Chapter 7
Time had passed since Lord Shen gifted Hua the garden. It was by no means in perfect condition yet. When Hua wasn't tending to the garden her son De would take up most of her time. He had gotten better at walking and babbling incoherent words. The annex doctor is pleased with De's growth progression.
Hua also noted that her son was not a true albino. He did inherit the eyes of an albino but not the coloring. A darker shade began to settle in at the tips of De's body. It was interesting considering his core stayed pure white. Hua could only imagine how handsome he would be when he was full-grown.
Ai often came over to play with the young De. Jing often accompanied Ai when she didn't have any paperwork to worry about. However, Hua noted that Jing was starting to bring her work with her when she visited. Hua suspected this was a result of the new peahen, Min.
Min had kept to herself for the most part. She only made an appearance during dinner and even then, that was uneventful. Genji wasn't acting up as much with her younger sister around. She still had her spats with Jing. But Hua wasn't her target of aggression anymore. In all honesty that made Hua more nervous than when Genji was throwing a tantrum. Min, however, didn't speak much to Hua, Jing, or Ai when they did meet. The only thing that Hua could even count as a conversation is when Hua would greet Min only for the latter to only give a fake smile in reply.
Min seemed innocent for the time being. Jing, however, made sure to warn Hua that even the most beautiful roses have sharp thorns. But Hua could only note that Min's thorns seemed to be just flirting obviously with either Lord Shen or one of his wolf guards.
Today De was napping from his afternoon play giving Hua the chance to practice with Ai in the music hall. They worked on a melody that was common amongst the nobility. Which resulted in Ai teaching Hua the melody more than practicing.
"You need to hold that note longer."
Ai demonstrated on the pipa for Hua.
"I did exactly that."
Hua giggled before replaying the exact note on her erhu.
"You messed up."
"No, I didn't!"
Hua and Ai continued to playfully argue. They only stopped when Jing burst into the room looking like she saw a ghost.
"Jing?"
"…De."
At that simple word, Hua rushed past Jing dropping her precious erhu in the process. A cold rushed through her blood while her heart began to beat against her ears. The guards who witnessed her panic running called out to Hua in worry. But Hua was deaf to their concerns. Even Jing and Ai could not keep up with the panicked mother.
Coming upon the room that De was napping in, Hua couldn't breathe seeing the concerned looks of the ladies-in-waiting and the annex doctor's assistant.
"DE!"
Hua cried rushing to her son's side. The young heir lay unconscious under heavy covers with his brow covered in sweat.
"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!"
The annex doctor immediately came to Hua's side.
"It's all the symptoms of a cold but…nothing is bringing down his fever. And-" The annex doctor gently opened the young heir's mouth. "-Its swelling shut. Young Master has been poisoned."
Everyone turned to stone as they watched and waited for Hua's reaction.
Hua took a deep breath before slowly standing.
"Who was here tending to Master De?"
Immediately one lady-in-waiting came forward. It was the older of the two pigs that was assigned to Hua. She was also known as Hua's most trusted servant.
"Only you."
The other ladies-in-waiting began to sweat nervously. A guard had told the servants that the chef was throwing out some desserts. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity the ladies left with promises to bring back some desserts for everyone to enjoy. But none of them were willing to admit this out loud.
"Detain them."
The guards acted immediately at Hua's words while ignoring the pleas for forgiveness.
"You. Tell me what happened while you were alone with Master De."
The one that was left in charge of the young heir immediately kneeled pressing her forehead firmly against the ground.
"During my care of Master De, I heard a cry out in the hall. During my lack of judgment, I left Master De unattended to assess what was happening."
"What?!"
"I swear on my life it was only for a minute! Only the only ones left in the room were the guards. And when I returned Master De was undisturbed and happily sleeping."
"On your life?"
Lord Shen spoke up causing everyone to hold their breath. When he entered the room with the servant who had informed the Lord of De's poisoning, Lord Shen appeared calm.
"See to it that they are properly interrogated. I will determine their punishment later."
The cries for leniency fell on deaf ears while Lord Shen stood over his only living heir.
"How weak."
Hua had to look away. She could not face Lord Shen.
"Will he die?"
"If I can't find the poison that was used…"
The doctor's silence shouted how severe the situation was.
"How disappointing."
"How long do we have?"
Hua asked the doctor in desperation. She couldn't lose her first-born son. How would she live if her son died before he even had his chance to live?
"Not Long. Master De is strong though. With intense care, I believe I can hold off the poisoning for two days. Fate was on our side, and we caught onto the poisoning quickly. If I had been summoned any later Master De would already be dead."
Finally, Hua lost her resolve and began to cry over her son's unconscious body. Jing and Ai rushed to her side to console her while Lord Shen continued to watch the scene quietly.
"Search everyone that had access to this room. Anyone remotely suspicious will be interrogated. Liars will be beaten and if my heir dies everyone in the annex forfeits their right to live."
The top guard of wolves that Lord Shen trusted the most were immediately sent to work. Lord Shen watched his orders be taken into effect while Hua continued to cry. The sound of her tears made Lord Shen grit his teeth.
"See to his care."
With his last order, Lord Shen returned to his palace.
"Yes, My Lord."
Hours passed with little results. Jing and Ai stood at Hua's side while she tried desperately to bring down De's fever. Lord Shen personally saw to the questioning of the servants that were detained. All were punished for failing to protect Master De. But none have been determined to have taken part in De's poisoning. Genji originally was snooping in Hua's Garden when one of her servants informed her of the situation. Now she was marching her way to Min's room.
"What did you do?!"
"Hello to you too sister."
Min sat at her desk reading over a letter that had been gifted to her by one of Lord Shen's guards.
"What did you do?" Genji approached with a wild glare that even a demon would flinch under. "I won't ask again."
Min stared her sister down without flinching. Genji could threaten her all she liked but both knew neither of them had power here.
"Nothing. I did nothing."
The sisters stared at each other. Both held their ground against one another while trying to determine where they stood in Lord Shen's domain.
"Lord Shen's son isn't well. And the only one who I can think of that would benefit from this most is you."
"What would I benefit from this."
"No heir will force Lord Shen back into action. His power isn't in complete control without an heir by his side. You a daughter of his strongest supporter who has openly flirted with anything that can walk and talk surely can give Lord Shen a reliable heir."
"Well…you did put a lot of thought into that."
"To survive in Lord Shen's palace, you need to think a lot about everything."
"Well, I didn't poison the kid. So, you can stop thinking about it that deeply."
"…I didn't say he was poisoned."
Silence. The room grew heavy from Min's slip of the tongue.
"Isn't it obvious that a child would be poisoned over actually being sick-"
"-Stop!" Genji's blood boiled "What happened?"
"I did what was best for the family. I did what my father commanded of me."
Genji felt a shiver pass over her spine before turning away from Min.
"Who else knows?"
"No one you need to concern yourself with."
"…When this plan fails, I will not help you out of it. I've already made that mistake."
"I won't need it."
When the next day came tempers had risen inside the palace grounds. Guards argued over who had failed the most in their duties towards Lord Shen. Hua refused to eat or sleep while her son's fever continued to rise. Jing called upon allies of her family to send their own doctors to help the young heir. Ai stood by Lord Shen in an attempt to keep him calm. However, when Ai left his presence with a swollen eye everyone knew that the plan wasn't working. Most of all it told everyone that it was best to stay out of Lord Shen's sight for the time being.
What no one saw happening was a lone wolf guard entering Young Master De's room.
"Miss Hua?" The guard cautiously approached the peahen. "You need to rest."
"How can I rest when my son lays here dying?"
There was no venom behind her tone or vigor in her words. Her voice sounded like the echoes of a lost ghost.
"Miss…"
"Do you have a family?"
The guard stood straight in front of the peahen but now he slumped forward in thought.
"I can only hope I would be blessed with such a thing one day."
"Will you have them serve Lord Shen when they grow?"
"It is every wolf's dream that lives in Gongmen City to serve our master."
"Is it your dream?"
"Miss?"
"My dream for my son…is that he's happy." Hua began to change the wet rag on her son's head for another that had been sitting in a basin of ice. "I hope when you have your family that they are happy to serve Lord Shen."
The guard watched the peahen care for Lord Shen's heir. And a weight gathered in his heart before he excused himself from the peahen's presence.
"I pray the heavens watch over you and Master De, Miss Hua."
Hua didn't respond to the guard. What little energy she had left needed to be for her son and his care.
An hour later Lord Shen and the palace doctor barged into the room.
"My Lord?" Hua was pushed aside by one of Lord Shen's servants. "Wait! What are you-My Lord?"
"Quiet!"
For the first time in Hua's life, she experienced what it felt like to be slapped across the face. She had been teasingly slapped before by her brothers with their claws accidentally grazing her skin. This was nothing like that. The theory that Lord Shen's bones were made from the very metal he mined in banishment seemed true. As one of the feather blades had cut her cheek without restraint. And the brute force made Hua see double.
"Hua!"
Jing had appeared in front of Hua like an angel would of a dying warrior.
"Jing?"
Jing pressed her sleeve against Hua's bleeding cheek with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Her eyes switched between relief and concern as she tended to Hua's wound.
"We have the antidote."
"…What?"
"De will live."
At those words, Hua finally succumbed to her exhaustion. What little she was conscious of mainly was of her being carried back to her own bedroom. And the sound of the palace doctor yelling orders so loud that all of China could have heard him.
Jing watched as one of Lord Shen's trusted guards carried Hua off. She sent off one of her servants to tend to Hua's wounds. No doctor will tend to anybody with Master De's life on the line. And Jing didn't want to imagine Hua's face being damaged by Lord Shen's actions. If Hua's face becomes scared, then Jing's plans to make her the madam could be ruined.
"How long will this take?"
Jing had to soothe her feathers at the sound of Lord Shen's voice. Outsiders would hear the anger of a father over their child's potential death approaching. But the wives knew better than that. Lord Shen was made that someone dared to challenge him so openly. Most of all he was livid that the only reason his heir could live was from a guard coming forward out of guilt.
"In a couple of hours, the young master's fever should break. Then we must treat his symptoms rigorously for the next couple of days. Only then can I confidently say that Master De's life is no longer under threat."
The doctor kneeled at his Lord's feet. Although he had done nothing wrong no one felt safe in Lord Shen's presence. And the way he had just harmed Miss Hua showed them how unsafe everyone is.
"See to it. Jing, watch over them." Everyone bowed to Lord Shen while he left the room. "I have a mess to clean up."