AhZi and You TanZhi

AhZi and You TanZhi are joined by a relationship in which dependency is manufactured through concealment, punishment, and intermittent attention. AhZi makes him her servant and experimental subject, while You TanZhi—deceived about the circumstances of his capture and convinced that she has protected him—comes to accept humiliation and danger as the price of remaining near her. The bond is not mutual affection: his devotion grows, but her control repeatedly turns care into a pretext for cruelty.

Capture and Concealed Identity

After Xiao Feng released You TanZhi, AhZi was displeased. She lagged behind the party, ordered an attendant to seize him in secret, and made sure the capture was concealed from Xiao Feng. Her followers obeyed, knowing that Xiao Feng favored her. Back in Nanjing, she kept You TanZhi away from Xiao Feng and adopted the suggestion that he be flown as a human kite. The spectacle ended in a serious fall when AhZi, weakened by a recent injury, could no longer control the rope.

AhZi then arranged for an iron mask to be fitted to You TanZhi, ostensibly hiding his identity from Xiao Feng. She monitored whether he would survive the procedure and was pleased when she learned that he would. At the Beginning Fortune Palace, a residence granted to her after she became the Beginning Fortune Princess, she summoned him when Xiao Feng went out to inspect the troops. His altered appearance served her plan: she believed Xiao Feng would not recognize him, and the narrow opening in the mask also prevented him from biting her again.

A Lie That Creates a Servant

The mask’s significance rested on a deliberate deception. AhZi told You TanZhi that Xiao Feng had only pretended to release him and intended to have him captured and killed. She represented herself as the person who had saved his life and hidden him. You TanZhi accepted this account and expressed gratitude, unaware that she had arranged his capture herself. AhZi reinforced the lie with a warning that he must not speak if he encountered Xiao Feng, lest Xiao Feng recognize his voice.

She gave him the name Iron Clown and required him to obey without question, threatening further punishment if he resisted. When he hesitated or failed to comply, she ordered him beaten; she framed the punishment as a favor and demanded that he act grateful. You TanZhi, whose earlier pride had been worn down by prior suffering, submitted. His kowtows pleased her, and his effort to please her became another means by which she asserted control.

Punishment and Attachment

You TanZhi asked to remain at AhZi’s side as her servant. He admitted that he still wanted revenge on Xiao Feng, but said he could not defeat him and did not want to endanger AhZi. He also confessed that he wanted to see her every day. AhZi recognized the contradiction between his desire for revenge and his attachment to her, yet she did not respond with reciprocal tenderness. When Xiao Feng arrived, she resumed punishing You TanZhi, and later ordered a hundred lashes. He fainted before the punishment ended; afterward, she dismissed him as no longer entertaining.

The separation did not loosen his attachment. During his recovery, he was put to heavy labor among Song captives, mocked for his iron mask, and treated as an outsider even by fellow Han people. He did not resist or attempt to escape; instead, he waited for AhZi to summon him again. After four months, she called for him and found him alive. He explained that he could not die before repaying her supposed kindness. AhZi, now in a good mood and seeking someone to carry out a task, took him along as a loyal attendant.

The Venomous Experiments

AhZi’s use of You TanZhi changed from personal punishment to a method of practicing poison-based martial arts. She had him place his hand in an urn containing a poisonous centipede, urging him forward despite his fear. He obeyed after looking at her, while she collected the blood drawn from him and absorbed it as part of her practice. When the centipede died, AhZi checked that her palms remained clean and left without attending to him. His arm had become numb and intensely itchy as the poison spread, but his immediate concern remained her approval rather than his own safety.

AhZi had learned this practice by watching her master at Xingxiu Sea, where the people used as subjects had died. She expected You TanZhi to die too, and was privately surprised when he survived. She continued using the Divine Wood King Cauldron to attract poisonous creatures, feeding them rooster blood before letting them draw blood from You TanZhi. A green spider and a large scorpion followed the centipede; You TanZhi relied on diagrams to counteract the poison. As the insects near Nanjing became scarce over three months, AhZi and You TanZhi had to travel farther afield to continue the experiments.

An Unequal Bond

The relationship’s defining imbalance is clearest in the gap between what each believes the bond means. You TanZhi reads AhZi’s concealment as rescue, her summons as favor, and even her punishments as a reason to remain devoted. AhZi, meanwhile, uses his dependence to secure obedience, amusement, and a means of testing her techniques. Her initial worry that the masked captive might die is inseparable from the concern that her effort would be wasted; after one experiment, she leaves him behind as though he has served his purpose.

Their connection therefore links You TanZhi’s longing to AhZi’s escalating use of him. He survives what she expects to be fatal and continues to follow her, while she keeps him close when he is useful and withdraws attention when he is not. The relation remains both personal and instrumental: his wish to be near her is sincere, but the apparent kindness on which he bases his gratitude was built from a lie.