Do keep in mind that agreeing to being Cai Renxiang's vassal is agreeing to be Cai Shenhua's vassal so
rather while we somewhat know the personality of Cai Renxiang from rumors and even from her own daughter's interlude cai shenhua is not a good boss to have.
I don't think that's how the vassalage system works? Either way, we would become the personal retainers of Lady Cai, not vassals to the Cai family. We are not nearly important enough or powerful enough to be the direct vassals of a White. We would be the tools that Lady Cai uses to demonstrate that she is fit to rule the Duchy after the Duchess bites the dust (or ascends). The Duchess interfering with that process would defeat the whole purpose of testing the potential heir.
Actually, does anyone here have a solid characterization of CRX? Because I'm honestly drawing a blank here.
I mean, I can help you out if you like?
First off, we know that a core aspect of her character is Order. As in, everything has their place and should perform to expectation and in relation to their place. This is a key trait that she has inherited from her mother, but has actually twisted it to fit her place in the world and her own capabilities. Cai is big on Order, respecting authority, and having a place in the world (as seen with the conversation after legal studies where she mentioned only loyalty to the Emperor is higher than loyalty to family).
Next, she is ruthless towards her enemies. If given the option, she will crush her enemies until nothing left of them remains. This was discussed earlier in the Quest when Lady Cai showed that she uses a Dao and people were talking about what symbolism that represented. Yrs commented that ruthlessness towards enemies was a character trait of hers. Furthermore, she is ruthless in the means she will use to acquire compliance from people trying to stop her from her objectives. This can be seen when blackmail was employed by Lady Cai to elicit agreement from the older influential Sect members.
Next, she is adaptable. When a tactic is not working, she will switch up the means of achieving her ends. This can be seen by her comment regarding her weakness towards the more covert aspects of politics and how useful they can be. If browbeating people with superior firepower is not working, she can and will change to better suit her agenda.
She is also honest about her abilities. She acknowledged her lack of skill in the covert aspects of politics and the weakness in managing a political engine, to begin with. It's the entire purpose of her presence here in the sect, and she is taking the opportunity as a training session, a very demanding training session which she endeavors to meet with equal fervor (as seen when we went with her daily routine).
Which moves on to the next point, she is driven towards achieving her goals. Her goals seem to be firmly set in stone, and her objectives seem to be unchanging. While she may change tactics and strategies to achieve a goal, she has never changed an objective that we have seen. She determined to control the entire outer sect, even when controlling a smaller piece of it would have been exponentially easier.
Lastly, she is accepting, somewhat, of other people's taste and preferences. When we were having tea with her she switched up the tea when she noticed we didn't like the first blend. This is an absolutely vital skill when dealing with high-level politics, and it is nice that she already has it.
So, in conclusion. She demands and expects an orderly existence but she recognizes that she might not have control over that order. Obstacles and enemies in her way will be ruthlessly eliminated to the largest extent possible, with the condition that an enemies place in the order may mitigate or enlarge the ruthlessness shown to them. However, she understands that she does not possess enough power to wreck everyone in her way, and as such is adaptive in her tactics and strategies to exploit the weaknesses of her enemies and obstacles. In that vein, she is also honest about her own weaknesses and strives to correct them before they become a problem. Because she is honest about her abilities, she sets goals and objectives that she realistically believe to be within her reach, and strives to achieve those goals using whatever means are possible. Lastly, she is accepting and understanding of other people's taste and preferences, and endeavors to accomendate them at some levels.
