(“It was Li Sha who poisoned Xue Mei Concubine. Both Xue Mei Concubine and Lady Xing Ru nearly lost their lives. What could Li Sha have been thinking when she came to celebrate the birth of the imperial princess that day? Was she mocking the fact that it wasn’t a boy? Or was she secretly cursing the child’s very existence?”)
The words Lan Xin had spoken about sakura being poison suddenly flashed through Fei Ling’s mind.
(“After all that, you still dared to rely on me? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”)
“Do you understand?” Fei Ling asked.
Li Sha kept her pale lips pressed tightly together, saying nothing.
“Do you know how much pain Xue Mei Concubine endured? How much she worried for her child?”
“…I… I…”
Ah, this was anger.
Even when shunned, insulted, or nearly killed, Fei Ling had never felt such a surge of fury before. The humiliation and pain she had endured could always be swallowed down like poison and dismissed. But attempting to kill Xue Mei Concubine…
(Unforgivable.)
A voice whispered in her mind, questioning whether it was even necessary to save them.
(“Poisoned by their own actions—this is just their fate.”)
If it were Zhen, he would surely say something like that.
She was convinced that the attack on Guo Lan had been Zhen’s doing. It was a mystery why Zhen had the jade pendant, but only someone like him could wield such potent insects. Moreover, Zhen had shown interest in the poison created by that toxicologist.
(“Without an antidote, this poison master will die.”)
The blizzard of rage in Fei Ling’s chest howled fiercely.
(“But isn’t this just their punishment?”)
It was simple. She could just say the antidote couldn’t be made, that the poison had spread too far and it was too late. That would be the end of it. Li Sha Consort wouldn’t dare make the eunuch’s poisoning public. That’s why she came all the way to this remote place without even informing the palace maids.
Even if this eunuch died, Fei Ling, as the palace physician, wouldn’t be held responsible.
“Unfortunately,” Fei Ling began, but before she could finish, Li Sha Consort crumbled to the ground, kneeling. Her trembling fingers clasped together as she lowered her head deeply.
“I beg your forgiveness. If there must be punishment, I will accept it. Accuse me as a criminal who harmed His Majesty’s child. But he is innocent. He only followed my orders.”
“…No, it was me,” groaned Guo Lan, who was supposed to be unconscious. Summoning the last of his strength, he grasped Fei Ling’s sleeve.
“I was the one who poisoned the concubine. If there must be punishment, let it fall on me alone.”
His voice was shaky, his breath labored, but his gaze was resolute.
“This is… my punishment.”
Li Sha Consort screamed in protest.
“No! If this is punishment, then it is I who should bear it! Everything you did, you did for my sake, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve done nothing, my lady. It was all me… for myself.”
The two argued desperately, each trying to take the blame for the other.
(“Ah, this isn’t poison.”)
He, she—neither of them were poison now.
And yet, anyone could become poison with a mere spoonful of malice. After all, every person holds a scale within their heart, just as Xiao Ling once had.
(“Right now, my anger is the poison.”)
Xue Mei Concubine would have forgiven them. She would have wanted them to be saved.
Reaching his limit, Guo Lan collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Li Sha Consort caught him, clutching him tightly as she wept.
Fei Ling thought, I cannot let him die. Even if in the end I must leave it to fate, I must do all I can. That is the role of medicine.
“…I will prepare the antidote now.”
Li Sha Consort raised her tear-streaked face in shock.
“Truly? You’ll save him?”
“Li Sha Consort, you said you’d do anything for the antidote, didn’t you?”
“Of course. If it means saving him, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Fei Ling extended her hand, touching the ring on Li Sha Consort’s finger. The consort gasped and stiffened.
“Please give me this ring.”
“This… this was a gift from His Majesty…” she began, but then, as if severing her lingering attachment, she removed the ring.
“Understood. Take it. It’s valuable and worthy as payment, I believe.”
“Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t payment. I don’t need such things.”
Accepting the gold ring, Fei Ling declared, “I will use it for the antidote.”
