Morning sunlight poured through the silk curtains, warm and golden.
林树敏 (Lín Shùmǐn) blinked awake, groaning softly.
Her neck ached, her pride stung, and her brain—well, that was on strike.
"Note to self…" she muttered. "Next time, skip royal-dinner diplomacy."
From beside her bed came the clink of porcelain. 舒嫣 (Shū Yān) knelt quietly, holding a steaming bowl.
"My lady," she said carefully, "please drink this."
Shumin squinted. "What is it?"
"…Medicine. For calming the brain."
"For my brain? Why?"
"It helps with… confusion," Shu Yan said, then added under her breath, "and delusions."
"You think I'm crazy!"
Shu Yan stayed silent which said plenty.
Shumin sighed. "One dinner disaster and I'm suddenly the palace lunatic."
She sniffed the bowl. "What is this made of? Old socks and despair?"
"Ginseng and lotus."
"Tell ginseng to mind its business."
"My lady," Shu Yan tried gently, "you've been speaking strangely ..about fate, fan clubs, and matchmaking His Majesty…"
Shumin hesitated. Maybe it's time to tell her the truth.
"Shu Yan… what I'm about to say might sound insane but it's true."
The maid's eyes widened. "You're not possessed, are you?"
"No! …I think."
"I'm not really from here."
Shu Yan blinked. "You mean… another palace?"
"No, another world."
Silence.
Then Shu Yan whispered, "Another… world?"
"Yes! A place with tall buildings, metal carriages, boxes that show moving people..."
"You were a goddess!"
"What..no, I was just..."
"Only a goddess could descend to the mortal realm and speak nonsense so confidently!"
"…That's not wrong," Shumin admitted.
"So Heaven sent you for a reason?"
"Probably?"
"What reason?"
"I don't know! I was reading a story...my favorite one and suddenly woke up here. No light, no death, just poof!"
Shu Yan gasped. "Heaven works in mysterious ways."
"Yeah, mysterious and inconvenient."
After a pause, Shumin smiled faintly.
"Maybe I'm here to fix something. To change how their story ends."
"By… risking your life?"
"By giving them their happy ending," she said firmly.
"His Majesty and the Queen deserve love."
Shu Yan sighed, rubbing her temples. "Heaven truly sent the boldest goddess."
"Correction..boldest reader."
"That's… not better."
Then, as she gathered the empty bowl, Shu Yan looked back at her mistress
still clearly confused, yet her expression softened.
"My lady… I don't understand half of what you said,
" she admitted quietly, "but I believe you."
Shumin's smile turned warm. "That's enough."
---
Later that morning, brushing her hair, she caught her reflection in the bronze mirror calm, composed, too regal for the chaos inside.
"If fate dragged me into this story," she murmured, "I might as well rewrite it..for them… and maybe for me."
A breeze slipped through the window, stirring the drapes.
And somewhere, faint and distant, a voice whispered:
"To change fate, Shumin… means paying a price of your own."
She blinked. "Okay, creepy narrator, noted."
But her reflection in the mirror smiled half a heartbeat after she did.
The mirror's faint smile faded when Shumin blinked. She shook her head.
"Too much ginseng… definitely hallucinating."
A sharp knock on the door cut her thought short.
Shu Yan hurried to open it. A palace messenger bowed deeply.
"By order of His Majesty," he said, "Concubine Wen is to remain in her quarters until further notice."
Shumin frowned. "Huh? Why?"
The messenger didn't answer...only bowed again and left swiftly.
Shu Yan looked worried. "My lady… did you anger him again?"
Shumin puffed her cheeks. "I was born angering people, apparently."
But once the door closed, her expression changed.
'Li Zhan… he's keeping me here?'
She sat on the edge of the bed, thinking hard.
"Maybe he's suspicious… or maybe..wait..what if he's reflecting on my words?"
Shu Yan's brow twitched. "You mean when you said he needs to fall in love with the Queen?"
"Exactly!" Shumin said brightly. "Maybe he's realizing I'm right."
Shu Yan sighed. "Or realizing you're insane."
---
Meanwhile .. In the Emperor's Study ---
The sound of rain tapped against the window lattice.
李湛 (Lǐ Zhàn) stood with his back to the door, one hand behind him, the other tracing a single jade token on his desk.
A shadow knelt beside him.
"Your Majesty," the guard said, "the Cold Palace remains quiet. Concubine Wen behaves… oddly, but not dangerously."
Li Zhan's gaze lingered on the jade piece.
"Oddly?"
"She speaks of strange realms, My Lord. Places without horses, with carriages that move by themselves."
A pause.
"She also claims… to know Your Majesty's destiny."
The jade token cracked faintly under his thumb.
"Destiny?" he repeated coldly.
The guard swallowed hard. "Yes, Your Majesty. She said she was sent to 'fix the story.'"
Li Zhan turned slowly, his eyes sharp as ice.
"She speaks as if she knows the future."
"Perhaps she is delusional, sire."
"Perhaps," he murmured.
But his gaze dropped again to the desk
to the small ink drawing he'd made absentmindedly that morning.
A woman with a faint smile.
A face disturbingly similar to Concubine Wen.
He clenched the paper in his hand.
'What are you hiding, strange woman?'
---
In the Queen's Chamber ---
顾昭瑶 (Gù Zhāoyáo) listened in silence as her attendant whispered the latest palace gossip.
"So she...Concubine Wen..planned the dinner? Herself?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And His Majesty… didn't punish her?"
The maid hesitated. "He… only ordered her confined."
Gu Zhāoyáo smiled faintly, the expression too calm to be comforting.
"Interesting. A forgotten concubine suddenly has his attention."
Her hand paused over her embroidery frame.
"What else?"
"She mentioned Heaven, Your Majesty. Said she was here to 'help your love story.'"
Zhaoyao's needle stilled.
For a long moment, she said nothing. Then her lips curved slightly.
"To help us?"
Her tone was soft but her eyes, dark as a lake before a storm, held something unreadable.
"Prepare an invitation," she said finally. "Tomorrow, I'll have tea with Concubine Wen."
---
Back in the Cold Palace ---
Shu Yan peeked through the window as thunder rolled in the distance.
"My lady," she whispered, "the Queen's envoy is coming tomorrow."
Shumin's head popped up from the scroll she was doodling on.
"Eh? The Queen wants to see me?"
"Yes."
Shumin froze, then grabbed Shu Yan's shoulders.
"Do you know what this means? It's happening!"
"What is?"
"The Queen finally notices me!
the friendship subplot starts!"
"My lady," Shu Yan said weakly,
"I don't think the Queen's interested in subplots."
Shumin ignored her, eyes glittering.
"I'll impress her with sincerity, loyalty, and..." she glanced down at her ink-stained sleeves,
"...maybe not this outfit."
Shu Yan sighed deeply, muttering to herself, "Heaven save me from my lady's plans."
---
Outside, the storm clouds thickened, lightning flashing briefly over the palace roofs.
Inside, Shumin laughed softly, excitement bubbling in her chest.
"Tomorrow," she whispered to herself, "the real story begins."
She didn't see the mirror behind her
the faint flicker in its reflection, where her smile appeared half a second late again.
---