Qin Yi

Qin Yi (秦衣) is a character that appears in Shining Nikki.

Appearance
Qin Yi has short black hair and a distinctive red birthmark beneath his right eye. He wears a two-toned black and light silver full-body changshan with faint leaf patterns at the bottom. He also carries a fan. He's known for being extremely handsome, and even has fanclubs dedicated to him.

Personality
Qin Yi enjoys acting and watching movies. He is also a talented designer.

History
Qin Yi, considered by many to be "Cloud's superstar", was well known for his first performance, a drama called "Past Years, Clear Dreams" (白芷清场). The outfits used in the play were also all designed by him. When he was younger, he was part of strict acting troupes with harsh punishments for doing things like makeup wrong.

Year 0
Under Zhou and Little Hai's assistance, Nikki went to Qingyun City to solve a riddle regarding a powerful designer and a magnolia flower. The person who could help her solve it would be known as the "decoder". Along with A-huan and Momo, they came across a strange man who they suspected was controlled by the Black Vulture. Nikki attempted to use styling power to wake him up, but he continued to act erratically. He almost stabbed A-huan before Qin Yi stepped in and woke up the man.

The three of them recognized him at once from the posters around Qingyun City. He made sure they weren't hurt, and Nikki noticed he must have a strong styling power since he had easily been able to wake up the controlled man. She asked him about the snowstorm in the city, and Qin Yi said that it was likely related to the controlled man.

A-huan volunteered herself and Nikki in order to help him investigate the out-of-season snowstorm that was occurring and make sure the upcoming Flower Festival went off without a hitch. They all wanted to see the flowers in Qingyun City bloom, but Qin Yi pointed out that the flowers had already bloomed beneath the snow. He gave them his business card and told them to contact him if they had any leads.

Nikki, A-huan, and Momo decided to go to Qin Yi's show that afternoon, which was well-attended due to his fanclub. While they were watching the show, Nikki had a vision instead of his play "Past Years, Clear Dreams" which featured the young Qin Yi (his designer's shadow). He spoke to her candidly, asking if she was going to act out the play with him, but suddenly the sound of applause brought Nikki back to the present.

The next day, Nikki was still interested in solving the riddle about the magnolia flower that Zhou and Xiao Hai had told her about. Qin Yi, who was on his way to visit Yexiao, overheard her talking about it and decided to greet her. Nikki asked him about where she could find a magnolia flower in bloom, and Qin Yi took a branch off a nearby tree and held it in his hand. A flower began to bloom instantly from the bud, surprising Nikki as she realized he was the "decoder" to the riddle. He passed her the branch and the flower disappeared, as he assured her that they were not enemies.

Qin Yi noticed that somebody was following them and offered to take them to the theater. While he was showing her around the props, the lights suddenly went out, and when they came back on, the Black Vulture had captured Nikki. He used Nikki as a hostage in an attempt to lure out the decoder, who he recognized as Qin Yi. However, Qin Yi expertly used the props on the stage to trap the Black Vulture and cause him to release Nikki. Qin Yi accused him of causing the snowstorm, but the Black Vulture told him to wait until the day of the Flower Festival before using an explosive to escape.

Nikki revealed to Qin Yi that she had the real manuscript that Black Vulture was trying to decode, and that Black Vulture's was a fake. Qin Yi told her that he couldn't help her decode it, but instead asked a favor. On the day of the Flower Festival, he asked that she play the role of herself, a girl who brought spring to Qingyun City. Along the parade route he'd prepared, she would pass by all of the puppets put into place by Black Vulture, and she would use her styling power to help wake them up. He prepared Nikki to appear in advertisements as if she was also a member of the performance, doing her makeup while gently telling her about his past.

Several days later, the Flower Festival began. Qin Yi helped Nikki onto the parade float and assured her that he would have people protecting her. She begins to wake up Black Vulture's puppets using her styling battle before she was taken back to the vision of Qin Yi's first play, "Past Years, Clear Dreams", except this time she was the one wearing his suit. The young Qin Yi crushed a butterfly on his fingertips, and she was taken back to the present, where the snow in Qingyun City had begun to melt and the flowers bloom.

Nikki and Momo suddenly noticed that all of Black Vulture's puppets that she hadn't woken up yet had started to move towards one direction; the stage where Qin Yi and A-Huan were. There was still some snow there, and Black Vulture and his puppets swarm Qin Yi on the stage, bringing with them a fierce blizzard. Qin Yi told Nikki that only she could defeat him. She tried her best, but it was too difficult to wake everyone from the mind control. Just then Qin Yi's younger self, the designer's shadow, appeared again. He told Nikki that it was time to wake up from the dream before fading away. The real Qin Yi walked across the stage through the blizzard, suddenly looking cold as the rest of the snow melts around him.

Qin Yi revealed that he had the power to put people under illusions, and that he wasn't actually the decoder - only that he played the role to Nikki. He demanded that she hand over the manuscript, but Nikki decided instead to wake up A-Huan, who is under Qin Yi's control. However, her efforts were unsuccessful even though she wins, and A-Huan began to bleed.

Qin Yi told Nikki that the world was controlled by those with strength, rather than by beauty or pain. He asked again for the manuscript, and Nikki, realizing it was her only way to save the injured A-Huan, handed it over. However, he told her then that she took too much time and that A-Huan couldn't be woken up. He took the manuscript and left, the audience still under the impression that he had just put on a marvelous performance for the Flower Festival.

Yexiao
Qin Yi and Yexiao are friends, and Qin Yi comes to visit her where she lives outside of Qingyun City from time to time.

Mercury
In order to gain more power himself, Qin Yi wanted to use Mercury to establish himself further. When Mercury was invited to visit Cloud Empire, he invited Mercury to watch a new play. The play was written by Qin Yi himself specially for the occasion. The plot highly resembled Mercury's own background.

Trivia

 * Qin Yi can be seen wearing a suit that resembles Singing Phoenix in some of his artwork, which is a traditional outfit in Peking opera.