Scene: The Banquet – Moments After the Bell Rang
The courtyard was deadly quiet.
All eyes darted from the golden bell to Concubine Sun, who stood frozen, her cup trembling slightly in her hand.
Mira leaned forward, her voice sweet and dangerous. "It only rings when a lie has been told. Curious, isn't it?"
Concubine Sun's smile twitched. "Maybe it's… broken. A mere decoration can't judge truth."
Seraphina stepped down from her dais with a calm that unnerved even the guards. "It's not the bell that judges. It's your own heart. Only those who carry falsehoods awaken its sound."
The concubines began to whisper behind their silk fans. Some shifted in their seats. Others lowered their heads, hiding smirks.
The tide was turning.
Concubine Sun's lips thinned. "Is this what the Empress does now? Witch hunts and parlor tricks?"
"No," Seraphina replied softly, turning her back to her. "This is justice. And your own tongue betrays you."
---
Scene: Political Shockwaves
Later that night, word of the banquet reached every corner of the palace.
Whispers spread like fire:
> "The Empress used a truth bell."
"Concubine Sun's lie was caught."
"She didn't deny anything…"
"Maybe the Empress isn't just beautiful… maybe she's powerful too."
Even the ministers' wives began to murmur, doubting the woman they once respected.
---
Scene: Concubine Sun's Quarters – That Same Night
Concubine Sun hurled her hairpin across the room. It shattered against a mirror.
The glass cracked—like the mask she wore.
Her trusted maid, Lin'er, trembled at the door. "My Lady… what if the Emperor hears? What if she gains more power?"
Sun's face twisted. "She already has."
She paced like a caged beast.
"She was supposed to be a puppet! Nothing more than a political ornament. But now? Now she's playing this game better than anyone."
Lin'er hesitated. "Then should we… back down?"
Sun turned slowly.
"No," she hissed. "We hit harder."
Her eyes gleamed.
"We'll remind everyone why they feared me in the first place."
---
Scene: Seraphina's Garden – Moonlight Strategy
Arabella and Mira stood with Seraphina under the sakura tree, now blooming again — a symbol of her rising strength.
"You embarrassed her in front of everyone," Mira said, folding her arms. "I almost felt bad."
Arabella snorted. "I didn't."
Seraphina didn't smile.
"She's more dangerous now than ever."
Arabella stepped forward. "Then what's our next move?"
Seraphina's gaze burned with quiet fire.
"We keep walking ahead. While she runs in circles trying to trip me."
She plucked a petal from the tree and let it fall.
"When someone shows the world their mask is cracking… you don't push."
She looked to the moon.
"You let them shatter themselves."
Rain pattered softly on the tiled roof, muffling voices — but not entirely.
Concubine Sun stood in a shadowed corridor behind her private wing, her silken robes soaked at the hem, her eyes burning with calculation.
Opposite her knelt an old court lady — one who once served in the imperial kitchen but had been dismissed silently by Seraphina early in her reign.
"Can it be done without leaving a trace?" Sun asked.
The old woman smiled, her teeth yellowed like parchment. "A thousand ways to weaken a body… none as slow and invisible as riverstone blossom dust."
"And it won't kill her?" Sun hissed.
"Not yet. But it will make her faint. Bleed. Fall."
Concubine Sun's lips curled. "Perfect. When she crumbles at the upcoming sacred lantern ceremony in front of the entire court… they'll say she's cursed. Unfit. The Emperor will have no choice but to reconsider her position."
Thunder cracked.
"And who will administer it?" she asked.
The woman bowed lower. "Already arranged. A newly assigned maid. Loyal only to you."
---
Scene: Outside – Unknown to Them, Someone Listens
High above the beams of the roof, someone crouched — silent as a breath.
A pair of familiar eyes watched the exchange through the latticework.
It was Linaria.
Once Maelis's handmaid. Left behind when her mistress was imprisoned. Forgotten.
But not idle.
Her jaw clenched as she heard every word. Her hands curled around the beam until her knuckles turned white.
> "If I can't free Maelis with words," she thought, "I'll do it with truth."
She slipped away into the shadows, unheard, unseen — the only witness to what would become a deadly scheme.
---
Scene: The Imperial Pharmacy – Mira's Growing Suspicion
That same night, Mira walked through the quiet halls of the Imperial Pharmacy, her fingers trailing along the shelves of powdered medicine and ancient scrolls.
She had come for more moonroot tea — a gentle aid for Seraphina's recurring headaches. But something tugged at her.
The scent.
Something unfamiliar lingered in the air — sharp, almost too clean. And next to a labeled jar of jasmine leaf powder… an unlabeled vial. New. Hidden.
Mira narrowed her eyes and whispered, "That's not supposed to be here."
She took it.
She'd ask Elaris to test it later.
Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
---
Scene: Seraphina's Chambers – The Calm Before the Fall
Seraphina sat before her mirror, her reflection ghostlike under the pale candlelight. Arabella braided her hair, gently, like she used to when they were children.
"You should rest," Arabella said softly.
"I can't," Seraphina murmured. "I feel like the moment I sleep… something will be taken from me again."
Mira entered, holding the vial she'd found.
"I need to ask you something," she said, her face serious. "Has anyone new been assigned to your service lately?"
Seraphina paused. "Yes… A young girl named Wei. Why?"
Mira held up the vial. "Because someone's trying to poison you. And it's recent."
---
Scene End: The Palace Bell Rings Again…
From deep within the palace walls, a bell rang.
Not the truth bell this time.
But the guardian's bell — a signal that someone had broken a sacred rule.
Arabella stood, blade half-drawn. Mira's fire danced on her fingertips.
And Seraphina's eyes slowly lifted, calm but blazing.
"Then it begins."
Golden lanterns floated into the twilight sky, their gentle glow dancing against the evening mist. Courtiers, concubines, generals, and nobles filled the massive courtyard, bowing as Emperor Kai and Empress Seraphina stepped onto the crimson dais.
Seraphina looked radiant, though pale. Mira stood to her right. Arabella to her left. All alert.
The ceremony began with blessings, music, and ritual offerings. Then came the tradition of lantern tributes — each concubine presenting a handmade lantern and a gift in honor of the Empire's future.
One by one, the concubines stepped forward with words, poems, and calligraphy.
And then… Concubine Sun emerged.
Graceful. Arrogant. Dressed in royal jade robes far too close to the Empress's status.
She bowed low — eyes fixed on Seraphina — then offered her tribute.
"Your Majesty," she purred, "I present the Lantern of Fertility, carved with blessings of harmony. May the empire bloom with heirs worthy of your crown."
The crowd murmured.
Seraphina didn't flinch. "Your heart is… generous."
Concubine Sun smiled, but her eyes glittered. Then, she subtly signaled to a maid by the side table.
The maid stepped forward with a golden tray — tea for the Empress, as per custom.
Seraphina reached for it—
But a flute rang out.
Clear. Piercing. Commanding silence.
Everyone turned.
At the edge of the dais, standing tall and flushed with firelight…
Prince Lucien.
He lowered the flute. "Your Majesty," he said calmly, "I request you delay your sip — for the sake of the Empire's future."
Gasps rippled. The Emperor narrowed his gaze. "Explain."
Lucien stepped aside.
And from behind him—
Linaria emerged.
Trembling but fierce.
"I overheard Concubine Sun," she declared, bowing low. "She plotted to poison Her Majesty. I heard it with my own ears — the herb, the dose, the intention."
The crowd exploded.
Sun paled.
"Lies!" she screamed. "She's a lowborn maid!"
But Mira stepped forward, holding up the vial. "We tested this powder with phoenix ash. It reacts exactly like the sachet sent to the Empress's chambers."
Arabella's voice rang like steel. "You aimed to make her miscarry… before she ever conceived."
The Emperor stood. His fury rolled across the crowd like thunder.
"Concubine Sun," he said coldly, "you conspired to harm the Empress… and endangered the lineage of the Empire."
She dropped to her knees. "No—No! I only meant—!"
"Silence," Seraphina said, her voice soft but sharp. "You wanted me humiliated. Broken. Gone. All because your brother is trusted."
Concubine Sun looked around — but no one stepped forward. The other concubines looked away. Alone.
Emperor Kai raised his hand.
"You are hereby banished from the Imperial Palace. Stripped of title. Stripped of name. You will leave tonight."
Cries broke from the crowd.
Two guards stepped forward and seized her arms.
Sun screamed. "No! You need me! I built this court—!"
"You poisoned it," Seraphina whispered.
As she was dragged from the courtyard, lanterns still rose — glowing above her disgrace.
---
Scene: After the Ceremony – Empress's Chambers
Seraphina sat silently, her fingers curled around a warm teacup — one Mira brewed herself.
Maelis's name was on her mind.
"Find Linaria," she told Arabella. "Have her brought to me… and prepare to revisit Maelis's trial. If one snake lied… more may have slithered behind it."
Arabella nodded, a smile breaking through. "The palace is yours now."
Seraphina looked out her window as the last lantern soared high.
"No," she whispered, "not yet. But it will be."
---