( gong jun, cismale, he/him, 30) ** ♔ announcing XIE XIJUAN, the SPY/ASSASSIN from RUSSIA ! upon closer look, they resemble GONG JUN. it is a miracle that HE survived the last five years and for that reason, they are FOR the kingdoms working together. reflecting on them now, they remind me of WHISPERS IN CORRIDORS, HIDDEN DAGGERS, A DECEITFUL SMILE, AND EXTRAVAGANT CLOTHING.
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tw: death, attempted murder, murder
with all that xijuan had as a child, one could agree that he was blessed by the deities. he was born into a family of wealth, influence, and security. he was the oldest son with parents that loved him and three younger sisters he doted on. he had an education that would help him follow in his father’s footsteps, either as a government or military official, where all he had to do was be diligent. it would one day be his duty to carry on the family legacy, so xijuan rested all his confidence with his father & did any task the man asked of him.
xijuan’s father was a general, well respected, who rose to be a senior grand secretary at the beginning of the late emperor’s reign. as a military man, his strategies were unlike any of the previous dynasties and solidified his place on the battlefield. leaving such a career behind was difficult, but earned him merit. though he had more enemies as grand secretariat, the same as any official, he disproved any slander they made against him ; his gratefulness to be one of the six grand secretaries always outshone.
it wasn’t until the censorate was reinstalled that the peace in his family’s life began to fall apart. the emperor now had eyes and ears within each of the grand secretariat halls, but xie dàyóu grew concerned that the eyes and ears were pulling wool over them. he had never taken a liking to the censor-in-chief, but would not dare to publicly call out the official. he needed to be more secretive. when xijuan was only fifteen his father tasked him with learning all that he could about the chief’s affairs, keeping what he had discovered hidden under a wood board in his room. most of it was mundane, some of it being of interest to his father, but not enough to be wrongdoing on its own. three years into the boy’s spying, a rumor began to spread. it was said that grand secretary xie’s beloved heir was conspiring to defect to the manchu, that he had been spying on the censorate-in-chief, and intended to reveal the empire’s government secrets. the whereabouts of a secret compartment was even mentioned. xie dàyóu may have been untouchable, but his son was not.
when soldiers stormed the xie manor, the emperor gave his father a choice ; allow a search of the manor, hand over xie xijuan, & his crimes would be treated as an isolated incident or have their entire family executed as traitors of the empire. xijuan spent three years locked inside of a cell. the betrayal stung & rooted itself deeply into his heart. he had done everything his father asked without a drop of doubt, while the man did nothing to protect his son from this cruel fate. xijuan had been anticipating his execution since the first night of his imprisonment, whether it was three years or three decades, he treated every detail as a sign of his impending death. would it be public? merciful or agonizing?
they came at night, as he long suspected, a person draped in all black who crept upon him as he seemingly slept. there was the ghost of a hand on his shoulder, the faint ting of two needles hitting against each other, and then xijuan attacked. the guards had grown careless over the years, so it wasn’t difficult for xijuan to arm himself with something that could incapacitate someone long enough for him to get away. by the time he had fully come to his senses, he was bunkered down inside a cave he had once explored as a child.
his first thought was to seek out his family, which was when he discovered that time had not treated them kindly. his father had reportedly died in a state of frustration and humiliation, never mentioning his son’s name once since his imprisonment. posthumously, his father was granted the title of grand preceptor. with no direct male heir to inherit the xie estate, the rights were given to a distant cousin who allowed his mother & sisters to continue living there. not wishing to disrupt their lives & burden them with his grudge against the censorate, xijuan left china to achieve the greatness he desired elsewhere.
after a few years of traveling alone, xijuan grew lonely and longed to make friends with like-minded people. guilds were not hard to come by during his travels, whether it was people looking to steal, kill, or infiltrate. after months of studying group after group, xijuan realized one thing -- many of the members molded themselves to be like-minded to their leader. if none ever matched his ideals, if he ever wanted to feel like he belonged, he would need to be the one in charge. he eventually wormed his way into his pick of the lot, established himself with his skill & planted his own ideas here and there. it was pitifully easy to snuff out their leader, his men hardly batted an eye at xijuan's fake evidence which landed the blame on a well-known rival of theirs. nor did they protest when xijuan suddenly swooped up leadership. any voices that seemed to disagree simply...vanished.
ten years since his escape, xijuan has come far in life without the help of birth status. he refined his ability to lie, charm, as well as kill. the latter, surprisingly, was the easiest for him to learn. xijuan realized early on that he must be willing to do anything to survive. because of it, few can see the true intentions past his saccharine smile. after spending some years in mongolia & the north asian areas of russia, he found himself under the employment of grand duchess tatiana. his life came to revolve around the european court and he dedicated himself to learning their politics as well as operations. he came to france without any hesitation and his focus has since started to wander towards the ming royal family. with the new emperor on the throne, he is curious to see if his thirst for revenge & justice for himself will resurface.
