Yun Wu

Biodata

Background / History

Family Tragedy

Yun Wu came from a respectable, relatively prosperous family that traded in hides. His foreign-born father was exceptionally beautiful and skilled in singing and dancing, attracting the attention of a noble. After Yun Wu’s parents refused the noble’s demands, all thirty-two members of their household died in a fire in a single night 8.

Yun Wu survived because he was staying overnight with the son of his mother’s close friend. To protect her friend’s surviving child, the woman concealed his identity and adopted him. Her own son later died from a hidden illness despite costly treatment, and her husband died after falling into depression. Yun Wu and his adoptive mother were left dependent on one another 8.

Life at the Green Grass Pavilion

When his adoptive mother became ill three years before his introduction, Yun Wu sold himself to the Green Grass Pavilion to pay for her treatment. He became its top courtesan and received training in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Initially, he performed without selling sexual services 7 8 48.

As his mother’s condition worsened, the brothel’s managers trapped him into offering his first bedchamber visit at auction. Biluo, a childhood acquaintance whose life Yun Wu’s father had once saved, appealed to Bai Mo to secure his freedom. Biluo offered his entire savings of five thousand taels, explaining that they could not purchase their own release from the brothel register 8.

After Yun Wu’s dance, bidding opened at five hundred taels. Bai Mo outbid Sister Huang by repeatedly adding a single tael, then negotiated separately for Yun Wu’s redemption. She paid eight hundred taels of gold for the agreed price of eight thousand taels and handed his contract of sale directly to him 8 9.

Bai Mo returned Biluo’s savings and refused Yun Wu’s promise to repay her, directing his gratitude toward Biluo instead. Yun Wu accepted five hundred taels from Biluo as a loan, declining the additional five hundred offered to him 9.

His Mother’s Death

The following morning, Pan Qinglian pursued Yun Wu outside an inn. He approached Bai Mo and called her his wife to discourage Pan’s advances; Bai Mo supported the pretense and defended his newly restored commoner status. When Pan insulted him, Bai Mo beat her and had Yun Wu write a dictated confession for Pan to sign and fingerprint 12 13.

Yun Wu then explained that his mother needed five-hundred-year-old ginseng, which he had been unable to find anywhere in the Capital. Bai Mo sold him a seven-hundred-year-old root for four hundred and fifty taels and arranged for Lixia to escort him home 13 14.

His adoptive mother died before the ginseng could be used. In a letter delivered through Lichun, Yun Wu offered to return the unused root after arranging the funeral. Bai Mo, intending to pursue marriage with Shen Qing, instructed her gatekeeper to accept the item, consider his debt fully repaid, and let their connection end there 25 26.

Rescuing Shen Qing

With no family remaining and no settled means of support, Yun Wu intended to leave the Capital. An old friend instead asked him to dance at a flower-viewing poetry gathering. There, he noticed a maid suspiciously sending Shen Qing’s attendant away and became concerned when Shen Qing nearly fainted 34.

Yun Wu tried to take him to a physician, but a commotion convinced him that the princess’s people were searching for Shen Qing. He hid with him in a rockery, where Bai Mo discovered them and began treating Shen Qing. After Bai Mo escaped to answer accusations against her, Yun Wu helped Shen Qing reach his carriage 31 32 33 34.

During the journey, Yun Wu defended Bai Mo against the allegation that she had pursued an affair with the Third Princess’s consort. Learning that Shen Qing and Bai Mo loved one another, he suppressed his own heartbreak and wished them happiness 34.

Life at the Grand Preceptor’s Residence

Shen Qing offered Yun Wu temporary lodging, then invited him to remain as a guest and companion. Yun Wu initially believed his former registration as a courtesan made him unworthy even to serve Shen Qing. Shen Qing rejected that judgment, praised his character and talent, and insisted that he was neither a servant nor obliged to serve him 34 35.

Yun Wu subsequently kept Shen Qing company and supported him through the imperial physician’s alarming assessment of his health and fertility. He urged Shen Qing to seek Bai Mo’s help, but Shen Qing stopped him. When Bai Mo arrived through the rear window, Yun Wu let her in and checked that no one was watching 39 40 41.

After Shen Qing rejected Bai Mo, Yun Wu remained with him through several quiet days of chess, reading, and painting. At the Baihui Teahouse, while they watched Bai Mo’s betrothal procession to the Xiao residence, Yun Wu challenged Shen Qing’s decision. He learned that Shen Qing feared involving Bai Mo in his revenge—and that this revenge might require killing his own father 48 50.

Appearance

• Face and eyes: Deep-set features, rosy-red lips, and distinctive dark-blue eyes. His mixed heritage is immediately apparent to Bai Mo 8.
• Build and movement: Slender and light, with a narrow waist and graceful steps 8 9 35.
• Performance clothing: Smoky-blue gauze robes with long, flowing sleeves and fluttering skirts 8.
• Everyday clothing: A plain pale-blue robe that does little to conceal his striking beauty 12.

Personality

Yun Wu is initially timid, restrained, and anxious about burdening others. After Bai Mo confronts Pan Qinglian, he worries less about his own humiliation than about the political trouble Bai Mo might face for protecting him. His former courtesan status also leaves him deeply conscious of social rank and doubtful of his own worth 13 35.

He remembers kindness and feels strongly obligated to repay it. He treats Biluo’s money as a loan, promises to repay Bai Mo’s redemption fee, and offers to return the valuable ginseng after his mother’s death. Despite his feelings for Bai Mo, he sincerely defends her character and wishes happiness to her and Shen Qing 9 25 34.

His confidence grows while living with Shen Qing. By the time of Bai Mo’s betrothal procession, he can question Shen Qing directly, challenge his belief that he is unworthy of her, and ask whether he has considered the pain his rejection caused her 50.

Abilities & Skills

Dance

Yun Wu is an accomplished dancer whose performance captivates the Green Grass Pavilion’s audience 8.

• Uses flowing sleeves, delicate steps, and controlled bends of his slender waist 8.
• Is recruited through an old friend to dance at the princess’s flower-viewing gathering 34.
• Receives explicit praise from Shen Qing for his outstanding dancing 35.

Refined Arts and Literacy

His training as the pavilion’s leading courtesan includes the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting 48.

• Chess: Skilled enough to defeat Shen Qing in a documented game 48.
• Writing: Writes Bai Mo’s dictated confession of more than five hundred characters, then obtains Pan Qinglian’s signature and fingerprint 13.
• Correspondence: Writes Bai Mo a personal letter explaining his mother’s death and offering to return the ginseng 25.

Observation

Yun Wu notices suspicious behavior and changes in the people around him.

• Recognizes the danger when Shen Qing’s attendant is deliberately sent away and intervenes before Shen Qing is left helpless 34.
• Finds Shen Qing’s apparent calm after rejecting Bai Mo inconsistent with his earlier affection, eventually pressing him to explain his motives 48 50.

Items

• Contract of sale — Returned directly to him by Bai Mo after his redemption 9.
• Seven-hundred-year-old ginseng root — Purchased from Bai Mo for four hundred and fifty taels for his adoptive mother’s treatment; remained unused, prompting his offer to return it 14 25.

Relationships

• Bai Mo — Benefactor and the woman he develops feelings for. Their use of “wife” during Pan Qinglian’s harassment is a protective pretense, not an established marriage 9 12 13 34.
• Shen Qing — The man he rescues, later his host, mentor, and close companion. Shen Qing encourages his self-respect and insists on treating him as a guest 34 35 50.
• Biluo — Childhood acquaintance and determined protector. Biluo seeks his redemption partly in gratitude for Yun Wu’s father having saved his life 8 9.
• Adoptive mother — His birth mother’s close friend, who conceals his identity and raises him. Her illness drives him to sell himself to finance treatment 8.
• Lichun — Helps him when he is being bullied in Mountain Forest Town and delivers his letter to Bai Mo 25.
• Pan Qinglian — Harasses him and demeans his former courtesan status; is forced by Bai Mo to apologize and sign a confession 12 13.

Notable Quotes

“May you and the lady, two people in love, be united at last and live in peace and happiness.” 34

“You thought you weren't worthy of her, so you pushed her away? Did you ever think about her?” 50