Xiao Lingyan

Biodata

Power Progression

Xiao Lingyan has no system of his own. His exceptional martial foundation comes from his original body, while his supernatural enhancements come from pills obtained by Zhao Ruxi 511 534 535.

Background and History

Modern Life and Transmigration

In the modern world, Xiao Ke studied industrial design and competed with Xu Xi, Zhao Ruxi’s previous identity. Their rivalry reflected the longstanding competition between their teachers, although their arguments did not amount to genuine hatred 242 250 528.

Xiao Ke already liked Xu Xi but feared that a confession would earn rejection and ridicule. He instead arranged a blind date through her aunt. When a car threatened her, he tried to pull her out of its path, and both were struck 242 529.

He transmigrated into Great Jin’s Fifth Prince, inheriting the original Xiao Lingyan’s memories and martial training. The prince had enjoyed a sheltered upbringing under his mother and elder brother, Xiao Lingpu, who had effectively taken a father’s role in raising him 534 573 647.

Reunion and the Predicted Death

After returning from Jiangnan, Xiao Lingyan became more studious, independent, and restrained. Xiao Lingpu initially interpreted this transformation as maturity gained from handling an assignment alone 239 240.

His interest in Zhao Ruxi’s paintings led him to investigate her background. Hearing that her adoptive name was Xu Xi provoked an unmistakably emotional reaction, and their subsequent meeting revealed that they had transmigrated together 239 241 242.

Zhao Ruxi explained that they were living inside a romance novel. In its original plot, Fu Dayong and Fu Yunkai would die in a winter campaign, Xiao Lingpu would perish during a rescue expedition, and Xiao Lingyan would fall ill after learning of his brother’s death and never recover 243 245 527.

In exchange for information, Xiao Lingyan promised Zhao Ruxi two favors, provided they neither endangered his life nor violated his moral principles. Their renewed acquaintance developed into a concealed political and commercial partnership 245 266 267.

Ministry of Works and Secret Preparations

Xiao Lingyan maneuvered Xiao Ge into assigning him to the Ministry of Works. He pretended to prefer more influential ministries, then accepted the supposedly disappointing appointment after extracting a shop and five hundred taels of gold 249 250.

The ministry was his actual objective. Its craftsmen offered the means to develop transport equipment and weapons without attracting the scrutiny associated with the Ministry of War. He planned to distribute component production among different workshops and assemble the results privately 250.

Alongside Zhao Ruxi, he investigated steelmaking, printing, looms, and commercial manufacturing. Their hidden partnership financed provisions, weapons, intelligence gathering, and trained personnel without making them wholly dependent on the Cen Family 267 329 529 530.

Their countermeasures included redirecting suspicion over Jia Songlin’s downfall toward the Crown Prince and engineering a scandal that caused Xiao Ge to send the Crown Prince out of the capital. Xiao Lingyan also established concealed storage and collection arrangements for their clock-making operation 338 364.

Border Campaign

Before leaving for the border, Xiao Lingyan had already stationed five hundred men there with weapons and provisions. Zhao Ruxi supplied enhancement pills, and he promised to return alive and marry her 558.

He risked his life delivering provisions and made a major contribution to the campaign. Fu Yunkai credited him with much of his own and his father’s survival, revising his opinion of Xiao Lingyan from a sheltered younger prince to a dependable and exceptionally capable ally 572.

After returning, Xiao Lingyan recounted the campaign’s dangers lightly to avoid alarming Zhao Ruxi. He nevertheless insisted that exposing their relationship could make her a hostage against him 561.

Marriage and the Rift with Xiao Lingpu

Xiao Lingyan confessed his love to Zhao Ruxi, and she agreed to an engagement. They initially kept their relationship secret because her unobtrusive businesses and financial support remained essential to their political plans 529 530.

He resisted attempts to arrange a marriage alliance with Qi Xuan of the Duke of Wei’s Residence. He told Noble Consort Cen that he wanted control over his own marriage and had no desire to become emperor 572 573 575.

As his abilities and standing grew, Xiao Lingpu became suspicious. His concern increasingly took the form of control over Xiao Lingyan’s marriage and finances, while he developed a separate intelligence network. Xiao Lingyan maintained outward support but became emotionally and strategically more independent 726.

On Zhao Ruxi’s birthday, he proposed with matching gold-and-ruby rings. Their marriage subsequently received imperial approval after Xiao Ge promised protection and Xiao Lingyan pledged to take no concubines 691 701.

The rift with Xiao Lingpu deepened when the elder prince and Cen Family used Zhao Ruxi to test him. Xiao Lingyan supported her refusal to submit to Cen Peixuan’s interference and urged that the two women keep their distance 728 729.

Political Upheaval and Recovery

Xiao Lingyan and Zhao Ruxi staged an apparent assassination attempt using death-row prisoners, planting evidence against the Third Prince while also implicating the Crown Prince 715.

During the later upheaval, Xiao Lingyan regained consciousness but appeared unable to speak or move. Zhao Ruxi supervised his care and challenged prescriptions with serious side effects or uncertain consequences 744 746.

He later spoke privately with Zhao Ruxi while continuing to present a gradual recovery publicly. Avoiding an immediate confrontation with the Cen Family protected his mother, his brother, and his own reputation; by this point, he was willing to contend for the throne himself 748.

He persuaded Xiao Ge to let his wedding proceed at the Prince of Qi’s Residence. The couple married while his recovery remained publicly uncertain, and he later recovered fully 752 754 798.

Crown Prince and Later Life

Xiao Lingyan refused concubines even when Xiao Ge raised the possibility that producing a son might be necessary for his appointment as crown prince. He answered that the emperor should choose someone else rather than force him into a divided household 771.

After Zhao Ruxi gave birth to Xiao Shaoduo, Xiao Lingyan was made crown prince. Xiao Ge subsequently appointed Noble Consort Cen empress and Xiao Shaoduo the crown prince’s heir, reinforcing the legitimacy and security of Xiao Lingyan’s line 798 803.

As crown prince, Xiao Lingyan exercised substantial authority and handled difficult affairs of state. He declined Xiao Ge’s offers to abdicate, recognizing that his father would remain unwilling to surrender real control, but offered to shoulder more work instead 800 803.

His efforts helped make Great Jin’s government more upright. Together, he and Zhao Ruxi supported agricultural and industrial development, broader sources of employment, and increased commercial tax revenue. Their harmonious, monogamous household also became a public example that helped make taking only one wife socially prestigious 804.

Appearance

• Handsome features: Lady Zhu remembers him as more handsome than any of his elder brothers, with a gentle and courteous manner 697.
• Height: Nearly 1.78 meters at sixteen; later described as over 1.8 meters tall 242 747.
• Build: Tall, straight-backed, and muscular from sustained martial training 561 747.
• Expression: His post-Jiangnan appearance includes calm, unreadable eyes, sharper facial contours, a prominent straight nose, and a more resolute bearing 240.
• After the border campaign: His deeper-set features and exposed confidence are compared to the dazzling edge of a drawn sword 561.

Personality

Xiao Lingyan is competitive, quick-witted, and meticulous. Zhao Ruxi’s political insight rekindles the same desire to outdo her that drove their design rivalry in the modern world. His plans favor preparation, secrecy, and layered safeguards over conspicuous displays of talent 329 364 466 726.

He can deliberately appear naïve or harmless when it serves him, particularly with Xiao Ge. In private, he is more teasing and sharp-tongued, although he becomes noticeably more accommodating toward Zhao Ruxi as their relationship develops 249 310 364.

His attachment to Zhao Ruxi outweighs his interest in imperial power. He repeatedly rejects concubines, defends her freedom, and is willing to relinquish the succession rather than endanger their marriage or pressure her into childbirth. Concern for her can also unsettle his normally careful judgment 690 701 771 778.

Although he initially describes his ideal life as an easy one without the throne, he ultimately accepts substantial responsibility. His later conduct distinguishes reluctance to seek power from unwillingness to work 573 748 803.

Abilities & Skills

Industrial Design and Engineering

His modern industrial-design education provides a foundation for adapting technology to Great Jin’s materials and manufacturing capacity 250.

• Studies steelmaking, printing technology, and loom construction through the Ministry of Works 267 329.
• Supplies tested springs for clock production and evaluates the different materials’ strengths and weaknesses 364.
• Plans concealed production of military equipment through separately manufactured components 250.
• Rejects developing guns and cannons because their destructive potential could upset the existing balance 384.

Martial Arts

His original body trained from childhood under one of Great Jin’s leading martial experts. After transmigration, he works even harder, reaching a standard comparable to Wang Tong and the imperial guards 534 535.

• Uses coordinated palm strikes, kicks, and rapid attacks that can produce visible afterimages 534.
• At full speed, lands controlled blows on the pill-enhanced Zhao Ruxi during sparring 534.
• Teaches her fist techniques adapted to her unusual speed and strength 535.
• His principal stated weakness is limited practical combat experience 535.

Political Strategy and Intelligence

His inherited memories, intelligence, ministry service, and frontier experience develop into a strong understanding of government 647.

• Uses factional rivalries, planted clues, and retaliatory investigations to turn opponents against one another 338 364 715 739.
• Maintains deathsworn, shadow guards, covert agents, and information networks 267 388 779.
• Investigates Nanyang’s officials and clerks before Zhao Ruxi takes office, warning her specifically about Cai Yaozong and Chen Kang 647.
• Conceals much of his ability to avoid exposing his transmigration or provoking rival princes 720 726.

Business, Mathematics, and Art

• Auction management: Establishes an auction business using competitive bids and a standard ten-percent commission, though he waives the fee for Fu Yunlang’s clocks 381 382.
• Accounting: Finds even complicated auction-house accounts easy because of his mathematical ability 580.
• Jadeite knowledge: Previous-life visits to mines and experience buying raw stones give him an advantage because Great Jin shares the same geography 385.
• Artistic understanding: His design background gives him enough painting knowledge to offer insights that impress Kang Shilin 382.

Massage

• Develops massage skills that nearly cure Noble Consort Cen’s insomnia and offers the same treatment to an exhausted Xiao Ge 549.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Gold-and-ruby ring — One of a matching pair exchanged with Zhao Ruxi during his proposal; he associates the gold with sincerity and the ruby with a bright, prosperous future 691.
• Taste Discerning Pill — Enhances his ability to separate and identify flavors 533 535.
• Agility Pill and Great Strength Pill — Supplied by Zhao Ruxi before the border campaign 558.
• Recovery Pill — Taken before the border journey without an immediately noticeable effect 683.
• Concealed residences and tunnel — Uses a rented residence for secret correspondence and linked properties with an underground chamber for collecting clock components 310 364.

Relationships

• Zhao Ruxi / Zhao Zhiwei / Xu Xi — Previous-life rival, fellow transmigrator, closest confidante, business partner, and wife. Their shared background makes her the person he trusts wholeheartedly 242 267 529 752.
• Xiao Ge — Father and emperor. Initially restricts his opportunities to favor another son, but later relies on him as crown prince and repeatedly offers to pass him the throne 249 800 803.
• Noble Consort Cen / Empress Cen — Mother. He cares for her, but resists her attempts to use his marriage for factional advantage and insists on protecting his wife’s independence 549 572 575 779.
• Xiao Lingpu — Elder brother, childhood protector, and original political leader. Their affection becomes strained by suspicion, financial pressure, and interference with Zhao Ruxi 573 726 728.
• Xiao Shaoduo — Eldest son and later designated heir to the crown prince. Xiao Lingyan personally selects attendants for him and explains family changes directly to him 799 803.
• Xiao Shaohui and Xiao Ziya — Younger son and daughter, born as twins during Zhao Ruxi’s second pregnancy 800 803.
• Fu Yunkai — Political and military ally whose respect for Xiao Lingyan grows substantially after the border campaign 572.
• Fu Yunlang — Commercial associate; Xiao Lingyan arranges auctions for his clocks 382.
• Kang Shilin — Zhao Ruxi’s master. Their shared admiration for her art wins Xiao Lingyan his goodwill; Kang later accepts the marriage after securing guarantees for her safety 382 701.
• Xu Zhou — Trusted retainer and adviser. Xiao Lingyan rescues him and his young son, later employing him in the auction house and retaining him at the Prince of Qi’s Residence 689.
• Wang Tong — Imperial guard who investigates Zhao Ruxi’s identity, protects secret meetings, and assists with communications 241 535 691.
• Cen Peixuan — Older cousin and sister-in-law. Her interference with Zhao Ruxi contributes to the growing distance between the brothers’ households 728 729.
• Zhao Ruyu — Attempts to attract his interest; he follows Zhao Ruxi’s advice to ignore her, and his guards prevent her from approaching freely 580.

Notable Quotes

“In this world, you're the only person I can trust wholeheartedly.” 267

“I didn't get to marry you in my last life, but there's no way I'll let you go again in this one.” 558

“I intend to spend my entire life with Zhiwei alone. I won't take any other woman.” 771