Ming Zhu and The Pearl that Shines

Chapter Thirty - Decisions Are Made of Stone

When Xiao Xiao finally emerged, bone-weary and shaking, from her dream, she heard a furore outside with a lot of shouting and weeping. Weeping?

Xiao Xin...

Xiao Xin was bawling her eyes out.

Xiao Xiao sat up on her bed, an invisible chill hand running down her back. She slipped her feet into the fur-lined boots. The floor was like ice. The embers in the heater glowed faintly; it had gone frigid. Her breath plumed white.

The first time she saw was Mother laying pale on the ornate bedroom chamber that was accorded to a favorite wang fei. Two of the maids were trying to revive her, slapping her face gently, shaking her shoulders. The nanny held onto a struggling Xiao Xin. They all froze when they saw Xiao Xiao.

"Our lady...," they stuttered, wringing their hands.

"Is poisoned," Xiao Xiao said flatly. Her voice came out so cold, so cool. She knew it in her belly. She just knew. The sight of her mother lifeless on the floor didn't make her cry. Tears were held at bay with iron-steel claws and walls. She would... cry later.

She somewhat also knew that she had to find an antidote.

In her, a dragon roared. Decisions would have made of stone.

~*~

At last, she had done it!

She had eliminated her challenger, her enemy.

Victory tasted like delicious rich chicken wine. It warmed her stomach and put a smile on her lips.

Somewhere, a daughter cried in the silence of her room. But decisions were already being made.

�<>