I closed my eyes for a few seconds, my heart was beating out of my chest. I was wincing. I removed my hands from my face and was welcomed by the Emperor's torso. He blocked my view of the event, but I didn't mind too much. I was surprised he shielded me. If he had lost me, I don't think it would make any difference in his life.

I sighed in relief and stood up. They watched me cautiously. I flicked a few strands of hair off my sweaty face. "I almost died."

"She almost died," the Emperor barked, still standing in front of me. "What do you want to say for yourself?"

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty!" one of the men kowtowed to him, continuously bowing in a panicky manner.

"All of you!" he swung the sleeve of his hanfu briskly. "This piece is one of my favourites. The choreograph, the music, the costume, the... art, has always made a long-lasting impression, but what is this? How dare you perform this piece but can't get it right! How long have you been practising? A day? A week?"

I could tell that he was enraged, but I've never seen him like this. His back was still facing me, but I could tell by his tone that he was in immense frustration. His shouting frightened me. Whenever he raised his voice, I jumped. The rest of the performers kowtowed and begged for their lives to be spared. They frantically bowed and I could tell behind their costumes, they were quivering. Some had removed their masks in respect to the Emperor, while some kept their masks on due to panic. I hoped the Emperor did not accept their apologies. I did not enjoy having a near-death experience. In fact, I actually experienced one not too long ago. An incompetent driver had caused me to end up in this hellhole, and I did not want to go through with another world even more ancient than this.

As I looked around the room, the Empress had her eyebrow cocked, with a bitter expression on her face. It didn't take me long to believe that she was apart of this act to get me killed. It's a shame that it'll take more than that. The other concubines looked miserable and slightly uncomfortable. 'That could've been me', they probably thought. Indeed, it could've been, but I was the one who experienced it. Please, a bit more sympathy for me. The room was filled with unease and I could tell. I doubt the concubines have seen the Emperor like this as well.

"Guards! Escort them out of the palace," the Emperor roared aggressively. "No rewards for them. I forbid them to ever come back!"

As they were ushered out, I felt relieved.

"Well, it was lovely until I almost died..." I laughed nervously.

The Emperor studied me with a troubled look. The smile on my face slowly faded, as his hand reached for mine. "Are you okay?"

"U-Uh, yes, Your Majesty, haha," I forced a smile on my face. "Just almost got killed, ha, nothing new..."

I knew I fixed the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room because the Emperor and a few of the girls laughed.

He softly cupped my face, then pulling away to face everyone else. "Time to head back to your chambers, an unexpected accident had come upon Imperial Concubine Han, but we must be glad that she is safe."

"Yes," the Empress chimed in with a forced frown on her face. "We are glad that Imperial Concubine Han is safe, that was terrible."

As everyone else was ushered out, the Empress, who was the only woman wearing red, was still noticeably waiting for the Emperor. I was about to leave but the Emperor gently held my wrist and turned me around. "Ying Yue, would you like to stay and talk for a while? You must be in shock."

"And you must be busy, Your Majesty," the Empress interrupted, bobbing her head as her jewellery on her headpiece moved around. "Have you remembered? The Empress Dowager is expecting you later, and you have a lot of other paperwork that needs approval. I apologize for sounding like this, but I am worried for you. I don't want to see you stressed out, Your Majesty."

Jaxon was waiting for me at the bridge and the Empress was already planning my next murder scenario in her head. I bowed, while giving the Emperor an apologetic look. "I would love to, but I'm a bit tired. Empress is right, you must have a lot of work to do and I don't want to hold you back. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"No worries, get some rest," the Emperor said calmly, then watched me as I headed out of the hall.

As I made my way to the bridge, I was awestruck by the scenery and the sound of the water cascading below me. I spotted the silhouette of Jaxon. He stood gracefully yet boldly, leaning against the handrail of the bridge. Jaxon had a masculine feel to the way he stood under the light. He wasn't staring at anything in particular, but he seemed to be lost in thought. I fell silent. I didn't want to ruin his moment or interrupt his train of thoughts. Jaxon's thinking was very important. I felt slightly passive regarding our plan to go back to where we came from. The owls hooted and the crickets chirped in unison as if it was an invitation to join Jaxon. I felt chilly at night, especially during this season. My hanfu was a thin material, barely keeping me warm and all it did was make me look good.

I gradually walked closer to him. His eyes fixated on the movement of the river. As Jaxon turned to look at me, I couldn't stop myself from gazing away from him. ""

"What took you so long?" He leaned his back against the rail.

There was a sprinkle of amusement in his eyes so I didn't get offended. I could feel his eyes staring, shooting invisible lasers onto my face and I chose to look away for a moment. Once I made full eye contact with him, I almost died. I wanted to say, but I was almost speechless. He was beautiful. I was in awe, staring at him under the moonlight. His skin, which had a smooth, blemish-free complexion, was glowing, his chestnut brown eyes glistened, and his soft, sultry lips curled up, welcoming me.

"?" he tilted his head to the side, slanting his eyebrows upwards in confusion.

"S-Sorry," I stammered as I leaned back on the railing next to him. "The scenery is so beautiful, isn't it? I could come here every day if I wanted to."

"It's all I've been staring at for ten minutes... since you were late," Jaxon whispered teasingly, then turning his head to face me.

"Sorry," I looked away with a smirk on my face. "Did you find anything while I was gone?"

Jaxon sighed as he scratched the back of his head. He fumbled around some more, pausing for a few seconds before speaking. I patiently waited for an answer.

"Yes but..." Jaxon hesitated. He looked away from me. This wouldn't sound good. "It's..."

"Spill it." The words came out of my mouth quicker than I could stop myself. It burst like low-budget fireworks in the dark sky. "I'm not going to go and cry like a pathetic little girl anymore. Please tell me, I promise I can handle it. Tell me anything." I was desperate. He could tell by the tone of my voice. The atmosphere was serene and soothing, yet I ravaged it with my outburst. I scanned around to make sure no one was lurking in the distance. Here in the dark, anyone can be creeping behind us. I shouldn't even be here. I wondered what punishment I could get if I was caught here. Twenty lashes? Ten flogs? Maybe death? Who knows.

"I would never think that. I know you are capable—of course, you are capable. If you weren't, I would've told you to stay out of my way. But I need you. Anyway, there's a way out but," Jaxon paused before looking at me, "we need the Emperor's spit."

A laugh escaped from my lips, I threw my head back and shrieked. "What a comic relief! You can't be serious."

"No—" Jaxon began.

Seconds after, our bodies shook as we couldn't help it. We both let out hideous laughter. It was so intense that I had to lean on the rail for support. My stomach hurt, I felt as if abs were forming. It was almost nighttime, many would feel tired but I felt so alive. The aliveness was glowing from my body as I continued to let out a few more ropes of happiness. Jaxon's laugh died before mine did. I cleared my throat and made my final chuckle. "Y-You're not serious, are you?" I chuckled again, replaying his words in my head.

"I am," Jaxon's smile faded, and as well as mine. A sinking feeling in my heart occurred and the darkness suddenly began to scare me. We both stood there, taking everything in.

As we both started to taste a spoonful of reality, I broke the silence. "Isn't that easy?"

"Do you think it is? We're not going to ask the Emperor to spit in a little glass bottle," Jaxon replied.

"Why not? Get him to spit into a cup for a test or something, we never know if we don't try—"

"We'll be under surveillance. It's suspicious... to say the least. Think about it, you're a ruler of a country and everyone around you may betray you—no matter what the punishment is. The Emperor isn't stupid. If you ask him to spit in a cup, do you think he will?"

I nodded. My mind was foggy at night, especially when all I can think about is how cold it was outside. Either way, I could handle it. I enjoyed this night, that's all it matters. I can bear through this if I pretend that I enjoy it. After I thought for a moment, I realized I forgot to ask the important question. "What are we even going to do with the Emperor's spit?"

"I found a book in the library, it's a fairytale," Jaxon explained. "It's about a boy wanting to time travel. He drinks this hallucinatory tea, falls asleep on the floor, and has a dream of an elderly man with a black robe. The man tells the boy that he knows just the right tools to ensure time travel. When the boy wakes up, he remembers the recipe the man had given him. The Emperor's saliva, a strand of the Empress's hair, bird's nest soup, jasmine green tea, and a broken jade bangle. The story progresses to the boy training to become an Imperial guard. Once he joined and gained the Emperor's trust, he collected all the ingredients. But once he bathed into it and attempted to leave, the Emperor and his Imperial guards stormed inside the bathhouse and murdered him. His blood was infused with the bath water and they drained it. However, they kept a medium-sized urn and labelled it, to make an example of him—to show everyone that this is what happens when you disrespect the Imperial family and follow nonsense, magical advice."

When Jaxon finished, his expression went blank, and mine did as well. I commented, "Sounds morbid."

Jaxon smirked. "Indeed."

There is quite a lot to take in. If Jaxon and I do this, will there be a possibility of this happening to us? Will we end up being murdered by the Emperor in a bathhouse? I hope not. Still, I'd rather die trying than live here until I die. "Right. Well, that is the risk we will have to take. A question: How are we going to get the Empress's strand of hair? Her hair isup every single day."

"That's the point. We need to start thinking small, the tea we could get first, then the bird's nest soup, and then the bangle. We can work on those together, if you prefer that, but it'd be easier if you did them."

I smiled at Jaxon. He knows that all of the ingredients are mainly up to me. "No. I'd rather just do it myself. Where are we possibly going to get the bird's nest soup?"

"The kitchen? Pop in and ask them to put it in a bowl, say it's for you. I'm sure if you requested it, they'd allow it."

"Quick thinking, I like it."

"Don't worry about it."

I laughed. "Tomorrow, I guess we'll try. The Emperor's spit and the Empress's hair part... That is what I'm extremely worried about."

"We'll figure something out when we get the rest of the stuff. But it does take a lot of time, which is why I had a hard time trying to tell you. We don't even know if this even works, but I'm desperate and so are you."

"Yes, a lot of time... But I can flirt with the Emperor and try to get his spit. When he's drunk or something. People are more docile when drunk."

"That works too, but I doubt he will be that drunk to allow that. Besides, I'm afraid that the Emperor already knows about this story. If he does, we are heading into even more dangerous territory."

"How did we even get in this situation?" I exclaimed with irritation as I buried my face into the palms of my hands.

"Car accident for me. It wasn't my fault. Actually, I don't even think I really got hurt from it. I should've survived that accident with minor injuries but I ended up in this place. Must be a lesson from a higher entity, or something. I don't believe in God, do you?"

"I don't know, to be honest with you."

God. The idea of God. The idea that God must've brought me here to torture me in this world infuriated me. I didn't want to believe in God, because if I did, perhaps I'd hate the being even more. But then again, if God really existed, they didn't leave my consciousness in the abyss of nothingness. Instead, they left me here. Maybe it is a test to see how willing I am to be alive in 2018. I looked to Jaxon for another response, but he only nodded once.

We stood in silence, staring at the river below us. The moon was bright tonight, brighter than usual. I closed my eyes and cleansed myself under the moonlight. Back then, people believed the moon could cause people to go crazy, hence the word 'lunatic'. The full moon, some people argue, can affect us deeply. Sometimes negatively, sometimes positively. One group may say the moon can make us go crazy but another group may say the moon can charge us with their lunar energy. Modern witches will leave their crystals and journals directly under the moonlight to charge them. They may put it on a table and move the table strategically under the moonlight through a large window. One of my co-workers has a cleansing session in their bathtub every full moon to cleanse and remove negative energy.

After a nice moment of silence, I rested the side of my face on my overlapping arms. "I just... I just wish this would be over by now. This place would've been interesting if we knew we could eventually leave. For now, it's just stress on top of stress."

"I know. It's too late to talk about this, we can do this tomorrow?" He smiled at me, but I knew it was an act. His false smile of reassurance won't convince me anymore, but I quietly wished it did.

As we walked back into the palace, I couldn't help but think about the Emperor. He was a charming, kind individual and I had to seduce him. Yet, I felt guilty. He's been nothing but good to me.

Then again, this was his feelings versus my life, and I had to make a choice.

"Goodnight, Lan Yun."

"Goodnight, Ying Yue."

I watched him walk away.