On a stormy night in 2025, Jiang Qi, a TV drama fan, unexpectedly transmigrates into a parallel world of Story of Yanxi Palace, only to be forcibly bound to a rule-based survival System:
▸ She must obey the eerie regulations in the Forbidden City Taboo Archives.
▸ Breaking a rule will cause her to be “assimilated” into a palace NPC.
▸ The only way to clear the game: find the hidden “tenth person.”
Jiang Qi and Wei Yingluo are mirror images of “dwelling” in the mortal world and “judgment” in the world of shadows. Jiang Qi anchors herself in the warmth of humanity as she searches for a place to return to amid the turbulent rules. Wei Yingluo wields the sharpness of pearls and jade, maintaining balance in a labyrinth of ghosts. The former represents “life” breaking through boundaries; the latter, “establishment” preserving order.
Su Zhen and Fu Heng echo the resilience of “subduing” and the resolve of “protecting.” Su Zhen endures the devouring shadows with a frail body, tearing herself apart to form a lock that restrains the final madness of the shadow world. Fu Heng uses his soul as kindling, turning stardust into light to protect the last chance to break the deadlock. The former is silent “binding”; the latter, blazing “burning.”
The two pairs of figures cross paths among the shadows of the red walls, like mortise-and-tenon joints connecting reality and the shadow world. The deeper meanings hidden in their names piece together the full outline of this fantastical game.
