Yueyin's POV
I can't stop staring at Lady Mei's body.
She's so young. Maybe twenty years old. Someone's daughter. Maybe someone's sister.
Dead because I changed the timeline.
Come away, Yizheng says quietly, touching my elbow. People are starting to notice.
He's right. Nobles at the funeral are glancing our way, whispering. Wondering why Prince Yizheng and I are standing together, staring at a dead concubine nobody cared about.
I let him guide me away from the funeral procession, toward a quiet corner of the palace gardens.
You can't blame yourself, he says once we're alone.
Can't I? She's dead because I saved Chen. Because I exposed Zhao too early. The spy network got scared and started cleaning up loose ends.
And if you hadn't exposed Zhao, Chen would be dead instead. Executed for crimes he didn't commit. Yizheng's voice is logical, emotionless. Lady Mei was a spy. She chose to betray the empire. That's why she died not because of you.
She was still a person!
A person who was helping our enemies invade. He meets my eyes. I know this feels wrong. But think about what would have happened if the conspiracy succeeded. Thousands dead. Maybe millions. The whole empire destroyed.
So one spy's death is acceptable?
Yes. No hesitation. No doubt. One traitor's death to save thousands of innocent lives? That's not just acceptable. It's necessary.
The coldness in his voice chills me. This is exactly how the tyrant emperor thought. Calculating lives like numbers on a board.
You sound like him, I whisper. Like the Emperor who executed me.
Yizheng flinches. Maybe that version of me understood something I'm just learning now. That ruling means making impossible choices. Accepting that you can't save everyone.
Or maybe that version of you gave up trying. Decided it was easier to be ruthless than to care.
Silence hangs between us.
Is that what you think I'll become? he asks quietly. A monster who stops caring?
I think you're already starting down that path. And I don't know how to stop you.
Pain flashes across his face. Then help me. Keep me human. That's why I need you beside me to remind me when I'm going too far.
Before I can respond, a servant rushes over. Your Highness! Lady Xia! The Prime Minister requests your presence immediately. It's urgent.
We exchange worried glances and follow the servant to Father's study.
Inside, Father paces frantically. Minister Chen sits in a chair, looking shaken.
What happened? Yizheng demands.
We found something, Father says grimly. When we were investigating Lady Mei's death. The physicians discovered marks on her neck.
Strangulation, I say quietly.
Everyone stares at me.
How did you Father shakes his head. Never mind. Yes. Strangulation. She was murdered. Made to look like natural causes.
By who? Yizheng asks, though I can see he already suspects.
We don't know. But we searched her chambers and found this. Father holds up a small piece of paper covered in code. It's a message. Partially burned, like she was trying to destroy it before she died.
Can you read it? I ask.
Chen has some experience with Northern Kingdom ciphers from his military days. He deciphered most of it. Father's expression is grave. It's a kill order. Listing names of people in the palace who know too much about the conspiracy. People to be eliminated before they can testify.
My blood goes cold. What names?
Minister Chen speaks, his voice shaking. Mine. Minister Zhao's. Several servants who worked for the Empress Dowager. And... He looks at me. Lady Xia Yueyin.
The room spins.
I'm on the kill list. Marked for assassination by the Empress Dowager's remaining agents.
She's already gone, Yizheng says immediately. The Empress Dowager. She fled the palace. How can she still be giving orders?
She left instructions with her loyalists before she vanished, Father explains. People still in the palace who are loyal to her. They're carrying out her plans even though she's gone.
Then we find them, Yizheng's voice turns to ice. Every last one. Root them out before they can kill anyone else.
It's not that simple, Chen says. We don't know who they are. The Empress Dowager was careful. Her agents could be anyone servants, guards, even nobles.
Then we suspect everyone, Yizheng says flatly.
That way lies madness, Father argues. If we start treating every person in the palace as a potential assassin, the court will tear itself apart with paranoia.
But I can see the logic in Yizheng's eyes. The same cold calculation that led him to purge the palace in my first timeline.
Trust no one. Suspect everyone. Kill first, ask questions later.
There has to be another way, I say desperately. We can't just
A scream cuts through the palace.
Then more screaming. Shouts. The sound of steel clashing.
What's happening? Father runs to the door.
Guards rush past, weapons drawn.
Attack! one shouts. Armed men inside the palace! Protect the Emperor!
My heart stops.
The emperor. The dying, poisoned Emperor who's barely clinging to life.
If assassins reach him now
Yizheng is already running. I follow, Father and Chen behind us.
We race through corridors filled with chaos. Servants fleeing. Guards fighting. Blood on the marble floors.
How did assassins get inside the palace? How did they get past all the security?
Because they were already inside, I realize. They're palace guards. Palace servants. The Empress Dowager's agents activating all at once.
We reach the emperor's chambers to find guards battling other guards. It's impossible to tell who's loyal and who's a traitor.
Yizheng draws his sword and wades into the fight with brutal efficiency. He's not the uncertain prince anymore. He's a warrior, cutting down enemies without hesitation.
I grab a fallen guard's dagger, holding it with shaking hands. I've never actually fought before not really. But I remember pain. Remember dying.
I won't die again without fighting back.
An assassin comes at me, blade raised.
I dodge barely and slash at his arm. He screams and drops his weapon.
Father appears beside me, using a ceremonial sword to block another attacker.
Get behind me, Yueyin!
No! I'm not helpless anymore!
The fight is chaos. Blood and screaming and steel.
Then Yizheng kicks open the emperor's chamber door.
Inside, we find the emperor's bed surrounded by physicians trying to protect their patient. Two assassins lie dead on the floor, killed by the emperor's personal guards.
But more assassins are coming through a secret passage in the wall.
Close that passage! Yizheng roars.
Guards rush to obey, fighting the assassins pouring through.
I look at the emperor lying in his bed, so weak he can barely move. His eyes are open, watching the battle with a strange calmness.
This is it. The moment everything changes.
If the Emperor dies now, Yizheng becomes Emperor immediately. No time for proper succession. No time for anything.
The conspiracy wins.
Protect His Majesty! Father shouts, rallying guards.
The fight intensifies. More loyal guards arrive, overwhelming the assassins.
Finally, the last traitor falls.
Silence.
We stand in a room full of bodies, breathing hard, covered in blood.
The emperor's physician rushes to check on his patient.
He's alive, the physician announces with relief. Barely, but alive.
For now.
I sink against the wall, legs shaking. We survived. Barely.
Seal the palace, Yizheng orders the guards. No one in or out. I want every person questioned, every room searched. Find the remaining conspirators before they can try again.
Your Highness, a guard captain says nervously, that could take days. The palace is massive
Then take days! I don't care how long it takes! Yizheng's voice is harsh. We just faced an assassination attempt inside the emperor's own chambers. Inside the most secure place in the empire. That means our security is completely compromised. So we start over. Check everyone. Trust no one.
The guards bow and hurry to obey.
Father approaches Yizheng carefully. Your Highness, perhaps we should
Don't. Yizheng cuts him off. Don't tell me I'm overreacting. Don't tell me to calm down. Lady Mei is dead. We were just attacked by our own guards. Your daughter is on an assassination list. His hands clench into fists. I won't let anyone else die because we were too trusting, too slow, too careful.
He storms out before Father can respond.
I start to follow, but Father stops me.
Let him go. He needs time to think.
He's spiralling. Becoming paranoid. Just like in I catch myself.
Just like in what? Father's eyes are sharp.
I can't answer. Can't explain that I've seen this before. That this is exactly how Yizheng became the cold tyrant who trusted no one.
Nothing, I mumble.
But Father doesn't let it go. Yueyin, I need you to tell me the truth. All of it. How do you know these things? How did you know about Zhao, about the spy network, about everything?
I told you, I just pay attention
Don't lie to me! His voice cracks. I've been patient. Let you have your secrets. But people are dying. My daughter is in danger. And you keep acting like you know what's going to happen before it happens.
Tears sting my eyes. I can't explain. You won't believe me.
Try me.
I look at my father this man who loves me, who's fighting to protect me, who deserves the truth.
But if I tell him I died and came back five years in time, he'll think I'm insane. Might lock me away for my own safety.
I'm sorry, I whisper. I can't.
Pain crosses his face. Then I can't fully protect you. Because I don't know what you're protecting yourself from.
He leaves me standing alone in the blood-soaked room.
I did this. My actions triggered the spy network to panic. To attack.
Lady Mei is dead. Dozens of guards dead in today's attack.
And Yizheng is becoming the paranoid Emperor who'll eventually kill me.
All because I tried to change fate.
Maybe the first timeline was right. Maybe trying to change things just makes everything worse.
Still blaming yourself?
I turn. Yizheng has returned, looking calmer but exhausted.
Shouldn't I? This is my fault.
No. This is the Empress Dowager's fault. She started this conspiracy. She gave the kill orders. She created this mess. He moves closer. You're just trying to survive it. Same as me.
By making it worse. By getting people killed.
You saved Minister Chen. That's not nothing.
But Lady Mei
Was a spy who chose treason. Her death is unfortunate. But it's not your responsibility.
When does it become my responsibility? How many deaths before I have to admit I'm making things worse?
Yizheng is quiet for a long moment. Then: In my dreams my memories of the first timeline I remember executing dozens of people. Maybe hundreds. All in the name of securing the throne, protecting the empire.
I know. I was one of them.
But what you don't know is how it felt. The weight of all those deaths. Knowing I ordered them. Knowing I could have chosen mercy and didn't. His voice is raw. Every night, I dreamed of blood. Heard the screams. Saw faces of people I'd killed.
So why did you do it?
Because I thought it was necessary. Thought there was no other way. He looks at me with haunted eyes. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe there was always another choice. I just couldn't see it because I was too scared, too angry, too broken.
What are you saying?
I'm saying I don't want to become that person again. Don't want to rule through fear and death. He takes my hand. But I need help. Need someone who'll stop me when I go too far. Someone who's not afraid to tell me the truth.
That's a lot to ask.
I know. But you're the only one who understands. The only one who knows what I can become.
I want to refuse. Want to walk away from this impossible task.
But looking at him at the man who could become either a tyrant or a good Emperor depending on the choices he makes I realize something.
I can't save everyone. Can't prevent every death.
But maybe I can save him. Keep him from becoming the monster I remember.
And maybe that's enough.
Okay, I say quietly. I'll help you. I'll try to keep you human.
Relief floods his face. Thank you.
But you have to promise me something.
What?
That you'll listen. When I tell you you're going too far, when I say you're making the same mistakes you have to actually hear me. Not just dismiss me because I'm younger, or a woman, or not from a military family.
He nods seriously. I promise. Your voice will matter. Always.
A servant appears in the doorway. Your Highness. The council has convened. They want to discuss increased security measures.
Yizheng sighs. Tell them I'll be there shortly.
The servant bows and leaves.
This is just the beginning, Yizheng says to me. The Empress Dowager is still out there. The conspiracy isn't over. More people will die before this end.
I know.
Can you live with that? Knowing we can't save everyone?
I think about Lady Mei. About Minister Chen. About all the people who died in my first timeline and might die differently in this one.
I don't have a choice, I finally say. None of us do. We just have to try to save as many as we can.
Even if it costs us our souls?
The question hangs in the air between us.
I don't have an answer.
Because the truth is, I don't know. Don't know what I'm willing to sacrifice. Don't know where my line is.
I just know I can't stop trying.
Can't give up and let fate win.
Even if changing the future costs more than I expected.
Even if the price keeps getting higher.
We should go, I say, avoiding his question. The council is waiting.
He nods, and we walk together toward the council chambers.
Behind us, servants clean blood from marble floors.
Evidence of today's battle. Today's deaths.
Tomorrow will bring new battles. New choices. New consequences.
And all I can do is hope that when the final count is tallied, we saved more than we destroyed.