Old Father Yun

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Poverty and the Beilin Attack

Yun Zhen’s family lived in a deteriorating courtyard with cracked walls and thatched roofs. He and Madam Zhou wore heavily patched clothes, and long-term malnutrition weakened him. His two ten-year-old sons worked for a bricklayer, providing the household’s most important source of income 5 6 7.

During the Beilin raid on Red Star Village, he demanded to know what had happened to his missing daughter. After a soldier mocked her possible assault and death, Yun Zhen stabbed him with a silver hairpin bought for her seventeenth birthday. The soldier retaliated with a potentially fatal saber strike, but Yun Manman intervened and saved him 3.

Yun Zhen noticed changes in his daughter’s eyes, speech, and behavior. When she told him that the daughter he knew could not return, he nevertheless accepted her as his child, recalling that she had behaved similarly after a previous fever. He bandaged her wounded shoulder with cloth torn from his sleeve and wept over his inability to protect her 3 4.

Severing Family Ties

After learning that Yun Manman’s grandparents and Second Uncle had arranged for men to assault her so that she could be sold to a woodcutter, Yun Zhen seized an axe and threatened to kill the relatives responsible. Yun Manman restrained him and persuaded him that severing ties would better protect the family 5 6.

The confrontation came when Old Madam Yun, Yun Wang, and Yun Fa attempted to claim the household’s newly purchased food. Yun Zhen publicly requested a severance, then knelt and pleaded for release from his stepmother’s abuse. He agreed to take nothing from the old household, and the village chief prepared the document establishing the separation 9 10 11.

He subsequently defended that boundary when Zhang Gouzi demanded Yun Manman on the strength of a sale arranged by her grandparents. Gripping an axe, Yun Zhen rejected their authority to sell his daughter and pointed out that his household registration had already been transferred 14.

A New Home

When Yun Manman returned with rescued children, Yun Zhen pitied them but feared that his impoverished household could not feed them. Her account of earning silver from six tigers and receiving gold from a wealthy merchant astonished him and Madam Zhou 31.

He accompanied the village chief to town to arrange land purchases and find a house builder. During the family’s farming preparations, he taught Yun Manman how to hold and use a hoe 32 33.

At the housewarming, the old Yun household arrived carrying bundles and demanded to move in. Yun Zhen refused to acknowledge their claim, declaring that the residence belonged to Manman. Yun Manman protected him when his father attempted to strike him with a tobacco pipe and prevented the relatives from entering 34.

Grandfatherhood and the Attack on the Household

Yun Zhen joined the family in supporting Yun Manman after her pregnancy was confirmed and anxiously waited outside during the twins’ birth. Afterward, he and Yun Zewu gave Yun Rui and Yun Xiao the nicknames Dabao and Xiaobao 37 38 40 42.

His remaining filial feelings resurfaced after Old Woman Yun’s death. Yun Manman rejected Old Man Yun’s attempt to make him observe mourning for her. After Old Man Yun killed Yun Wang and hanged himself, however, she allowed Yun Zhen to go and fulfill his filial duty if he wished 39.

During the later attack on the family home, Yun Xiao warned him of enemies planning to steal their grain. Yun Zhen tried to stop his grandson from fighting, then pushed Madam Zhou indoors and went outside with a saber. Yun Manman returned to find him on the ground, guarded by two injured wolves; he was not seriously hurt 50.

Appearance

• Build: Thin and slightly stooped when Yun Manman returns to the village 4.
• Hands: Calloused; he uses them to tear cloth from his sleeve to bandage his daughter 4.
• Clothing: Initially wears garments and shoes covered in layers of patches 5.
• Physical condition: Long-term malnutrition makes carrying Madam Zhou strenuous. His complexion improves during the family’s subsequent month of recuperation 7 13.

Personality

Yun Zhen is affectionate and fiercely protective of his children, even when he lacks the strength to defend them effectively. He attacks an armed soldier over Yun Manman’s apparent suffering, offers to hold off other soldiers so she can escape, and repeatedly blames himself for failing to keep his family safe 3 4 6.

Poverty makes him frugal and cautious. He offers his own nearly empty meal to Yun Manman and initially objects to buying several steamed buns and tea. After the confrontation with Master Shen, he explains that powerless peasants survive by enduring mistreatment, reflecting his fear of retaliation rather than approval of the abuse 6 7 8 9.

Although he follows Yun Manman’s judgment, he does not want her to carry every responsibility. He offers to find work rather than let her risk entering the mountains and tells her that being together, adequately fed and clothed, matters more to him than wealth. He remains vulnerable to filial obligation, but becomes firm when relatives threaten or insult his daughter 11 13 34 39.

Abilities & Skills

Farming and Household Work

• Teaches Yun Manman the proper grip and motion for using a hoe 33.
• Chops firewood, sweeps the courtyard, and helps Madam Zhou prepare meals 6 11 13 14.
• Recognizes scorpions and centipedes as valuable medicinal ingredients, though he initially doubts that the nearby rocky mountain contains them 13.

Martial Training

• Learns under Yun Manman as part of her effort to make the family capable of self-defense 13 39.
• Practices swordsmanship, but remains less capable than Yun Xiao, who explicitly tells him that his own martial arts are better 39 50.
• Goes out armed to defend the household during the grain raid, but is knocked down in the fighting 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Silver hairpin — Purchased for Yun Manman’s seventeenth birthday; used to stab a Beilin soldier after the man mocked her suffering 3.
• Axe — A household woodcutting tool that he takes up against threats from the old Yun family and Zhang Gouzi 5 6 14.
• Saber — Carries it when following Yun Xiao out to defend the family home 50.

Relationships

• Yun Manman — Daughter. Accepts her despite her declaration that she is not the daughter he previously knew; becomes one of her first experiences of protective familial love 3 4.
• Madam Zhou — Wife. Cares for her during her poor health and takes her to town with Yun Manman for medical treatment 6 7.
• Yun Zewu and Yun Zeren — Sons. Regrets that poverty forced them to work so young and accompanies Yun Manman when she discovers their abuse under Master Shen 6 7 8.
• Yun Rui and Yun Xiao — Grandsons. Helps give them their childhood nicknames and attempts to keep Yun Xiao out of danger during the attack on their home 42 50.
• Old Man Yun — Biological father, distinct from Old Father Yun himself. Neglects and threatens Yun Zhen; their family ties are formally severed before he attempts to claim a place in the new residence 10 11 33 34.
• Old Madam Yun / Old Woman Yun — Stepmother. Her abuse and involvement in the plot against Yun Manman drive Yun Zhen to seek separation from the old household 5 6 10.
• Yun Wang and Yun Fa — Younger brothers. Join their parents in trying to take his household’s food and later move into its new home 9 34.
• Village chief — Oversees the severance document, accompanies him to arrange land purchases, and publicly confirms his household’s independent registration 11 32 34.

Notable Quotes

“Whether you're the timid, quiet girl with black eyes or the clever, capable girl with violet eyes you are now, you're still the daughter I raised.” 4

“All I want is for us to be together, with enough food and warm clothes. You must protect yourself.” 13

“This is Manman's home. It has not one copper's worth of connection to any of you.” 34