摄政官 shè zhèng guān

(My Chinese dictionary says “shè” = acting for; “zhèng = political administration; “guān” = government official.)

I am basing this discussion on the drama only.

The Regent is one of the most interesting, and appalling, characters in Guardian. He's a villain, sort of, but a unique one. The other villains in the drama, every one of them from Ye Zun on down, all seem to have some kind of grievance or want some kind of revenge, but the Regent is the only one whose motivation is simply to hold on to his political power.


What we know about him:

He is one of the three rulers of Dixing: the Lord, the Regent, and the Black Cloaked Envoy. Just how long he has been Regent is unknown. He was there when Shen Wei was awakened from the ground (however long ago that was), but he knows the events of 10,000 years ago only as legends.

He is probably the most morally corrupt character in the Guardian universe. He is the consummate political opportunist; ready, willing and able to switch sides at the first hint of danger or advantage to himself. He’s cowardly, deceitful, obsequious, manipulative, and cruel. He’s full of platitudes and false “kindness” to explain his actions.

Nobody likes him. Nobody trusts him, at least, not more than once. Shen Wei barely tolerates him. Chu Shuzhi hates him. Zhao Yunlan thinks he’s a joke at first but soon learns better. Butler Wu says of him, “He’s infamous in Dixing.” Ye Zun tries to kill him, both personally and by proxy. And yet, somehow, he stays in power and survives to the very end, alive to finally see light in Dixing.

And there is just no end to his sliminess!

We first meet him in episode 15 on the streets of Dragon City, pretending to be a harmless old man to Guo Changcheng.



He then cringes and toadies to Shen Wei in a manner that will become very familiar.





Here’s the flashback, with the Regent sucking up after Shen Wei emerges from his long sleep.



Once back in Dixing, the Regent assumes his standard appearance, somehow acquiring long hair and a beard, but his obsequiousness remains. There is no doubt that he is lying and stonewalling about the loss of the Dijun Register, and we find out later that he helped hide Ding Dun’s theft all along. He may even have arranged the “assault” of An Bai and friends to embarrass Zhao Yunlan.




He agrees to the framing of An Bai and friends for the murder of the Lord of Dixing, and then blackmails An Bai into becoming the new Lord using the lives of his friends. “What a happy ending. What can compare to the harmony and stability of Dixing.”



Yet he’s not an ally of Ye Zun. When in episode 20 he and the Secretary - who is already under Ye Zun’s control - see Ye Zun manifest out of the pillar he holds back: “One should not be too eager to take sides.” The Regent is always waiting to see which way the wind will blow.



He just wants to be left in peace to run Dixing, terrible as it is. “It’s been the way things work here for thousands of years. It just can’t be changed.”

But when Ye Zun holds the upper hand the Regent is quite happy to further his agenda.

When Shen Wei takes Sha Ya and friend back to Dixing the Regent has lost his deference to Hei Pao Daren. He orders Shen Wei shot, taunts him with the diminution of his powers, then uses Sha Ya and friend as hostages to get him to surrender. The niceness gloves are off now.



The Regent does have a philosophy of government, or maybe just a philosophy to justify himself. When Shen Wei returns to Dixing - for the last time - and demands to know why the Regent is now working for Ye Zun, he says, “Dijun palace is the center of government of Dixing. Be it peace or wartime, if we abandon it, who will look after the people?” This is his ostensible justification, but he’s probably saying it not just because it’s true, but because it works on Shen Wei.



The Regent doesn’t like to witness violence. He’d much rather order it to happen somewhere else where it won’t upset him. He’s an uncomfortable witness to Ye Zun’s torture of Shen Wei.



When Shen Wei tries again to persuade him to stop following Ye Zun he says,“Ye Zun has the shrewdness and capability to let us Dixing people return to the surface,” implying that winning is everything. Yet he continues, “When one is old one likes to be more prudent.” And so he plays both sides and allows Shen Wei to escape.

The guy just can’t help betraying everybody he comes in contact with, and doing whatever it takes to save his own skin. He allows Zhao Yunlan to take him hostage in order to escape and is nearly killed by Ye Zun for this. But he manages to survive by revealing that it was a ploy to get Zhao Yunlan to reveal the location of the Guardian Lantern.



Sadly, he’s still alive at the end. That, if anything, does not really bode well for the future of Dixing.



Questions: What is the Regent’s power? Does he even have one? (I have my own theory about that!) How does he resist coming under the control of Ye Zun? How did he become Regent? What will he do in Dixing post canon? Has his character changed by the end? Does he have any redeeming characteristics at all?

I have been unable to find any fanworks explicitly focusing on the Regent, and I'm not surprised.


So - come and talk about the Regent! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs whole-heartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about the Regent.

Important: If you're commenting with meta/discussion/thoughts, please say whether you're coming from a novel perspective, a drama perspective, or a blend of the two, so we don't end up talking past each other. Thanks!