A Twist In The Tale

I got double-tagged by the Emperor and the Captain of the Imperial Guard to continue the epic saga of the blogbuster serial The 48 Concubines. Such a knotty problem to untangle as you see, the Emperor could not wait for his Captain and came up with a Chapter 8 of his own! Not to be outdone by his Emperor (or perhaps not liking the way the story went) the Captain came up with an alternative Chapter 8! So... two different Chapter 8s to follow-thru on. Which way shall I go? You wanna know? Read on...

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*narrator's voiceover*

Previously on The 48 Concubines... When we last left the Imperial Court, we were stunned with a series of shocking revalations. First, the appearance of an Empress spinning her devious plots behind a curtain of secrecy, then the alleged pining love of Prince Moh for Concubine W and their affair, which turned out to be false as the Prince claimed his love to be for Vai Ling alone. In a sudden twist, Concubine W was then accused of having an affair with Siu Kiong, the Imperial Executioner who was supposed to be a eunuch...

The Imperial Executioner claimed that he was actually named Siu Pao and was NOT having an affair with Concubine W but instead that he was her long lost brother... and merely happened to resemble the Imperial Eunuch Siu Kiong 100%. In the midst of it all, as Concubine W revealed her secret crush on Entertainer Wang, Siu Kiong walked in.

Being increasingly displeased at this turn of events and at the laxity of his Captain in allowing such ongoings in the Imperial Palace under his nose, the Emperor turned his wrath upon the Captain the very next day. He was to be demoted to Shoeshine Boy and banished to the island of the HooLooHuaHuas when Concubine A intervened with a devious plot of her own. Instead of banishment... the punishment would be to make the Captain a Eunuch of the Imperial Palace!

*cast credits roll before fading to the opening scene*

A gasp ran through the Imperial Hall at the Emperor's decree. The Captain moaned and looked to be on the verge of fainting, and the Texan Consigliere looked aptly pained at the mention of the little imperial tool in sympathy for a fellow male. Ouch. The Captain would not be sitting down for days after the procedure...

"Emperor, you have imprisoned the Imperial Executioner on charges of deceiving the Emperor by concealing his relationship with Concubine W," one of the guards pointed out. Siu Pao had been imprisoned and Concubine W banished to her quarters for blatantly confessing to having eyes for another man (Entertainer Wang) instead of her Emperor alone.

The Emperor stopped short and frowned at this. "Hmm, that's true."

The Captain looked up hopefully at this turn of events; maybe he would be saved! He looked upon Concubine A with mournful eyes, trying to communicate with her silently. How could this angel break his heart? After all that he had secretly and silently done for her, his angel lover... She was perfect in his eyes, but this... act of betrayal - of suggesting to the Emperor to make him a eunuch... Maybe banishment to the island of HooLooHuaHuas wasn't that bad after all. And he would be able to stick to his vegetarian diet there, unlike at the Imperial Palace where everything was sinful, tempting, deliciously good food.

But the Captain's little flicker of hope went out in a puff of flame when the Emperor pointed at the Imperial Doctor. "You can do it, Imperial Doctor! It's just like an amputation after all. A minor surgical procedure. Go bring your tools! And on second thoughts, bring out the former Imperial Executioner Siu Pao too. Kill two birds with one stone... We shall have it out with once and for all..." The Imperial Doctor hurried away to do the Emperor's bidding.

Moments later, the guards dragged in not one, but two Siu Paos. No one could distinguish between them both, the resemblance was so startling save for their clothes. A murmur ran through the Imperial Court at this turn of events.

"Your Imperial Highness, when we went to get Siu Pao from his cell, we found your Imperial Eunuch Siu Kiong attempting to trade places with Siu Pao so that he could escape! We apprehended them both."

The Emperor was getting more and more displeased by the second. First an aborted eunuch procedere and now this. Did nobody respect the Imperial Throne anymore? Something drastic had to be done. And he had more pleasurable things to do than hand out punishments... like returning to the Turtle Pool with his concubines and inspecting blue blue teis or planning the evening's games before bedtime.

"Where is the Empress? Let her deal with this," he ordered.

Upon hearing this, there was a wail from amongst the concubines and the crowd parted as a disheveled but still beautiful Concubine W pushed her way through. She had run all the way to the Imperial Court from the concubines quarters upon hearing that her brother Siu Pao was to be punished.

"Emperor, I beg you, let me speak!"

*scene fades to black and the words T O B E C O N T I N U E D appear*
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What could Concubine W want to say? And what would the Empress decree when she arrived? Would Concubine A succeed in her plot to keep the Captain around, albeit as a eunuch? Does the Captain still love Concubine A? Will the Imperial Doctor return and perform this minor surgical procedure? And what of Prince Moh, Vai Ling and Concubines M and C? Will they have a part to play in this? Who should continue with this tale? I think Concubine W should be given the chance to say her piece, so over to you...

(p.s. Can someone please inform Concubine W that she's been tagged? Thanks very much.)