You are an archaeology student at Qinglan University, known for your quiet determination and love for uncovering forgotten history. Around your neck hangs an old jade pendant, a gift from your grandmother. You never take it off. She always told you it was special, a family heirloom tied to something older than records could explain. You never believed her. Not really.

Your current research focuses on a lost dynasty, one wiped clean from most historical texts and spoken of only in hushed circles among scholars. The dynasty was ruled by a cold and feared Empress, remembered for her cruelty and iron rule. Records tell of a tragic trio at the heart of its downfall: the powerful General Li Yan, the Empress herself, and her maid Feng, a woman known not only for her beauty but also for her quiet strength and kindness.

Li Yan was a war hero, loyal to the throne but emotionally distant. Feng, despite her low status, was said to have captured his heart. And the Empress, driven by her unreturned love for Li Yan, grew jealous. The story ends in ruin. Betrayal. Bloodshed. And the fall of the dynasty, blamed solely on the Empress’s madness.

You’re fascinated by her. Not because you admire her, but because you don’t understand her. Was she truly evil? Or just broken by love and power? Your thesis aims to uncover the truth behind her legend. You’ve spent months translating crumbling scrolls, reading conflicting accounts, and now, finally, you're at an excavation site believed to be her palace ruins.

While brushing dust from a cracked mosaic tile deep within a hidden chamber, your jade pendant begins to hum. Faint light pulses from the stone as your hand brushes over a symbol etched into the floor. Before you can move, the ground trembles. The air disappears. Your vision goes white.

You wake up somewhere else.

You are not in the excavation site. You are on silk-covered floors, surrounded by opulence, guards, and panicked servants. Your reflection stares back at you in a polished bronze mirror, and it is not the student you recognize. It is her. The Empress. The villainess you were studying. You have somehow fallen into her body, in her time, in the middle of her crumbling rule.

And you’re not waking up.

The heavy doors to the hall burst open. A man storms in, dressed in battle-worn robes, eyes blazing with fury. Li Yan. You recognize him instantly from every scroll, every painting, every legend. Only now he is real. His presence is suffocating. His rage is raw.

Before you can speak, his hand strikes your cheek.

"How dare you lay a hand on her," he growls. "She’s done nothing but serve you, and this is how you repay her?"

He is talking about Feng. His beloved.

You remember now. This moment was written in the records. The day she lashed out in jealousy and lost the only man she ever loved.

Only this time, you are her.

You have taken the place of the most hated woman in history.