American Perspectives: Feng Xi's Flower Tattoo ("Twisted Fate of Love" Ep. 25)

 

Dong Yue is thoughtfully staring at her reflection in the pond, when Wen Xin surprises her.  She is holding a cloth rabbit toy.  Dong Yue is very happy to see her.

"Wen Xin, why are you here?"

"I heard you're getting married, so I'm here to deliver a present."

Dong Yue tweaks Wen Xin's nose, and they both smile. "Little adult, you even know to gift a present?"

Wen Xin hands her the adorable cloth rabbit made from several types of fabric, put together in a similar fashion as a patchwork quilt.  "For you, I personally made this," Wen Xin says.

Dong Yue smiles.

"Oh, that's not right," Wen Xin continues. "Older brother, his Highness, also helped me with this."

Dong Yue looks at the rabbit lovingly.  "Thank you!  Help me to thank His Highness for me, too."

"Why is only the bride getting a gift?" Feng Xi enters the garden, radiant in his navy blue hanfu, with silver cranes embroidered on his left side.  "The groom wants one, too."

"You're an adult, yet you're going to demand a gift from a kid like me?" Asks Wen Xin. "You really aren't shy." She pushes his arm before she jogs away.

"You--" Feng Xi stammers, but he also laughs and smiles. "I..." but she's already gone. He turns to Dong Yue and smiles. "Why is she always like that with me? I'm the Right Prime Minister."

"Hasn't she always treated you like that?" asks Dong Yue.  "Just give in, then!" she smiles.

"She doesn't treat me nicely," Feng Xi acknowledges, "but she's quite cute.  She's much better than her father."

Dong Yue looks shocked, as Wen Xin is her past, 10 year old self, and Lord Wen is her father. "Lord Wen, what's wrong with him?" she asks.

Feng Xi lowers his voice. "Do you still remember the unaccounted amount of ordnance the 3rd Prince took back?"

Dong Yue nods. "I do.  What happened to the remainder?"

"3rd Prince delivered everything to Lord Wen," Feng Xi replies.  Yikes!  Things are going to get complicated again. "Lord Wen has been constantly gathering evidence against me.  I'm having a clash with Lord Wen, I didn't want to implicate you and Wen Xin."

Dong Yue sighs.  She remembers her promise to Er Yu to trust Feng Xi.  "Lord Wen is a righteous man and not a bad person."

Feng Xi grins wickedly, looking somewhat like a vampire. "However, I'm a bad person."

Dong Yue frowns, but says gently, "He doesn't know the internal details, so he has misunderstood you. Don't make things difficult for him."

Because Feng Xi does not know she is from the future, and that Lord Wen is her father, he is feeling mildly annoyed. "Why are you always so serious when I mention him?  Don't tell me you have feelings for him."

"I'm not joking with you," Dong Yue insists.

"It's not that I don't want to let him off," Feng Xi says. "He's the one who doesn't want to let me off."

Dong Yue is now feeling stuck because she has to listen to Er Yu's advice, but she doesn't want anything bad happening to her father in order to prevent the war.

 

Left Prime Minister is visiting the 3rd Prince at the Wind Pavilion.

"Thank you for your efforts, Left Prime Minister, in coming up with a plan for me," says 3rd Prince.

"Your Highness, Fang Yuan is already no longer the Left Prime Minister in the past.  I'm indebted to your kindness as you have respect for the wise, and are willing to give me a chance.  I am extremely grateful."

3rd Prince nods in acknowledgement.  He pauses.  "I've already ordered Wen Ye to transfer the army weapons to the prison of the Ministry of Justice."

"Good!  Your Highness, you only need to play along with their schemes.  The rest of the matters, you can just leave them to me.  If Feng Xi comes, we will make sure he can't fly, even if he has wings."

 

Night is in full splendor with the Moon shining brightly.  Dong Yue is at the entrance of the Wen Manor.  She cannot let anything bad happen to her father.  He does not know she is his daughter from 8 years into the future.

"My Lord," says one of his servants, "this is the young lady looking for you."

Lord Wen and Dong Yue bow to each other.

"Young Lady Dong Yue, visiting in the night, I'm afraid is not convenient," says Lord Wen.  "Please go back..." He gestures for her to leave.

"Lord Wen, tonight, I've come to share with you some urgent information."

"Then, you can say it here," Lord Wen says, indicating outside, instead of inside the manor.

"If it has to do with the 3rd Prince, I would ask you to give me some more time," she replies.

Lord Wen pauses and looks around. "Please come with me," he finally says.

Dong Yue follows him beyond the entrance to Wen manor.

Zi Yuan is spying from the outside, wondering what they are up to. "My Lord and Lord Wen have never gotten along," she thinks. "Why would sister Dong Yue visit Lord Wen at night?"

"What did you say?" Lord Wen asks Dong Yue, his back turned to her.  He turns around to face her.  "You actually want me to let off Feng Xi, that treacherous official?"

Dong Yue answers carefully. "I know you've always disliked Feng Xi.  However, the public perception of him contains misunderstandings.  You only need to wait ten days for his innocence to be revealed."

"Did you also think I would believe you?" He paces back and forth. "If my daughter didn't have some sort of good opinion of you, I definitely wouldn't have let you enter through that door!"

"If you knock down Feng Xi, the Imperial Court will fall under the control of Left Prime Minister's followers.  That would actually be detrimental to the 3rd Prince."

"I, Wen Ye, have a clear conscience in all the actions I've taken in life.  I surely will not wallow in filth with Feng Xi," he says with disdain. "Young Lady, please go back."

"You--My Lord, you claimed that you have a clear conscience.  Have you really never turned your back on someone?"

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"Have you forgotten about Yin Lan?" (She is referring to his wife, her mother, who committed suicide).

"She and Yin Lan really do look similar," Lord Wen thinks to himself. "Could it be there's some connection between these two?"

"Miss Dong Yue, how are you related to my late wife?"

"Lord Wen, you boast of being refined and elegant, but Yin Lan was born to a prostitute, and was a stain on your entire life.  Your entire family neglected her and never treated her as part of the family, which caused her to die from depression.  Is your innocence that much more important than a person's life?"

"Silence!" he walks by her.  "Why should an outsider comment on the Wen Household's private affairs as they please?"

Dong Yue turns around, and thinks, but cannot say: "However, I'm not an outsider."

Lord Wen is irate.

"Feng Xi already knows you're targeting him.  Please take care of yourself," says Dong Yue.

"As a court official, my entire life cannot be perfect and I dare not call myself a sage, either.  However, I, at least, wish for clean, uncorrupted politics, and good health for the people at the expense of my life." He turns toward her. "I cannot promise you anything about the ordnance.  Not only this.  I will even deliver them to the safest place for sure."

"Since my Lord stubbornly wants to do this alone, then I, Dong Yue, have nothing more to say." She bows to him, and exits the manor.

 

She returns to Feng Manor, and she remembers the day her mother died.  She is devastated, and her father is lacking empathy.

"Wen Xi, your mother is gone," her father says.  "You'll still have father in the future."

"No!" Dong Yue/Wen Xin screams.  "You caused my mother's death.  You're not my father!  I don't have a father!" She slaps him, and pushes him away.  "Mother, wake up!"

He wrestles her away from her mother's corpse, and slaps her. "Stop making a scene!"

"I don't have a father!" she pushes him away.  "Mother! Mother!  Wake up Mother!"

"Is that Wen Ye really worth getting lost in your thoughts?" Feng Xi interrupts her traumatic memory.

He is sitting at her desk in her bedroom.  She walks up to him.  "Why are you in my room?"

"What are you doing, seeing Wen Ye in the middle of the night?"

"I'm tired.  If there's a problem, we can discuss it tomorrow."

Feng Xi sighs with frustration.  "If you don't want to say it, that's fine.  then I'll stomp the Wen Manor flat to the ground, and have Wen Ye tell me himself!"

"Are you insane?" Dong Yue asks incredulously.

"Why are you so nervous?" asks Feng Xi.

"I visited Wen Ye...to beg him not to help 3rd Prince testify against you."

Feng Xi's anger subsides.  "Then, Wen Ye's personality is so obstinate, he probably didn't agree to your request, did he?"

Dong Yue confirms.

Feng Xi pauses, but his energy is still a little hot. "Then why did you think he would agree to your request?  You and that Wen Ye have exuded some strange tension from the very beginning.  Do you actually have some sliver of sentiment for him?"

"Why are you so--" Dong Yue sighs.  "I don't want to argue anymore."

"I don't know who it was, who asked me not to have any reservations, but what about yourself?"

"Wen Ye is my father," Dong Yue explains calmly.

"Your father?" Feng Xi asks in disbelief.  "At his age, how could he have a daughter as old as you?"

"He really is my father.  It's just that he's my father from 8 years ago."

"Father from 8 years ago...? Then you and Wen Xin..."

"I am Wen Xin," Dong Yue interjects.  "It's just that I'm the Wen Xin who came back from 8 years later.  After Dingyuan's chaos erupted, I almost died on the battlefield.  It was Er Yu who reconstruted my body and sent me back to this time to change the history."

Feng Xi moves closer to her. "So that means, the future you can predict is what you've actually experienced?"

Dong Yue looks at him and nods.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I didn't think you would believe it."

He smiles.  "If you say it, I'll believe every word."

"It's just that..." Dong Yue pauses. "The matter is too bizarre."

"You appearing by my side is the most bizarre thing that has happened in my entire life.  Why shouldn't there be more surprises?"

"Then stop going against, Wen Ye, all right?"

He smiles at her.  "You don't need to worry about the military weapons anymore, as I have my own plans.  Go and rest earlier tonight, all right?"

 

Lord Wen is leaving in the middle of the night, escorted by his men, transporting the ordnance.

Lady Murong and her assassins block his path. "Be sensible!  Hand over the ordnance!"

"We cannot let them fall into the hands of a thief!" replies Lord Wen.  Her assassins and his guards proceed to battle.

Feng Xi comes galloping up on his horse, his face covered.

As Lady Murong is about to stab Lord Wen, Feng Xi blocks her.

"You?" Lady Murong asks.

"I'll explain it to you later," says Feng Xi.  "You can't kill him.  Take the ordance and leave now."

Lady Murong gets ready to comply.  They are both surprised by a storm of arrows from archers they did not anticipate.  Feng Xi gets hit between the left shoulder and chest.

Left Prime Minister appears, gloating about the trap.  "I didn't expect we would meet again.  I will make sure you die without your body intact.  I have many ways to do this.  So, what do you think?  I'm giving you a taste of the same medicine.  Are you satisfied?  I forgot that right now, you're just a masked robber stealing the ordnance.  You still haven't exposed your real face yet.  However, if you kneel and plead for mercy right now, I may give you a way out."

"A long battle is unfavorable," whispers Lady Murong. "So we need to think of a solution."

"They're targeting me," Feng Xi whispers back. "So just hurry to take the ordnance and leave."

"Okay.  Let's play it by ear," responds Lady Murong.  "See you at the usual place."

The archers move closer to the cart Feng Xi is hiding behind.  Two assassins jump out and knock over the archers, Feng Xi and Lady Murong battle the guards.

Feng Xi is able to escape by throwing some explosives, and creating a thick smoke cover.  While under the cover of smoke, the carriage carrying the weapons was also taken away.

 

Dong Yue is nervously waiting in her room. She sees Feng Xi stumbling to the door of his room, awkwardly sliding the door open.  Dong Yue looks concerned.  She immediately goes to his room while he's looking for medicine to apply to his wounds.

She puts her hand over his. "Let me," she says.  She carefully applies medicine to his wound between his left shoulder and chest.  He winces.  "Where did you go to be wounded like this?"

"I went to protect my father-in-law."

"What's wrong with Lord Wen Ye?"

"Don't worry, he's fine.  I merely got back what he had taken."

"You stole back the ordnance?" asks Dong Yue.

Feng Xi confirms.

He puts on his Beizi/Large sleeved robe, as he is going to go out once more to establish an alibi.  He insists on going to the Ping Kang district, so that he can be publicly seen drinking and having a good time.  Dong Yue doesn't like the idea, as she fears it will make his injury worse.

 

Dong Yue and Feng Xi are in the Clear Sun Palace, wearing their official robes, standing before the Emperor and 3rd Prince.

The Emperor asks 3rd Prince, "Xinyao, you said that Feng Xi secretly transported ordnance to resell for profit?  Is there evidence?"

3rd Prince bows. "Royal Father, I recovered the lost ordnance, but it was stolen by bandits last night."

"Your Highness failed to control the crime," Feng Xi smirks.  "Don't pin the blame on me."

3rd Prince turns around and glares.  "If you're not guilty, why would you repeatedly try to coax Wen Ye over the whereabouts of the weapons and ammunition?"

"Your Highness also knows that Wen Ye's late wife," Feng Xi looks at Dong Yue, "is a former acquaintance of Dong Yue's.  Given my relationship with Dong Yue, isn't it logical for me to communicate with her former acquaintance?"

Dong Yue adds, "Minister Feng indeed did this in order for me to get along with the Wen family."

"Since you claimed to have nothing to do with the robbery," says 3rd Prince, "Can you tell me, then, during the time the ordnance was stolen last night, where you were?"

Feng Xi smiles.  "What's wrong?  As a dignified Right Prime Minister, do I need to report to you that I drank in a brothel last night?"

Dong Yue pretends to be angry, and slaps him across the face.  "I even thought you were working.  You distinctly promised me that you wouldn't visit the brothels again.  Why did you go there to drink?"

Feng Xi experiences a momentary loss of memory due to Er Yu granting Dong Yue a second chance at life.  "Who are you?" he asks.  "Who do you think you are?" He regains his memory. "I went to the brothel.  Do I need to carry you with me?  Even if you're my future wife, it's still not for you to control me.  I should be the one to control you instead.  I publicly went to Ping Kang District to drink.  Not only did I have fun drinking, but I even bought drinks for everyone there."

"Don't go overboard!" interrupts Dong Yue.  "You've never treated me like this before.  Now that you're tired of me, you--"

"Enough!" interrupts 3rd Prince.  "Stop bickering here."

Feng Xi and Dong Yue bow.  

"Your Majesty," Feng Xi says, "please don't laugh at me."

"Feng Xi," says 3rd Prince, "you have witnesses who drank with you, but don't forget that when the ordnance was stolen, other than the bandits, there was still someone else there."

Left Prime Minister enters the room.  "Criminal Fang Yuan greets Your Majesty." He kowtows.

"Rise," says Emperor.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

3rd Prince begins.  "When the ordnance was being stolen, Fang Yuan dispatched soldiers to pursue the bandits.  Although they weren't caught, there was an impression made on the bandit."

"Fang Yuan, tell us," says Emperor.

"Last night, the bandit was in black clothing and a mask, but he was injured on his left shoulder.  It would be difficult for it to heal overnight.  Whether Prime Minister Feng is innocent or not, an inspection will tell us whether it's true or not.  Prime Minister Feng, dare to try?"

Everyone is looking at Feng Xi.  "I was at Ping Kang district last night," he insists.  "Everyone drinking there can be a witness.  Isn't this good enough?"

"You do have a guilty conscience!" Snaps Left Prime Minister.  "Summon the Imperial Physician!"

"How presumptous!" snaps Feng Xi. "Do you dare strip the Right Prime Minister of his clothing in public for inspection?  We would only be at equal status if you were to be reinstated as an official.  Do you have sufficient authority right now?"

"He might not," says 3rd Prince, "but I do."

"Your Highness," says Dong Yue.

"I'm a royal prince, you're a subject.  When I tell you to strip, you will strip!" He shoves Feng Xi, and pulls back the top part of his Hanfu.  Instead of a wound between his chest and left shoulder, there is a flower tattoo, no signs of injury to be seen. 3rd Prince is shocked, and angry.

Dong Yue thinks back to the night before, after she applied medicine, and after he returned home from the Ping Kang District.  She catches him before he falls.  "You're already injured, so why are you still torturing yourself?"

"One must complete the performance," Feng Xi says. "I want everyone at Ping Kang District to know I was there.  Thus, I had a couple of drinks with them."

"Then you can go back to rest now."

"No!" says Feng Xi.  "I still have an important task to do.  I'll only feel secure after doing it.  I want to borrow your skillful hands to give me a tattoo."

Dong Yue looks surprised, but she complies.  "It's tattooing, not applying injury medicine, so I don't know how to do it.  Just find someone else to do it."

"Nonsense.  Not just anyone can touch my chest.  If you don't know how, I'll teach you."

She hesitates.

Feng Xi continues, "As the wind blows, in the moon's shadow, the holly flowers bloom."

"Everything is fine, so why are you tattooing the Holly Flower?" asks Dong Yue.

"There's nothing to rely on in life and death.  With this tattoo, wherever I go, you'll always be in my heart."  He places her hand over his heart.

He guides her hand as she tattoos the Holly Flowers over his chest.  She is very uncomfortable and scared.

As she is done remembering the moment, 3rd Prince is trying not to lose his composure.  He steps back from Feng Xi.

"It seems like Your Highness has taken a great interest in my body," sneers Feng Xi.  "Then why don't you continue to look at it?" Feng Xi bows to Emperor.  "Your Majesty, I was impolite."

"Beloved subject," Emperor smiles, "no wonder you were reluctant to strip.  It turns out that even such a dignified man has such a detailed flower tattoo!" The Emperor laughs.

"Your Majesty," says Feng Xi, "I also made an error of judgment in trusting someone, and it has turned out like this."  He readjusts his Hanfu.

"Since Lord Feng found someone to do it on his own," says Dong Yue, "there's no need to be angry with him."

"That's right! Since it was my choice, then this flower will stay with me forever." He smiles.

"The injury on the perpetrator is on the left shoulder," says the 3rd Prince.  "And Prime Minister Feng's tattoo is also on the left.  Isn't this too coincidental?"

"Your Highness has inspected the injury already," says Left Prime Minister, seeing an opportunity to get on the Emperor's good side and be reinstated.  "There's indeed nothing to suspect about Prime Minister Feng.  Your Highness should use your energy to focus on capturing the real criminal."

3rd Prince is astounded at Left Prime Minister's change of heart.

Emperor smiles and agrees it was all a misunderstanding.  3rd Prince is fuming.  Left Prime Minister is reinstated. The battle definitely isn't over.