Bao Xiruo

Bao Xiruo (simplified: 包惜弱, traditional: 包惜弱, Jyutping: baau1 sik1 joek6, pinyin: Bāo Xīruò) was a character. She was the wife of Yang Tiexin and later the unwilling wife of Wanyan Honglie, whose gentle nature and tragic fate played a crucial role in the opening events.

Biography

Early life and marriage

Bao Xiruo was the daughter of a failed scholar who worked as a teacher. She was born in Lin’an (modern Hangzhou) and grew up in a scholarly family environment. Her father, recognizing her gentle and compassionate nature, named her “Xiruo” (惜弱), meaning “cherish the weak,” reflecting her tendency to care for injured animals and help those in need.

She married Yang Tiexin, a descendant of the famous Yang family generals, and lived with him in Niu Clan Village near Lin’an. Their marriage was happy and loving, with Yang Tiexin deeply devoted to his gentle wife.

Life in Niu Clan Village

Bao Xiruo lived a simple but happy life with her husband in Niu Clan Village, where they were neighbors with Guo Xiaotian and his wife Li Ping. She was known for her gentle and compassionate nature, particularly her unwillingness to kill animals - she would not slaughter the chickens and ducks they raised, allowing them to live out their natural lifespans.

Her compassionate nature extended beyond animals to people in need. She maintained a small menagerie of injured animals in her home, nursing them back to health before releasing them back into the wild. This characteristic would later play a crucial role in her fateful encounter with Wanyan Honglie.

The rescue of Wanyan Honglie

Several months before the attack on Niu Clan Village, Bao Xiruo discovered a wounded man in the snow near her home. Despite her husband’s warnings about the dangers of helping strangers, her compassionate nature compelled her to rescue the man. She brought him into her home, treated his arrow wound, and nursed him back to health.

This man was actually Wanyan Honglie, a Jin prince who had been wounded in battle. During his recovery, he fell deeply in love with Bao Xiruo’s beauty and gentle nature. When he left, he vowed to return for her, setting in motion the events that would destroy her family.

The night of the attack

On a winter night, the village was attacked by government troops led by Duan Tiande, who was secretly working for the Jin prince Wanyan Honglie. During the attack, Yang Tiexin was severely wounded and believed to be dead, while Guo Xiaotian was killed. Bao Xiruo, pregnant with Yang Kang, was left alone and vulnerable.

The attack was orchestrated by Wanyan Honglie, who had fallen in love with Bao Xiruo during his recovery and was determined to make her his own. He had bribed local officials to eliminate her husband and create the circumstances that would force her into his arms.

Relationship with Wanyan Honglie

The rescue and deception

After the attack, Wanyan Honglie appeared and pretended to be a righteous hero who had come to rescue Bao Xiruo. He had actually orchestrated the entire attack because he had fallen in love with her beauty and gentle nature when she had saved his life earlier.

Forced marriage

Bao Xiruo, believing her husband was dead and having nowhere else to go, was eventually forced to marry Wanyan Honglie and became his princess consort. She gave birth to Yang Kang, who was raised as Wanyan Kang, the prince’s son.

Life in the Jin palace

Despite her new position of wealth and privilege, Bao Xiruo maintained her simple lifestyle, continuing to wear simple clothes and keeping mementos of her former life with Yang Tiexin. She lived in constant sorrow and guilt, feeling that she had betrayed her first husband.

Wanyan Honglie, despite his love for her, could never win her heart. She remained emotionally distant, living in a small brick house within the palace complex where she kept mementos of her former life, including Yang Tiexin’s iron spear, which she would often caress while weeping.

Reunion and tragic end

Meeting Yang Tiexin again

Eighteen years later, Yang Tiexin reappeared in the Jin capital, having survived his wounds and been wandering the martial world. When Bao Xiruo saw him again, she initially didn’t recognize him due to the years of hardship that had aged him significantly.

The tragic reunion

The reunion between Bao Xiruo and Yang Tiexin was both joyous and heartbreaking. Despite the years of separation and her marriage to Wanyan Honglie, their love for each other remained undiminished. However, the circumstances of their reunion were fraught with danger, as Wanyan Honglie and his forces pursued them.

The final sacrifice

Faced with the impossibility of escape and unwilling to be separated from her husband again, Bao Xiruo chose to die with him. When Yang Tiexin was mortally wounded in the final confrontation, she took his spear and impaled herself on it, choosing to die with her true love rather than live without him.

Her final words expressed her joy at finally being reunited with her husband: “Big brother, we are finally dying together, I… I am so happy…” She died with a peaceful smile on her face, finally free from the years of sorrow and guilt.

Legacy and impact

Influence on Yang Kang

Bao Xiruo’s tragic fate had a profound impact on her son Yang Kang. His confusion about his true identity and his conflicted loyalties between his biological father and his adoptive father were central to his character development and ultimate downfall.

Symbol of tragic love

Bao Xiruo’s story represents the tragic consequences of love in a world torn apart by political conflict. Her gentle nature and compassion, which initially led her to save Wanyan Honglie, ultimately contributed to the destruction of her family and her own tragic end.

Moral complexity

Bao Xiruo’s character raises complex moral questions about loyalty, love, and survival. Her decision to marry Wanyan Honglie after believing her husband dead, while understandable from a practical standpoint, created moral dilemmas that would haunt her for the rest of her life.