Reishin is overprotective of Shūrei, although he has gone to great lengths to keep her from learning about their kinship for fear that she might blame him for supplanting her father. He is reluctant to let her marry anyone else, and has even said that he wished he could marry her himself until Shōka pointed out that Reishin is already married. He secretly sponsors Shūrei to take the Official Exams; afterward, he is accused of manipulating the results and is sentenced to house arrest, outraging the Hong clan into a work stoppage that shuts down half of Saiunkoku. The charges are dropped after the arrest of the real criminal, who started the rumors and was involved in illegal activities. In the manga some of Reishin's hidden past was revealed, that to him his brother Shōka and his niece Shūrei mean everything to him in this world.