Guan Jiasheng

Biodata

Background / History

Family and Upbringing

Guan Jiasheng belonged to a scholarly family that had maintained a single line of heirs for eight generations and produced four successive chief ministers. His mother, Guan Zhongping, was the only daughter of the last old Chancellor Guan and raised Jiasheng to continue the family’s legacy 19 37.

His biological father was Meng Fushan’s elder twin brother, who supported Meng Fushan’s education through agricultural work. Guan Zhongping fell in love with the elder brother and conceived Jiasheng before his death in a wild-beast attack. Meng Fushan subsequently tried to exploit her pregnancy to secure a marriage into the chancellor’s family, but she rejected him 39.

Sun Yong entered the Guan household as a live-in son-in-law and was publicly regarded as Jiasheng’s father. Privately, he abused the boy. When Jiasheng was ten, Sun Yong burned his arm and persuaded him to conceal the injury from his mother, leaving a permanent scar. Meng Zhou later exposed Sun Yong’s responsibility for drugging Jiasheng and causing his impotence 30 37.

Marriage and Provincial Service

Jiasheng placed third in the imperial examinations at twenty. Rumors of his impotence had already damaged his marriage prospects, but his childhood sweetheart, Liao Yunlan, remained devoted to him. They married and maintained an affectionate relationship despite public gossip 19.

Six years before Meng Zhou learned his history, Sun Yong arranged for A-Bao to be registered as Jiasheng’s adopted son while retaining the Sun surname. A-Bao was actually Sun Yong’s illegitimate son, introduced into the household as part of a scheme to obtain the Guan estate 19 37.

Sun Yong’s favoritism toward A-Bao, his taunts about Jiasheng’s lack of descendants, and his mistreatment of Yunlan drove Jiasheng to request a provincial appointment. Unwilling to publicly accuse his father, he left the capital with his wife and became prefect of Suzhou. By his meeting with Meng Zhou, he had served there for five years 19 26 30 37.

Suzhou Garden Murders

While investigating repeated massacres in Suzhou’s gardens, Jiasheng noticed that artificial mountains had been dismantled and Lake Tai stones removed. Having several gardens restored helped him establish that the missing stones—not merely revenge against their owners—were central to the crimes 26.

A frightened garden owner told him that the stones were connected to the unfinished Qing Garden of the Liang Dynasty. Reconstructing the garden was said to reveal the location of a hidden imperial treasury intended to finance the dynasty’s restoration 26.

Jiasheng repeatedly submitted memorials and sent letters through friends, but received no response. Men in black threatened him at his residence, demanding that he abandon the investigation. Believing the conspirators had nearly gathered the necessary stones, he departed for the capital to report in person 26.

Temple Attack and Hidden Treatment

During the journey, Jiasheng sheltered with his wife and servants in a ruined temple. There he met Meng Zhou and entrusted him with the details of the Suzhou investigation, explicitly hoping that someone would know the truth if anything happened to him 25 26.

One of Jiasheng’s servants was secretly marking their route for his pursuers. After discovering the betrayal, Meng Zhou returned with a physician and found Jiasheng and Yunlan gravely wounded among the bodies of black-clad attackers. Jiasheng had suffered a sword wound and a heavy blow to the back of his head. Believing himself near death, he asked Meng Zhou to take his place 27.

Although the physician initially declared him beyond saving, Meng Zhou supplied a medical book containing a possible treatment. He traded half the book to the physician, Liu Yixiu, in exchange for caring for Jiasheng, promising the remainder if Jiasheng survived until their agreed reunion. Jiasheng remained hidden in a town near the mountain while Meng Zhou assumed his identity 37 47.

Meng Zhou’s Impersonation

Meng Zhou returned to the capital as Jiasheng with Afu’s help. Guan Zhongping recognized the substitution, learned what had happened, and supported him. Chu Huaiyin appointed the apparent Jiasheng acting capital prefect to investigate the Lake Tai stone conspiracy 27 28 29.

The impersonation exposed Sun Yong’s abuse and inheritance scheme. Sun Yong and A-Bao later brought coffins to the Guan Residence to challenge Meng Zhou’s identity, but only one contained a family member: Liao Yunlan. The other held an unrelated corpse, leaving Jiasheng’s hiding place undiscovered 30 37.

Meng Fushan also threatened Guan Zhongping with a fabricated claim that Jiasheng was his own son. She disclosed the threat rather than protect the family’s reputation at the expense of the investigation. Subsequent testimony implicated Meng Fushan in the attacks, while he admitted helping conceal the transport of Lake Tai stones for a Liu family adviser 39 42.

Return to the Capital

After regaining consciousness, Jiasheng learned that Yunlan had died and fell into despondency. He nevertheless insisted on returning to the capital before he was fit to travel. Unable to dissuade him, Liu Yixiu accompanied him 47.

Jiasheng consulted Meng Zhou and helped investigate the Feng Kingdom delegation by asking Liu Yixiu to set off fireworks near its guesthouse and observe the response. He then secretly exchanged clothes and identities with Meng Zhou 47.

Uncomfortable benefiting from a promotion received during his absence, Jiasheng intended to resign and accept punishment for the crimes committed in his jurisdiction. Meng Zhou argued that his willingness to risk his life for the people made him worthy of the appointment. Jiasheng attended court the next morning, where Chu Huaiyin immediately recognized that he was not Meng Zhou 47.

After court, Jiasheng visited Yunlan’s grave, cleared away fallen leaves despite his wounds, and remained there for an afternoon. He then reunited with his mother, bringing osmanthus cakes in remembrance of his promise to her 50.

Appearance

• Strong resemblance to Meng Zhou: Their faces are described as seventy to eighty percent alike. Jiasheng’s naturally larger frame required Meng Zhou to raise his boots and pad his shoulders while impersonating him 19 26 47.
• Childhood burn scar: An ugly scar near his elbow resulted from Sun Yong burning him at ten. Its absence on Meng Zhou became evidence used to challenge the impersonation 30.
• Condition after the attack: He returned pale, extremely thin, and still weakened by his wounds 47 50.
• Travel disguise: To avoid recognition, he grew a beard and used Liu Yixiu’s yellow powder and artificial facial spots 47.

Personality

Jiasheng’s sense of duty was shaped by his mother and grandfather’s teaching that a gentleman must recognize obligations worth risking his life to fulfill. He continued investigating the garden murders after threats, intercepted correspondence, and attacks. Yan Xiang defended him as devoted, filial, and unwilling to evade difficulties 26 28 37.

He is also demanding of himself. On returning to the capital, he treated the Suzhou massacres as a failure of his administration rather than grounds for advancement. His loyalty to Yunlan remained equally firm: he refused a possible treatment for impotence because he did not want pressure to remarry, betray her memory, or involve another woman in a marriage he could not wholeheartedly offer 47 50.

Abilities & Skills

Scholarship and Administration

• Placed third in the imperial examinations at twenty 19.
• Served five years as prefect of Suzhou 26.
• Sought both formal and private channels to alert the court when his reports went unanswered 26.

Investigation

• Connected apparently retaliatory garden massacres through displaced rockwork and missing Lake Tai stones 26.
• Used restoration work to identify what had been stolen from the crime scenes 26.
• Linked the thefts to Qing Garden through a garden owner’s inherited account 26.
• Helped devise a test of the Feng Kingdom delegation’s reactions after his return 47.

Sword Use

• Carried a sword and drew it when Meng Zhou approached the ruined temple. The encounter does not establish a specific martial rank or level of proficiency 25 26.

Relationships

• Guan Zhongping — Mother. Her strict upbringing emphasized the Guan Clan’s future; after learning of his abuse and injuries, she regretted overlooking his suffering and protected the effort to uncover his attackers 37 50.
• Liao Yunlan / A-Lan — Wife and childhood sweetheart. She married him despite the rumors surrounding his impotence and died following the temple attack. He resolved not to remarry 19 47 50.
• Meng Zhou — Paternal cousin, rescuer, and temporary impersonator; their fathers were brothers. Meng Zhou arranged his treatment, continued his investigation, and returned his identity once he reached the capital 37 39 47.
• Sun Yong — Publicly regarded as his father, but not his biological parent. Sun Yong abused and drugged him, then sought to divert the Guan inheritance to A-Bao 30 37 39.
• A-Bao — Nominal adopted son; actually Sun Yong’s illegitimate son and intended beneficiary of his inheritance scheme 19 37.
• Meng Fushan — Biological paternal uncle. He encouraged Sun Yong’s resentment, threatened Jiasheng’s reputation, and admitted concealing information connected to the stone-smuggling conspiracy 39 42.
• Afu — Household servant who helped Meng Zhou impersonate Jiasheng and later accompanied Jiasheng to Yunlan’s grave 29 50.
• Liu Yixiu — Physician who saved his life using Meng Zhou’s medical book and accompanied him to the capital despite his premature departure from treatment 37 47.

Notable Quotes

“Take... take my place.” 27

“I don't intend to remarry in this lifetime and needlessly hold another young woman back. I don't wish to defy my mother, nor do I want to let A-Lan down. Things are best as they are.” 50

Trivia

• Like his mother, Jiasheng does not eat fish—a household habit Meng Zhou had to accommodate while impersonating him 31.
• Liu Yixiu estimated a seventy percent chance of treating his impotence, but Jiasheng declined the proposed treatment 50.