Author's Note – These next few chapters will be set in the Qin Dynasty during the reign of the first Emperor. Although I am a historian, my specialty is not ancient China. However, I have made an effort in doing research for this story, but it is incomplete and I've had to borrow details from different dynasties. If anyone has more knowledge of the Qin Dynasty and would like to share or has spotted a mistake, then by all means please let me know in the reviews. Also, I have always viewed the Moon Kingdom culture and customs as being a mixture between Japanese, English, Greek, and Roman. This way although it is similar to Earth's cultures and related to them in many ways, the odd mixture makes it a little more alien than if it were pure Japanese or pure Roman.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Chapter 1

Lady Zhinu peeked out from behind the red curtain of her sedan at all the broad and dirty faces that passed her by. This was the first time she had ever seen Xianyang, the capital of their new empire. It was completely bewildering and astonishing and so many other words that Lady Zhinu did not know, but wished she did. The houses were packed tightly together and new ones were constantly being built. The city grew across the river bank, devouring the land like a swarm of locusts.

The people she saw looked just as poor and unkempt as the villagers from her own farming village. They were everywhere, holding up their wares, crying out to passerby – Live chickens! Melons for four banliang each! – in hopes of a sale. Lady Zhinu continued to scan her new home rapturously, taking in everything that it had to offer. She saw a couple of harried young students worrying over their upcoming exam, a young mother pulling on her wayward child, a line of weeping white-robed Confucian scholars marching toward some unknown destination…

Her eyes then fell upon a beautiful but strange woman. It was obvious to Lady Zhinu that this woman was of nobility; her silk gossamer gown was of the highest quality and of a fashionable black color, the color of water and of Qin. Her long green hair was piled high on top of her head and held in place by black and jade pins. What was she doing out here amongst the lower classes? Why was she not at the palace where she ought to be? The mysterious lady turned to look at her and Lady Zhinu shuddered as their eyes met. Lady Zhinu quickly closed the curtain and leaned back against her seat as the servants carried her sedan towards the palace. She was obviously a young woman, yet when Lady Zhinu looked into her eyes she appeared ancient, like some immortal goddess. The young girl pulled on her red silk robes nervously and did not dare look out the window again.

It was the year 20339 according to the Lunar Calendar, not that it mattered anymore. These poor Earth creatures had forgotten so much. Everything had been destroyed in the war and they had to rebuild from scratch. To these people, the day was marked as the 33rd year of the reign of the First Emperor. Others would later take a different approach, counting backwards from the birth of a man named Jesus. To them it was 213 B.C. It didn't matter to her what the date was called; she knew all the years. Sailor Pluto walked past the doomed Confucian scholars on their way to be buried alive and followed the sedan into the sprawling palace courtyard. She had smiled when she caught sight of Princess Serenity riding past; even in a different body, she recognized her instantly. There were differences between the Moon Princess and this Earth incarnation, of course. She was shorter now and too thin, her eyes a little too small and her ears were undersized. The mark of the Moon was gone from her forehead, but that was to be expected. She was just a mortal now, but once she awoke it will be restored. Despite the changes, it was obvious that she was a daughter of Selene. Her skin and hair were an unearthly white and her face was broad and round like the moon's. She was beautiful. She was the Princess.


Lady Zhinu could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest as she was led through the opulent palace. This was it. She was about to meet the Emperor. Was her hair a mess? Did she spill any tea on her dress? What if her breath smelled like garlic? Lady Zhinu thought she might die of embarrassment if she humiliated herself in front of the Emperor- that is, if he didn't execute her first.

The courtiers led Lady Zhinu into a room and saw the magnificently robed king seated in his chair, surrounded by ministers and advisors. Lady Zhinu immediately fell to her knees and lowered her head to the floor, kowtowing before the Emperor. Every time she lifted her head she snuck glances before lowering it once more in ritual. He was a portly man with a full beard, a long moustache, and upswept eyebrows. Not a handsome man, but not repulsive either. He appeared to be thoroughly average. What a thing to think about the Emperor of China! She hoped the gods didn't strike her down for it.

The Emperor gestured for her to rise and studied her face and figure intently. Lady Zhinu blushed hotly under the scrutiny, knowing full well that the blush would turn her pale skin a brilliant scarlet which just made her blush all the more. "So, the reports are true," the Emperor mused. "You are indeed as beautiful as they say."

Lady Zhinu lowered her head and hoped he did not see her tiny smile.

"She slouches," one of his ministers observes. "No doubt from all that farm work. Her posture needs to be corrected."

"She needs lessons on grace," another claimed. "Did you see the way she walked when she came in here? It was like she was stomping around in a field."

Lady Zhinu bit her lip. She wasn't that bad, was she?

"Where did she come from again?" The Emperor inquired as he looked between the men, searching the faces of his advisors for an answer.

"I came from a small village in Qi," Lady Zhinu immediately spoke up, happy to be useful. "It's so isolated that we didn't even know we had been conquered until last week!" Lady Zhinu laughed at that, but her laughter soon trailed off at the rather shocked expressions of the Emperor and his ministers. Lady Zhinu mentally berated herself. She must have said something stupid. She should make up for it somehow. Should she kowtow some more?

"Unless asked to, please refrain from speaking in such company," the Emperor chastised coldly. Lady Zhinu gulped at the hard expression of her new husband. The Emperor made a gesture to one of his ministers who immediately stepped out of the room. He returned a few seconds later with none other than that mysterious noblewoman Lady Zhinu had seen walking the streets of the city. How did she arrive here so quickly? It didn't seem possible! Lady Zhinu repressed a shiver. There was something not quite right about her. The strange woman kowtowed before the Emperor and looked impossibly elegant while doing so. Even as she bowed before him it seemed as though she should be the Emperor's superior, not his subject. "This is Lady Meng Po," the Emperor stated. "She is to instruct you and make you presentable to the court. Please, escort her to the women's quarters where the other concubines reside."

Lady Meng Po nodded and turned before the Emperor stopped her by calling out. "Oh, and do something with her speech! Her ignorant farm dialect is almost completely incomprehensible!"

Lady Zhinu huffed in annoyance as she followed Lady Meng Po deep into the palace compound.


Lady Zhinu followed Lady Meng Po into her rooms as her knees buckled and strained against her weight. All day Lady Meng Po had her practice walking and bowing and performing strange dances. Lady Meng Po called them "waltzes". Lady Zhinu just thought they were silly. She sincerely hoped the Emperor wouldn't want to dance with her. She wondered if stepping on the Emperor's foot while dancing could be considered an attack on his personage.

Lady Zhinu figured that the silly waltzes were probably just a way to punish her for falling asleep during her lesson on Daoism. Lady Meng Po had been quite mad- or, at least, Lady Zhinu assumed Lady Meng Po had been mad. It was so hard to tell with that woman. She never smiled, or frowned, or laughed and always spoke calmly, quietly, and evenly. The young girl was quite convinced that Lady Meng Po had no emotions. Perhaps she did at one point, Lady Zhinu mused. And this horrible palace with its rules and gossip just sucked all the life right out of her! Lady Zhinu sighed. She missed her home and her father and mother. She missed her village. She was stuck here in the concubine's palace unable to leave. The women had their own rooms and their own courtyard but that was it. That was the extent of their world. They were to remain shut up in this palace until the Emperor summoned them. She should have never agreed to become the Emperor's concubine. But when the Emperor summons you, what else are you to do but obey?

"Please, sit." Lady Meng Po gestured to the table. "I think it is time we cease our lessons for today and just enjoy a little bit company." Lady Zhinu collapsed in a graceless heap across from the older woman. Lady Meng Po arched an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. Instead, she returned her attention to the pouring of tea. Lady Zhinu looked curiously at the tea set before them. It looked… strange. She had never seen cups and a teapot that looked like that before. The white porcelain cups had delicate little handles and small plates underneath them. Painted on the sides was a curious-looking landscape that showed a silvery desert with towering white columns and a bizarre but magnificent palace.

"I wanted to share these with you," Lady Meng Po said over the rim of her own cup. Lady Zhinu saw how she held the handle delicately with her right hand and cradled the little plate with her left and immediately copied her movements, hoping that she did not look too ridiculous. "I am very fond of this set. I had it specially made when I arrived in Xianyang. This is how we drink tea in my country."

"Are you from Korea?" Lady Zhinu asked. She had known that Lady Meng Po was a foreigner, but could never figure out where she had originally come from.

Lady Meng Po shook her head, causing a few stray green strands to fall loose from her intricate bun. She gave Lady Zhinu a very slight, secretive smile. "No, my home is very far away. Now take a sip, don't slurp."

Sailor Pluto smiled again as the Princess did as she commanded, although the girl seemed more interested in the paintings on the cup than drinking the tea. The poor artist must have thought her quite mad when she described the scene she wanted decorated on the porcelain. Lady Zhinu held up the teacup for a better look at the lunar landscape. Her eyes soon became unfocused as she stared and her mouth fell open. Sailor Pluto leaned forward. Was this it? Was the Princess about to awaken? "Are you remembering something?" Sailor Pluto whispered.

"It's like looking inside a dream…" Lady Zhinu murmured. Suddenly her eyes became sharply focused again and the cup slipped from her hand. It crashed on the floor, spilling the tea and sending the broken shards of porcelain across the tiles. "I'm sorry!" Lady Zhinu wailed as she desperately began picking up the pieces. "It was an accident! I didn't mean to break your special cup!"

Sailor Pluto sighed. "It's alright, Lady Zhinu." She was a living goddess; money was no object for her. She could appear at any time and any place; acquiring things like money and teapots were not difficult for a being like her. Lady Zhinu, however, could not be dissuaded from her task. She moved across the floor on her hands and knees, mopping up the tea zealously. Sailor Pluto moved around the table to where Lady Zhinu squatted and grasped her hands tightly, stilling their frantic movements. "It is alright," Sailor Pluto insisted. "The cup means nothing. It is just an object." She gave the girl a small smile, hoping to put her at ease. The expression felt so strange on her face. She wasn't used to interacting with people; she had spent most of her life guarding the Space-Time Door, after all. She was never quite sure what expression was appropriate or what she should say, so she just kept quiet and strived to look elegant and calm and relaxed. She didn't want anyone to know how unsure she was when around other people.

Lady Zhinu looked up at her with watery eyes and smiled back. "Something very bad must have happened to you," the girl said suddenly.

Sailor Pluto blinked confusedly at the strange sentence. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you spend a lot of your time trying to be aloof, like you don't have any feelings, but you really are very sweet. I just thought that something bad must have happened for you to want to hide that."

"I suppose something bad to happen to me, but I'm alright now," Sailor Pluto said with a shrug.

"Of course you are! Because now you've got me as a friend!" Lady Zhinu grinned and Sailor Pluto couldn't help but smile widely back. The smile didn't even feel awkward this time.


Lady Zhinu wandered about the palace listlessly. Lady Meng Po had disappeared somewhere and she was bored. She's probably gone out into the city, Lady Zhinu grumbled in her own mind, jealous of the freedom Lady Meng Po enjoyed. No one told her that she couldn't leave the women's quarters; no one told her that she couldn't do what she wanted because she was a lady. Lady Zhinu suspected that all the courtiers were a little afraid of Lady Meng Po. She could understand that; she had been a little afraid of her in the beginning as well, before she had gotten to know her. Now, she was her only friend in this entire palace. All of the other concubines and ladies just made fun of her manners and speech; they didn't want anything to do with her.

"Lady Zhinu!"

Lady Zhinu stopped and turned to face Lady Bao as she approached her. From far away Lady Bao was a vision of beauty. The graceful way she moved, the long, black shiny hair, the white skin… one would think that they had stumbled upon a goddess. In truth, Lady Bao was beautiful only when she was far away. The moment you got close to her you could see the crooked, yellow teeth and the large nose and the double-chin. "I heard that the Emperor has yet to summon you!" Lady Bao said with fake concern. "I have never heard of such a thing! To acquire a new concubine and yet refuse to take her to bed? My goodness! And you've been here for a month now already and still no word from the Emperor?"

Lady Zhinu ground her teeth but gave Lady Bao her politest smile. "Yes. That's right."

Lady Bao gave her a wicked smile and Lady Zhinu thought it was like looking at a shark. A shark that had been punched in the face one too many times. "How terrible! I do hope the Emperor hasn't changed his mind about you. I think I would commit suicide if the Emperor sent me home in shame."

"Lady Bao, you do not know how happy those words would make many people here feel."

Lady Zhinu looked up to see a tall, beautiful man approach them. He looked elegant in his expensive robes, thick black hair, and large dark eyes. There was an odd fragrance that clung to him and seemed to linger in the air. It smelled like the rich black earth, dark and heady. Lady Zhinu would have been quite smitten, but only one type of man was allowed to enter the women's quarters unsupervised: he was a eunuch.

"Niulang," Lady Bao greeted stiffly. "Still sneaking about, I see. So, what do your little reports say about us this time, hm?"

"They say that the Emperor hasn't spoken to you – much less thought about you – in six years," Niulang quipped. Lady Bao turned scarlet at the words, shooting worried looks between Lady Zhinu and Niulang, before stomping away in embarrassment. Niulang smiled encouragingly at Lady Zhinu. "Don't worry about Lady Bao. She's worried that she'll be the one sent home."

Lady Zhinu watched Lady Bao turn the corner, her hunched shoulders shaking with unseen tears. "How horrible that must be for her."

"Well, she's not a very nice person."

"Still, it must be hard not to be pretty."

Sailor Pluto rounded the corner as she listened to the excited chatter of her new servant, Ai. She had spotted the poor street girl during one of her walks through the city and had recognized her immediately. There was an ethereal glow about her that made her shimmer like gold, a mark of a Venusian. The girl who had once been Sailor Venus in a past life pointed to each new thing she saw, completely forgetting her new station as a servant girl. Sailor Pluto didn't mind; unlike the Princess, she had never met Sailor Venus in life, but she had watched her from the Space-Time Door. She had always seemed so full of life, so exciting and interesting. She was glad that Ai hadn't lost that.

Sailor Pluto stopped dead in the hallway as she saw Lady Zhinu laughing and talking with an eunuch. It appeared that Queen Serenity not only insured the reincarnation of her daughter and royal guards, but also that of the Earth Prince Endymion.

"What is it, Lady Meng Po? Is something wrong?" Ai asked.

Sailor Pluto led the girl away. "If I were to ask you to spy on someone, would you do it?"

A funny, little expression cross her face. It spoke of mischief. Sailor Pluto almost regretted asking her. "Of course," Ai proclaimed. "This sounds so exciting! I can wear a disguise!"

"I do not believe that will be necessary. Do you see that eunuch there? He is not to be trusted," Sailor Pluto explained. "I need you to watch him and report to me whenever you see him with Lady Zhinu."

Ai nodded, determined to please her new mistress. Sailor Pluto threw one last worried glance at the pair. Their love caused the fall of the Moon Kingdom; it was dangerous. She could not allow Princess Serenity to fall again, to be trapped in this endless cycle of reincarnation, all because of the Earth Prince. Sailor Pluto had a duty to her kingdom.