Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Concubine Li was the second to die.

She died in the Imperial Garden, clutching a newly bestowed sachet in her hand. I had inspected that sachet only the day before; it contained angelica, boneset, jasmine, and a bit of silk tree bark to soothe the nerves. It was not poisonous.

When she died, there was a smile on her face, yet two streaks of greenish-black blood flowed from her nostrils.

The palace servants said that, during her life, Concubine Li loved waiting for the Emperor in the Imperial Garden most of all. That day, she had received the sachet and, hearing that the Emperor had personally selected it, wore it all the way to wait for him under the blossoms. After waiting for half an hour, the Emperor did not arrive. Instead, she saw Consort De supporting the Emperor’s hand as they passed by under the corridor on the opposite side.

Concubine Li looked down, took a breath of the sachet’s scent, and then collapsed with a smile.

I inspected the sachet again. It was still non-toxic.

However, Lady Wen had someone bring a basin of fresh snow and placed the sachet upon it. A moment later, a faint trail of water appeared on the surface of the snow, as if someone had traced two characters with a fingertip.

Consort De.

A chill ran down my spine as I watched.

“Thought Poison does not always manifest as words,” Lady Wen said. “This was the last thought Concubine Li clung to before she died. Her hatred for Consort De was too urgent, so the thought surged out first.”

I said, “According to you, every object in the palace could be poisonous.”

“Yes.”

“Then what use is the Treasure Inspection Office?”

Lady Wen looked at me. “The Treasure Inspection Office has you.”

Her words did not sound like a compliment.

I said coldly, “I only test for physical poisons.”

“From now on, you must test the human heart.”

That sentence was even more absurd than the poison. If the human heart could be tested, the inner palace would have been emptied long ago.

Concubine Li’s sachet was sent to Hanzhang Hall. After hearing the report, the Emperor remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “Concubine Li was narrow-minded and prone to jealousy. Her failure to harm others resulted in her own downfall; it can be considered karma.”

Beside him, the Empress pressed her palms together and recited a Buddhist prayer.

Consort De knelt below the dais, weeping like a pear blossom in the rain, protesting that she had never harmed Concubine Li.

I looked at the jade bracelet on her wrist. That bracelet was also an imperial gift, which I had inspected just three days prior. It was warm and translucent throughout, without the slightest trace of toxicity.

Yet, pressed against Consort De’s pulse point, it looked like a cold, white eye.

That night, Lady Wen came to the Treasure Inspection Office to find me.

She brought a lamp, a bowl of water, and a length of red thread.

“You need to learn the identification methods for Thought Poison,” she said.

I set down my ledgers. “Who authorized you to teach me?”

“The Emperor.”

I scoffed. “Does the Emperor want me to learn this to solve cases, or so I can test the hatred of every person in the inner palace for him?”

Lady Wen did not answer. She simply soaked the red thread in the water.

As the lamplight hit it, a faint mist rose from the water’s surface. There were shadows within the mist, like many human figures crowded together, reaching out and opening their mouths, yet unable to make a sound.

“Thought Poison is divided into three layers,” she said. “The first layer is the lingering thought on the object. The second is the killing intent of the person holding the object. The third is the source-the person who originally channeled the killing intent into the object.”

“How do you distinguish them?”

“By the color. Resentment is gray, jealousy is green, fear is white, and hatred is black. If there is a red tint within the black, that is killing intent.”

I stared at the water. “Then what color was Consort Hua’s Drunken Beauty Red?”

“Blackish-red.”

“And Concubine Li’s sachet?”

“Green with a hint of black.”

I asked, “Who is the source?”

Lady Wen glanced at me. “I cannot say yet.”

I hate it most when people play riddles. Just as I was about to stand up to see my guest out, Black Tongue suddenly jumped down from her arms and leapt onto my dressing table. Its paw pushed open an old wooden box, which contained the silver needles I had used during my first year in the palace.

The silver needles had long since turned black.

Lady Wen’s expression changed slightly. “Are these yours?”

“Yes.”

She picked up a silver needle and placed it in the water. The surface of the water stilled for a moment, and then even the lamplight seemed to dim.

It wasn’t black, red, or gray.

It was empty.

There was no color at all in the water, like an eye without a bottom.

For the first time, the way Lady Wen looked at me changed.

She said, “Do you know why you haven’t died after ten years of testing poisons?”

I said calmly, “Because I am resilient.”

“Because killing intent is ineffective against you,” she whispered. “In your heart, you have never truly hated anyone.”