The Emperor's Concubine

20: War on the Horizon

IMPORTANT A/N!!!!: This chapter has mentionings of rape. If this is a trigger for you (its really not that graphic) please skip the part that is BOLDED and ITALICISED in the text.

The Emperor's P.O.V

He stares down stonily at the girl before him, her small frame shaking.

"Give me one good reason as to why I should not just kill you here and now"

..........Two weeks ago.........

"Your majesty," the old physician bows deeply before him, his eyes cloudy with age. He barely registers his presence beside him, his eyes instead shifting towards the procession happening before them. The Empress' funeral procession consists of an almost serene sea of white cloth moving slowly towards The Imperial Tomb.It almost reminds him of the pale parlour of Li Hua's skin when she had been brought in from the old abandoned temple. The image makes his heart ache, a slow rise of panic building in his chest at the memory of red staining her side. The young Emperor motions quickly for the old man to rise.

"Doctor Hui Zhong, have I not said that you are much too old to be bowing before a man such as me" he chides softly, helping the old man to his feet. The old man gives him a thankful smile, the deep wrinkles appearing around his cloudy orbs.

"And have I not told you before that it does not matter for you are The Emperor?" The Emperor smiles. Indeed he has. "However, Your Highness, I bring some very......concerning news" Something in the physician's tone of voice causes the young man to frown, his sharp gaze snapping away from the funeral proceedings.

"What is it?" For a moment, there is a terse silence that settles between them. The shifting winter winds howl softly past the crowd, a tinkle of bells and rustling of clothing following its wake. The doctor hesitates,

"Though it was believed that The Empress passed from a cold, as I was examining her before her death.......I found traces of Tiánmì de sǐwáng (Sweet Death)" His eyes widen in disbelief,

"What?" he asks, his voice demanding.

"Tiánmì de sǐwáng (Sweet Death)" is a very poisonous plant that slowly kills a body over time. It's sickly sweet scent is often mistaken for the Tiānshǐ de qìwèi (Scent of Angels), a non lethal flower commonly used in perfumes. The only way to tell the difference between the two is by the bright purple colour that theTiánmì de sǐwáng (Sweet Death) often leaves behind"

A sudden anger passes through him at the thought that the physician would dare accuse The Empress of taking her own life. "You believe she killed herself?"
The old man looks horrified,

"No, no The Empress was a woman of intelligence and dignity, she would not commit such a immoral act! However," his lips draw out into a grim line, "I have reason to believe she was poisoned."
The Emperor's fists clench tight, his breathing now much more shallow.

The word rests thickly on his tongue: poisoned. His eyesight seems to be filtered through a veil of red as the doctor's accusation plays over in his mind again. Who would want her dead? It sits there stubbornly as he glares at the map between his kingdom and Tūdì Huāngmò (Land of Desert) as his generals and scholars argue gruffly.

"If they are to attack, our men will be more than prepared to defend our kingdom. We have almost every inch of the border secured-"

"You expect us to sit here and wait for them to attack us?!"

"General Aiguo is right! Should we not strike while the iron is still hot?"

"Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack." One of his scholars quote. A few of the other men agree, their heads nodding solemnly.