EMPEROR ZHOU
For two weeks, I sought every chance to meet Bao Si, and she did not refuse me. Each moment with her drew me further in, until she filled my thoughts entirely, leaving me no peace day or night.
Her beauty was cold, distant, unyielding. She spoke softly yet carried an aura that demanded attention. Every gesture she made was refined, precise, and controlled. She was like a winter blossom—fragile, perfect, untouchable.
I wanted her.
But sometimes… her cousin slipped into my thoughts instead. Bao Ji.
She could not be compared to Bao Si.
Shy. Timid. A girl who could blend into the shadows so easily you'd forget she existed. I almost did.
Almost.
There was only one moment that refused to leave my mind.
One moment I could not forget, no matter how much I tried.
A moment that should not exist.
The timid girl had lifted her head once—just once—to look at me.
And I saw something impossible.
Right eye: shy, frightened, delicate.
Left eye: blazing, fierce, alive—belonging to someone else entirely.
As if two people were sharing one body.
It was the strangest thing I had ever seen.
Only a heartbeat long.
But enough to carve itself into my memory.
I tried to dismiss it.
Tried to forget.
Yet every day at court, I caught myself drifting.
Queen Shen spoke to me twice before realising I wasn't listening at all.
Ministers droned on, and my mind kept slipping back to that single, fractured gaze.
My thoughts were already full of Bao Si—her beauty, her poise—
so I made my decision.
For my birthday banquet, I ordered invitations to be sent far and wide.
Including the Bao family.
THE BIRTHDAY BANQUET
The hall glittered in gold and crimson. Silk banners hung from the ceiling; lantern light bounced off polished floors. Musicians played softly in the corner, and the air was thick with incense and murmured conversations.
Then the Bao clan entered.
Bao Si—
poised perfection.
Graceful, cold, mesmerising. She moved like she had been born to walk these halls. Just seeing her again made my chest tighten with a strange kind of greed.
Next to her stood Bao Ji.
Pale.
Trembling.
Barely able to stand.
She bowed so deeply I wondered if she would topple forward.
I barely spared her a glance… until she raised her head just a little.
Two gentle eyes.
Both timid.
Both soft.
Nothing strange.
Nothing fierce.
Nothing like what I had seen before.
A hallucination, I thought.
Nothing more.
I exhaled quietly and forced myself to let it go.
The moment I had been waiting for arrived.
The edict.
I rose.
"Tonight," I announced, "I take three new concubines into my palace."
Whispers rippled through the hall like wind through grass.
I glanced at Bao Si—sitting upright, graceful, and composed, giving nothing away.
Then at Bao Ji.
Her fingers were twisting in her lap.
She looked… not nervous, exactly.
More like afraid.
Or panicked.
Her expression was filled with worry—but there was something else there too, some emotion I couldn't quite name.
The eunuch stepped forward and unrolled the scroll.
"First—Lady Bao Si of the Bao clan."
The hall erupted with quiet gasps. Envy flashed in the eyes of many; some faces darkened, others forced smiles.
I looked again at Bao Si, searching for some hint of reaction.
Nothing.
Her face stayed calm, controlled. Too calm.
I couldn't tell if she was pleased or displeased, and that unsettled me.
I just wanted to see her smile—once.
My gaze flickered, almost by accident, toward Bao Ji.
And I saw her face go completely white.
Her lips parted like she couldn't get enough air.
And then—
She collapsed.
Chairs scraped. Someone cried out. Her father rushed to her while the hall fell into chaotic murmurs. The physician was called immediately and hurried to her side.
He checked her pulse, her breathing, then stood and bowed.
"Your Majesty, her pulse is weak. Fatigue and overexertion. She simply needs rest."
I nodded once.
"Take Lady Bao Ji to a side chamber," I ordered. "A maid will attend her. As soon as she wakes, the maid will inform us. Until then, no one is to disturb her."
Her father bowed low, voice trembling.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty."
He returned to his seat, worry still etched all over his face.
I tried to turn my focus back to the banquet.
But my thoughts had already begun drifting again.
LIA
I had stopped going to university days ago.
Stopped leaving the apartment.
Stopped pretending I was just "tired" or "stressed" or "fine."
The walls of my room kept shifting.
Sometimes they were white paint, flat and modern.
Sometimes they were wooden panels with shadows from lanterns dancing across them.
Sometimes people from Bao Ji's era flickered in and out of the corners of my vision like ghosts.
Some days, when I walked, I felt her floors under my feet.
I didn't know which life was mine anymore.
Or which emotions belonged to whom.
I cried without knowing if the tears were hers or mine.
Elena refused to leave me alone.
I tried to send her to uni.
She ignored me and stayed.
Part of me expected her to eventually call someone, sign some paper, and have me dragged into a mental hospital. I wouldn't even blame her.
But she stayed.
Daniel started visiting more.
At first, he was suspicious. Confused. Worried.
He kept his distance but never fully pulled away.
I still broke down in front of him anyway.
Occasionally he held me when I shook.
Sometimes he talked to me, voice low and steady, until my breathing calmed.
I wondered:
If I'd shown him this side of me earlier…
Would we still be together?
But now, none of that mattered.
Nothing in the present really mattered anymore.
Because I felt her fading.
I could barely feel her now.
Barely hear her voice.
But I could still see through her eyes.
Or, more accurately—
Sometimes it felt like I was already inside her body, even if I knew I was technically still here.
We were merging.
Even if we didn't fully understand it.
Even if we didn't want to.
"Do you need something?" Elena asked softly.
"I'll bring tea," Daniel said, standing up.
We were on the couch.
Elena on my left.
Daniel on my right.
They put on a movie.
Something light.
Something with a stupid male lead and overdramatic female lead.
They wanted to distract me.
To keep me grounded.
Today was the day of the Emperor's birthday in Bao Ji's time.
Elena knew.
That's why she'd called Daniel over.
It worked a little.
Their bickering over the characters' dumb choices made me smirk once or twice.
But it didn't change the fact that everything was blurring.
The past and present kept overlapping.
The TV screen.
The palace hall.
The flicker of torches.
The sound of soft ancient music.
Their voices were my anchor—
the only proof I was still in my living room.
And then…
As the banquet began in Bao Ji's world—
I felt her panic spike.
My breath started to quicken.
"Lia?" Elena said quietly. "Your breathing—"
I could feel every emotion pounding through Bao Ji's chest.
I saw what she saw:
The emperor rising.
The eunuch is carrying a scroll.
The words forming on his lips.
He announced he would take three concubines.
I and Bao Ji knew what was coming.
"Lia!" Elena shook my arm. "Stay with me—"
Then I heard the eunuch's voice clearly through her ears.
"Lady Bao Si of the Bao clan."
"Bao Si was chosen…" I whispered. "As a concubine…"
Elena's grip tightened on my hands. She tried to calm me, telling me it would be okay, telling me to breathe, telling me not to spiral.
But I could feel it.
I could feel Bao Ji slipping away.
"No. No. NO!" I shouted suddenly.
I stood up too fast, and the teacup slipped from my hand, crashing onto the floor, hot liquid spreading.
"Lia!" Daniel shouted.
"Bao Ji!" I yelled, voice breaking. "Bao Ji!"
"I'm sorry…"
Her voice was faint. So faint.
Then—
Everything went dark.
No sound.
No images.
No emotions.
The connection severed.
"I lost her…" I choked out.
"What do you mean?" Elena asked, panic in her voice.
I pushed away from them and took a few shaky steps, pacing, grabbing my hair with both hands.
"I literally lost her!" I shouted. "I can't feel her, I can't hear her, NOTHING!"
"Maybe it's just temporary," Elena said gently.
I shook my head violently.
"No. No. You don't understand. I LOST HER."
Her eyes were full of fear.
Daniel looked completely lost but stayed quiet, trying to soothe, not pry.
"I feel like a part of me is gone!" I screamed. "And God, it hurts so much!"
I dropped to my knees, hands clutching my chest, sobbing and shouting at the same time.
They threw their arms around me, trying to hold me together, but nothing helped.
The pain was unbearable.
Then, through the chaos, through the pain, through the panic—
A voice.
Not outside.
Inside.
"HELP. I NEED YOU."
Everything stopped.
My crying.
The room.
The sound.
And then—
Blankness.
IN A BODY THAT ISN'T MINE
Light.
Warmth.
Lanterns flickering against a low ceiling.
My first breath… wasn't mine.
I opened my eyes.
Silk blankets.
Carved wooden screens.
The faint smell of medicine and incense.
A palace maid stared at me, eyes wide as saucers.
"…Miss Bao! You're awake!" She gasped.
She spun around and bolted out the door.
Footsteps echoed.
Voices rose.
Shoes scraped against stone.
The physician rushed in, followed by more figures.
Bao Ji's father.
Her mother.
Her uncle.
Her aunt.
Bao Si.
And then—
The Emperor.
With Queen Shen at his side.
I stared at them in shock. Then slowly, I looked down at my hands.
These weren't my hands.
My clothes.
Not my clothes.
I'm… in Bao Ji's body.
"Bao Ji?" I called out in my mind. "Are you there?"
No answer.
But I didn't feel emptiness.
I felt—
Whole.
Like something had finally clicked into place. Like a missing piece had returned.
The physician bowed.
"My lady, allow me to take your pulse."
I instinctively pulled my hand back for a second. I needed to check something first.
I quickly glanced at my left wrist, trying to make it look casual.
The crescent mark…
Was no longer a crescent.
It was now a faintly glowing golden circle.
We… merged.
I wanted to deny it.
But I couldn't.
The signs were all there.
And for the first time, I didn't feel like something was missing from me.
I felt complete.
"My lady?" the physician said softly.
I exhaled and offered him my hand.
He checked my pulse carefully, then straightened and bowed.
"My lady, your pulse has steadied. You must avoid stress. Rest tonight, and you will recover fully."
I nodded.
Then I lifted my gaze—
And met the Emperor's eyes.
Without looking away, I swung my legs off the bed and stood.
"Cousin, be careful," Bao Si said quickly.
I turned my head toward her, face serious, voice steady.
"I know what I'm doing… cousin," I said.
It was Bao Ji's voice.
But the tone wasn't hers.
Same sound.
Different soul.
Gentle, but firm.
Soft, but confident.
Even though inside I was freaking out—
I knew I couldn't show it.
I had just time-travelled into an ancient dynasty.
I was standing in front of the Emperor.
In another girl's body.
But here… losing control meant losing everything.
So I turned back to him and bowed.
"My apologies, Your Majesty," I said. "I have caused distress. I can return to the banquet. I am fully recovered."
I didn't even wait for permission to raise my head.
Everyone stared at me like they'd just seen a ghost stand up.
The Emperor's gaze sharpened, studying me intently.
"As long as you are feeling well, that is all that matters," he said calmly.
But his eyes told a different story.
He'd noticed. Something.
"Then we shall return to the banquet," he added, still not looking away.
I wasn't the type to be easily intimidated.
If this were my time, my world, I might've even turned it into a staring contest just to be petty.
But here, I was Bao Ji now.
And Bao Ji had to act accordingly.
I turned, lifted my skirts, and walked toward the door.
I was the first to leave the room.
EMPEROR ZHOU
She should not have changed this much in two hours.
No one changes like that in such a short time.
The girl sitting on the bed just now—
was not the same girl who had collapsed in the hall.
The old Bao Ji trembled.
Avoided eye contact.
Spoke only in whispers, if at all.
This one…
held my gaze steadily.
The way she spoke—to me, to her cousin—held confidence.
The way she moved, bowed, stood upright—
None of it matched the image I had of her.
And her eyes—
Those eyes.
These were the same eyes I had previously seen in that unfathomable moment.
Fiery.
Alive.
Full of something wild.
Not timid.
Not dull.
I watched her back as she left the chamber, the faint glow of the lanterns catching her profile.
I had wanted Bao Si.
But now, I found my thoughts circling around Bao Ji again.
Not with desire.
But with curiosity.
Very interesting.