scarlet heart | exo

A New Era

"Miss? Miss?"

"Y–yeah?" Xuefeng mumbled.

"The mirror?" The merchant was getting impatient with the unresponsive woman.

"Give me a moment."

She examined herself in the mirror. It was a huge, full-body one, and she saw that she was dressed in a pink, embroidered Qing dynasty dress. Her hands flew to the small bundle of hair on her head that was affixed with silver hairpins and velvety pink flowers— those flowers were real.

She could feel.

This wasn't a dream.

"Miss, are you okay?" came a voice from behind her.

Xuefeng spun around.

A chubby woman clad in a green dress and a beige vest looked at her with wide unblinking eyes.

"Miss?"

"AHHHHH!!"

She bolted.

"Miss!" the woman cried, chasing after Xuefeng.

Where am I? Who am I? Who is she? Why is she chasing me?!

Xuefeng soon realised that she was running way faster than the woman, and she allowed herself a little smirk.

Whatever tricks you have up your sleeve, you'll never catch me, thought Xuefeng. I'm not a pentalon runner for nothing.

But as the saying goes, pride comes before a fall...

"Ouch!"

Knees hit stone with a loud thud, as Xuefeng tumbled on the traditional Qing court shoes that stood on two-inch platforms.

A group of women, presumably from noble families, snickered as they waltzed past. Xuefeng felt a hot flush of embarrassment creep up her cheeks.

"Curse this stupid shoes!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After her unglamorous fall in the middle of the marketplace, Xuefeng had decided that her best (and only) course of action was to just follow this strange woman who was chasing her, at least till she could answer the basic existential questions— who she was, where she was, what she was doing here. The woman appeared to be her (whoever she was) maid, and answered to the name Qiaoying.

Her first thoughts were that she was in some sort of movie set, or someone was playing a weird prank on her. But her surroundings were so alive, so realistic that it didn't seem staged. For a moment, she entertained the possibility of her having gone back in time.

But of course, that's not scientifically possible.

"We're here, Miss."

"This is... the Eighth Prince's Manor?" Xuefeng read off the plaque hanging above the door.

"Of course it is, where else would we be? Go on in, Miss." Qiaoying looked deadly serious, clearly not expecting the hesitation. She stared at Xuefeng in utter confusion.

Xuefeng gulped and raised a foot to climb the stairs. But she paused, turned to Qiaoying and asked, "Qiaoying, I'm gonna ask you a few questions, they might sound silly but just answer them, okay? Firstly, what's my name?"

"H-How can I say that, Miss, it's disrespectful!"

"Just answer the question! I take no offence. What is my name?"

"M—Maertai Xuefeng," she stuttered.

Xuefeng. It's strange; whoever this girl is, not only do we share the same face, but also the same first name...

"Why am I here? As in, who am I, to be entering the Eighth Prince's Manor?"

Qiaoying's brow knotted. "How could you not know? Your older sister is concubine to the Eighth Prince, you've been living with her for the past three months already!"

"Last question, Qiaoying. Who is the emperor now?"

"Have you lost your mind? It's Emperor Kangxi, of course. Who else can it be?"

Oh sh*t.

Her head throbbed as darkness enveloped her eyes, and Xuefeng blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't know what happened, she just fainted right at the doorstep after asking me some weird questions..." Xuefeng registered Qiaoying's voice as the world around her started to take shape.

Colours. Dark red, blue and purple, to be exact.

"What questions?" came a smooth and soothing voice of a woman.

"What her name is, where this place is, who the emperor is..."

Xuefeng groaned.

"Miss Xuefeng has regained consciousness!" cried a maid as Xuefeng cracked opened her heavy eyelids.

"How are you?" came the owner of the velvety voice as her face came into view.

The woman was extremely beautiful. Her skin was olive and smooth and her hair was dark ebony and silky. Xuefeng recognised the headpiece she wore as a qitou 旗头, a Qing dynasty hairstyle for married women. It was larger and grander than the one Xuefeng herself sported (she deduced that Maertai Xuefeng was unmarried), embellished with purple flowers and blue pins that matched her dress of the same colours.

"Who are you?" asked Xuefeng.

"Miss Xueyin, That's how Miss Xuefeng was asking me questions!" exclaimed Qiaoying.

The woman's face did show not any emotions as she replied calmly, "I am your older sister, Maertai Xueyin. I am the concubine of the Eighth Prince. It is now the 49th year and 5th month of Emperor Kangxi's reign. The physician said that you might have experienced some memory loss when you fainted outside. Don't think too much and just rest well, okay? I will take care of you." She clasped Xuefeng's hands, enveloping them in a comforting warmth.

Xuefeng nodded weakly, re-entertaining the thought that she had indeed, gone back in time. Everything was too real, too tangible, and years of experience as an athlete told her that the truth in this woman's voice could not be faked.

She realised two things:
One, I'm a time traveller.
Two, I really need sleep.

"Miss Xueyin?" called Xuefeng, drowsiness clouding her mind.

"Just call me Xueyin, my dear. We are sisters, you may drop the formalities."

"Xueyin? Who am I?"

Xueyin looked her in the eye, cradling her face gently in her warm hands.

"You are Maertai Xuefeng, my younger sister."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~