Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I did not take that as a compliment.

A person without hatred isn’t necessarily kind; they might simply be broken.

I said to Lady Wen, “As long as a person is alive, they will feel hate. If you cannot detect it, then your methods are inaccurate.”

She asked, “Then who do you hate?”

I opened my mouth, but no answer came.

I didn’t remember who my parents were. I didn’t remember where I lived before entering the palace. When an attendant led me into the palace ten years ago, I only remembered that the snow was very heavy and I was wearing an ill-fitting green padded jacket with blood on the cuffs. Someone asked for my name, and I said Shen Zhaoli. The name seemed to roll naturally off my tongue, yet it had no roots.

From that day on, I learned the art of toxin testing in the Treasure Inspection Office. My master, Aunt Qin, said I was a natural for this trade-steady hands, a clear tongue, and a cold heart.

Aunt Qin died during my third year in the palace.

She had tested a jade hairpin for Consort Chen, and the pin was non-toxic. Yet, after Consort Chen put it on, she went mad by the Taiye Pond. Clutching the hairpin and screaming for her “child,” she threw herself into the lake. Aunt Qin was beaten to death for it. Before she died, she looked at me, her lips trembling slightly.

I didn’t cry then.

Looking back now, perhaps what she wanted to say wasn’t that she was wronged, but rather: “run.”

The third to die was Consort De.

Her death was even stranger than the previous two. It was as if the water had been drained from her body; as she lay on the couch, her skin clung to her bones. Only the white jade bracelet on her wrist shone with a startling brilliance.

I had tested the bracelet, and it was likewise non-toxic.

Lady Wen wrapped a red thread around the bracelet. The moment the thread touched the jade surface, it turned black inch by inch.

Before she died, Consort De had written half a page. There was only one sentence on it: “The Emperor said that Sister would forgive me.”

“Sister” referred to the Empress.

Consort De had once been a palace maid in the Empress’s palace. After catching the Emperor’s eye, she was titled a concubine and rose all the way to the rank of Consort. The person she feared and hated most was the Empress.

I suddenly realized that all three imperial gifts shared the same origin.

The Drunken Beauty Red, the sachet, and the white jade bracelet were all personal rewards from the Emperor.

I laid the three items out on the long table in the Treasure Inspection Office.

The Drunken Beauty Red, the sachet, and the white jade bracelet.

Lady Wen told me to close my eyes. She dipped her fingertip in water and touched each item in turn.

At the first touch, I heard Consort Hua laughing.

She said, “What does the Empress matter? As long as she is dead, the Emperor will have eyes only for me.”

At the second touch, I heard Concubine Li crying.

She said, “What right does Consort De have? She is nothing more than a dog at the Empress’s feet.”

At the third touch, I heard Consort De gasping.

She said, “If Sister will not forgive me, then I will make it so she can never speak again.”

These voices did not come from my ears; they seeped out from the gaps in my bones. Every word carried a sticky heat, like blood rolling in the palm of my hand.

I opened my eyes, my forehead drenched in cold sweat.

Lady Wen handed me a handkerchief. “You heard them.”

“Hearing murderous intent does not mean we have found the killer.”

“Continue.”

She pushed a yellow silk ledger used for recording imperial gifts toward me. The ledger recorded the origin, time, and handler of every reward. The rules of the Treasure Inspection Office were extremely strict; every item’s entry into storage, removal, toxin testing, and delivery had to be stamped.

I flipped to the page for the Drunken Beauty Red.

Recorder of entry: Gao Rang, Eunuch of the Imperial Presence.

On the page for the sachet, it was also Gao Rang.

For the white jade bracelet, it was still Gao Rang.

Gao Rang was the Emperor’s most trusted eunuch. If one were to say he had a hand in this, it was equivalent to saying the Emperor had a hand in it.

Lady Wen looked at me. “Do you dare investigate him?”

I closed the ledger. “I only investigate objects, not people.”

“Objects do not walk into the inner palace on their own.”

I looked up at her. “Wen Suyi, what exactly did you come into the palace to do?”

She finally spoke her name.

“I came to find something,” she said. “Ten years ago, someone destroyed my Wen family and stole our ancestral Thought Poison Formula. The last time that formula appeared was here in the palace.”

I asked, “Who stole it?”

She stared at the white jade bracelet. “A man who is very good at making others do his dirty work.”