The rumor of Consort Lin Wan's impending death swept through the Inner Court faster than a sudden winter frost.
In the Imperial Harem, blood in the water never went unnoticed. To the dozens of beauties and consorts vying for power, Lin Wan's shadowed, isolated courtyard was no longer a place to be avoided. It was a carcass waiting to be picked clean.
By the afternoon of the second day, the heavy wooden doors of her courtyard groaned open once again. This time, it was not the Emperor's eunuch, but a procession of aggressively vibrant silk and the suffocating scent of overpowering jasmine perfume.
Consort Hui had arrived.
Allied tightly with the current Empress, Consort Hui was a woman built on sharp angles and loud ambitions. She wore a gown of rich crimson—a color dangerously close to the Empress's exclusive imperial red—and her hair was heavy with ostentatious gold ornaments. She stepped into Lin Wan's dim, medicine-scented chamber with her nose wrinkled in undisguised disgust.
"Heavens," Hui drawled, waving a silk fan in front of her face as if the very air were diseased. "It smells like a crypt in here. Has no one bothered to open a window?"
Lin Wan, wrapped in a thick fur blanket despite the mild weather, sat trembling in her armchair. Her face was powdered to an ash-white pallor, and dark shadows had been painted meticulously beneath her eyes by her network's makeup artisans.
She let out a wretched, rattling cough, pressing her handkerchief to her lips. "Sister Hui," Lin Wan whispered, her voice a brittle thread. "Forgive me... I did not have the strength to greet you at the door."
"Think nothing of it, Sister Lin," Hui said, though her smile was entirely devoid of warmth. She did not wait for an invitation to sit. She swept over to the best chair in the room, her maids quickly laying down a silk cushion before she deigned to touch the wood.
Hui's sharp eyes darted around the room, taking inventory. She looked at the antique rosewood screens, the jade tea set, and finally, her gaze settled on Ruo, who was standing timidly behind Lin Wan's chair.
"I heard the tragic news from Eunuch Liu," Hui sighed, though her tone was sickeningly sweet. "The Emperor is devastated, of course. We all are. To see a sister fade so suddenly... it breaks the heart."
"His Majesty's benevolence is my only comfort," Lin Wan wheezed, lowering her head to hide the glacial coldness in her eyes.
"Indeed. Which is why I am here," Hui leaned forward, her fan snapping shut. The pretense of mourning vanished, replaced by the naked greed of a scavenger. "When you... move on to the Heavens, Sister Lin, your courtyard will be disbanded. Your son, Prince Zhao Yuan, will be forced into mourning and cannot protect your assets."
Hui pointed a long, gilded nail directly at Ruo.
"That maid of yours. She is famously skilled at brewing tea and managing a household. It would be a waste to send her to the laundry department. I have decided I will take her into my courtyard. Consider it a final mercy from me, to ensure your favorite servant is not beaten by the rougher eunuchs."
It was an outrageous, humiliating demand. Asking to claim a living Consort's personal maid was the equivalent of measuring her for a coffin while she was still breathing.
Behind Lin Wan, Ruo immediately dropped to her knees, trembling violently. "This servant... this servant only wishes to serve Consort Lin Wan," Ruo cried, playing the part of the terrified, loyal maid to absolute perfection.
"Silence, you foolish girl. I am offering you a lifeline," Hui snapped. She looked back at Lin Wan, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. "I will send my eunuchs to collect her belongings tomorrow morning. You won't be needing her much longer anyway."
Lin Wan looked up at the arrogant woman. She coughed again, a weak, pathetic sound.
Then, she rested her pale hand on the armrest. Her index finger, adorned with a heavy jade ring, tapped twice against the wood. Tap. Tap.
It was a sound so soft Hui didn't even register it. But the shadows of the courtyard did.
"You are... too kind, Sister Hui," Lin Wan whispered, letting her eyes flutter shut as if the conversation had exhausted the last of her life force. "I leave my household... in your capable hands."
Hui stood up, immensely satisfied. She had come to assert her dominance over a dying rival, and she had won without shedding a single drop of sweat.
"Rest well, Sister Lin," Hui said, turning her back on the "dying" woman. "I will pray for your swift passage."
She swept out of the room, her entourage of maids trailing behind her like a flock of brightly colored, noisy birds.
Outside the chamber, Hui stepped into her luxurious palanquin, carried by four muscular eunuchs. As she settled into the plush velvet cushions, she didn't notice Eunuch Cao—Lin Wan's spymaster, dressed as a lowly courtyard sweeper—bowing deeply as her palanquin passed.
She also didn't notice that as Cao had swept the dust near her palanquin just moments before, his hand had darted out with the speed of a striking viper, slipping a small, heavy object wrapped in silk deep beneath her seat cushions.
The heavy courtyard gates slammed shut behind Consort Hui.
Inside the dim chamber, the oppressive atmosphere instantly evaporated.
Lin Wan sat up straight, the trembling leaving her body entirely. She tossed the heavy fur blanket aside, her movements sharp and fluid. She picked up her porcelain cup and took a calm, steady sip of warm water.
Ruo stood up, dusting off her knees. The terrified tears were gone, replaced by a look of sheer, professional boredom.
"An incredibly loud woman," Lin Wan noted, staring at the empty chair where Hui had just been sitting. "And terribly predictable."
Eunuch Cao stepped silently into the room, bowing low. "It is done, Boss. The package is secure beneath her seat."
Prince Zhao Yuan emerged from the secret passage, having listened to the entire exchange from the dark. He walked over to his mother, a faint, dangerous smile on his lips. "What exactly did you have Cao plant in her palanquin?"
Lin Wan set her teacup down. Her smile was a terrifying thing to behold.
"Consort Hui's greatest strength is her alliance with the Empress," Lin Wan explained smoothly. "But the Empress is a jealous, paranoid woman who guards her authority fiercely."
Lin Wan looked at Cao. "Yesterday, I had our network acquire a very specific item from the black market. A solid gold hairpin, carved in the shape of a nine-tailed phoenix. It is an exact replica of the hairpin the Emperor gifted the Empress on her coronation day. The real one is locked in the Empress's vault."
Zhao Yuan's eyes widened slightly as he realized the sheer brutality of the trap. "Only the Empress is allowed to wear the nine-tailed phoenix. For a Consort to possess one is high treason. It signifies an intent to usurp the Empress's throne."
"Exactly," Lin Wan murmured. "Consort Hui just left my courtyard carrying forged evidence of a coup against her own ally."
She turned back to Eunuch Cao, her voice dropping into the cold, commanding tone of the syndicate boss.
"Send a whisper to the Internal Discipline Bureau. Tell them anonymously that Consort Hui was seen bragging about a new, golden phoenix ornament. Let the Empress's own enforcers tear Hui's palanquin apart before she even reaches her courtyard."
"Yes, Boss," Cao grinned, melting back into the shadows to execute the order.
Lin Wan looked out the window, watching the last rays of the sun fade over the high palace walls.
"Consort Hui wanted to scavenge my courtyard," Lin Wan said softly, her eyes glittering with dark amusement. "Let us see how much she enjoys being eaten alive by her own friends."