Rong An

Biodata

Official Career

Current Timeline

Previous Timeline

Background / History

Childhood and Adoption

At seven, Rong An fled famine with his family after disaster struck their hometown. To secure their survival, he wrote his own contract of sale and sold himself as a son to a wealthy Jiangling household. He left the ten taels of silver he received to his biological parents as repayment for giving him life 16.

In Jiangling, he became known for his intelligence and devoted service to his adoptive parents. Xiao Qinglan’s investigation found praise rather than criticism of his conduct. Nevertheless, Rong An later privately regrets having written the deed of sale after witnessing the close bond between Zhao Huiluan and Zhang Yunchi 16 37.

Zhao Huiluan’s Previous Life

Rong An publicly rejected the marriage proposed at the Jade Forest Banquet. Although Wen Hong outwardly accepted the refusal, he secretly arranged for Rong An to be sent to Annan as a seventh-rank county magistrate instead of entering the Hanlin Academy. Wen Hong expected the region’s warfare and miasma to prevent his return 17.

Rong An survived and advanced to prefect. When Zhao Huiluan saw him during a later visit to the capital, he had become thinner, darker, and tougher. Before leaving again, he asked whether she had undergone her coming-of-age ceremony and promised her a belated gift. Their farewell was their only conversation in that life; she never learned whether he survived the Prince of Jin’s subsequent usurpation 17.

Remaining in Yan Capital

After becoming examination champion, Rong An paid his respects to chief examiner Xie Shangxiu and returned to his rented home to read through the night. He initially intended to seek an outside posting, refusing to attach himself to the Wen Faction merely to secure advancement 16 24.

Zhao Huiluan disrupted that plan by publicly declaring her interest in him at the Jade Forest Banquet, preventing Wen Hong from proposing him as Wen Nihe’s husband. The emperor deferred further discussion of the princess’s marriage for two years; no marriage was settled 20.

As a palace lecturer, Rong An punished Zhao Huiluan for neglecting her copying assignment, then brought ointment and treated her injured palm. He offered to teach her everything he knew rather than encourage her youthful declaration of affection. After she formally accepted him as her teacher, he decided to remain in the capital and rent a house in Shiyong Ward 23 24.

The Xie Family’s Fall

Xie Shangxiu publicly severed ties with Rong An, ostensibly because the princess’s favor had compromised his standing. When Xie became implicated in the campaign against Wen Hong, Rong An did not join the other former students pleading for him. His silence brought accusations of ingratitude and coldheartedness 24 25 26.

The estrangement had protected Rong An from being implicated. He understood his teacher’s intentions and endured the condemnation while arranging protection for Xie’s surviving daughter through Xie’s own teacher, Shen Linfu. The girl entered the Shen household under the identity of Shen Zhiyao 36.

Alliance with Princess Zhenning

At the Imperial College, Rong An continued teaching Zhao Huiluan while watching over Shen Zhiyao. His concern for the latter prompted the princess to question whether they were old acquaintances 29 30.

When fireworks frightened Zhao Huiluan, he sheltered her in Chongwen Pavilion. There, she offered to help him enter the Grand Secretariat in exchange for his assistance in ensuring the crown prince’s eventual accession. After insisting that she state what she actually wanted, Rong An accepted, and they sealed their alliance by striking palms 34 35.

Their ensuing conversation exposed Shen Zhiyao’s identity and Rong An’s role in protecting her. He also clarified that Xie Shangxiu had once offered him his youngest daughter’s hand, but he had refused 36.

Missing-Girls Investigation

Rong An continued investigating the missing-girls case with the Shuntian Prefecture assistant magistrate and the Court of Judicial Review assistant minister after their superiors halted the inquiry. The investigation drew impeachment memorials accusing him of neglecting his Imperial College duties 40 43.

Zhao Huiluan urgently warned him to stop after connecting the disappearances to pills presented to the emperor. Rong An initially resisted abandoning the inquiry, but her warning allowed him to recognize the identity of the powerful figure protecting the operation—and the danger to both the investigators and the women involved 41.

Supporting Zhao Huiluan’s Departure

When Zhao Huiluan sought practical experience outside the college, Rong An admired her desire to connect scholarship with ordinary people’s lives, though he noted that she had not completed the required period of study. He then agreed to help her approach the emperor 46.

Following her instructions, he emphasized her diligence and presented an essay she had written. He recognized that the emperor was unsettled rather than delighted by evidence of his daughter’s intelligence, and understood why she expected praise of her studies to secure her removal from the college 46 47.

Appearance

Rong An is tall and slender, with a composed, graceful bearing 34 45.

• Eyes and brows: Described as deep-set and sharp 17.
• Height: Zhao Huiluan barely reaches his chest when standing close to him 34.
• Clothing: Appears in dark-blue and dark blue-green robes 25 26.
• Visible embarrassment: The tips of his ears redden when Zhao Huiluan holds his hand or speaks closely into his ear 35 46.

Personality

Rong An combines considerable ambition with an unwillingness to advance through dependence on the Wen Faction. Before deciding to remain in Yan Capital, he planned to build his career through achievements in local office. Zhao Huiluan recognizes that his outward reserve conceals an ambition that even Annan’s hardships failed to extinguish 17 24.

His composure often conceals his feelings. He continues teaching calmly while officials condemn his apparent abandonment of Xie Shangxiu, yet reacts visibly when Zhao Huiluan mentions visiting his teacher in prison. His protection of Xie’s daughter reveals the loyalty beneath that restraint 26 36 37.

As a teacher, he is strict without withholding care: he disciplines Zhao Huiluan despite her rank, treats the resulting injury, and later assigns extra calligraphy rather than striking her for drunkenness. He also answers her teasing with understated humor, including deliberately delaying the clarification that he refused Xie’s proposed marriage 23 24 31 36 37.

Abilities & Skills

Scholarship and Poetry

An exceptional examination candidate with broad literary learning 13 24.

• Places first in all three examinations at nineteen 13.
• Wins praise from the Yongzhao Emperor for poems on spring and autumn 19.
• Offers instruction in classics, histories, philosophy, and literature 24.

Teaching

Uses recitation, explanation, assigned copying, and written assessment to instruct his students 22 23 47.

• Asks the crown prince to explain passages before correcting his interpretation 22.
• Supplies Zhao Huiluan with books and makes himself available for questions 29.
• Tracks her improvement in handwriting and presents her independently written essay to the emperor 46 47.
• Enforces academic rules even when the student is a princess 23 31 32.

Political Judgment and Investigation

Recognizes political motives and assesses people beyond their public reputations 35 45 47.

• Identifies the calculated sequence behind Zhao Huiluan’s questioning of Tao Xuanzhi 35.
• Continues pursuing the missing-girls investigation despite senior officials’ obstruction 40.
• Calls Wen Yan “a fine piece of jade,” recognizing qualities the princess had initially overlooked 45.
• Understands the emperor’s discomfort with Zhao Huiluan’s growing intellectual ability 47.
• Initially lacks the rank and influence to counter the Wen Faction directly 25.

Equipment / Items

• Disciplinary ruler — Used to punish Zhao Huiluan’s incomplete homework; later used to push her offered hand back when he assigns calligraphy instead of corporal punishment 23 31.
• Portrait drawn by Zhao Huiluan — Confiscates it during class and keeps it, arguing that its subject has the right to retain it 23.

Relationships

• Zhao Huiluan / Princess Zhenning — Student and political ally. Her intervention changes his career plans; their relationship combines formal instruction, mutual protection, and her persistent romantic teasing 20 24 35 46.
• Xie Shangxiu — Chief examiner and honored teacher. Their public estrangement protects Rong An during Xie’s downfall rather than reflecting a genuine abandonment of loyalty 16 24 36.
• Xie Zhiyao / Shen Zhiyao — His teacher’s daughter, whom he helps shelter under an assumed identity. He refuses an earlier marriage proposal involving her but remains concerned for her safety 36.
• Zhao Jin’ang, the crown prince — Former pupil who continues to regard Rong An as his teacher after the latter leaves the Hall of Literary Glory 22 47.
• Zhang Yunchi — Student who admires his examination achievements but challenges his treatment of Zhao Huiluan when she is hurt 22 24.
• Wen Hong — Powerful minister whose faction Rong An refuses to join. In the previous timeline, Wen Hong retaliates against his marriage refusal with the Annan posting 17 24.
• Wen Nihe — Admires him from the champion’s procession and hopes to marry him. Her grandfather considers the match a means of gaining influence over a talented scholar 14 45.
• Changyou and Changgeng — Attendants involved in his transport and household arrangements; Changyou questions his decision to remain in the capital 24.

Notable Quotes

“Classics, histories, philosophy, and literature—whatever I know, I will teach Your Highness.” 24

“I wish for Your Highness to be like a bird in the woods, seeing every mountain flower, and like the moon in the sky, knowing all the world's splendor.” 24

“Your Highness does not trust me.” 35