Astrid travels back to a lost dynasty of China, and becomes Mei.
She was accused of murder in the modern world, but now the dangers that lie in the imperial harem are greater than she'd imagine. Mei is forced to adapt to a world of performance, ma...
MY hospital room was as peaceful as a pond. There wasn't any modern equipment to clog the water side, and my bed acted as a boat to sway across the water. After the doctor left, his son accompanied me in the pond in silence and I prefered it that way. That's because all I could think about was:
Twelve-thousand forty what?
It's a miracle to fall asleep in the year 2016, and wake up in 18th Century China. It simply was impossible; I had no recallation of this time era. However, the doctor had said that I was in a coma for weeks. Perhaps, I was living a coma-induced dream.
That was it. A coma-induced dream. It was only a fragment of my imagination.
So I play along: "Who is Emperor?" I believe I structured that sentence correctly. Afterall, it was only a few words long. Chinese would be difficult to learn.
The doctor's son remarks, "The accident had most likely screwed up your memory," He lifts his head and I get a good look at a chiseled face, "Dear Mei, your future husband is Prince Tian. Soon to be Emperor Tian. "
I don't recognize the name. Maybe he isn't a well-remembered ruler in the future.
However, the man I'm speaking to seems to dislike the Emperor. I can tell because he turned away from me to make a disrespectful expression that I wouldn't want to see. I decide to check if this is true, "Your name?"
"I'm Li."
"Your reason to dislike Emperor?"
He pauses in fear, again. And I know that I've hit a weak spot. Nobody disrespects the Imperial Family and definitely not the Emperor (at least from what I've heard in the fifteen minutes of this dream). Li turns his head away for a moment and I lean in to observe, but I go back as he turns back.
"That's the most articulate sentence that you have conjugated so far," He laughs, but it's a fake one. Li is very transparent and it's obvious that he understands the mistake that he has committed.
"Uh huh." I don't believe him, there is something else that he's not telling me.
He frowns in frustration, then starts the rant that I've been waiting for, "You're in terrible danger, dear Mei."
"Why?" My dream was taking a turn.
"The harem is no place for a girl like you. There the women tear each other apart." He doesn't look at me when he speaks, instead he stares at a picture that I can't see, "You used to talk about how you wanted concubines to work together so that you could acquire power as an equal girl group and not depend on the Emperor's power. Yet, now you are about to do everything against what you preached. You're not the same girl that I knew."
Wait.
Li's eyes glimmered during his little retrospective monologue, and his emotions completely twisted as he accused me of not being "the same girl that he knew". This girl; who was supposed to be "me".
Did he like her? Romantically?
I interrogate, leaning in to get close enough, "You want me to stay with you?"
He shifts his weight with discomfort, and hides his hands in his robe pockets, Li is quick to explain, "No, no, no...I would never disrespect his Highness in such a dishonorable way. He..he...I..."
I smile inside knowing that I've made a grown man speechless. He was not much older than me, but he was mature enough to be conscious of his surroundings. I get to the point, "Okay. Tell me what really happens."
Li is eager to talk plenty of something other than topics that can be considered treasonous. He tells me of his colleague, a man who became an imperial doctor, who was executed because he was unfortunately caught in the midst of concubine's trifles. The poor guy was honest about a concubine's health status and yet they both lost their lives because the woman had fought with the wrong opponent.
It's terrible.
What should I do?
"Mei, the harem isn't safe. Stay with me. Marry me."
Marry me.
I looked with astonishment at the man who was currently proposing. His round puppy dog eyes made it almost believable. However, I knew better to think twice.
I just met Li. He kept calling me Mei when I'm actually Astrid. Apparently, I'm a girl waiting to be wed to the Emperor. In fact, I'm a girl who was transported to 18th century China. My mind was running circles around these facts. Who? What? Where? How? These were the questions that I constantly asked myself.
Besides, I had a boyfriend back home. Ryland is the love of my life, and I will find a way to get back home to him. I will wake up from this dream.
"Stop. Li."
Life with Li would be safe but I would die of utter boredom. Li didn't seem to be the exciting type; he acted very conservative and maintained a wall of isolated coldness.
In contrast, life in the harem might risk my life, but I was willing to take that risk if it meant becoming Empress. I have a desire to walk into this mess.
..
WOAH WOAH WOAH
We're in China already? (don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT, SHARE, & THAT OTHER POSITIVITY THAT YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO SHARE)
(seriously)
Let's go meet the Prince/Soon-to-Be Emperor.
Love y'all
-Ashley Mei
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