Head of the Xie family, a high-ranking official and chief examiner for the spring imperial examinations. Publicly known as a Confucian moral exemplar—gentle, respectful to scholars, caring for servants, and exposing examination fraud. However, in Tian Qin's previous life, he revealed his true cruel nature: he forced himself upon his sister-in-law Tian Qin, fed her Qing Gu poison, bound her with a golden bell, compelled her to become his concubine, and stood by as her maid Zhao Lu was falsely accused and bled to death. He is married to Yu Xianqiu in a political marriage. He had previously resigned twice at the command of Taihuang Taihou but the new emperor rejected his requests. Tian Qin considers him far more dangerous than she is, fearing she couldn't match him even in two lifetimes.
