Sixth Master Tang (Chinese: 唐六爷, pinyin: Táng Liùyé) is a minor villain in The Book and the Sword. He is a wealthy local bully based in Wenguang Town, where locals call him “arsenic in sugar” (糖里砒霜) behind his back — a fitting nickname for someone who hides malice behind a respectable facade.
Role in the novel
Sixth Master Tang’s role is brief. Zhou Qi learns of him from an old woman whose land he has seized. Enraged, Zhou Qi grabs her blade and prepares to confront him immediately, but Xu Tianhong convinces her to wait until evening — implicitly planning a more strategic approach than a direct assault.
Later, Zhou Qi learns that Sixth Master Tang was killed in his own home by a local physician, Cao Sipeng, after the two had a dispute. By then, two guests who had been staying at Tang’s house — an injured man and a beautiful youth later revealed to be a woman in disguise — had already slipped away in the night.
See also
- Zhou Qi — Learned of Sixth Master Tang from an old woman
- Xu Tianhong — Convinced Zhou Qi to delay confrontation
- The Book and the Sword characters