Days in the Cold Palace crawled slower than a turtle on vacation.
林树敏 (Lín Shùmǐn) lay on her bed, staring at the cracked ceiling.
"Shu Yan," she said flatly. "I'm going to die."
Shu Yan looked up from mending a sleeve. "From what, my lady?"
"Boredom."
"You're under house arrest."
"House arrest is fine! But mental arrest? That's worse!"
Shu Yan sighed. "You're supposed to reflect on your actions."
"I did!" Shumin threw her arms wide.
"I reflected, repented, regretted and now I'm rebelling!"
Shu Yan froze. "You wouldn't…"
"I would."
---
An Hour Later
"My lady, this is a terrible idea," Shu Yan whispered, wringing her hands.
In front of the bronze mirror, Shumin tied her hair up, tucked it under a small cap, and grinned.
"Terrible ideas make the best stories," she declared.
She wore simple blue robes ...men's clothes borrowed (or possibly stolen) from the laundry yard.
"Do I look like a noble scholar?" she asked proudly.
Shu Yan squinted. "More like a lost errand boy."
"I'll take it!"
"But if His Majesty finds out...."
"Relax! I'm not doing anything treasonous. Just a small adventure!"
---
In the Market
The scent of roasted chestnuts and fresh ink filled the air.
Children ran past with paper kites, hawkers shouted about silk and sugar, and for the first time since her transmigration, Shumin felt alive.
"This is amazing!" she whispered, spinning once. "Actual fresh air!"
Shu Yan pulled her hood lower.
"Please don't draw attention."
But Shumin's eyes were already fixed on a small stand near the bridge.
An old lady, bent with age, sat among carved stones --pendants, charms, and talismans that shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
One stone caught her eye
half-moon shaped, pale and translucent.
"Pretty," Shumin murmured, walking closer. "How much for this one? nǎinai( Grand ma)"
The old woman looked up slowly, her eyes clouded yet sharp.
"That stone chooses its owner," she said. "Are you sure you want it?"
Shumin blinked. "It's a rock. I think I can handle it."
The woman smiled faintly.
"Whoever gifts it… will be bound to the receiver forever. Two souls, one thread."
"Perfect!" Shumin said brightly.
"I'll give it to the Queen. She can gift it to the King...bonding achieved!"
The old woman's smile didn't fade.
"No, child. You must give it to your desire one."
Shumin laughed awkwardly.
"My what now? I have no desire! I'm a side character!"
But when the woman's wrinkled fingers touched hers, something cold and electric ran up Shumin's arm.
Her vision flickered for a second ...
a ripple of blue light across her palm ...
gone as fast as it came.
She blinked. "What was that..."
But before she could finish, the air exploded with noise.
Horses shrieked.
People screamed.
A group of armed men charged through the market, slashing, stealing, overturning stalls.
Shu Yan's scream cut through the chaos. "My lady! Run!"
But Shumin froze, clutching the half-moon stone. Her heart thundered.
"I can't just run! They're hurting people!"
"This isn't your fight!"
"It's my market!" she snapped back and immediately regretted it.
A blade slashed too close. She stumbled back, heart pounding.
'Great, Shumin. Hero mode activated. Please enjoy your death scene.'
Still, she grabbed a wooden broom from a stall and brandished it with all the grace of a drunken goat.
"Stop right there, villains!" she shouted. "I'm armed and… slightly unstable!"
The bandits turned toward her.
One sneered.
"A boy with courage, eh?"
' Oh no. They think I'm a boy. Excellent. Let's keep that illusion alive.'
Shumin gulped, holding the broom tighter. "You'll regret this!"
"I already do," Shu Yan muttered, hiding behind a fruit cart.
The nearest bandit raised his sword. "Let's fix that mouth of yours."
Then it happened...
A blur of blue and silver swept between them.
Steel clashed. Sparks flew.
The attacker's blade never reached her.
A man stood before her now
tall, dressed in a blue robe, half his face covered by a dark mask.
His eyes--sharp, calm, and terribly familiar,
met hers.
He didn't look at her long, just enough to speak.
"Stand back, foolish lady."
"Lady?" she blurted. "How.....!!!"
"Your shoes are tied wrong," he said curtly, stepping forward.
"Only women tie them inward."
Shumin blinked.
"Okay, wow. Sherlock of the dynasty."
The stranger and his men made quick work of the attackers, blades flashing with disciplined precision.
Within minutes, the market was silent again
bandits either unconscious or fleeing.
Shumin exhaled shakily, heart still racing.
Shu Yan emerged from hiding, disheveled but safe.
The masked man turned to her. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I...mmm...thank you," she said quickly.
He studied her for a moment, gaze unreadable beneath the cloth.
"Don't do something this reckless again," he said simply.
Then, before she could reply, he took her wrist firm but not cruel and led her through the narrow streets toward the palace gates.
"Wait, what are you....hey....!!"
"Returning you where you belong," he said.
"How do you even know where I belong?"
"Your speech," he said. "You talk like someone who's never had to hide."
That shut her up.
When they reached the palace outskirts, he released her hand.
"Next time," he said softly, "don't play hero."
And with that, he turned and disappeared into the crowded street
like mist fading with dawn.
"MY LADY!" Shu Yan came running, tears streaming, throwing her arms around her. "I thought you were gone!"
"I'm fine," she said, though her heart hadn't stopped pounding.
"Who was that man?" Shu Yan asked breathlessly.
"I… don't know," Shumin whispered, glancing toward the empty road.
But deep inside, something tugged faintly
like an invisible thread connecting her to that masked gaze.
Then..
Her fingers searched her robe pocket, panic tightening her throat.
"The stone! Shu Yan, I lost it!"
"My lady, we nearly died!" Shu Yan panted. "Forget the rock!"
"But it was magical!" Shumin protested. "Or at least emotionally symbolic!"
" My lady please .....!!"
Shu Yan grabbed her arm.
"We have to leave before the guards see us!"
------
In the Cold Palace---
"See?" Shu Yan scolded, wringing out Shumin's damp sleeves.
"You could've been killed! Or arrested! Or worse....seen!"
Shumin sat meekly on the bed, hair disheveled.
"Technically, I was seen."
Shu Yan froze. "By whom?"
"Just that masked guy with anger issues and perfect sword form."
"My lady!"
Shumin sighed.
"Relax. He saved me, not stabbed me."
She glanced at her empty pocket again, heart sinking.
That stone. The promise of "forever."
Somehow, losing it felt heavier than it should have.
'It's probably safer with someone important.
Maybe that stone found its way to someone who actually needs it, she thought'
-----
Rain slid down the carved stone lions guarding the imperial gates.
Inside the study,
李湛 (Lǐ Zhàn),
sat beneath the lantern light, a small object resting in his palm
a half-moon stone, faintly glowing where a drop of blood had dried.
He turned it slowly between his fingers, expression unreadable.
' She was there… in the middle of that chaos.'
No one else in the palace knew that the masked man in blue had been the Emperor himself.
Li Zhan often left the palace in disguise, watching the city in silence
the only way he ever saw his people honestly.
But today had been different.
He'd gone to the market to investigate reports of unrest.
And there she was -- Concubine Wen, dressed as a boy, standing before armed bandits with a broom like it was a royal sword.
Reckless. Foolish.
And somehow, infuriatingly brave.
He remembered the look in her eyes
terrified but unyielding.
She had no idea the "masked man" was him.
Now, the half-moon stone he'd found in her torn robe pocket lay in his palm, cold and smooth.
He had picked it up almost without thinking, but the moment he'd touched it, warmth had pulsed beneath the surface, like a heartbeat.
A trinket from a street stall… yet why does it feel alive?
His guard entered quietly.
"Your Majesty, the concubine returned to her quarters safely. Shall I punish her for leaving confinement?"
Li Zhan closed his fist over the stone.
"No," he said after a long pause.
"Not yet."
He turned toward the window, watching the thin rain blur the lanterns outside.
' A forgotten concubine risks her life for strangers…
And never even realizes the man who saved her was her Emperor.'
His fingers tightened around the stone again.
"Concubine Wen,"
he murmured, the faintest curve of something like curiosity touching his lips,
"what kind of woman are you?"