Gao Zhong Hu

A renowned swordsman and captain of the imperial guard before the Ascension. Gao Zhong Hu was known for his adventures with the Bear, Zhang Xiong. During the Ascension he was taken prisoner and shuffled between various prisons before finally being left for dead. Zhang Huai Shi and Bai Xue Ying found and rescued him fifteen years after he was captured.
  Zhong Hu led as second in command of the Old Empire Rebels in the War of Eternal Day, rallying many who are discontented with Emperor Zou to the side of the rebellion.
 
 

Early Life and Career

Zhong Hu was born the middle child of a wealthy family in the capital city Yinguonan. His parents held their children to high expectations. Many of his family members served in the military, though it was not a rigid family tradition. Zhong Hu attended an elite military academy in the capital and found a good place for himself there. He made a lifelong friend in Wei Ang Jian, a skittish but brilliant student in his same year.
  Like his friend Ang Jian, though, Zhong Hu and his parents encountered difficulties in getting him engaged to a suitable woman of good status. Zhong Hu's mother, Gao Daiyu, was both ambitious and superstitious - a combination that led to her turning down prospective matches and worrying greatly about omens interpreted by the family's matchmaker. Bad luck followed every attempted engagement. Zhong Hu graduated from the military academy still single, and once he was stationed away from his family at the capital the engagement attempts dried up. While Zhong Hu did worry about the matter and the bad luck involved, he was largely satisfied with keeping his life as it was.
 

"I was arranged to get married before. The first time, my father lost an investment during the negotiations, and the match was canceled. The next time, dates were set but the other family negotiated recommending a later date. Four times. The match was cancelled."
Xiong refilled both of their cups. "Maybe it's because they weren't the right match."

  After graduating with admirable scores on the military exams, Zhong Hu served in various garrisons and positions across Zhenhai, gaining a reputation for his martial prowess, discipline, and tactical knowledge. While stationed near the Fenglili Mountains, Ang Jian introduced him to a visiting cultivator, Zhang Xiong, who was looking for a cache of artifacts nearby. Zhong Hu found himself reluctantly assigned to assist, as there were demonic disturbances in the area that were likely connected to what Xiong was looking for. Despite rocky initial interactions, Xiong appreciated Zhong Hu's martial talent and began pulling Zhong Hu - and, on occasion, Ang Jian - into a variety of adventures that cemented a firm friendship.
  As the exploits of Zhong Hu and Xiong increased, they became known as the Tiger and the Bear respectively and caught the favorable attention of Emperor Longwei. The emperor enjoyed hearing their stories - largely told by Xiong - and boosting his own status alongside his two illustrious subjects. Not every adventure, however, was met with approval. After an incident involving a visiting ambassador, Zhong Hu's parents quietly arranged for Zhong Hu to transfer into the Imperial Guard in hopes that they could curb the worst of his interactions with Xiong. With Xiong increasingly pulled into sect and familial responsibilities, Zhong Hu's career gained ground and he was appointed captain of the guard - the youngest captain of the Imperial Guard to date.
 

The Ascension and Imprisonment

The Imperial Guard was Emperor Longwei's last defense during the coup that placed Emperor Zou on the throne. Their efforts to defend the imperial family were undermined by the betrayal of imperial guard Liao Heng, who sided with Zou and allowed Garalese troops to enter the inner palace. Every other guard was either killed or captured in defense of the imperial family.
 

Xue Ying frowned. “It doesn’t make sense for you to have survived this long, if you opposed the Ascension. Could you tell us what happened?”
“Zou can’t stand not having the upper hand in everything, that’s what happened.”

  Zhong Hu was tortured and interrogated by the emperor's men in an attempt to get him to divulge imperial secrets. During this time he lost his fourth and fifth fingers on his dominant hand. However, as Zhong Hu's resistance did not yield any new information, over time Zhong Hu was forgotten in the chaos and upheaval of Zou's early years on the throne. An influx of politically important prisoners eclipsed his existence, and in lieu of no new orders he was mixed into a series of general prisons and hard labor camps. He ended up at the Red Blossom Mine, where he was left to die in an abandoned series of tunnels after he was considered too weakened to be worth feeding.
  During his stay at Red Blossom Mine, Zhong Hu was found by Jia Wencheng, who brought him a healing talisman called the White Leopard Eye that was sent by Qi Lianhua in hopes of keeping Zhong Hu alive. The talisman sustained Zhong Hu after he was left in an abandoned cell, though he continued to waste away.
 

Rescue and Stay at Jiliang

Left in complete darkness, Zhong Hu lost hope for survival until he heard the sounds of fighting in the tunnels surrounding him. He shouted for help and was found by Zhang Huai Shi and Bai Xue Ying, who had been enlisted to clear the mines of an influx of demonic beasts drawn there by the power of the White Leopard Eye. Huai Shi and Xue Ying freed Zhong Hu from his cell and nursed him back to health, a process made rapid by the power of the Eye.
  As the three traveled, Zhong Hu discovered that he had been rescued by the eldest son of his friend Zhang Xiong. He eventually revealed his identity and, after rescuing Huai Shi from an ill-advised assassination attempt of his enemy Du Qian Men, agreed to accompany Huai Shi home to the Zhang family residence in Jiliang.
 

Jiliang

"While I was wandering with Huai Shi, I was still on guard, wary, watching. For myself and for him. Here... it's different."

Once Zhong Hu proved his identity, his friends insisted that he stay despite the risk of harboring an escaped prisoner. Zhong Hu agreed despite his concerns and settled into one of the guest rooms. Xue Ying and his sister Bai Rou Ying also came to stay for a short time, during which they lifted Zhong Hu's curse.
  After fifteen years of surviving in hostile environments, Zhong Hu found it difficult to acclimate to a peaceful setting; old traumas grew louder in the quiet. He found a useful way to occupy his time by training Xiong's youngest son, Zhang Ke Yuan. In so doing, he found himself having to train him alongside Ruya Ilkin, an exiled Garalese general and close friend to Xiong and Yin Da. Zhong Hu and Ruya had kept a wary distance from each other, but Zhong Hu asked for her assistance when Ke Yuan expressed an interest in learning defenses against cavalry. Tensions between them gradually began to ease as they worked together.
  Towards the end of the year, Zhong Hu's quiet stay was interrupted by the arrival of Liao Heng, the traitor of the old Imperial Guard. Liao Heng accompanied Du Rui Sheng as a bodyguard and recognized Zhong Hu on sight. Aware that killing Heng would likely lead to grave trouble for his friends from Du Qian Men, Zhong Hu left their home that same night. Ruya stopped him on his way and, upon hearing of the situation, offered to take him with her to her brother's home in Garal for the winter. Zhong Hu agreed, and they traveled to her home to stay the night and prepare for the trip.
  While they were there, however, the house was occupied the following morning by Fan Jin Fei and her brother Fan You Qian. Ruya, Zhong Hu, and Xue Ying were taken prisoner when it was discovered that Ruya was hiding Zhong Hu. These events resulted in the Standoff at Jiliang. The Fans searched the house and stables and discovered a secret weapons cache, collected by Ruya, the Zhangs, and the Weis. Ruya shouldered the blame for the cache and claimed that she was collecting them for Garal. She hoped to spare her friends from arrest and interrogation. Zhong Hu believed her and accused her of forgetting her debt to the Zhangs, who had nursed her back to health after the Cold Wolf Massacre.
  Xiong arrived later that evening and secured the release of Zhong Hu. He played along with the narrative of Ruya's betrayal, but left her with a knife and in no doubt that he would organize a rescue - risky as it was to do so. He explained the situation to Zhong Hu the next morning and requested his help, as the Fans had surrounded the house and it was impossible for him and Yin Da to leave. Zhong Hu was not happy with the reckless decisions of his friends, but agreed to help. He left with Huai Shi to meet up with other allies of the Zhangs. They dressed in Garalese armor, intercepted the Fans on their way to the capital, and rescued Ruya. During the mission, Zhong Hu reunited with his old friend Ang Jian, who introduced him to his wife Lian and helped fund Ruya and Zhong Hu's escape into Garal.
 

Garal and the Road to War