Shang Qiu Niu

He first appears at Shang Yan Fei’s clan banquet in Shang clan city, already seated before the guests arrive. Wei Yang introduces him as the clan leader’s eldest son and the manager of the caretaking zone. ^{ch. 269} That zone is where Gu Masters leave excess Gu for keeping, with ordinary fees such as eighty primeval stones a month for a rank one Gu. ^{ch. 265} The text describes him as robust, deep voiced, and calm, nearly thirty yet looking about forty beside a father who looks like a youth in his twenties. ^{ch. 269}

Appearance

He is robust and his voice is deep. One look shows he is a calm person. He is the oldest of the young masters at the banquet, already nearing thirty. He is almost thirty, but his appearance looks quite mature, as if he were forty. ^{ch. 269}

Eldest son and first faction

At the same banquet Shang Yan Fei makes him toast Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing first as the eldest example. ^{ch. 269} When Shang Xin Ci is revealed as a new sister, he tells her to come to big brother if she faces problems. ^{ch. 270} Later city talk still greets him as eldest young master Qiu Niu, and Fang Yuan’s count of the ten contesting young masters places him as the first faction: eldest son status draws many Shang elders and clansmen to his side. ^{ch. 305} Fang Yuan later restates the same ranking to Shang Xin Ci, adding that he is the eldest son of the first wife and therefore holds the greatest advantage among the three main blocs. ^{ch. 326} Shang Yi Fan also notes that even eldest brother Shang Qiu Niu lacked a rank four subordinate of his own. ^{ch. 322}

Banquets during the young master contest

He personally invites battle stage fighters such as Fang Zheng and is refused. ^{ch. 305} During the Auspicious Festival stretch he hosts a banquet where Shang Yi Fan joins him; narration calls Qiu Niu head of the first major faction and notes a deep tie to Shang Yi Fan’s mother’s side. He also sends an invitation to Shang Xin Ci, but she chooses Shang Chao Feng’s third faction while Qiu Niu and Shang Pu Lao are locked fighting each other. Steward Zhang tells Shang Yi Fan that Qiu Niu cannot afford another enemy at that moment, and that by the time the two factions resolve their issues the young master competition will already be over. Chao Feng later recalls that Qiu Niu personally tried to recruit Zhou Quan and was refused with the rebuke that an inexperienced junior dared to recruit a hundred year old man. ^{ch. 327} Shang Xin Ci later takes Shang Ya Zi’s place among the ten young masters while that Qiu Niu and Pu Lao rivalry is still unresolved on the page. ^{ch. 333}

Prior life rivalry

Revival and the later succession fight