Chapter 12; Not A Pushover (III)

The next morning the Empress dowager gathered the women of the inner court once more to inform them that about the palace spring festival which would take place in a few days .All the women of the inner court put so much effort in preparing for the festival ,they were ordering new clothes to be made from the finest silk and custom made jewellery and accessories. All the servants were busy with preparations and so the empress ordered that the number of attendants assigned to each pavilion would be cut down by two . Normally the number of maids assigned to the pavillion of the princesses and nobles was about six to seven while the empress and the empress dowager had about ten to twelve maids in their service.

Hao mei discovered that the maids in her pavillion had been reduced till they were only three ,she felt upset although she really didn't need that many maids anyway and she knew they were all the empress dowager spies ,she also knew that it was a form of attack from the empress dowager. Consoling herself she took the opportunity to replace the rest of them with a few girls from East Qing who had remained at the palace.

The day before the beginning of spring festival the women were required to observe a special fast for the dead ancestors of the royal family.It wasn't exactly fasting,instead the meals had been cut down to just almond milk porridge rather than the usual luxurious meals.

The maids entered the the empresses quarters to serve her meal ,after serving it they stood there looking at her ,it was at that moment hao mei realised something was wrong ,the maids usually didn't pay any attention to her

"something must be wrong with the food" she thought to herself,looking at the two maids standing before her she said.

"Thank you so much,it must be hard to make preparations for the festival and still have to take care of me"she said .

"No your highness ,it's no problem at all "they said still smiling amongst themselves, looking at them now ,their faces covered in smiles they looked so innocent you would hardly believe that they were deeply embroiled in a plot.Hao mei smiled to herself ,"why don't you all sit and have a meal with me "she asked

"No your highness ,we couldn't possibly do that it's against the rules" they said getting tense.

" I insist, sit down and start eating"she said in a tone that made it virtually impossible to refuse her .They all sat down ,the smug smiles that previously coated their faces had been replaced by frowns that gave off the feeling of fear of what awaited they picked up the chopsticks but couldn't bring themselves to start eating ,they were very uneasy .They never expected the plan to back fire at them.

"Start eating you don't want to offend me ,do you " she said with an expression on her face that made it difficult to tell if she was innocently asking them to eat the food a few minutes after they started eating ,the two maids seemed to be turning red and they started sweating profusely ,it was at this point hao mei guessed what they had put in the food , Yùjīnxiāng tíqǔ wù from the orange tulip plant on its own it was poisonous but when mixed into food it would cause severe internal heat ,which would lead to hives popping out all over it's victims skin and If the antidote wasn't administered before the third stage which came in form of severe diarrhoea the patient would be subdued to a long period of constant diarrhoea ,invalidness ,smelling pus and not soon after death ,after long period of suffering. Although hao mei knew they were not brazen enough to have thought out this plot for the fact that they allowed themselves to be used in pawns in the empress dowager schemes they would have to be punished,with that resolve she made them eat her serving of porridge and two extra bowls while constantly asking them if they were ok and there was nothing they could do about their situation because they couldn't possibly tell her that her food had been poisoned.

The date for the beginning of the spring festival was well chosen,the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom and the palace looked very colourful , everyone in palace was going around getting ready for the festival but in one part of the palace all was clearly not rosy.

Tang Ruo xue and The empress dowager had heard the news of how their plot failed woefully and they were both very annoyed about it.

"This sl*t from East Qing is very cunning ,I'm tired of playing cat and rat games with her" the empress dowager said smashing all the cosmetics on her dressing table.

"Jié don't to get so angry it's not good for your health" tang Ruo xue said trying pacify her sister .

"I just wish there was a way I could finish her off once and for all"

" But you can " tang Ruo xue said smiling inwardly.

"You know I can't ,if I do the emperor would investigate the situation and that would mean that I'm burying myself along with her" the empress dowager said with a downcast look.

"Jié ,listen to me " leaning towards her sister's ears she whispered "nobody has to know we were involved, we could get rid of her without implicating ourselves"

"Ruo xue ,what are you saying ? Do you have a plan "

Nodding Tang Ruo xue leaned forward to whisper her devious plan to her sister .All said and done they began to make arrangements and put their plans in place.