Li Mei's life had officially turned into a high-stakes game. Every hallway was a battlefield, every smile a disguised dagger, and every whisper a puzzle she didn't have the manual for.
And today… today was no exception.
The stables should have been safe—quiet, earthy, full of the smell of hay and the warm snorts of horses. But as she stepped into the long shadowed corridor leading there, Li Mei's skin prickled with unease. The air smelled less of oats and more of trap.
Her system chimed like a gleeful alarm clock.
[Warning: Host has entered a potential ambush zone. Probability of survival: 63%. Recommended actions: bluff, flee, or employ Chaos Instinct.]
"Sixty-three percent?" Li Mei hissed under her breath. "That's barely a pass grade!"
The echo of soft laughter drifted ahead, and her heart thudded like a drum. From the shadows by the stable doors emerged Lady Yun, her silken sleeves fluttering like blades. Behind her trailed a cluster of finely dressed noblewomen, all armed with fans and smirks sharp enough to slice through steel.
Li Mei froze mid-step. Oh no. Pack of mean girls, incoming.
Lady Yun's smile was sweet enough to rot teeth. "Maid," she said smoothly, her voice a ripple of honey hiding poison, "how curious to find you wandering here… all alone."
The women behind her shifted subtly, forming a half-circle that cut off Li Mei's retreat. Their jeweled fans snapped open in unison, the sound crisp as snapping bones.
Li Mei's brain screamed: Danger! Danger! Back up! Evacuate!
She cleared her throat instead. "Uh… lovely… horses?" she managed weakly, gesturing vaguely toward the stables.
The nobles chuckled, soft and cruel, like wolves amused by a rabbit pretending to be brave.
Lady Yun's eyes glinted. "Surely, someone of your lowly station hasn't forgotten the rules. Roaming without permission could be seen as… suspicious. And suspicion…" She trailed off, her fan brushing her lips, eyes narrowing in false pity. "…has consequences."
Okay. Nope. Abort mission. Wrong turn. Recalculate GPS.
The system chimed again, far too cheerfully for Li Mei's taste.
[Update: Host surrounded by hostile NPCs. New Objective: Survive confrontation. Suggested dialogue options: (1) Apologize pitifully. (2) Bluff. (3) Pretend to faint.]
Li Mei blinked rapidly. Pretend to faint? Really? What am I, a Victorian damsel?
She forced a shaky smile. "I… I just came to… pet the, uh… royal pony?"
The noblewomen's laughter rippled sharper this time, muffled behind their fluttering fans. Even the horses in the stables snorted, stamping their hooves like they knew she was lying.
Lady Yun tilted her head, her voice sweet as venom. "Petting ponies, hmm? How quaint. And here I thought you were trying to catch the attention of someone far above your station."
Li Mei's stomach dropped. Oh great. Here we go. She thinks I'm scheming for the Crown Prince or Emperor or… oh no no no.
She clasped her hands together quickly. "No, no, I swear! I'm not scheming, I'm not plotting, I'm just… admiring equestrian culture!"
The words sounded as ridiculous out loud as they did in her head.
The circle of nobles tightened, fans hiding smirks, eyes glittering with hungry amusement. Li Mei's pulse hammered in her throat, every instinct telling her this was less a chat and more a duel by humiliation.
The worst part? She hadn't even brought her metaphorical armor.
Li Mei's mind scrambled for an escape route, but every one of Lady Yun's allies shifted to block her path. Their silk sleeves brushed together in perfect unison, a predator's dance dressed up in etiquette.
The system chimed again.
[New Sub-Quest: Survive "Social Combat." Victory condition: avoid scandal. Failure: reputation destroyed. Estimated difficulty: Hard.]
Hard? Excuse me? I didn't sign up for Nightmare Mode!
Her mouth opened before her brain caught up. "Actually, I wasn't… um… admiring equestrian culture."
Lady Yun arched a perfectly plucked brow. "Oh?"
Li Mei's pulse roared in her ears. Okay, bluff option two. Just commit to the bit.
She blurted, "I was… delivering a secret message."
The circle of noblewomen leaned closer, fans stilled mid-air.
Lady Yun's voice dripped with disbelief. "A secret message? From whom?"
Li Mei's brain went blank. Panic clicked every mental switch at once, leaving her grasping for the first stupid idea that popped up.
"From… the Emperor's pigeon."
Silence.
The nobles stared. Lady Yun blinked slowly, as if Li Mei had grown antlers. Even the horses gave an indignant snort, tails flicking like they couldn't believe it either.
"Pigeon," Lady Yun repeated flatly.
"Yes!" Li Mei said, nodding too fast. "The royal pigeon. Carrier of vital messages. Very majestic bird. Extremely… confidential."
Her hands flailed as though that made the lie more convincing. "If you expose me, the pigeon dies!"
The nobles froze, expressions flickering between outrage and confusion.
One muttered, "She threatens us… with poultry?"
"It's not poultry!" Li Mei snapped before she could stop herself. "It's a pigeon! Totally different! Noble! Regal!"
Lady Yun's lips thinned, her fan snapping shut with a sharp crack. "You dare make a mockery of us with such nonsense?"
Before Li Mei could spiral into further disaster, a familiar voice drawled from the shadows.
"Petting ponies and threatening pigeons?"
Li Mei whirled. Crown Prince Jianyu lounged against the trunk of a tree nearby, arms crossed, a lazy smirk plastered on his face. The dappled sunlight caught in his dark hair, and his eyes glimmered with dangerous amusement.
Her stomach dropped. "Your Highness! I wasn't threatening pigeons, I was just—"
"Delivering messages," Jianyu supplied smoothly. "Yes, I heard. Fascinating diplomatic method. I might need lessons."
Heat surged to her cheeks. "I—no—it's not a method, it's—"
"Chaos," he finished for her, eyes alight with mischief. "Pure, unfiltered chaos."
The nobles tittered uncertainly, caught between following Lady Yun's lead or gauging the Crown Prince's mood.
Li Mei wanted to sink into the earth. Why does he always appear when I'm at my dumbest?
The system pinged.
[Passive Skill Activated: Chaos Armor. +15 survival bonus in social conflicts.]
"Oh great," she muttered under her breath. "Now it's official."
Lady Yun's patience snapped. She stepped forward, voice cold. "Enough of this absurdity. Guards! Take her for questioning."
Li Mei's heart lurched. Game over. Doomed. Say something, anything—!
She flung her hands out desperately. "Wait! You can't question me—I have… immunity!"
The word echoed far louder than she intended. Oh no, why did I say that?
Lady Yun's fan froze mid-air. "Immunity?"
"Yes!" Li Mei squeaked. "From… from…"
A chill swept the courtyard. The air itself seemed to bow.
"From me," came a silken, lethal voice.
Empress Celestia emerged from the shadows as if the palace itself had conjured her. Silver eyes glinted like a blade under moonlight, her every step radiating authority that made even the horses fall silent.
The noblewomen instantly dropped into bows, fans trembling. Lady Yun's face paled as her head lowered.
Celestia's gaze landed on Li Mei, sharp and unreadable. "She speaks the truth. Interfere with her, and you answer to me."
Li Mei's knees nearly gave out. She—she actually backed me up? Did my pigeon bluff just… work?!
The system chimed triumphantly.
[Quest Completed: Outwit Lady Yun. Reward: +300 XP. Reputation increased with court allies.]
Lady Yun's smile was gone, her jaw tight as she bowed low. "As Your Majesty commands."
The circle dissolved, leaving Li Mei shaky but standing.
Jianyu's smirk deepened as he stepped closer, his voice pitched low so only she could hear. "Ingenious. A pigeon strategy. You're dangerous, little maid."
Li Mei groaned. "I'm not dangerous, I'm ridiculous."
"Sometimes," he murmured, eyes glittering, "ridiculous is the sharpest blade."
Lady Yun's bow was deep enough to scrape the marble tiles, but the stiffness in her shoulders betrayed her fury. When she rose, her painted lips curled in a smile far too sharp to be sweet.
"As Your Majesty commands," Lady Yun said, voice like velvet stretched over glass. "But this maid should remember—protection does not last forever."
Her entourage of nobles trailed behind her, skirts whispering like serpents in the grass. Their perfume lingered long after they vanished, cloying and suffocating. The stables felt strangely empty without their predatory eyes, though the silence left Li Mei's pulse thundering louder in her ears.
I survived. Somehow. With pigeons.
The system chimed smugly.
[Quest Outcome: Success. XP +300. Reputation with "Sympathetic Observers" increased. Reputation with "Scheming Faction" decreased.]
"Oh, wonderful," Li Mei muttered under her breath. "I'm leveling up in enemies now."
"Not enemies," came a warm, amused drawl at her side. "Rivals."
Li Mei flinched. Crown Prince Jianyu had sidled closer, close enough that she caught the faint scent of sandalwood clinging to his robes. His dark eyes glimmered with mischief, lips curved in a smirk that could disarm fortresses.
"You handled that… rather impressively," Jianyu murmured. "Though I must admit, I never expected pigeons to be your weapon of choice."
Her face flamed. "It wasn't a weapon, it was panic!"
"Panic," Jianyu said smoothly, "can be very persuasive. Especially when wielded with such conviction."
"Conviction?" Li Mei squeaked. "I was flailing!"
He chuckled low, the sound curling through her stomach like warm tea with too much honey. "Flailing with style, then."
Before Li Mei could sputter a retort, the Empress's presence cut through the air once more.
Celestia's silver eyes swept over her, cool and unreadable. For a heartbeat, Li Mei couldn't breathe—until she noticed the faintest curve at the corner of the Empress's lips.
"You survived your first duel, little maid," Celestia said softly. "Not with blades, but with words. Remember: in this palace, wit is sharper than steel."
Li Mei's throat went dry. "I… I didn't mean to duel anyone. I was just trying not to die of embarrassment."
"Intentions matter little," Celestia replied, voice smooth as falling snow. "Results matter more. You turned chaos into armor. Harness it."
Li Mei swallowed hard, unsure if that was a compliment, a warning, or both.
The system chimed again.
[Skill Unlocked: Chaos Armor (II). Effect: +20 survival in social conflicts. Side Effect: +15 likelihood of attracting unnecessary attention.]
"Of course," Li Mei groaned. "Armor with a spotlight function."
Celestia's gaze lingered a moment longer, then she turned and drifted away, scarlet robes trailing like fire on water. Jianyu's smirk softened into something unreadable before he too slipped into the shadows, leaving Li Mei trembling in the stable yard.
By the time she escaped to the gardens, her legs felt like overcooked noodles. She collapsed onto a stone bench beneath the cherry blossoms, petals drifting down like silent applause.
"Okay," she whispered, pressing her palms to her face. "Still alive. Didn't get arrested. Didn't get stabbed. Just humiliated myself with pigeons in front of half the noble court."
The system chose that moment to spam her mercilessly.
[Ding! Daily Log Updated: Survived First Real Court Confrontation.]
[XP +350.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Accidental Diplomat. Passive Bonus: +5 Charisma, +5 Influence.]
[Warning: Noble hostility escalating.]
[Warning: Emotional entanglement probability with Crown Prince Jianyu: 81%.]
[Hint: Romantic complications may compromise survival.]
Li Mei groaned, tugging at her hair. "I don't need romance right now! I need… noodles. And a bunker. Preferably far away from scheming aristocrats and hypothetical pigeon peril."
The petals whispered overhead. The koi pond rippled in the distance. For a fleeting second, she allowed herself to breathe.
Then a shadow fell across her.
Jianyu leaned against the garden gate, gaze dark and unreadable. "You're making quite a name for yourself, little maid."
Li Mei flinched. "I don't want a name! I want… anonymity! Like… like a background extra!"
"Too late," Jianyu said, the corners of his lips curving. "Chaos doesn't stay hidden."
Her chest squeezed. "Then I'm doomed."
"Or destined," he murmured, eyes glinting like stormlight.
Her system pinged again, perfectly timed.
[Hint: The Crown Prince may be a double-edged sword. Proceed with caution.]
Li Mei buried her face in her hands. "Fantastic. As if Lady Yun wasn't enough, now I have a double-edged sword with good hair."
When she peeked out from behind her fingers, Jianyu was already gone—vanished into the night like a cat with too many secrets.
But the faint scent of sandalwood lingered.
And somewhere in the palace shadows, Lady Yun's voice dripped with venom.
"This maid will not remain unscathed. Next time, her chaos will fail her."
Li Mei sighed, leaning back against the bench. "Can we skip to the part where I accidentally win again?"
The system chimed ominously.
[Hint: The next challenge will escalate. Prepare wisely.]
The petals kept falling, soft and endless. But Li Mei knew peace was only temporary.
The real duel was just beginning.