The Last Concubine

you !” Mei Ju exclaimed in exasperation.
    Ci’an swallowed hard. She seemed to make a great effort to pull herself together. In a quieter voice she said, “I apologize as well. Alute, Princess Lan’xiu, please join me in a toast to our kind hostess, and I will promise to behave for the rest of the afternoon.”
    “A red letter day!” Bai cheered, holding up her teacup and sloshing some of the contents onto the rug. “Ci’an apologizes! It should be carved in stone and set in the middle of our square, for surely this day will go down in history.”
    The room was silent again for a moment, awaiting Ci’an’s reaction. She gritted her teeth but gave a dangerously glittering smile. “I was born to make history, one way or another.” She tossed back her second drink, and Lan’xiu wondered at her apparent imperviousness to the strong drink. If she had downed her glass in a similar manner, she would have been flattened.
    The rules of etiquette demanded she and Alute drink. Lan touched her glass to Alute’s and lifted it to her lips, although she never drank. It would not be wise to lose control when one’s very survival depended upon keeping vigilant guard over a dire secret, but she let the liquor touch the tip of her tongue.
    It looked so pretty in the glass, golden like liquid honey, but the taste! Hastily, Lan’xiu allowed the tiny amount she had taken to slip back into the glass, hoping no one would notice if she did not finish it.
    Alute did not seem similarly affected, and she held her glass toward Ci’an to have it refilled. Lan’xiu wondered at the sly triumph on Ci’an’s face as she did so.
    When she was able to do so unobserved, Lan’xiu spilled the remainder in her glass into a potted jade plant. She blushed when she realized Mei Ju had witnessed her action, but the older woman gave her a smile and an approving nod. Lan’xiu smiled back and went to Mei Ju for a cup of tea, hoping to wash the bitter taste out of her mouth.

Chapter 15

    S HU N ING had been sparring enjoyably with Jia in the kitchen after carrying down a tray of food that Lan’xiu had barely touched, attributing her lack of appetite to the choice of dish. As he mounted the stairs he heard sounds of distress coming from within Lan’xiu’s chambers.
    Ning raced inside, finding the bedchamber empty, and ran into the bathing room to find Lan’xiu on the floor. He bent over her in alarm. “Lan’xiu, what is it? You are never ill.” He pulled her loose hair back and started to braid it hastily into a single plait.
    Lan’xiu panted over the basin where she had just emptied her guts. She was freezing, but strands of hair were stuck to her face with sweat, her innards twisted in agony, and she was trembling with weakness. “Poison,” she managed to mutter. “Ning, you must get a message to Hüi Wei.”
    “You think he will come to you?”
    “Not to me. He must go… to Alute! She drank two glasses! That evil—” Another cramp seized her, and she retched helplessly into the bowl.
    “What? What happened? Who poisoned who?”
    Exhausted, Lan’xiu slumped to the floor, resting her hot cheek against the polished stone. “Second Wife Ci’an. She brought poisoned wine to the party. Alute took far more than I… get a doctor—”
    “You cannot see the physician here!” Ning exclaimed.
    “I know! You must get him… to see to Alute! Tell Hüi Wei! Or Mei Ju! She will know—” Lan’xiu started to retch again.
    Ning wrung his hands, not knowing what to do. It had always been one of his secret fears that one day Lan’xiu would need a doctor, which meant certain death either way. If whatever ailed her did not kill her, the revelation of her deception surely would lead to difficulties. So far, she had enjoyed excellent health but now—
    Lan’xiu lifted her head. “Ning, why do you delay! Go! There is no time to lose! Alute must not—” She drooped limply to the floor again.
    Ning emptied the basin and rinsed it out, placing it near her again. Then he bathed her heated face with a wet cloth. “Lan, I am going, do you hear me? I’m going and I’ll be back as quick as I can.”
    Lan appeared to have lapsed into a faint, and he didn’t like to leave her like this but it was necessary. Also necessary, although it pained him to do so, Ning decided he must lock her within the room. That way, no matter how much noise she made in her suffering, the household staff could not reach her to aid her—or discover her