They said concubine Xiang had fallen ill...
The kind of illness that stirred not pity–but fear...
In the rear palace where every smile was a performance and every sip of tea could poison, illness was never just illness. It was strategy, it was accusation, it was the beginning of someone's end. Servants whispered behind silk curtains, fanning the flames of rumour... As delicately as they served lotus tea...
They call it belladonna... Beautiful woman. A name too soft for something so cruel....
In its dried form, the poison looked like crushed velvet–purple, fragrant, almost sweet.... A careless eye might mistake it for a perfume...
A clever one would know to fear it...
It begins at the lips. A dryness, subtle at first, like aftermath of a dream... Then, the throat tightens, stealing breath in silent increments. The world begins to blur, colours flickering too brightly, too briefly... Hallucinations come next: the flicker of phantom footsteps, whispers curling against the ears like smoke..
And then the eyes. Wide, dilated, caught between wonder and terror...
The heart tries to hold on, thudding slowly like a drum muffled by silk–until it doesn't....
Death by belladonna is not immediate. It is a dance, slow and intimate... The kind that fools you into believing you're not alone when the end arrives.
Lin Rui didn't like using it... But she admired it's patience...
---
It just wasn't her day... She knew it the moment she got up and found out that she would have to go out to collect herbs... She loved making medicines and collecting herbs.. But she didn't like to collect the common ones used to make a paste to cure wounds..
She'd wanted to experiment with a new type of poision today... But luck wasn't on her side..
She wasn't ready to give up though.. She had already collected the herbs she was asked to and aas now going back home... To the temple..
She was almost there when she saw something that made her hands drop from the basket of herbs whose straps clund to her shoulder...
Guards....
Imperial guards...
Her father didn't say it, but the way his hands held the fabric of his cloth a little too tightly, said it all... They were here for something... Or someone...
The last time it happened, Lin Rui lost a sister.. God knows what they wanted this time..
Father Xiang–the corrupt priest of the temple and her adoptive father was more than what met the eye...
But, he'll never do something that would require the imperial guards coming here... Again.
---
Now, looking out at the sky, she wonders if he's doing okay or not...
Hoping, praying that she can meet him and her sisters once again...
Taking the basket of clothes from the washing area, she started to walk back towards the store room when she heard a commotion nearby... It included one of emperor's favourite concubine–Lady Zhen...
Nothing a mere washing girl should be concerned about... She thought to herself as she walked past it
After a few minutes, all the low ranking servants were called to the main garden.. Reasons unknown...
Now, standing before the ginger haired concubine, Lin Rui can't help but wonder if fate has decided to play with her again...
The scent of blooming hibiscus lingered in the air as the servants lined in the shade draped courtyard..
Concubine Zhen was standing on the stone–paved staircase which led to the corridors above..
Her jade eyes scanned the entire courtyard.. Lingering half a second too long on Rui..
Lin Rui was standing in the third row of servants–horizontally and in the nineth row–vertically.. With her hands folded to her front, eyes lowered. Her pale servant hanfu was no different than the rest..
Servants continued to whisper about the purpose of such a sudden summon..
Concubine Zhen lifted her fan to her face with a graceful flick, drawing attention back to herself
"There are those who believe illness is always born from malice.. That death can be invited through the cracks through the cracks in one's door...." Said she.. Her voice drifting through the air like smoke..
Her gaze swept across the crowd once again..
"They accused me of cursing Concubine Xiang... That I had twisted old prayers into venom.. But of course, as always truth lies not in the shadows but in the scent..."
She paused for a moment before continuing–
"No trace of belladonna was found in my estate... Not in the gardens.. Not in the tea or a servants breath... I'm not a witch..." Said she.. Almost lazily.. As if she wasn't saying this to defend herself but as if it was a matter of fact..
"However, I do admire the elegance of poison.. It speaks when words fail don't you agree?"
Silence.
At her gesture, a guard appeared beside her–tall, muscular with hair as black as the night.. A bright complement to his light blue eyes that looked like glass... Too pretty, too good.
Lin Rui was called. She froze for a second processing the situation before hesitantly walking forward.. Hoping that this wouldn't be her last day in this world.
"This girl.." She said gesturing towards her "Lin Rui from the white or his temple, is a skilled herbalist... Quiet and useful."
She smiled sweetly at Rui before continuing "She's the one who cured Concubine Xiang and proved me innocent.. So, from this day forth... She will be my new lady-in-waiting.."
Gasps ripped through the air like hailstorm.
"But of course, I couldn't have done it alone..." She started once again "This man.." she addressed the raven "was the one who uncovered Lin Rui's identity... Jian Yi... So, from today–until the source of Concubine Xiang's suffering is unearthed, I will require protection..."
A concubine asking for a personal guard was not unprecedented but choosing one herself? That's bold... No wonder they call her the most cunning out of the four highest ranking concubines... Thought Lin Rui
"From this day until the matter is resolved, he will serve as my personal guard.." she paused, then added smoothly– "While the ministers were chasing ghosts and gossip, he brought me the truth.."
She smiled again.. Though not sweetly this time... But measured and calculated
"After all.. If poison is still crawling through the rear palace, I would prefer someone who can smell it before it reaches my cup no?"
Jian Yi have no reaction.. Although his eyes shifted–almost instinctively to Lin Rui..
She did not meet his gaze..
"My lady-in-waiting and my blade... Both born of the same soil, though neither remember the garden.."
The silence that followed was from tension... A silence that foretold the start of something far more dangerous than idke court talk..
The game has just begun and Lady Zhen? She had just played her first winning move...