The sound of rain against the glass walls of my penthouse always used to calm me.
Tonight, it sounded like a drumbeat counting down my last seconds.
I was twenty-eight years old.
CEO of one of the fastest growing luxury brands in the country, I had money, power, influence, and a wardrobe people would kill for.
But I also had enemies.
And one of them had just succeeded.
The taste of metal was in my mouth.
I had been sipping champagne when the pain struck like a knife between my ribs.
My fingers trembled as the glass fell, shattering across the marble floor.
I could see the reflection of my own face in the shards, eyes wide, lips parting to speak, but no sound coming out.
Poison.
The thought was so sharp and certain it cut through the haze of fear.
I had eaten nothing but champagne in the last hour.
Someone had been waiting for me to let my guard down.
My knees hit the floor.
The city skyline tilted and blurred behind the glass.
The glittering towers outside seemed to watch coldly as I struggled to breathe.
In those moments, I thought of all the things I had not done.
I had no family of my own, no children, no true love to remember me only contracts and deals and the faces of people who wanted what I had.
My vision dimmed.
The rain kept falling.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard the elevator doors open and close.
But I could not move, could not speak, could not fight anymore.
And then everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes, I was not in my penthouse.
I was lying on a bed so soft it felt like clouds.
Silk brushed against my skin.
The scent of sandalwood and lotus drifted through the air.
A canopy of red and gold hung above me, embroidered with dragons and phoenixes.
I sat up too quickly and the world swayed.
The body I was in felt lighter, softer.
My hands were smaller, paler.
Jeweled hairpins weighed down my head and the sleeves of my robe pooled around me in waves of silk.
A mirror stood at the far end of the room.
When I saw my reflection, my breath caught.
The woman in the glass had a delicate oval face framed by glossy black hair.
Her skin was like porcelain, her lips naturally tinted with pink.
But her eyes, those dark eyes, held a flicker of my own soul staring back.
Before I could think, the door slid open.
A young girl rushed in, bowing deeply, her voice trembling.
"My lady, you have awakened at last. The physician said you might never rise again after falling into the lotus pond."
Lotus pond.
The words were strange and foreign.
I searched my new mind for answers, and memories flooded in.
Shi Meilan.
Only daughter of the Shi family, a once respected noble house now in decline.
Famed in the capital for her beauty, but mocked for her dullness.
Kind to servants, but hopeless at conversation.
Yesterday, she had been pushed into the lotus pond by a jealous cousin during a garden gathering.
She had swallowed too much water and almost died.
And now her body belonged to me.
The girl was still talking nervously.
She called herself Xiaoyu and brought me a bowl of steaming broth, but my thoughts were spinning.
This was not a dream.
This was another world, another time.
The silk robes, the carved furniture, the scent of incense , it was like stepping into a historical drama, except this was real and I was inside it.
I forced myself to speak, my voice softer than I remembered.
"Tell me, Xiaoyu, what day is it and what is happening in the household?"
She hesitated but answered.
"It is the day of the Spring Banquet, my lady. The entire court is gathered at the Imperial Garden. But word has already spread that His Highness the Crown Prince will announce the end of your engagement today."
A strange calm settled over me.
So this was the first disaster waiting for me in this life , an engagement to the most powerful man in the empire about to be shattered in front of the entire nobility.
For the old Shi Meilan, this would have been the end.
For me, it would be the beginning.
I smiled faintly.
"Then prepare my hair and bring me my finest robe."
Xiaoyu gaped.
"My lady, everyone says you should rest. You have only just recovered."
"I will rest when I am dead," I said.
"And this time, I intend for that to be a long time from now."
She scurried to obey, still muttering under her breath.
I rose and walked to the window.
Beyond the courtyard walls, I could see the rolling green of distant hills.
An idea sparked in my mind, as clear and sharp as the city skylines I had once ruled.
Fertile land meant food.
Food meant power.
If I could acquire land , even secretly and grow the right crops with the knowledge I carried from the twenty-first century, I could build a fortune beyond anything these people imagined.
And fortune would buy me protection.
Allies.
Freedom.
But first, I had to face the Crown Prince.
When Xiaoyu returned, I let her arrange my hair into an elaborate crown of braids pinned with gold flowers.
She chose a robe of crimson silk embroidered with phoenixes rising from flames.
It was heavy, warm, and glorious.
I wanted every eye at the banquet to see me and remember.
The Imperial Garden was a marvel of spring colors.
Peach blossoms rained petals onto white stone paths.
A lake shimmered beneath arching bridges.
Noble ladies in jewel-colored gowns whispered behind painted fans as I walked past.
Men in embroidered robes glanced at me, then looked away quickly, as if afraid to be caught staring.
At the center of the garden, the Emperor sat beneath a golden canopy.
Beside him stood the Crown Prince, Zhao Lian tall and straight-backed in robes of deep blue.
His face was cold and unreadable, but even from a distance I could see the tension in his jaw.
The murmurs grew louder as I approached.
Everyone here already knew what was coming.
The Crown Prince stepped forward, his voice carrying over the garden.
"Lady Shi Meilan, daughter of the Shi family. In light of recent events, I find it necessary to dissolve our engagement."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The old Shi Meilan would have wept or fainted.
But I lifted my chin and smiled.
"My dear prince, very well. May you find someone worthy of you."
A stunned silence fell.
And in that silence, I saw Zhao Lian's eyes narrow just slightly, as if he had expected something else, something weaker.
Inside, I made my vow.
This empire, this court, this man would one day kneel to me.
And when they did, it would not be because of my face.
It would be because I had outplayed them all.