Chapter 25 - Reality Check (1/2)
Lei Xing picked up the chopsticks and reached for a dish of stir fry chicken and picked a piece, then her eyes slanted to the ring and then her hand stopped mid-air, she stared at it for a while and then dropped the chopsticks.
...I really can't do this...this stupid freaking ring!...
She put her hands in her lap and looked down at the ring, it had gone back to its normal sky blue color, she rubbed it for a while and then reached towards the cup of water and saw it change to the greenish blue again. She put her elbows on the table and massaged her temples with her fingers.
...What the hell is wrong with this thing?!!... I can rationalize that the stupid ring seems to be reacting to anything that has water in or on it, because other than the food, water, tea and the flowers, it's fine for everything else...but this is obviously overkill, leaving behind way too much evidence, also the net is too wide, won't it be suspicious if a lot of people here just got poisoned all of a sudden? People would talk and it'd be troublesome given my background?...Also if the flowers are really poisonous, how come I haven't heard of any of the servants getting ill? There were obviously a couple of them grooming the flowers earlier today and they are all standing radiant outside my door right now...unless they took an antidote...how about I have them test the food? Don't do that! -_-)...Fine...
...Also what about that Consort Yu - Lu, whatever's snacks, they also had the same class of poison...she could be in on it too? I don't know...while all this seems sketchy, the only thing I'm clear on is that there was something wrong with the empress dowager's tea, that was the first instant of weirdness, so it should be the catalyst for all this...other than that, this poisoning everything in my palace seems too extreme and such a waste...it's either the poisoner's an idiot or just inefficient...or this stupid ring's malfunctioning...the silver also said it's all fine...but still what if...I'd bet all my money that whatever food or water brought before me right now would be poisonous to this stupid ring...
Lei Xing sighed and got up, removed her outer robes and jumped on her bed to sleep. She put her hand with the ring on the pillow and looked at it and then sighed again.
...I have come to rely on this thing too much, I'm not sure if that's a good thing...at this moment it feels like I'm relying on Apple maps, it's either a hit or a miss -_-)'...
The next day, the empress dowager had moved the ”study” session to noon and no one woke Lei Xing up early and so she slept in. When she finally woke up, she saw that the table was left as it was last night. She rolled around in bed for a bit and then Xiao Ruo and Ah Jin came into the room and greeted her and then other maids came in after them, bowed and started clearing the table, while a maid came up to her with a bowl of warm water and towel for her to wash her face. Lei Xing looked at the water and sighed.
...Here we go again...
She reached for the water and went all the way to touching the water and then froze, she was a bit confused.
...It didn't change?...
Lei Xing quickly got up and went to the table and reached for the teacup with cold tea.
Xiao Ruo seeing her do this quickly said, ”Your highness, don't drink that...There's hot tea on the side.”
Lei Xing picked up the cup and observed it, then put it down and casually waved her hand at the remaining dishes still on the table. Then walked to the side and sat down. Xiao Ruo came forward and poured a cup of tea for her. Lei Xing put her hand on the cup and stared at her hand holding the cup with a frown, the jewel on the ring never changed from its normal sky blue color at all.
...So...so what was that yesterday? Was I really seeing things? Was I hallucinating? Am I going insane?! One day here and I'm starting to lose my mind? Already?! oTZ...No, that's not it. I know what I saw!... I am perfectly sane! It's this piece of crap that's insane!....
Lei Xing took a deep breath and then drank the tea in the cup in one shot and then poured another and then another...
...I haven't drunk or eaten anything since yesterday morning, I'm dying here...courtesy of a certain piece of crap -_-)...
”Your highness, would you like to bath first or have breakfast?” Xiao Ruo asked observing Lei Xing downing the tea like a starved beast.
”Breakfast!” Lei Xing enthusiastically answered. Xiao Ruo nodded and left the room. The breakfast came shortly after and everything was fine to the ring, Lei Xing enjoyed this meal greatly, cleared it all and when she was finished, she let out a sigh in relief.
...Nothing like a full course grade A meal after a starvation session...the cook deserves a raise...
The maids cleared the table and after that Xiao Ruo left to go have her bath prepared, leaving only Ah Jin in the room. Lei Xing saw that the others had all left and then looked at Ah Jin for a while.
...I need to get to the bottom of this...if not who knows what this piece of crap would do next time...making me feel like a crazy person, piece of s**t....
”Ah Jin, I need you to do something for me.”
”Whatever you wish.” Ah Jin said bowing to Lei Xing.
Lei Xing got up and went to a drawer and found a small box and took off the ring and put in it and then handed the box to Ah Jin. ”I need you to take this to Doctor Lou, tell him that I obtained this gift and want him to examine it for me and make sure that all is well with it.”
Ah Jin nodded and put the small box in her robes, bowed and left. Lei Xing sat down and drank tea and thought it over.
...It is possible that I was spooked by the incident in the morning and so was seeing things all day?...That could be, except I don't scare easy and I wasn't even scared at the empress dowager's palace when it happened, I was freaked out but not scared...I was much more annoyed than anything...it doesn't make sense that I would be so ”scared” many hours later when it wasn't even on my mind...I know what I saw!...