The Spirit of the Plum Blossom Tree (TSPBT) - 3. Chapter 3

At Er-ge’s statement, Hong Shen felt a brief flash of pain in his head. His hands flew up to cradle it, and he grimaced. He Qing widened his black eyes beneath him.

“Your Highness…?”

A new memory forced its way into Hong Shen’s mind, temporarily whisking him away from reality.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

He appeared to be kneeling on the ground, bowing his head. His hands were tied to two wooden posts with rope on either side of his body, and he wore nothing but the black ku of his hanfu. Something warm was running down his back, followed by pains that spiked with every movement.

Behind him, someone was speaking.

“Many years ago, there was an Emperor who ruled over many people. He was adored by them, but the land was beginning to fail, businesses started to collapse, and money became scarce to find.

The Emperor did not know what to do. He prayed to the gods but received no answer, and as the conditions of his country continued to decline, he made up his mind to go out and face the people’s growing discontent with his own eyes.

While walking through the capital’s shops, someone caught the Emperor’s eye. This person was devastatingly handsome, with brilliant red hair and the most vibrant green eyes. The Emperor had never seen foreigners before, much less anyone as handsome.

But what caught his eye the most was the raw emotion on the man’s face as he spoke out to the crowd gathered below him, encouraging them to not be afraid, that the Emperor would save them.

This man, a simple foreign merchant, was coveted by the Emperor, and after ordering him to become the royal finance minister, the land began to thrive once more. Businesses were rebuilt and money became less of an issue, and gradually the people’s discontent faded away.

Meanwhile, the merchant and the Emperor were growing rather close, and after about a year, the Emperor declared that the merchant would become his imperial consort.

At first, the people were surprised. They knew that both men and women could enter the royal harem, but this Emperor had never shown an interest in men or in anyone really, leading to only two female concubines in his entire harem.

But after they recovered from their initial surprise, they rejoiced, celebrating for many days and nights. They greatly adored their Emperor, son of the heavens, and the merchant, whom they called the Emperor’s angel.

They were so deeply in love that everyone thought they were practically the same person, never leaving one another’s sides. The other concubines were neglected, since they had already born him 2 sons and a daughter, so his heir was already chosen.

But slowly over time, the merchant began staying with the Emperor less and less, leaving the palace for long periods of time and shutting himself in his rooms a lot. His attitude towards the Emperor began to become less loving and more annoyed, and the Emperor feared that perhaps the merchant didn’t love him anymore.

Determined to find out, the Emperor disguised himself and snuck out one night, leaving towards the merchant’s rooms.

But then he heard a commotion at the palace entrance, and curious, went to investigate. There, he found a massacre.

According to the surviving royal guard, the merchant had attempted to sneak out of the palace with one of the female concubines’s servants, whom he had apparently been secretly meeting in the capital and having an affair with. This night was the night when they had planned to elope together, but the servant girl’s mistress had discovered them and both the girl, the Emperor’s angel and several royal guards had been killed in their attempt to escape.

Heartbroken beyond belief, the Emperor wailed in grief and betrayal, about to take his own life, when a wail louder than his own filled the air. Shocked, he followed the sound to some nearby bushes, where he found a baby boy wrapped all up. His parent’s blood had splattered the leaves above him, dripping down onto his head, and disturbed, the baby had cried out.

The Emperor did not know what to do with his deceased lover’s illegitimate child. But as he watched the baby wail, orphaned without his parents, his shattered heart couldn’t find it in him to abandon the boy. After all, they had both lost someone very important that night.

So, he raised the boy as his own son, keeping him in the palace and educating him with the others. He bestowed the name Hongye upon him, since he was found under leaves red with his parent’s blood, and as he grew up, his darker red hair was rumoured to have come from the blood dripping onto and absorbing into the boy’s head.

And now here you are, 12 years later, abusing the kindness the Emperor showed you as a babe! He may ignore you since looking at you reminds him of his angel, but I certainly won’t! I will give all the punishment you justly deserve, you son of lecherous traitors!”

His 12 year old self said nothing, only gritting his teeth as the willow whip lashes began again.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

Hong Shen jerked out of the memory, his back remembering the feel of the whip. It wasn’t a memory from his past life, so it must be a memory of this Hongye guy he was.

He sat back on his heels for a moment, and He Qing wasted no time in wiggling out and away. His mind was filled with a sort of hatred, hatred towards the Emperor who took him in only to abandon him as he grew up. Hatred towards his siblings who treated him like trash on the ground. Hatred towards the woman who always whipped him sometimes for no reason at all. Hatred towards everyone because everyone had always looked down on the son of a bastard father who went sniffing after the nearest servant girl instead of the golden gem he already had.

He felt Er-ge’s gaze on him, and he quickly gathered his thoughts. Those weren’t even his memories, they were Hongye’s, so there was no need to feel so strongly about them.

But Hong Shen felt a sort of connection with the man. They both had similar pasts even though they were in different time periods.

“Are you feeling alright? Dr. Zi managed to draw your pain into himself, so it shouldn’t be from your wound.”

Er-ge’s soft voice finally drew Hong Shen out of his mind, and his eyes narrowed at him. “What are you talking about?”

The man’s head tilted to the side, eyes twinkling in amusement. “Dr. Zi, the one you wanted to fall in love with you?”

Hong Shen’s face went pale, and he lowered his head in anger and mortification. This guy was mocking him!

“No you idiot, what do you mean about taking my pain?”

“Idiot?” He heard He Qing mutter in confusion, standing besides Er-ge, who also seemed confused at the term but didn’t question it. These ancient people were so clueless.

“Dr. Zi used some unknown technique to quite literally transfer your wound to himself. I’m sure you noticed you feel no more pain and your wound has healed to a scar? That was due to him.”

Hong Shen looked back at his chest and the pale scar over his heart. So Dr. Zi now had his stab wound?

He shrugged internally. His funeral.

Cracking his knuckles, Hong Shen was about to slide off the pallet and stand when He Qing suddenly gasped. “That’s right, you’re awake now! Prince Hongye, do you remember who stabbed you?”

A face flashed before his eyes, but it was gone before he could grasp onto it. No names rang a bell either.

His face hardened. “No, I don’t.” He looked at He Qing, who was watching Hong Shen with concern, and Er-ge, who seemed mysterious and unreadable with his faintly amused expression. “How do I know it wasn’t one of you?”

He Qing recoiled, a shocked expression spreading across his thin face. “I would never do that! I’m an assistant doctor, not a murderer!”

So he was Dr. Zi’s assistant, that explains why he was here when I woke up.

Er-ge was fluttering his fan, pondering. “Have I ever shown a murderous intent to you before?”

Hong Shen wanted to strangle him. How was he supposed to know, he only had one memory of Hongye’s and it had nothing to do with Er-ge!

“If you don’t remember, then it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to hope that you get your memory back soon!”

He Qing’s words were most likely meant to be comforting, but Hong Shen had a feeling that no one really cared about it. Based on the memory he just saw, he would be surprised if there was anyone who didn’t want to kill him.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud drum filled the air, echoing three long beats. Er-ge and He Qing both looked at the door.

“That would be the drums for dinner. When you get dressed, Fourth Brother, you should come. I’m sure everyone is curious about you.”

With that, the two of them vanished out the door.

Hong Shen raised an eyebrow. Why would he care about some shit meeting between people who could have been behind his attempted assassination?

He just got this second chance, no way was he going to waste it on stupid stuff like that.

Noticing some clothes folded up on the bottom of the pallet, Hong Shen scooted over to look. They appeared to be the pieces to a plain black hanfu.

Black for the black sheep of the family. Typical.

After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to put all the pieces on correctly. He hadn’t had to put on a traditional hanfu like this since he had been a child, and even then his mother did it for him.

Mother…

Hong Shen shook his head. No need to remember his own past right now.

Tearing a strip off his earlier white robes, he tied his hair up in a very sloppy ponytail. When he next found something sharp, he would cut it off! Long hair was so uncomfortable.

Finished getting dressed, Hong Shen opened the door, glancing into the hallway. The floors were white but seemed like they hadn’t been cleaned in months; the walls had a creamy tint to them and were covered with rusted ornamental designs flaking off. The occasional torch was mounted to the wall with metal brackets, and he had a feeling this place was underground.

First a room that seemed better suited for a servant, now in a hallway underground, this Hongye really was hated!

Walking out into the hall, he let the door swing shut behind him. It didn’t matter anyways, he wasn’t going to remain here for long. Once he found a woman, it was mission complete.

Who cared about the person who stabbed Hongye? He wouldn’t be here long enough to find them anyways.

A sudden chill ran down his spine before he could take a step. Hong Shen involuntarily stiffened, and a sleeved arm snaked around his neck.

“Wo de gou,” a masculine voice whispered, and someone’s teeth nibbled his ear.

What the actual hell?! ((;ﾟДﾟ))