"Spread the word! Come over, come celebrate my marriage!"

-----

Xinyan's marriage ceremony with her groom, Muchen. An elegant union of two souls of harmonious classes. A day of lively music, celebration, and attention. Music streams from guqins, dancers leap with grace as trails of ribbons follow them like shadows. The air was calm, food of all types waved through with the wind. A once in a lifetime flawless event, with a once in a lifetime impeccable matching! It just went to show that matchmakers were never mistaken. For the most part, anyway.

They played with obvious bias, but the legitimacy of their prejudice could not ever be considered, for their services brought pleasure to those who basked in it. Those displeased wallowed in their own silent despair.

And there was much basking. And much wallowing on this day in the muds of their own mistreatment.

A day of union became more like a day of displacement. It wasn't that Xinyan didn't belong in such a grand celebration, it was that she never belonged in the first place. Sure, the event was hosted by her for her, but once you've been drowned out countlessly, there was a time to call a loss. And what better way than to make it seem like she accepted it?

Muchen was a fine man of an elegant background. Wealthy, handsome, and he had many connections. A lot.

Xinyan was of the same kind of fancy background, yet their interactions were limited. The marriage matching came as a surprise and her parents considered a miracle. But behind closed doors, Muchen's words were sour and his intentions were questionable at best. His two faces were a contrast of each other. The act versus the actuality was stark to those who did not witness it. And because he was so influential, the people outside did not care for the dramatics of women.

So, why not just use it to her advantage? If she couldn't persuade them, maybe there was a better way.

This day and age, elements were rarely researched and much was unknown. But, Xinyan wasn't stupid. Cheap, effective, easy. The thirty-third element of the modern periodic table.

Arsenic wasn't a rare thing to come by. In fact, it was common enough to just buy without any worry of suspicion or watch. Disguise it in some odd looking tea, it's practically invisible. Except for her, obviously. She had no time for diarrhea or vomitting on her schedule. Although, everyone else had to make room for it one way or another.

Workers hovers over esteemed ladies, offering up their unsuspecting tea pot to pour into their fine cups. Xinyan watched from a distance, slowly sipping on the benign tea from a different pot she had brewed earlier that day. She couldn't have given up drinking entirely, for the suspicion it would raise woulde tremendous; especially because she was the center of attention.

Noise filled the bustling gala, young children chased after each other with makeshift kites as the skies lifted them up to the clouds. It was the picture perfect day for a picture perfect couple. Soon enough, the activites of the day concluded without a hitch in the plan.

Xinyan could only wait. Her newly wed husband wasn't around, yet the rules were written in steel. Don't talk back. Be proper. Stay clean. Be a lady.

It wouldn't be long until she could finally let go of those. Let herself be free of him, for his tyranny was already overbearing over the short time they were together. It also wasn't long until attendants were dropping like flies. First was the mother in law, dead by next night. Looked and seemed quite sick, although nobody could properly pinpoint the cause. Ruled as a sickness. Maybe one no one's ever heard of before.

Or, another bout of arsenic poisoning, only known by Xinyan.

Not too long afterwards, practically everyone was sick. Xinyan had left earlier that day to a land unknown. Obviously now, her patience had been running low.

(can u tell when i ran out of ideas)