Ostensibly a clerk within one of the Ministry of Culture's minor offices, his peers within the Chrysanthemum Order will be well aware of the Ruthless Bulwark's bloody work on behalf of the Immortal Order of the Black Lotus.

His sister is Lĭ Mĕi Hūa.

Email: li_dao_quan@chrysanthemum.chaosdeathfish.com

As the prematurely aged Li Dao Quan lived out his remaining days, he thought not only of what he has lost, but of what he has achieved. The Empire had been protected from adversaries countless times, and he was behind many of them. He had achieved a lifetime's worth of good for the Empire, and yet after it all, his life was not quite over. The only thing left to do after becoming too tired, too jaded to serve the Empire as a Black Lotus himself was to ensure that those he left behind were still safe and well.

Thus, since his departure from the Chrysanthemum Order, he spent his days teaching all he knew to Yong Xin, his apprentice, training in the courtyard under the rays of the sun as he watched the young man grow and mature, slowly coming to master the art of Mantis Blade and even showing the beginnings of learning the Hidden Step.

His nights he spent alone, the regrets of past actions and frustrations of fate and coincidence tearing away at him. He has lost his honour, cast out from the Empire like the villains he vanquished, and he has lost his one love, Mei Hua. Her parting words to him ring in his ears - “may we be together again after this life ends”.

Now, before he shuts his eyes for the last time, his body and soul tired, he surveys the room around him. Yong Xin stands before him, a proud and strong man, servant of the Black Lotus and the Empire. He is crying as he looks upon his master, his hand held tightly by his wife beside him. As Dao's eyes close, he thinks he sees a few cherry blossoms skitter across the floor.

He no longer fears death. Death is no longer failure.

I never knew my master in his prime, nor did he speak much of him time in service of the Empire, but what he did tell me taught me one immutable fact: That a man's worth belongs to him and heaven alone. Worth comes not from the judgment of other men, be they peasant or emperor, not from the words of a lover or the acclaim of a roaring crowd. True worth can only come through taking righteous action, no matter the personal cost. My master understood this in life, and I am certain that heaven will grant him the rewards he never received on earth.
From the Journal of Master Yong Xin