Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“I must admit this is perplexing,” Jinshi commented as he walked on ahead with the serving girl following meekly behind him. “When I had looked up your record, it claimed you were illiterate.”

At his words, the girl finally spoke up in a timid voice, “Yes well… I am but of lowly birth, it must be some kind of mistake.”

He smiled a little wider at her fragile excuse, finding himself amused that she was still pleading ignorance despite being caught red-handed. But hearing her voice confirmed for him, beyond any doubt, that she was the one they’d been looking for. It was a relief to see that his search had born fruit despite how little they had to work with.

“And yet, you were able to read what I wrote with little difficulty,” he reminded her with a smirk as she made an odd choking noise at the fact.

She certainly made it difficult for them to find her.

*Months previously leading up to this moment…?*

Jinshi had felt like he had reached the end of his rope now that he’d run out of places to look. For the last few weeks, he had been struggling with an emergency in the rear palace. It was no secret that the Imperial family had struggled with raising healthy children past infancy in current years. It was also no secret that the previous Emperor was only crowned Emperor because he was the only surviving heir.

But now it looked like history was repeating itself, for his children, the young prince and princess, were now stricken with a grave milady.

Jinshi had consulted with the physicians both inside and outside the rear palace, but so far, no one could figure out what the cause was for such a disease—nor could anyone even diagnosis it. All that anyone knew for sure was how fragile infants were—especially when they weren’t even a year old yet. The prince and princess were only three months apart in age—but suffered from similar symptoms—such as troubled breathing, nausea, and weight loss. At first, Jinshi had assumed that some malicious—perhaps even jealous—assailant was attempting to poison them… but how? Both children were still on milk so how could they be poisoned? The high consorts were given nothing but the most nutritious and freshest of foods, which were always tasted before being served to them…?

No, he didn’t believe assassination was the cause this time. Yet, that only made it even more frustrating since he had nothing else to work with.

Perhaps if all the precious children had been boys, he could believe that it was some sort of assassination plot. But of the three children who had already died, two of them had been girls…? Why would they go after the princesses when it was the male children who would one day take the throne? Even now, no one could give any clear explanation to how or why it happened.

There was even talk that there may have been some kind of curse placed on the Imperial Bloodline and he was starting to wonder if there may have been some truth to that. Well, maybe not a curse, per say, but he suspected it may be more along the lines of something in the blood that was causing them to grow ill?

But if that played a factor… then why was Lady Lihua also suffering? While she wasn’t in the same condition as her son yet, he had seen her over the last few days and had seen how gaunt her face had become from the weight she lost and how her eyes were becoming more and more sunk in. Whatever was happening to the children was clearly affecting her as well.

Jinshi ran an exhausted hand through his violet-colored hair, his spirits low as he struggled to figure out what to do. He was no doctor; having precious little medical knowledge outside of how to treat basic injuries when he was still learning to wield a sword properly.

After Lady Lihua successfully gave birth to a boy, he had thought that his hard work in the rear palace had finally paid off! For they were now blessed with the crown prince! Yet now, the boy’s life was in danger. It was hard to believe how quickly his hopes were slipping from his grasp just when he believed that he had achieved his goal of avoiding the throne.

While the Emperor was only in his thirties, still having plenty of time to be able to sire a male heir, Jinshi was aware of what his fate would be if his brother failed to have an heir reach adulthood by the time he passed. Jinshi would be forced to take a throne he never wanted if he could not find a way to cure what was happening to the Imperial children.

Just the thought made him breathe harder, making him become light-headed and fight a sense of nausea in the pit of his stomach. As he sat there, trying to come up with the next course of action, his aide, Gaoshun, spoke up, breaking the silence that had filled the office for several hours.

“Master Jinshi,” he told him with a worried expression, “Would it not be possible to explore other experts in medicine outside?”

“I wish I could,” Jinshi answered dully, “But I’m not even sure where to begin. The physicians we spoke to are all unable to find answers without seeing the children themselves and we can’t bring uncastrated men into the rear palace. Where are we to find such a person?”

~`***`~

As it turned out… such a person was much closer than he realized.

“They’re at it again?” Jinshi muttered glumly to himself, having a good idea to who the two women the eunuch said were arguing were. It was unseemly, the way the blossoms of the palace seemed ready to turn against the other at a moment’s notice. It fell to Jinshi—one among his many responsibilities—to quiet things down whenever such a disagreement took place.

Soon enough, when he arrived outside the Crystal Pavilion, he could already see a crowd gathering as heated voice could be heard beyond them. As he approached, a young woman was pulling away from the crowd, walking in the opposite direction that he was, as if the uproar didn’t concern her.

He took no interest in her at first until they passed by and he clearly heard the girl muttering to herself, “If only… I had something to write with…?”

For some reason, her voice stopped him dead and he paused for that moment to look back at her. She was moving fast though, and was soon out of his sights before he could get a proper look at her. But from the little he was able to make out, he saw that she was petite with freckles… and there had been a strange scent that clung to her of herbs and bitter medicine—with a touch of something that reminded him of freshly dug earth—an oddly soothing aroma if he had to be honest.

But the thing that had taken him aback was the fact that she didn’t even notice him.

For as long as he could remember, his beauty had caused the heads of everyone around him to turn—whether they were men or women. This was something that he had long since gotten used to; had even learned how to wield his beauty as a weapon to throw people off balance and draw them over to his side.

His face was his sole weapon.

So why didn’t she notice?

That girl… didn’t look at him. In fact, he suspected that she didn’t even realize that he was there at all. Was she that lost in thought? Why?

Curious indeed.

“Master Jinshi?” Gaoshun spoke up next to him, silently reminding him of the matter at hand, “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Jinshi responded, pushing such thoughts out of his mind when he realized that the heated voices were growing louder. He went back to pushing himself to the front of the crowd before he was able to disperse and defuse the situation before things got out of hand. Once he made sure to send the majority of people away, leaving only himself, Gaoshun, the two consorts, and their ladies-in-waiting, he was able to hear what had caused the disagreement to begin with.

It turns out that Lady Gyokuyou’s had come in search of the physician to plea on her daughters’, Lingli’s, behalf and ran afoul of Lady Lihua, whose son was growing sicker by the day. As the crown prince, his health naturally took priority over the princess and the lone physician was struggling to discover the cause of the illness—leaving him no time to visit the princess.

Jinshi made sure to listen to everyone, even to Lihua’s cries that bordered on hysteria, that Lady Gyokuyou had cursed her son.

“If that were true then why would my precious Lingli also be ill?” Lady Gyokuyou demanded, still holding herself tall despite the red hand-print on her cheek, “You may come and see her for yourself if you don’t believe my words!”

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for him to succeed in calming everyone down before promising Lady Gyokuyou that he would send the physician later today to check on her daughter. But he felt no pride in his work as he later returned to his office, still at a loss to how to proceed from here.

Strangely… the image of that freckled girl strayed across his mind for another moment before he cast the thought aside completely.

Something as small as that wasn’t important now.

She wasn’t important.

So then why did his thoughts linger on the memory longer than they should have? How come he couldn’t erase the moment of how she walked by him like he didn’t exist?

It had been oddly… refreshing.

~`***`~

Jinshi sat slumped over his desk as he hung his head with grief and regret.

A month… it had only been a month before the young prince, despite all their best efforts, had succumbed to the illness. To top it off, Consort Lihua was consumed with grief, was in no state to even leave her pavilion as her spirit lamented over the death of her child. He had gone to see her only once after the prince’s death only to see that she was thinner than ever with sunken in eyes as she wept, not resembling the blooming rose of the court any longer. He did not know if it was the unnamed illness that was continuing to cause her health to decline or if it was her suffering spirit. In either case, she was no longer in any condition to even think of bearing another child anytime soon.  

After that visit, he had received word that she was now confined to her chambers and was refusing all visitors. Not that any would come to visit… even the Emperor stopped coming.

If there was any silver lining to this tragedy, it was that Princess Lingli had recovered and was rumored to be healthy once again. Thanks to that, both she and her mother had become a great comfort to the bereaved Emperor, who came to visit her almost every day at this point.

Indeed, at this rate, Consort Gyokuyou might soon bear another child, given how often His Majesty visited. While that was a comfort to them all, he still couldn’t help but question how it happened? Why did the prince die and the princess fully recover? As far as he could tell, both were suffering from the same illness… so what was different between them? There was a three month age different between them but could it have made such a significant difference? And what of Lady Lihua? If the princess was able to recover so quickly, then it stands to reason that she should as well…?

He set his brush down before stamping the final piece of paperwork for the day and stood up.

“I’m going out for a while,” he said to Gaoshun, who nodded in understanding.

The only way he’d get to the bottom of this was to stop by Lady Gyokuyou and hope she could provide some answers, no matter how unlikely or vague they were. They had to find the connection and see if there was a way they could prevent this from happening again.

So that day, with the sky gloomy and full of rain to reflect the mood, he arrived at the Jade Pavilion, where he was greeted by the baby princess with cheeks as full and rosy as peony flowers. Despite the sad atmosphere, he couldn’t help but smile in return as she reached out and clasped her tiny hands around his finger as he gently stroked her cheek.

“No, child, let him go,” her mother, a read-haired beauty, scolded gently, also smiling as the little girl giggled.

“It is a joy to see her so healthy and full of life,” he stated as he watched Lady Gyokuyou wrap her baby in swaddling clothes and set her down in her crib next to the bed. Not that it worked for long since the princess kicked off the blankets, gurgling while playing with her feet and giggling as she tickled herself.

“Yes, it is a relief,” Lady Gyokuyou agreed as she looked at her daughter fondly.

She soon called in another one of her ladies-in-waiting, asking them to take care of Lingli for her while she entertained their guests, which the lady did so with a bright smile. Soon, it was just him, Lady Gyokuyou, her head lady-in-waiting Lady Hongniang, and Gaoshun left in the room, ready to discuss matters.

He had only known Lady Gyokuyou for a few years, but he had always enjoyed spending time with her kind and gentle nature. He always saw her with respect and had only grown fonder of her as time goes by. In fact, with them only a year apart in age, he saw her as something as like an older sister at times, especially since she did enjoy playfully scolding him as if he were her younger brother.

Jinshi felt more open when it was just them in the room, and he felt himself relax ever so slightly as she took the seat opposite him with Lady Hongniang by her side, as always.

She observed him through her large, jade-like eyes before asking, “I presume you wish to ask me something.”

She always was a perceptive woman; just one more thing he admired about her. He nodded, knowing that he’d just be wasting energy in dancing around the subject, and got straight to the point by asking, “Do you know why the princess recover her health?”

Consort Gyokuyou didn’t seem to be the least bit taken aback by his question, in fact, from the smallest of smiles that tugged at her lips, he suspected that she had been waiting for him to come and ask her just that.

“Someone seemed to have been looking out for my daughter,” she admitted.

From a small pouch at her side, she pulled out a rough-looking piece of cloth and held it out for him to see. He took it, realizing that it looked to be a cloth that had been torn from something and was adorned with sloppy characters. The handwriting was uneven in places and instead of ink, it looked like someone used grass stains to muddy the characters together so that parts were faded and difficult to read. But despite that, clear as day, were the words:

‘Your face powder is poison. Don’t let it touch the baby.’

Was this the answer that confounded them all this time? Face powder? Such cosmetics were common-placed… but could it have been what took the lives of so many infants?

“Your face powder?” he repeated as she nodded.

“Odd as this is, I’m sure you have questions,” she informed him in understanding.

“Just one,” he said. Though that wasn’t entirely true, his mind was swimming with so many that he couldn’t focus on just one and found his mouth speaking for him.

“Who was the one who sent this message?” he asked.

“The day I visited the Crystal Pavilion and ran afoul of Lady Lihua’s understandable grief. I returned to find that note on my windowsill. It was tied to this flower,” she answered and they both looked to the flower that was in the vase on the table. He recognized it at once.

“Rhododendron’s infer warning,” he muttered softly.

“The child is in danger. The white face powder is poison,” she recited grimly. “Ignorance is truly a sin.”

He considered everything carefully as he thought about what he knew of cosmetics like face powder; limited though it was. But if this message was to be believed… that was what led to the death of the prince.

It seemed unlikely, yet… at the same time it was starting to make sense. Lady Gyokuyou already possess pale skin that was prized at court and didn’t have such need of powder to make herself more beautiful. Consort Lihua, in contrast, looked so sallow that she used more of it every day to conceal her condition. If there was, indeed, some kind of poison in the face powder… if it were to get into the mother’s milk…?

“The palace physician would not employ quite so indirect an approach to alert you,” was all he could say and she nodded in agreement.

“Agreed, and his treatment of the prince belies in the actual awareness,” she pointed out.

“Then if not him… who was it who sent this?” he whispered, staring over the message in his hands, as if hoping it would magically reveal the truth.

“I’d like for you to uncover that very thing,” Gyokuyou requested. He frowned slightly, trying to think of how to go about this as his memories played themselves over in his mind from that day.

From what she just said, she found the message already waiting upon her return to the Jade Pavilion after the argument with Lady Lihua. Which could only mean that the messenger must’ve been present in the crowd. Not that it was a surprise, there had been many people gathered there; and it was only until after he dispelled the crowd did they all…?

Wait. That wasn’t right.

As he was arriving that day, someone was leaving…?

“If only… I could find something to write with…?”

He blinked as the words echoed in the back of his mind as the blurry image of a short, freckled girl suddenly appeared. Was that girl responsible? How could he find out?

He smirked as she blinked in surprise.

“I’d be happy to,” he said, holding up the torn cloth and asked, “Until then, would you mind if I hung onto this?”

“Oh? You know who sent it?” she asked, her eyes lightening up for a moment before he shook his head.

“Not quite, but I remember a serving girl muttering under her breath as I arrived upon the scene,” he explained while examine the characters on the cloth themselves. While it was hard to tell, he thought that there was a slight feminine form to them.

“Consort Gyokuyou,” he began curiously, “If I were to find the messenger, what do you plan to do with her? I suspect you’d wish to reward her?”

The consort beamed at him with a little giggle, confirming with, “Of course I would! If nothing else, I wish to thank my daughter’s savior in person.”

He smiled a little wider at that before standing up and declaring, “I understand. Just give me some time. I can’t promise with certainty that I’ll be able to find her, but I shall do my best. I will also have Gaoshun keep you informed of my findings.”

“I eagerly await to see what you find,” she told him with a cheerful tone as he tucked the cloth safely inside his sleeve and bowed low before departing.

“Far be it from me to disappoint His Majesty’s favorite lady,” he stated, feeling as if he were a child on a treasure hunt.

~`***`~

As he had expected, tracking down the girl wasn’t easy.

He barely remembered anything about her and there are countless women in the palace. He had done his best to try and recall any details but knew that his recollection was unreliable since he was no longer sure if he remembered if her hair was a dark shade of green or if it was actually black and his eyes had played tricks on him. The only clues he knew for certain were that she was a serving girl who can read and write and delivered the message on the day of the conflict.

He first started his investigation by questioning servants in the area, asking if they had seen someone carrying around branches of rhododendron’s the day of the argument between the two high consorts. After several dead ends, he got lucky when he found an eye witness, who claimed to have seen a petite serving girl with freckles carrying a pair of branches like how he described.

Sadly, the witness had been too far away to recognize who the girl was but, judging from her uniform, she suspected she most likely worked with the laundry.

After hearing that, he realized he had seen the type of cloth that the warning had been made from before. It was the exact same fabric that the serving girls wore while doing the laundry because it was tougher and more waterproof compared to the nicer silks that those higher up would normally wear. Since they worked with water and washing all day, their clothes had to be more durable, helping them to stay clean and dry as they went about their work.

With that thought in mind, he immediately went to speak with the Matron of the Serving Women in person for questioning. She did help him by giving him a list of all the girls who were literate and he even compared their handwriting to the scrap of cloth…? But still, none of them seemed to match properly.

He frowned as he looked over the names, feeling like he was missing an important piece to a complicated puzzle.

Jinshi was aware that most of the girls who worked with the laundry couldn’t read or write, which made advancing difficult for them. He asked the Matron about the few girls on the list, but almost none of them matched the description of a petite girl with freckles. And the few who did match, were confirmed to be doing chores at separate parts of the palace at the time of the dispute at the Crystal Pavilion. They couldn’t have possibly have heard about the argument until later that night at the earliest—long after the mystery messenger left her warning.

Lady Gyokuyou didn’t linger at the Crystal Pavilion after she pleaded for the physician to see Lingli. She must have remained for no more than ten minutes after he arrived, which meant that messenger had precious little time to deliver the warning. She mustn’t have had any luck in locating paper to write on and resorted to tearing her own skirt instead if she was determined not to be seen.

But now what? This doesn’t help him.

He tapped the table with his finger, feeling truly stumped as he tried to figure out his next move. He was now certain the girl worked with the laundry, and she could clearly read and write…? So then why was he coming up with nothing? He stopped tapping the table as another idea came to him.

Had it just been a mistake? Or was it possible the mysterious messenger had lied about being illiterate?

If that was true, then that meant she was most likely hiding among the girls who couldn’t read…? But why would she do that? He was aware that those who were literate were paid more and had better opportunities to rise through the ranks? Not only that, but why would she resort to such methods to stay hidden? Was she perhaps afraid that the two high-ranking consorts would not take the words of a serving girl seriously?

The only conclusion he could come up with was that she didn’t want to be found. Which also complicated things. For even if he were to approach each and every girl in the laundry for questioning, he was sure that they would try to lie? Or someone may try to take credit for someone else’s work?

No, confronting these girls head on wasn’t going to work. If he was going to find her, he needed to catch her off guard.

After a few minutes, he grinned as a new plan to draw the girl out formed in his mind.

First off, he would have to gather all the illiterate girls who matched the description in one place. To do that, rather than make the request himself, they’d make it sound like it was an order coming from the Office of the Serving Women. This was the office all the serving girls reported to. So a direct order from them, while unusual, shouldn’t immediately raise suspicions.

So, thanks to Gaoshun’s help, he made sure eunuchs were sent to round up all the girls who were on the illiterate list that matched the description before bringing them to the Matron’s office. Hopefully, she’d be unaware of what was going on until the trap was sprung.

That next afternoon, after examining the first group of girls, none of whom responded to the trap, he had Gaoshun help to lead in the next. Jinshi watched from behind the screen, giving Gaoshun time to observe the girls and see if he noticed anything that stood out. Jinshi knew his aide was sharp, able to pick up on little details, and he hoped that the man would notice something that he might otherwise miss. Jinshi watched carefully as the girls looked around the room, admiring the decor of polished wood and the dragons that were carved into the pillars as they waited to see what this was about.

As his eyes scanned the crowd of what looked to be about two dozen young women, a little frustrated that none of them immediately stood out to him. Well, nothing else for it but to try. He took a deep breath before putting the mask of Jinshi the eunuch back on and stepped out.

“I would like to thank you all for coming on such short notice,” he called. Like he expected, the moment he strolled out from behind the screen, the crowd lit up and swooned at the sight of him. He glanced over them as he passed and saw a sea of blushing faces and sparkling eyes, some of them were even sighing in bliss, as if they had seen a celestial being standing before them.

Having long since gotten used to this, he brushed it all aside as he came to stand in front of them, looking over them all before introducing himself.

“I am Jinshi. The manager of the rear palace,” he said politely, his voice a light as the first sprinkle of rain in spring. Like always, the young women sighed even more lovingly the second they heard his voice… save for one.

There was one girl in the middle row, almost directly in front of him, that instantly caught Jinshi’s attention. At first glance, she looked rather plain while surrounded by others in the same uniform. She was thin and petite, barely coming up to his shoulders, with hair that reminded him of dark leaves in summer while two strands, decorated with beads, hung down on either side of her face—which had a light dusting of freckles across her nose.

But the thing that got his attention the most were her deep, blue eyes. He remembered hearing stories of springs of wisdom that can grant all manner of knowledge… and he couldn’t help but think of such tales when he looked into such eyes.

Unlike the other girls, who were staring at him with blushes and even cooing with glazed eyes, she looked on with a sharp, piercing look as if she were examining his very thoughts. Surprisingly, she looked like she couldn’t have cared less about what he had to say.

Interesting. 

Jinshi’s faded memory of the woman who stepped away from crowd at the Crystal Pavilion suddenly became clearer and he felt his heart beat a little bit in excitement about possibly winning this little game of hide-and-seek. His eyes went to Gaoshun in the back of the room, who nodded his head once. Instantly recognizing it to mean that Gaoshun had noticed something and Jinshi smiled before he sat down at the desk for the final step.

As everyone watched, he wrote his message before holding it up without saying anything—watching to see if any of them reacted. His gaze fell upon the green-haired girl again, waiting to see what she’d do as he watched how her eyes trailed over the piece of paper that read out the words:

You with the freckles, stay here.

He watched for her expression with sharp focus until her eyes widened and she went pale, even taking a slight step backwards; unknowingly giving herself away. With his eyes locked onto her, he smiled and dismissed everyone else, who looked both confused and even a little disappointed, but left with only light whispers among themselves. Only the blue-eyed girl remained where she stood with a slightly greenish look to her face like she was about to be sick.

Yet as he got up, he saw how she spun around to watch the others leave with a wild panic on her face. It seemed she finally realized the trap, but it was far too late for her to do anything about it. He reached out to gently, but firmly, take hold of her shoulder so that she had no choice but to look back at him so that their eyes met.

“Now, now miss. Didn’t you read?” he asked with a slight tease in his voice as he gave her a dazzling smile. She didn’t answer, but he could feel the slightest tremble under his fingers as he whispered with only the slightest sternness in his tone, “I told you to stay. Keep quiet and follow me.”

He expected her to swoon at such a close proximity of his face to hers, at the least, he was looking for a blush. To his surprise, she did something completely unexpected. Giving him a disgruntled look before she shoved his hand off her shoulder like it had been some irritating gnat, even going as far as the brush off her shoulder as if to remove any trace of his touch from her.

He blinked, taken aback by the foreign response.

That… was new to him.

But he just forced a smile and commanded for her to follow him once more, which she was left with no choice but to do so. Yet as he passed by her, leading the way out of the room, a particular scent of herbs and earth reached his nose.

~`***`~

That was how he found himself with the princess’s savior miserably following behind him.

Now that the little game was over, he found himself genuinely curious about this girl, actually having to resist looking back and questioning her more because her recent actions were a puzzle to him.  More than anything, he struggled to understand why she was so insistent that he found the wrong person even though there was no need to hide it?

He could tell her guard was up, as if she were expecting some other form of treachery from him. Realizing that made him feel slightly guilty with how nervous she seemed, but he didn’t say anything else as the Jade Pavilion appeared soon after.

Upon arriving, Lady Hongniang was there to greet him as he smiled brightly at her.

“Could you please inform Lady Gyokuyou that I have returned and brought a special guest with me?” he asked politely as the serving girl meekly bowed in greeting to the lady-in-waiting. Upon saying this, Lady Hongniang looked at the girl with wide eyes, understanding immediately who she was, before a kind smile appeared.

“Of course, if you could wait here just a moment while I announce your arrival?” she asked before leaving, heading upstairs to inform her mistress.

As he watched her go, he suddenly realized something and he turned back to the serving girl, asking her sweetly, “I almost forgot to ask. Tell me, what is your name?”

The girl frowned, still looking nervous, but answered, “M-Maomao, sir. Just Maomao.”

He cast his mind back to reading the list of names from before and he could recall seeing that name listed. It had caught his eye because of how unusual it was.

“Funny, now that you mention it, you do remind me a little of a cat,” he teased and she looked away with a grumpy expression.

“I… I get that a lot,” she admitted as he chuckled slightly before Lady Hongniang returned, asking that they follow her upstairs. He escorted Maomao through the building and up the stairs to the same room that he and Lady Gyokuyou spoke in just yesterday, with Lady Hongniang offering to stay outside so that they could talk in private.

He nodded to her in gratitude before knocking lightly, calling out, “I have brought her, as requested.”

“Come in,” Lady Gyokuyou’s voice called and they stepped inside. Lady Gyokuyou, as radiant as always, was standing there with the princess already giggling and babbling happily in her mother’s arms. Upon seeing Maomao entering behind him, Lady Gyokuyou beamed at the sight of her before apologizing for dragging her all the way up here.

Maomao didn’t say anything at first as she stared, having not expected being brought before one of the high consorts like this. Wait, no, Jinshi realized she was looking at the baby with wide eyes before her expression relaxed, even taking on a soft look before he heard her whisper, “That’s good.”

It didn’t seem like she meant to say that out loud, but both he and Lady Gyokuyou clearly heard her.

“So it was you,” Lady Gyokuyou whispered kindly, and bowed her head in gratitude, “For saving the life of my precious Lingli. We are both in your debt.”

When she saw the consort bow to her, Maomao seemed to freeze up, and her head instantly looked down, her eyes fixed to the floor as she quickly mumbled, “Please, milady, I fear your gratitude is far too generously given.”

“I won’t hear of it,” insisted Lady Gyokuyou, “Who could be more deserving than my child’s savior? I can never thank you enough for what you have done for us.”

Still, the girl wasn’t giving in that easily as she kept insisting that they found the wrong person. Even offering that there was a misunderstanding with a faint hope in her voice like she thought they’d believe despite all the evidence against her.

Truly? Was she still playing dumb? They all knew that it was her so why insist on declaring that it was all a mistake? There was such a thing as being too modest and he had known many in the court who would say such things just to get a reaction out of someone. She clearly seemed to think that she hadn’t done anything important enough to be thanked over, which was baffling to him.

He looked to Lady Gyokuyou, who looked back with an expression that said she didn’t know what to think now. Jinshi knew she was silently asking for his help to help her understand what was going on and he cleared his throat, getting both of their attention.

“Concubine Gyokuyou was kind enough to let me hold onto the note she found,” Jinshi explained as his eyes were fixed on the girl for her reaction again while he pulled the torn piece of fabric from his sleeve and held it up so that she could see it.

Even though half her face was still hidden by her sleeves, he saw how her eyes widened again and a few beads of sweat appeared upon her forehead.

“Are you aware that this particular fabric is used in the servant girls’ clothing?” he asked as she stared at it, still guarded, as if expecting it too suddenly to strike her.

He watched her gulp before she slowly admitted with a slight shake in her voice, “Well, I suppose it does look familiar…?”

“Yes, I am quite certain any of the palace girls would recognize it. Especially, one like yourself who works amongst the laundry,” he agreed before his smirk widened and he added, “Tell me true, did you tear apart your skirt in want of good paper?”

He suspected if they were to check her skirt, they’d probably find a part that was stitched together from a bad tear. Now he never would have forced her to let him examine her skirt, much less in front of one of the four High Consorts, but she didn’t need to know that. All he wanted was for her to confess her good deed.

But at his suggestion, she dropped her arms and moved away, her hands behind her back as if she were trying to hide her skirt, which confirmed the truth for them.

At last, the girl seemed to admit defeat and she let out a long breath, no longer denying anything. He smiled over at Lady Gyokuyou, who returned it as she gently rocked the princess in her arms.

Well, with that out of the way, he tucked the cloth back into his sleeve and decided to get some answers as he asked, still in a soft voice, but with a tone that said he wasn’t going to tolerate any more denials, “Now that we’ve established it was you, would you care to explain why you put that flower on the window?”

He watched her with curiosity as she seemed to take a few seconds to collect herself. But to his surprise, she slowly stood taller, and he found his teasing grin fading. The light from the afternoon sun shining through the door behind her, made her look… older… wiser. Once again, he was reminded of those pools of wisdom when he looked at her blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through him and see things that he could not understand.

“I put it there that day because I deduced the cause of the illness,” she spoke, her voice calm and collected without the slightest indication of emotion. “It was the white makeup powder. In the brothels I grew up around, there were many courtesans who used the same high-end powder to lighten their skin. It poised them slowly. Draining all of their vital sparkle little by little until there was nothing left. They traded the fullness of their lives for a fleeting moment of beauty. And lost everything in the bargain.”

The way she spoke caused a slight chill to spread across his shoulders and down his back. She had lost the nervous manner and instead spoke with the wisdom of someone beyond her years. If he hadn’t know better, he would’ve thought he was listening to a talented physician with years of experience in medicine rather than someone whom was just finishing up laundry less than an hour ago.

The difference between this girl and the one he had to all but drag up here was… astonishing.

As she continued speaking, he watched how she gripped her left arm, either from nerves or from a bad memory, he didn’t know. But he spotted a tight bandage wrapped from her wrist up to her elbow without an ounce of skin showing.

“Before this, I was an apothecary. I’m familiar with poisons,” she explained.

So that’s how it was.

An apothecary? He wasn’t sure what it was he was expecting… but it wasn’t that. Such a thing like making medicines was normally forbidden for women to learn, but at the same time it explained everything.

During his search for her, he also made the time to ask a few of the concubines what they could tell him about the face powder. They explained that the kind that she was talking about was so expensive that a commoner could never hope to purchase one without spending a year’s worth. Only someone with incredible wealth could afford to use it as often as they desired—which he deduced was the reason this never came to their attention before now because those who had no access to it would not be aware of such a harmful product. And if what he heard was true, courtesans, depending on how popular they were, could purchase their own make-up or receive them as gifts. Which also explained how the Apothecary here recognized what was afflicting the victims just by listening to the symptoms from when the two consorts argued.

The girl lowered her head again, not saying anything else as he realized how the sun seemed to shine a gentle halo of warm light about her thin frame. He found himself unable to look away from this effect before he heard Lady Gyokuyou sighed sadly from behind him. He looked up when he heard her moving and watched how she went to the table where a little ceramic jar was waiting.

“And that’s the powder?” he asked, already knowing the answer when she opened it up to reveal a handful of the powder inside.

“It was used by the baby’s nurse as daily ritual. She claimed it to have a better whitening affect than other popular cosmetics,” Lady Gyokuyou explained, “She fell ill not long after Lingli so I permitted her time to rest. All fully compensated of course.”

“Kind of you,” he whispered, feeling that there were times that the Precious Consort was a bit too kind for her own good. But again, everything added up. Jinshi had been aware that Lady Gyokuyou had hired a wet nurse since she was struggling to keep up with giving her hungry daughter all the milk she wanted. And if that woman used the face powder…? Then it was just like what happened with Lady Lihua and the prince—given that he knew her to use large qualities of the makeup. She must have used so much that the poison was absorbed into her body and affected the milk.

Even now, he knew that the Wise Consort continued to cover her face with thick, white powder and he felt a heaviness in his chest.

“Ignorance is truly a sin. As a mother I should have paid more attention to what my child was eating,” Lady Gyokuyou whispered in regret.

At that, he looked away, feeling just as ashamed as she did as it fully sank in what he had allowed to happen.

“That sin is mine too. Had I only been more aware of the things around me a needless loss of life could’ve been avoided,” he whispered, knowing that he did bear some of the responsibility for this tragedy as well. Had he figured things out sooner…? Perhaps his little nephew would still be alive. Guilt filled his heart as he whispered remorsefully, “The poor prince.”

Lady Gyokuyou covered the container again before explaining, “After I saw the message I went to tell concubine Lihua of its troubling contents. But it seemed like everything I said only served to make her believe me less.”

In other words, because of the mistakes of adults, innocent children were made to pay the price for their pride and ignorance. He did not know how he could ever hope to make up for it except to ensure that it would never happen again. He was already making mental notes to learn more about any other harmful products before the girl suddenly spoke up again.

“So then… now that you know the truth, what do you intent to do with me?”

She was looking away, hiding her face again, as she seemed to hold her breath while waiting for the verdict.

Wait, was she expecting to be punished or something? He stared at her for a moment, wondering why in the world she would think something like that, before he shared a smile with Lady Gyokuyou, who beamed back at the girl.

“Well,” she said happily as the apothecary slowly glanced up, “Starting today you’re going to be my new lady-in-waiting!”

There was a moment of stunned silence as the Apothecary just stared at her for a moment.

“Huh?” was all she could say, as if she was sure she heard wrong.

Jinshi couldn’t help but chuckle at the look of stunned disbelief on her face.

~`***`~

After the Apothecary left, Jinshi remained with Lady Gyokuyou for a time as he studied the powder, before confiscating it.

“Did you see the look on her face when I said she was to be my new lady-in-waiting? It was adorable,” Lady Gyokuyou chuckled softly, still rocking her daughter to her chest as Jinshi carefully wrapped the container as to not spill any of the powder and tucked it safely away. “It was like she expected to be flogged or something? And if what she said was also true, not that I have any reason to doubt her, she tried to warn Lady Lihua as well. Sadly, it seems that the message didn’t reach her.”

“Yes, I’ve been wondering that as well,” he answered a little absent-mindedly. There was no logical reason for her to think that they would ever punish her. And why did she pretend to be illiterate? And why did she now seem so stunned by this new arrangement? The apothecary seemed downright alarmed by this arrangement and all but ran from the room the moment they told her that she could go.

What a strange girl indeed.

Though, when he learned what Lady Gyokuyou had planned, he suddenly felt a bit more sympathetic to the girl.

“While I believe she deserves to be rewarded for her services, I am confused Lady Gyokuyou,” he said as he glanced over the paperwork, “The role you have planned for her… it feels a bit… strange to reward her by making her into a taster.”

Lady Gyokuyou looked up as he finished, “That is the role you had in mind for her, did you not?”

At that, her eyes turned sad as she focused more on her sleeping daughter’s face and he let the matter go. She didn’t say anything else to him, but he understood the reason behind this decision. Despite being well known for her cheerful personality, he knew her to be intelligent and careful—especially with those whom she allowed close to her. In the garden of women that made up the rear palace, one did not become a high consort without gaining the animosity of others who had been spurred by the Emperor’s favor. He still remembered when Gyokuyou had first become pregnant and how there had been at least two attempts on her life before the princess was born.

At this point, the Precious Consort currently had only four ladies-in-waiting, and had called on special privileges to bring in that nursemaid. So the idea that she would accept some servant girl from who-knows-where, as one of her ladies seemed out of character.

But she had her station as a high consort to think of and being seen with such a low number of ladies-in-waiting would reflect poorly on her if she didn’t start building that number up soon. Surely she could take on at least one more woman. And if that woman happened to be a freckled serving girl who sought to save the life of princess Lingli without any thought of reward or praise… then surely there wouldn’t be anything to fear?

A part of him felt bad for the apothecary girl, but he knew that Lady Gyokuyou wasn’t doing this to be unkind.

~`***`~

He bowed low to Lady Gyokuyou before leaving the room, returning to the palace to immediately inform the Emperor the answers that he’d been looking for. He knew that it was not going to be a pleasant conversation, but he knew it was best if it came from him than from a report.

Jinshi was allowed into the Emperor’s private chambers and his brother’s face lit up when he saw him, like always. They spent a few minutes with idle talk before he sat down and showed him the container—explaining everything he found out earlier. The Emperor didn’t speak as he listened, his face growing graver by the second, until Jinshi’s voice fell silent.

After a moment of silence, his brother sighed, his face in his hand, before summing up for him, “So that has been the cause all this fear and uncertainty? The reason why my son died…? Why so many have died…? Because of some powder?”

“I’m afraid so, your highness,” Jinshi confirmed grimly. “I did speak with the apothecary girl a little more before allowing her to leave. According to her, she explained that the reason it was poisonous is because of the ingredients used to make it.”

“How could none of the doctors have been aware of this?” the Emperor asked, looking torn between anger and sorrow, causing Jinshi’s heart to ache for his brother’s pain. “Surely they would have recognized the poisoning affects as well?”

“Apparently the powder’s toxicity isn’t immediately apparent and it’s only after wearing the powder for a prolonged period of time does one become gravely ill,” Jinshi explained. “The women in the rear palace are unaware of its nature and it leads me to believe that this may have also been the cause of the precious infants’ deaths. Infants are particularly vulnerable to this form of poisoning since it can be absorbed into the skin and affect the mother’s milk.”

His brother heaved another sigh before looking up at him.

“I see, you did well to get to the bottom of this mystery, Zui,” he whispered, using the childish nickname that he only ever used when the two of them were alone together.

“Nay, it was not I who figured this out,” he reminded his brother, “Rather it was the apothecary who solved it all. All I did was track her down.”

“Well, I am grateful either way,” the Emperor whispered, still with that sad voice, “While it doesn’t undo the harm that was done, nor bring back my son or the other children, it is a relief to finally know the cause. I expect you to take immediate action now that you are armed with this knowledge?”

Jinshi bowed his head and promised, “Rest assure, I will give the orders for all traces of the powder to be removed from the rear palace effective immediately. In the upcoming days, I also asked the Apothecary to inform me of any other cosmetics that may prove to be harmful in the future so that we need not fear this ever happening again.”

The Emperor nodded in agreement before he stood up.

“You may be excused,” he told him, resting a hand upon Jinshi’s shoulder. “I will entrust you to ensure that the powder is banned from this moment on?”

Jinshi nodded as his brother gave him a slight smile, though still sad, he looked more at peace now than he had been looking for the last few days. He left the room, most likely planning to head back to the Jade Pavilion to spend some time with Lady Gyoukyou and his surviving daughter.

With this mystery solved, his brother can focus on the future and they would hopefully be expecting more children in the future.

It was sometimes strange to see the son of heaven so… human. The man was the Emperor, the ruler of this nation, yet underneath that stern exterior, he saw a man who truly did love his children.

Jinshi found such thoughts to be… heartening.

He left right after his brother did, and he returned to his residence just after dark, where Gaoshun was still up and waiting for him with a couple familiar goblets waiting for him. Jinshi sighed at the sight of the vile substance, but he took the potato flour concoction without complaint before swallowing down a mouthful of water to remove the vile taste from his mouth.

After coughing slightly, the aftertaste nearly as bad as taking the accursed potion, he gave his orders to Gaoshun.

“Make sure that everyone knows just how dangerous that powder is,” Jinshi ordered him. “Let it be known that the powder is toxic and will all be removed and banned for everyone’s safety starting tomorrow morning. I will have eunuchs come to inspect each building to ensure that all traces of it are removed. Just to make sure that they know how serious this is, let it be known that they may have to be punished if anyone is seen to be using or hiding any.”

“Understood, sir,” Gaoshun nodded in agreement as he took the paper with the orders. “By tomorrow evening, we should have searched the entire palace.”

Gaoshun bowed and bade him a good night before Jinshi returned to his private chambers, looking forward to getting some sleep. As he passed the long corridor that led to his room, he passed by a window that revealed a beautiful full moon already rising into the sky.

He always had mixed feelings about seeing the moon. For despite its fleeting beauty, he always was reminded of the weight of the burdens his station forced upon him.

While the Moon Prince’s name was known, hardly anyone knew what he looked like. It was only because of that was he able to play pretend in the rear palace till now. But at this point, they no longer had a male heir and the odds of Jinshi escaping from his duties was growing farther and farther away from him by the day.

He took a deep breath, realizing he’d have to plan things carefully from here on out if he hoped to avoid that unpleasant future. Fortunately for him, it looked like he had a useful new pawn to keep around for now. That apothecary girl… there weren’t that many who had such intimate knowledge of medicine and poisons. Not only that, but she was now one of the high consorts ladies-in-waiting?

He smirked slightly at this unexpected, yet most amiable, turn of events that gifted the most ideal pawn for him to use. Who would have thought that this girl he discovered by sheer chance would have helped him remove a number of his headaches all at once? While he did feel bad about her being forced into a role of a poison taster, he knew that her talents and knowledge would be wasted by handling laundry.

Still, there was one thing that troubled him. Because of her knowledge of poisons, while useful, he was painfully aware there was a chance that the freckled girl could put her knowledge to evil ends; whether that be knowingly or not. By having her as a lady-in-waiting, he knew he could easily corner her so that she wouldn’t have the chance to do anything harmful. He’d make sure to run his plan by Gaoshun in the morning before leaving, though he was sure that it wouldn’t be difficult to talk him around to it once he heard his reasons.

‘And if all else failed,’ he thought to himself with an evil grin, he could always use that pretty face of his to charm her over to his side. Yes, he hated it when he used his ethereal beauty to his advantage, but they all had to use what they could in this life.

His gaze turning to the starry sky outside… finding himself thinking more about those blue eyes again. He recalled her name… Maomao.

What an adorable name.

He would be sure to stop by and see her tomorrow to have her tested to make sure that she would be up to the role as a poison taster. He already informed Lady Hongniang to use ceramic bowls instead of the usual silver ones just to make things a bit more interesting for her.

He smirked slightly to himself before letting out a long yawn and returned to his room for a peaceful night’s sleep.

However, had Jinshi known that this meeting would forever change the course of his life, he may never have been able to get to sleep that night. Even in the far off future, when he looked back at this moment, he should have realized then that the moment he saw those blue eyes was when everything changed.