Chapter 7: First of the Month

In the month that followed San Ah Ge's departure from China, the palace filled with activities as everyone greeted the new year, the 31st year of Emperor Qian Long.

One day, Mei Ru sat down at the dinner table with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Yan Zi asked as she noticed her slightly exasperated expression.

"Nothing. It's just the second month is approaching," she shrugged.

Yong Qi let out a groan, which he tried to smother and disguise as a cough. Mei Ru rolled her eyes as he looked guiltily at her.

"What's so bad about the second month?" Xiao Yan Zi asked in confusion.

"Do you know how many children my father has?" Mei Ru asked her, which struck Xiao Yan Zi as an incredibly odd question, since it did nothing to answer her own query.

"No."

"About as many as to rival Huang Ah Ma," Yong Qi said sardonically.

"What does this have anything to do with the second month approaching?" Xiao Yan Zi asked, still confused.

"Because of my father's determination to marry all his children off to influential families," Mei Ru explained, "those of my siblings who have married have settled themselves all over China. So every year on the first day of the second month there is a family reunion at my father's estate just outside of Beijing, Ming Hua Yuan. Basically it's the single day in the year when you could get every one of my siblings and their spouses and children together in one roof. Too much activity and fuss for my taste but…Well, considering the number of people who will be present at the estate on the day, I'm not sure whether my father would notice if someone did end up not showing up."

"Unfortunately, he would notice if we didn't show up," Yong Qi sighed. "I don't suppose I could get out of it with the excuse that Xiao Yan Zi's pregnant and needs me at home, can I?"

"You know, Yong Qi, the way you talk, how could anyone ever suspect that you don't enjoy these reunions?" Mei Ru remarked. "You know you can't get out of it, and as you pointed out, Ah Ma would certainly notice if the crown jewel of his collection of sons-in-law was missing."

"I know he's your father and everything, but honestly, spending a whole day with him and your brothers, listening to their hints about supporting their factions in court is not my definition of enjoyable."

"He can't boast to be on my list of favourite people in the world either," Mei Ru muttered darkly.

"One would think you of all people would be used to large family gatherings," Xiao Yan Zi told Yong Qi.

"They're quite different occasions, you know. With the palace family gatherings, I can blend in, and there are as many people to ignore me as there are those to talk to me. At Xi Lin Jue Luo Zhang Li's family reunions…"

"He's totally put on display. Ah Ma can't get enough of showing off his favourite son-in-law," Mei Ru said dryly.

Yong Qi gave a derisive laugh. "Favourite, sure. I'm only his favourite because of my title."

"Be grateful that you have your title to pull precedence on him," Mei Ru shook her head.

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yan Zi asked.

"Well, he wasn't too happy when Yong Qi married you, and even less happy when he found out you're pregnant. He knows how things are between me and Yong Qi, and if I were married to anyone less, he'd have spoken his mind and not let it alone as he had been doing. But seeing as Yong Qi is a prince, he still is wise enough to be intimidated by Yong Qi's rank over him."

Ming Hua Yuan

Xi Lin Jue Luo Zhang Li seemed oblivious to the flurry of activities going on outside the door of his study as people in Ming Hua Yuan got the estate ready to receive all the family members that was to come and stay for the family reunion. He could only think about how his plans for Mei Ru were completely foiled by one Huan Zhu Ge Ge.

He knew Wu Ah Ge had been more or less coerced into marrying Mei Ru but that did not bother him. After all, his daughter was beautiful and talented, and sooner or later Wu Ah Ge would have to cave in to her charms. Zhang Li felt his plan was progressing even better when Huan Zhu Ge Ge left the palace and did not return. Now with all distractions out of the way, Zhang Li was sure Wu Ah Ge would turn his eyes to Mei Ru. The frustration to Zhang Li's plan was, of course, the fact that Mei Ru was totally uncooperative to his attempts to persuade her to warm things up between her and Wu Ah Ge. Zhang Li had waited patiently, for three years, thinking it was more than enough time for Wu Ah Ge to forget Huan Zhu Ge Ge and Mei Ru to leave behind her childish crush on the useless Han whose name Zhang Li hardly remembered.

Just when he was convincing himself that things seemed a bit more intimate between his daughter and son-in-law, all his plans were thwarted by the unceremonious return of Huan Zhu Ge Ge. For a short while, however, Zhang Li could rest with the fact that Huan Zhu Ge Ge lost all her memories and was to marry San Ah Ge. Zhang Li could not care less who the girl married as long as she was out of Mei Ru's way. For that short while, however, Zhang Li was also disturbed with the rumours that San Ah Ge came back to China to accept the Crown Prince position.

Zhang Li did not know whether he was to rejoice when San Ah Ge left his prospects for the Crown Prince position to resume his post in England or be furious when the Huan Zhu chit regained her memories and Mei Ru, the heart of all his plans, became the one to match make her and Wu Ah Ge together again.

Now his plans lay in ruins. With Huan Zhu Ge Ge back again, and Mei Ru being totally unwilling to follow the plans, Zhang Li knew the chances of him being sure that one day, his own grandchild will sit on the throne of the Great Qing empire was remote. Zhang Li knew, without San Ah Ge in the way, now the path to Wu Ah Ge's being Crown Prince was clear, and it was only a matter of whether the position was made official or not. But was he only to be satisfied with his daughter being empress? No, despite the fact that having Mei Ru as empress would bring considerable power to the Xi Lin Jue Luo clan, and force Wu Ah Ge-as-emperor to have more consideration for the position of the Xi Lin Jue Luo clan, it certainly was not everything that Zhang Li wanted to achieve. He needed his family's blood to run in a ruler of this empire, for his blood to be the roots of emperors hereafter. For that, it must be Mei Ru's son who was to be Wu Ah Ge's heir, not a half-blood child from Huan Zhu Ge Ge.

How he was to make sure that Mei Ru would eventually have a son, Zhang Li could not think of yet. But he knew what he must do now, immediately, was to make sure the child inside Huan Zhu Ge Ge could never be born. His golden, his only opportunity was the first of the second month, when both Mei Ru and Wu Ah Ge would be out the palace for the whole day. Considering the distance of Ming Hua Yuan from the palace, they would have to stay overnight. One day and night was enough for what he had in mind.

First day, second month, thirty-first year of Qian Long

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Xiao Yan Zi?" Yong Qi asked for the fifth time that morning. Even Mei Ru sighed exasperatedly. She and Yong Qi were getting ready to leave for Ming Hua Yuan. Mei Ru could see why Yong Qi was being so fussy over Xiao Yan Zi's well being while they were both gone, seeing as it was the first time he would be away from her for an entire day since they got married, but Mei Ru could also see he was wearing out Xiao Yan Zi's patience.

"Yes," Xiao Yan Zi said, with more patience than she knew she was capable of. "Yong Qi, stop worrying. I will be fine. Zi Wei is coming over any minute now. She said she'd stay the night with me. It will be like old times with just the two of us in the house. I'll be fine."

"All right," Yong Qi said, still worried. "But if anything comes up, get someone to get me – "

"Mei Ru, can you just get him out of here, please?" Xiao Yan Zi said impatiently.

"You two, honestly," Mei Ru chuckled and shook her head. Then, she said more soberly, "Seriously, Xiao Yan Zi, if something does come up, do send for us."

"Yes, yes, all right, all right. I'm not five years old, and there will be people looking after me. Will both of you stop fussing, already? I'm pregnant, not dying!"

At that moment, Xiao Yan Zi was saved from whatever Yong Qi was about to say by the announcement of Zi Wei's arrival.

"Thank Heaven," Xiao Yan Zi muttered under her breath.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late. I'd have thought you two to have left by now," Zi Wei said as she entered the room.

"We were waiting for you to come," Mei Ru explained.

"Yes, and now that she's here, can you get out?" Xiao Yan Zi said impatiently.

Yong Qi feinted a hurt expression. "Really, Xiao Yan Zi, one would think you want to get rid of us."

Xiao Yan Zi flashed him a cheeky grin. "Of course I do!" However, she took his hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. Yong Qi kissed her forehead gently and murmured against her skin, "I love you, and I'll miss you." Xiao Yan Zi couldn't help but smile goofily up at him.

Mei Ru and Zi Wei caught each other's eyes and stifled a giggle. "Ahem!" Zi Wei cleared her throat, smirking at the couple while Mei Ru looked away in amusement.

"Right, erm, we should get going?" Yong Qi said, with a look at Zi Wei that challenged her to tease them further.

"Yes, erm, you should," Zi Wei said through suppressed giggles.

"Have fun," Xiao Yan Zi told them, to which both Yong Qi and Mei Ru rolled their eyes.

"We sure will," Mei Ru said sarcastically.

"Remember my instructions," Yong Lian said carefully to his trusted eunuch, Xiao Ming Zi. "Do the job cleanly and retreat. Do not leave any trails."

"Yes, sir," Xiao Ming Zi replied.

Xiao Qiao looked around shiftily for any sign of Ming Yue or Cai Xia. When she saw no one, she entered the kitchen. Xiao Qiao was Mei Ru's maid, originally serving in Zhang Li's household. When her mistress married and moved into the palace, Xiao Qiao followed her to continue serving her. Xiao Qiao knew very well that her mistress did not trust her a bit, and knew that she only entered the palace under Zhang Li's order to report Mei Ru's doings to him. Xiao Qiao also knew, if Mei Ru could, she would have gotten rid of Xiao Qiao long ago. But seeing how Xiao Qiao was originally a maid in the Xi Lin Jue Luo household, any dismissal of her has to be made by Zhang Li. Also, Xiao Qiao was also very cunning in her spying methods that Mei Ru could never catch her at it, thus not having any reason to dismiss her.

Xiao Qiao approached the pot of ginseng soup simmering on the stove. It was to be served to Huan Zhu Ge Ge later for lunch. Xiao Qiao took a paper packet from her sleeve and tipped the content of it into the pot, making sure that it dissolved totally and left no trace of its being there. Then, carefully putting the lid back on the pot, Xiao Qiao turned around.

She nearly jumped as at that very moment Ming Yue and Cai Xia walked into the kitchen. Hastily, Xiao Qiao crumbled the paper still in her hand into a ball and hid it in her fist.

"What are you doing here?" Cai Xia asked her in confusion.

"Am I not allowed in the kitchen then?" Xiao Qiao asked loftily, stepping away from the stove.

"No, it's just that normally you're only in the kitchen to cook for Fu Jin. Today it's just Ge Ge at home, why would you be in here?" Ming Yue asked.

"Well, I have to eat, too, don't I? I was seeing what I could have for lunch," Xiao Qiao shrugged. "Well, why are you here?"

"The two Ge Ge are hungry. We were about to serve lunch," Cai Xia told her.

"Fine, you do that. I'll just go," Xiao Qiao said, brushing past the two other maids and out of the kitchen.

Ming Yue and Cai Xia looked in confusion after Xiao Qiao. Neither of them liked Xiao Qiao much, since she was arrogant and treated them like they were beneath her, just because they came in to serve at Jing Yang Gong after her.

"Do you think she was up to something?" Ming Yue asked suspiciously.

"I don't know," Cai Xia said. "I mean, she could just really be seeing what there was to eat."

"I thought she looked a bit…suspicious. And if she was looking for what there was to eat, why was she standing here? The stuff for our lunch is over on the other side of the kitchen," Ming Yue pointed out.

"You think she…"

"I don't know, she was standing right in front of Ge Ge's soup. Do you think…?" Ming Yue trailed off.

Cai Xia didn't answer but took the soup pot off the stove and opened the lid. "Well, it doesn't look any different."

"She'd be stupid if she let there be evidence of anything suspicious if she really was out to poison – "

"Shhh!" Cai Xia shushed Ming Yue. "You can't say that out loud, you know. You accuse Xiao Qiao, that's like indirectly accusing Fu Jin."

"I don't think Fu Jin would harm Ge Ge, but that doesn't mean that I believe Xiao Qiao would not harm Ge Ge either," Ming Yue said tartly. "And Xiao Qiao was looking very suspicious."

"Don't you think maybe we're just being paranoid? Maybe she's innocent?" Cai Xia suggested not very convincingly.

"Innocent, yeah, right. Xiao Qiao?"

"What's taking the two of you so long?" Zi Wei's voice startled the two girls, making them turn around.

"Ge Ge!" They both exclaimed. "What are you doing down here?"

"I came to see if you needed help since you came down for a long time without bringing anything up," Zi Wei said. She looked at them exchanging looks and asked, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Cai Xia said, "it's just…"

"Just what?" Zi Wei asked.

"We were…we were…" Ming Yue stammered.

"Were what? Honestly, you two, what's wrong with you today?" Zi Wei said impatiently. They have never acted this strange ever.

"We were just discussing whether…" Cai Xia started then looked at Ming Yue.

Ming Yue took a deep breath. "Ge Ge, when we went down to bring lunch up to you and Huan Zhu Ge Ge, we caught Xiao Qiao down here, standing right in front of Ge Ge's soup pot. She was looking rather suspicious and we were wondering if she was up to something not good."

Zi Wei stared at the two maids for a moment. "You are implying that Xiao Qiao might have tampered with Xiao Yan Zi's soup?"

"It's just…it's just a theory," Cai Xia said hastily. "We just thought she looked like she was up to no good."

"And why would Xiao Qiao do anything to tamper with Xiao Yan Zi's food? You are not suggesting that Mei Ru…" Zi Wei asked

"No!" Ming Yue cut her off. "Ge Ge, we know that Fu Jin would never do anything to harm Huan Zhu Ge Ge. It's just…Xiao Qiao is…different."

"Different? She won't just suddenly do something like that, she must have received orders somewhere, and if it's not from Mei Ru, from where else would she receive orders?"

"Well…we know that…that…"

"That?"

"Well…we know that Xiao Qiao is here more to…well, spy on Fu Jin for Zhang Da ren," Cai Xia mumbled.

Zi Wei's brow furrowed. She didn't know whether she should suspect Xiao Qiao or not, or Ming Yue and Cai Xia were just being paranoid.

"Ge Ge, to be on the safe side," Ming Yue said, "I don't think you should eat this. I mean, who knows how long Xiao Qiao had been down here and what damage she had done on the food here?"

"But you've cooked the whole meal already, what are you going to do?"

"If Ge Ge would wait for a few moments, we could cook some other thing for you."

"And do what with all this food?"

"Well…throw it away?"

"Nonsense" Zi Wei shook her head. "You're going to waste all this food just because of a suspicion you have?"

"Ge Ge! Please, we don't know if we're right or wrong, but can we just stay on the safe side? Please, Ge Ge, for both yours and Huan Zhu Ge Ge and the baby's health, we can't not take precautions."

Zi Wei frowned, then sighed. "All right."

Zi Wei entered Xiao Yan Zi's room in confusion and related her conversation with Ming Yue and Cai Xia to her.

"Do you think Xiao Qiao might be up to something or are the girls just being unreasonable?" Zi Wei asked after she told Xiao Yan Zi the story.

"I don't know. If the girls convinced themselves that Xiao Qiao looked suspicious, how are we to disprove that? I don't see why Xiao Qiao herself would want to poison me but that doesn't necessarily mean she isn't acting on order. Mei Ru did say that her father wasn't too happy with Yong Qi marrying me and this baby."

"There are those in court who would do anything for power," Zi Wei sighed. "I wouldn't imagine Zhang Li jumping for joy at the idea of your having a son…but this is a big accusation."

"We're not accusing anyone, are we? We don't exactly have a way to find out whether there really is something in the soup other than eating it…or…" Xiao Yan Zi looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she said, "Can you bring some of that soup?"

"You're not going to eat it!" Zi Wei exclaimed.

"I'm not stupid, Zi Wei. Of course not. I can definitely see why some people would want to poison me right now. I just want to check."

When Zi Wei brought her a bowl of the soup, Xiao Yan Zi went and got a piece of loose silver.

"What's the silver for?" Zi Wei asked.

"Liu Qing told me that some poisons would do something to the silver, making it turn grey. It's a way to check for poison in food because sometimes the poison doesn't work immediately in your body."

Then she dipped the piece of silver into the bowl. And pulled it out.

Xiao Yan Zi and Zi Wei stared at the piece of silver Xiao Yan Zi just pulled out. The part that was dipped in the bowl definitely lost the shine of silver and looked a dull grey colour.

"Ok." Xiao Yan Zi breathed slowly.

"Are you sure that it's poisoned and it's not something else in the soup that makes the silver go like that?" Zi Wei asked.

"I'm…not sure. But even if we do prove that this is poisoned…we really can't prove who it was that put the poison in the soup. No one actually saw, did they? And if we report this, don't you think more suspicion is going to fall on Ming Yue and Cai Xia, who actually cooked the soup?"

The two of them stared at the bowl of soup on the table in front of them, not knowing what to do.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Qian Long's voice from the door made both of them jump.

"Huang Ah Ma ji xiang!" They stood up hastily and greeted him.

"Huang Ah Ma, why did you not have your arrival announced?" Xiao Yan Zi asked.

"I did, but it looks like you both were too busy staring at that bowl to notice." Qian Long walked over to the table and picked up the bowl. "Ginseng soup?"

"Huang Ah Ma! Please don't eat that!" Zi Wei said hastily.

Qian Long looked up at the urgency in her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Well…we…" Xiao Yan Zi stammered.

"We suspect that that soup may be…poisoned," Zi Wei said slowly.

"Poisoned?" Qian Long asked, staring into the bowl. "What makes you say that?"

Together, they recounted the story to Qian Long, who frowned as the story finished.

"Where is this Xiao Qiao?" Qian Long said angrily. "I shall have her arrested – "

"Huang Ah Ma, we don't even know for definite if that is poisoned, and even if it were, there's no evidence against Xiao Qiao except Ming Yue and Cai Xia's words of her 'acting suspiciously'." Xiao Yan Zi protested.

"We can find out if this is poisoned," Qian Long said shortly. "Have someone call for Chen Tai yi."

"Chen Tai yi?" Zi Wei asked.

"Chen Tai yi can probably find out what is in this soup. I don't know how he does it, but he's the poison expert among the Tai yi."

Chen Tai yi was duly summoned. He confirmed that Xiao Yan Zi's little experiment with the silver really did prove that the soup contained something that definite should not be there and was not good for one's health. Chen Tai yi had requested to take the whole pot of soup away to look at it. After Chen Tai yi had left, Qian Long immediately ordered to have Xiao Qiao locked up in a secluded room and have her living quarters searched for anything suspicious.

"But Huang Ah Ma," Xiao Yan Zi protested at this order, "there's no evidence."

"When it comes to things like these, especially concerning the health of expectant ladies of the imperial family, people are guilty until proven innocent. We cannot afford to take risks."

Yong Qi and Mei Ru exited Jing Yang Gong that morning and expected an uneventful trip to Ming Hua Yuan. They took a carriage driven by Xiao Gui Zi and Xiao Shun Zi. Even though they were dressed in palace clothes, their carriage was small and modest, and no one would suspect it to be carrying a prince. Xiao Gui Zi and Xiao Shun Zi who were driving were wearing commoner's clothes to disguise the carriage as belonging to a normal person. And uneventful the trip truly was until they reached the outskirts of Beijing.

To reach Ming Hua Yuan they had to pass through a small wood. Suddenly, the horses stopped, kicked at the dust nervously but refused to go another step.

Yong Qi poked his head out the door and asked Xiao Gui Zi and Xiao Shun Zi, "What's wrong?"

"Addressing Wu Ah Ge, we're not sure. Somehow, the horses just stopped," Xiao Gui Zi answered in confusion.

Yong Qi got out of the carriage to see what was wrong. The moment he stood on the ground, a dozen arrows previously aimed at him from behind the trees shot towards him. Using his reflexes, Yong Qi managed to duck some of the arrows and redirect the others' paths away with his sword which he held in his hand.

Inside the carriage, Mei Ru gave a startled cry as an arrow pierced the carriage walls, narrowly missing her face.

"Mei Ru! Stay in there!" Yong Qi instructed as he drew out his sword. Immediately, a dozen men, dressed in back and with black cloths covering their faces, jumped out from the trees.

"Xiao Shun Zi! Xiao Gui Zi! Protect Fu Jin. Get the carriage away!" Yong Qi shouted as he battled the men.

"But – " Xiao Gui Zi protested, seeing how the men gave no sign of wanting to get to Mei Ru at all but swarmed around Yong Qi.

"NOW!" Yong Qi ordered as well as he could with about five swords going at his head.

Mei Ru threw open the carriage doors and watched in horror at the scene in front of her. She didn't know what she going to do but would have jumped down out of the carriage if Xiao Gui Zi and Xiao Shun Zi had not held her back. The two eunuchs wanted to jump in to help their masters but their lack of martial arts skills would only prove to be in the way of Yong Qi.

Just as Xiao Shun Zi, Xiao Gui Zi and Mei Ru all wondered what to do and Yong Qi was lost in the ring of assassins, a young man jumped in the circle, distracting the assassins away from Yong Qi.

Yong Qi had no idea where he came from or who he was, but he was helping Yong Qi fight the assassins. Whoever he was, Yong Qi wasn't about to complain about his being there.

Behind the trees, Xiao Ming Zi saw that both Yong Qi and whoever this young man was were better skilled at martial arts than he thought. He did not expect someone to suddenly come to Yong Qi's rescue. Xiao Ming Zi pulled out his bow, and aimed an arrow at Yong Qi.

"Yong Qi!" Mei Ru cried as she saw an arrow making its way to him. Yong Qi turned around at the sound of her voice, but it was too late. The arrow pierced Yong Qi's right shoulder, and he fell to the ground. Yong Qi could feel immediately the poison from the arrow making its way into his body as he pressed his hand at the wound.

The assassins around him, seeing the arrow making its mark, immediately left and disappeared.

The young man was fairly taken off his guard that the masked men left so quickly, but one look at Yong Qi in front of him told him that the arrow must be poisoned.

The young man was a physician who lived on the outskirts of Beijing. His living standard was low since he treated mostly poor people for reduced, or sometimes no, fees. However, his skills in the arts of medicine was high and was highly respected around the poor community in Beijing as he used his skills to help them instead of trying to earn money by charging large fees as physicians were wont to do.

He was on his daily trips to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs when he came across this man being attacked by the masked men. By instincts, he jumped in and helped, without knowing who the other man was and why he was being attacked. The man now was barely conscious but he knew he must stop the poison's progress before he was lost. Quickly, he supported the man and pressed at a few acupoints around his shoulder.

Mei Ru immediately knew that there was something about the arrow as soon as Yong Qi collapsed, especially when the arrow pierced around his shoulder blade and not near his heart or any organ at all. She barely noticed the assassins taking off but jumped down from the carriage, and rushed to Yong Qi, not even noticing that Xiao Gui Zi and Xiao Shun Zi had rushed after her or that the young man who helped them was still there.

"Yong Qi!" She cried as she got to his side, and the other young man had just finished stopping the poison's progress by acupressure.

"Mei Ru…" Yong Qi said weakly as Mei Ru knelt down by him, her face panic-stricken.

A strangled cry next to her distracted Mei Ru from Yong Qi. She looked up at the young man who had helped them for the first time, and saw his face. Immediately, the world seemed to spin around her. For a moment, she forgot even Yong Qi seriously injured next to her. She could only stare at the man in front of her, and wondered whether she was seeing things. How could it be possible? She had been so sure that he was…

Somehow, Mei Ru managed to gasp his name, staring at him in disbelief as he looked at her with a mixture of shock, longing and daze.

"Du An!"

"How did it go?" Yong Lian asked when Xiao Ming Zi returned.

"The poisoned arrow hit him, sir," the eunuch reported. "There is no way they could get him to a physician in time, and I doubt anyone there knows how to stop the poison progressing."

Xiao Ming Zi left out the part about the unexpected help that Yong Qi received. He reasoned, there was no cause for his master to know about this unforeseen stumble they had. Besides, whether Wu Ah Ge received help during the fight or not was irrelevant, there was no way that he would survive that arrow. Not at all.

"Fu Jin? Fu Jin!" Xiao Gui Zi's voice snapped Mei Ru out of her trance and she realised that saving Yong Qi, who had passed out, was now the priority.

Still staring intently at Du An, she asked, "Du An, I know you know medicine. The arrow's poisoned isn't it? I know it is…"

Tearing his eyes away from Mei Ru, Du An forced himself to focus on the problem at hand, that he had a life to save. "Yes. I've performed acupressure on the wound to stop the poison from spreading, but he still needs immediate treatment. The arrow needs to be taken out."

"Addressing Fu Jin," Xiao Shun Zi spoke up, "we must take Wu Ah Ge back to the palace and let Tai yi look at him."

Mei Ru was about to agree, despite the fact that leaving now would mean she would not know anything about Du An's whereabouts, but Du An himself vetoed the suggestion.

"The palace is too far off," he said decisively. "Besides I know what this poison is and it's a rare poison used in the jiang hu world, and not many people knows treatments for it. I know how to get rid of the poison from his system. My house is close by, we can take him there, where I have all the things I need and I can start on the treatment. That is, if you don't mind a poor, wooden house – "

"Yes, we'll do that," Mei Ru said breathlessly. "The streets will be really crowded this time of day and it will take us at least an hour to get to the palace."

"But Fu Jin, we don't know anything about this man – " Xiao Gui Zi started.

"I do! I trust him! The question now is do you trust my judgement?" Mei Ru demanded agitatedly.

"Of course, Fu Jin," Xiao Shun Zi said hastily. "Da ye, could you give us directions to your residence?"

After Du An had given Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Gui Zi the directions, he and the two eunuchs managed to get Yong Qi into the carriage. As soon as the carriage doors closed, the eunuchs sped it off for Du An's house.

"I need to take the arrow out immediately," Du An told Mei Ru, his voice oddly calm and business-like. Mei Ru, however, was trembling all over, partly from the shock of seeing Du An again so unexpectedly, partly from concern for Yong Qi. "Mei Ru, I need you to hold him so that his body doesn't move with the rocking of the carriage."

"Right," she said shakily. "There's bandages in that basket under the seat you can use to stem the blood," she added when Du An was about to tear his outer shirt apart to use for bandages. "Thank goodness we thought to bring a simple first aid kit."

As soon as Mei Ru had gripped Yong Qi's shoulders tightly so that he couldn't move, Du An used the pair of scissors he found in the basket to cut off Yong Qi's shirt. Then he gripped the arrow and pulled it out. Blood spurted out, which Du An stopped with the bandages in his other hand. With Mei Ru's help, he bound the bandage tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding.

"I've managed to stop the bleeding," Du An said, "but the poison from the arrow is still concentrated in his shoulder. But I need him sitting still to do the acupressure to force the poison out. But he should be…well, not fine, but in a stable condition, for now."

"But he's going to live?" Mei Ru asked desperately. "He's going to survive this, isn't he? Please tell me you will be able to save him!"

"That will depends on how he reacts to the medicine I will need to give him afterwards. I've only treated a person who was poisoned with this particular poison once, so I can't say much about past experiences. But if all goes well, after I force the poison out of his system, he should be able to recover."

There was a short silence. Then Mei Ru said the first thing that came into her head. "You're alive."

"Yes," Du An answered heavily. "So this is – "

"This is Wu Ah Ge Yong Qi. My – " she faltered and looked away from him.

"Husband," Du An finished for her quietly. Mei Ru bit her lip and nodded. Then, gathering all her courage, she looked back at Du An. There was a mix of emotions in his eyes but Mei Ru felt her mind was too muddled to be able to distinguish them. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. Mei Ru hardly knew how she was feeling being thrown back into Du An's presence so suddenly, and like this. For over four years, she had thought him to be dead. His death had been the only reason for her to stop fighting her father's insistence that she marry someone high-born. His death was the only thing that made Mei Ru give up, and give in to marrying Yong Qi.

And now…now, they meet again like this. He was not dead, after all these years, after all the pain and misery her own father inflicted on him the last time she saw him, the time when they were caught eloping. What made the situation so much more caustic was that Yong Qi was hovering between life and death between them.

A groan and Yong Qi stirring in her arms made Mei Ru tear her eyes away from Du An. Yong Qi weakly opened his eyes and Mei Ru immediately gripped his hand. "Yong Qi! How are you?"

Yong Qi didn't answer her but looked at Du An beside them, his brows knitted. "Did you say that this was Du An?" he asked her breathlessly.

"Yes," Mei Ru answered, her voice shaking.

Yong Qi turned his eyes to hers and he looked at her in an unfathomable way. Before any of them could say anything more, the carriage came to a halt. Du An stuck his head out of the window and said, "Yes, this is my house."

Together they moved Yong Qi into the house. It was sparsely furnished but was neat and tidy. It had three rooms. The front room took up half the house and was lined with cabinets filled with herbs and medicine. The small bedroom and kitchen took up the other half of the house. They managed to get Yong Qi to the only bed in the house.

"I will need you to sit up, sir," Du An told Yong Qi, "because I will need to perform acupressure on your back to force the poison out."

"Wait," Yong Qi said weakly. "Before you do anything…answer me this…do you love Mei Ru?"

Du An stared open-mouth at Yong Qi for a while, finding it astonishment that he knew about Mei Ru and him. Mei Ru, who was sitting on the edge of Yong Qi's bed, gasped at the question and stared intently at Du An.

"Yes," Du An answered firmly. He felt as if he was challenging the prince in front of him to punish him for declaring to be in love with his wife. Du An looked over at Mei Ru and found that she had closed her eyes and was trying to calm her breathing.

When he turned back to Yong Qi, he found that Yong Qi was smiling. "Then take care of her for me," Yong Qi said breathlessly. Before either Du An or Mei Ru realised what his words meant, he said, "Mei Ru…"

"What is it?" Mei Ru went over to his side, still dazed at what he just said.

Yong Qi took her hand and squeezed it. "I know the arrow was poisoned and I know my chances of surviving are not high…"

"Don't say that!" Mei Ru said affectedly, shaking her head.

"No, Mei Ru, if I die…tell Xiao Yan Zi, tell her that I love her. Tell her – "

"I am not telling her anything!" Mei Ru said, tears springing to her eyes. "You tell her. You tell her that! You have to live and tell her!"

Yong Qi smiled weakly, and continued, "It might not be such a bad thing if I die, you know…If I die, it will be better for you, Mei Ru, then I'll be setting you free…"

For a moment, Mei Ru could only stare at him in disbelief. "Has that poison completely meddled with your brain?" she snapped. "Don't you dare do something so stupid as giving in to the poison just because you are under some stupid noble conviction that you will be freeing me in dying! I don't need to be free like that! I won't be free like that! You can't die, Yong Qi, you can't. Huang Ah Ma needs you as successor. What am I supposed to say to Xiao Yan Zi?"

"Say that I'm grateful to have at least a little time with her and that I love her," Yong Qi smiled. "That I am not sorry to die knowing – "

"No, Yong Qi, no," Mei Ru cut him off, tears were now running down her face. "Xiao Yan Zi needs you! The baby needs you! You can't leave them! You have to fight to live for them! You need to live to see the baby born, to see it grow up. Please, Yong Qi. I'll never forgive you if you don't! I'll never forgive myself if you don't!"

Du An cut in, "Wu Ah Ge, I cannot claim to be able to guess what's going on in your mind right now, but I have yet to stand back and let some die without attempting to save them. Please, let me perform the acupressure treatment. The longer you leave the poison concentrated in one place, the more dangerous it will be."

Mei Ru released Yong Qi's hand and helped him sit up. Du An sat behind him and began his work.

Mei Ru left the room to let Du An work and met Xiao Shun Zi and Xiao Gui Zi out in the front room.

"Xiao Gui Zi, go to Ming Hua Yuan and inform my father that Wu Ah Ge and I will not be able to come today. Just tell him that Wu Ah Ge is not feeling well. Do not say anything him being injured. Then come back here. I don't want to send news to the palace just yet before Du An finishes the acupressure treatment. At least then we would have some report of how Wu Ah Ge is doing. If we bring news back now, everyone would just panic. And I think there should be one of you here with us, anyway."

Thus, Xiao Gui Zi took a horse to Ming Hua Yuan while Xiao Shun Zi stayed behind with Mei Ru and Yong Qi.

Meanwhile, in the palace

"Well, do you find anything suspicious?" Qian Long asked Ming Yue and Cai Xia after they've finished searching Xiao Qiao's room. They were still waiting for results from Chen Tai yi's examination of the ginseng soup.

"Well, there's this, sir," Ming Yue handed two paper packets to Zi Wei who in turn handed it to Qian Long. "There's some sort of powder in it, but we don't know what it is."

Qian Long opened the packets. Both Xiao Yan Zi and Zi Wei looked over his shoulder at the contents. There was, as Ming Yue said, some white powder in the packet.

"Xiao Lu Zi," Qian Long called to his own eunuch. "Take this to Chen Tai yi, and ask him also to determine what this powder is. I want a report of both what this is and whether there is anything in the soup today."

"Zha!"