Nangong Yuan
The Nangong Family Head, an idealist. He has two sons, Nangong Shen and Nangong Qian.
He once saved the Jianghu's number one beauty, the courtesan , from the clutches of Shangguan Sun, and won her heart. But Nangong Yuan rejected 's feelings and gave her to his gravely wounded friend Wen Wuwei.
After Wen Wuwei's death, Nangong Yuan was consumed with guilt. He brought gifts to to see Lady Wen, not seeking to mend what was broken, only to make amends. Lady Wen muddled his mind with drugged incense and the sound of the qin, making him lie with an ugly woman for a night, and Nangong Qian was born. Years later the woman brought Qian to the family home, and Nangong Yuan would not look at him.
Not a day passes that Nangong Yuan does not regret the words he did not mean that day, but Lady Wen's old grudge is hard to dispel, and for twenty years the Nangong Family and Jinxiang Palace have been at odds.
Twenty years ago, , , and Wen Wuwei joined forces to put him forward as Wulin Alliance Leader, but he admired Long Yuan's peerless martial arts and willingly stepped aside. At the Fengyu Mountain Assembly he was elected the new Alliance Leader, but in the chaos of the Human Path, Lady Wen stabbed him in the heart. The blade did not pierce it, yet he drove it deeper himself, and died with her, the two of them dying for love.
Ideals
- He and Ruixing are like two extremes: childish and unrealistic, all grand talk that cannot stand scrutiny, and yet people cannot help wanting to support him and follow him.
- He harbors great ambitions and hopes for Great Harmony. Even if our generation cannot achieve it in a lifetime, so long as someone in the world still holds the same hope, it can be passed down, and he will not give up even if it takes hundreds of years.
- Twenty years ago countless talented people came drawn by his name, all won over by his lofty aspirations, willing to lay down their lives and shed their blood, swearing to change this world.
- After one of his eloquent speeches, Xiang Wuyou put him forward as Wulin Alliance Leader.
Wang Erzhuang
- He has not seen Wang Erzhuang in twenty years. He searched for him for years, even going so far as to ask Gengyang Reading Studio to run a missing-person notice in the paper, but there was no word.
- The name Lankezi is only vaguely remembered by the older generation of the Wulin; at the battle of Jiangling, Wang Erzhuang used it to call Nangong Yuan out.
- The moment Wang Erzhuang heard Tang Buyi say the nickname "Brothel Lightning Hero", he was sure Nangong Yuan had let it slip.
- Whether he loses at chess or at martial arts, he always says "Admiration, admiration" — but if the mighty "Young Lord Wang" were to make his move, you would be no match.
- Press him further on just who this mighty friend of his is, and he hemms and haws and cannot explain. No one has ever seen this all-powerful imaginary friend of his.
Lady Wen
- Because of the two Family Heads, Nangong clansmen cannot hold their heads up when they pass through Jinxiang Palace's territory. Shangguan Sun chose Fengyu Mountain, next to Jinxiang Palace, as the site of the Wulin Assembly, which also carried a note of making things awkward for the Nangong Family.
- Lady Wen would rather disband Jinxiang Palace than acknowledge Nangong Yuan as Alliance Leader.
- Even when Lady Wen played the villain to clear Jinxiang Palace's name, he still recognized the true Su Yingxiang. He at once resigned as Wulin Alliance Leader and died for love with Lady Wen by the shores of Dongting Lake.
- The tangled feelings between Nangong Yuan and Lady Wen are a homage to Li Xunhuan and Lin Shiyin in Gu Long's Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword.[1]
Notes
- His beloved Dark Iron Yin-Yang Chessboard was forged by the Tang Clan. It can be used to smash and to defend, and the pieces on the board can be picked up and flung as Hidden Weapons, making it truly unpredictable. Its material is magnetite, made to catch other people's weapons; those who do not know better think Nangong Yuan's Internal Force is extraordinary.
- He once lent his palm to prolong Ye Yunshang's life.
- In his youth he too was an elegant, dashing Young Lord, and he laughed with delight at Tang Buyi's running off to brothels.
- He looks after his eldest son Nangong Shen a great deal. When he plays chess with Yin Zhiping, the stake is that Yin will instruct his son.
- He is warm to others — even Zhao Huo gets pocket money from him — and cold only to his second son, Nangong Qian.