Shu Yan returned with the speed of someone who had just wrestled a tiger.
She shut the door, leaned against it dramatically, and exhaled like her soul had escaped and barely crawled back.
Shumin rushed to her.
"Well?! What happened? Did he throw the letter? Did he burn it? Did he stab it??"
Shu Yan shook her head rapidly.
"No, no! His Majesty… read it."
Shumin froze.
"And? Did he faint? Did his eyes bleed after seeing my drawings?"
Shu Yan hesitated. "My lady… he didn't show any anger. He just… listened."
Shumin blinked. "Listened?? To DRAWINGS??"
Shu Yan waved her hands. "I-I mean he didn't react violently! He read the whole letter. Then he said.."
She swallowed.
"She has one chance. Let her decide whether she values her life."
Shumin's jaw dropped so low it nearly hit the floor.
"One… chance…? ONE??"
Shu Yan nodded like a frightened pigeon.
"Yes. One. Only one. My lady, please..PLEASE...don't do anything reckless again!"
Shumin put a hand over her neck dramatically.
"My precious neck… I knew today was dangerous… I felt it in the wind…"
Shu Yan covered her face.
"My lady, I told you many times—don't touch your own neck like you're planning to break it.
I almost called the Royal Physician thinking you wanted to strangle yourself!"
Shumin rolled her eyes. "I was only being dramatic! Ugh!"
Shu Yan groaned.
"My heart will stop one day because of you…"
Shumin ignored her and straightened proudly.
"So he accepted my apology letter? He didn't explode? His eyebrow didn't twitch aggressively?"
Shu Yan whispered, still confused,
"No… but my lady, the drawings… his expression… I'm not sure if he understood or if he was confused…"
Shumin clapped her hands.
"That means progress! I told you .. sincerity is universal!"
Shu Yan looked at her like she was speaking another language.
"I don't think that's how it works, my lady…"
But Shumin had already entered her own world.
"One chance. The King himself said it. The path is opening! The happy ending… I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN."
Shu Yan muttered quietly,
"Please don't die before that… please…"
And Shumin proudly hugged her ink-stained paper and bandaged finger, absolutely sure she had impressed the King.
"Shu Yan, from now on, I must avoid King's face but also my cupid works must going on
A perfect plan. Operation: Invisible cupid begins."
Shu Yan: "Operation… what?"
Shu Min: "Shh. Let's go. I need something from the market."
So they left the room together.
As they crossed the garden path, Shumin was plotting her "invisible strategy."
"I will never show my face... Never..!!"
But halfway through her grand speech, she froze.
King Li Zhan was walking across the garden with his guards.
Tall. Cold. Dangerous. The complete opposite of her plan.
Shumin panicked and dove into a bush like a guilty squirrel.
Shu Yan: "My Lady?! That bush has thorns.."
Shumin whisper-yelled,
"I'd rather die than face him now! My invisibility mission starts today!"
But the universe hated her.
Li Zhan suddenly stopped walking.
Stopped talking.
Stopped breathing.
Because a very obvious pair of eyes and messy hair were sticking out of the flower bush like a suspicious forest creature.
Slowly… he turned to face the bush directly.
Shu Yan covered her face with both hands.
"...My Lady, he saw you."
Li Zhan stared down at the trembling bush.
Shumin prayed internally,
"Please ignore me, please think I'm a plant, please.."
Li Zhan stood silently, arms behind his back, staring at the violently trembling bush.
A guard whispered,
"Your Majesty… should we check? It might be an assassin—"
Before he could finish, a tiny sneeze exploded from the bush.
"ACHOO—!"
Shu Yan covered her face with both hands.
Oh no, My Lady… why now of all times…?
Li Zhan stepped closer, his shadow falling directly over the bush.
His voice was cold, calm, and completely done with life:
"…Concubine Wen Qian. Are you trying to photosynthesize?"
Inside the bush, Shu Min froze.
Slowly… very slowly… she poked her head out like a guilty mushroom, hiding her face with a big leaf..
"Hehehe… p-perhaps?"
She held up a small leaf.
"A-actually I'm studying… plant behaviour… for the imperial garden…?"
Li Zhan blinked once.
A long, deadly, disappointed blink.
"Come out."
Slowly, Shu Min crawled out of the bush —
holding a big branch full of leaves in front of her face like a shield.
Only her eyes peeked over the top.
Li Zhan stared at that leaves and said coldly
"Move that thing away."
Shu Min shook her head violently, hiding even more of her face with the branch.
"No no, Your Majesty… it's very important. Very crucial. This leaf helps me… uh… study botany!"
Li Zhan's jaw tighten.
Shu Yan rushed to help her, whispering,
"My Lady, why do I feel like you are aging me ten years every day?"
Li Zhan looked down at the leaves-covered woman and asked,
"Why were you hiding?"
Shu Min immediately shook her head,
"Hiding? Who? Me? No, no. I was… avoiding sunlight!"
Then she realized how stupid that sounded.
"I mean...I was checking the root health! Very important!"
Li Zhan's eyebrow moved half a millimeter
a sign of pure disbelief.
"You ran into a bush the moment you saw me."
Shu Min pressed her hands together, thinking fast.
"Well… Your Majesty… you see… I thought… perhaps… if I appear too suddenly in front of you… it will disturb your royal emotions?"
She nodded to herself.
"Yes! I'm protecting your mental peace! Very noble work."
Shu Yan coughed loudly,
"My Lady… maybe stop talking…"
But Li Zhan… unexpectedly… didn't snap.
He just looked at her for a long second.
Shu Min gulped.
'He's going to execute me. I can feel it. My head is already saying goodbye.'
Then
Li Zhan exhaled a slow, silent sigh.
Where exactly were you planning to go?"
Shu Min froze.
She couldn't say "market."
She couldn't say "buying things to help your love life."
She couldn't even say "running away."
So she blurted the worst thing possible:
"Ah..umm..eh..nowhere! I was just… breathing air!"
Li Zhan stared at her like she was the most confusing creature alive.
Finally, he exhaled and turned slightly.
"…Follow me."
Shu Min blinked behind her leaf.
"Huh?"
Li Zhan didn't look back.
"I am heading to the Guixia province northwest marketplace for inspection. You are coming with me."
Shu Yan choked,
"Y-your Majesty… my lady is.."
Li Zhan cut her off:
"Go change your muddy clothes,come infornt of palace gate without that ridiculous branch. "
Shu Min gulped, clutching her leaf like a newborn child.
"Operation Invisible… FAILED," she whispered.
Shu Yan dragged her forward, mumbling,
"My Lady… may the heavens save you."