Maomao had always thought of Empress Gyokuyou as a carefree sort of person.
In the harem, a woman's园 of women, the treatment meted out to one who had earned the Emperor's favor could be terrifying. Yet Gyokuyou never let her smile falter. She possessed a girl-like curiosity alongside a woman's shrewdness, and Maomao had assumed she would be perfectly fine even without her around.
(So that wasn't the case after all.)
Even if she was an Empress, even if she was the Mother of the Nation, she was still human.
Maomao checked the hairpin she had been entrusted with.
They told her to stay the night since it was already late. She was informed that word had already been sent to the dormitory.
The dormitory was less than a quarter-hour away by distance, but more importantly, an outsider spending the night in the Empress's quarters would cause all sorts of complications.
(So this is what you call unease until the person who did something to the hairpin is found.)
But was there no one else she could turn to for help?
Or perhaps—
Maomao sat cross-legged on the sleeping platform in the room that had been prepared for her and folded her arms.
(Darkened silver.)
Silver tarnishes. If not polished regularly, it dulls almost immediately, so it was always being kept clean.
The nobility preferred using silver tableware. No—they had no choice but to use it.
Because it turns black upon contact with arsenic.
Arsenic compounds blacken silver almost instantly. Arsenic itself is tasteless, odorless, and colorless, but thanks to this property, detection becomes easy. In other words, silver tableware was indispensable.
Had Empress Gyokuyou come into contact with arsenic? No—her physical condition, regardless of how she felt emotionally, was generally sound. There was no atmosphere suggesting she had been poisoned.
Then why had the silver turned black?
(Did it turn black after the hairpin was stolen?)
They had tried to use poison but couldn't. So they stole the hairpin to threaten Empress Gyokuyou.
(No wait...)
That was far too roundabout.
Even if there had been some intent behind it, Maomao couldn't fathom what it was. What on earth had they been trying to accomplish?
And there was one more thing that bothered her.
"It doesn't look like it's been damaged, right?"
Hongniang
had said that there had apparently been a large crystal inside. So where had that crystal gone?
(A crystal, huh...)
"Hmm."
Sitting with her arms crossed, she heard a knock at the door.
"Maomao, do you have a moment?"
She wondered who it might be, but—
it was
Yinghua.
"What is it?"
She figured maybe Yinghua had come to chat her ear off as usual, but she didn't seem to be in the mood for that. Still, it was perfect timing—Maomao had something she wanted to ask too.
"I-it's about the hairpin..."
She looked somewhat awkward about it.
It suddenly dawned on Maomao.
"Wait—could it be that the crystal supposedly used in this hairpin is—"
She recalled what she had made during her time at the Verdant Crystal Palace.
"Salt crystals?"
She had painstakingly grown them from tiny crystals into larger ones. She had given several of the nicely formed ones to Gyokuyou. If you didn't tell anyone what they were made of, they could easily be mistaken for crystal.
"...As expected of Maomao. You figured it out."
Yinghua nodded with a dumbfounded expression.
"I knew it."
Maomao pinched the hairpin through the cloth and gave it a shake.
"Why would anyone try to make a hairpin out of salt? It'll crumble apart in no time."
She warned that if they gave it to Gyokuyou in a humid place, it might dissolve. No matter how beautiful it was, salt was still salt.
"Empress Gyokuyou has been dreadfully bored lately. That's why she thought it might be nice to have a little fun at the garden party."
Empress Gyokuyou
had it custom-designed,
apparently.
Of course, Hongniang — ever stubborn — was kept in the dark about it. That was why Yinghua had shown up looking so awkward.
"What were you planning to do if it broke halfway through?"
The garden party was also an arena where women sized each other up. From the tips of their toes to the ends of their hair, everything was scrutinized.
During her time in the Rear Palace, there had been plenty of mid-ranking and lower-ranking consorts who imitated Empress Gyokuyou in order to win the same favor.
If the contents of the hairpin were to break, it would be a terrible sight.
"I had it arranged for her to change outfits before that. I figured it would hold for about half a shichen until she did her touch-up."
This hairpin, shaped like a Chinese lantern fruit, was so unusual in its design that it was sure to draw everyone's gaze. People would wonder what the stone inside the cage was — especially the women who had been helping with the banquet.
It wasn't just within the Rear Palace; there were plenty of women outside it who sought to catch the Emperor's eye.
Was she enjoying the bewilderment of those around her who couldn't tell what the hairpin was made of? Or perhaps she was enjoying
the thrill
of wondering what would happen if it broke?
That was so like Empress Gyokuyou.
(Had a maid stolen it so she could examine the hairpin up close?)
The possibility wasn't entirely zero. If anything, she could almost feel relieved if the explanation was that whoever stole it felt guilty about it and returned it afterward. But it wasn't something that could be easily put back.
"I'm sorry to ask. What was the atmosphere like around her at the garden party?"
"What do you mean, 'like'?"
"The seating arrangement at the banquet, and what was going on behind the scenes."
"Got it."
Yinghua left the room and returned with paper and writing implements. She quickly sketched out a floor plan.
"This was the center of the banquet, where His Majesty was seated. To his right were the Empress Dowager and Jin — no, the Lady of the Moon. To his left was Empress Gyokuyou. A little distance away was
Gyoen..."
"wandered off."
The purpose of this garden party was largely to bestow a name upon Gyokuyou, so the seating arrangement made sense. Naturally, other dignitaries were also in attendance.
"Where did you go to change?"
"Since the palace was nearby this time, I didn't have to go far."
The privy
was also within the palace, so it was apparently relatively easy this time.
"But the kitchen was a bit far. The food getting cold is nothing new, but carrying enough dishes for all those people must have been quite a task."
By the time the poison-testing was done, the food had gone cold. Maomao thought it was a shame — the flavors were good, after all.
"There was a pot sitting right next to the palace here."
"..."
Maomao narrowed her eyes.
"Was there anyone watching the pot?"
"Watching it? No, I don't think so. It was probably meant for the people seated at the far end."
The portions for those who required poison-testing were prepared separately.
"Then, when the pot was there, was the hairpin already missing?"
"Ah, yes, that's right. It was right in the middle of meal preparations. I'd been asked to run an errand and had left Gyokuyou's side for a bit, and when I came back, there was a commotion about the missing hairpin."
(Ah, so that's how it was.)
Understanding now, Maomao examined the hairpin. She finally understood why it had turned black.
"Maomao, you've got that look on your face like you figured something out."
"Do I?"
"You do! What is it? Tell me!"
Being told to explain put her in a difficult position. She hadn't proven anything yet — it was still within the realm of conjecture.
"I don't have enough information yet."
"Don't give me that! Just tell me!"
Maomao groaned.
However, even if she said she wouldn't tell, Yinghua wasn't the type to simply stay quiet.
"I understand. But there's one more thing I'd like to confirm."
"What is it?"
"It's nothing major. Do you know who was in the palace at that time? Even just the ones you recognize would be fine."
"If that's the case—"
Maomao wrote down the names of the people Yinghua mentioned, adding them one by one to the paper.