him grueling work despite his injuries, and treats resistance as a challenge to his authority. When Steward Zhao watches him accuse Chen Xuan of wasting fodder, he immediately adopts a deferential, aggrieved manner 6 13 16 18.

His caution around the household's masters is rooted in fear of collective punishment. He strikes another slave for gossiping about Xiao Yuxuan's concubine, warning that such talk could get everyone killed. Old Sun describes him as exceptionally grudging; after Chen Xuan injures him, Liu San plots lethal retaliation rather than accepting the incident as an accident 6 11 20.

Abilities & Skills

Boulder Art

Chen Xuan identifies Liu San as another practitioner of the household's basic Boulder Art 14.

• Liu San's cultivation realm and proficiency are not established in the supplied chapters.
• His whip strikes fail to penetrate Chen Xuan's newly strengthened early-stage Bright Force defenses; Chen Xuan secretly injures his own shoulder to preserve the appearance of vulnerability 17.

Stable Supervision

Liu San assigns chores and disciplines the stable slaves with Steward Zhao's authorization 6 16.

• Delegates water delivery, manure removal, and firewood hauling 6 11 13.
• Uses threats and whipping to enforce obedience 13 17.
• Pays a front-courtyard messenger half a string of coins to learn when Chen Xuan is due to report to his new post 33.

Equipment

• Cowhide riding whip: Soaked in tung oil; used to lash Chen Xuan's right shoulder five times 16 17.
• Wooden walking stick: A rotten stick roughly as thick as an arm, used for support after his knee injury 22.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Assigning Chen Xuan's Chores

After Chen Xuan survives Xiao Yuxuan's whipping, Liu San lectures him to keep his eyes lowered around the estate's women. He then transfers his own afternoon water-delivery assignment to Chen Xuan, sending him to the training grounds where the household's young masters and ladies will be practicing 6.

Liu San later calls Chen Xuan back to shovel manure and orders him to haul firewood to the rear kitchen. Wang Er explains that Liu San wants Chen Xuan worked harder so Steward Zhao will not think the stables are sheltering him 11 13.

Fodder Incident and Retaliation

Liu San deliberately overturns a fodder cart, then blames Chen Xuan for spilling premium hay into muddy water. Chen Xuan's enhanced hearing exposes the trick, but he pretends to be weak while Steward Zhao scrutinizes him. Zhao permits Liu San to discipline him, provided he remains fit for kitchen labor 16.

Liu San demands that Chen Xuan kneel and delivers five lashes to the same shoulder. When Chen Xuan tries to end the punishment by invoking Zhao's instructions, Liu San attempts to seize him and shove his head into a puddle of horse urine 17 18.

Chen Xuan feigns a slip and strikes Liu San's right knee with less than one-tenth of his Qi force. The impact fractures his kneecap and sends him face-first onto a bluestone slab, breaking both front teeth. Liu San correctly accuses Chen Xuan of attacking deliberately, but Zhao accepts the witnesses' account of an accident and sends him to the outer-courtyard doctor, Blind Liu 18 19.

Treading Snow Plot

Resentful that Zhao used him to test Chen Xuan and then abandoned him, Liu San privately vows to make Chen Xuan lead Xiao Ling'er's dangerous horse, Treading Snow, hoping it will trample him. Chen Xuan overhears the plan 20.

That afternoon, Liu San orders Chen Xuan to bring out the horse and again questions the unusual force behind their earlier collision. His lingering glance at Treading Snow's right forehoof increases Chen Xuan's suspicion 22.

Poisoned bamboo barbs concealed in the horseshoes subsequently drive Treading Snow berserk with Xiao Ling'er riding it. Liu San's responsibility for planting the barbs is not established: Chen Xuan concludes that the attack targets Xiao Ling'er and later reasons that Liu San could not have obtained the poison himself. After the rescue, Liu San watches from the side gate, hoping Chen Xuan will be exposed as a martial artist and executed as a spy 23 27 28.

Attempt to Seize Chen Xuan's Reward

After Chen Xuan receives ten taels of gold, a Blood-Gathering Pill, and a post as Xiao Ling'er's personal guard, Liu San and Xiao Liuzi seek to seize his rewards on Steward Zhao's orders. They arrive while Chen Xuan is secretly refining the pill in the stable 33.

Finding the door bolted and hearing nothing inside, Liu San decides against forcing entry because it might alert patrolling guards. He instead takes Xiao Liuzi to search the rear kitchen, allowing Chen Xuan to finish his breakthrough undisturbed. Li Si later confirms that the pair are still searching there 33 34.

Relationships

• Chen Xuan — Subordinate and target of abuse. Liu San's efforts to punish and exploit him escalate into a murder plot after Chen Xuan secretly injures him 6 18 20.
• Zhao De / Steward Zhao — Superior who authorizes his control of stable discipline. Liu San privately resents Zhao's refusal to support him after his injury but later acts on his orders to seize Chen Xuan's rewards 16 19 20 33.
• Xiao Liuzi — Accomplice in the attempted theft of Chen Xuan's gold and pill 33.
• Wang Er — Fellow servant used to relay Liu San's firewood-hauling order to Chen Xuan 13.
• Old Sun — Warns Chen Xuan about Liu San's vindictiveness and advises him not to provide an excuse for further punishment 11.