Chapter 28 · Survival Menu - Chapter 28: Who Gets to Eat

The Emperor's still choking on his own blood when Yan Xiao shoves past two guards and drops to his knees beside the throne.

I don't move. My burned hand's wrapped in damp cloth, throbbing like someone's hammering nails through the palm. The Dowager's on the floor where she fell after I grabbed her wrist. Her sleeve's torn. Her face is white.

She knows I saw it. The memory that came off her skin like smoke.

Yan Xiao's voice cuts through the chaos. "Get the physician. Now."

No one moves fast enough. The Emperor's lips are turning blue.

I step forward. My legs feel like wood but I make them work. I pull the small porcelain vial from inside my sleeve. The antidote I made three hours ago in the cold kitchen while everyone slept. The one I wasn't sure I'd use.

Yan Xiao sees it first. His eyes lock on mine. "Jin."

I don't look at him. I look at the man on the throne. The man who signed my mother's death warrant without asking a single question. The man who ate her food for twenty years and never once defended her name.

He's dying. Right now.