The atmosphere in the Prime Minister's study was like a thundercloud ready to burst. The prime minister sat behind his desk, his face a mask of cold fury. Before him stood Physician Zhang, who was currently performing the most dramatic victim act one could ever heard of.
"My Lord, I have served the nobility for decades!" Zhang wailed, clutching his chest.
"But never have I been so insulted! The First Miss called my knowledge 'useless.' She pushed aside my assistants and fed the Young Master a black, foul-smelling sludge from the sea. She claimed the 'Heavens' told her to do it!"
Father's hand tightened into a fist on the table. "She did what?"
"It's true, Father," a soft, mourning voice drifted from the doorway.
Tang Ruo-Lan stepped into the room, looking like a portrait of tragic concern. She held a tray of tea, her movements slow and humble. She didn't look angry, she look disappointed.
"I tried to stop her," Ruo-Lan lied, her voice trembling perfectly.
"I told Eldest Sister that Physician Zhang is the city's finest, but she... she has changed since her fever. She told me that Father is too blind to see that the physicians are frauds. She said that only she has the brilliance to save our brother."
My father's eyes turned into chips of ice. "She called me blind?"
"She was very agitated, Father," Ruo-Lan continued, pouring the tea with a steady hand while her words dripped like poison.
"She even told me that your anger is what makes the baby sick. It breaks my heart to see her so arrogant. If her 'sea-sludge' hurts the Young Master, the rumors will ruin the Tang name. People will say the Prime Minister's daughter has gone mad or is practicing dark arts."
That was the killing blow. My father didn't care about my arrogance, but he cared deeply about the Tang name and his political standing.
"Dark Arts?" Father roared, standing up so abruptly his chair crashed to the floor. "She dares to meddle in the heir's life with witchcraft and insults? She dares to humiliate me in my own house?"
"Father, please, do not be too hard on her," Ruo-Lan pleaded, though her eyes were alight with a cold, sharp triumph.
"Perhaps her Eldest sister is just desperate to feel important again. But for the sake of the young master... you must stop her before she kills him."
"ENOUGH!" Father bellowed.
"Bring that unfilial girl to the ancestral hall. If she wants to claim the 'Heavens' spoke to her, she can explain it to the spirits of our ancestors while I beat the arrogance out of her!"
Physician Zhang bowed low to hide his smirk. Ruo-Lan lowered her head, the steam from the tea obscuring her satisfied smile.
"I will go fetch her, Father," Ruo-Lan whispered. "I only hope we are not too late to save our brother from her... remedy."
As she turned to leave the study, her pace was quick and light.
———
The heavy thud of my father's walking against the floorboards signaled his arrival before he even crossed the threshold. He burst into the room, his face a thunderous shade of crimson, the very air around him vibrating with the intent to strike.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Father roared, his voice shaking the dust from the rafters. Ruo-Lan scurried to his side, clutching his robes.
"Father, please! Don't let your anger harm your health, but look—the bowl is empty! She has already fed it all to him!" Father stepped toward me, his hand raised.
"You unfilial creature! You would kill your own brother to spite me? To prove you are smarter than a Chief Physician? Kneel! Drag her to the Ancestral Hall!"
I didn't kneel. I stood my ground, my hand firmly but gently shielding my brother's head.