1.4

 

“Your suspicions… they are correct.”

 

“What…?” Wei YunXiao’s carefully guarded expression dropped. For a moment he wore a face of abject shock.

 

“Since you are being so honest with me, I shall be honest with you.” In actual fact Liu Yue had a strong suspicion that Wei YunXiao was here to either torture or at least frighten him in to telling everything he knew. He could of course pretend he knew nothing and it might have been even believable since originally the Crown Prince actually knew very little beyond the fact that he was forced to drink a disgusting concoction for a mysterious “illness” every month. 

 

He had no idea what had made Wei YunXiao decide to deviate from the plot and confront him directly. It wasn’t like the cautious Second Prince who really ought to have made more investigations before coming here but anyway perhaps this was a good thing. If Liu Yue was to live he couldn’t follow the script either. And who better to get on his side than the male and female leads?

 

“I am not your brother.” Liu Yue confirmed.

 

Wei YunXiao nearly dropped his sword. As he watched the normally composed Second Prince stagger, Liu Yue couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. He got up, leaving the bed and walked over the table. “Tea?” He didn’t wait for the Prince to respond. In the real world serious conversations were always better done over warm tea, Liu Yue believed. It was a habit that Mrs. Dong had taught him.

 

He poured. After a few moments he heard the Second Prince move over. The tall, imposing man sat down heavily and Liu Yue held out a ceramic cup to him. On the table the candle inside the paper lamp flickered wildly. After a few moments Wei YunXiao took it but didn’t drink.

 

“It’s not poisoned don’t worry.” Liu Yue took a drink out of his own cup and then showed it to Wei YunXiao, smiling somewhat sheepishly. His smiling long gold-flecked eyes were alluringly beautiful and he smelled strongly of osthmanthus. Wei YunXiao stared at him and then before he quite knew what he was doing was drinking out of his own cup, eyes fixed on Liu Yue’s face.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much more as I’m not sure of the details myself.” Liu Yue sighed. “But last month I was at Mother Empress’ Palace. I didn’t announce myself. I thought to give her a surprise. But then I overheard her speaking to someone about me. She said that I wasn’t her son or the son of the Emperor either. That she had only pretended I was so that she could retain her power as the mother of the Crown Prince. Since your mother was already pregnant with you.”

 

He scratched his head thoughtfully, trying to see if there was any other details he should be revealing to the Second Prince. Of course he couldn’t tell him he was a demon! That was bound to scare him. He didn’t know how strange his pensive demeanour was, particularly after dropping such a huge bombshell. 

 

“You’re taking this… rather well.” Wei YunXiao observed.

 

Liu Yue ducked his head, somewhat embarrassed. “Honestly I’m somewhat relieved. I always felt like I wouldn’t make a good Emperor, it was stressful to think about the future. But you’re different. You’re the rightful heir, ordained by the Heavens.”

 

You’re the rightful heir, ordained by the Heavens. Just a few days ago what Wei YunXiao would not have given to hear those words spoken aloud. After all they only mirrored the words carved into his heart.

 

Wei YunXiao was not a man of greed or ambition. On the contrary, he was calm and steadfast and good at evaluating the situation from a rational perspective, a trait of his people from Beixia. It made him a good strategist and a brilliant leader. But still ever since he was a child he couldn’t help but feel his place in the world was wrong, that he could be more, that he should be!

 

That was why he had driven himself so harshly to train his body and mind and why he had accepted so many missions to distract himself. But none of them served to quench the desire he buried deep in his heart or the revulsion he felt every time he saw that beautiful, lazy figure sitting on the throne!

 

But now as the words fell from those smiling red lips, the Second Prince didn’t feel excited. Instead he felt… strange. As Liu Yue leaned against the table and propped up his chin in his hands, looking innocent and sweet, the strange feeling in Wei YunXiao’s heart grew.

 

Liu Yue was not aware of the conflict the Second Prince was experiencing. Instead he murmured, “Say those murders of the maidservants do you think it’s related to the curse of heavens because you haven’t been recognized? Perhaps the sword too.”

 

“The sword is more likely to be related to someone wanting to make sure that I don’t become Emperor. You would be the prime suspect and if it’s not you then…”

 

“Then it must be the Empress right?” Liu Yue smiled calmly at him. “Yes, I think so too.”

 

Wei YunXiao stared at him for a few moments. Then he said, “Crown Prince, what do you want to do?”

 

“What do I want to do?” I want to go home and if I can’t do that and I have to stay here I want to find some way to not be a demon. “I want to have an ordinary life. A ordinary long life.” He sighed. That was all he had ever really wanted. Even acting, hadn’t pursued it for fame. At first it had been because he enjoyed it and later, well, he didn’t really have any other skills.

 

“Then… we must tell Father Emperor the truth.”

 

“Yes but where is your proof? Your evidence?”

 

“The baby that the maid saw.”

 

“The Empress would have long destroyed or at least moved the body,” Liu Yue reasoned. “But a royal child’s corpse I imagine has  a certain power. Perhaps Master Xu Yuan can help us locate it.”

 

“Is that why you encouraged the Empress to summon him?”

 

“That and if we can tie the cursed sword to the Empress then even if we can’t find the baby, it’s enough to discredit her.”

 

Wei YunXiao hesitated. “You.. you really don’t want to be Emperor?”

 

Liu Yue grinned at him. The smile was wide and calm, bright as sunlight. It was an actor’s smile but Wei YunXiao didn’t know it of course. He was only stunned by its beauty. “Of course not!” Liu Yue laughed. “I don’t want to bring calamity upon the world, who do you think I am?!”

 

***

 

A few days later he went to the Second Prince’s Manor to meet Song LingLing. 

 

The Second Prince had sent him a secret letter from one of his personal guards saying that they had already formulated a plan for when Master Xu Yuan arrived in two days and wanted him to be involved. The Empress had made it seem that Master Xu Yuan lived in a city a week’s travel away to try and make sure there could be no suspicion of any connection previously between them. In actual fact he lived in the Imperial City and had received a letter from her letting him know everything that had occured that very same afternoon.

 

When Liu Yue arrived in the courtyard and descended from the palanquin he saw the Second Prince bowing and behind him was a slim figure kneeling down. When he told her to stand he saw this universe’s female lead’s face  for the first time.

 

Yes, Liu Yue thought with the satisfaction of a movie connoisseur, this is the right appearance.

 

There had been a lot of controversy about the casting of the female lead. Which ought not to have been a surprise since Director Song was the one involved. The description of the female lead in the script was someone who was soft on the outside and hard on the inside; tempered by the tragedy of her childhood and her difficult upbringing. She was a righteous person who was unyielding and uncompromising, willing to sacrifice herself to avenge her family. That was why the Second Prince was fascinated by her since he had not thought to find such strength of character in a woman.

 

The girl in front of him matched these qualities. She was pretty but not overly flowery looking; she had an unadorned, unpainted face and dark eyes filled with resolve. 

 

Unlike the young insipid starlet who had gotten the role (likely via Director Song’s casting couch) and who spent most of her scenes posturing and biting her lip, this girl was the perfect match for the Second Prince.

 

Looking at them Liu Yue was suddenly conscious of a pang in his chest. These two are the destined pair. He was painfully aware of his existence as an outsider, an extra. He realized he had let himself be deceived by the Second Prince’s evening of confidence. Don’t be a fool, Liu Yue. He told himself. Remember what you’re here for, don’t think of unnecessary things.

 

But he didn’t let these emotions cloud his face. He was an actor after all. “Shall we go inside?” He asked smoothly. Song LingLing’s eyes flickered over his face. Her expression was complicated.

 

They went into the Second Prince’s study and all the servants were dismissed.

 

The Second Prince looked at him and then sat cross legged in the guest’s position in front of at the table. Liu Yue was amused. As the Crown Prince and the senior most ranked person he should obviously sit in the host’s position, with his back to the wall, as though the house was his rather than Wei YunXiao’s. But he knew that everyone in this room knew his true identity - or part of it anyway.

 

He went and sat down, arranging his robe around the ground carefully. 

 

“I have made enquiries. Master Xu Yuan will arrive in two days.” As usual Wei YunXiao got straight to business. He spoke with a business like done and his handsome brow was stern. “I have also done enquiries. He is not what we think he is. He is the Empress’ disciple brother.”

 

“What?” This was news to Song LingLing. Liu Yue looked at her surprised. He had thought the two of them had pre-discussed everything and he had only been summoned to be informed. He realized now that Wei YunXiao had held off on revealing everything until he was present. Unexpectedly, his heart was warmed.

 

“Ah I see… that was why the Empress was so amenable to him coming when I brought it up.”

 

Song LingLing’s eyes flickered to him again. She was kneeling behind the Second Prince, in the servant’s position.

 

“Yes. I would not be surprised if he was the one behind the sword being cursed in the  first place. According to the spy, the Empress and Master Xu Yuan grew up together in a small town outside the Imperial City. The Empress was sickly as a child and it was thought that she had been born under an ill star. Her father summoned a Celestial Master to live with them to help treat her, and Master Xu Yuan was his disciple. I suspect the Empress also learnt some basics of spells and sorcery from the Celestial Master.”

 

“She must be an evil demon!” Song LingLing spat angrily. The Empress had destroyed her entire family. “Her heart is so black that she must have turned into one by now. The say the Palace is cursed and maids are always dying! Second Prince, we must expose her evildoing! We cannot let the demon woman win!”

 

Demon, demon… can you not? Liu Yue felt irritated suddenly.

 

In fact even if the Empress practiced evil magic, she was in no danger of changing into a demon since Liu Yue knew clearly that she had been born human. Instead she could probably be considered a devil cultivator (although not a very strong one), but she was not a demon. After all demons were a different race to humans. And they didn’t even necessarily have to be evil. It was said that if they were able to meditate for a thousand years without committing an evil deed, they could rid themselves of their demon heritage and be reborn as an immortal. Not many managed it - after all it was much easier to just utilise their abilities for selfish reasons, but it was theoretically possible.

 

As far as he knew the cat he had been hadn’t had a chance to do anything bad before being captured by Master Xu Yuan and forced to consume human hearts to accelerate his ability to transform into a human. 

 

And who knows what sets people off on a path they can’t return from? Liu Yue thought. He hated and feared the Empress too but he suddenly found the female lead’s casual throwing around of the word evil demon faintly irritating.

 

“When the Emperor receives Master Xu Yuan he will do so at a special assembly. All the important will be there. And of course you and I. I have arranged to have a faction of ministers loyal to me to request that Master Xu Yuan perform a curse origin spell on the sword. If the spell goes correctly then it should rebound to the Empress.”

 

His hair was bound as usual when he went out but Liu Yue tucked away a stray hair by his ear. Faction loyal to me? How long had the Second Prince been gathering this faction? The old him, a stupid fool, hadn’t known anything about it. “She won’t let you win so easily. She will have guessed this plan already.”

 

“I know. But I’ve done research too. See the curse origin spell is impossible to doctor. The curse will definitely rebound upon the person who cast it and no other.”

 

“Then he will do a different spell and only trick you.”

 

“I’ve thought of that too. I have summoned three other notable Celestial Masters. They may not be as powerful as Master Xu Yuan but they are sure to speak up if he performs a different spell.”

 

You have thought of everything haven’t you…? Unfortunately Liu Yue remembered this scene from the movie. He sighed and said, “Then… the sword will not be the same.”

 

Wei YunXiao had of course thought of this too. But in the movie the Empress had still outwitted him. Wei YunXiao had brought Song LingLing with him to confirm the identity of the sword. He would ask Master Xu Yuan to confirm the connection between Song LingLing and the sword first to make sure it was the exact same one. But the Empress was one step ahead. 

 

She had already discovered through her own network of spies that Song LingLing was being held at the Second Prince’s residence. So hence she arranged for another maid to secretly drug Song LingLing after an evening she spent drinking with the Second Prince and cut her with a copy sword to duplicate the blood connection. In fact this scene would occur this very evening, two days before Master Xuyuan’s arrival. In the movie this scene had nothing to do with him.

 

But of course I can’t tell them the truth, they will wonder how the heck I know. 

 

Liu Yue frowned as he thought about how to turn things around.