Where Am I?

"Where is dìdì? Yicheng… Is he here too?"

Xu Jian's voice trembled with urgency. Her heart clung to the hope that heaven had granted her a second chance, maybe, just maybe, her brother was still alive.

Madam Shen and the General exchanged a troubled glance. They couldn't answer; they didn't know anyone named Yicheng. The behaviour of Yulan Qianyi made Madam Shen and General disturbed.

People around the mansion also waited for a moment and watched this drama. Madam Shen couldn't stand it anymore; she knew that people would make rumours, and it would destroy the honour of the family.

"Take the young miss to her room", Madam Shen instructed a maid who stood nearby.

"Miss Qiane'r!"

Mei Lian rushed over from the corridor, her breath uneven. She quickly bowed to Madam Shen and the General before turning to Xu Jian.

Madam Shen stared at like asking Why did you let her out?

"I'll take Miss Qiane'r to her room," she said, her eyes quietly pleading for permission and pleasing.

Madam Shen gave a silent nod. Mei Lian stepped forward and gently held Xu Jian's hand.

"Die… Niang… Where is Yicheng?" Xu Jian asked once again with pleading eyes, hoping for an answer from her parents, but she got nothing except the silence.

No one had answers.

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Inside the General's Study

"Fu-jūn…"

Madam Shen's voice was soft, but covered with worry. "What's going on with Qiane'r? She's… acting strange. Who is Yicheng? What are you hiding from me? You never told me where she went that night?"

The General stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out the open window. He was silent for a long moment.

"What are we going to do now? People will say many things", she was desperate and couldn't understand what was going on. 

He looked at his wife, looking for words. "Maybe we should summon the physician again. He can say what happened to our daughter, for what happened that night, I will find out" his voice was steady.

"What did he say?" she asked, referring to the man in the golden mask.

"He said he found her while she was drowning… and that no one else was there." his voice is somewhat suspicious. He wondered what their daughter had done in the forest that night.

"Drowning? Where? Where has this girl been? " Madam Shen's voice is trembling; her husband has hidden the truth from her for all these days.

"In the forest, misty lake", he answered with a guilty voice.

Madam Shen's face paled. "Why did she go there? Did she… try to take her own life?" Her voice trembled.

The General turned and placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, guiding her to sit.

"You know Qiane'r," he said gently. "She's always been headstrong, always determined to have her way. But… I don't believe she would go that far."

Madam Shen wiped the tear that slipped down her cheek and nodded slowly, trying to calm the storm in her heart.

"Master…" The steward bowed deeply before the General, his voice steady.

"Yes, Wang?" The General turned, straightening with a calm but commanding air.

"Master Wen has arrived. He wishes to speak with you."

The General's eyes darkened, a glint of cold awareness flashing through them. He was already aware this day would come.

"Ask Haofeng to join me," he said coolly, then turned toward Madam Shen. His gaze softened briefly as he offered her a reassuring nod.

"I'll handle it."

Without another word, he stepped outside, his robes sweeping behind him like a shadow of war.

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In Xu Jian's Room

Mei Lian gently guided Xu Jian to sit on the edge of the bed, her movements slow and careful, as if afraid she might shatter.

"Miss Qiane'r, please don't go anywhere. I'll bring you something to eat," she said softly, grabbing a light silk sheet and wrapping it around Xu Jian's trembling form.

Xu Jian gave a faint nod, still dazed. The warmth of the blanket, the familiar floral scent of the room, and Mei Lian's presence slowly steadied her.

She had always been strong; Her father's death, her mother's death… she had endured it all with a steel heart. But this…

Yicheng.

His name alone ripped through her chest like a blade.

The only thought that kept her grounded was him. Her brother. Her reason for surviving. And she promised to keep him safe, and now she lost him, too. 

Before stepping out, Mei Lian poured a cup of tea and offered it to Xu Jian.

"Be careful, it's still warm."

Xu Jian took the porcelain cup with both hands, its gentle heat grounding her in the moment. She sipped slowly.

Warmth seeped into her chest.

Her thoughts, previously in chaos, began to settle; if only slightly. The haze that clouded her mind began to lift, and piece by piece, the world around her began to sharpen.

"I remember I haven't seen a single car, or a modern-looking man"

She looked around, noticing the silk drapes, the carved wooden furniture, and the way the windows opened outward without glass.

"Everything here… but not the way I used to see"

A strike hit her head. "This can't be a remote town in China. Not even the most rural areas still live like this… and these clothes." No trace of the world she knew.

"Don't tell me… I've time-travelled? Or… am I trapped in a dream?"

The teacup trembled slightly in her hand. She placed it down slowly and looked at her reflection in the bronze mirror nearby.

It was her, but her skin was whiter than before. She touched her face, and it was smooth like silk.

She never got time to do skincare, yet she felt the softness in her face.

It was the first time in years she had looked like a girl.

"If my father were alive, maybe I would look like this. Looked like a girl," she whispered to herself.

Since the moment she lost her family, she had buried all traces of softness behind layers of indifference and discipline. She had dressed like a boy. She carried the rage and acted mature even when the time she was falling.

"Who am I? And where am I?"

"Is our souls swapped? Then who is she? What's going on there? What happened to Yicheng? Has he survived?"

A thousand thoughts surged through her mind, crashing over one another like a storm.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to be still.

Then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Xu Jian, no matter how easy it is… if you have a tangled mind, you're never going to solve it. So cleanse your mind first."

The voice of a warm, middle-aged man echoed in her head.

She took several heavy breaths and calmed herself.

"I need to go back," she whispered to herself, voice firm despite the uncertainty.

She opened her eyes.

The softness in her reflection remained.

But now, behind it, her will began to sharpen.

"I will go back. I'll find a way."

Even if she had to tear through time itself.

She made up her mind.

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Mei Lian quietly closed the door behind her.

She paused, then peeked back inside, and she saw her young mistress standing still, staring into the bronze mirror.

Qianyi's reflection shifted through a series of unfamiliar expressions: confusion, sorrow, something like fear… then resolve.

Mei Lian's chest tightened.

She had known Qianyi since childhood. They were more than mistress and maid.

They were friends, more like sisters.

And she could tell, without question, that something inside her had changed.

Her memory drifted to that fateful night, the one she could never forget.

"Mei Lian… promise me… if I never return, protect my family."

Those words had cut deeper than any blade.

She had grasped Qianyi's hands tightly, her own trembling.

"Miss Qianyi, please don't go… I beg you, not as a servant, but as your friend."

Qianyi had only smiled gently, placing a warm hand on Mei Lian's cheek.

"You are like a sister to me. But I must do this. If I don't… we will all be in danger."

Mei Lian had known nothing she said could change her mistress's mind.

So instead, she chose to help her.

Silently. Desperately.

Praying that Qianyi would return safe and whole.

Before leaving, Qianyi had turned one last time.

"Mei Lian… if I do return, and I seem… not myself, please remember, it's still me, deep inside, no matter what changed."

Then, with one final look, she had leapt over the backyard wall and disappeared into the night.

Now, standing under that same moon, Mei Lian whispered to herself:

"Miss… you did return. But something's not right, is it?"

And yet, she waited.

Just like she promised.

Like a true friend.