Jia Zhenzhen moves swiftly after that, grabbing Lei Yirui and holding her against her chest as she drags her towards the guards, physically blocking her body with her own - as if she would take an arrow for Lei Yirui instead! Though she knows that whoever just tried to shoot her wouldn’t kill the MC, who is probably technically still working for them at this point, it’s the thought that counts!! Thank you very much, Lei Yirui will be sure to give you 5 stars!

 

“Take her somewhere safe with no windows and only one place to enter and exit. The cellars, or the—” Jia Zhenzhen begins, and Lei Yirui gasps and smacks Jia Zhenzhen on the chest, crossing her arms. Jia Zhenzhen narrows her eyes at Lei Yirui.

 

“Now isn’t the time to be bratty. Someone just attempted to take your life, and I—”

 

“Don’t send me off with them! I’m staying by you!” Lei Yirui interrupts. It’s a universally regarded truth that leaving the side of the MC is a sure fire way to get your ass murked! These canon fodder guards are going to fold like lotus leaf buns within seconds - they don’t have the crazy reflexes and heavy plot armor that Jia Zhenzhen does!

 

Jia Zhenzhen snarls - actually snarls! - at Lei Yirui.

 

“I cannot do my job as a guard if you are going to be so insufferable—” she says, and jabs a finger right over Lei Yirui’s heart. “Stalling will only get you killed.” she growls. Lei Yirui is briefly distracted by how unreasonably attractive that was, when one of the guards tries to grab her arm.

 

“This way, Lady Lei—”  he begins, but Lei Yirui pulls out of his grasp and rounds back to Jia Zhenzhen, hugging her arm tightly and holding on for dear life. Jia Zhenzhen lifts her arm like she’s about to shake her off like a biting dog, but Lei Yirui is determined and squeezes tighter. 

 

“No way! You’re the only one I trust!” she exclaims. It’s mostly to try and convince the other girl, and she really thinks it will work, because it’s kind of true, after all! Jia Zhenzhen is the reliable one here.

 

Lei Yirui has never been much of a crier - she had been a tough girl as a kid and could always just laugh things off as a teenager and adult. But the original in this world must have been, because when Lei Yirui summons the crocodile tears, they come to the surface as her eyes water perfectly! 

 

Lei Yirui looks up at Jia Zhenzhen, who had all but stopped trying to throw her off once Lei Yirui had said she trusted her. She’s not quite convinced yet, but Lei Yirui has just the thing.

 

Lei Yirui uses pout! It’s super effective!

 

Jia Zhenzhen clenches her jaw, before glaring at the guards. 

 

“She clearly won’t comply. Seek the archer out. They’re not going to stay on palace grounds after such a bold move.” she says. The guards stare at her.

 

“Go!” She barks impatiently, and they finally comply, hurriedly rushing out of the room. When she looks back down at Lei Yirui, she’s looking up at her with stars in her eyes and a big grin. So bossy!! Just like she is on Limitless! Jia Zhenzhen, not sure what to do with such an intense look leveled on her, turns away and pulls Lei Yirui with her out of the door, sticking by the wall as she continues to shield Lei Yirui’s body with her own. Lei Yirui had been sort of tall for a girl in her OG body - she was 5’8!! But Lei Yirui of Limitless is rather short, so Jia Zhenzhen easily covers her. She’s thin in the way that any romance MC is, but she’s covered in lean muscle that Lei Yirui can feel pressed against her!! Even through the several layers of her clothing and the rough fabric of Jia Zhenzhen’s palace guard uniform. A few inches taller as well. 

 

Lei Yirui is busy marveling at the athletic physique of the MC, but Jia Zhenzhen isn’t faring as well. She doesn’t know why, but she feels pleasantly flushed. It’s distracting - she has a job to do if she wants to keep up this cover, and she can’t afford to be distracted and risk Lei Yirui’s safety. But for some reason, the way Lei Yirui’s delicate torso twists beneath her hands when she turns to warily look around corners is making Jia Zhenzhen’s heart beat faster. Though she isn’t sure why…

 

“Where are we going?” Lei Yirui asks suddenly, because she has no clue!! It’s not like she knows Jia Zhenzhen’s plan, and she can’t infer either, because she knows exactly fucking nothing about the layout of the palace. For all she knows, Jia Zhenzhen could be heading for a jaunt in the kitchen! Ah, that does sound good though… Lei Yirui hasn’t eaten all day…

 

“To find your brother.” Jia Zhenzhen says. Lei Yirui blinks. Lei Shunyuan?? Why?? Isn’t he off doing who knows what in order to ‘deal’ with Tang Xiaodan - isn’t it a bad idea to try and interrupt that? She wants to ask as much, but Jia Zhenzhen looks stressed out enough by trying to drag Lei Yirui through the palace grounds in a safe manner. She wont bother.

 

Though, it does look like things are unfolding similarly to how they did in the drama… After the OG was found dead in the woods, the entire palace went on lockdown! Lei Yirui doesn’t hold any significant titles - not really, but she is the younger sister of a palace scholar descending from a noble bloodline. It’s important that she dies, so things get serious!! Tang Xiaodan only managed to get away because Jia Zhenzhen’s findings were initially dismissed as a lowly guard simply trying to up his station by solving such a big mystery. 

 

After tricking the emperor with a theory that a dynastic kingdom to the north had been the one to kill the OG, planting the seed that it was a plot to cause distrust and chaos within the palace, Tang Xiaodan was allowed to head to said kingdom to attempt to have diplomatic talks!! In truth, he had merely left so that he could escape before Jia Zhenzhen exposed the truth… and by the time she did, he had already killed the foreign emperor and taken his place!

 

The politics of Limitless always interested Lei Yirui, and she thought it was cool that Jia Zhenzhen and her romantic drama was the vessel to tell it through!! Really, that’s why it had such a mixed fanbase… it’s pretty 50/50 with men and women, which is surprising for the sort of show that it is… ah, anyways!

 

Will Tang Xiaodan really be able to do all of that now that suspicion of him has been voiced early…? Er, if Lei Shunyuan hasn’t already disappeared the advisor, he’s likely being held for questioning, at least! 

 

Jia Zhenzhen drags Lei Yirui into the courtyard, and Lei Yirui watches with her mouth in a surprised ‘o’ as she watches the amount of guards milling about the place! They seem to be collecting everyone important to ensure their safety - basically what’s happening to Lei Yirui right now. ‘Don’t worry! I’m the one they want to kill! You’re safe, beautiful palace lady!’ she wants to yell, but she doesn’t think that would be very helpful.

 

Ah, but… Jia Zhenzhen is dragging her towards the main building!! This certainly didn’t happen in the drama - though it does make sense that Lei Shunyuan might be there. 

 

She’s pulled inside - first through the halls on the side as they breeze through the halls, Lei Yirui peering carefully into all of the rooms they rush past. They’re all very elaborate and opulent, and it’s sort of shocking - Lei Yirui’s own room was nicer than anything she’d been in, but these are another story!! 

 

However, as soon as they turn the corner, Lei Yirui hears it. Yelling - very angry sounding yelling, from multiple people. Lei Yirui glances warily at Jia Zhenzhen. She doesn’t want to deal with this drama, whatever it is! She’s always been the passive and cool type. Whenever her friends had big arguments, Lei Yirui was never involved, but they told her everything about it!! 

 

“Ah, is this really…?” she tries, but Jia Zhenzhen ignores her, pulling her towards the room and opening the door. 

 

Ah - that’s too many major characters in one place!! 

 

Lei Shunyuan is there, apparently in the midst of a conniption as he sneers and spits at both Tang Xiaodan and Zheng Xiaosi. 

 

Zheng Xiaosi is beautiful, and the epitome of princely beauty. Though his actor had somewhat of a modern model sort of look to his face, this true version looks regal and blue-blooded in a way that the original hadn’t. With sharp and fox-like features, and his intricate clothing and hair crown, he truly looks unreal, even with the angry expression on his face and the curl of his lip.

 

Tang Xiaodan - ah, doesn’t he look too bored?!? Tang Xaiodan is intimidatingly beautiful as well, with his long dark hair and black clothing, dark makeup on his eyes. His face is slightly odd - almost too angular and unreal, but it fits him in a truly unsettling way. His mouth is twisted in a frown as he looks back and forth between the two male leads as if he’s a disapproving manager watching customers bicker!!

 

There’s sudden silence as everyone turns to look and Lei Yirui and Jia Zhenzhen.

 

“Meimei,” breathes Lei Shunyuan. He moves towards Lei Yirui, and she prepares herself for annoying amounts of brotherly affection as he wraps his arms around her. He kisses her head - again!! - before turning to Tang Xiaodan with Lei Yirui squished in his muscular arms.

 

“My Yirui could have been killed because of you. This kind, innocent girl! Are you so obsessed with your own power? She had told no one until you decided to act.” he snaps, and Lei Yirui feels her mind buffering! He called her by her actual name?? Kind innocent girl? The original was kind of a bitch!

 

“I had never even known your sister existed until you charged into the reception hall this morning with your accusations. We are going in circles. This is ridiculous.” Tang Xiaodan says, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. Ah, he’s so much like a moody teenager! 

 

“Why is the prince here?” Jia Zhenzhen interrupts, and every head turns to her. Ah, did they forget she was there?? The MC, really? 

 

“They attempted to escort me earlier,” Zheng Xiaosi says, gesturing to the guards hovering near the doors and windows. His intense gaze burns into Jia Zhenzhen. He surely recognizes her as the guard that had been sneaking around - but he isn’t being as harsh as he had been in the original! In the original, he had suspected Jia Zhenzhen… but this time, there was no reason to. She had been with a (living) Lei Yirui the whole time! “But it’s not as if I could stand such heinous accusations against one of my fathers most trusted men. Lei Yirui has always been such a minx. Though the attempt on her life was surely genuine, her claims towards Tang Xiaodan were nothing but conveniently timed cries for attention.”

 

Ah. So his dickery hasn’t gone away. Just transferred to Lei Yirui. 

 

She knows this game. She’s gone through university in a major mostly composed of smart-ass men- she won't stand for this!

 

“Fuck you,” Lei Yirui says, giving him a flat look. Lei Shunyuan does some sort of aborted lurch forward, like he’s been punched in the gut, and Tang Xiaodan snorts while Zheng Xiaosi bristles at her. “How are you going to stand around and complain about this when your own safety is at risk? If I’m a liar, that truth will come out in due time. But if I’m not, you’re doing nothing but standing here and defending a possible traitor. You all need to stop wasting time like idiots and go where the guards need you to go.” she says. She has many thoughts, okay!! And if what she just said was inspired by the fire code in her apartment building, that isn’t any of your business… and Lei Shunyuan needs to stop gaping at her! 

 

“She’s right,” says Jia Zhenzhen, and zeroes her gaze on Tang Xiaodan. “If someone has truly hired an assassin as the attempt on Lady Lei’s life would suggest, this chaos you’ve all created leaves the prince vulnerable. That’s what’s important here.”

 

Lei Yirui starts coughing. 

 

Ji—Jia Zhenzhen?? Did you already figure things out? Tang Xiaodan being her employer isn’t something she realizes until the middle of season two!

 

Lei Shunyuan releases Lei Yirui to pound on her back with an open palm as she coughs. Jia Zhenzhen gives the two of them an odd look, and Lei Yirui tries to recover faster, brushing her hair over her shoulder and straightening out as she finishes her fit. 

 

Tang Xiaodan stares back at Jia Zhenzhen, his lips parting in surprise, before his mouth cracks into a grin. 

 

“I see.” he says, before walking forward and knocking Jia Zhenzhen’s shoulder before gracefully sweeping out of the room. Lei Yirui stares at him leave. Why are they just letting him go??? Isn’t he still a suspect? Lei Yirui wants to grab her head and start screaming, but Lei Shunyuan settles a hand between her shoulder blades, and Lei Yirui looks up at him— gosh, isn’t he tall?? What in the world?

 

“As much as I’d like this to continue,” he says, shooting a glare over his shoulder towards Zheng Xiaosi, who hunches his shoulders and sneers at the other, all of his decorative jewelry clinking with the movement. “You’re both right. We can continue this when Meimei is safe.” he says, and moves to urge her alongside him. Lei Yirui absently goes to follow, when a hand wraps around her wrist suddenly. 

 

Lei Yirui blinks. She looks at Lei Shunyuan and then back at Jia Zhenzhen.

 

Why do they both look so intense!? What the fuck??

 

“I’m grateful that you’ve watched her so far, but I’d feel much more comfortable if she was by my side.” Lei Shunyuan says, smiling softly at Jia Zhenzhen. Even if he normally has a nice and pleasant demeanor, Lei Yirui somehow knows that he’s totally bullshitting right now!

 

“You are not a trained guard. I think your sister will be much more comfortable if she doesn’t end up dead.” Jia Zhenzhen says, not even attempting to sound nice. And what’s this?? She was never this rude to Lei Shunyuan in the original! The two glare at each other, and Lei Yirui can’t help but wonder how badly she’s derailed things. These two don’t seem to be developing their tender but complicated relationship, Zheng Xiaosi is literally just standing there, apparently paying more attention to glaring at Lei Shunyuan than anything else, and Jia Zhenzhen is actually trying to do her job as a guard!! You’re here as an assassin, girl! What the fuck is going on?

 

“How possessive.” Zheng Xiaosi says, sounding agitated with their antics. Is that what’s happening?? Are they truly just being possessive? In that case, she understands Lei Shunyuan, but she only met Jia Zhenzhen this morning! With a last glower at the three of them, Zheng Xiaosi and most of the guards slip out of the room. 

 

“Okay, this is so weird,” Lei Yirui says, fed up with this nonsense as she tears her arm out of Jia Zhenzhen’s grasp and moves away from Lei Shunyuan’s overbearing hand. “I have a very easy solution to this little custody battle. The three of us… just kind of… get up,” she said, miming the actions with her hands. “And just go together.” she says. 

 

A pause - and then Jia Zhenzhen nods. 

 

“Acceptable.” she says. Lei Yirui hums, before turning her critical stare towards Lei Shunyuan. His expression is odd, like he doesn’t really know what to make of Lei Yirui’s behavior in general, before he sighs like he’s been greatly inconvenienced. 

 

“Alright.” he agrees, dipping his head elegantly. 

 

Ah, fucking finally. Lei Yirui hates drama. 

…

 

Just about everyone important in the palace has been ushered into the reception hall. Lei Yirui looks around with her jaw falling open - it’s like a museum!! It’s intricate and huge and God, that has to be real gold, right??

 

She tries to keep her reaction to a minimum because surely the OG has been in here before, because she would have been living in the palace ever since her brother took up station here. She has absolutely no clue how long ago that was, but it must have been a while! In the show, Lei Shunyuan seemed relatively used to palace life.

 

“So are we just going to sit in here for a few hours?” she asks Jia Zhenzhen, leaning towards her so she doesn’t have to speak quietly. In the show, they sort of glossed over this part since it was focused on the investigation. Jia Zhenzhen looks down at Lei Yirui, appearing to struggle with her words for a moment before suddenly remembering how to speak Chinese again. 

 

“No. They’re likely going to disperse guardsmen to appropriate places within the palace, as well as restrict schedules and movement so that everyone is accounted for. Proper information will be released to the citizens of the capital city, and we’ll move on from there - though things will be very cautious until this is cleared up.” she says. Lei Yirui nods, before physically sagging. 

 

“Ah, do you think we’ll eat afterwards? I’m starving.” she says, and Lei Shunyuan whips his head around to face them. 

 

“Have you not eaten?” he asks, and at Lei Yirui’s affirmative answer, he turns to Jia Zhenzhen with a frown. “Her morning meal was interrupted, and you didn’t think to request she have food brought to her?” 

“That isn’t my job.” Jia Zhenzhen says, raising an eyebrow. Lei Yirui whistles. That brow raise is brutal - conveying her irritation and how underwhelming she sees you with a single attractive arch of a perfectly shaped brow!! 

 

Lei Shunyuan is about to say something about that when a guard approaches them, looking at Lei Shunyuan with a slightly nervous stare - Lei Yirui thinks that he’s one of the ones that had been in the room as the three argued. 

 

“Tang Xiaodan has fled the palace. It appears that he had aid.” the guard says. Lei Yirui makes a strangled noise, and Jia Zhenzhen goes rigid beside her. Lei Shunyuan stares blankly at the guard for a second, before a soft smile crosses his face. 

 

“Alright. Have you ever worked at the stables?” he asks. The guard twitches uncomfortably. 

 

“...No.” 

 

“You will. I need a horse, now.” Lei Shunyuan says, and walks right out of the hall without saying anything else. Lei Yirui watches after him uselessly, before turning to Jia Zhenzhen with a sigh. 

 

“I think every man in this palace is hopeless.” she says.

 

“It’s very likely.” Jia Zhenzhen says while rubbing her temples, before her eyes snap open in realization. Ah, she’s supposed to be a man! Lei Yirui is really scrambling her brain…