Ye Yun

Biodata

Background / History

Adoption and childhood

Ye Yun’s adoptive parents found him lying beneath branches beside the road when he was approximately five or six years old. He was barely breathing, and Doctor Ye could not initially revive him. After three days unconscious, he awoke; the couple adopted him, named him Ye Yun, and registered him as six years old. His fine-quality but tattered clothing suggested a wealthy origin, while the possibility that traffickers had abandoned him remained speculation 1.

Three years later, the couple had Ye Chen. Believing Ye Yun had brought them good fortune, they cherished him even more. Their deaths at the hands of bandits left Ye Yun, then thirteen, responsible for his four-year-old brother 1 4.

Life under Eldest Uncle Ye

The brothers entered the household of their paternal uncle, Ye Liqiang, who took control of their parents’ thirty taels of savings and ten mu of paddy fields. Ye Yun performed fieldwork, gathered firewood and wild vegetables, cooked, cleaned, and washed the family’s clothes. Chen Guihua and her children abused the brothers, while Ye Liqiang watched without intervening 4.

Chen Guihua used Ye Chen to control Ye Yun, punishing the child when his older brother returned late or displeased her. After Ye Yao and Ye Bao attacked Ye Chen over his longevity lock, Ye Yun surrendered the keepsake to prevent further violence. He subsequently took Ye Chen along whenever he expected to work away from home for an extended period 4 13.

Ye Yun secretly gathered medicinal herbs to finance their escape. Starting with a discarded herbal book and very limited literacy, he spent three months asking pharmacy apprentices to identify plants. Doctor Ye’s wife eventually noticed his efforts and arranged for her husband to teach him and buy his herbs at town prices 4.

Meeting Rong Zheng and leaving the household

Ye Yun was among the first people Rong Zheng encountered after transmigrating. He gave the injured scholar food, water, and herbs, checked his pulse, and advised him to see Doctor Ye. Their later meetings in the mountains brought Rong Zheng’s attention to the brothers’ malnutrition and bruises 1 5 6.

Rong Zheng confessed his feelings and promised to help the brothers leave their uncle’s home. Before that could happen, Chen Guihua accepted twenty taels to marry Ye Yun to Gu Tie, a man notorious for beating his previous husbands. Ye Yun refused, citing both Gu Tie’s violence and his responsibility for Ye Chen; Chen Guihua and Ye Yao responded by beating the brothers 10 15.

Alerted by Ming-ge'er, Rong Zheng intervened and publicly proposed. Ye Yun accepted, and Rong Zheng’s threat of legal action helped secure the brothers’ separation from Ye Liqiang’s household. They recovered fifteen taels and the right to their ten mu of land, although the uncle’s family retained the fields until after that year’s harvest. After receiving medical treatment, the brothers stayed at an inn while Rong Zheng arranged the wedding 16 17 20.

Marriage and recovery

At the inn, Ye Yun told Rong Zheng that he liked him too. They married ten days after the wedding date was selected, with Ye Yun preparing at Wang Zhang-shi’s home rather than his uncle’s. Rong Zheng welcomed Ye Chen into the household and entrusted Ye Yun with the family finances 17 18 19.

With regular meals, rest, and affection, Ye Yun became healthier and smiled more freely. He learned additional characters, began reading borrowed medical books, and moved with his family into their new house. Nevertheless, security did not immediately erase his fear: on Ye Chen’s birthday, Rong Zheng’s reassurance that their peaceful life was real finally allowed him to cry openly about his past 26 32 33.

Medical work and family business

With Rong Zheng’s encouragement, Ye Yun continued studying under Doctor Ye and began accompanying him on house calls. By the New Year, he had become more confident in dealing with others and ignored criticism that a married ger should remain at home. He also handled hiring Yao Jizheng to cultivate the family’s recovered farmland while Rong Zheng attended the county examination 20 36 39 41 42.

Ye Yun later helped Rong Zheng test a braised-duck recipe and tracked the first batch’s cost at approximately four hundred wen. When they opened their Superb Braised Duck stall, he collected the market plaque and worked alongside Rong Zheng; their stock sold out by two in the afternoon 47 50.

Appearance

Ye Yun has fine, exquisite features and a gentle, refined bearing; when well dressed, he is compared to an elegant young nobleman 30.

• Cinnabar mole between his brows: His distinguishing mark as a ger 1.
• Waist-length, ink-black hair: Worn with a light-blue ribbon during the family’s shopping trip 30.
• Early condition: Thin and visibly exhausted, with a sallow complexion, severe malnutrition, and bruised arms 4 5 6.
• After marriage: His complexion becomes rosy and his expression more radiant as his health and circumstances improve 26 30.
• Notable outfit: A light-blue satin robe with silver flowing-cloud patterns and a translucent white jade pendant 30.

Personality

Ye Yun’s outward quietness conceals considerable determination. Ming-ge'er observes that, despite his apparent compliance with his uncle’s family, he has no trace of servility. Rather than abandon hope, he patiently learns herbal identification and saves money in secret, enduring repeated dismissals from pharmacy apprentices 4.

His protectiveness toward Ye Chen shapes many of his decisions. He shields his brother from blows, treats his wounds, and relinquishes the longevity lock to reduce the danger to him. His avoidance of arguments with Chen Guihua is calculated: he knows that resistance often intensifies her violence 4 13.

Ye Yun is shy about affection but attentive to those he loves. He worries about Rong Zheng’s hunting trips, prepares provisions, embroiders a handkerchief for him, and carefully checks his examination supplies. His feelings also include jealousy when he hears Ye Bao discussing marriage to Rong Zheng 10 11 21 24 40.

As his circumstances improve, he becomes more socially assured without forgetting others’ hardship. He invites Ming-ge'er into his new home, encourages him to hope for a better future, and continues medical work despite villagers’ disapproval 21 39.

Abilities & Skills

Herbal Identification and Basic Medicine

Ye Yun develops practical medical knowledge through persistent self-study and Doctor Ye’s instruction 4 36.

• Learns roughly a dozen common medicinal herbs during his initial three months of seeking help from pharmacies 4.
• Knows basic pulse-taking, symptom identification, and herbs suitable for dressing a wound 1 20.
• Learns treatments for simple ailments and assists with brewing and decocting medicine 36.
• Progresses to accompanying Doctor Ye on house calls 36 39.
• Recognizes his limits: when examining Rong Zheng, he warns that his pulse assessment may be inaccurate and recommends a doctor 1.

Literacy

Reading initially presents a major obstacle to his medical studies 4.

• Begins with little ability to read beyond his own name, relying on illustrations in a damaged herbal book 4.
• Improves sufficiently to understand parts of borrowed medical books after marriage 26.
• Through lessons with Rong Zheng, becomes able to recognize most words on prescriptions 36.

Household and Financial Management

Ye Yun combines extensive domestic experience with responsibility for the family’s money 4 19.

• Manages funds entrusted to him by Rong Zheng and pays for household purchases, including ten taels for furniture 24 31.
• Handles farmhand recruitment during Rong Zheng’s examination trip 41 42.
• Cooks, sews clothes, makes shoes, and embroiders gifts 21 24 33 39.
• Tends vegetables, builds a cucumber trellis, and feeds the family’s rabbits 29.
• Helps prepare braised duck and monitors production expenses 47 50.

Personal Items

• Discarded herbal book — The faded, illustrated book that first enables him to study medicinal plants and earn money secretly 4 13.
• Aqua-blue hair ribbon — A gift bought and tied into his hair by Rong Zheng 23 24.
• White jade pendant — Worn at his waist with his light-blue satin robe 30.
• White fox-fur scarf — Given to him by Rong Zheng on Ye Chen’s birthday 33.

Relationships

• Rong Zheng — Husband. Their relationship develops from Ye Yun’s initial kindness and Rong Zheng’s assistance into mutual affection; Rong Zheng supports his medical ambitions rather than requiring him to remain a housekeeper 1 17 18 20.
• Ye Chen — Younger brother and closest responsibility during their years of abuse. Each tries to protect the other, including Ye Chen’s attempts to defend Ye Yun despite his fear 4 6 15.
• Adoptive parents — Rescued and raised him as their own child. Their deaths leave the brothers dependent on Ye Liqiang’s household 1 4.
• Ming-ge'er — Best friend in the village. Helps gather herbs, offers food when possible, and fetches Rong Zheng during the forced-marriage crisis 4 15 21.
• Doctor Ye and his wife — Early benefactors. Doctor Ye treats him as a child, later teaches him herbal medicine, and supports his participation in house calls despite prejudice against gers 1 4 36.
• Ye Liqiang — Adoptive father’s elder brother and former guardian. Takes the brothers’ inheritance and permits their mistreatment; Ye Yun formally leaves his household 4 16.
• Chen Guihua — Abusive aunt by marriage. Exploits his labor, threatens Ye Chen to control him, and attempts to force him into marriage for twenty taels 4 15.
• Ye Yao and Ye Bao — Cousins who treat the brothers as servants and participate in their abuse. Ye Bao also resents Ye Yun’s beauty and later happiness 4 13 22.
• Wang Zhang-shi — Supportive neighbor who helps organize his wedding, provides a place for his bridal preparations, and later teaches him how to cure pork 18 39.

Notable Quotes

“However hard things get, you can make it through.” 4

“I haven't been living off you. My parents left thirty taels and ten mu of farmland when they died.” 15

“Ming-ge'er, things will be good for you someday, too.” 18