Chapter Five: Ashes Beneath Silk

The Inner Court was a maze of vermilion pillars and echoing silence. Li Meiyun walked beneath the heavy eaves with steady steps, her dark robes whispering across the polished stone floor. Every shadow held a watching eye. Every silence, a threat unsaid.

Two guards led her to the Emperor's Hall. They said nothing. Neither did she. The summons had come swiftly—no time to wash, to change, to prepare. The kind of tactic used not just to disorient, but to judge.

She was already being tested.

Inside, the Emperor sat beneath a golden canopy. At his side stood Chancellor Wen, face as unreadable as carved jade. To the left, a group of ministers whispered behind silk fans, while on the right, Lady Yuwen—the Imperial Herbalist—narrowed her eyes at Meiyun.

So. The trap had teeth.

"Li Meiyun," the Emperor said. His voice was calm, but not gentle. "You treated my son. And now, my consort. Without proper clearance."

She bowed low. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Were you aware you overstepped?"

"I was aware Your son was dying. And that Consort Ruoxi was being slowly poisoned."

A ripple passed through the court.

Lady Yuwen stepped forward. "With respect, Your Majesty—this girl has no credentials from the Imperial Medical Bureau. Her conclusions are premature and unproven. Her presence here is a danger."

"I'm not here to be safe," Meiyun said. "I'm here to tell the truth."

Chancellor Wen's fan snapped shut. "And what truth is that, girl?"

Meiyun pulled a pouch from her sleeve. "This was found in Consort Ruoxi's tea leaves. Processed gelsemium root. Microdosed to slow qi circulation. It weakens the heart, clouds the mind—makes the victim appear naturally ill."

She stepped forward and offered it to a eunuch, who passed it up to the Emperor.

"The dosage was too careful," Meiyun continued. "This isn't an assassination. It's suppression. They want her compliant. Distracted. Out of the way."

The Emperor looked down at the pouch, then at her.

"And who is 'they'?"

"I don't know. Yet."

Wen scoffed. "Then you make accusations without evidence."

"I bring proof of poison," Meiyun said evenly. "If you ignore it, that's not my lie. It's your choice."

A low sound—like a laugh—escaped the Emperor. But it held no warmth.

"You speak boldly," he said.

"I was raised in the borderlands," she said. "We speak plainly. Or we die."

Silence settled, thick as summer humidity. Then:

"Let her continue her treatment," the Emperor said at last. "Under supervision."

Lady Yuwen's lips parted in protest.

"Lady Yuwen," he added, "you will be her supervisor."

The temperature dropped.

Wen's expression didn't flicker, but Meiyun saw it. A shift. A calculation.

"Dismissed," the Emperor said.

---

Outside the chamber, Chancellor Wen intercepted her.

"You're clever," he said. "Too clever. You'll find that ends poorly in this court."

Meiyun didn't break stride. "I'll take poor endings over blind ones."

"Blind?" he echoed.

"To ignore poison is blindness. To excuse it is corruption. Which one are you?"

He stopped walking. Meiyun didn't.

---

That night, the consort's maid was found dead. Slumped by a well. Officially: an accident.

Unofficially? A message.

Meiyun stood over the girl's body with tight lips. Her pulse was gone, but not cold. Beneath the fingernails—traces of residue. Not water. Powder. Her lips tinged blue.

"You didn't drink," Meiyun whispered. "You knew."

Someone behind her cleared their throat.

She turned—and there stood Prince Wei Lian. Alive. Tall. Too pale still, but steady on his feet. He wore black, as if mourning someone unseen.

"You called it," he said.

Meiyun blinked. "You shouldn't be up."

"You shouldn't be standing over another corpse in this palace, and yet—here we are."

They stared at each other. Not as patient and healer. Not as prince and commoner. Just two pieces in a game neither of them started, but both were now bound to.

"She tried to protect her mistress," Meiyun said. "She paid for it."

"I don't like debts," the prince said quietly. "And I don't forget loyalty."

She turned fully to him. "Then remember this night. Remember who wants silence more than justice."

He nodded. "I already do."