Fan Zeng

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Fan Zeng (died 215 BCE) was a resident of Yangzhou City during the Qin dynasty. He lived near the city winery but came from the nearby village of Jade Spring, where he was an elder to its youxia, Yu Ying, Chu Huan, and a third disciple of Wei Yu. All three knew him as Old Fan, and he was one of their contacts for affairs in Yangzhou.

Biography

The day before the third disciple's birthday in 215 BCE, Fan Zeng passed along a message to their informant, Nie Jing, that he and Jade Spring's martial arts master Ji Wei had prepared a gift for them. The following day proved fateful, however, for Jade Spring was suddenly attacked and destroyed by Qin soldiers from the Department of Immortality. Fan Zeng was an immediate survivor because he was then at his home in Yangzhou, but he heard about the massacre and feared that the Qin would be hunting other Jade Spring villagers like him. When the disciple arrived at his house looking for him, he thought the sound outside was coming from Qin guards conducting a raid. Startled, he barricaded himself in one of his inner rooms with furniture but trapped himself inside in the process. The young disciple heard the commotion, slipped into the house through a hole in the crumbling wall, then freed Fan Zeng by moving aside the furniture.

As they did so, they broke the news to him that their sworn brother Chu Huan had been among the casualties. Fan Zeng expressed his condolences while they informed him of the plan to gather the survivors at Yangzhou's rear gate. Fan Zeng agreed to meet with the others and shared his suspicions that Grand General Meng Tian was behind the attack, which seemed to corroborate what Nie Jing had told the disciple earlier. It was already the disciple's plan to investigate the general's office for evidence, and Fan Zeng affirmed that it was an opportune time because Meng Tian was away from the city at the moment. Unbeknownst to the two of them, the real culprits behind the massacre were Yang Duanhe, who ran the Department of Immortality and acted independently of Meng Tian, and Nie Jing, whose scheme was to ambush the survivors at the gate to eradicate them all.

While they were waiting at the gate for the disciple to return from their investigation, Fan Zeng, the chef Jiu Wei, and the other remaining survivors of Jade Spring all fell victim to the Qin ambush. Fan Zeng himself had his head crushed beneath their toppled carriage. By the time the disciple arrived at the scene to kill all the attackers, the only other Jade Spring villager still standing was Yu Ying.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Jade