Yuchi Jingde

Yuchi Jingde (尉遲敬德) is a general of the army of Tang.

Appearance
Yuchi Jingde appears as a middle aged man with dark hair, eyes and a long beard. He is short and overweight with a large rounded belly.

He wears an elaborate and detailed set of armor decorated with lion insignia as an imperial army general.

History
Prior to Li Shimin becoming the new emperor, he was an army general under the rule of the previous emperor, Li Yuan.

He also trained Yonging in martial arts in her childhood.

Introduction arc
General Yuchi Jingde along with soldiers under his command chase Yonging in pursuit as she flees from them on horseback. Yongning stabs her horse in the back in order to lunge herself across a river canyon. Her horse falls into the river below as she stands on the other side watching her pursuers come to a halt across on the other side. A horseman aims his bow to shoot an arrow at her, but before he could shoot, he is stopped by Yuchi Jingde who tells him to let her go as it is expect of his disciple.

In the imperial court, General Yuchi Jingde approaches and informs Chancellor Fang Xuanling that he failed his mission to kill Princess Yongning. Fang Xuanling remarks that it was unavoidable and that he will inform the emperor of the events, but lie that she fell deep into the canyon river and hence her body is not retrievable. Fang Xuanling who has predicted before that such an outcome is possible, states the she is female thus unable to become the emperor. However, giving thought to the current situation, says maybe things are better this way.

Li Changge
Li Changge was a former discipline to Yuchi Jingde. He taught her martial arts such as self-defense in her childhood. When following her in pursuit, he stopped a soldier from shooting her with an arrow and to let her go free. He commented that her skills are as expected of his disciple. This seems to suggest that he holds respect towards her as a former disciple and does not wish to see her die. He is one of the few people including Wei Zheng, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and Li Chunfeng who are aware that she is still alive.

Martial arts
In order to teach Li Changge martial arts, he must have sufficient knowledge of the arts in order to become a teacher and take on disciples.

Capabilities
Given his military history, Yuchi Jingde has knowledge of martial combat and horsemanship, enough to earn the rank of general.

Authority
As an army general, Yuchi Jingde has a high level of authority within the imperial army.

Trivia

 * Yuchi Jingde is based on the real life Yuchi Gong. He was a Chinese general who lived in the early Tang dynasty. He lived from 585 to 658.