Wei Yenwu
| NPC | Trivia |
| “ | Lungmen's political leader. Wise, polite, tough, and a good strategist. Highly respected in political circles. Because the lonely city of Lungmen relies on his unconventional diplomatic and commercial ties, it is currently one of the great powers on the world stage. Its present rapid development is proof of that. Wei is still in good physical shape, supposedly a result of his previous employment. | ” |
| —Archive description |
Wei Yenwu is an NPC in Arknights. He first appears in the Hour of an Awakening arc of the Main Theme, plays a major role in the Shatter of a Vision arc, and appears in various events such as Code of Brawl, Ancient Forge, and Dossoles Holiday.
Background
Wei Yenwu is a member of the Yan imperial family hailing from the Elderly lineage of the Lung. He is the older brother of the current True Lung, Emperor of Yan and the husband of the Higashinese princess Fumizuki. He is well known among the heroes of jianghu for his mastery in swordsmanship through his Chi Xiao, the legendary dragon-slaying sword.[1] Aside from his excellent swords mastery, he also possesses a grenade gun engraved with Buddhist scripts that could load six bullets.[2] As a princely figure, he has his Shadow Guards, a band of former Imperial Guards, who act as his secret agents and black ops. He appears to be a tough man outwardly, but in private, he is actually a henpecked husband who's often forced to listen to Fumizuki's will.
As the chief executive of the nomadic city of Lungmen, Wei possesses a great tactical acumen and is a natural born leader. He has turned the city into his own fief that leads to its prominence across Terra. His shrewd business and political maneuvers have made Lungmen into a prosperous and wealthy city under his administration. He also befriends Lin Kojui, the leader of Lungmen's criminal underworld, and has been working together to maintain its order. On the other hand, his rule of Lungmen is marked by a pragmatic approach, noted for the city's harsh treatment of the local Infected to show its total submission to Yan.
Indeed, Wei's iron fist on his administration originates from an unforgettable disaster. It all started twenty years ago, when Wei met Edward Artorius in Lungmen for the first time, a Draco nobleman who fled to Lungmen to escape Victoria's royal feud. They quickly became friends with each other. Back then, the Duke of Kashchey was controlling Lungmen from the shadows as part of Ursus' imperialism. By the joint efforts of Wei, Edward and Lin, Kashchey's forces were repelled from Lungmen to give themselves a future in the city. His younger sister fell in love with Edward and the two began a relationship.[3]
However, through Ursus' machinations conducted by the Kashchey and a mysterious Unicorn, Edward was falsely accused and was brought to the judgement of the True Lung after he learnt of such relationship. Out of jealousy, the Emperor ordered Wei to kill either Edward or his sister who was then pregnant with Talulah. Wei chose the former and hid his friend's death for about a decade.[3] He then swiftly arranged a marriage for his sister with a Yan nobleman to hide Talulah's Draco ancestry, resulting in the birth of Ch'en Hui-chieh. These incidents caused his sister to resent him for the rest of her life.[4] After she passed away from a deep depression, Wei became Talulah's guardian, but her political circumstance and his complicated feelings towards her caused him to show greater care to her half-sister Ch'en instead.
But Kashchey's ambition did not end here. Out of spite at Wei and to gain himself an heir, Kashchey kidnapped Talulah, putting cuffs on her that could wipe out half of the city to deter Wei from pursuing him. Out of concern for Lungmen, Wei ended up letting Kashchey escape with the young Draco, something that Ch'en could never forget.[5] To make the matter worse, Lungmen had just signed a military pact with the recently ascended Twin Empresses of Leithanien. Upon receiving the report that Kashchey was crossing the place where the pact was signed, Wei had to give up Talulah completely to avoid a diplomatic incident, but he vowed not to let Kashchey harm Lungmen and Yan with his vile schemes again.[4]
On the other hand, Wei has been placing his hopes on Ch'en. To help her protect Lungmen from future disasters, Wei has been teaching her swordsmanship since youth; passing his Chi Xiao onto her.[4] After Ch'en finished her studies in Victoria, she chose to serve the Lungmen Guard Department as part of its Special Investigation Division. Wei tried to talk her out of it as he realized what she was trying to investigate, but he eventually relented.[6]
Story
Episode 02
Wei is first seen meeting with Kal'tsit, who's warning him about the fall of Chernobog and the implications regarding Lungmen's security. Wei is interested in "contracting" Rhodes Island to aid in the defense of Lungmen from the potential Reunion attack[7] after being convinced that they have the manpower and experience to do so from Ch'en's report. He asks R.I. to assist the Lungmen Guard Department in protecting Lungmen from Reunion.[8]
Episode 05
After the battle on the L.G.D. HQ rooftops, Wei contacts the joint R.I.-L.G.D. forces to congratulate them on a job well done and to apologize to the former for not giving them proper intelligence. The Doctor accuses him of using R.I. as bait to lure out the Reunion cells who had infiltrated Lungmen prior to the attack and were waiting until they were vulnerable to attack. Reminding R.I. that what happened is beneficial for both sides anyway, the Doctor has a choice: either rebuke Wei for his deception, which he tries to defend as the best course of action, or stay silent, which Wei responds to by recognizing R.I. as an important partner. He ends the call by reminding R.I. to help the L.G.D. root out the remaining Reunion presence in Lungmen.[9][10]
Later Wei contacts Ch'en and Swire from his office and orders them to complete the operation within one or two days, before the Yan emissaries arrive, telling them to "show some Lungmen hospitality". Ch'en asks Wei why the Reunion's leader Talulah is not present during the attack, but he can't answer. Fumizuki comes to Wei's side to inform him that she still can't reach Speaker Witte of Ursus and she reminds him about the "past times", as well as Talulah – who had (seemingly) killed Kashchey.[10]
Episode 06
Wei calls his Shadow Guards and orders them to carry out a mission, telling them that despite the Rat King's opposition and the stakeholders' concerns, "the matter is beyond him" and he needs to "do what must be done." He also informs them that Lin Yühsia, the Rat King's daughter, will be their field coordinator for the rest of the mission.[11] Later Ch'en finds out that the Shadow Guards may have carried out a purge of Lungmen's Infected populace in the slums, disposing the infected corpses in the sewers under the cover of the engagement between Reunion and R.I.-L.G.D.[12]
After tending to the Yan emissaries, Wei visits Amiya who informs him that R.I. is terminating their contract with him after realizing that Wei does little to care for the Infected. Ch'en interrupts the meeting to angrily confront Wei about the Infected purge she had found out about earlier, as well as his involvement in the assassination of Talulah's father. Wei tries to deny the accusations, saying that she has no idea what he has done for Lungmen. Kal'tsit and Fumizuki show up and inform them that the core of Chernobog is on its way to Lungmen, and much to Wei's shock, the nomadic city appears to remain as an Ursus territory.[12]
Episode 07
Wei is shocked at Chernobog's approach to Lungmen, knowing that despite their militaristic approach, Ursus wouldn't dare to wage war with Yan. He opts to take diplomatic measures in order to prevent the crisis from escalating further until he receives a message from Fumizuki relayed from one of Wei's messengers which implies that the Ursus aristocracy are somehow involved.[13]
Knowing now that Yan and Ursus will eventually go to war anyway and that the Ursus government is powerless to stop the aristocracy, Wei decides to launch an attack on Chernobog to prevent its imminent collision with Lungmen. Ch'en intervenes, insisting to go to stop Talulah by herself. Wei tries to convince Ch'en otherwise, reminding her of her duty and stating callously that the Infected in the slums deserved their fate until Ch'en reveals herself to be an Infected and, completely disgusted with Wei's methods, draws her sword on him.[13]
Wei tells Ch'en that if she does leave, she will no longer be welcome in Lungmen, and she responds simply to her uncle that they have their own ways of resolving issues. As the two continue to argue, the Shadow Guards, against Wei's orders, step in to protect Wei and attempt to seize Ch'en. She draws her infamous Chi Xiao sword to fight the Shadow Guards but Wei uses his Arts to suppress the sword's power, reminding her that he's the one who taught her how to use the sword in the first place. Without her sword and now outnumbered, Wei tries to convince Ch'en to not leave Lungmen for one last time. She refuses and declares that they're now strangers from this point onwards before escaping by jumping out of the building.[13]
Ch'en's actions leave Wei distressed, seeing that his intention to have his niece do his work backfired hard on him. He's vehemently opposed to asking for R.I.'s help, and to Fumizuki's attempt to go after Ch'en by herself. Kal'tsit confirms that Talulah is Kashchey's heiress, prompting Wei to voice his intention to attack Chernobog himself so that he can atone for his mistakes if he dies in the attempt. Nevertheless, Wei agrees to not interfere with R.I.'s efforts to stop the impending collision, and to lend them Edward's relic per Kal'tsit's request[14] under the condition that R.I. take the remaining Lungmenite Infected under their care.[3]
After the R.I. operators leave, Wei considers the possibility that Ursus could have deliberately engineered the collision for their own purposes. He fears that whatever Kashchey is scheming will come into fruition anyway, and realizes that he can't let Ch'en try to take care of everything on her own. Suspecting (correctly) that the vile Pythia still lives within his heir, Talulah, and believing that only Kashchey's death would finally free Lungmen and Ch'en from his shadow, Wei decides to attack Chernobog with his Shadow Guards. Fumizuki expresses her opposition, despite Wei's promises to secure her safety. He cries in despair realizing how far he's strayed from the path he intended to walk on.[15]
As Wei is about to leave, the Rat King stops him, noting that he had "made stupid decisions out of anxiety" and Ch'en is just like him, being cut from "the same cloth of stupidity". Wei tries to convince the Rat King to step aside, but the Zalak refuses and tells him that he's glad that Wei finally decided to descend from his tower.[16]
Episode 08
Amidst the confrontation between Wei and the Rat King, Wei demonstrates his power by using strong Arts comparable to that of Chi Xiao without a catalyst against the Rat King. However, Wei hesitates to hurt the Rat King and tries to convince him to stand aside. The Rat King adamantly refuses to budge, lest Chernobog is stopped, and expresses his willingness even to die rather than to see Wei end up with the same fate as Edward.[17]
Days after the end of the Chernobog-Lungmen crisis, Wei visits two nameless tombs outside the city where Edward and his sister are buried to meet with the Rat King. The Rat King reveals that he stalled Wei to give time for R.I. and Ch'en to stop the crisis, and implies that he had worked with the Shadow Guards to keep the Lungmenite Infected safe from Reunion, contradicting Wei's order to purge them. Joined by Ch'en, now an R.I. personnel, Wei is finally able come clean about his feelings towards his niece and he promises to do whatever he can to make Lungmen a better place. The Rat King departs on good terms with the other two. As Wei stands in front of the graves of Edward and his sister, Wei vows not to let himself be forced into making difficult decisions anymore before wishing for Ch'en to live well.
While staring at the tombstones, Wei recalls his discussion with Fumizuki. He had R.I. take in as many Infected as possible in exchange for having defeated Reunion for them and not interfering in its affairs. When talking about Ch'en, Wei points out that she has her own path to take in the future. With that said, Wei makes a promise to himself that he will never be forced to make a choice in his life again and will protect his nieces and Lungmen at any cost, even if it means facing his younger brother, the Emperor of Yan, and committing fratricide.[3]
Later, Wei visits Mostima in her capacity as a Lateran Messenger, who relays a question from the Pope of the Lateran Church: "What did he have for breakfast and dinner?". It is heavily implied to be some sort of an encoded message.[3]
Code of Brawl
After the Sauin festival, Wei is invited by Emperor to have a drink with him, the Rat King and Eurill Pides in his half-destroyed bar. At the bar, Wei and the Rat King chat about the "gag" they were involved and the old Zalak's decision to retire and pass his throne to his daughter. Wei also listens to Emperor's grumble on the loss of his properties. When the party's over, Wei and the Rat King recall the events back in the slums and notice that change is on its way to Lungmen.[18]
Dossoles Holiday
Wei is invited by Mayor Candela Sanchez of Dossoles as Lungmen's representative to the city's annual event. However, due to his workaholic nature, Fumizuki appoints Lin Yühsia to replace him. Knowing that she actually prefers Ch'en to be the representative (in order to give her a holiday), Wei eventually allows both girls to go to Dossoles. It is a difficult decision for him, as Candella is known to be a very cunning person.[19]
After the Dossoles affair, Wei receives a package of coffee beans from Bolívar as a souvenir from Ch'en. After reading Yühsia's report, he comments that the girls still have a long way to go to accept people like Candella. He also receives a photo of their vacation and decides to treasure it.[20]
Ancient Forge
In the Ancient Forge movie, Wei appears alongside the Rat King as a side character dubbed "Ordinary Citizen Mr. Wei ." During the Lunar New Year Eve, the two old man play chess while chatting about their old days as cops.[21] Ultimately, the two of them are little more than John Does in the movie, their only notable lines remarking on Fumizuki's fierceness at home or how Yühsia did not come home early that night.[22]
Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
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References
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