Chapter 27 · Survival Menu - Chapter 27: Take a Bite

The Dowager's banquet hall smells like burnt sugar and fear.

I'm already at the preparation table when the first scream cuts through the kitchen. Not a servant scream. A noble one. High-pitched, sharp enough to crack porcelain.

Nanny Liu drops the ladle. "What now?"

I don't wait. I'm moving before the second scream starts, before the guards start shouting, before Cicada can grab my sleeve and ask what's happening. My burned palm is still wrapped in the cloth Yan Xiao tied this morning. It throbs with every step.

The banquet hall doors are wide open. Inside, half the court is on their feet. The Emperor is bent over his plate, one hand clutching his throat. The other is clawing at the table.

The Dowager is standing. Her face is white. "Physician. Now."

But she's not looking at the Emperor. She's looking at the soup bowl in front of her. The one I didn't make.

Yan Xiao is already moving toward his father. Two guards block him. He shoves past them anyway, drops to his knees beside the Emperor's chair. "Father. Father, look at me."

The Emperor's lips are gray. His pupils are too wide.

I know that look.