Li Yuanqi
"This century-old grudge, I will cut off with my own hands."
Originally named Yeli Chahan, he is a clan uncle of the Ye siblings, of the same lineage. After Marshal Yue was killed, his branch of the family lost all heart. To take revenge, they deserted the army and threw in their lot with Western Xia.
As the Supreme Bliss Cult's Left Envoy, he practices the Heaven-Swallowing Treasure Mirror. At the he defeated Qingcheng's Zhao Kui but was gravely wounded. He came to the Ye Family with his token to claim kinship and was refused; he returned the Listening Cloud Sword and stayed there to recover. Once healed, he simply took a new name: "Li" from the Western Xia royal surname, and "Yuanqi", plain enough in meaning. It means he will sever his ties of blood and cast off the past.
Some years later he stirred up a popular revolt, setting off the Baifeng Cave Uprising. Four columns of garrison troops could not retake the rebel army, the uprising grew fiercer, and the Central Plains fell into turmoil. Then the Ye Family sent a secret letter to the Imperial Court denouncing Li Yuanqi, hoping to ruin his name and cost him the people's support, but the Imperial Court confiscated the Ye estate instead.
The Ye siblings were left homeless and went to Hunan to seek refuge with Li Yuanqi, but he would not even see them and had them thrown out. In truth he feared implicating them and wanted to preserve the Ye Family's name for loyalty. That night he left the camp alone, found Ye Yunshang at death's door, and fed her the Nine Springs Pill to save her, telling her that she should value her own life more than loyalty and righteousness.
In the end, he was defeated by Tang Buyi and four others.
Notes
- When he came to the Ye Family to claim kinship, Ye Yunshang was two years old.
- Had he taken the Nine Springs Pill himself, gaining ten years of Power and mastering both the Nine Turns of Reincarnation and the Heaven-Swallowing Treasure Mirror, Tang Buyi would likely no longer have been his match.
- He told Ye Yunshang not to be bound by loyalty and righteousness, yet for the kindness of a bowl of pear, jujube and goat's milk mash, he used his winning trump to save her. In a way, like the Ye Family, he too got what he sought.
- The Baifeng Cave Uprising corresponds in history to the Heifeng Cave Uprising, and Li Yuanqi to the historical figure Li Yuanli. Wikipedia link
- He once abandoned Tang Zheng at the Thousand Lantern Tower; whether they share blood is unknown.