Consort Shen did not spare another glance at the empty grain chests.
Her eyes locked onto Qing Tian.
Soft. Alluring.Yet beneath that beauty lurked the cold stillness of a predator measuring distance before the strike.
"Director Qing…"
She lifted the untouched bowl of soup with slow elegance.
"You are clever."
A faint smile curved her lips.
"But you've forgotten one thing."
Her gaze sharpened.
"This is not the Imperial Kitchen."
A pause.
"This—"
Her voice dropped like a blade sliding free of its sheath.
"—is the Inner Palace."
Before anyone could react—
CRASH.
Her arm snapped downward.
The bowl flew from her hand and shattered violently against the floor. Scalding broth splashed across silk and skin.
Porcelain exploded into fragments.
The sound cracked through the side hall like thunder.
And then—
Consort Shen staggered.
Her hand clutched her chest. Her face drained of color in an instant.
"Aah—!"
Her scream tore through the air.
"It hurts—!"
"Someone—!"
"Help me!!"
She collapsed backward, body going limp as her maids rushed to catch her.
Chaos erupted.
"Poison!"
"Director Qing poisoned Her Ladyship!"
"She tried to kill the Consort!"
The cries rang sharp, desperate, convincing.
Too convincing.
Within moments, the palace was in upheaval.
The Emperor arrived.The Empress Dowager followed.Concubines flooded in like startled birds sensing blood in the air.
Servants fell to their knees in waves.
The shattered bowl still lay on the floor, broth staining the stone like a frozen accusation.
Consort Shen reclined weakly against embroidered cushions.
A thin robe draped over trembling shoulders.Eyes glistening.Lips pale.
A portrait of a woman dragged back from death's threshold.
"Your Majesty…"
Her voice quivered with fragile sorrow.
"This concubine merely wished to taste the new offering… on behalf of the Empress Dowager…"
She turned her gaze toward Qing Tian.
Terror shimmered there.
"Yet Director Qing…"
"She laced the soup with poison."
"If I had taken more than a sip…"
Her breath hitched.
"…I would not be alive."
Every gaze turned.
All at once.
Like arrows released from a thousand drawn bows.
They pierced Qing Tian without mercy.
An imperial physician knelt beside the spill, carefully scraping a sample.
Silence stretched.
Then—
His face changed.
"Reporting to Your Majesty…"
"There are indeed trace elements of conflicting medicinal properties within the soup."
"For a weakened constitution…"
He swallowed.
"…it could induce palpitations, breathlessness…"
"…even sudden collapse."
The hall froze.
Not suspicion.
Evidence.
Deadly. Precise.
Consort Shen's lashes lowered, hiding the flicker of triumph in her eyes.
She had gambled well.
Because Qing Tian could not reveal the true source of the "conflict."
The auxiliary herb—
Had come from the Buddhist Hall's tribute stores.
The Empress Dowager's domain.
To expose it would be to strike directly at the highest authority in the palace.
And tonight—
Consort Shen intended Qing Tian to die.
The Emperor's voice fell cold.
"Director Qing."
His gaze was unreadable.
"Do you confess?"
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Everyone waited.
For her to kneel.
For her to defend herself.
For her to break.
Qing Tian did none of those things.
She stood perfectly straight.
Eyes clear.Expression steady.
"I do not confess."
Her voice did not waver.
"But I request that Your Majesty examine one more person."
A ripple of tension moved through the hall.
The Empress Dowager's gaze darkened.
"…Whom?"
Qing Tian turned.
Slowly.
Toward Consort Shen's attendants.
Toward a single figure—
Head bowed.
Fingers trembling.
"Her."
Qing Tian's voice cut clean.
"Qiū Hè."
The young female official's face lost all color.
Shock. Fear. Ruin.
Consort Shen's eyes flashed.
"What nonsense!" she snapped.
"A servant dares stand equal to me?!"
Qing Tian did not even look at her.
"The soup was delivered by Qiū Hè."
"And the true poison—"
A beat.
"—she has already consumed for three days."
Gasps burst like sparks in dry tinder.
Qiū Hè's body visibly shook.
Qing Tian continued calmly,
"This morning, I reviewed the Buddhist Hall's medicinal registry."
"Qiū Hè did not withdraw 'Calming Supplement.'"
"She withdrew—"
Her eyes lifted.
"Heart-Triggering Powder."
"When combined with tonight's soup…"
"…it becomes lethal."
The hall fell into stunned silence.
Qing Tian turned to the Emperor.
"I request verification."
"Here. In this hall."
For the first time—
Consort Shen's composure cracked.
Her pupils tightened.
Her breathing stilled.
Because in that instant, she realized—
She had failed to drive the blade into Qing Tian's throat.
Instead—
Qing Tian had seized the very hand holding the knife.