Jiang Yi

Biodata

Background / History

Opposition to Jiang Yao’s Marriage

Jiang Yi was already regarded as a promising future general when his elder sister, Jiang Yao, chose to marry Meng Fushan. Distrusting the scholar, Jiang Yi argued fiercely with her and secretly sent men to investigate Meng Fushan’s hometown. War broke out before their findings returned, and the marriage proceeded under Emperor Tianyuan’s authority 3.

Before leaving on campaign at sixteen, Jiang Yi warned Jiang Yao to be careful and promised to punish Meng Fushan if he mistreated her. He refused to acknowledge Meng Fushan as his brother-in-law 5.

Survival and Infiltration of Northern Di

Jiang Yi and his father, Jiang Zhanyu, were driven off a cliff during the northern campaign. Jiang Zhanyu died protecting his son, while Jiang Yi survived with grave injuries. His presumed death helped bring about the Jiang Clan’s collapse, leaving Jiang Yao without her family’s protection 3 26.

After awakening, Jiang Yi suffered amnesia for three years. Once his memory returned, he left his rescuer to avenge his father. With the Northern Frontier army under another commander and no troops or authority of his own, he infiltrated Northern Di alone, intending to carry out an assassination 26.

He remained there for ten years, learning its military formations, deployments, terrain, and supply arrangements, but never gained access to his target. Hearing that Chu Huaiyin had taken command of Great Wei’s army, he returned home and helped him defeat Northern Di. Jiang Zhanyu’s high opinion of the prince influenced Jiang Yi’s decision to trust him 26.

Service Under Chu Huaiyin

After learning how Meng Fushan had treated Jiang Yao, Jiang Yi asked Chu Huaiyin to protect Meng Zhou. Five years later, Chu Huaiyin returned to the capital and entrusted Jiang Yi with 400,000 Northern Frontier soldiers. Jiang Yi continued using an alias to avoid alerting those connected to the original military disaster 26.

Jiang Yi eventually requested permission to escort his father’s coffin home. Chu Huaiyin ordered an edict prepared naming him Nation-Guarding General and posthumously honoring Jiang Zhanyu as Duke Who Protects the Nation 24. Before returning to court, Jiang Yi signed an armistice with Northern Di 41.

Return to the Capital

Chu Huaiyin personally welcomed Jiang Yi back. Rather than first entering the general’s residence, Jiang Yi went directly to Meng Fushan’s home with his saber. Acting on behalf of his deceased father and sister, he forced Meng Fushan to accept a document severing the families’ marital ties and declaring them blood enemies 29.

He moved Jiang Yao’s grave into the Jiang Clan’s ancestral burial grounds beside their parents. Believing Meng Zhou dead, he also wanted to remove the surname Meng from his nephew’s gravestone, but accepted Chu Huaiyin’s argument against disturbing his rest. He mourned by practicing boxing in silence and later drinking with Uncle Liu 29.

Protecting “Guan Jiasheng”

At Chu Huaiyin’s request, Jiang Yi began guarding Meng Zhou, who was then posing as Guan Jiasheng. The emperor suggested that Jiang Yi explain his constant presence as a desire to see someone resembling his deceased nephew. Jiang Yi did not know that Chu Huaiyin also hoped his presence would expose flaws in the disguise 31 32.

During the Qianyang Lake investigation, Jiang Yi intervened when the man posing as A Hu attacked Meng Zhou. He disarmed the assailant and helped capture him, then refused to let Meng Zhou enter the theater courtyard before the emperor arrived. Protecting his charge took priority over pursuing another suspect, who escaped 34.

Jiang Yi subsequently led the excavation beneath the theater, discovered its tunnel to Qianyang Lake, and supervised the recovery of the hidden Lake Tai stones 35.

Accepting Meng Zhou’s Secret

On Jiang Yao’s death anniversary, Jiang Yi found “Guan Jiasheng” offering the incense traditionally reserved for a son and recognized him as Meng Zhou. His relief gave way to shock when Meng Zhou revealed that the original nephew had drowned and that another soul now occupied his body 45 46.

Jiang Yi accepted him nonetheless. He asked Meng Zhou to keep the revelation secret and chose to regard the two Meng Zhous as though Jiang Yao had borne twins: one whom he had failed to protect, and one who remained. He insisted that Meng Zhou call him “Uncle” 46.

Learning of the Pregnancy

After helping search the city for Meng Zhou, Jiang Yi learned from Li Wenle that his nephew was three or four months pregnant. He initially drew his sword and demanded to know who had taken advantage of him; Li Wenle’s suspicions pointed to Chu Huaiyin. At Meng Zhou’s request, Jiang Yi withheld the pregnancy from the emperor 49.

Jiang Yi and Chu Huaiyin agreed to restore Meng Zhou’s identity by announcing that fishermen had rescued him and that the recovered corpse had been misidentified. They disagreed over his living arrangements, with Jiang Yi insisting on close family protection 49.

Meng Zhou subsequently moved into the general’s residence. Jiang Yi approved of his refusal to become a palace consort and worried that imperial favor might prove unreliable, leaving his nephew vulnerable as Jiang Yao had been. He also decided that the unborn child would inherit the general’s residence and learn the Jiang Clan’s martial arts 49 50.

Appearance

Jiang Yi has a weathered face, an upright bearing, and a family resemblance to Meng Zhou 6 31 46.

• At sixteen, he was already a head taller than Jiang Yao 5.
• Meng Zhou’s stern expression reminds Uncle Liu of him; Jiang Xin also briefly mistakes Meng Zhou for Jiang Yi 6.
• His face flushes when Meng Zhou questions him about a possible romantic attachment, though he denies having one 46.

Personality

Jiang Yi is fiercely protective of his family and carries lasting guilt over his eighteen-year absence. His hostility toward Meng Fushan predates the marriage, while his acceptance of the transmigrated Meng Zhou shows that his affection can extend beyond blood and the identity he originally expected to find 3 29 46.

He is blunt, forceful, and intolerant of hypocrisy. He compels Meng Fushan to sever the marriage ties rather than negotiate, and reacts to accounts of his sister’s suffering by punching a tree. With Meng Zhou, however, his severity repeatedly gives way to tenderness or anxious indulgence 29 46 50.

As a trainer, Jiang Yi is demanding and enthusiastic about strict discipline. Pregnancy produces a conspicuous exception: he forbids Meng Zhou even light martial practice while ordering Jiang Xin to run laps. His concern also makes him susceptible to Meng Zhou’s teasing, including a staged illness that persuades him to pay for medicine 32 50.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts and Strength

Jiang Yi is an accomplished martial artist whose strength allows him to overpower armed opponents and handle heavy materials 34 35.

• Disarms the false A Hu with the Dragon-Slaying Sword, forcing him back more than ten meters 34.
• Knocks the captured attacker unconscious with a kick 34.
• Pulls a Lake Tai stone one-handed during the recovery operation, which also uses water buoyancy 35.
• Intends to pass the Jiang Clan’s highest martial arts to Meng Zhou’s child 49.

Military Command and Intelligence

His experience combines frontline command with a decade of intelligence gathering inside Northern Di 26.

• Supplies knowledge of Northern Di formations, deployments, terrain, and provisions to Chu Huaiyin 26.
• Commands 400,000 Northern Frontier troops and signs an armistice before returning to court 26 41.
• Questions whether the Northern Di assassins might be part of another country’s attempt to provoke war 41.
• Subjects Jiang Xin to regular martial and military-formation training 50.

Stealth and Observation

• Switches from conspicuous escort duty to covert protection without the false A Hu noticing 34.
• Notices Meng Zhou’s attention toward the woods where Chu Huaiyin is concealed, but allows him to leave without comment 46.

Northern Di Dialects

• Learns several dialects during his years undercover 41.
• Cannot understand the captured assassins’ unfamiliar speech, limiting his usefulness in their interrogation 41.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dragon-Slaying Sword — Used to intercept the false A Hu’s attack on Meng Zhou 34.
• Saber — Carried when confronting Meng Fushan and severing the Jiang and Meng families’ ties 29.

Relationships

• Jiang Zhanyu — Father, whose sacrifice saves Jiang Yi’s life. Avenging him drives Jiang Yi’s long infiltration of Northern Di 26.
• Jiang Yao — Elder sister. Their final disagreement concerns her marriage; Jiang Yi later acts to restore her place within her birth family 5 29.
• Meng Zhou — Maternal nephew. Jiang Yi accepts the soul occupying his deceased nephew’s body as family and becomes his protector and confidant 46 49.
• Chu Huaiyin — Sovereign and trusted military commander. Jiang Yi respects his willingness to share soldiers’ hardships, but the emperor’s relationship with Meng Zhou creates tension between loyalty and family duty 41 50.
• Jiang Xin — Younger cousin and strict training charge. Jiang Xin welcomes his return but resents the leniency shown to pregnant Meng Zhou 29 50.
• Meng Fushan — Former brother-in-law and blood enemy. Jiang Yi never accepts him as family and later forces him to relinquish his marital claim over Jiang Yao 5 29.
• Uncle Liu — Long-serving family steward and companion in mourning; one of the few people with whom Jiang Yi can discuss the family’s losses 29.
• Li Wenle — Physician who informs him of Meng Zhou’s pregnancy 49.

Notable Quotes

“Today, I will act in my father’s stead and seek justice for my late sister.” 29

“I’ll consider it as though my sister had twins. I arrived too late and failed to protect them. You’re the one who’s left. I certainly can’t break my word again.” 46

Trivia

• Teahouse stories claim that a tigress rescued Jiang Yi after his fall and that he later rode a tiger into battle. These are presented as popular tales, not confirmed events 29.