Wei Zheng

Wei Zheng (魏徵) is an imperial chancellor under Li Shimin in the Tang Imperial Court.

He was a tutor to Li Changge in her childhood. He is one of the few people in the imperial court who know she is still alive and actively cover up her "death".

Appearance
Wei Zheng has straight, black hair that he keeps loose and down. He has light colored eyes that are uncommon to those of Han descent. He also has two thin mustaches on the top corners of his mouth that do not touch and a thin goatee.

He wears a simple, one-colored hanfu loosely with a coat.

His simple appearance is unexpected and in great contrasting for an imperial chancellor, as most men have their hair styled up in a bun and wear elaborate hanfu to reflect their high social position in court.

Personality
Despite being an imperial chancellor of high status, Wei Zheng largely presents himself as a carefree and simple character, evident from his style of dressing.

However, to be an imperial chancellor, he must have exceptional intelligence for his position. Through his interactions with Yongning, he has shown himself to be perceptive and shrewd when giving valuable advice.

History
Not much is known about Wei Zheng's past. However, prior to Li Shimin becoming the emperor, he was an imperial chancellor to Li Yuan.

He was also a tutor to Princess Yongning and taught her many lessons throughout her childhood.

During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Wei Zheng was one of the many government officials who turned a blind eye to Li Shimin's actions.

Introduction arc
Wei Zheng approaches the delivery boy from Pinxiangzhai and asks where the customer from before is going. The boy refuses to disclose where the customer went, but Wei Zheng shows a golden nugget and asks again where the customer is going.

Holding the delivery boy unconscious in one arm, Wei Zheng stands in the doorway of the Rongen Temple, Chang'an. He overhears Yongning telling herself that she didn't know her mother was ready to die. Alerting her of his presence, he tells Yongning that if she knew her mother would kill herself, she would have never ran away. Wei Zheng then drops the delivery boy. He tells Yongning that he cannot fight and will leave it to her to clean up the mess of the temple guards' bodies. Yongning remarks that he only recently narrowly escaped death and must be asking to die by getting involved with her. Looking down at one of the dead guards on the floor, he replies that luckily no one remains alive as a witness. He questions how did she manage to get all the guards to eat poisoned sweets, to which Yongning reveals that all the sweets were poisoned, but she kept the antidote hidden under her nails for the one she ate. Wei Zheng praises her ability to have a victory without battle, but wonders if she is not afraid if the soldiers had a chance of recognizing her as the imperial princess. Gleefully, she replies that if they had recognized her and revealed her as the princess, then all those who have covered up her death would be put to death. Wei Zheng warns her that for that exact reason, she must be careful. Yongning, angered that by the fact that he along with most of the Tang Imperial Court turned a blind eye to her uncle, Li Shimin, murdering her father and other uncle, questions why he covers up her death: if it is out of pity as she was once his disciple or if he wants to ease his consciousness from the events, or if it is out of pity for her as a woman that cannot become an emperor of Tang. In response, Wei Zheng states that the path he follows puts the people first, his country second, and his emperor last. Laughing at his answer, Yongning returns a sinister stare at Wei Zheng as she unveils that her path is, for as long as she is alive, to kill her uncle and the emperor, Li Shimin.

The next day, Wei Zheng checks into a suite in an inn and meets Fang Xuanling who is playing Go. As he sits across him, he tells Fang Xuanling that he has relayed his message to Yonging and shows the broken hair piece as her response. Fang Xuanling remembers her fondly as a smart and capable child who was loved by Li Shimin as if she was his own daughter, and showed great interest in learning about strategies and war despite being female. As Fang Xuanling remarks that even after her "death" she causes a lot of worrying, the Pinxiangzhai can be seen in the background aflame.

Physical capabilities
Despite stating that he has no knowledge of the martial arts, he was able to knock Adou unconscious without inflicting upon him too much harm and carry his body with one arm.

Intellect
In order to become an imperial chancellor, Wei Zheng must have an exceptional intellect in order to serve the emperor. As a tutor to Princess Yongning, he has shown himself be shrewd, such as teaching her that the line between protecting oneself and attacking others is thin and it could be difficult to recognize between the two.

Authority
As an imperial chancellor, Wei Zheng has a high level of authority to accompany his high position; he may make recommendations in court to what actions the emperor should take, influence the emperor's current actions as well as have an input into diplomatic decisions.

Li Shimin
During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Wei Zheng turned a blind eye to Li Shimin's actions. As emperor, Wei Zheng continued to serve him without any opposition. To Li Changge, he disclosed that he puts the people first, his country second, and his emperor last.

Trivia

 * Wei Zheng is based on the real life Wei Zheng. He was a Chinese statesman and historian. He served as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty for about 13 years during the reign of Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin). He lived from 580 until 643.