Murong Xue

Biodata

Background / History

Northern Territory and the Original Story

Murong Xue is a princess of the Northern Territory, where riding, martial ability, and grassland customs shape her understanding of courtship and trust. Her father taught her to ride using a whip she later kept as a treasured possession. He also taught her that a warrior is someone who does not retreat despite being afraid 3 81 132.

In the novel’s original storyline, she was paired with Lin Yichen. They fought together at the border and relied on one another through life-and-death situations. Her marriage to Gu Moran places her on a different course 3 14.

Marriage Alliance and Early Resistance

Murong Xue initially regards her proposed marriage as a political transaction rather than a romance. When Batuer protests Gu Moran’s reputation as a cowardly wastrel, she argues that a man who values his life should be easy to negotiate with and control 6.

She nevertheless insists that any prospective husband prove himself on horseback. Gu Moran survives her wild-horse challenge by using a Northern Territory horse-taming technique, then carries her across the city on the same horse. She grants him a reluctant passing assessment 8 10.

Their wedding does not immediately win her acceptance. Her recorded favorability remains negative, and she still considers him a weakling from the Central Plains. On their wedding night, she bars him from her courtyard with drawn sabers. His accurate criticism of her tribe’s saber technique surprises her enough to postpone the confrontation, though she insists that he still owes her a match 14 17.

From Riding Partner to Husband

Gu Moran makes greater progress by approaching her through Northern Territory customs. His invitation to ride beside him recognizes her as a comrade-in-arms rather than an appendage to her husband. Although he struggles through her riding test, his refusal to let go earns her respect for his courage 21 22.

Her attachment deepens through shared riding and martial training. During a full-moon ride, she explains that Eternal Heaven witnesses those who ride together beneath the moon. She lets Gu Moran remain beside her and shares her milk-wine waterskin with him—an act Batuer emphasizes is no small matter on the grasslands 67 68 79.

Murong Xue subsequently invites him into her stable and shows him her father’s riding whip. She later explains that, in her homeland, showing a man that whip means accepting him into her tent. She explicitly treats their shared rides, waterskin, and access to the stable as a commitment, and the two consummate their marriage 81 83 84.

Husband-Protecting Alliance

When the women fear that Gu Moran may be detained, Murong Xue proposes gathering money, medicine, horses, weapons, and travel permits before rescuing him and returning to the Northern Territory together. Lin Qingdai initially mistakes this for an attempt to abandon the household 127 128.

Her preparations are considerably more detailed than the others expect. She studies prison walls and gates, plans to mobilize fighters from her trading caravan, and considers disguises to get everyone out of the capital. An earlier scheme involved impersonating the emperor to order Gu Moran’s enemies killed, with direct assassination as a fallback 128 131.

Gu Moran returns safely before any rescue is attempted. The women formalize their commitment as the Husband-Protecting Alliance. Although Murong Xue outwardly claims that losing him would leave her without a riding companion, her revealed thoughts identify him as the first Central Plains person to whom she has willingly entrusted her back 130 131 132.

Yi Prefecture and Household Security

Before the move to Yi Prefecture, Murong Xue’s immediate concern is whether the region has horse ranches and what will happen to her horses. Her Northern Territory connections remain active: Tuoba Mang visits with news of her father’s military victory and a letter bearing Prince Murong’s personal seal 180 188 189.

She contributes to the household’s commercial plans by offering milk from her fifty sheep and promising further supplies from the Northern Territory. Gu Moran names the tea-drink venture Mixue Ice City after her contribution and later assigns her responsibility for the shops’ stock-delivery routes 219 221.

She also works with Lin Qingdai to police the residence. They catch Yun Shuyue attempting to leave over the rear wall, and Gu Moran later thanks them for protecting Tiedan from Zhao Wuxu and Pu Yunshan. Murong Xue reports suspicious fighters near the residence and directs hidden sentries to follow them until the pursuit risks exposure 245 310 348.

Competition for an Heir

Zhen Meili’s remarks about Murong Xue’s strong physique prompt her to imagine bearing three sons. She begins taking the possibility of becoming principal consort seriously, attempting a gentler manner and volunteering to feed Gu Moran his medicine 442 443.

Her new attentiveness extends to arranging his meals, training, work, and bedtime. However, she retreats when asked to choose whose room he should sleep in. Privately, she stuffs pillows beneath her clothes to practice looking pregnant and imagines making Gu Moran hold their future son despite his military duties 444 445.

Yun Shuyue discovers the performance, prompting Murong Xue to chase her with a sheathed saber before the news spreads. The apparent pregnancy is a misunderstanding caused by the pillows, not a confirmed pregnancy 445 446.

Military Campaigns

Murong Xue accompanies Gu Moran’s later military movements in Northern Territory armor. During the rescue of Gu Moli, she attacks a man who had pretended to be crippled, condemning his deception as she withdraws her bloodied spear 461 479.

She confronts Xie Linyuan when he enters the military camp at night and later spars with Kim Seon-a to test the Goryeo princess’s peak Second Rank strength. Kim Seon-a’s involuntary protective astral qi throws her thirty feet backward; Murong Xue gets up and acknowledges that the barrier can at least protect its owner 511 515.

During the Wa campaign, she operates an eight-stone iron-framed bow aboard ship, firing a heavy bolt through a cave’s wooden windbreak and exposing the bronze cauldrons inside. She also helps restrain Takaichi Nanako before Shen Ling’er discovers that the girl has been drugged as poisoned bait 557 560.

In the assault on a concealed vault, Gu Moran orders Murong Xue and Xie Linyuan to lead five hundred elite death warriors through a drainage channel before the entrance seals. While Xie Linyuan holds up the descending stone gate, she slides beneath it and spears three torch-bearing Wa soldiers before they can start a fire 579 580.

Appearance

• Hair: Long, silvery-white hair, often tied into a ponytail for combat or riding 10 17.
• Eyes: Green; their color is specifically remembered by an admirer from the Northern Territory campaign 14 190.
• Features: Small pointed canines become visible when she laughs 10.
• Build: Years of riding and saber practice have given her shoulders and back strong lines 83.
• Everyday clothing: Favors short leather fighting outfits and narrow-sleeved riding clothes over skirts that obstruct riding 17 419.
• Formal clothing: Wears silver hair ornaments and occasionally scarlet pleated dresses 84 419.
• Military dress: Appears in silvery-white chain mail and dark silver Northern Territory light armor with a short scarlet cloak 437 461.

Personality

Murong Xue is blunt, proud, and practical. She dismisses ceremonial dignity when survival is at stake and judges weapons by battlefield durability rather than elaborate mechanisms. Her impatience with Central Plains etiquette appears even at meals: when chopsticks fail her, she uses her hands, and she defends cutting meat with a knife because it is faster 16 60 67 438.

She values courage more than fearlessness. Gu Moran’s frightened but stubborn riding impresses her because it matches her father’s definition of a warrior. Respect for her culture also matters deeply: his warrior’s salute, Northern Territory speech, and invitation to ride as equals repeatedly improve her opinion of him 14 21 22 132.

Her fierce manner conceals homesickness and tenderness. Noble Consort Chen’s attempt to comfort her in the Northern Territory language leaves her visibly moved. With Gu Moran, she often disguises affection as orders, threats, or demands for food, while granting him access to increasingly personal parts of her life 26 79 81 84 132.

Her protectiveness extends beyond her husband. During a dispute with Lin Qingdai’s courtyard, she positions herself in front of her own maids with her saber still sheathed. Her extreme rescue proposals likewise include taking all the wives to safety, not simply escaping with Gu Moran 82 128.

Abilities & Skills

Horsemanship and Archery

• Introduced as a first-rate rider and archer 3.
• Mounts deftly and uses demanding riding circuits to test Gu Moran’s balance and endurance 21 22.
• Teaches mounted survival through abrupt turns and controlled falls, initially using hay to soften his landings 75 76.
• Draws an eight-stone iron-framed bow aboard ship and fires a heavy iron bolt through a wooden windbreak 557.

Saber Combat and Instruction

• Practices the Murong Tribe’s speed-oriented curved-saber technique, which transfers power through the waist rather than relying solely on the arms 17.
• Teaches Gu Moran to read an attacker’s shoulders, waist, and feet, rather than staring at the weapon 68.
• Uses live-edged attacks and feints to demonstrate why watching only one part of an opponent’s body is dangerous 68.
• Recognizes threatening habits in Ye Qingyun’s repeated movement toward his waist, comparing it to a grassland warrior preparing to draw a saber 68.

Whip Technique

• Wraps her whip around Yun Shuyue’s ankle to stop her escaping over a wall 245.
• According to Meng Jiuning’s intelligence, can snap three wooden posts with one lash and favors wrists, the area beneath the ribs, and the backs of the knees in close combat 395.
• Retrieves and replaces a teacup with her whip without spilling its contents 490.
• Her whip can be countered by sufficient strength: Gu Moran catches its tip and immobilizes her during a later encounter 320.

Spear Combat

• Uses rapid consecutive thrusts and sweeping attacks when sparring with Kim Seon-a 515.
• Is unable to penetrate Kim Seon-a’s involuntary protective astral qi during that test 515.
• Combines a low slide beneath a descending gate with an immediate upward spear attack, killing three soldiers inside the vault 580.

Tactics, Security, and Logistics

• Leads troops and understands the danger that rapid-fire heavy crossbows would pose in a narrow mountain pass 438.
• Plans prison assaults around wall height, gate thickness, personnel, ropes, disguises, and escape supplies 128 131.
• Has access to a Northern Territory trading caravan whose members can ride, shoot, fight, disguise themselves, and keep accounts 128.
• Oversees stock-delivery routes for the household’s shops and deploys hidden sentries to investigate suspicious fighters 221 310.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Curved sabers — Her characteristic early weapons. One has a red cord around its hilt; Gu Moran observes that she carries three sabers and two daggers during their early ride 17.
• Flexible whip — Used for combat, restraint, and precise manipulation; she later wears a newly made deerskin whip around her waist 245 461 490.
• Spears — Uses a twelve-foot steel-tipped spear and carries a spear in later military operations 436 579 580.
• Short bow — Kept on the wall of her room alongside her saber and riding whip 83.
• Her father’s riding whip — An old whip with a leather-wrapped handle and a copper clasp engraved with a Northern Territory wolf pattern. It was used to teach her to ride 81.
• Milk-wine waterskin — Shared with Gu Moran during their full-moon ride and later kept beside her window 79 83.
• Bronze bell — Gives Gu Moran a bell from beneath her pillow after their first night together 84.
• Gray Wind and a chestnut horse — Horses associated with her private stable and riding routines 78 81 82.

Relationships

• Gu Moran — Husband, riding companion, and martial student. Her initial contempt becomes trust in a man she considers worthy of protecting and entrusting her back to 17 68 84 132.
• Prince Murong — Father and early riding teacher. His whip and personal seal carry strong emotional importance for her 81 189 190.
• Batuer — Close attendant who assists with weapons and horses, explains Northern Territory customs to Gu Moran, and frequently teases her mistress 21 75 79 84.
• Tuoba Mang — Older male cousin with absolute loyalty to her according to Gu Moran’s Eye of Detection. Their familiarity includes childhood horse theft and her blunt criticism of his disguises 187 188.
• Lin Qingdai — Fellow wife, martial rival, and frequent security partner. They clash over etiquette and household matters but cooperate to protect the residence 60 82 245 348.
• Noble Consort Chen — Mother-in-law. Her effort to acknowledge Murong Xue’s hardship in the Northern Territory language reaches past the princess’s denial of homesickness 26.
• Su Yao — Fellow wife and participant in household planning. She reins in Murong Xue’s rescue schemes and teases her attempts at household management 130 131 444.
• Zhen Meili — A source of arguments over military equipment and embarrassing remarks about childbearing; her praise helps spark Murong Xue’s ambition to become principal consort 438 442 443.
• Lin Yichen — Her intended romantic partner in the original storyline, where they fought together at the border 3.

Recorded Favorability Toward Gu Moran

Notable Quotes

“A marriage alliance is a transaction to begin with.” 6

“Can dignity stop a blade?” 67

“If they’re easy to cut down, I’ll cut them down outright. If they’re not, I’ll disguise myself, go over, and cut them down.” 131

Trivia

• Her homeland is half a month’s journey from the capital on a fast horse 26.
• She enjoys strong tea 393.
• She claims to have designed Northern Territory sheepskin coats, but all five other wives immediately oppose letting her design clothing for their business 221.
• Her first attempt at a male disguise features a badly attached false beard, which she confidently credits to Batuer’s instruction 223.