The feast continued beneath swaying lanterns and drifting music.
Xin Ying stepped away briefly to retrieve another plate. As she waited, her gaze shifted—instinctively, habitually—back toward the Empress's table.
Li Hua sat straight-backed, composed as ever.
But her table—
Untouched.
The dishes remained as they had been set, steam long faded.
She didn't eat? Xin Ying thought, frowning slightly.
Without hesitation, she selected a small lobster from a nearby platter, cracked the shell cleanly with practiced ease, and removed the meat carefully. She added blanched vegetables, a modest serving of rice—simple, balanced.
Food meant to be eaten.
She carried the plate forward.
Stopping beside the Empress, Xin Ying placed it gently on the table before her.
"Here," Xin Ying said quietly. "Eat this."
Li Hua blinked.
The hall was loud, full of voices and music—but for a brief moment, everything seemed to still.
"…Thank you," the Empress said.
Her voice was calm.
Her face was composed.
But inside—
She noticed. She noticed I didn't eat.
Joy flared, sudden and bright, startling in its intensity. Li Hua picked up her chopsticks at once, as if afraid the moment might disappear.
Xin Ying stepped back into place, her mouth curving faintly in satisfaction.
After the feast, the Palace slowly settled into night.
In the Empress's chamber, lamps burned low. The noise of the hall felt distant, unreal. Li Hua had dismissed her attendants, leaving only Xin Ying within the room.
They spoke quietly—about small things.
The weather.
The coming patrol schedules.
Nothing dangerous. Nothing heavy.
Yet the closeness lingered.
"You shouldn't have gone out of your way," Li Hua said softly.
"You didn't eat," Xin Ying replied simply.
Li Hua lowered her gaze to her cup of tea. "An Empress often forgets such things."
Xin Ying did not answer.
She did not need to.
The silence between them was not uncomfortable.
It was… warm.
---
Elsewhere, in the Ling clan's residence, that warmth shattered.
A cup smashed against the floor.
"Damn it!" Ling Zhihao roared. "Curse that girl!"
His chest rose sharply as fury twisted his features.
"The food was prepared perfectly," he snapped. "The poison is undetectable."
A servant knelt, trembling. "Your Lordship… the Empress never touched the dish."
Ling Zhihao's hands clenched.
"She interferes again," he hissed. "Again and again."
His eyes burned.
"That guard," he said slowly. "She is becoming a problem I can no longer ignore."
Outside, the Palace slept.
Inside, fate shifted once more—over a plate of food that was never eaten, and a woman who noticed when another did not.
---
Thank you for reading my novel