After returning to her room, Shumin lay on her bed with a stupid smile on her face.
Horse riding…
wind in her hair…
masked man's voice teasing her…
She hugged her pillow.
"Wow. Even my dreams are upgrading."
That night,
she slept very peacefully.
Next morning,
sunlight woke her gently.
Shumin stretched like a lazy cat.
"Ahh… what a beautiful day."
She was in such a good mood that she even prayed.
"Heaven, thank you for food for the poor people… and please, please don't let me meet the King today."
She paused.
Because…
She still didn't clearly remember what happened that drunk night
Only broken scenes:
Li Zhan's face too close.
Her saying nonsense.
Him holding her.
She shook her head hard.
"Nope. Delete memory. Recycle bin."
While eating, she thought about the people in the market.
"So the King is… rude but kind. Cold but fair. Perfect for my Queen."
She nodded seriously.
"Yep. My Zhanyao ship is still sailing."
Today passed normally.
No drama.
No danger.
No King.
At night, she sighed.
"No need to go market today… they already got food. Maybe… I won't see masked man again."
Her heart felt weird.
She quickly shook it away.
"Focus, Shumin! You are Cupid, not heroine!"
She opened paper and started writing plans.
"Step 1: Make King smile more.
Step 2: Make Queen trust King more.
Step 3: Accidentally push them together."
She was drawing hearts when..
A guard suddenly announced outside:
"Concubine Wen Qian, His Majesty is coming."
Shumin froze.
Her pen dropped.
"…Who?"
The guard repeated calmly:
"His Majesty. He is coming to your chamber."
Shumin jumped up like her bed was on fire.
"WH..AT???!"
This never happened in the webnovel.
Wen Qian was neglected.
King never came.
Her brain screamed:
"I AM CHANGING THE STORY—我的天啊!"
The guard repeated again:
"Please prepare. His Majesty is on the way."
Shumin panicked.
She looked at Shu Yan.
Shu Yan looked at her.
Both looked like goats waiting for thunder.
"Why is he coming?"
Shumin whispered.
"Did I break history? Did I break fate? Did I break my neck in advance?"
Shu Yan tried to fix her hair.
"My lady, please don't faint before he arrives."
Shumin slapped her own cheeks lightly.
"Okay. Calm. Smile. Don't say stupid..."
Door knock..
She panicked and shouted:
"COME...WAIT..NO...COME!"
Then quickly covered her mouth.
Too late.
The door opened.
She stood straight, hands behind back, smiling too hard.
"Welcome, Your Majesty… to… uh… my very…tiny room."
Inside, her heart was screaming:
'This never happened in the novel…
Congratulations, Shumin
You unlocked a hidden disaster.'
....
Shu Yan quietly bowed and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her.
The air changed.
Shumin noticed it first in his eyes.
Li Zhan's gaze was softer than she had ever seen...no cold blade, no emperor's distance.
Just a man… standing too close.
She swallowed and spoke first, trying to sound normal.
"Your Majesty… maybe you came here by mistake."
Li Zhan replied calmly,
"Why shouldn't I be here? This is my concubine's room."
In her head, Shumin screamed:
My concubine?! WHAT.. No no no..King is for Queen only...this is wrong timeline..wrong script...wrong me...My concubine?! WHAT.. No no no..King is for Queen only...this is wrong timeline..wrong script...wrong me...
She forced a smile and said aloud,
"Your Majesty… the Queen will be upset."
At the word Queen, something shifted in his eyes.
Was it pain? Regret? Anger? Even he didn't seem sure.
He stepped closer.
Shumin stepped back.
One step.
Two steps.
Until her knees hit the bed and she fell sitting.
Li Zhan placed both hands on the bed beside her, leaning down.
"Are you really this stupid?" he said lowly.
"You don't even know what you've done to me… and now you're pushing me toward the Queen? Why?"
Her hands were shaking.
She whispered,
"The King belongs to the Queen… and you love her."
His jaw tightened.
"Who said that?"
"Who decided that?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
She knew what a concubine meant in this world.
She was never meant to be chosen.
So she said the cruelest, bravest thing she could:
"Then… what do you want from a concubine like me, Your Majesty?
If you command it… I won't disobey."
Something broke in his eyes.
He straightened slowly, stepping away from her.
"You really think I came here for that?" he said quietly.
"I thought you understood me… but I was wrong."
He turned and walked toward the door.
The door opened.
Then closed.
Silence.
Shumin sat frozen.
Her chest hurt.
Her eyes burned.
She didn't know why she was crying.
She didn't know what she had lost.
She only knew
The way he looked at her before leaving
felt like something precious had just shattered.
...
Li Zhan walked through the corridor without looking back.
Every step felt heavier than armor.
Why did I go there?
He clenched his fist.
He had gone to her room to understand her.
To ask her why she confused him so much.
To ask why her eyes followed him like she was afraid to lose him..
and yet kept pushing him toward someone else.
But he had only hurt her.
Her trembling hands.
Her teary eyes.
Her words... "I won't disobey."
They stabbed deeper than any blade.
"I scared her…" he muttered.
He stopped under a lantern and pressed his palm against his chest.
It hurt... Truly hurt...
He regretted going.
Regretted speaking like that ...
Regretted cornering her when she was already afraid of him.
And what hurt most
She trusted the masked man...
That man who laughed with her.
Who rode with her.
Who listened to her strange words about another world.
Who saw her smile without fear.
She feels safe with him… but not with me.
Li Zhan gave a bitter smile.
"I'm jealous… of myself."
The masked man was everything he could not be.
Free. Kind. Human.
As a king, he had power.
But as a man… he had only confusion.
"She pushes me toward the Queen," he whispered,
"because she doesn't know I am the same man who made her smile."
He looked at his hands..the same hands that had held her arms too tightly.
"I wanted to be close… but I only made her cry."
For the first time in years,
Li Zhan felt truly afraid
Not of enemies.
Not of war.
But of losing someone
who didn't even know she already had his heart.