Page 89 of Empire's Curse

“I won’t let you have my heart.”

A wry smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “We’ll see.”

Daiyu turned her back to him and hugged her elbows close to her body. Even with the cover of night, she didn’t want him to see her blush, or the way her lips wouldn’t stop quivering. “I think it’s best that we head back inside. I’m cold here and I don’t want anyone to think you whisked me away in the middle of the celebration in order to have your way with me.”

He barked a laughter that warmed her down to her core. “Is that what you’re thinking about? Me having my way with you?”

“Of course not. I’m thinking of my own dignity here.” She cleared her throat and shot him a sheepish frown. “I’m not keen on the idea of people presuming strange things about me. Like how I’ve somehowenchantedthe emperor with my skills.”

Muyang laughed again, this time softer. “Then we should hurry back.”

When they reachedthe throne room again, Daiyu excused herself from Muyang to nibble on the snacks and delicacies being served in the hall. She hung in the back of the room, eating a sticky, sweet, rice cake filled with sugary red bean paste, and tried to clear her muddy thoughts. She was still unsure if she was making the right decision here—marrying Muyang and casting her fate to be one of the many women who would remain by his side. Was it worth the risks? The threats that would come her way? The heartbreak?

She couldn’t take Muyang’s words seriously. A man who coveted a woman would say anything to have her, but once he had her in his grasp, all his whispered promises would turn to ash. She had seen it on more than one occasion with the girls back in her village.

She had to seal away all these flighty emotions she had for Muyang. She could feel herself drawing to him more and more, and the idea of falling for him opened a deep pit of despair and horror inside her. She couldn’t fall for him. She simply couldn’t.

Popping the sticky sweet delicacy in her mouth, she chewed and mulled over her thoughts, her gaze traveling throughout the room of warriors. A familiar face caught her attention at one end of the room. A thin woman who was filling a cup for one of the warriors. All at once, the color drained from Daiyu’s face. That was the woman who had entered her room and served her tea all those weeks ago—the same tea that ended up being poisoned.

Daiyu swallowed down the last of her food and boltedforward. She wove through the throngs of people, never averting her attention from the woman. When she was ten feet away, the woman finally noticed her, and her expression dropped.

“Hey—” Daiyu started, but the woman had already spun on her heels and was rushing to the door.

The woman deserted her pitcher of wine onto a side table and hurried out of the hall. Daiyu bunched her skirts in one hand and chased after her, bumping into people as she went. She murmured her apologies, too focused on the woman, and made her way out of the room. She looked left and right—and noticed the woman disappear around the corner. Daiyu followed, her strides shorter than the woman’s. Adrenaline pumped through her veins when she caught sight of the woman at the end of the hallway. She pushed herself faster, her thighs burning.

“Hey, you!” Daiyu shouted, nearly barreling into a servant carrying a platter of sweet cakes into the throne room. “Excuse me?—”

The woman turned down another corner of the corridor, but Daiyu was hot on her trail, not wanting to let her go for a second. They were in a deserted hallway, farther from the loudness of the throne room, but close enough to hear the thrumming of music and conversation.

Daiyu grabbed the woman’s bicep and yanked her back. The woman careened back and slammed into the wall, crying in protest. She tried wriggling to Daiyu’s left to escape, but she shoved her into the wall again. Pinning her hands onto the woman’s shoulders, she glared at her.

“You.” Her breaths came raggedy and she tried to calm herself, even though she wanted to slap the woman for almost killing her. Her nails dug into the woman’s shoulders. “You poisoned me!”

The woman trembled, the whites of her eyes showing. “I didn’t do anything!”

“Liar!” Daiyu narrowed her eyes at the woman, tightening her hold on her. “You poisoned me that night. And you wouldn’t be running from me if you didn’t do anything.”

“I didn’t?—”

“Stop lying!” she shouted. “I know you poisoned me, but I want to knowwhyandwhoasked you to do it?”

The woman continued to quiver and cry. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she choked back a response. “I-I didn’t mean to. I’m terribly—terribly sorry.”

“You almostkilledme.” She continued glaring at the woman. “His Majesty can have you killed for that. You understand, don’t you? That he will kill you if he finds out?”

She sobbed, her face scrunching together and fear making her legs wobble into one another. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Who told you to poison me?”

“I can’t say.”

Daiyu jabbed her nails deeper into the woman’s flesh and she flinched. “If you tell me now, I won’t tell His Majesty what you did.”

She hesitated, the fear clear as day on her face, and Daiyu only had to push her a little more to crack her open. She could tell by looking at her. She leaned forward, hating that she had to resort to these measures, but knowing very well that she needed to find answers.

“His Majesty will torture you for days on end, with his cruel magic that will strip the humanity from you. Day in and day out, you’ll wish you were dead. I’m the first woman His Majesty has ever wanted to marry—don’t you think he will go to the ends of this empire to eliminate anyone who dares harm me? You went against His Majesty’s wishes when you tried to poison me. If you think that he’ll let you go just because the person who employed you is powerful, you’re mistaken. You and I both know what happens to traitors. So speak.Whopoisoned me? Only I can save you from his ire.”

A sob bubbled from the woman’s mouth and she slid down the wall to the floor. Daiyu kneeled with her, her hands still gripping the woman’s shoulders. “W-Wang Yanlin,” the maidservant cried. “She told me to do it. I didn’t want to do it, butshe offered a substantial amount of money, and I … I’m ashamed to say I—” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t … I don’t know why … I’m just …”

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