Phoenix Rising

043

In a private quarter of Ryoko Temple, Princess Xuan was pacing up and down, wringing the silk handkerchief in her hands.

"Mother, will it work? What if something goes wrong?"

Compared to her daughter's anxious state, Consort Song was the picture of calm. Her rouge-tinted lips curled upwards with confidence. "Not to worry, my darling. Han Zi-ning is only a motherless child who has lost favour in her household, and did you see her naïve and ingratiating behaviour earlier? She's only a simpleton. Besides having a pretty face, I don't understand what else the prince of Hua sees in her."

"She's not even pretty," the princess remarked. She flounced down onto a chair, folding her arms squarely across her chest. "But still, she's only a minister's daughter. What if the prince still refuses to give up on me?"

"After tonight, he'll have to give up even if he doesn't want to," the consort scoffed. "Hua may be a strong kingdom, but we aren't pushovers either. Your father will not possibly go through with this engagement knowing that Situ Zhiren has bedded the daughter of an official. It'll be a disgrace to the royal family."

Hearing her mother's words, the tension in Xuan's shoulders relaxed a little. She ran through their entire plan over and over inside her head, desperate to ensure that nothing would go wrong. Her entire future hinged upon the events that would unfold that very night. If they succeeded, then her problem would be solved and she would be free to marry Zhenghuan like she had always wanted.

"Go to sleep, Xuan-er. Tomorrow morning when you wake, there'll be a big show for us to see." Patting her daughter on the back, Consort Song ushered the anxious girl over to the bed. She lit a stick of soothing incense and blew out the lamps. "Sleep. Everything will turn out exactly the way we want it to."

#

The moment Zi-ning stepped into her room, she knew that something was wrong. There was incense burning in the bronze burner that was sitting by the side of the bed—frankincense, that was supposed to help quiet the mind for a good night's rest, but other than that, there was also a subtle hint of a different fragrance mixed in.

Bai hua san. Hundred Flower Powder.

It was made from a mixture ground from several rare herbs and flowers and a small packet would cost an arm and a leg from the dispensaries, but it was not an uncommon drug, particularly in the royal harem. The Hundred Flower Powder was a "spring drug", a cheap trick that harem ladies liked to use to win favour, because it was incredibly effective in stirring arousal in both men and women alike. Rumour had it that the previous king had been addicted to it, so much so that he did not attend court for a record three months because he was drowned in the wine, song and lithe bodies of his harem.

So this is their clever plan?

She had guessed that something like that was in the works, once she heard from Zhenghuan that Situ Zhiren had also come to Ryoko.

Zi-ning quickly dipped her handkerchief in the basin of water that Hana had left for her to wash her face and hands before bed. She wrapped the handkerchief tightly around her nose and mouth, and still held her breath as a precaution.

"Ah..."

The low moan coming from behind the drawn curtains of her bed made her step back in shock. It was very clearly a man's voice, so it couldn't be Hana.

Zi-ning moved closer, gingerly lifting the curtain with the tips of her fingers. As expected, it was Situ Zhiren lying there, the front of his robes tugged open and in disarray as he struggled to free himself from its constraints. His face was flushed and his eyes hooded, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Classic effects of Hundred Flower Powder.