Arc 1 – Legend of the Vengeful Flower – Chapter 1
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Arc One - Legend of the Vengeful Flower

 

1.1

 

Liu Yue woke up with a start. His body reacted spontaneously and he jerked upwards, expecting a significant injury.

 

But as he looked down at himself he was surprised to see he was completely unscathed. There wasn’t even a single injury or bloodstain!

 

As he stared he became aware of another issue. Who had changed his clothes?! And… what was with this setting?

 

At this moment someone ran into the room and prostrated themselves at the foot of the bed. “Your Highness, prepare yourself. The Empress is on her way here.”

 

“The… what?” Liu Yue asked dumbly. But before he could react what appeared to be an army of servants appeared from nowhere (really they were just kneeling in the recesses of the room) and began immediately helping him dress and do his hair.

 

Am I dreaming? Liu Yue thought as the servants scrambled around him. Isn’t this a scene from Legend of the Vengeful Flower?! But the weird thing was as he looked around he couldn’t see any sign of the camera or crew. Usually on a set at an angle that the camera couldn’t view there would be numerous crew members holding boom boxes, lights and cameras as well as people ready to fix up makeup and props. But he couldn’t see any of these people.

 

Perhaps it’s because it’s a dream, Liu Yue rationalised with himself. But as a hairpin was threaded through his thick black hair, he gave a wince of pain. The female servant drew back, looking immediately terrified and prostrated herself.

 

“Your Highness, please have mercy!”

 

“Ah..? It’s fine. Continue.” After all, these things were unavoidable. But the girl looked surprised and grateful and resumed with trembling fingers.

 

That's right, originally in this movie I have a bad personality. Liu Yue recalled the details of the plot.

 

The movie was set in a pseudo historical period of ancient China called the “Chang Dynasty”. The clothing and sets mainly resembled the Tang Dynasty with some elements from others. The story was a fantasy story where demons and magic existed alongside martial arts.  His character, the Crown Prince, despite not having much lines was an important character and in fact the crux of the story. Because he was not really a Prince at all but a cat demon!

 

The story started seventeen years ago when the Empress and the Emperor’s favorite concubine, Consort Ming were pregnant at the same time. There was a tradition in the Chang Dynasty that the firstborn son would be considered ordained by the Heavens and become the Crown Prince. The Empress was three months ahead of the Consort but unfortunately instead of a boy, she had a daughter.

 

The Empress was furious and desperate to be the mother of the Crown Prince as she was scared of Consort Ming’s increasing power and influence. But there was no time to switch out the baby, the Emperor was waiting impatiently outside for the news. In any case there was strict laws about who and what was allowed in the birthing chamber and everything was carefully checked to prevent anything like that from happening.

 

So the Empress had to resort to a horrible back up plan. You see the Empress had contacted a sorcerer/divinator some time before to see if he could ensure that she had a son. Unfortunately he couldn’t do that as the Emperor’s bloodline was very powerful and difficult to manipulate. But he proposed another method. The sorcerer gave the Empress a snowy white cat and told her that to keep the cat by her side as a pet. If she had the misfortune to have a daughter, she could speak a spell and the cat would transform into a baby boy.

 

So that’s what the Empress did. The Emperor and the courtiers were all successfully fooled, and so although Consort Ming gave birth to a healthy baby boy three months later, it was too late.

 

However as with all evil plots, it didn’t come without sacrifice. In order to preserve the ruse, the Empress heartlessly ordered her loyal maid to murder the baby Princess. Unfortunately while the maid was burying the dead infant she was witnessed by Beauty Yu, one of the Emperor’s lessor wives who foolishly came to threaten the Empress. In order to seal Beauty Yu’s mouth the Empress had Beauty Yu burned alive in her Palace and also killed her entire family to ensure that she hadn’t told anyone.

 

The female protagonist Song LingLing was the only survivor of Beauty Yu’s family. She was Beauty Yu’s niece and had witnessed her parents being killed before her eyes. A few years ago she had snuck into the Palace to investigate her family’s death. It was here that she met Prince Wei YunXiao, the Second Prince and the true heir to the throne as well as the male protagonist of the story.

 

Meanwhile the Empress hadn’t stopped her evil deeds. She had been slowly poisoning the Emperor so as to make him more and more frail. During this time the Crown Prince should have been the one to assist his father in governing the Empire. But perhaps because she had purposely spoiled him as a child or maybe just because it was in his nature as a cat demon, he was a weak and dissolute character who was only fond of pursuing pleasure and playthings. Thus everyone knew the true power and decision making lay with the Empress.

 

Thus all the taxes were raised to accommodate her wanton spending and corruption was rife. The people were really suffering. But why did they tolerate it? Of course it was because of the saying; A dragon on the throne, peace in the world. The people were frightened that should they rebel the Gods would punish them with drought and famine as they had a thousand years ago when the Emperor had been assassinated. Thankfully after ten terrible years a royal heir was found and only thus did life return to the earth.

 

But in actual fact the Crown Prince was not the rightful heir at all but a demon? What could happen when he ascended the throne except calamity? Of course the Empress had thought about this. Three years after the Crown Prince’s “birth" she finally was successful to give birth to a son. Thus she was biding her time, waiting for her trueborn son to reach age before murdering the Emperor, having the Crown Prince ascend the throne then killing him too in favor of her actual son. This was the plan of that black hearted woman!

 

There was one complication. As a demon, the Crown Prince had certain dietary needs. Since he turned sixteen, every month, when the moon was full, he would need to consume a virgin heart or he would suffer terrible pain and eventually revert back to his cat form. That’s what the sorcerer had told the Empress.

 

Hence there was a rumor in the Palace that there was a vengeful ghost killing young maids, but in fact it was only the Empress. However those who didn’t know thought it was the dead Beauty Yu, who had also been found with her heart removed, and that was how it was initially presented to the audience too before the big reveal towards the end. Hence the female protagonist Song LingLing was drawn to investigate the murders. Eventually she joined forces with the male protagonist and they unveiled the plot together, of course with romance along the way.

 

“The Empress arrives!The announcement that the Empress was here shook Liu Yue out of his contemplation. He knelt down along with all his servants and guards as a sharp step sounded and a shadow appeared in the doorway.

 

Your son greets his Empress mother.” Liu Yue spoke the line he remembered from the script. 

 

“You may rise, Crown Prince,” The Empress returned to greeting allowing him to stand up. As Liu Yue looked into the face of his “mother", a ripple of surprise went through him.

 

In the movie the Empress Yuan was portrayed by a veteran actress from Hong Kong. She was tall and refined looking. But the woman in front of him was not the actress Stephanie Cheung! It was a woman he didn’t recognize. She was small and slender, still very beautiful for her age, but had an aura of power that froze people in their tracks.

 

“You can all retreat for now. Leave the medicinal soup on the table.” The Empress commanded the other servants. Quickly they all disappeared from sight. The Empress went to sit on a raised dais in the throne and motioned to him. Liu Yue sat next to him and she took his hand in hers. 

 

“How are you, my son?”

 

There was a fake smile on her face. Liu Yue was an actor, how could he not recognize it? “I am well, muhou. Only my servants are very clumsy and stupid. Tonight I shall order them all to kneel outside the Palace all night. It looks like rain is coming. That will teach them to be cleverer!”

 

He spoke the lines he remembered from the script. The line was designed to show the audience what a wastrel the Crown Prince was, especially compared to the strong and capable Second Prince, the true son of Heaven.

 

Empress Yuan stroked his hand. “Whatever my son wants. They are just useless slaves and you are the next Emperor! You should punish them however you like.”

 

What a black hearted woman you are, Liu Yue thought to himself. He knew the Empress wanted him to make his reputation as horrible as possible, in order to pave the way for his brother’s rise.

 

“Now drink your medicine while you listen to me. I have something important to tell you.”

 

The Empress lifted the lid of the dish and a pungent smell wafted out. Since he knew what it was Liu Yue stared at in disgust. It’s not really… I can’t really be expected to drink this can I?

 

Thankfully Liu Yue had a skill he learnt as an actor. Often actors had to film the same scene of eating over and over. If they really had to eat it that would make them sick. So they often had a bag or something they would dump the food into when the camera wasn’t on them. Liu Yue didn’t have a bag but he did have a large sleeve. He merely lifted the spoon and covered his mouth with his wide sleeve of this other hand as was polite. Then he simply poured the contents into his clothes.

 

Thankfully the Empress didn’t catch on. After all he had been drinking this ‘medicine soup’ every month for the last year so she had long gotten used to it.

 

“Tomorrow as you know is the banquet to welcome the Lord of Beixia. Don’t forget, he is Concubine Ming’s father and the grandfather of that insolent Second Prince. You mustn’t let them have the upper hand! You must do your best to suppress them as much as possible Tao'er!”

 

Liu Yue blanched. But not because of the implications of the sentence but because she had spoken the line incorrectly! His name is the movie was Yunkang, but she was calling him Tao’er! Which was his real nickname! 

 

She misunderstood his look of surprise and irritably tapped her long gold fingernail extensions on the table. “Don’t blame mother for being ruthless! Mother is doing it all for you! Don’t you know how arrogant he has been these past years? Ever since he won that military victory in Dashan, he’s been flaunting his name across the Empire. Do you know what the people are saying?! They are saying that he is the true son of Heaven, the true heir to the throne!”

 

But he is… Liu Yue thought. Compared to Wei YunXiao’s heroic status, his own reputation could be said to be the lowest of the low. That was of course part of the Empress plan and why she was encouraging him to humiliate himself in front the Emperor, the Lord of Beixia and everyone else by making a scene at the banquet.

 

The State of Beixia was a vassal state of the Chang. Centuries ago it had been its own Kingdom but since it had been conquered by the Chang, they had given up their independence and their King had changed his title to Wang, Lord, to show his subservience. But Beixia maintained a large army and everyone knew that the people there were tough and warrior-like. That was the source of Consort Ming’s power and why the Empress hadn’t been able to touch her.

 

At this point according to Liu Yue’s memory the scene was supposed to change to that of one of Song LingLing helping her mistress, Beauty Chai, prepare for the banquet. There were no more lines for him and so the Empress pressed his hand and quickly left.

 

After she was gone, Liu Yue changed his clothes and sat down on his bed.

 

What is going on… he pinched himself several times but nothing happened. As he contemplated his current situation his mind reached for one word: transmigration. It was all the rage now on the internet. Even the TV industry had taken note and there had been several productions with that theme recently. But who had ever heard of transmigrating to their role in one of the movies they had acted in?

 

So is this world real? Everything felt real! Liu Yue stood up and went outside. In front of the large, looming Palace was a stone courtyard full of guards which immediately dropped onto their knees when they saw him. Liu Yue frowned and went back inside and out through a side door. This led him to a garden behind his Palace.

 

He saw an gorgeous artificial lake with floating lotus shaped lanterns, and beside it a pavilion with an intricate rooftop. Everything was as solid as this own body. Even on a movie set, most things were just facades. It would be extremely costly to build every single set with the genuine materials, and often the indoor and outdoor sets were at completely different locations. Everything in the overly decadent Palace was real and looked as though no expense had been spared.

 

So if this world is real… then am I really the Crown Prince? I’m really a cat demon?

 

Liu Yue looked down at his hand. The fingers looked quite normal. His face too when the maid had lifted up the bronze mirror for him earlier was the face he recognized, albeit with very long hair. He had tried it earlier, definitely not extensions. 

 

The Crown Prince’s role in the story was quite a pitiful one really. Raised human, he was wholly unaware of being a cat demon or that the mother who appeared to love him on the surface was really plotting to kill him one day. He was coddled and spoiled until he had the worst temper and everyone around him was only frightened of him. Even the Emperor had no love for him, he too much preferred the Second Prince, but could not defy the “wishes” of the Heavens which had allowed the Crown Prince to be born first. 

 

As for his transformation every full moon… Liu Yue looked up at the sky. Thankfully the moon was on the wane. The Empress always thought well ahead. He wondered which unfortunate maid was lying dead at the bottom of a well today. But it was just as well that he hadn’t drunk the soup. It wouldn’t have worked anyway. According to the plot, the latest maid that the Empress had found had in fact been having an affair with a guard and was no longer the virgin she pretended to me. Hence the soup made from her heart was useless.

 

Three weeks after banquet would be the night that the Crown Prince realized something was wrong with him. The script described it as though “his skin was on fire” and “someone had poured acid on his organs”. Just thinking about it made Liu Yue’s hair stand on end. In a frenzy he had attacked one of his maids, ripping her heart straight out of her chest and consuming it. When he had come to, he hadn’t known what to do and just carelessly dumped the body in a easily found location which was one of the crucial clues to the Second Prince and Song LingLing finding out the truth about it later on.

 

What can I do to avoid that? Liu Yue thought helplessly. Is the script unchangeable? He recalled that the Empress looked different to actress playing her. Although…

 

Liu Yue had a good memory. It was many years ago but he still remembered most of the script, even the parts which he was not involved in. If he recalled correctly the Empress had been originally described in the script as beautiful and diminutive woman with a strong, evil aura, but they had changed things during casting when Stephanie Cheung expressed interest in the role. So it’s following the original script? I’m going to kill someone?

 

No no no no, Liu Yue shook his head firmly. Calm down! There had to be something he could do to change things. Even if he had to chain himself up, he wouldn’t kill some random girl!

 

Well the Empress had called him by his real name and not the name of the Crown Prince in the script! So perhaps he was not some cat demon but really just himself.

 

How can I check? 

 

According to the script, although the Crown Prince was not aware of himself of being a cat demon, he did display certain attributes. One was his beauty, which was described as delicate and seductive. The other was his grace. He had incomparable mastery over agility and balance. In a chase scene between Wei YunXiao and himself he had climbed a ninety degree wall and fled via a rooftop despite having no training in martial arts.

 

But if I climb a wall now someone might discover me. So perhaps I can see if I can dance instead…

 

The Chang Dynasty had a traditional sword dance called the Dancing Flower. It was one that both girls and boys learned as part of a good education growing up. The dance, which likened the steely art of battle and war to the soft and seductive moment of flower petals, was a representation of dichotomy of Chang culture and celebrated their achievements. This was the very dance that the Beauty Chai was supposed to be performing tomorrow. Of course it was not actually Beauty Chai but instead the female protagonist Song LingLing...

 

Liu Yue remembered seeing the actress playing Song LingLing doing the dance and could vaguely recall the music but he himself had never attempted it. Logically if he was in his own body he shouldn’t be able to do it.

 

Liu Yue broke off a thin branch from a tree - because he was not going to get a sword, major OH&S issue there - and imagined the music. As soon as he put his first foot forward it was like his body went into autopilot….

 

All Liu Yue could think of was, dammit I’m in trouble…

-----

 

This is the first chapter. Like I said I will update a chapter every day. 

However I really don't know how to promote stories on Scribble Hub so not even sure if people will read it haha. If  you stumble upon this would love it if you could leave me a comment and/or give me some advice!

~ Spiderlily

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