A/N: I don't really know what I'm doing with this. It's probably a really weird idea, but there are sure to be a lot of weird ones out of the millions out there anyway, so I decided to do this anyway. Please tell me what you think about it or if there's something you'd like to see.
21 years ago. Hang Zhou
It was evening in the city, and the inn was pretty quiet. There was a man writing calligraphy in a corner. After a while, he picked up his belongings and departed. The only other patron noticed a sheet had fallen on the floor and picked it up. It was a beautifully written poem. He ran to catch up with the man.
He had gone half a block to see that the man had just flattened three hoodlums trying to rob an old lady of her money. He refused any form of payment for his services except a thanks and the old lady went on her way.
He picked up the poem left behind and started reciting it. The man in front, recognizing it as his own, turned around.
"Good poem sir. You dropped this at the inn."
"Oh, you're so kind to return it. I must be clumsy today. Are you also a poet?"
"I can try." He then made a poem of his own.
"That's not just trying. It's good! And better than mine."
"I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance. My name is Zhou Yun. I'm from Beijing, here for some meetings. Are you a local?"
"I'm Fang Zhi Hang and yes, I'm local. My wife and baby son live with me."
They had become friends. Although Zhou Yun seemed rather mysterious about his trips, they had bonded over poems and martial arts. Over the years, Fang Zhi Hang had given Zhou Yun multiple scrolls of his poems with his name signed on them.
18 years ago. Hang Zhou
The streets were wild, troops of the imperial soldiers stormed the streets, taking prisoners along with him. The days pass, and occasionally another soldier would be hauling a prisoner.
The next morning, the soldiers had arrived at a home.
The leader announced to see Fang Zhi Hang
He was inside with his wife, 4 year old son, and newborn daughter. What is going on, what would they possibly want me for? "Alright, you stay inside here. I'll see what's going on."
He walked out to see the soldiers holding a scroll of poems that was hanging on the wall.
The lead soldier asked, "Are you Fang Zhi Hang and is this your work?
"Yes. What is the matter?"
"And did you write these too?" He displayed a couple more scrolls.
He did a double take. These were the ones that he had given his friend, Zhou Yun. How had they gotten into the soldier's hands?
"Yes, I had given them to a friend. His name is Zhou Yun. Why are you inquiring about this?"
"So you are good friends with him?"
"Yes. I hadn't seen him in a couple months though."
"Then you are a member of Tian Long Society?"
"Of what? I never heard of it. I have nothing to do with them."
"You are friends with the leader and your martial arts are superb, you must be part of his group! Take him and his family away!"
Before long he was thrown into a prison cell that was already occupied.
"There is a mistake! I did nothing wrong!" he yelled but the prison guards wouldn't hear of it. He heard his name being called behind him.
"What are you doing here?" the other prisoner spoke up.
Fang Zhi Hang turned around to see his friend Zhou Yun.
"What is going on? Why are you in here? They think I'm part of this Tian Long Society and that I've done something wrong. What does this have to do with you?"
"My friend, I'm so sorry they grabbed you. They saw the scrolls you gave me and must have thought you're a part of my group. I'm the leader of Tian Long Society."
"What is this group? Did you do something wrong?"
"We did nothing wrong. We're just trying to revive the Ming Dynasty. All we did was kill a bunch of Da Ren who were rather harsh on the common people. The Qing Dynasty is seriously corrupted and would do nothing about it! It would never happen if I was Emperor of the revived Ming Dynasty. And that would happen as soon as I can get out of here." He paused. "Don't worry, since you have nothing to do with us, I'll make sure they leave you alone."
The two had caught up but before long conversation turned to family. "I wonder what has happened to them. As I was taken, they were too."
"They must be in the prison for women and children. It's not far from here. I had been trying to get some other members of my faction free when I was caught. I had left word with a different part of my faction that if nothing is heard from me, that means I'm in trouble and they'll get some help."
It had only been two days before a man in soldier's clothing knocked out the prison guards and led them away.
Before long, they had gone to the other prison and rescued family, but the other members of were nowhere to be found."
Fang Zhi Hang was thrilled to be reunited with his wife and children. Explanation was rather short, and they went on the run.
They hid in an abandoned temple for a couple of days. A wet nurse, Jiang who had evaded the original arrest was with them.
The next morning, they were woken up as soldiers invaded. They were quickly outmatched and caught. The only people to escape were the kids, Xue Yin, the wry nurse.
This time, there was no luck in rescue and everyone so far arrested were taken to the execution ground.
Du Xue Yin, Fang Zhi Hang's wife, tearfully watched as her husband's head was dismembered from his body. As they were still being pursued, she had taken her family and ran. She devised a plan to send her children away while she awaited her fate. Jiang was to take her daughter Fang Ci up north and her son Fang Yan was to find old family friends in Dali.
Four months ago, Dali.
A rather handsome man was practicing martial arts in the garden. His adopted parents watched from the doorway. "What a fine man he is. If only the entire family were here." The man overheard this and walked over to them.
"I had been thinking of this a lot too. I think it's time to take a trip. I should definitely find Jiang and see how my sister is doing. Perhaps I'll bring a head back as well. It might be time."
His adopted parents gasped. "The Emperor?"
"Who else is responsible for all this. The order came directly from the Emperor himself!"
His adopted mother sighed. "Didn't shifu teach you not to take revenge?"
He sighed himself. "I really don't know what to think. My entire life, I've been struggling with this one thing. But if I get a chance, why would I not take it? I saw both my parents die the same day. My farther was beheaded first then my mother was killed as soldiers caught up to her. The only thing I could do was come here. Those were my instructions."
"You are a grown man now, and you have decisions to make. Make wise ones." His adopted father spoke.
Xiao Jian, the name Fang Yan was now going by, because of the sword and flute that was always with him, had left for his trip. It wasn't long until he found Jiang. She was back in Hang Zhou, but his sister was nowhere. He heard Jiang had taken her to to Beijing, but got sick and left her outside a building she couldn't read the name of. He was pissed off.
"Now, how in the world can I find my sister? What name is she even using now? Do you know?"
"Her birthmark. There's a red mark on her behind."
"What do I do? Ask everyone that?" He scoffed.
"I'm sorry, but I was so sick I couldn't take care of a child."
He at first intended to take Jiang with him to correct her mistake, but decided she would be more of a burden and with one ugly glance at her, he turned around and took the trip up north himself.
He only had a vague description of the building his sister was left at.
Present Day. Beijing.
Xiao Jian had finally found the building described by Jiang. It was Bai Yun Guan, a convent.
After speaking to a nun, he was directed to Jing Hui Shi Tai. He inquired about the events 18 years ago.
"Oh, yes! There was a baby left on the steps, and she did have that birthmark. I personally raised her for a while, then she ran away."
He almost spilled the tea he was given.
"She ran? Why did that happen?"
"She was a rather mischievous child, didn't like reading her books, all she wanted to do was practice martial arts. When she was nine she ran off during a festival and we could never find her again."
He shook his head. This was not happening. How was he ever going to find her this way. In the meantime, he heard all the stories the nuns had remembered about his sister.
After a few days, they noticed a commotion on the streets. He and Jing Hui Shi Tai were on the streets. Soon, imperial soldiers were bustling through the streets. Asking a stranger, they were told that the Emperor had found his long lost daughter and the Princess Huanzhu would be in one of the carriages following. He only heard one word, however. Emperor. He grasped the sword at his side for a moment but he let go, thinking there were definitely too many people, and was most certainly not the time.
He almost didn't hear Jing Hui Shi Tai calling after him!
"Hey, what's it?"
"The Princess, right there, in the carriage. I swear, but she resembles your sister. She most definitely has the same eyes that I remember! And her face looks similar, but it's hard to tell, she's full of makeup and was moving around so much waving, shouting, giggling. Her personality is almost exactly what I remember of your sister."
"What? How is that possible? The last time you saw her she was a child. She would have changed. And this is the Emperor's daughter. How could my sister be mistaken for her?"
"Well, I, I don't know. I'm just seeing the resemblance." She paused for a moment, noticing another commotion. Two women were yelling and following after the carriage.
"Hey, she's not the Princess! Emperor! You got the wrong girl! Xiao Yan Zi! Can you hear me? It's Zi Wei! What happened?"
"What the-" Jing Hui Shi Tai and Xiao Jian looked at each other. They watched as the girls fought against the soldiers. One of the girls then started shouting out a poem. But before she was done, one of the soldiers sent her reeling backwards into the crowd. Then a man on a horse galloped through yelling for the soldiers to stop. They did, but were ready to intervene whenever.
"What is going on here? Who are you two girls?" he barked.
The girls picked themselves back up and crawled over.
"Please listen. My name is Zi Wei. I am the Princess, I am the Emperor's daughter. Xia Yuhe is my mother. The girl in that carriage isn't. She had my fan and scroll, but they belong to me. I'll prove it to you." She then recited the poem again. Her friend added, "She's telling the truth. Please believe her!"
The man on the horse stared at them for a moment. "Alright, you two. Come to my home and tell me what's going on. My name is Fu Erkang and I'm the Emperor's yu qian shi wei. But if you two make any trouble, you're going to prison."
Xiao Jian looked at Jing Hui Shi Tai incredously. "Is this something my sister would do? This is a huge fraud! Not just being mischievous!"
"I'm sure she wouldn't, but I have no idea." She seemed just as perplexed.
Then he got an idea. What if his sister was getting close to the emperor so she could avenge her family. "She doesn't know her true identity does she?"
"No. The first time I heard it was from you. There was nothing identifying who she was or where she was from. There was no way she could have known."
Then he thought another moment. Tian Long Society. Perhaps one of them escaped prosecution and followed her all the way here. They could have done everything in hiding since the supposed execution of all members all those years ago. No, the execution of all members plus my innocent father who they thought were with them. A horror washed over him. What if they had taken her in after she ran from the convent and told her the truth. What if she was working with them? Then another thought occurred to him. Then why would they do such sloppy infiltration work and let two girls yell out the identity switch.
Whatever was going on, he decided to follow them and eavesdrop.
A/N: You might be wondering how I got this idea. Well, I like a lot of wuxia stories but I don't think I'm good enough to write an original. Also the Tian Long Society part, I got the idea from the Huai Yu Gong Zhu. Huai Yu is a girl not knowing her true identity and Lan Yi had a different agenda for her. Originally I thought about doing a crossover with Shu Jian En Chou Lu, but the society there would not kill the emperor as he's the leader's brother.
I'm mixing the original series with the new series. Benjamin doesn't exist, Yonqi's mother doesn't exist, but it will be paced like the new series and there's no war.
