Love in the Tang Dynasty: A Time - Traveling Romance

Chapter 1: Awakening in Another World

Lin Yue's head throbbed as if struck by a hammer, her temples pulsing with a thousand needle-like jabs. She groaned and forced her eyes open. Above her stretched an intricately carved bed canopy, its patterns steeped in unfamiliar antiquity. Turning her head slowly, she took in the room – rosewood furniture with floral motifs, ink-wash landscapes on the walls, weathered blue bricks underfoot. This isn't my dorm room.

She sat up, muscles screaming, her mind scrambling to piece together what happened. One moment she'd been analyzing medical data in the lab, the next – a blinding flash, then nothing.

The door creaked open, letting in a draft. A man strode in, his embroidered robes marking him as nobility. Li Yi, Prince of the Tang Dynasty, studied the disoriented woman with narrowed eyes. Her strange clothing and bewildered demeanor screamed outsider.

Lin Yue froze, fingers clawing the quilt. Ancient China? Am I hallucinating? Desperate, she blurted out fragmented medical theories from her studies:

"Treatment… depends on syndrome differentiation! Wind-cold and wind-heat fevers require different herbs…"

Li Yi leaned in, intrigued. Her unconventional knowledge sparked his curiosity. "You'll stay in the manor," he declared. "I'll learn what game you're playing."

Relief and dread warred within Lin Yue. Shelter, yes – but how long before her modern quirks betrayed her?

Over days, she mimicked servants' manners, flinching at every suspicious glance. Conversations with Li Yi became lifelines. He probed her "novel theories" about medicine and stars, his piercing gaze demanding answers. She obliged, weaving half-truths about her "distant homeland."

At night, moonlight taunted her with memories of home. Will I ever see my family again? The uncertainty gnawed, but survival demanded steel. She'd navigate this perilous new world – one guarded step at a time.