魏婴 Wei Ying | 魏无羡 Wei Wuxian (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laughitoff) wrote2022-09-02 05:03 pm
laughitoff) wrote2022-09-02 05:03 pm
palace misc
cw for memories: gore, whipping, torture, war crimes, emasculation, cannibalism, lots of undead/ghost/zombie nonsense, lots of body horror, lots of corpses and corpse bits in uncomfortable places
the whipping boy (lotus pier main hall)
-
There's a woman -- Wang Lingjiao -- standing in your sect's main hall, dressed in a rich but tawdry way. She's smirking at your aunt, who gazes back at her with a cold, unrevealing expression. "Today," she says, "I'm representing the Wen Sect and young master Wen. I'm here to punish someone."
You feel your heart skip a beat as she points at you.
“On Dusk-Creek Mountain," she declares, "this brat made rude remarks while Young Master Wen fought the Tortoise of Slaughter, causing many disturbances. He made the master tired, so he lost his sword and nearly lost against the beast!"
Your brother laughs, hard and furious (as well he might! You and Lan Zhan fought the beast; what is this bullshit?) You're thinking fast, though. The Wen sect waited for a day Jiang Fengmian was away from the town. They timed this audacious display on purpose.
Wang Lingjiao's still spinning her tall tale. “How lucky! The Heavens blessed Young Master Wen. Even though he lost his sword, he was able to safely take down the Tortoise of Slaughter. Still, we really can’t tolerate this brat's behavior any longer! Madam Yu, please punish him harshly and make him an example for the rest of your sect!"
Jiang Cheng tries to intervene, even as you're steeling himself. "Mom..."
“Shut your mouth!” cries Madam Yu.
Wang Lingjiao's pleased by her reaction. “Wei Ying, if I remember correctly, is a servant of the Jiang Sect, isn’t he? Without Sect Leader Jiang present, I’m sure his wife would know what's best to do here. Otherwise, if the Jiang Sect insists on defending him, it’d really make people suspect...if certain rumors are true. Haha!"
Madam Yu's face darkens. Jiang Cheng rallies. “What rumors?!”
Wang Lingjiao continues to giggle. “You ask what rumors? Of course they have to do with Sect Leader Jiang's old romantic ties, no?”
Your fists clench. She can make up stories about you, but not about your family! “You…”
Pain explodes in your back, and the air wheezes out of your lungs as your knees buckle. Madam Yu winds a coil of her lightning-laced whip around her hands, mouth hard and set.
“Mom!” Jiang Cheng cries again.
“Jiang Cheng, move out of the way, or you’ll be kneeling too!”
You've got to stop this. “Jiang Cheng," you gasp, "move over! Don’t worry about me!”
Madam Yu lashes you again, gritting her words out between each crack of the whip. “I’ve said--since long ago, that you--you unruly thing! I said you would bring trouble to the Jiang Sect, sooner or later!”
You push Jiang Cheng out of the way as the blows rain down. You can't bear this, but you've got to. If the punishment doesn't satisfy Wang Lingjiao and those behind her, this threat won't go away...!
The memory blurs, something like static sizzling in your head, and then resumes on a different scene.
You're sitting in a boat by one of the docks, your back still mortally burning from the whip wounds. The edges of Lotus Pier have been set ablaze in the distance, the fire creeping in towards the Jiang compound. Madam Yu removes a silver ring--her spiritual weapon--from her finger, and slides it onto your brother's.
His face is soot-streaked, wild with alarm. “Mom, why are you giving me Zidian?”
"It's yours from now on," she says. "Zidian has already recognized you as its master.”
"What? Won’t you be leaving with us?"
Another brief, static blur.
Your aunt pushes your brother into the boat after you. He tries to leap out again after her, but lightning sparks from the ring on his hand, coalescing into a rope that binds the two of you together. You close your eyes in pain.
“Mom, what are you doing?!”
“Don’t make such a fuss. It’ll loosen up when you’re somewhere safe. If anyone attacks you on the journey, it’ll protect you as well. Don’t come back. Go to Meishan straight away and find your sister!”
-
[In the memory's wake, Madam Yu's tall, imposing figure stands on the dais. She's an unmoving ghost of the woman you saw in the memory. A vast wound has been gouged into her stomach.]