It was the day. The day I smile up at Guan Shu and Rong Er to let them know that their murderer will be exposed.

I applied a fresh scent of jasmine on my neck and wrists. Since there weren't perfume bottles in ancient China and I didn't want to do what the other people did, I made my own perfume. It was easy.

Time was quite slow but I was ecstatic for Hua Er to announce that it was officially two in the afternoon. My palms were clammy and no matter how much I wiped them across my bed sheets, it was still sweating buckets. I felt this rush in my body as I tried to breathe slowly. I avoided all the negative thinking in my head, which was hard—very hard. I was easily an overthinker so there were thousands of outcomes already visualized in my head.

No matter how much I tried to push those thoughts aside, it kept playing in my head. I was capable of anything.

Guan Shu would scold me and tell me to stop bringing so much attention to myself, but she wasn't here anymore. She would swat me away and tell me that I was crazy. Rong Er would shake his head and not understand what I was saying. I felt the smile on my face.

Fen Xi avoided bringing up the topic of Chen Xi or Guan Shu, but I knew she wanted to ask me when I was going to get a sixth maid. I was actually allowed eight maids, but six was enough for me. I remained with five because I just didn't want to replace Guan Shu's spot. Was it time to get over it? Yes, but I don't think I will.

"Your Grace," one of my eunuchs, Li Shi, approached the doorway. He bowed before setting a container on the table. "The Empress was worried about your health, and she wanted to deliver this to you."

I widened my eyes. "Her Majesty? She is very considerate."

"I believe so," the eunuch nodded in agreement, but there was an unsettling expression on his face. "But for your safety, Your Grace, I'd suggest you check it with a needle."

Li Shi was fairly old. He had kind eyes and he's always been very sweet to me. Knowing that not everyone was out to get me in the harem was comforting.

"Thank you," I smiled, then taking the top off the container. "I'd like you to deliver a message to the Empress's maid, Xiao Li. I believe she was waiting for me at the bridge near here..."

"Of course, Your Grace." the eunuch walked closer towards me.

I looked at him and wiped my spoon. "Tell her that I won't be coming to her chamber to help her out with the paintings... I believe I need to relax after drinking the soup."

"I will do," the eunuch nodded. He hesitantly looked at the bowl of soup, already concerned whether if I was going to drink it or not.

"You may leave now," I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Y-Yes, Your Grace." he bowed before he left.

Hua Er, Fen Ai, and Snoopy sat down around me. I looked at them and I felt empty. I reminisced about my Noble Consort life and how easy it truly was. That was when I was naive and was able to trust the people who associated with me.

Now, I was too afraid to even speak badly about the Empress with my other maids. I mean I still do, but there was a fear factor to it.

Everything will change in almost an hour and I was going to do the best I could. I was ready. If I wasn't ready, I wouldn't be able to pull this off. My eyes were slightly watering too. I would, again, be vulnerable in front of Hua Er and my maids. I didn't want them to assume that I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to be sure of everything.

I want to be capable of things. I've been appearing strong ever since I become a concubine. It wasn't a facade. I am strong, but sometimes I needed to stop being so hard on myself.

A tear ran down my face, tickling my skin.

For once, I didn't care anymore. I'll cry in the arms of the people I've known. I missed my friends. I missed Cherry. I missed my annoying, petty little sister Cara. I'd do a lot just to irritate her again.

I tried to wipe my tears away but I couldn't. They gradually fell and I couldn't hold it any longer. Before I could even truly cry, I felt the loving embrace of three bodies.

***

"Your Majesty," one of the Empress's maids, Xiao Li, rushed into the large bedroom. She kneels before her. "Imperial Noble Consort Han... She drank it."

The Empress, Nian Shu, towered over her, smugly smiling to herself. In her arms was a small child. A little princess, in the arms of the Empress. She kept her head up to avoid ruining her headpiece. Nian Shu carefully set the princess down. As she bent down slightly, she held the maid's wrists gently and pulled her up. "Do get up."

"The small princess is growing up so fast!" Xiao Li commented, watching Li Hua giggle at her.

"Yes, indeed," Nian Shu let out a small chuckle. She smiled playfully at Li Hua but only got a blank stare in response. "I love her very much. I'm afraid if she grows up to look like that... woman."

As Nian Shu picked up the baby again, her face changed. She looked pleased with Li Hua. The wet nurses would arrive soon and take the princess from her hands, but Nian Shu deeply wanted to spend more time with the baby. Although it wasn't her child, she was extremely attached.

Nian Shu took a deep inhale and liberated herself by exhaling slowly. She closed her eyes. Xiao Li blinked rapidly as Nian Shu grinned widely. The dream-like state she was in—she couldn't help but open her eyes to face Xiao Li and laugh.

She laughed, loudly. In a large palace like hers, she was able to laugh maniacally without others worrying about her sanity. Nian Shu covered her mouth with the palm of her hand, still chuckling behind it.

Xiao Li widened her eyes at the outburst. "Your Majesty, are you alright?"

"I'm alright? I am better than alright! Xiao Li," Nian Shu grinned and rocked Li Hua in her arms. The baby's eyes bulged out at the maid. "You deserve more than I've given you..."

The maid only gave her a simple smile, knowing that what she wanted would be hers either way.

Nian Shu paused again to let out a soft chuckle. The stress from her face was gone, and now, joy was already radiating from her entire presence. Her maid was shocked that the Empress was even showing this side to her.

"When did she drink it?" Nian Shu asked, smiling to herself as she poured herself tea with one hand.

"Fifty minutes ago," Xiao Li responded quickly. She looked at Nian Shu and let out a ruthless laugh. "Rumours have it... Madame Ying Yue might have gone crazy!"

Nian Shu, sitting in her throne now, let out another roar of laughter. Li Hua quietly sat in her lap. Nian Shu sipped the tea and gently rested the cup on the table. "She'll say the most foolish things. I cannot wait for her to embarrass herself in front of His Majesty. Oh, Xiao Li, how great of a maid you are..."

Xiao Li tried to hide the annoyed expression on her face as she nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"I must call a eunuch to get her," the Empress kept the smug look on her face as she stared off into the distance. "A good empress has to check up on the other women in the harem. Xiao Li, call a eunuch to find her. We'll inform His Majesty that she got too drunk."

The Empress thinks quite irrational when she's happy. Xiao Li thought. The Emperor wouldn't buy it at all.

Because she was sticking with the plan, the maid kept quiet. She chuckled at the Empress's sudden burst of happiness, but the Empress thought she was laughing with her. Xiao Li grinned and shook her head to herself.

Ying Yue was giggling uncontrollably while the footsteps gradually started to get louder. The Empress's eunuch and Ying Yue's eunuch, Li Shi, worriedly pressed their ears to the door. They heard the state of her laugh.

They knew that it wasn't going to be good.

Both of them quickly came in and hastily looked around the room. Ying Yue had thrashed her bed and was kneeling on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. She laughed hysterically but was sobbing as she did.

"Madame Ying Yue has been acting like this and she hasn't stopped," Hua Er worriedly rushes to the eunuchs, urging them to help. "Please, I don't want her to go insane! Please... I'm afraid if..."

Li Shi knew right away that his mistress did not check the bowl for poisoning, or did the bowl even have poison in it? He shook his head to himself. No, of course not. The Empress drugged her with something else.

"She drank too much wine," the Empress's eunuch stated, hurriedly trying to leave to tell the Empress. "She's drunk. We must inform His Majesty."

Hua Er shook her head. "She didn't drink any wine."

Ying Yue grabbed Li Shi's arm, urging him to come closer. She tried to pull his arm but she was too weak. Although in the hysteric state she was in, she was still absolutely stunning, hence she wasn't worried for the Emperor to see her.

Her cheeks were already burning from the dried-up tears. She desperately clung to the eunuch's arm as she whispered loudly. "... I need to speak to His Majesty! I need to confess something! Please! I demand you to let me speak to him!"

"Ah... Your Grace, you mustn't let His Majesty get involved," Li Shi attempted to swat her hands away from him. "Not in this current state... We need to get you a physician... We need to identify why you're like this."

The Empress's eunuch shook his head, holding back the smile spreading. "No. If she is seeking to confess something, she must."

Fen Ai shrugged and looked at the two men. "We've tried everything we could to help her. We must let her confess to His Majesty or else she'll stay like this..."

"See, brother, we must let Madame Ying Yue seek His Majesty," the Empress's eunuch smiled. "Let's help your mistress out."

---

"Send Madame Ying Yue to seek audience!" a eunuch called, his voice boomed in the room.

My hands shook. I couldn't control it. Everywhere in my body was trembling and I felt my heart palpitations. When I walked into the hall, I felt all eyes on me. Everywhere, I felt pairs of eyes watching my every move, judging me.

The Empress smirked at the goofy grin I plastered on my face. I fell over nothing and hit the ground with a loud thud. I laughed. Laughing louder, I faced the Emperor with a tired smile, giggling at his stern expression.

"Warm blessings to Your Majesty, happiness and peace to Empress." I kowtowed, then getting up and nervously laughing at the Emperor's face.

I could see that he was fuming. His eyes coldly flicked from the eunuchs to me. I could never read him, but I knew there was no amusement in his eyes when he looked at me. He definitely thinks I'm wasting his time and everyone else's. Not for long.

I crawled closer, tears beginning to well up. "Y-Your Majesty... I need to confess something! Y-You must not be angry with me!"

"I will not," the Emperor exhaled sharply. "I am already mad at you, I cannot be as mad as whatever it is—"

"I-I tried to investigate the Empress behind your back, Your Majesty," I burst out in fear, bowing again to show how anxious I was. I trembled under my hanfu. "T-The Empress found out a-and I think... I think the soup she sent me had something in it!"

The Emperor knitted his eyebrows. "You investigated the Empress for what reason? Ying Yue, be careful about what you're saying..."

The Empress scowled. The amusement in her face diminished and I can sense that she was slightly afraid. She sat comfortably in her throne, but now, she was fidgeting. Chang Ying slowly turned to look at the Empress.

"Your Majesty," the Empress drifted her eyes away from me, and then at her husband. "I don't know what she's talking about... I did send her soup but Imperial Noble Consort Han must be drunk."

She shouldn't have admitted that.

"N-No, Your Majesty," I cried out, shaking my head violently. "The Empress murdered Guan Shu! Guan Shu... Guan Shu hung herself with silk—Your Majesty, you know servants... They... They don't have access to the finest silk!"

Chang Ying cleared her throat. "Your Majesty, she is right... I was quite skeptical of Guan Shu's suicide."

The Empress quickly snapped her head to glare at Chang Ying. I peered up, quickly looking away to stop myself from peeing myself. This was nerve-wracking. I wasn't ready. I don't think I was ready.

"You cannot make things up like that," the Emperor stood up from his throne in anger. "You are drunk and you should go rest! Another word from you and—"

"The Empress has been receiving letters from the same assassin group that tried to harm you, Your Majesty," I pleaded, sobbing as I spoke. I choked on my spit. "I-I admit that I trespassed into her chamber... I wanted evidence to show that she murdered my maid!"

The Emperor quickly glances at the eunuch beside him. "Give her some water."

"Yes, Your Majesty." he quickly nods. Soon after, I felt the glass of water in my hand and I gulped it in one sip. The eunuch slightly smiled at me and resumed back to his place.

Again, the Emperor seemed to be thinking. He looked at the Empress and then looked back at me, then at the eunuchs in front of me. "Search her estate for anything that may have been consumed."

"You don't believe me, Your Majesty?" the Empress intervened, but that didn't stop the Emperor.

They agree again and hurriedly leave the room. I took that chance to force more tears from my eyes. Raising my trembling hands to brush my loose hairs, I made sudden eye contact with the Emperor. "I-I found the letters. Your Majesty..."

"Your Majesty, you mustn't believe her," the Empress shook her head in dismay, her eyes narrowed at him. "She's drunk and she's deluding. She must receive proper treatment... This... This entire case is plain unnecessary!"

Loud footsteps interrupted the moment and I turned to see Li Feng, Jaxon and two other guards walking in. Jaxon quickly hands the pile of papers to the eunuch. The Empress's eyes of bewilderment were displayed to the public. Her lips parted in horror as the Emperor skimmed through the letters.

Li Feng passed the poem to the eunuch. As the Emperor took the poem and eyed it carefully, Li Feng spoke up, "The poem is written by Her Majesty. She spoke ill of Imperial Noble Consort Han. The Empress's personal stamp is visible at the end of the poem."

"Your Majesty, they match up to the letter that was supposed to be sent to..." the eunuch took a pause, his eyes trailed away from the letter. He glared at the Empress.

"She forged this! She—" the Empress began but once she took one look at the Emperor, she stopped speaking.

The Emperor's eyes spoke the truest form of anger. His face remained stoic but his eyes told everything. He fixed his gaze at the Empress, clenching his teeth. A vein popped from the left side of his temple. "I trusted you with my heart... I loved you..."

I gulped. After looking at the Emperor, I chose to face down. I already addressed the letters, now I can talk about Guan Shu. Since the Empress has a bad reputation in the Emperor's eyes, now I have to finish the kill.

My eyes were fixated on the ground. I couldn't bear to look at him nor the Empress. I couldn't. I felt guilty about breaking the apparent love they had. The Emperor loved her. Although I wanted to ruin his perspective of her, I was so selfish to realise that he did love her. He was hurt. His love, the Empress, betrayed him.

"I-It's... It's a misunderstanding!" the Empress's voice trembled.

I peered up only to see that the eunuchs have dragged the Empress out in front of me. She didn't look back at me at all.

Then again, more shuffling, more people coming. Was it the eunuchs?

As I turned around, I recognized the face. The assassin disregarded me and looked at the Emperor. He kowtowed and greeted him. With agitation, he pointed at the Empress. "Her Majesty... isn't the only person involved."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow.

"There is another third-party I don't know of," the assassin bowed to him again. "Please pardon me from execution! I haven't succeeded in this mission! I'll tell you all that there is about the group—"

"You expect a pardon? How many times, tell me... How many times have you attempted to remove me from the throne? You—" the Emperor barked, he gripped the vessel in his hand so tightly that I was waiting for it to break into pieces.

Before the Emperor could vent further, the two eunuchs rushed quickly towards the Emperor. They passed the bowl to the physician. "Your Majesty, Madame Ying Yue consumed one-third of the soup given by the Empress."

"Will she be alright?" the Emperor quickly asked, taking another glance at my face.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Her Grace will be fine after an hour," the physician set the bowl on the table next to him gently. "It seems that there were medium doses of Fangkui infused with the soup."

"My mistress did not consume wine." Li Shi shook his head.

The Empress shook her head in denial. "N-No! Your Majesty, she framed me! She put the dosage in there herself! If she didn't know, why didn't she drink all the soup?"

I didn't even think of that. My heart almost stopped. The Empress had a perfect retaliation and I assumed I was doomed. Before I could even defend myself, Fen Ai in the far distance was quick to answer. "Your Majesty, Madame Ying Yue and the rest of the concubines had lunch. Her Grace ate a large portion and was full. She abandoned the soup because she couldn't bear to drink any more of it."

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!" a loud voice called behind me.

My heart beat faster. I didn't expect her to be involved. I almost burst out laughing, the whole gig is up with the Empress. I was almost drunk in ecstasy. Justice was served, finally, nothing can get better than this.

Fen Ai was quick on her feet! I was impressed.

We greeted the Empress Dowager in unison. The Emperor rose from his chair to greet his mother. She lost the glow on her face and now, she was solemn. The casualness of her demeanour was rather scary. She looked at the Empress like she had nothing to do with her anymore.

The Empress Dowager tilted her chin up and slowly shook her head at the Empress. She kept a proper posture as she settled down in her throne. "You want to ruin the Imperial family, for what?"

"No... No, Mother, it's not like that..." the Empress whined, she crawled towards the Emperor, climbing up to grab his hand. Although I couldn't see her face, I knew she was crying.