A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea #1) (69)

Chancellor Zhou regards me as if seeing me with new eyes, painfully reminiscent of my father’s disapproval. But I stare back, holding my head high.

The questions come, one after another.

“Língy??” Zhen asks. “Why Língy??”

“Did he take you to meet the abbess?” the chancellor asks. “Did she say anything about an alliance with his father, or give hints about their plans?”

“He took me there to see the gardens, and we were almost discovered by the monks, so we hid in an underground cave while they searched for us.” Where I fell in, and he saved me, and he kissed me until we both lost our breath. “And we … talked.”

“Talked?” The princess encourages me to continue.

“We talked about him growing up in the palace, with you.”

“Do you think he harbors any ill will toward the princess? Is he a risk to her?” Chancellor Zhou presses on with his stream of questions. He seems to be unhappy with my answers, wanting something more.

“He says Lǜzhou is suffering because its people are unable to find work,” I reply. “They have limited ways to make a living and are forced to commit unlawful deeds to survive.”

Zhen turns to the chancellor. “That is what I’ve told you as well. If you would allow me to leave the palace and enact the policies we discussed, we can alleviate some of their suffering.”

“We must keep you safe, Your Highness,” the chancellor says. “How can I answer to your father’s spirit, your grandmother’s, if I do not?”

“I’m tired of being safe!” Zhen raises her voice, eyes flashing. “I am tired of being coddled and protected! It’s time for me to learn how to rule. We have to draw out this faceless enemy before it is too late.”

“We are getting closer to the truth. You are aware of the information we have on Kang,” the chancellor says quickly, ready to soothe her temper. “You know he is not to be trusted.”

“What information?” I ask, but Lian folds her arms and speaks over me. “Did you use Ning as bait?”

Zhen regards her steadily. “I don’t believe I placed her in any harm.”

Before I can consider the implications of this, the chancellor is already speaking again. “Our spies have seen Kang with the Marquis of ānhé, spreading his father’s influence to the southeastern regions. The marquis and the general have bribed officials of the ministry, conscripting more and more people to the salt marshes and setting up training camps for their own army in secret.”

“Kang says he believes the poison to be dishonorable,” I protest. “He only wishes to advocate for his people.”

I don’t know why I continue to defend him, only that I am certain the boy I spoke with beside the secret spring was sincere in his words. The Golden Key tells me so; it hums in my heart.

“We merely suspect,” the princess acquiesces. “The evidence against my uncle is clear, but we cannot be certain of Kang’s loyalty yet.”

“Could it be he didn’t know?” Lian ventures forth timidly. “Could it be his father kept him in the dark?”

“I’ve forgotten you knew him, too,” Zhen says. “Before.”

“Don’t be naive,” the chancellor snaps. “Both of you saw how he behaved at the ceremony. He swooped in to gain her trust, pretended to spare her the blade, but those assassins were probably sent by his father. It was an elaborate ruse. He has probably wielded a sword from the time he could walk, trained with outlaws of the empire into his youth. He is a weapon. That much is clear.

“I believe the evidence will surface in time,” the chancellor finishes with a dour smile, then speaking to Zhen: “Will you tell her, or shall I?”

They exchange looks, and the princess turns back to me again. “We have communication—trusted communication—that a component of the poison hidden in the tea bricks is unique to Lǜzhou. A type of yellow seaweed, kūnbù.”

There is a sudden roaring in my ears. The truth crashing over me like waves, threatening to drown me under its weight.

“I am sorry,” she says gently. “It is unlikely he is as unaware as he claims.” I hate the look of pity on her face.

“Are you closer to a cure, then? An antidote to the poison?” I demand.

I should have focused on that all along, not allowed myself to become so distracted by a handsome boy from the market. Wasting time wondering whether he wanted me for some nefarious purpose because of my shénnóng-tú abilities, or if he truly wished to get to know me as he claimed.

Our paths should never have crossed.

“We are making progress,” the chancellor tells me. “But we are only able to delay the course of the poison, not eliminate it entirely.”

“Do not worry, Ning,” the princess says to me. “I keep my promises. You will have the antidote if we discover it, access to the storerooms if we do not. But I need both of you to remain in the competition. Keep watch over your competitors, report to me any peculiar behavior, any strange interactions.”

Lian and I nod in understanding.

“And I would very much like one of you to become my court shénnóng-shī,” she says. “I need people close to me. People I can trust.”

When we leave the chamber, I feel the ghost of a brand on my chest. I remember when Kang spoke of the loss of his mothers, the one who birthed him and the one who took him in, so much like the loss of my own. Could he have concealed his hate so well? His desire for revenge?