American Perspectives: The Transition Point ("A Twisted Fate of Love" Ep. 1)

"A Twisted Fate of Love," Episode 1 opens up in the 22nd year under Qiyuan's rule, in an ongoing 7 year battle.  The only survivor of the carnage on the Qiyuan side is Wen Xin.  She is outnumbered by the rebelling military, but she won't stop fighting, even if she's fighting alone.  Time freezes as someone shoots an arrow toward her forehead.  She looks behind her and sees a male figure in a black hooded cape holding a jade flute.  She falls to the ground.

The next time we see her, she is in deep, cleansing water, swimming up to the surface.  She climbs up on the wooden dock, dressed in white undergarments, jade flute in hand.  She doesn't know where she is.  She immediately grabs available clothing, which is a set of men's hanfu, and covers herself up. She hastily adds a top knot to disguise her gender.

She comes across a man sitting in the hotsprings, partially nude.  Guards are hiding, keeping a sharp eye on her and him.  She is standing at a respectable distance, but she's flustered.  She cannot remember who she is, therefore when the man asks her name, she cannot tell him.  She doesn't even know why she's there.

Assassins dressed in all black jump over the roof, and because of the Jade ID badge on the outfit she is wearing, they think she is their target, Feng Xi.  She skillfully defends herself while the partially nude man gets dressed in a very beautiful black and white hanfu set.  He throws her a sword, and she defends herself further against the assassins.  Because she is wearing a top knot, she is assumed to be male, but when one of the assassins strikes at her hair, the top knot comes undone, and it becomes apparent she is a woman.  She gains higher ground by jumping onto a boulder.  The mystery man comes out of hiding after dressing himself, and the assassins realize he is Feng Xi.  Therefore, all interest in Wen Xin is lost, and they start moving in on him.  Wen Xin intervenes, and stands in front of him.  She grabs him in her arms, and they fly over the roof top.  She drops him and her jade flute while she continues to fight the assassins.  He is intrigued by her flute, but when one of the assassins cuts her arm, without skipping a beat, he defends her and kills two of the assassins.  Wen Xin and Feng Xi fall on the ground.  He asks if she's ok.  She says she's fine.  One of Feng Xi's men arrives on the scene and asks if he's ok.  He says he's fine, and to keep the bodies of the assassins.  Feng Xi covers Wen Xin with a cape, and he continues to look at her flute.  She leaves to change her clothes, and she emerges from the room wearing an elegant light purple Hanfu.

She is still not able to tell him her name, who she is, or where she is from.  He wants to reward her for her help.  The jade flute begins to play music on its own, which only the two of them can hear (and this becomes a signifcant plot point later on).  She takes the flute from him, but she can't remember how she got it, and if it's hers.  He tells her to stay at his manor to recover from her injuries.

It is suspected by Feng Xi's men that Wen Xin is a spy.  Feng Xi agrees that she seems suspicious, and that he intends to keep her closer to him to get her to reveal her identity.  Meanwhile, Wen Xin is trying to figure out the jade flute.  No music is made when she blows into it, but it plays by itself.  Feng Xi approaches her as a Holly flower petal lands in her hand.  Wen Xin continues to insist that she doesn't remember who she is.  As they are watching the Holly blossoms fall from the tree, he asks if he can call her Dong Yue.  She consents.  He give her his jade ID badge, and tells her to use it if he needs help.  He tells her to stay at his manor.  She is unsure, but has nowhere else to go.  So, she stays, and in the process, she learns her jade flute is from the immortal world.  It harms the man who identified it for her, and he wants nothing more to do with it.  She begins to blow into it, and music finally comes forth, as do her memories of the war, memories of her identity, and memories of her transitional time in the immortal realm with her lover Wu Er.  She is shown talking to Wu Er, wishing to go back 8 years prior to the war, so that she can prevent it.  While in the immortal world, to prevent her from dying, Wu Er re-makes her body from the lotus root. She then remembers that Feng Xi is a huge reason why the war began, and he's not on her side.  She immediately feels very averse to him, and knows she needs to undermine and stop him by any means necessary.