Volume One, Chapter 6: Drinking the Poison for Him

It seemed that the three of them had heard early on that a palace maid from Eternal Alley was going to consider herself equal to them. The other two maids covered their mouths, stifling laughter, their eyes full of mockery and disdain.

“Please take good care of me, sister,” Lou Hongling said, not wanting to get entangled with them and hoping to get through this encounter quickly.

“Hmph, who calls you sister? I’m Linlang. Remember this: if you want to get along well here, you have to listen to me,” Linlang sneered.

Lou Hongling calmly sized up the three of them, her gaze sliding past the domineering Linlang and her shadow Peiyu, finally resting on the taciturn, reserved Daimao.

She recognized all three from her previous life—they were among the most assertive in the Xu Qing Palace. Daimao was special because she was a spy sent by the Empress Dowager, though Lou Hongling had been unaware of this in her past life, which had led to many unexpected setbacks.

Daimao quickly glanced at her before lowering her head again.

“Hey! What are you daydreaming about? Didn’t you hear me talking to you?” Linlang was furious that Lou Hongling dared to ignore her.

Lou Hongling didn’t want to say more and turned away decisively, leaving the three standing there.

“Hey! You!” Linlang was livid, glaring fiercely at Lou Hongling’s retreating figure. She made a mental note to remember this new palace maid.

Lou Hongling was tidying her belongings in the side hall when the door was suddenly kicked open.

She looked up and sure enough, it was Linlang and her two companions, striding arrogantly to the table where Lou Hongling was sitting and plopping down.

“Got something to say?” Lou Hongling, disturbed from her rare moment of peace, asked calmly despite her annoyance.

“You’re new here. What’s your name?”

“Lou Hongling.”

Linlang raised an eyebrow and made a hand gesture. Lou Hongling understood immediately—it was a demand for silver.

“I don’t have any,” she replied without hesitation.

“You!” The three didn’t believe her. With a signal from Linlang, the other two started rummaging through her room without a word.

The reason Lou Hongling remained so calm was because she wasn’t lying—she truly had nothing.

After a thorough search, the two found nothing and exchanged helpless looks at Linlang.

Linlang hadn’t expected the woman to be so destitute. In frustration, she gave the table corner a hard kick.

Lou Hongling only appeared to rest her hand lightly on the table but was actually channeling internal energy to firmly stabilize it.

Linlang’s kick barely moved the table, but it hurt her foot, and in anger she cursed, “Beggar.” Only then did she storm off.

So, from the very first day, under Linlang’s lead, Lou Hongling was unsurprisingly isolated. The tedious chores were always assigned solely to her. If she dared to complain, they would say it was the arrangement of Xu Qing Palace. Luckily, Lou Hongling was used to hardship from her time in Eternal Alley and was able to adapt.

She knew Xu Qing was meticulous and subtle. To gradually earn his trust in the palace, she had to be sincere.

“Hey, Lou Hongling, it’s time to change His Majesty’s tea.”

The other two had gone to the Internal Affairs Office to collect the year-end monthly supplies. Linlang naturally came to boss Lou Hongling around.

She was about to order Lou Hongling to make tea when she saw Lou Hongling already heading to the cabinet, deftly taking out the tea canister from the third shelf. Watching her move so efficiently, Linlang’s eyes flashed with surprise—how did she know where everything was without being told?

But since Lou Hongling was doing the work for her, Linlang was happy to relax and returned to her room to slack off.

“Your Majesty, the tea is ready.”

“...Come in.”

Lou Hongling pushed open the door and entered. Xu Qing was seated in his study, reading, surrounded by piles of scrolls on the desk.

Her gaze shifted to the dark, thick medicine in a cup by his desk—the daily tonic from the Imperial Medical Bureau prescribed for Xu Qing.

Seeing Xu Qing lift the cup to drink, Lou Hongling suddenly recalled how, in her previous life, she had been complicit in slowly destroying Xu Qing’s health; this tonic was one of the poisons.

Her pupils constricted sharply as she cried out, “Your Majesty, wait!”

Xu Qing was startled by her sudden shout and set the cup down, looking at her in puzzlement.

Without speaking, Lou Hongling furrowed her brow and stepped forward quickly, gripping his wrist and pressing her fingers to his pulse.

Xu Qing’s eyes widened, uncertain of what she was doing, yet he did not object.

She carefully examined his pulse, secretly relieved—it hadn’t been long since he started taking the tonic.

As she relaxed and met Xu Qing’s confused gaze, she realized she needed to explain her strange behavior.

Turning around, she knelt solemnly and said, “Your Majesty, you must not drink this medicine. Please trust me, Hongling.”

Now was not the time to expose everything, but how could she stand by and watch Xu Qing poison himself day after day?

Unexpectedly, Xu Qing said nothing. Lou Hongling was stunned and tentatively looked up at him, only to see a deep, profound sadness in his eyes—far beyond the composure expected of a fourteen-year-old boy.

Lou Hongling was speechless, debating whether she should tell him everything. Xu Qing sighed and lifted the cup again.

“Your Majesty!”

Her sharp rebuke made him pause. She didn’t understand why he knew it was wrong but still intended to drink.

At that moment, a eunuch’s voice sounded from outside, ill-timed:

“Your Majesty, have you finished your medicine? I must return to the Imperial Medical Bureau to report.”

Lou Hongling glanced toward the door, where a figure waited. She looked back at Xu Qing’s helpless expression.

Of course—how could she have forgotten? No matter how much he knew, given Xu Qing’s precarious position, he had to drink the tonic whether he wanted to or not.

In her past life, she had been just one of many plotting against him. Aside from Wei Xuanming’s genuine loyalty, Xu Qing’s status was like a cliff’s edge, constantly unstable.

Was Xu Qing, surrounded by scheming and persecution, slowly doomed to despair and decline? The cruel irony was that she was one of the culprits.

If so, did he know of her past betrayals in his final moments?

The thought chilled Lou Hongling to the bone. After a brief moment of daydreaming, she looked up to see Xu Qing resignedly bringing the cup to his lips.

Without hesitation, she scrambled forward, snatched the cup from him, and drank it all at once.

Xu Qing stared at her in stunned silence.

The bitter medicine, like the taste of bitter herbs, rolled down her throat, numbing her taste buds and drawing a deep frown.

So this was the bitterness of the tonic she had fed Xu Qing every day in her former life.

So bitter. Truly bitter.

This time, let me drink the poison for you.