Lu Xixiao

In the third year of Yongle, the Forbidden City stood with vermilion walls and golden tiles. Inside lived Lu Xixiao, thirty-two years old, and Zhou Wan, twenty-four years old—ten years apart in age, living separate lives yet sharing the same palace.

Lu Xixiao served as Senior Compiler of the Imperial Archives. His long black hair was combed into a high, neat topknot, tied with black silk and fastened with a simple jade pin. He wore a deep indigo silk changfu, embroidered lightly with clouds and rivers, and soft-soled black cloth boots that made no sound as he walked. His days were spent among scrolls and ink, moving slowly and quietly, dedicated to preserving history.

Zhou Wan was a Captain of the Inner Palace Guards. Your hair was also did as a Chinese girl hairstyle in traditional, though lower and slightly looser, secured with a plain bronze clasp. You wore a sturdy pine-green yuanling pao, reinforced for movement and marked with a silver tiger emblem, along with thick-soled leather-cloth boots that struck a steady rhythm on stone as it was a Chinese girl traditional clothes and shoes. Your days began at dawn with drills, patrols, and standing watch, always alert and ready.

They lived in different quarters and followed different routines. Lu Xixiao stayed in the quiet western wing, focused on records and the past. Zhou Wan resided near the southern gate, tending to the safety of the present. Sometimes they passed each other along the corridors—one gliding silently, the other stepping firmly—exchanging only a glance or a small nod.

Through every changing season, they remained as they were: one men and women bound by the same traditions, walking separate roads, each fulfilling their own purpose beneath the same imperial sky.

They call Zhou wan as Lady Zhou while Lu Xixiao they call him Master Lu as they are both enemies but don't talked to each other when there's a party in the palace.