She swayed, her face going pale, and one of the guards rushed to support her. To his shock, the Empress Dowager felt weak in his hands.
"Your Imperial Majesty! Are you hurt? Did you drink any—"
"I...I don't know. I feel..." She gasped, pressing a hand to her stomach. "I feel ill. The wine.....perhaps I did swallow some after all..."
"Get the physicians! Now!"
Prime Minister Li tried to speak, he tried to scream the truth, but his body wasn't obeying anymore. His vision was darkening at the edges, and his lungs burned.
She did this, his mind screamed. She poisoned me. She planted the letter. She's framing me for—
But his thoughts were fragmenting, breaking apart like clouds in wind.
The last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him was the Empress Dowager's face, pale and frightened and perfectly, beautifully false.
Then nothing.
~
Soyeon was in her chambers, pacing like a caged tiger, when the summons came.
