Chapter 15: The Empress

The next day

Xi bie arrived at the audition well- rested with shen fie .

After a while she was told to go to the costume room for a make over.

She was to dress in a traditional costume as the movie CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER was a movie taken from the last line of the Qi dynasty poem written by the rebel leader Emperor Huang Chao who was also the Emperor of the Qi dynasty that was at war against the later Tang dynasty.

The script was written personally by the director. It was said that director Zhang yimou was very selective and strict with his casts so the rate for his auditions are always very low.

The plot was mainly about THE EMPRESS (Queen in Chinese version) and the EMPEROR (King in Chinese version).

On the eve of the Double ninth festival, the emperor and the second of his three sons, prince jai return from their military campaign to Nanjing so they can celebrate the holiday with their family. However the empress has been in an affair with the first son, crown prince wan, who was born of the Emperor's previous wife. At the same time, the crown prince wan has been in an affair with Jiang chan, the daughter of the imperial doctor, and is Keen on rejecting the throne so that he may run away with her.

Prince jai notices the declining health of his mother, and his confused by her sudden interest in chrysanthemums, the golden flowers. The empress explains that the tea she drinks has been poisoned for sometime by the Emperor, but she is planning a rebellion to overthrow him. Prince jai agrees to be the leader of the rebellion. The Empress hires a mysterious woman to discover the type of poison which she is suffering from, but the woman is captured by Crown prince wan and taken to the Emperor. As it happens, the woman is Jiang shi, the imperial Doctor's wife, whom the Emperor imprisoned a while ago and who was believed dead, but somehow escaped. The Emperor decides to pardon her and to promote the imperial Doctor to governor of Suzhou. When the Crown prince wan meets with Jiang chan to say goodbye, she informs him that the Empress has woven 10,000 scarves with golden flower sigils. Crown prince wan confronts the Empress, and when she admits to planning a rebellion, he is anguished, and tries to kill himself with a knife but survives.

On the way to Suzhou, the imperial Doctor's household is betrayed and attacked by the Emperor's black assassins, resulting in his death. Jiang shi and Jiang chan ran back to Nanjing and confront the Emperor, who refuses to answer, where upon the Empress explains to Jiang chan that Jiang shi was the Emperor's first wife and Crown prince Wan's mother, meaning that Jiang chan and the Crown prince Wan are half - siblings. Jiang chan is horrified by the news and ran away from the palace.

Jiang shi Chase's after her, whereupon both are murdered by more assassins. At this point, the third son, prince Yu, suddenly murders crown prince wan and reveals he has been aware of the corruption of both the Emperor and the Empress. Summoning a group of his own soldiers, prince Yu demands the Emperor abdicate and offer him the throne. However, even more assassins descend from the ceiling, and they easily defeat prince Yu's soldiers. The emperor proceeds to whip prince Yu using his death belt.

Meanwhile, the outer square of the palace is assaulted by 10,000 soldiers wearing golden armour and golden flower sigils, with prince jai in the lead. They overpowered the assassins and proceeded to the inner square of the palace, trampling upon the bed of golden flowers arranged for the ceremony. However, the thousands of silver armoured soldiers appear, being the reserve army of the Emperor, bearing shields, spikes, and the bow - and - arrows, and they slaughter the golden soldiers down to the last man. Prince jai rises from the sea of bodies and is taken captive . Behind him, the courtyard is cleaned with mechanical efficiency by a legion of servants, with bodies being removed, floors  being replaced, Making it seem as if the entire rebellion never happened. At midnight, the double ninth festival begins as scheduled. At the table, the Emperor expresses disappointment with prince jai saying that he was already planning to give prince jai the throne . Prince jai says that he did not rebel to obtain the throne, but for his mother's sake. The Emperor responds by offering to pardon Prince jai if he cooperates in the Empress's poisoning. Prince jai refuses and killed himself, and as he does so, his blood spilled into another cup of poisoned tea that has been brought to the Empress, turning the tea red. Horrified, the Empress slaps the tea away, and the liquid is shown to corrode the table's wood, along with the golden flower image engraved into the wood.

After an hour, Xi bie stepped out of the room in costume. Everyone became silent, even the other competitors felt defeated except a certain someone who was clenching her fist at the other side of the hall.

    " Sister chan wan don't mind that evil vixen she is nothing compared to you, you are still the best A- Lister celebrity in Halen entertainment , she is just a mere rookie trying to pry her way to the top, I heard she slept with some investors to have this Audition". Her assistant said trying to suck up to her.

Chan wan heard that and her expression soften .

Dressed in a red traditional costume, Xi bie's ooze elegance and nobility, the her expression gave a description of the falling queen, her pale face gave a feeling of being in bad health and a struggle of survival but it did not seem to hide her entire beauty.

The director stared at her ethereal appearance and was stunned. There was an ancient saying  about the beautiful queen who feel to her doom. He felt as if they have gone back to the Qi dynasty.

Just by standing there, Xi bie embodied the idea of her character, the empress. She was beautiful and alluring and had the attention and hatred of all. A smile from her and any man will fall on their kneels.

Xi bie jolted them out of their thought when she said" Director am ready".

She was to perform the Empress last dance THE CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER .

This was the hardest part because what matters most was the interpretation of the whole movie, in this part the queen was masked in a solemn expression at the beginning of the dance, her face was void of an emotion  but in the middle, she is masked with betrayer, loss and shattered hope, at the end of the dance she was to kill herself with the king's golden dagger...and this expression determine most of the dance..as the queen will smile with tears in her face and flowers in her mouth bringing a curse to the kingdom before stabbing her self and fallen at the Emperor's feet.

Xi bie finished her  performance and the whole hall was quiet. Xi bie was still immersed in her role as she stood up with tears in her face. Her performance was flawless and most artist has started wiping off their tears . They felt they had gone back to the time when the Qi dynasty fought earnestly with the Tang dynasty.

The word was true, the alluring curse of the golden flower.

Chan wan was so angry that her face turned green and walked out angrily from the hall.