Tang Zheng
Second Senior Brother
"They are truly a bunch of useless people; I see that all of you are in need of a good beating."
The Tang Clan's Second Senior Brother, aloof by nature, spends most of his time researching in the Alchemy Room, which makes him hard to approach.
His mastery of Poison Technique is exceedingly refined, and he is cautious in all he does; his Junior Brothers and Sisters hold him in both respect and fear.
Yet only the is not afraid of him, and instead trusts her Second Senior Brother greatly.
Biographies
The second disciple under the Tang Clan Sect Leader.
Skilled in the use of poison, his attainments in toxicology surpass even his Master's.
Meticulous of mind, aloof and deep,
strict with himself and with others, he enforces discipline at his Master's command,
and is deeply feared by his fellow disciples.
He ordinarily keeps to the Alchemy Room and rarely sets foot in the Jianghu,
and so his fame falls far short of his Senior Brother's;
yet those who have crossed blades with him, at the mere thought of him,
all tremble with cold.
He seems to have an unusual fixation on Pepper Powder;
not only does he like it himself, he forces everyone else to eat it too.
Skilled in the use of poison, his attainments in toxicology surpass even his Master's.
Meticulous of mind, aloof and deep,
strict with himself and with others, he enforces discipline at his Master's command,
and is deeply feared by his fellow disciples.
He ordinarily keeps to the Alchemy Room and rarely sets foot in the Jianghu,
and so his fame falls far short of his Senior Brother's;
yet those who have crossed blades with him, at the mere thought of him,
all tremble with cold.
He seems to have an unusual fixation on Pepper Powder;
not only does he like it himself, he forces everyone else to eat it too.
Deeds
- Before he was even ten, he joined Tang Zhongling and the in raiding an execution ground to rescue the .
- In adulthood, he and Tang Buyi were once wanted by the Imperial Court for a time over a false charge.
- He keeps to his seclusion and seldom goes out, but when he does, disaster is sure to follow in the Jianghu.
- He is notorious, though no one can say just what law he broke; notorious all the same.
Chief Executioner
- He is in charge of the Tang Clan's punishments, impartial as iron and fair in his judgments. Even those who plead for another are punished along with them.
- He argued for taking Chao He into the Tang Clan, so that he could deal with him under the Clan Rules and torment that hateful man to within an inch of his life. And indeed he later put the unruly Chao He in his place many times, to everyone's great satisfaction.
- His methods of torture are exquisite.
- When someone makes a racket in the Tang Clan, he comes out to restore order.
- When the embezzles the money Ye Yunzhou returned, he steps in to arbitrate and apply pressure.
Medicine
- He excels at fighting poison with poison, with swift results. But he may also, depending on his mood, prescribe potent medicine with side effects.
- Lu Weng suffered for years from a chronic ailment, and no famous doctor hired with lavish gifts could cure it, simply because he was too rich. The Second Senior Brother cured it offhand, asking only that the unscrupulous doctors' iron rice bowls be smashed, and at the same time prescribed a potent medicine that causes diarrhea.
- He once served as a guest physician at the Qianjin Fang in Jiangling, and is greatly trusted by the local doctors there; he will refer Zhao Huo to work there.
- He diagnosed the cause of Ye Yunshang's illness and arranged a meticulous course of treatment for her.
- The has made many enemies in his life and has never lightly entrusted the vital Pulse Gate to another's hands; the Second Senior Brother and Zhao Huo are among the few granted that trust.
- The main furnace in the Alchemy Room burns all year without cease, tending the "Longevity Corpse Heart Pill" that the Second Senior Brother has poured his heart into, the key to the 's life-prolonging. Do not throw anything in at random! Book of Life and Death No.29
- The Spirit Pill he presented to at Nangong's Birthday Banquet was a Child Pill hastily made by adding other ingredients to a portion of the Mother Pill of the Longevity Corpse Heart Pill; its potency is already the utmost a mortal body can receive. Taking this pill does not add ten years to one's life, it only makes one ten years younger. Even Zou Bo, the Qingcheng Sect Leader who is likewise skilled in Alchemy, cannot help but feel Admiration.
- He has his own bed in the Alchemy Room, to keep track of the heat when decocting medicine at any hour. Please do not make noise in the Alchemy Room.
Poison Technique
- He absolutely loves Pepper Powder. In the old days when the Tang Clan had few people, no matter what dish Zhao Huo made, he would desperately add more; if others would not eat it, he would sulk, and only eased off once more newcomers arrived.
- Zhao Huo once, while the Second Senior Brother was out, secretly took his powder to make pepper cakes. They had a kick.
- He laces the food of the Tang Clan's people, so that even a mild poison that would ordinarily be harmless with the antidote held under the tongue cannot touch the Tang Clan Disciples.
- His methods of poisoning are exquisite; with the slightest effort he can make the Flying Stone Gang's troublemakers all kneel in the street as one.
- Though no poison can harm him, when he ate the breakfast the made, he threw up on the spot, frowned, and said the stuff was poisonous.
Triple Spy
- "I was instructed by Jinxiang Palace to infiltrate the Tang Clan; instructed by the Thousand Lantern Tower to infiltrate Jinxiang Palace; instructed by the Tang Clan to infiltrate the Thousand Lantern Tower."
- Entering Jinxiang Palace in the guise of a spy, he will "not" dress as a woman.
Tsk[1] - The poisonous smoke that rose on Fengyu Mountain when Jinxiang Palace burned its sword sheaths and silk cords was arranged in secret by the Second Senior Brother at Lady Wen's request.
- He is one of the New Seven Immortals of the Supreme Bliss Cult, along with Yuan Wuxian. When the 's assassination of Shentu Long failed, he appeared alongside him, pretending to guard the Cult Leader while secretly seeking every means to preserve his life.
- He has some history with , and to save Zhao Huo and Ye Yunshang he is willing to forgive him for abandoning him at the Thousand Lantern Tower.
Zhao Huo
- The work the Second Senior Brother assigns to his Junior Brothers and Sisters is often passed along to Zhao Huo, and so the two are quite familiar. Even so, his attitude does not soften in the slightest.
- He calls Zhao Huo useless, and Zhao's Foolish Pig. He often kicks people.
- When Affinity is high, he places great hopes on Zhao Huo. Bound by the Clan Rules, he cannot directly pass on the ancestors' true teachings, so he takes great pains to blend Poison Technique, pharmacology, Alchemy, and his own experience into a new one-volume Pharmacopoeia and teach it to him. Though the book draws on the Tang Clan Pharmacopoeia, it is not ancestral, and so is not bound by the Clan Rules. He only hopes that Zhao Huo will study it diligently, and that when his skill is complete he will not forget a benevolent heart, and will practice medicine to save the world.
- To Zhao Huo, who helps watch the furnace, he gives an outline of the Taiping Sacred Prescriptions; as for the hundred volumes of the original text left out, the Second Senior Brother considers it common knowledge that Zhao Huo ought to know.
Tang Fang, Tang Fen
- To avoid gossip, he trained Tang Fang to administer acupuncture to women. In name they are Senior and Junior Brother and Sister, but in truth it is more like Master and Disciple. He is quite strict with Tang Fang.
- He and the once both secretly loved a young Martial Aunt, Tang Fen, Tang Fang's elder sister. When the Eldest Senior Brother and Zhao Huo talked about this, the Second Senior Brother reacted enormously, suddenly flying into a rage and frightening the .
- As a child he got cavities from the Herbal Candied Fruit that Tang Fen invented.
- The Tang Clan's line of medical teaching runs thus: taught Tang Fen, Tang Fen taught the Second Senior Brother, and the Second Senior Brother taught Tang Fang.
Notes
- Introduction by Bird Bear on FB: Link
- His birthday is 9/9, and his sign is Virgo. It was exactly the early part of the ninth month when had Zhao Huo catch mountain chickens.[2]
- The Second Senior Brother never jokes, let alone talks of seeking his own death. Book of Life and Death No.4
- A sharp tongue over a tender heart: the higher the Affinity, the more fiercely he scolds, yet the easier it is to raise that Affinity.
- Assuming he and the were 7 to 9 years old at the execution-ground raid, and that Tang Weiyuan was found the following year on a heavy-snow day, his age can be estimated at around 25 to 27.
- He grew up with the and has known him longest; he would even let the Eldest Senior Brother copy his Monthly Exam written answers. But after the Eldest Senior Brother mastered his arts, ran away from home, and went roaming the Jianghu, he grew strict.
- The jade pendant once belonged to the and the ; the Sect Leader's went to the , and the Master's Wife's is in the Second Senior Brother's keeping,
a token of love, perhaps. Source - He resents the Diancang Sect: first, because he was once wounded by a Diancang Sword; second, because they go about all day claiming to be upright Gentlemen and look down on the Tang Clan's pharmacology. While Ye Yunzhou was staying with the Tang Clan, he often ordered him about.
- He cares greatly for the . To have Zhao Huo secretly guard the and Ye Yunshang as they go down the mountain to learn the roads, he is willing to do Zhao Huo's chores in his place. Because of his overprotectiveness, Shangguan Ying calls him an old mother hen.
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