The summer morning is blue.
The veil of night had begun to unravel gently. It was already bright enough that lanterns were unnecessary. Court feng shui masters had been summoned early in the morning to inspect the feng shui of Takamiya Palace. Among them was a Zhen (poison master bird spirit).
After the investigation, the court feng shui masters collectively shook their heads.
“There are no flaws in the feng shui of the north, south, east, or west. It is inconceivable that the poison known as ‘earth toxin’ could have originated here… This must mean that someone intentionally poisoned Her Majesty the Empress. Were there any visitors?”
“Only His Majesty visited seven days ago. Surely, you don’t mean to suggest that one of Takamiya Palace’s court ladies harbors ill will toward Her Majesty?”
The court ladies bristled in outrage.
Without the Empress’s permission, no concubine or eunuch could step foot in Takamiya Palace unless they could fly. If poison had been administered, the only suspects were the court ladies.
Amidst the feng shui masters gathered in Shōshoku (Crystal Palace), only the Zhen remained silent, lost in thought.
The court ladies’ hostile gazes turned to Fei Ling , who was standing quietly behind them. Their eyes brimmed with disdain as they glared at the outsider.
Fei Ling pressed her lips together, then spoke bitterly.
“There were no results from my investigation either.”
Why had the Empress been poisoned?
When Fei Ling asked for permission to investigate the Empress’s belongings to trace the source of the poison, the court ladies all erupted in protest, accusing her of disrespect. Allowing the belongings of their revered Empress to be handled by a lowly “child of chaos” was unthinkable.
It was none other than the Empress herself who silenced them.
“I give my permission. Please… I’m counting on you, Fei Ling .”
But despite the Empress’s trust, Fei Ling had found nothing.
“The robes and hairpins Her Majesty uses daily, the furniture in her chambers, the personal effects around her—none of them contained poison.”
The Empress’s food had always been tasted beforehand, eliminating the possibility of poisoning through meals.
Moreover, the toxin afflicting the Empress was clearly an earth toxin. Someone must have brought earth toxin into the palace and manipulated it to affect only the Empress. But was such a thing even possible?
“Useless! How dare you shame yourself in this moment when Her Majesty is suffering so greatly?”
One of the court ladies raised her voice, tears brimming in her eyes.
(You’re hardly one to talk, considering you haven’t even been looking for the poison.)
Unable to bear the sight of the hysterical court lady, Fei Ling averted her gaze to the skylight. A bird flew across the blue sky. The Zhen’s eyes followed it, narrowing as though he had reached a revelation.
“Feng shui concerns not only north, south, east, and west.”
Interrupting the court lady’s cries, the Zhen raised his voice.
“It also includes heaven and earth. …Might I have permission to climb onto the roof? And while we’re at it, may I bring the palace physician?”
Fei Ling almost blurted out, “Why?” but swallowed her words. Here, the Zhen, as a feng shui master, held far greater authority than she did. Reluctantly, she fell silent and deferred to him.
“Carry me.”
In an empty corridor, Fei Ling held out her arms toward the Zhen.
Her green sleeves fluttered in the breeze. The Zhen arched a slender brow.
“Unlike you, I can’t climb onto roofs. If you insist on going up there, you’re carrying me. Got it?”
“I don’t mind, but… I thought you’d be the type to stubbornly climb up there yourself rather than rely on my help.”
“I’m not one to waste my pride on pointless things.”
The Zhen effortlessly lifted Fei Ling in his arms and climbed up onto the roof.
The roof of Takamiya Palace resembled the back of a dragon. The tiles, glazed in brilliant lapis lazuli, sparkled vividly under the midsummer sun as though shimmering with moisture. Moving along the rooftop, they reached the area above the chamber where the Empress rested. If the poison only affected the Empress, the most likely time for exposure was during her sleep.
“Just as I thought. Only this section of the tiles is stained, as if something had been scattered here. And that’s despite the rain we had two days ago.”
Fei Ling traced her fingers along the rooftop, then unhesitatingly licked them. A texture reminiscent of sand, a faint burnt smell, and finally a searing heat spread across her tongue.
“…This is the residue of something burned. Something made from bones and plants… judging by the scent, willow and…”
Her green eyes widened. She had tasted this poison not long ago.
“Oleander.”
Oleander is a highly toxic plant. Its smoke and ashes, especially when burned, are extremely poisonous. The fine ash could seep through the cracks in the roof and fall into the chamber below. If someone inhaled this invisible toxin long enough, they would inevitably succumb to poisoning.
“Something doesn’t sit right. The poison affecting the Empress is undoubtedly a fire toxin.”
Oleander’s toxins typically caused nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, dizziness, weakness, and severe arrhythmia. But for it to burn continuously as it had, this was no ordinary poison. Yet it wasn’t something even a poison master could easily create. Furthermore, this poison was mixed with too many impurities to be the work of a skilled craftsman.
It seemed more like a curse.
“Oleander poison, is it? That’s a new one for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re aware of the southern campaign in spring, aren’t you? The Emperor’s army allied with the Kun tribe to destroy the Hao tribe. But the Emperor didn’t intend to exterminate the Hao people. It wasn’t the army that wiped them out—it was poison fire.”
Poison fire. Fei Ling leaned forward, connecting it to the “fire toxin” afflicting the Empress.
“During the conflict, a fire broke out in Hao territory. They say it started by accident—a campfire in the Emperor’s camp tipped over, or a soldier dropped a torch.”
“So the army didn’t deliberately set the fire?”
“Almost certainly not. By the time the alliance with the Kun tribe was secured, the army’s victory was assured. Burning the land would have risked harming the Kun tribe’s territory as well.”
The Zhen continued, “Unfortunately, the Hao people loved birds as family and hated snakes, which prey on birds. Oleander, though poisonous, is a snake repellent, and the Hao used it to build their fences and the frameworks of their tents. When those burned, well… you can imagine what happened.”
It wasn’t hard to picture. Even if they escaped the flames, the Hao inhaled the toxic smoke and perished.
“Even now, two months later, the fire continues to spread.”
There had been no one to extinguish the fire in its early stages—this was the first stroke of misfortune. Next, the flames reached the oleander plants, spreading poison—this was the second misfortune. Lastly, despite it being the rainy season, a drought had struck the southern region. This was the third layer of bad luck.
“At first, it was just ‘poison.’ But as the fire spread through the oleander fields, it continued producing toxic smoke. Poison became something more—it became earth toxin. Isn’t that what this is?”
Was it that the fire, growing too strong, destabilized the natural balance and became an earth toxin? Or was it the death and hatred of the Hao people that gave rise to the fire toxin?
“Then… could this ash be the remains of the Hao people?”
Fei Ling glanced down at the ash-covered tiles. But who had scattered it on the Empress’s roof, and how?
“…That bird… it was a goshawk.”
Fei Ling murmured softly.
Goshawks were birds the Hao people revered and often used. It seemed likely that the last remaining Hao had infiltrated the imperial harem.
“Do you know who the culprit is?”
“I have a good idea. But finding the culprit isn’t my role.”
The source of the poison was now clear. Pressing her lips into a thin line, Fei Ling declared:
“My role is to cure Her Majesty of the poison. That is all.”
