Inspired by such_stuff_as_dreams_are_made_on's In Which Soup is NOT the Solution (on AO3)
Jin Zixuan did not trust the soup. It smelled wonderful but ever since he'd been old enough to understand, he'd been trained him to watch for poison.
He dismissed his attendant and called for Mianmian. As he waited, Jin Zixuan paced the length of the tent: twenty steps across and twenty steps back. After a half-dozen turns about the room, he couldn't help pausing as he passed. The white peony incised at the bottom of the bowl was obscured by the soup. What else was hidden by that soup? He turned to pace the room again and came to quickly to the wall of the tent. The room was small, cramped compared to what he was used to, but one couldn't expect the comforts of home in a war zone.
One of the guards announced Mianmian. She bowed and looked at him expectantly but without concern. He'd done his best to avoid drawing undue attention to the situation. Apparently, he'd succeeded.
He wasn't sure how to start. He and Mianmian had discussed the idea of assassination attempts. They were a reality he couldn't afford to ignore. But this was the first time … "My soup is poisoned."
He winced as she leapt to his side. Too blunt, he thought. "Are you harmed?" she asked.
"I didn't eat it!" She should know better. He wasn't stupid. "Yuan brought me the soup. When I asked about it, she said she'd made it. How could I trust that? She's never cooked for me before."
"So you just assumed it was poisoned?" He hated when Mianmian looked at him like he was an idiot. "She's been in your entourage since we were children."
"What does loyalty mean in Golden Carp Tower. You know I can't trust anyone."
It took him a minute to process her expression and then a few more as he scrambled to work out how he'd upset her. "I don't mean you! Of course I trust you, but … you know what it's like."
"Yuan didn't make the soup."
What? Someone really was trying to kill him?
"She got the soup from Jiang Yanli."
"Why would she try to kill me? Could it be the broken engagement? She did follow me here to the war camp. Do you think she resents me? She shouldn't. I didn't break the engagement."
"Don't be an idiot," Mianmian hissed. "Or at least don't be a bigger idiot than you absolutely have to be. Jiang Yanli made you soup because she's thoughtful, kind, and generous. She asked me to bring you the soup, but I didn't think it was appropriate. I assigned the task to Yuan."
"But Yuan told me she'd made the soup."
"A moment ago, you though Yuan was colluding with some assassin. Why is it now hard to believe she got the soup from Jiang Yanli?"
"Why would she lie if there was nothing wrong with the soup? Mianmian just stared. Ha, she couldn't argue with that.
Mianmian pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up. "Shall I tell Jiang Yanli not to bring you soup?"
"Of course. I can't have her thinking she can win me back."
"Fine." She turned and walked off without even bowing.
It didn't take Jin Zixuan days to notice Yuan was missing but only because Mianmian told him she'd sent the young woman away. "She lied to you. She's no longer on your staff."
He merely nodded in response. The whole situation left him feeling uncomfortable, but Mianmian wasn't wrong. He couldn't tolerate someone who'd lied to him. "And you've told Jiang Yanli not to bring me more soup?"
Mianmian ducked her head and smiled as if pleased. "Yeah."
What was that about? He decided not to ask. As long as Jiang Yanli wasn't bringing him soup, he didn't need to know. Still, Mianmian started disappearing every day around the same time. She took care of her responsibilities, so it wasn't his business what she did with her free time, but he didn't like not knowing.
Jin Zixuan went looking for her and found her in the unlikeliest of places, sitting outside the Jiang tents. She sat next to Jiang Yanli. There was a bowl of soup on the table. Mianmian didn't acknowledge him – he wasn't sure she'd even seen him – but Jiang Yanli caught his gaze and whispered something to her, and Mianmian picked up the soup and started eating.
He turned and walked away. He wanted to look back but wouldn't let himself. It would be undignified and besides, what he'd seen, it couldn't be true. Still, he couldn't shake the impression that before she'd picked up the soup, Mianmian had been holding hands with Jiang Yanli. Even if it was true, which it wasn't, that was fine. It was no skin off his nose if they'd decided to be friends.
