Chained to old wounds

CH127

Morgan

Lady Mei entered the apothecary shop. My first thought was poison, but given everything that had happened, it seemed a little ridiculous for her to try poisoning anyone again. I slipped into the shop behind her, watching her from a row or two over, her eyes scanning the shelves. I motionled to the guard, signaling for him to stay back.

I watched as Lady Mei approached the apothecary, Her voice was low and urgent. She whispered something to the apothecary, her eyes darting nervously from side to side. The apothecary. nodded. He reached into a hidden compartment behind the counter, pulling out a small vial. Lady Mei took the vial and tucked it into her robes, then turned, hurrying past me without even looking up. I slipped my hand into her robes, plucking the vial from her inner pocket as she left the shop.

Too easy. Who knew all that practice back home would come in handy? The next time I saw my father, I’d have to tell him tThat that pickpocketing practice was really useful.

Follow her. And send in another guard in here to watch the doors. Front and back. Report back

when you know where she’s going.”

He nodded and left. I waited a few moments, allowing Lady Mei to get a safe distance away until I saw the guard enter the front door and remain in the doorway. Then, I approached the apothecary, my eyes fixed on him.

He jumped, clearly startled by my appearance.

“When did you get in here?”

“What was that about?” I asked.

The apothecary hesitated, his eyes darting nervously from side to side. “It’s none of your business,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper.” And if you’re not here for business, please

leave.”

I ignored him.

“I’ll be clear and tell you that you’re on thin ice. If you don’t answer my questions, I’m going to report you for treason.”

“But you can’t do that. I haven’t done anything.”

“You refuse me to answer the Crown Princess’s questions about matters dealing with the royal

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house. You’ve done plenty.”

He paled.

“So what was it? What did you give her? What did she say?”

“I think you can understand that I’m not at liberty to discuss private matters with the people who

come in here…”

“You certainly can’t do so if your head’s detached from!

“How dare you. You’re no—

shoulders.”

I pulled up my sword, pressing the blade to his throat. “Don’t test me. I know enough to know that you are a traitor. If you’d like to keep your head and perhaps your practice and maybe earn yourself some measure of leniency, you’ll tell me what you gave her, what she said, and where she’s going.” I smiled, a flicker of amusement playing on my lips. “Just to let you know, I’m not a patient woman.”

The apothecary’s eyes narrowed, his expression one of pure hatred though sweat seemed to trickle down his forehead.

“You can’t prove anything, he stammered, his voice barely a whisper.

“Do you want to test that? I wonder how many invoices Lady Mei has submitted from your shop. I wonder how long it’ll take to look through your books and find that she’s ordered absolutely nothing. Laundering. Aiding and abetting a criminal. You’ll be lucky to keep your head in a painless way.”

The apothecary hesitated. “I have nothing to say,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper.

“She gave you a message for Elia. Or did you give her a message from him?”

“How dare you accuse me,” he hissed, his voice barely a whisper.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Isn’t that vial behind you poison? The same poison that was used to poison. me and would have been used to poison the Crown Prince? And this is a vial of that poison, isn’t it? Perhaps something worse? A special blend?”

I pulled out the vial that Lady Mei had taken from the shop. The apothecary’s eyes widened, his expression one of pure shock.

“How did you get that?” he gasped, his voice barely a whisper.

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“Sticky fingers…” I eyed the label. “This is most certainly a poison… Now, why would you need to sell Lady Mei a poison?”

“T–That’s not–”

“Guard–”

“Okay!”

I shrugged, my eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and contempt. “It doesn’t matter,” 1 replied, my voice barely a whisper. “What matters is that I know what you’re up to.”

The apothecary hesitated, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and determination. He knew he was trapped, he knew he had been caught.

“I’ll tell you everything,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I’ll tell you everything you want to

know,”

“Glad you decided to cooperate.”

As the apothecary began to speak, I couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated. According to the apothecary, there were five concubines involved in Elia’s plot. They were Lady Mei, Lady Anya, Lady Kaya, Lady Rin, and Lady Mai. But he didn’t have

Lady Jun on the list which meant that she never actually meant met the apothecary, which was good. It meant she wasn’t a liar. It was ridiculous. Wasn’t that most of his ham, if not all of it? I could only guess that Haruka had been keeping them at bay all this time, and it seemed like none of them actually knew about each other.

“What about Lady Maro?”

“She never comes in here….”

That means she met with Elia, some other way. Probably the same way that Ari met with him.

“What else can you tell me about him? Where his funds are coming from, how he’s sustaining himself, what he’s up to.”

He winced. “I know that he gets money from the harem, but I believe he’s also getting funding and support from another kingdom.”

“Which one?”

“I’m not sure. It could be any of them.”

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“Where do they meet? I asked. “Him and the women and his contacts with this other kingdom?”

The apothecary hesitated, his eyes darting nervously from side to side. “I don’t know,” he replied, his voice barely a whisper. “Elia never tells me.”

I nodded, my eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and determination. I needed to find out where Elia was meeting with his contacts.

“Keep an eye on them all,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “She’ll be back for another vial soon, and if you cross me, I’ll have you exiled and executed.”

He shuddered and nodded. I left the apothecary shop,

“Watch the shop closely. If anyone from the harem comes arrest them.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Soon after, I returned to the palace, my mind turning over everything that I’d learned and trying to put together a path forward. How could I expose Elia’s treachery and capture as many of the traitors at one time as possible? It felt almost impossible.

I reached my council room where Anya and Maya were waiting.

“We’ve got a lot to do, ladies,” I said, sitting down. “It’s going to be a long day.”

“What did you find?”

I set the vial in between us. “First, I need Doctor Shang to tell me what’s in this vial.”