Part 1: Yupei (玉佩) & A Misplaced Symbol of Love
Beneath the gentle morning sun, Chen Lu Han stood breathless in the courtyard. His eyes were fixed not on the graceful movements of Sri training with her troops, nor her commanding tone—but on a small jade pendant dangling from the hilt of her favorite dagger.
It was rectangular, carved with a flying dragon encircling the moon, and on the back: Chen Lu Han's name.
It was his yupei—a jade token of imperial royalty in the Yi Dynasty, bestowed only upon princes. But more than that, in his homeland, gifting one's yupei to a woman was an unspoken vow of lifelong devotion. It was a proposal without words—the ultimate symbol of love.
Chen nearly exploded with glee.
Sri kept my yupei!
She accepted my love!
She embraces me every time she draws her dagger!
"Han Yue! Mei Lin!" Chen shrieked, waving his arms like a child on sugar.
Mei Lin approached, brows raised.
Chen grinned. "She kept my yupei on her dagger! She carries me with her everywhere! This… this is a silent confession!"
Han Yue stared flatly. "You're sure, Your Highness?"
"Of course! It's my yupei! My symbol of love! She—"
"She's taking it off," Mei Lin cut in.
"W-What?" Chen blinked.
Mei Lin pointed toward Sri, who was speaking with Raka. With her usual focus, Sri untied the jade token and handed it to him.
"What's this?" Raka asked, examining it.
"That jade charm makes my dagger too heavy. One or two trinkets are fine, but this is the third one. If I fight, the first thing to get hit will be the decorations. Just hold it for now, I'll put it back later."
"…Third one?" Chen froze.
Han Yue patted Chen's shoulder, visibly shaking from suppressed laughter. "Looks like your prized yupei is just part of her collection."
Chen collapsed in emotional devastation while Mei Lin doubled over in laughter beside him.
Later that day…
At lunch, Chen sat slumped at the table, staring blankly at a bowl of porridge.
"Cú zhī, why the long face?" Sri asked as she sat beside him.
Chen turned slowly, face filled with heartbreak. "Srimadu… do you know what a yupei means?"
"Yupei?" Sri blinked, then smiled. "Oh, yeah! I put it on my favorite dagger. Helps me find it quicker if it gets misplaced."
Chen nearly choked. "T-That's… that's my symbol of love!"
Sri paused. Chen turned pale.
"So… my yupei is just one of your… trinket collection?"
Sri, trying to console him, smiled. "Yeah. Wanna see the rest?"
Chen bit into his chopsticks hard enough to crack them. Han Yue and Mei Lin exchanged looks and nearly burst out laughing again.
The next day…
Chen paced his chamber, eyes bloodshot, sleepless. In the corner, Han Yue sat cross-legged, deadpan as ever.
"So… Your Highness plans to steal all her dagger charms?" he asked.
Chen nodded furiously. "Yes! Take them! Hide them! Bury them! No one else should be hanging on Sri's blade!"
Han Yue sighed. "I'm a shadow guard, not a trinket thief."
"Consider it a national mission!" Chen hissed. "My yupei must be the only one left on her dagger!"
Days later…
As Sri trained in the courtyard, Chen approached, grinning slyly.
"Sri, I had a brilliant idea," he said, removing the jade token from her dagger and tying it to a gold chain. "What if this charm became a necklace? Closer to your heart… and to me."
"A necklace?" Sri squinted.
Chen brought it closer to her neck, eyes gleaming with hope. "Let me put it on… with my own hands."
Before she could protest, Chen's cold fingers gently touched her skin as he fastened the chain. Goosebumps raced up her neck.
"It fits perfectly," he whispered, his face just inches from her nape.
Sri didn't flinch, just kept inspecting her weapon. "Cú zhī… make it quick. I need to train."
"Almost done," Chen murmured—and, ever the opportunist, he kissed her nape quickly.
Sri spun around, but Chen had already dashed off, grinning in triumph.
From afar, Han Yue and Mei Lin peeked through a door.
Mei Lin wiped tears of laughter. "I can't believe it. Chen just kissed Sri… all thanks to a yupei?"
Han Yue sighed. "This is why fate cursed us as side characters."
That night…
A breeze stirred gently around the training barracks. A lazy crescent moon hung in Medang's sky.
In the shadows behind the walls, three silhouettes moved stealthily.
Chen. Mei Lin. Han Yue.
Clad in black, wide bamboo hats shading their faces, the trio crept toward the armory.
Chen squinted. "Tonight's mission is clear," he whispered darkly. "We take every single trinket off Sri's weapons. Every. One."
Mei Lin tried not to laugh. "Your Highness… is this really necessary?"
Chen's jaw tightened. "Of course! If she finds out, she'll slit my throat with that dagger strung with 'tokens of love' from every soldier and envoy in the kingdom!"
Han Yue watched the surroundings, unimpressed.
Chen hissed, "Her dagger looks like a damn festival booth!"
Mei Lin stuffed her face into her sleeve, trembling with laughter. "So what's the plan, Your Highness?"
They crept in like feral cats. Han Yue led, Chen followed with a large sack, and Mei Lin guarded the rear.
"Two guards at the entrance," Han Yue signaled. "But they're asleep."
"Perfect," Chen grinned. "Their precious gifts won't even say goodbye before I erase them."
"You're seriously jealous, huh?" Han Yue asked.
"It's not jealousy. It's moral purification," Chen retorted.
Inside, Chen sprinted for Sri's weapon rack.
"Oh gods…" he breathed. His heart stopped.
Her entire rack sparkled with charms—lotus-shaped pendants, engraved wood with names, red cloth embroidered with hearts, even a gold sword pendant inscribed To the Heroine of My Heart.
Chen turned crimson. "She… she accepted all of these?!"
"Maybe she just didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings," Mei Lin shrugged.
Han Yue read one aloud : For Sri, from Soldier No. 25. May this blade always protect your heart as lovely as a rose.
Chen growled, "Soldier No. 25 is getting reassigned to the desert frontier."
"Focus, Your Highness," Mei Lin chuckled. "Just take them."
As Chen stuffed the tokens into his sack, footsteps echoed.
"She's coming!" Han Yue hissed.
"WHAT?!" Chen leapt behind the rack. Mei Lin and Han Yue dove into a wardrobe.
Sri entered with a torch in hand, inspecting the armory. Chen began sweating bullets.
"Your Highness… your heartbeat is deafening," Mei Lin whispered.
Chen closed his eyes, struggling to breathe quietly. Eventually, Sri left.
In the palace garden…
Chen, Mei Lin, and Han Yue sat in a circle around the sack of charms.
Chen glared at the pile like it had betrayed him. "These aren't trinkets… they're insults to my rightful place as her beloved!"
Mei Lin held one up. "This one says To the Beautiful General with a Heart of Steel."
Chen snatched it and hurled it into the pit they'd dug. "I don't care! All of them go! Buried! With the feelings of every man bold enough to approach her!"
Han Yue sighed as he began to shovel dirt over the tokens. "Isn't this a bit excessive?"
"If I don't do this," Chen seethed, "these trinkets will form a rebellion and demand equal rights as her former weapon ornaments!"
Mei Lin couldn't breathe from laughing.
When the last charm was buried, Chen stood tall, exhaling dramatically. "At last… Sri is mine alone. And only my yupei will remain close to her heart."
Han Yue and Mei Lin exchanged glances.
That night, Chen slept peacefully for the first time in weeks…
…while somewhere in the barracks, dozens of soldiers were left confused, wondering where their precious offerings had disappeared.