|
| By King Bumis Heir | Part of the Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan continuity. |
| Juji's fine. He comes back to life in the end when the doomsday device shifts the polarity of the Earth. Oops. Spoiler. Sorry.
Warning! This page contains spoilers for Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan.
|
| "The Northern chief broke the treaty? The Northern chief broke the treaty!" |
| — Youlang grumbled in anger when Ting told him a northie assassin killed Baotong in Chapter 19: The Campaign of Two Nations Part 1: Royal Matrimony. |
Zhang Youlang is a minor character in the fanon Avatar: The Legacy of Rong Yan. Youlang is Yi'an's father, a nobleman who was a career censor until his daughter got married to the Earth King.
History[]
Youlang is a nobleman who lives in Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, his family has long been established in government. As most of the men in his family have become government officials in the Qiangda Kingdom.
Youlang worked for the Censorate of the Kingdom since he was a young man first taking the job at the age 17. During the Qiangda dynasty (1025 BG– ), the Censorate was a branch of the centralized bureaucracy, paralleling the Six Ministries and the Council of Five, and was directly responsible to the emperor. The investigating censors were "the eyes and ears" of the emperor and checked governors of each province in the kingdom to prevent corruption and malfeasance.
Sometimes the province's governor would be coaxed by the enemy kingdom to secede from their kingdom and join the opposite one. In history, Bai Da and Chengdu of the Qiangda Kingdom have been known to secede from the Kingdom of Ba Sing Se for a multitude of reasons. Most notably, during Earth King Yao's reign, these provinces seceded from the kingdom over the evidence proven that Yao was the reason Avatar Kwan Chun was killed.
Popular stories told of righteous censors revealing corruption as well as censors who accepted bribes. Generally speaking, they were feared and disliked and had to move around constantly to perform their duties. As a monitor censor there only a few of them in office, Youlang, was assigned to the southeastern provinces of the Qiangda Kingdom.
He made sure Gongzhu, Chongqing, Giralal, Chaopin, Dao, Taihao, and Kunlun provinces were loyal to the Earth King of the Qiangda Kingdom. He familiarized himself with the governors there and has very good relationships with them.
Arranged Marriage[]
The Zhang family placed their daughter in matchmaking so that Meiren could find her a match. Years later after rejection and a failed proposal, Ting found the girl to be interesting and desired her for her son.
Ting, Qiang Zhen's mother arranged for her son to meet new matches brought forth by Meiren the matchmaker of the Upper Ring. A woman who arranged marriages between nobles and middle-class citizens in the Middle Ring. While Ting personally picked out the girl she liked the most she still wanted Qiang Zhen to pick the best one to his liking of course.
Qiang Zhen picked the same girl his mother liked, a noblewoman named Yi'an of the Zhang family. Her father was the Censorate of the southern Qiangda Kingdom states, he observed the state operations and what the governors did. He made sure the governors still supported the crown and would not secede from the Kingdom and join the Oma Kingdom.
Offers were made by the King to the family who accepted the offer and were quite happy their daughter was chosen. Arrangements of the wedding happened the fortune-teller told them their date of wedding would be the Spring Equinox. The day the wedding came the ceremony was held in the afternoon, all the kingdom's governors attended the wedding as did other nobles.
Both Qiang Zhen and his wife kowtowed before the Earth Emperor Qin, Tiandi and Yun. While Qiang Zhen kowtowed to Youlang his father-in-law as is tradition, then to his wife Yi'an. In the end, Xin'ai and Ting tied a red ribbon around Qiang Zhen and Yi'an which signified the bond between the two forever. They were ordered to enter their bridal chambers where more rituals occurred at the end of the wedding between both the husband and wife. In the morning they'd return to find blood on the bed sheets which excited both mothers and Yi'an's father. The families expected a young prince or princess to be born.
Current Life[]
As the new Minister of National Intelligence, Youlang's responsibilities include oversight of the national security and intelligence system and setting the overall policy for that system. While also working closely with the Ministry of War and the Council of Five.
Often visiting the palace as well along with his wife to see his grandson, Chung-bao, the Earth Prince and heir apparent to the throne. The great thing about his new position is he can work from the safety of the Upper Ring in his new office and doesn't travel around the kingdom as often as the previous minister did.
Later Life[]
In his later years, Youlang retires from the Ministry of National Intelligence and lives at home with his wife and wealth. His youngest daughter married to another noble and sometimes takes care of his grandchildren.
Mentoring young Chung-bao and training the boy in swordsmanship, while Chung-bao was born an earthbender Youlang felt it would be appropriate for the prince to learn a non-bender skill for close combat purposes.
Youlang dies of an unknown illness at the age of 87, in 632 BG, which greatly affected his family and depressed Yi'an as she held a tight relationship with her father.
Abilities[]
Youlang was born a non-bender but he trained and mastered the art of swordsmanship. Being one of the few greatest masters of the dao swords. Youlang has a taste for the ancient game of Pai Sho, and sometimes disappears on vacations that lead him to Pai Sho tournaments with other old people.
Appearances[]
Book Two: Water[]
- Chapter 16: Comrades & Connections
- Chapter 17: The Northern Water Tribe
- Chapter 18: Thirst for Blood
- Chapter 19: The Campaign of Two Nations Part 1: Royal Matrimony
- Chapter 20: The Campaign of Two Nations Part 2: A Divided Nation
Book Three: Earth[]
- Chapter 1: Dangerous Waters (Mentioned Only; No lines)
- Chapter 3: The Oppressed (Mentioned Only; No lines)
Trivia[]
- His name is taken from one of the emperors who ruled the southern Ming Dynasty. His wife is named after the queen consort of Emperor Youlang of Ming.
See more
For the collective works of the author, go here.