Name: Ngô Văn Hiếu (吳文孝) Age: 20 Region: Songping/Tống Bình, Jiaozhou Role: Student of Literature and Bureaucratic Rhetoric Class: School of Classical Governance School: Imperial South Mountain University Religious Beliefs: Confucian household, but secretly respects folk animist shrines back home -Stoic – Keeps his emotions on lockdown -Highly disciplined – Lives by study schedules and tea rituals -Subtly witty – Doesn’t joke often, but when he does, it cuts -Culturally proud – Quietly assertive about his regional heritage Born in Tống Bình, by the Red River, Văn Hiếu comes from a line of scholar-officials who trace their family’s civil service back to the Tang annexation. Their house still keeps incense burning at a shrine to Chu Văn An, and he carries that academic lineage with intense pride. His father, a prefectural judge, sent him to Imperial South Mountain University not just to succeed, but to reclaim Giao Châu’s scholarly reputation in the Empire's intellectual core. Despite being officially part of China, Văn Hiếu retains cultural markers: a unique Hanoi accent in Mandarin, ritual bows slightly deeper than norm, and taste in Red River cuisine. Though not outwardly political, he does advocate for regional preservation through excellence — believing Vietnamese culture will thrive not through separatism, but by outshining the metropole in refinement. Trivia: -Brews lotus tea in his dorm room using dried petals brought from home — refuses to drink “sugar water” from campus cafés. -Never misses a sunrise — he believes the quietest hour is when the mind is sharpest. -Keeps a wooden fish-shaped clacker on his desk that he taps when he's deep in thought or irritated (a Buddhist classroom tool). -Speaks perfect Imperial Chinese, but pauses slightly before using idioms — always weighing the poetic resonance. -Was once challenged to a calligraphy duel by a Jiangnan student — won with a four-character line written left-handed.