scarlet heart | exo

Poison

The arrival of summer signalled that the Crown Prince Jongin's birthday was approaching. A banquet was to be held in his honour to commemorate the occassion, but Xuefeng couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right.

It was the 50th year of Kangxi's reign, and it was around this time that the rivalry between the brothers intensified greatly as they began vying for the throne of their ageing father. The Crown Prince Jongin would be stripped of his titles soon, and a banquet seemed like the perfect stage for such drama to occur.

The entire royal family attended, including the twelve princes and their wives and concubines. Of course, Xuefeng and Zhiyu were present as the Emperor's servants.

As the dishes were served, Xuefeng drew out a set of silver needles to test the food for poison as was customary for all foods consumed by the royal family, but was quickly waved away.

"The Crown Prince's staff prepared this. Just test mine according to the protocol, and leave the others' food alone."

Xuefeng nodded and proceeded to test the Emperor's food, coming out clean. She retreated to her position slightly behind the Emperor. His willingness to forgo the food testing only showed how much he trusted the Crown Prince.

The Emperor led everyone in a toast to the Crown Prince, and a bevy of beauties waltzed into the room to present a dance.

Xuefeng allowed her eyes to drift toward Xiumin and Huixin. Always a loving couple, Huixin rested her head on Xiumin's shoulder as they watched the dance. The banquet was fundamentally a family gathering, so the formality requirements were relaxed, allowing their behaviour to be tolerated. Huixin looked up momentarily, spotted Xuefeng, and her eyes twinkled.

Xuefeng scanned the hall for the person she was most eager to see— Xueyin, who was seated beside Yixing. By right, concubines should be seated on their own tables behind their spouses, but Huiting had declined to attend as she was feeling unwell in the hot weather, leaving Xueyin to take her place.

Xuefeng watched as Xueyin took a piece of pan-fried pumpkin with her chopsticks and brought it to Yixing's lips, and he ate it while glancing lovingly at Xueyin. Xueyin's cheeks reddened and so did Xuefeng's. They were openly flirting, and despite the distance between them, Xuefeng felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment.

Xueyin scooped up a spoonful of soup, making to feed Yixing, but at the last moment she drew the spoon away and fed herself. She smiled cheekily at him, eyes crinkling into half-moons. Pouting adorably, Yixing pestered Xueyin, and she relented—

No one had time to react.

The ceramic spoon in Xueyin's hands clattered to the floor and smashed into pieces with a high-pitched cry.

"Xueyin? Xueyin!" cried Yixing, steadying Xueyin's shoulders as her body grew limp, and her eyes fluttered weakly.

She was unresponsive.

Her shoulders jerked, and crimson lines meandered down her jaw.

Poison!

Her eyes rolled in its sockets, and she collapsed on the table with a loud thud, sending more ceramic crockery crashing to the floor.

"Xueyin!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xuefeng immediately stepped back and clasped her hands over her mouth. As the Emperor's servant, she was not supposed to allow personal feelings to affect her when she was on-duty.

But no one seemed to notice, as the banquet hall was thrown into chaos.

Yixing was trying to rouse an unconscious Xueyin, and the Emperor had yet to recover from the shock. Zitao was biting his lip in fear and concern, Sehun and Luhan exchanged glances of worry, and Crown Prince Jongin's face was ash white. The other wives and concubines were gasping and crying, eyes widening, clasping onto each other fearfully.