It's kind of funny, actually. I have a decent number of Y-named characters, but they're none of them much to talk about. (Once again proving that I did not really give "characters I have written about" enough thought as an April A-to-Z theme...) For lack of any stronger choice, I'm going to go with the various members of the Yu Clan who show up in the massively long (and currently unedited) Mo Dao Zu Shi fic that I spent nearly a year working on. 😅
Ideally, it'd be great if I could also talk about the canon Yu Clan (ex-Yu Clan?) character, Yu Ziyuan. Unfortunately, most of the fics I've written so far started after her death. 😰 The sole exception to that--no, there's two exceptions. The first one, the 1980s AU, has her only vaguely present because I did not think I could write her the way she was written in canon, nor did it seem appropriate to do so anyway, and I wasn't sure how she should behave in the modern setting, so she's more of an off-screen idea than an actual character. And in the recently written "Last Loop," she's still alive, but none of the scenes are at Lotus Pier, so there would be no reason for her to show up. 😅
Instead, I'll just have to talk about the OC family members I gave her. 😅 Though in my own defense, at least two of the four named Yu Clan relatives I introduced existed by definition: when Lotus Pier is attacked, Yu Ziyuan tells her son to flee to Meishan to his grandmother so Yu Ziyuan's mother is canonically still alive at that time, and one of Yu Ziyuan's other names means "third daughter" so she must therefore have two older sisters (though I only used the elder of the two). The further two Yu Clan OCs I introduced are Yu Ziyuan's nieces, though only one of them is even the slightest bit fleshed out. (All of this post is talking about the still untitled Jiang Cheng fic that I spent most of the last year writing, btw. I gave Yu Ziyuan a different OC relation in another fic, but he's not really worth talking about.)
To go by order of age, let's start with Yu-zongzhu, Yu Ziyuan's mother. (Who isn't quite a full "named" character since I didn't pick a given name for her. 😅) Given that Jiang Cheng was told to go to Meishan to his grandmother rather than his grandfather, most fans have assumed that the Yu Clan is matriarchal. This is epic, so I went with it. 😆 Therefore, Jiang Cheng's grandmother is the leader of the Yu Clan during the massive fic. She doesn't show up all that often in the fic, though, as Jiang Cheng mentions to the other leaders early on that his grandmother and aunts tend not to pay much attention to the other clans and anything they happen to get up to.
She first shows up, to Jiang Cheng's horror, at the end of the Sunshot Campaign, when the other clan leaders are trying to divide up the land that had formerly been under the influence of the Wen Clan.
Even with the haste he had shown, he was still the last to arrive, though his steps faltered and nearly stopped at the sight of a lone woman among the men gathered around a table that had been set up in the audience hall. As he was bowing to greet the other clan leaders, Jiang Cheng added an even deeper bow at the end. “Grandmother,” he said, trying to keep his voice clear of the panic he was feeling on seeing that his grandmother had arrived to deal with this matter personally.
“Cheng-er,” Grandmother replied, her voice creaky. “Let me have a look at you.”
Uneasily, he straightened his spine and looked at his grandmother. For a woman of her advanced years, she looked surprisingly young: most would probably have mistaken her for one of his aunts, rather than his grandmother. She often gave the impression of having been cast from iron, particularly when she was frowning, as she was now.
“You seem healthy enough,” Grandmother concluded. “Good.” She nodded. “You’ve done well in this war, Cheng-er. I know my daughter is pleased.”
A smile crept across his face unbidden. “Thank you, Grandmother.”
Only when Grandmother returned her attention to the table in the center of the room did any of the other men dare to speak. Even they feared her, apparently. Jiang Cheng was relieved to know he wasn’t the only one terrified of her.
The meeting descends into bitter arguments several times, but first does so on the subject of what to do with the survivors of the Wen Clan. As this is using the drama canon, where Jiang Cheng has a massive crush on Wen Qing (who has, in fact, joined the Jiang Clan in this fic), he has a rather different perspective on that than he normally would.
“We can’t allow the Wen Clan to persist,” Qin-zongzhu said.
“Yes, after what we’ve suffered, how can we show them mercy?” Yao-zongzhu added. “They showed us no mercy!”
“That is why we must be better than the Wen Clan was,” Lan Xichen said. “I have no objections to punishing the wicked, but we must spare those who have done no wrong.”
The argument raged for some time, and the longer it went on, the more Jiang Cheng realized that it was only the thought of Wen Qing that was stopping him from agreeing with those who wanted to see every last Wen punished for having been born into the wrong clan. There was a part of him, an overwhelmingly loud voice inside his mind, that wanted to see the streets of Nightless City running with blood.
It was a chilling realization that left him mute with horror.
“Cheng-er. You have been silent for some time.” Grandmother’s voice cut through the loud arguments among the other clan leaders. “Have you been swayed by these men?”
“No, Grandmother,” Jiang Cheng answered. “I…”
“Perhaps Jiang-zongzhu’s position was never his own at all,” Jin Guangshan said. “To betray yourself in order to curry favor with a lady is—”
“Has Cheng-er chosen a bride?” Grandmother asked, looking at Jiang Cheng with an almost predatory smile. “I must approve of such a choice in my daughter’s stead.”
Jiang Cheng’s face heated up. “This is not the time for—I haven’t made any such decisions, Grandmother. But it was a woman who made me realize that I should not give in to my base urges to punish the entire Wen Clan for what happened to Lotus Pier.”
“Ah. She must be either very wise or very beautiful,” Grandmother said, with a smirk. “Or perhaps both?”
Needless to say, Yu-zongzhu does not let go of the "possible bride" idea, though she waits until after the meeting is over to bring it up again...
Soon the meeting was breaking up. But before Jiang Cheng could leave, he heard his name spoken by his grandmother’s weighty voice. He froze up, and stayed still until everyone else had left, and only the two of them remained in the hall.
“You are still allowing your father’s bastard to meddle in your affairs, Cheng-er?”
Jiang Cheng sighed sadly, looking at his grandmother. “Wei Wuxian is not my father’s bastard, Grandmother. [proof deleted because it doesn't make a lot of sense out of context]”
Grandmother just frowned at him.
“My father wished Wei Wuxian was his son rather than me, but that’s not Wei Wuxian’s fault. I wouldn’t have made it through the war without his help, and he’s dedicated to the Jiang Clan.”
“Despite the rumors that he’s planning to marry into the Lan Clan?” Grandmother countered.
Jiang Cheng’s face flushed. “That’s…”
“Finish your sentences, child! Do not permit half-thoughts to simply linger, festering in the air.”
“Yes, Grandmother.” Jiang Cheng frowned, trying to come up with a way to explain that she would accept. “Wei Wuxian is often thoughtless, acting without worrying about the potential consequences. The actions that led him to enter into a romantic entanglement with the Lan Clan’s heir were typical of his inability to think before he acts. He didn’t do it out of disloyalty to our clan.”
“Simple lust, was it?”
Jiang Cheng blanched. “I…ah…hope not?”
Grandmother laughed. “I can’t blame him if it was; Lan-er-gongzi is a very pretty young man,” she said. “Though I suppose the same can be said of Wei Wuxian. His appearance is the only thing about him that is above criticism.”
“Grandmother!”
“Why so shocked, Cheng-er? Do you think I could have had two husbands and six children if I had no appreciation for a finely-chiseled young man?” She shook her head. “Now, tell me of this young lady you wish to marry.”
“I don’t…I haven’t…there’s been no talk of marriage…” Jiang Cheng stumbled over his words, his face flushing.
“If she was urging you to show lenience to the Wen Clan prisoners, am I to take it she’s the turncoat Wen who joined your clan? I have heard she is a doctor of some sort.”
“Yes, Grandmother. Wen Qing is a master of medical cultivation.”
“Then I will meet with her to see if she is worthy of my grandson.”
“Grandmother, I—”
“I will never permit you even to entertain the idea of marrying her if I do not meet her for myself,” Grandmother said, her voice so menacing that she seemed to grow to twice his height.
“Very well, Grandmother. She’s in the nearby compound, with jiejie.”
“A-Li is here as well?” Grandmother’s face lit up. “Ah, how delightful! Well, what are you standing around for? Lead the way!”
“Yes, Grandmother. But please don’t mention anything of marriage to Wen-guniang. I’ve barely even—I think she knows how I feel about her, but I don’t want someone else suggesting marriage to her before I do.”
Grandmother clicked her tongue. “Young people these days,” she sighed. “Your generation needs to learn its place, Cheng-er. But I suppose I will keep my tongue for now, in light of what she suffered at the hands of that Jin whelp.”
“Thank you, Grandmother.”
Anyway, two last quotes about Yu-zongzhu. No context needed; it just illustrates her view of her daughter and her daughter's husband...
“Well said, Cheng-er,” Grandmother said. “Your father must be very proud.”
But not Mother? Then Grandmother was displeased with his decision. But the crowd didn’t seem to realize that, and dispersed, seeming to take Grandmother’s word as an end to the matter, at least for the moment.
...but she also said this...
Grandmother sighed deeply. “My greatest regret in life is that I allowed my youngest to marry out of spite,” she said, gently stroking his hair. “You and a-Li are treasures, but it breaks my heart knowing how miserable your mother’s decision made all four of you. I promised myself that I would not allow any of my grandchildren to marry without love.”
Anyway, moving on...
The eldest of Yu-zongzhu's daughters, Yu Ziyuan's sister, is a larger OC in the fic, one who actually has a name: Yu Jiayi. For the most part, she--like her mother--is based on my understanding of Yu Ziyuan's personality. Though she also has certain political and martial ambitions for herself that Yu Ziyuan was obviously lacking, since it was her son who stood to inherit a clan, not she herself. (One note about all these quotes is that I have Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli address/think about/speak of Yu Jiayi as "yimu," which is the polite form of address for a maternal aunt older than the mother, but as she's the elder of two such aunts, I believe the correct term would actually be "da-yimu," though I want to double-check that before I edit the fic...) Anyway, the quote below is her first introduction, at a strategy meeting as the Sunshot Campaign is still raging. (This and a large number of the following quotes about Yu Jiayi are from Lan Wangji's point of view, which stilts the narrative a bit, and also alters how he refers to certain other members of the main cast...)
“The Yu Clan’s representative is running late, and asked us to kindly wait for her.”
A slight tremor ran through Jiang Wanyin at the mention of his late mother’s clan, but many of the lesser men in the room laughed. “Bad enough that the Yu Clan is being run by a woman, but now they’re sending women into battle?” Yao-zongzhu laughed. “You aren’t going to honor such a ridiculous request, are you, Chifeng-zun?”
“I am,” Nie Mingjue said, giving the older man a fierce glare. “Yu Jiayi is a formidable warrior, the heir to her clan, and does not forget slights. I will not earn her clan’s enmity because you are impatient.”
Lan Wangji nodded his agreement, as did xiongzhang and a few of the others. If Yu Jiayi was anything like her youngest sister had been, she was likely quite a terror, if Wei Ying’s accounts of Yu Ziyuan’s personality were accurate. And Lan Wangji did not see any reason to disbelieve him; Wei Ying was typically honest under most circumstances.
The meeting chamber reverberated with disquieted whispers, but no man dared speak aloud. This state continued on until Yu Jiayi herself strode in. Unlike the men in attendance, she wore light armor above her dark robes; the spiderweb motifs on the armor matched those visible on the handle of her sword as it rested on her back. Though she was probably ten years older than shufu, her face displayed no sign of age. Nor did it show any indication of warmth or anything else pleasant: she glared at the men in the room as if they were insects crawling on her food. She greeted them with only the lightest of bows.
Uneasily, Jiang Wanyin approached her, bowing much more deeply than the other men were. “Yimu,” he started.
“Wanyin.” Yu Jiayi’s voice was like ice. “I will speak to you later regarding your failure to protect my sister.”
Jiang Wanyin winced, but still nodded. “Yes, yimu,” he said, with such an uncharacteristic meekness that Lan Wangji almost felt sorry for him.
She also has a certain disdain for men that was not outwardly displayed by her younger sister...
“If I’m understanding you correctly,” He-zongzhu said, his brow furrowed with concentration, “you believe Pingyang will be without defenders only for the space of a single night?”
Xiongzhang nodded. “That is my conclusion, yes.”
“And so you plan to fly your troops from here to Pingyang in time to take control of it while the Wen forces are in Yangquan,” Yu Jiayi concluded. “Fine. It’s a risky stratagem, but one that could prove very effective. But surely the Lan and Jin forces are more than enough for such a task, as even men should be able to conquer an empty base without much difficulty. What has this to do with the rest of us?”
A running theme through any scene involving Jiang Cheng's relations from the Yu Clan is that they all hate Wei Wuxian excessively...
“So the Wei that Lan-zongzhu mentioned is that vile whelp your father dragged in off the streets?” Yu Jiayi snarled, glaring at her nephew.
“Yimu, Wei Wuxian has worked very hard to bring down the Wen Clan for what they did at Lotus Pier,” Jiang Wanyin said, his voice trembling. “Please don’t—”
“Don’t speak back to me, child!”
Jiang Wanyin averted his eyes from her rage. “I meant no disrespect, yimu.”
Xiongzhang cleared his throat, then smiled at her warmly when Yu Jiayi turned a fearsome look in his direction. “I’m sure you would both prefer to leave such a discussion for a more private occasion,” he said. “In any event, it is indisputable that Wei Wuxian has received training from Baoshan-sanren herself in methods to combat the Yin Iron, and we must all rely on his knowledge if we wish to win this war.”
Yu Jiayi looked skeptical, but her argumentative posture lessened slightly.
Technically this next one I mostly want to quote because I wish I had put the first paragraph of it in the post about Lan Wangji. 🤣
The meeting still continued onward for quite some time to come, unfortunately. The overcrowded room and tumult of chaotic voices were like poisoned miasma eroding Lan Wangji’s inner calm. The longer it went on, the more he wished to walk away.
But it did, eventually, come to an end, with all parties having agreed on their plans. As soon as it was announced that everyone could return home—again traveling under cover of darkness to avoid alerting the Wen forces—Yu Jiayi barked out orders at her nephew: “Wanyin. Come with me!”
The weary look on Jiang Wanyin’s face suggested that her behavior was so similar to his mother’s that he was incapable of disobeying; he left without argument. Following their departure, the room was filled with inconsiderate men cracking jokes at Jiang Wanyin’s expense.
(And some of what those inconsiderate men were saying got quoted in the Q post...) Anyway, that's finally the end of that original meeting, though the impact of Yu Jiayi's first appearance lingers heavily in the next scene as well...
Flying back to Yiling through the darkness was a relief: Jiang Cheng felt as though his face was still red with shame after the tongue-lashing yimu had given him. The encounter made him miss Mother all the more: at least when she had lectured him endlessly, he had usually been able to sense her love for him underneath her harsh words, whereas yimu genuinely seemed to think he was entirely worthless. Admittedly, she seemed to think that of all men, but that did nothing to ease the humiliation she had put him through, despite that he had been functioning as the head of his clan throughout the past year of warfare.
[snipping the rest of the trip and arrival at Lotus Pier]
“What’s wrong, a-Cheng?” jiejie asked. “You look so worn out.”
Sun Bao elbowed one of his brothers. “Jiang-gongzi will never admit what sort of nagging that Yu Jiayi lit into him with,” he said in an exaggeratedly-loud ‘whisper,’ laughing at Jiang Cheng’s suffering.
“Yimu was there?” jiejie asked, her voice breathless and trembling.
Despite that he wanted to answer with words, all Jiang Cheng could do was nod. He honestly hadn’t expected anyone from the Yu Clan to show up, let alone one of his aunts. They usually didn’t take part in anything involving the other clans, and on the rare occasions that they did, they typically sent someone they deemed unimportant, like one of their brothers or nephews.
Jiejie wrapped him in a comforting hug. “I’m so sorry,” she cooed. “You know she doesn’t mean all her vitriol.”
“I think she does mean it,” Jiang Cheng grumbled.
Jiejie let go of him, stepping back to frown at him from above crossed arms. “Don’t you dare even think that, a-Cheng, let alone say it! You’ve been the best brother and the best son anyone could ask for, and you’ve done so much to revive our clan from nothing! Only a fool could fail to see that, and yimu isn’t a fool, so she must see it. She’s just lashing out because she wants someone to blame for Mother’s death.”
The way Jiang Cheng had lashed out at Wei Wuxian as they were fleeing the fallen Lotus Pier…? At the thought, his eyes started stinging in a way they hadn’t for a long time.
Both Yu Jiayi and her mother team up for an appearance at a competitive Night Hunt that the Jiang Clan decides to hold in the fic. (Not too long after the Mount Baifeng Siege Hunt, in fact, and while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are still off on the expedition to hunt down Xue Yang that I discussed in an earlier post. (I'm sorry so many of the MDZS posts I'm doing for April A-to-Z keep coming back to this one unedited fic, it's just that I spent the last year writing it, so it still looms large in my mind, ya know?))
Jiang Cheng and jiejie resumed their duties of greeting the guests. And they did so not a moment too soon, because Jiang Cheng barely felt settled in place before he heard someone announcing the arrival of the Meishan Yu.
They both bowed extra low as Grandmother and yimu approached them, and were extra polite in their greetings. Yimu was curt as usual, and Grandmother looked around in disapproval. “You have not prepared enough decorations for Lotus Pier, Cheng-er,” she said. “This is not the proper festive atmosphere for your first public Night Hunt.”
“A-Cheng had the barges decorated, Grandmother,” jiejie said, smiling at her. “Because the hunt and the feast will be taking place on the river.”
“Hmm.” Grandmother cast an eye at the elegantly decorated barges behind her, then looked back at Jiang Cheng. “We have not heard back from Zongying yet,” she said coldly. “Why is your shixiong preventing her from writing home?”
“Zongying went along on the hunt for Xue Yang?” Jiang Cheng asked, his eyes widening. No wonder no one had heard from Wei Wuxian! He was probably dead by now.
“Why does that displease you?” yimu asked coldly. “I thought you got along with my daughter.”
“Of course I do, yimu,” Jiang Cheng assured her. He got along with her in precisely the way he had gotten along with his mother: by accepting defeat and doing as she told him to. The same way he got along with all his female relations from the Yu Clan, in fact. “But her dislike of Wei Wuxian is…noteworthy.”
“Unlike Wei Wuxian himself,” yimu said with a cold smirk.
“Yimu, you really don’t even know a-Xian,” jiejie said gently. “He’s a much better man than Mother led you to believe.”
“Are you saying—” yimu started, but stopped suddenly as Grandmother sharply clapped twice.
“This is supposed to be a festive event,” Grandmother said. “We will not spoil it by discussing such persons. Or addressing past tragedies.”
“Yes, Mother,” yimu said, bowing her head lightly.
“Now.” Grandmother turned her head back to Jiang Cheng and smiled. “Where is Wen-guniang? I have had an ache lately that I was hoping she could treat before the hunt begins.”
“Wen Qing is within, finalizing some preparations for the Night Hunt,” jiejie said. “I’ll take you to see her, Grandmother.”
“Thank you, a-Li.”
They went inside Lotus Pier, and yimu and the Yu Clan disciples—all female, of course—stepped aside to watch over the rest of the greetings as if they owned Jiang Cheng just because his mother had been part of their clan.
Which of course smoothly brings up the idea of Yu Zongying, the Yu Clan OC who got the most time devoted to her in the fic, primarily because after a certain development in her personal arc, I started having a lot of fun with her. (Even if that fun on my part was making her suffer...) But first, have her introduction:
It was quite the relief when word passed through the courtyard that someone had arrived to take part in the hunt for Xue Yang. Lan Wangji had hoped it meant Chang Ping had finally arrived and that they would soon be able to depart on the voyage, as it had been agreed upon that the sole survivor of the Chang Clan could not be left out in avenging his family.
Unfortunately, when the visitor was brought throught the courtyard, Lan Wangji saw that it was not Chang Ping. The new arrival was, in fact, a woman of an age similar to Wei Ying and Lan Wangji. She had a slight haughtiness to her that turned to a chilly sort of hate as she laid eyes on Wei Ying, which was matched by a shudder that passed through him when their eyes met. Then she turned to look at Lan Wangji, and bowed in greeting.
“Hanguang-jun, it is my honor to greet you on behalf of the Yu Clan,” she said. “I am Yu Zongying, daughter of Yu Jiayi.”
Even as Lan Wangji was returning her bow, Jin Zixun’s harsh laugh filled the courtyard. “Imagine being so ashamed of your family that you can’t even offer your father’s name in introducing yourself,” he cackled, clearly expecting the Nie Clan youths around him to laugh with him, something they showed the sense to refuse to do.
“A father is a very poor and weak recommendation,” Yu Zongying replied with a smirk. “What proof is there that a father actually contributes anything to a child apart from a little energy in conception? A child is made from the mother’s flesh, and should therefore be judged according to her mother’s merits, not her father’s weaknesses.”
Wei Ying chuckled, and bowed lightly to Yu Zongying. “Ah, you’ve missed the point, Yu-guniang,” he told her. “In the Jin Clan, they have to focus so heavily on their father, because if they don’t, then what’s to stop all of Jin Guangshan’s countless extramarital offpsring from ending up married to each other?”
“How dare you speak of my uncle in that manner?!”
“Classless,” Yu Zongying said, scowling at both of them. “Be warned, Wei Wuxian! I am accompanying this expedition so that you do nothing to bring shame on my cousin’s clan. If you cross me, I will not hesitate to kill you.”
Lan Wangji stepped in between them. “You will not harm Wei Ying,” he told her.
Yu Zongying looked at them both with a bemused smile. “You can’t even defend yourself, Wei Wuxian?”
“I don’t really have to,” he said, with a chuckle. “I can, but if Lan Zhan enjoys defending me, then why shouldn’t I let him?”
Yu Zongying made several remarks describing her distaste for Wei Ying and for men in general, then walked off, announcing her intent to greet Chifeng-zun. A Nie Clan attendant ran after her, begging permission to show her the way.
“Well, that’s just what we need to liven up the group,” Wei Ying sighed, once she was gone.
“Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji looked into his husband’s eyes. If this woman was going to be a problem…
“Don’t worry about her, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, smiling at him. “Yu Zongying is as much of a terror as her aunt was, but she’s…well, she’s just like her aunt. Skilled and principled. As long as I don’t do too much to tick her off, she won’t cause any trouble. And she’ll be helpful in the battle when we finally corner Xue Yang.”
My original intention for Yu Zongying was to make her exactly what Wei Wuxian described her as above--and as Jiang Cheng had described her as in an earlier scene--just an exact repeat of Yu Ziyuan. Only then something started to change, right about here:
“If this is your idea of hot, you should not visit Meishan, Nie-gongzi,” Yu-guniang said. “These northern mountains are much more chilly than most lands.”
“Is that so? I knew there was a reason I loved it here!”
“I thought you hated how remote and drab it was here,” Wei-xiong pointed out.
“Oh, sometimes, yes, but the mountains are also very beautiful! Have I shown you my paintings yet?”
“Only about ten or twenty times,” Wei-xiong sighed.
“Oh! Well, have I shown you, Yu-guniang?”
“You have not,” she said, smiling at him. “I didn’t know painting was an art encouraged in the Nie Clan.”
Nie Huaisang laughed, glad he was still fanning himself, now that his face was hot with embarrassment. “It isn’t; da-ge is quite cross that I’d rather paint than practice with my saber. But I can’t help it if I’m simply not cut out for cultivation, can I?”
“I suppose not,” Yu-guniang agreed. “You should take a warrior wife who can fight in your stead.”
What was that supposed to—? Nie Huaisang was so thrown off guard that he stopped fanning and simply held the fan in place, hiding as much of his face as he could behind it. What in the world was that woman thinking? Why should he want to take a wife at all, warrior or otherwise? And what ‘fighting’ could be needed with the war finally over and the tyranny of the Wen Clan destroyed?
Random quote that I really enjoy:
“Don’t flirt in front of a child,” Yu Zongying said, frowning at them. “It is inappropriate and uncouth. I expect that of you, Wei Wuxian, but don’t drag Hanguang-jun down into your depravity!”
Anyway, here is where Yu Zongying's suffering begins to emerge into the daylight...
The longer they continued traveling, the more she felt her presence was a waste. Wei Wuxian was not nearly as awful as her aunt had always made him out to be, and if the tears he had shed in defending Jiang Fengmian’s reputation were any indication then he probably would do his best to avoid shaming the Jiang Clan and her cousins. As to her other mission…
Mother had been very clear that it was Yu Zongying’s duty to gain a husband who would provide a strong alliance for the Yu Clan, giving her eldest sister a nephew who stood to inherit some other clan. To that end, Mother had sent her to Qinghe to make herself known to Chifeng-zun, in the hopes that he was interested in seeking a wife truly worthy of him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seemed to be interested in the slightest. He wasn’t really her type, anyway; Yu Zongying preferred a more delicate sort of man, someone gentle and fragile, someone who needed her protection. (Though if Hanguang-jun was still available, she would have been quite glad to give up on “fragile” and “in need of protection,” as she could hardly imagine a man more pleasing to the eye, and his virtue was beyond question, despite his relations with Wei Wuxian.) Yu Zongying was quite certain that Mother would have minimal objections if she were to win Nie Huaisang’s hand rather than that of his elder brother—he was, after all, the only heir Chifeng-zun had at present—but this journey was not providing her any opportunities to woo him, as he was spending most of his time intercepting the vile and abrasive Jin Zixun before he could pick fights with Wei Wuxian.
All that being the case, was there truly any point to her being here and enduring this endless voyage? Wouldn’t she better serve the Meishan Yu if she simply returned to Qinghe and paid court to Nie Mingjue, either for his own hand or his brother’s? There was no glory to be won in this manhunt, particularly since it seemed doubtful that it would ever succeed. Perhaps the next time they came to a large city she could claim she had received word from home and needed to leave. Maybe she could even convince Nie Huaisang to leave with her…
Ah, yes, the suffering of those who love in vain. (I wonder if I take extra pleasure in that suffering because I'm aromantic and therefore immune to such suffering myself?) I've talked about this bizarre not-quite-a-love-triangle on the blog before, because I was having so much fun with how it developed. 🤣 I suppose those who say all writers are sadists may be onto something. 🤣
Of course, I also just found I enjoyed using the character for other things. Like in this quote where an especially obnoxious Jin Clan OC is being, well, especially obnoxious. And Yu Zongying is not going to put up with it, to the extent that she's about to start a literal fight over it, only another OC who's a disciple of Jiang Cheng's stops her. (This third OC, Hao Shun, is a twelve-year-old orphan, and is by this point developing a crush on Yu Zongying.)
“What, even you listen to that lying dog [Wei Wuxian], Yu-guniang? How disappointing! Don’t you know he got your aunt killed?”
Yu Zongying’s ire rose, and she walked over to slap him. “How dare you yap at me like that, you hollow nobody?! I am the daughter of Yu Jiayi, future zongzhu of the Meishan Yu! I am well aware of the circumstances of my little aunt’s death, and I do not wish to hear her name on your coarse tongue!”
“You’re an uppity female in need of a lesson,” Jin Renshu spat back at her. “A good husband to teach you some manners might be able to save you from yourself, though.” With that, he started towards the door again.
“Don’t, Yu-guniang!” A small pair of hands grabbed her wrist as she reached for her sword. “Just let it go, please,” Hao Shun begged her. “Zongzhu and Yanli-shibo would be sad if you get in a fight with someone so far beneath you.”
Smiling, she patted the boy’s head. “You’re right,” she agreed. “Thank you for thinking of my cousins’ happiness.”
Much later on, after Yu Jiayi gets her wish and one of her other daughters is about to marry Nie Mingjue...
The greetings were terse and uncomfortable. Yu-zongzhu looked at Nie Huaisang as if he was a bug, and her daughter was extremely cold to him. Yu Xiurong seemed incapable of settling her mind, and went back and forth between being disappointed that da-ge hadn’t come to greet her personally and being exhilarated beyond all comprehension regarding tomorrow, particularly tomorrow night. (Having read what women went through in the consummation of a marriage, Nie Huaisang could not imagine how she could feel anything but dread. It sounded entirely revolting and painful.) Worst of all, though, was Yu Zongying, who kept glancing timidly at him, her eyes red and tearful. It was entirely unlike her to be so timid. Was she calculating that it would make him feel guilty enough to change his mind? Or was that actually how women behaved when their romantic aspirations were dashed?
Sadly, there's not actually a lot to say about Yu Xiurong. She has next to no dialog, and very little presence in the story. (Basically, the only reason she has a given name at all is that it was going to be way too hard to describe her marrying Nie Mingjue if she didn't have a name!)
All of their cousins had spent far too much time with Jiang Yanli since their arrival yesterday, pouring out their own obsessions. Xiurong was giddy with desire to an alarming degree, and all of her sisters—even the married one!—were bitterly jealous of her. Most of them were just jealous because they felt Xiurong was getting to marry the finest man in the world, but Zongying’s jealousy was more personal, a pained jealousy because she had been refused by the man her heart had chosen.
That, of course, left Jiang Yanli torn. Had she done the wrong thing in advising Nie Huaisang how to tell Zongying that he didn’t and would never love her? She had told him to be gentle and kind about it, and he always seemed so nice that it was hard to imagine that he hadn’t followed that advice. But should she have taken her cousin’s side and tried to convince him to marry her despite that his heart wasn’t in it? Maybe she should have—Wen Qing seemed to think so after the fact—but how could she have said anything of the sort after seeing how miserable Father was, married to a woman he didn’t love? Of course, Nie Huaisang had very little in common with Father, so perhaps he would take better to a loveless marriage?
Maybe after the wedding there would be time for her to have a private conversation with him and see if he could accept Zongying’s affection after all.
The fic ends with things still up in the air about whether or not anyone else will prevail on Nie Huaisang to take pity on Yu Zongying and marry her despite that he's aroace and therefore 100% uninterested in ever taking a wife. I do feel sorry for creating her and then putting her in that position, but given that this is fanfic of (the live-action adaptation of) a gay romance novel, I don't think it makes much sense to go out of my way to try to add more successful heterosexual romances.
Besides, aroace characters need to be treasured and protected, not forced into relationships they don't want!
(Wow, that suddenly got militant...)
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