The Culinary Chronicles of the Court
Physician: The Disgraced Princess Consumes Poison to Create Medicine
How much time has passed since then?
Fei Ling slowly sat up from the bed. The chains clinked softly. Shackles were fastened around her wrists. A silk cloth had been placed between the metal and her skin to prevent injury, yet after a night of wear, they had begun to hurt.
(What is Zhen thinking…?)
Fei Ling had been kidnapped and confined here by Zhen.
It wasn’t a prison cell, but a proper room. Though chilly, it was not inconvenient for living.
It was certainly not one of Zhen’s chambers in the palace, but the faint toll of a bell suggested it was still within the court or the harem grounds. Zhen had mentioned that this room was once used by the clan of poison masters when they were connected to the court, but he had not spoken further on the details.
“You’re awake.”
Zhen entered the room with a gentle smile and approached the bed.
“Just in time. Here, eat this.”
On the tray, neatly sliced peaches were arranged. Zhen picked up a piece with a bamboo skewer and held it out to her.
Even if she refused, he would only force it into her mouth. Understanding this, Fei Ling obediently parted her lips and bit into the fruit. She swallowed its sweetness, which was almost like poison.
“Tastes good?”
“Yes. It’s well-ripened.”
Another piece was offered.
Though hesitant, she resigned herself to it and took a bite. Seeing this, he gently stroked her head as if rewarding her—like she was being tamed.
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“Oh? Do you want to be killed?”
Zhen raised an amused brow.
“…Even if I have been cast aside, I am still of the imperial bloodline that destroyed your clan.”
“I never once thought of you as a daughter of the Konton dynasty. Not even of the Hakutaku clan.”
His casual words, for some reason, shook her heart.
Yes, from the moment they met, he had simply accepted her as Fei Ling. Sometimes they clashed, sometimes he comforted her.
That was why, even knowing he was her enemy, she had found it so easy to be by his side.
“You should be the one to resent me.”
Zhen ran his fingers through her unbound hair.
“The former emperor lost his sanity because of my birth. I am the very poison that took everything from you.”
For a brief moment, Fei Ling’s gaze wavered. Then, with a sigh, she spoke.
“If you’re going to say things like that, at least show a little regret.”
But regret was something he did not possess.
He had simply been born as poison, and had become poison itself.
Poison corrupts all it touches.
Thus, he knew he would one day be judged—but that awareness did not lead to remorse.
“I wouldn’t mind if it were you who took revenge on me.”
A faint chime rang out. Zhen narrowed his eyes, looking mildly irritated.
“I have to go. Do as you like. Next time, I’ll bring you a book to pass the time.”
He removed her shackles.
In exchange, the door was locked from the outside. It was a heavy, iron-barred door—one that could never be broken through.
“How long do you plan to keep me here?”
“Let’s see… At least until the emperor breathes his last.”
It wouldn’t take long, Zhen had said.
The emperor’s supply of life-extending medicine had surely run out by now.
Once he died, Fei Ling would be branded a criminal for abandoning her duty as a court physician and would be hunted down.
She would never be able to return to the harem.
Fei Ling hung her head in despair.
(I wonder if Lan-Xin is safe…?)
Her eyes fell on the kiseru Zhen had carelessly left behind. Bored, she picked it up and examined it.
A delicate engraving of a spider adorned its surface, with an amethyst bead dangling from the tip.
The tobacco inside was peculiar.
Perhaps it was medicinal?
She plucked a leaf that had yet to be burned and placed it in her mouth. A faint bitterness and fragrance spread across her tongue.
(Ah… so that’s why Zhen smokes this…)
Zhen was a sharp man.
That was why this place was somewhere no one would ever find.
Fei Ling looked up at the narrow horizontal window, set about six meters above her head.
Light seeped faintly through the iron bars, but whether due to the weather or something else, it was dim and impossible to make out the outside world.
Even if she screamed, there was no hope that anyone would hear her.
Fei Ling let out yet another sigh.
