Chapter 22 · Survival Menu - Chapter 22: Even Mutes Get Questioned

The doors shut behind me. Just me and the Dowager now.

She set the empty bowl down, porcelain clicking against lacquered wood. Her fingers were still steady. No tremor. No flush. Whatever I'd tasted in that soup, whatever warning had screamed through my gift when I'd sampled it in the kitchen, she'd swallowed it all and smiled.

I kept my eyes down. Hands folded. The mute kitchen maid who didn't matter.

"Look at me," the Dowager said.

I lifted my head. Slow. Confused. Like I didn't understand why I was still here.

She studied me the way Nanny Liu studied a fish at market. Checking for rot. "You made that soup."

I nodded.

"All of it? No one else touched the pot?"

I nodded again. My pulse hammered against my throat but I kept my face slack. Empty.

"Interesting." She rose from her seat, silk rustling. She moved like water. Like someone who'd never had to hurry for anything in her life. "The third prince has been spending time in the kitchen. Late at night. You've seen him."

Not a question. I nodded anyway.

"He asks you questions. You write answers."

Another nod. My palms were starting to sweat.