Wen Ya said, "Quite a few new palace maids and eunuchs arrived today. I don't recognize a single one."
"Neither do I."
"Why isn't Baobao here?"
"Consort Lin of Lingyu Hall took her back to recuperate. I heard Empress Jian approved it."
Wen Ya nodded. "I'm a little thirsty. Go pour me a cup of tea."
Hu Xiaotian answered and turned to prepare her tea. As he put the leaves into the teapot, he suddenly remembered Ji Feihua's instructions and instinctively touched the medicine bottle. After a moment's hesitation, however, he left the pills inside.
He brought the teapot over to Wen Ya and poured her a cup first. Pointing to the chair beside her, she said, "Sit down and have some tea with me."
Hu Xiaotian thought that her invitation was merely a pretext; what she really wanted was to make sure he had not tampered with the tea. This woman was terribly suspicious, and exceptionally intelligent. Unfortunately, however clever you are, Ji Feihua has already decided to kill you. I'm afraid nothing can change your fate now. Looking at her beautiful face, he suddenly remembered everything he had shared with Le Yao in Azure Cloud, and his heart softened. Even if Wen Ya was not Le Yao, he still could not bring himself to kill her with his own hands.
Just then, a palace maid came in to ask Wen Ya about dinner. Wen Ya waved her away. "I don't want anything to eat. All of you may leave. No one is to come in without my permission."
After the maid answered and withdrew, Wen Ya told Hu Xiaotian to close the doors. Only after watching him drink his cup of tea did she feel reassured enough to take a sip herself. "Tell me exactly what happened last