A Zi

Biodata

Background / History

A Zi was among the teachers sent by Pei Qing’s mother, the master of the Beast Taming Pavilion, to educate her isolated son. The instructors entered the palace secretly and took turns teaching him without attracting the servants’ attention. Most of A Zi’s companions came from Shu and enjoyed spicy food; eager to please them, Pei Qing concealed his intolerance and repeatedly ate dishes that aggravated his weak stomach. Their affection was genuine, but they lacked experience raising children 7 27.

After the former Imperial Preceptor retired and Pei Qing established his own residence, A Zi remained beside him. He worked to correct Pei Qing’s habit of suppressing his own wishes, gradually encouraging him to admit preferences and discomfort. As the last of twelve teachers, A Zi ultimately considered his instruction incomplete: despite teaching everything he could, he felt he had neither taught Pei Qing to understand people nor fully understood Pei Qing himself 7 10 14.

Appearance

A Zi has delicate, androgynous features, foxlike eyes, willow-leaf brows, and thin lips colored with rouge 5 12.

• Forehead adornments: Appears with a painted floral ornament and, later, a gold-threaded magnolia forehead band 5 12.
• Clothing: Wears red robes at Pei Qing’s residence and purple clothing when attending the banquet at Pleasant Breeze Courtyard 8 26.
• Jewelry: Adorns himself with gold, silver, jingling bells, and a peacock jade pendant 12 26.
• Bare feet: Approaches Lou Yun barefoot during their private conversation in the residence 12.
• Eyes: Intricate patterns briefly appear within his eyes before vanishing when he blinks 14.

Personality

A Zi’s languid smiles and teasing manner conceal a vigilant concern for Pei Qing. He initially rebukes Lou Yun for allowing Pei Qing to overeat spicy food, but recognizes that he is unfairly blaming someone unfamiliar with his dietary limits. His protectiveness can become uncompromising: after asking Lou Yun to care for Pei Qing, he still challenges her when her knowledge of the residence seems suspicious 5 12 13.

He is shrewd in business and openly cynical about himself, contrasting his own “filthy” mind with Pei Qing’s wholehearted sincerity. Nevertheless, he kneels to ask for help on Pei Qing’s behalf and hopes Lou Yun will prove worthy of his trust. In emergencies, he prioritizes practical rescue over sentiment, urging Xie Wan to save the living rather than remain beside Xiao Liu’s body 12 14 31.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Arts and Eerie Pacing Steps

A Zi is described as a first-rate fighter and a practitioner of Eerie Pacing Steps, an elusive footwork technique known to only five people in the world 6 13 14.

• Conceals his aura so effectively that Lou Yun initially detects only a threadlike presence without any corresponding weakness 6.
• Repeatedly defeats Lou Ze’an in their sparring matches 7.
• Uses rapid movement alongside barrages of hidden weapons 13.
• Loses to Lou Yun when she outmaneuvers him with the same footwork and holds one of his own weapons to his neck 13.
• Easily outclasses Pleasant Breeze Courtyard’s guards, but protecting rescued women limits his ability to break through their opposition 31.

Illusion Arts

A jianghu bulletin identifies illusion arts as A Zi’s greatest specialty 14.

• The bulletin explicitly warns opponents not to look directly into his eyes during battle 14.
• He does not use these arts during his duel with Lou Yun; she later notices the omission 14.

Commerce and Negotiation

A Zi has extensive commercial connections. Lin Shuo describes his businesses as spanning Great Yan and beginning to expand abroad, while his jianghu reputation claims there is no deal he cannot negotiate 14 27.

• Uses a merchant contact’s information to trace Xie Wan to Pleasant Breeze Courtyard 28.
• Maintains his merchant persona while questioning Lin Shuo’s proposed trafficking arrangement 27.
• Responds to Pei Qing’s covert signal by discussing profit shares, then postpones signing a contract by claiming he has not brought his seal 27.

Infiltration and Investigation

A Zi combines covert movement with access gained through his merchant identity 26 30.

• Slips away while Lin Bian and Lin Shuo wait for him, searching Pleasant Breeze Courtyard for Cui Hao’s concealed box 30.
• Obtains the register of the women’s sale contracts and removes evidence from the Lin residence before its rooms are searched 30 31.
• Evades soldiers searching Jiangling while escorting Xie Wan to the courtyard 31.

Animal Communication and Field Command

A Zi can use the Beast Taming Pavilion’s communication methods and direct its available members 31.

• Plays Pei Qing’s bone flute to summon the golden eagle Xiao Jin 30 31.
• Uses powders to attract messenger beetles and reveal the warning written on their backs 31.
• Mobilizes roughly fifteen to twenty pavilion members for the courtyard rescue 31.
• Divides rescuers and guides into groups while arranging protected evacuation routes for the captives 31.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Folding fan — Frequently carried while teasing, observing, or negotiating; one side depicts a peacock and the other an orange cat 6 13.
• Hidden weapons — Used in a scattered barrage against Lou Yun; she captures one and turns it against him 13.
• Porcelain bottles of powder — Used to receive and decipher messages carried by trained beetles 31.
• Imperial Preceptor’s token — Presented to Su Ren when A Zi identifies himself and requests troops for the rescue 32.
• Pei Qing’s bone flute — Temporarily entrusted to him to call Xiao Jin 30 31.

Relationships

• Pei Qing — Student and young master. A Zi teaches him, manages his household affairs, and tries to help him express his needs. When Pei Qing anxiously asks whether he will leave, A Zi promises to remain a little longer 7 14.
• Lou Yun — Initially treated with suspicion, then accepted as someone Pei Qing trusts. A Zi asks her to care for him but warns that harming him would bring retaliation from his protectors 12 13.
• Lou Ze’an — Familiar visitor and frequent sparring opponent. A Zi remembers his antics fondly and welcomes his friendship with the otherwise isolated Pei Qing 7.
• Ying Yi — Fellow teacher and household companion. They share memories of Pei Qing’s upbringing and discuss the danger of an imperial succession struggle 6 7.
• Mo Chi — Household companion whom A Zi teases with his fan; A Zi also worries that Mo Chi is too thoughtless to look after Pei Qing without guidance 8 12.
• Xie Wan / Wan’er — The beloved of a fellow pavilion member, Huzi. A Zi traces her disappearance, obtains her indenture, and works with her to rescue the courtyard’s other captives 27 28 31 32.
• Su Ren — Military ally during the Jiangling operation. A Zi guides him to the Lin residence and arranges for a squad to assist Xie Wan 32.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lou Yun’s Visits to the Imperial Preceptor’s Residence

• Receives Lou Yun after Pei Qing falls ill from overeating spicy food, then guides her through the residence using Eerie Pacing Steps 5 6.
• Observes that Lou Yun possesses more of an emperor’s bearing than Lou Ze’an, raising concerns about a possible struggle within the imperial family 7.
• Explains Pei Qing’s history of mistreatment and people-pleasing, asking Lou Yun to watch over him after his teachers leave 12.
• Challenges Lou Yun outside Rouniang’s room, concedes defeat, and permits her to question the prisoner 13.
• Overhears Cui Rou’s account of Pei Qing saving her. Recognizing the limits of his own understanding of his student, he privately designates Lou Yun as Pei Qing’s “graduation test” in understanding the human heart 14.

Infiltration of Pleasant Breeze Courtyard

• Arrives as Lin Shuo’s honored merchant guest and unexpectedly encounters Pei Qing operating under the name Ye Yun 26.
• Discovers Lou Yun among the women presented at the banquet. He plays along with Lin Shuo’s proposal to export enslaved women while securing Wan’er and her indenture 27.
• Brings Wan’er to Pei Qing’s room, where she reveals herself as Xie Wan and recounts the Lin family’s destruction of her household 27 28.
• Accepts the task of investigating Cui Hao’s forbidden box; Lou Yun additionally asks him to investigate the foreign merchant A Tu 28.

Evidence Recovery and the Jiangling Rescue

• Steals the contract register and reunites with Lou Yun and Pei Qing, who have recovered a separate blue booklet from the Lin residence 30.
• Summons Xiao Jin to carry Pei Qing’s request for imperial assistance, then takes both pieces of evidence away for safekeeping 31.
• Receives Pei Qing’s warning that Lin Bian has ordered Pleasant Breeze Courtyard destroyed. He gathers pavilion members and enters the courtyard with Xie Wan to evacuate its women 31.
• Guards the final group while Xie Wan persuades them to escape and testify, then successfully leads them out 32.
• Guides Su Ren’s arriving army to the Lin residence and returns the evidence to Pei Qing. After bidding Pei Qing and Lou Yun farewell, he disappears into the crowd 32.

Notable Quotes

“I’ll stay with you a little longer, Young Master.” 7

“If the day ever comes when Your Highness truly harms the young master, we will ascend to heaven and descend into the earth to take your head.” 13