Character from The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Nikara Defense Minister and Kitay's father — a career bureaucrat-general who serves the Empire's military establishment with competence and political survival instinct.
Lianhua is the Empire's Defense Minister — the person responsible for the military apparatus that the Sinegard graduates feed into. He's competent, politically adept, and genuinely patriotic in a way that doesn't prevent him from making calculations about acceptable losses. His son Kitay inherited his analytical mind but not his willingness to compromise.
Distinguished and formal with the bearing of a senior official who has navigated imperial politics for decades. Grey-streaked hair, measured gestures, the composed face of someone who reveals nothing by accident.
Also known as: Lianhua, Chen Lianhua, Defense Minister Chen