Xiren

Overview

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"Wait!"

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This page contains spoilers for Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing.

“	Yes. I am as I always have been.	”
–Xiren, Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing

Xiren is a maidservant serving the Jia Family, assigned to primarily serving Jia Baoyu. She is a supporting character in Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing.

Appearance

Xiren is a woman with brown hair, with bangs parted down the center and hair tied into two small buns on the back of her head. She wears a gray hanfu with white sleeves, and dark red accents along the hems and center, beneath a similarly red sash. While her left arm is typical, her right arm has a green, plant-like, appearance, and her feet have been reshaped into hooves.

Notably, her younger self features none of these deformities, which were later caused due to extensive use of Boluses.

Personality

Hong Lu's trusted maidservant and caretaker through his childhood, Xiren always had a calm and collected personality, being always mindful of her young master's feelings. Xiren cared deeply for Hong Lu, and always attempted to shield him as best as she could from the cruel realities of Daguanyuan. Growing up, Hong Lu admired Xiren for her intelligence, as she seemed to always have an answer to everything; Jia Mu similarly comments on it after Xiren's attempt to discuss what she had been doing to her grandchild. Jia Mu also points out her naivety for not knowing her place, and believing she would be able to protect Hong Lu.

Following this act of insubordination, Xiren was executed by the Heishou Packs, and revived through Life Insurance technology. As Jia Baoyu's closest servant, no expense was saved for her, and she received the most expensive service available, which retained all of her memories, although her personality slowly changed, becoming colder and unaffected. This is later revealed to have been a conscious decision on Jia Mu's part, who revived her specifically as a more obedient, unfeeling servant, who would simply fulfill her duties and encourage Jia Baoyu to comply to Jia Mu and the Xianren's wishes.

Despite this, by the time of his return to Daguanyuan, Hong Lu views her as the same as she has always been, simply hoping her memories still bring her warmth. Before his departure, he asks her what she thinks of his decision to continue his journey, to which Xiren advises him to walk the path of his own choosing, which brings a smile to Hong Lu's face.

Story

Prior to Limbus Company

Xiren raised Jia Baoyu as his primary maidservant, taking care of him during his daily life. Xiren was by Baoyu's side during the times after the disappearance of Jia Ling, and attempted to shield him from the truth of what had happened to him, claiming that Jia Ling would be back after 100 nights.

During her time in his service, Xiren died multiple times; by making extensive use of Life Insurance, she was successfully revived with her memories intact. However, her personality slowly eroded, becoming emotionless as a result. When asked about Jia Ling again years later, she explained the matter, suggesting for Jia Baoyu to give up his naive hopes on the return of Jia Ling, as the poison affecting his absent sibling had caused brain death—something that neither Life Insurance nor Boluses could ever heal. As Jia Ling's maidservants gossiped of their master's inevitable point of no return, Jia Baoyu would reluctantly accept this reality and praise Xiren for her intelligence.

Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing

Upon the return of Hong Lu and Jia Xichun to Daguanyuan, Xiren returned to her master's side outside his childhood residency. After a brief reunion between Xiren and her master, she guided the Sinners to Hong Lu's room, where they were to pass the night.

Following the first round of the Family Hierarchal Evaluation, Hong Lu and the Sinners returned to his residency, where Xiren awaited them, having been delivered a letter for her master. Despite Ishmael realizing the letter had been tampered with, Xiren was resolute on only having only the responsibility to deliver the letter, rather than also keeping it from being handled by outside factions. Baoyu accepted this as if it was completely normal, explaining Xiren's situation to the rest of the Sinners when asked why he did so.

After Hong Lu had wrapped up his business in District 8, with Jia Xichun now hierarch, he had a final cup of tea alongside Xiren. Finally asking her how she feels of his departure, she gives an empty response. While Dante thinks the response is underwhelming, Hong Lu is comforted by this and smiled earnestly.

Gallery

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  Story Log Portrait

Trivia

• Xiren is based on the character Hua Xiren (花袭人，Pinyin: Huā Xírén), from Cao Xueqin's novel Dream of the Red Chamber.
  • In Dream of the Red Chamber, Hua Xiren is the chief maid of Jia Baoyu, and he and her other masters are quite fond of her due to her thoughtfulness and diligence in her work.