☽༓・*˚⁺‧͙ MEET THE MUSE 3/? // SHEN LANZHOU 🦊🩸
ᴘᴇʀsᴏɴᴀʟs ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇʙʟᴏɢ !
❝ Devil, bastard, stray dog, vile beast. You're right, I'm all of them. I'm the devil who climbed my way out of the Chashi sinkhole, the bastard Shen Wei left behind after he burned himself to death, the stray dog without a home to return to, and the vile beast reviled by thousands. Shisu, I'm so delighted you know me so well. ❞
Shen Zechuan was once as a pitiful, traumatized teenager and sole surviving member of his family name who was tortured by the imperial court for suspected treason after his father withdrew the army during a massacre and killed himself in a house fire out of shame. Spared a death by flogging by the good graces of the Empress Dowager, his misfortune only continued when the upcoming son of a rival clan named Xiao Chiye rode by upon his horse and dealt him a kick in the chest that rendered him an invalid. Banished to the far reaches of the imperial city Qudu, Shen Zechuan spent five years under house arrest in a temple, largely forgotten or detested by the empire.
The truth of the matter was that he had little to no relationship with his father, a lecherous man who had many offspring, Shen Zechuan had been raised by a martial artist close to the family, whose son died in that horrible sinkhole battle. Shen Zechuan was fortunate to have his shifu live with him during the five years locked away, where they hatched many a ways to wipe his slate clean. In Shen Zechuan’s mind, it was time to plot out how he would destroy and kill the men in power that day who sought to torture and even end his life.
Five years passed quickly and Shen Zechuan emerged to have the appearance of a fragile young man in his twenties -- a façade by heavy intakes of elixirs to hide his martial prowess. To the imperial court, his beauty caught the attention of many. Described as thin and cold, wearing long billowing sleeves, his eyes thin and long and upturned in the corners in a very bewitching manner. He also seen sporting a fathomless smile and a single red earring from his right ear. Shen Zechuan’s appearance and reemergence into society caused many to think men would go to war for him ; kingdoms would collapse. Unfortunately the path to victory and power for him started with a meager station as an imperial bodyguard to Domesticated Elephants in the capital ...
But Shen Zechuan used his unassuming appearance and lowly station to mask his cunning nature, and ruthlessly cut down through political schemes and risky ventures his enemies and even managed to rescue the emperor from an assassination until he earned himself the role of an Imperial Judge to Vice Commander, and finally to a Prefectural Lord of the Zhangbo territory.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing, Shen Zechuan endures the shame of his family name to climb to the top, living at all costs with every intention of securing victory over those who would trample him again.
genre tags: drama, historical, court politics, intrigue, schemer type