All eyes turned toward the grand doors, tension hanging heavy in the air as the Empress Dowager made her entrance, her presence commanding imdiate silence and attention.
"What brought the Empress Dowager here from her quarters?" lisa asked, a cunning smile plastered across her face as she folded her hands elegantly before her.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes scanned the hall before settling on lisa, her expression darkening.
"I should be the one asking you," she snapped, her voice laced with restrained fury. "How dare you summon a concubine and drag her forcefully from my quarters without my knowledge?" Her tone trembled with equal parts anger and disbelief.
Good. My plan worked.
Sorayah thought to herself as she swallowed hard, still reeling from the pain but maintaining her composure with effort.
lisa arched an eyebrow, scoffing lightly.
"A concubine summoned to your quarters?" she repeated mockingly. "I am the ruler of the harem, and every concubine, no matter her status, is expected to bow and obey. You know the rules, Your Highness. Every concubine must pay her respects to each morning before attending to her daily duties. No one is exempt."
The Empress Dowager’s face hardened.
"I delegated harem duties to you, lisa not authority over . Do not overstep your boundaries." The empress dowager voice cut through the air. "From this mont forward, Concubine Sorayah will be responsible for preparing my als. She is to be excused from all harem obligations until I no longer require her service."
She turned sharply to the guards.
"Carry Concubine Sorayah back to her quarters. Send for the royal physician imdiately."
"You cannot do that, Your Highness!" lisa shouted, stepping forward in alarm. Her command made the guards pause mid-action, unsure whose authority to follow.
"The concubines are not here solely to greet alone," lisa continued with a sly smirk. "They are gathered to drink a tonic prepared for them....a fertility tonic ant to strengthen their wombs and help them serve the Emperor better in bed."
She turned toward Sorayah with narrowed eyes.
"All other concubines have taken theirs, but Concubine Sorayah refused yesterday. She lied, claiming the royal physician forbade her from taking any dication aside from what he prescribed. But the physician never said such a thing. This ans she has committed a grave offense. Even if she’s favored now, how will she explain her deception to the Emperor once he finds out?"
Slowly, Sorayah rose to her feet. Her breath was shallow, but her resolve was unshaken.
"And when His Highness, the Alpha Emperor, asks why I am unable to conceive," Sorayah said quietly, letting out a low, bitter scoff, "how exactly am I supposed to tell him it was your tonic that ruined my womb?"
lisa blinked in confusion, her smirk faltering. "What nonsense are you spouting now?" she scoffed.
"Exactly," Sorayah said, her voice growing firr despite her visible weakness. "Either you don’t know what you’re doing, or your palace maids are deliberately feeding the concubines harmful ingredients to sow discord between you and the rest of us."
"What are you implying, you lowly concubine?!" Nanny Peace suddenly burst out. "Just take the tonic! Her Highness only wants you to bear a child. If not for that, I wouldn’t have bothered preparing anything for you!"
But before anyone could react further, Sorayah stepped forward.
And with unexpected force, she delivered a thunderous slap to Nanny Peace’s face.
The crack echoed through the chamber, freezing everyone in place. Gasps rang out as shock and terror rippled through the hall. lisa stepped back instinctively. Even the Empress Dowager flinched, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Have you lost your mind, Sorayah?!" Mira exclaid, horrified. "How dare you strike the Empress Luna’s personal maid?!"
The Empress Dowager turned sharply to Sorayah, her voice taut with confusion and restrained curiosity. "What is going on here, Concubine Sorayah?"
Sorayah bowed slightly, her voice calm but firm.
"It is clear that Nanny Peace has been stirring discord not just between the Empress Luna and the concubines, but between the Luna herself and you, Your Highness. Do you truly believe the Luna would knowingly defy you if she knew the full truth?"
She raised her eyes slowly, voice gaining montum. "Let shed more light on the situation, Your Highness. Once you hear everything, you will understand what is truly happening in this palace."
The Empress Dowager’s gaze narrowed with intrigue, the flas of curiosity now fully lit.
"Go ahead then," she said, her voice quieter now but no less commanding. "Explain yourself, Sorayah."
"You must have lost your mind, Sorayah!" lisa shrieked, her anger boiling over. "How dare you act so high and mighty in front of Her Highness!"
But Sorayah remained still, unfazed by lisa’s rage. Her lips curled into a faint, unreadable smile.
She had the Empress Dowager’s attention now.
Careful," the Empress Dowager warned coldly, "or you might harm the child. That would be a capital offense, not just for you, but for your entire family if anything were to happen to the royal son of the late Alpha Emperor."
A hush fell over the chamber, thick with unease. lisa’s mouth snapped shut instantly, but Sorayah only smiled....slow and dangerous.
With calm, deliberate steps, Sorayah turned her gaze back to Nanny Peace, whose hand still rested on her cheek where Sorayah had struck her.
"To promote fertility, you say?" she asked, voice low and mocking. "Or rather... to prevent pregnancy and gradually destroy the womb?"
"What?!"
A collective cry of panic rose from the concubines. Fear flooded their expressions, their hands flying to their throats as if trying to force the tonic back out.
"How dare you, Sorayah?!" lisa’s voice rang out, high-pitched with fury. "Are you suggesting I have tried to sabotage the royal concubines’ ability to conceive?"
"I never said you did," Sorayah answered coolly, her tone laced with firm accusation. "But your trusted maid certainly has. Or would you prefer to be added to the list of culprits when His Highness the Alpha Emperor learns the truth?"
She paused, eyes narrowing.
"Tampering with the royal bloodline... that’s a capital offense, is it not?"
lisa swallowed hard. Her fingers clutched the fine silk of her gown with such force her knuckles turned bone-white.
The Empress Dowager’s sharp gaze shifted from lisa to Sorayah.
"Continue," she ordered, her voice serious.
Sorayah lowered her head respectfully in a deep bow. When she rose, her gaze was fixed again on Nanny Peace.
"You truly ant to destroy the royal concubines’ wombs, didn’t you?" she said, voice rising with authority. "To do it slowly... carefully... so no one would notice until it was far too late?"
"I...I don’t know what you an, My Lady," Nanny Peace stamred, trembling visibly.
Sorayah took a slow step forward.
"Don’t play dumb." She held up the bowl of untouched tonic. "This tonic isn’t what it claims to be. It’s the infamous Womb-Calming Tonic. At first glance, it appears normal....mild, even beneficial. But it’s lethal to the very purpose you claid... fertility."
The chamber erupted in gasps. The three concubines dropped to their knees, visibly shaking, desperately clutching their bellies as if sothing within them had already begun to rot.
"Because of my training in dicine," Sorayah continued confidently, "I can say with certainty that this tonic, prescribed under the guise of regulating nstruation and protecting the womb, contains ingredients known to gradually destroy a woman’s ability to conceive."
"Be certain of your words Sorayah, or you could bring disaster upon yourself." The Empress Dowager said, eyes gleaming with grave intensity.
"I would never dare lie before Your Highness," Sorayah responded with another deep bow. "Once I list the ingredients in this tonic, you may call upon the royal physician or even an outsider to test it. I’m prepared to stand by my claim."
"Very well," the Empress Dowager said, then turned toward a nearby servant. "Summon the royal physician and also bring few physician from outside the palace. I want several views. We leave no room for loyalty or bias."
"At once, Your Highness," the servant answered before rushing out.
"Go ahead then Sorayah," the Empress Dowager commanded.
Sorayah stepped forward, holding the bowl in her hands with care and precision.
"The tonic contains moon root," she began. "In controlled doses, it supports female reproductive health. But in high concentration, like in this bowl, it causes hormonal imbalance, disrupts ovulation, and weakens the nstrual cycle."
More gasps followed from the concubines and servants.
"It also contains sunthorn ," she continued, "which increases uterine contractions. When used in excessive amounts, it becos dangerous to anyone trying to maintain a pregnancy."
She paused, her eyes scanning the room, then delivered the final, damning blow:
"And lastly... Silverheart essence."
The chamber fell silent.
"A subtle, slow-acting poison," Sorayah said, her voice deadly calm. "Even in trace amounts, it can weaken ovulation, disrupt implantation, and eventually scar the womb lining. The effect is not imdiate but by the ti anyone notices, it’s already too late."
Gasps turned into sobs.
lisa’s face had drained of all color. Her body swayed slightly, and her mouth opened but no words ca out.
"The physicians are here, Your Highness," announced a eunuch from the entrance.
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