It was around the time new buds were beginning to reach out from the bare branches that a messenger with a solemn expression arrived.
(Another troublesome affair, I expect?)
As Maomao listlessly went to receive the visitor, she realized this was not from her usual beautiful noble. Well, it was certainly a beautiful noble — but not that one.
"Is this
Lady Ada
, perhaps?"
The message was from the former Senior Consort.
Wondering what it could be about, she was jostled along in a carriage, only to find that instead of arriving at Ada's detached palace, they had reached the Outer Court — specifically, a palace positioned at the boundary of the Inner Court, which encompasses the Rear Palace.
Wondering what on earth she was being asked to do, Maomao sat in her chair and dangled her legs like a small child.
In the spacious room, a military officer stood at the entrance. At least, she took him for a military officer, but she had seen that official within the Rear Palace before. In other words, he was a eunuch.
(Why a eunuch?)
Outside the Rear Palace, it would be perfectly normal to use actual military officers.
That question was promptly answered.
"I've kept you waiting."
In a tone as gruff as any man's, the person who strode into the room was Ada. She wore a Hu-style robe, tall and lean. And half-hidden behind her, a small shadow could be seen.
"Lady Ada, and..."
There was a tear-streaked
Risu
— Princess Risu was there.
"This time is an exception. I've borrowed a flower from the Rear Palace for a little while."
Ada declared with the poised bearing of a stage actor.
And so it was that Maomao, having received special permission to accompany Princess Risu outside, found herself at Ada's detached palace.
At the four-sided pavilion,
the atmosphere of a formal tea gathering made Maomao feel ill at ease.
(This smell is rose tea.)
It was tea brewed from rose berries, with a sweet-and-sour fragrance and flavor. Though it was called "rose tea," its red color didn't come from roses—it actually came from a red flower native to southern lands. It was said to have complexion-enhancing properties and health benefits, but since the flower was so rare, it was something Maomao could only drink within the rear palace.
(They seem to like the
young ladies
quite a bit, don't they?)
As always, she found herself wondering if they might share some with her later.
However, even such a luxury felt a little out of place in this setting.
"Hey, that's mine—"
"I don't care! I grabbed it first, so it's mine—"
The children giggling around them were kids who lived in the detached palace. Unlike the remnants of the Son clan, the eccentric master of the detached palace had apparently taken in orphans. None of the Son clan's children were in sight, and
Suirei
wasn't there either, though she was probably somewhere else. Risu didn't know about her, but it was just as well they didn't cross paths.
So, even the high-quality tea was being treated as little more than
tablecloth
paint. Powder from the baked sweets on plates had already made a mess of the table.
Since the children were grabbing sweets with muddy hands, the well-bred Risu was completely put off, while Ada wore a slightly troubled expression as she tried to gently admonish them.
(Should I just punch some sense into them?)
Unfortunately, though Ada was skilled at dressing in men's clothing, she had a gentle heart—and even if Maomao tried to knock some discipline into them with her iron fists, Ada would never go along with it.
Even more out of place in this scene than Maomao, who disliked children, was Risu. Surrounded by children smaller than herself, she trembled like a little animal.
"Now, now, go play over there."
At last, Ada spoke up, and the maids pulled the children away by the hand.
Ada and Risu—these two had known each other for quite some time.
But then, why had Ada brought Risu out of the rear palace like this, and called for Maomao as well?
The reason, you ask.
"I heard you once held a classroom session in the rear palace—would you be willing to do it again this time, for this child's sake?"
"Huh?"
While Maomao answered in a dazed manner, Risu alone was still trembling like a baby mouse.
Risu was sixteen by traditional count this year—the age at which, whether or not the Emperor's interest was piqued, she still had to be made his consort.
Of the four high-ranking consorts, Loulan was gone, and Gyokuyou—no, the Empress—and Rifa had each just borne a prince. Whatever else might happen, Risu would have to share the Emperor's bed, and the Emperor's position would be rather awkward.
Whether he had any desire for her or not.
Hmm, Maomao nodded. Knowing Ada, she had surely gotten the Emperor's permission first. That was less about her being a former high-ranking consort and more about thinking of Risu.
However, Maomao had the feeling that, at the same time, this was only creating unnecessary complications.
In Risu's trembling eyes, alongside her fear, there was a sorrow tinged with regret.
Unfortunately, Ada had not noticed this.
(Oh dear, this is...)
Maomao wasn't one to talk about others, but Ada was just that sort of person. Her abilities as a human being were probably skewed in their allocation, making her someone who couldn't notice emotions where she really ought to.
And so, what Maomao—who was watching the whole thing calmly as a third party—said first was...
"Then, would you mind letting me speak with Risu alone?"
At the sound of Maomao's voice, Risu shuddered, while Ada nodded along with an "mm-hmm," clearly thinking this meant she was being helpful.
After Ada left, Maomao sighed and looked at Risu.
Risu's eyes were clouded over with gloom.
"The other consorts have already borne children. I have to bear one too."
Maomao murmured.
"The position of Empress—that can't be helped. What matters now, above all else, is producing a son as quickly as possible."
Children were fragile. No one knew when they might die.
"So have one quickly. Why do you think you were brought into the rear palace?"
Perhaps she didn't want to hear Maomao's words, because Risu had her ears covered. But she had surely heard them all the same.
It wasn't exactly rare for a virgin to be afraid of men. Maomao, having spent years at an establishment that traded on precisely that sort of added value, understood this well. Girls sold off to the pleasure quarters before they even came of age, disciplined through harsh training, given nothing but sweet baby talk and mush in place of real meals, then put to work taking customers. A courtesan who took her first customer was treated to fine meat dishes the next day. Even a penny-pinching madam had that much kindness in her.
As a partner, he was beyond reproach. There was an age gap, to be sure, but he was the Emperor—a magnificent man with a fine beard. He was perhaps a bit too energetic in the bedroom, but he surely wouldn't go so far as to be truly rough.
But in Risu's fear of her first night with the Emperor, Maomao could see something beyond just the tedious reasons of a sheltered virgin.
How many people have noticed?
The Emperor had likely noticed as well. That was precisely why he had been putting it off for so long.
And then there was one more important person who hadn't noticed at all and was currently in the thick of being nosy.
Maomao settled into her chair and took a sip of tea that had long gone cold.
"If Ada is like a mother, then would His Majesty be something like a father?"
It was a remark that could be taken as disrespectful, but there was no one here besides Maomao and Risu.
Risu's mother had passed away long ago, Maomao had heard. Her father had seen his daughter as nothing more than a political tool, sending her into the rear palace at a young age.
Back then, Ada—then the Crown Prince's consort—must have been an emotional anchor for young Risu.
Risu's mouth and brows twisted, and she looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment. Even so, she managed to sniffle and look at Maomao.
"...I was never... supposed to come back to the rear palace again."
Risu's words came out in halting fragments.
After the previous Emperor had passed away and the daughter had been sent to a nunnery, her father had tried to use her once more. Originally, she was to be sent off as the wife of a provincial governor in the south, but the man in question was old enough to be her grandfather—and though he had no official wife, he kept ten concubines and was by all accounts a lecher.
Risu belonged to the Usu clan, a family that had received its name from the imperial bloodline. However, ever since the era of the Empress, merit-based advancement had taken hold and the power of a distinguished name had weakened considerably. Thus, the collective will of the declining clan was to claw their way back to prominence by any means necessary.
"It was Ada and His Majesty who stopped that from happening."
Ada, having caught wind of Risu's betrothal, had reportedly gone to the Emperor with a plea. Thinking back on it now, that too may well have been a calculated move. The betrothal was nearly official, and overturning it at that point would have required a commensurate reason.
(No wonder.)
Compared to the other high-ranking consorts, Risu fell short. When Maomao said she fell short, she didn't mean in appearance. She meant that Risu lacked the intelligence and the backbone expected of a high-ranking consort.
A young girl who could either become the bride of some decrepit old man somewhere, or—by becoming the flower of the rear palace—secure even a few years of peace.
Ada's choice had surely been the latter.
"Back when I was little, I was so attached to His Majesty that I used to sit on his lap."
"Oh my."
That might have been fine when they were children, but if it happened now, this flea-hearted girl would probably stop breathing on the spot.
Hmm. Age-gap marriages were hardly uncommon in this world. When the woman was older that was one thing, but when the man was older it was barely worth a second glance. There were even times when you might ask a man carrying a child on his back, "Is that your daughter?" only to hear him reply, "No, that's my wife."
In that sense, Ada had apparently believed that given a few years, Risu would grow into an adult. As Maomao had mentioned before, being one of the wives of the man at the apex of the nation meant the treatment would be anything but poor.
(Oh, this is a mess.)
Ada's calculations were off.
Risu was still a child. And the reason she wanted to remain a child was because of Ada.
Though Ada was no longer a high-ranking consort, in Risu's eyes, she was still the person who stood beside the Emperor.
"I understand it's hard to accept, but this is your duty."
Everyone in the inner palace received a salary. The consorts were no exception.
"......"
However, Risu clutched her garment tightly, her eyes glistening with tears.
Maomao couldn't help but think that the Emperor must have it rough dealing with a consort like this. Though perhaps not to the same extent as Risu, the Emperor who kept putting off his nightly visits was probably feeling the same way.
If only Ada had noticed those feelings...
(Oh dear.)
What should she do? Maomao held her head in her hands.