There were seven people captured in total. Among them, three were maids of Consort Risu.
The three maids had served Consort Risu since the days they first entered the inner palace. And even those who hadn't been present this time were also being kept under watch, just to be safe.
The only person still at Consort Risu's side was the head maid who had been with her all along.
Bashen clenched his fist tight.
Despite being a high-ranking consort, Consort Risu had only one subordinate she could truly trust.
And the fact that this person had been aiding the intruders was an indisputable truth.
The consort, trembling, stared at the captured maids.
"Well, it seems the man was what they really needed after all, wouldn't you say?"
Li Bai, who had settled the matter without so much as a scratch, returned the medicine Bashen had given him earlier.
"That girl probably made this, huh? Looks like it's got painkiller mixed in too."
The wound on his self-inflicted hand was wrapped in gauze.
Bashen scooped up the remaining medicine with his fingertip and was about to apply it to the wound on his cheek, but stopped.
He recalled the sensation of the handkerchief touching his cheek from earlier, and it felt as though that feeling was fading away.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Bashen wiped the medicine from his fingertip onto a sheet of paper, then tucked the medicine back into his robe.
Then he looked at the captured men.
"What were they after?"
Bashen fixed Li Bai with a sharp stare.
"Do I really have to spell it out?"
"It's too late to try hiding anything now."
"Fair enough."
With that, Li Bai pointed toward the luggage cart the intruders had been after.
"Just a quick peek. If you look without making a sound—can you really come back without doing anything?"
"..."
"Should I put this in?"
When told that in an emphasized tone, he could only nod.
In front of the luggage cart, he could see what appeared to be the maid who had fallen earlier. Her limbs were wrapped in bandages, looking painful as if she had been slashed, but it seemed her life wasn't in danger. He gave a slight bow to Ma Tan.
What on earth was going on here?
He peered inside the carriage.
There was another curtain drawn inside, so he pushed it aside to look further in.
There was something like a cage.
A large one that could hold beasts, and beneath it, there was a mat that looked like animal fur.
A mat for a cage—the impression was somewhat mismatched. What kind of beast was in there?
Then.
"Oh? Are you going to save me?"
A woman's voice was heard.
It was languid, fragile, something that provoked a desire to protect.
He saw snow-white threads. They were spread inside the cage.
In the darkness, two red lights, like demon lanterns, glowed.
"It's a little cramped in here. Could you take me somewhere more spacious?"
Looking at the light that seemed to pull him in, Ma Tan closed the curtain.
"Is that it?"
Ma Tan felt a complex emotion.
There was a young woman, locked inside a cage like a beast.
If this were the usual Ma Tan, it would be a scene that would infuriate him.
However.
There was a reason for this inhumane act.
The reason why Risu was deliberately heading to the detached palace, the strange guard deployment, the bandits' objective—it was all there.
"Lady Hakunyannyan"
There was a woman who had set the capital abuzz.
"Thank you once again for your assistance."
The one offering her thanks once more was not Princess Risu, but the attendant who had delivered the message.
The princess draped a veil over her face and quietly passed through the gates of the detached palace.
A flower of the inner court did not so easily bare her face to the eyes of strange men.
For a detached palace, the structure was modest, and the servants who came to greet them were equally plain in appearance.
By contrast, the guards posted around the palace were formidable, and Ma'en spotted several familiar military officers among them.
Being assigned to guard the princess in a place like this might be seen by outsiders as a form of demotion. Yet not a single dissatisfied expression could be seen on their faces.
Right—this assignment to guard the princess was only a cover. They had been given a far more significant role.
Watching the princess's figure grow smaller as she walked away, he felt an urge to dash forward and stop her.
Just as his hand began to reach out on its own, a light weight landed on his shoulder.
"You mustn't sympathize. It's an order that's come down from above."
"What are you talking about?"
Ma'en lowered his raised hand and pretended not to understand.
"You heard it from Lord Jinshi himself. Your skills are beyond reproach, but you tend to get a little emotional."
"...Am I really that unreliable?"
A petty jealousy took root—that Lord Jinshi, whom Ma'en had served since childhood, placed more trust in this man.
"It's not that you're unreliable or anything like that. It's really about the right person for the right job, you know? In situations like this, the fact that I'm technically senior to you counts for something, so just take it that way."
His manner of speaking was casual, but there was nothing unpleasant about the man called Li Bai.
He had a far more flexible mind than Ma'en, who was known as a rigid stickler.
"That princess—apparently she's entering this palace for some kind of ritual ceremony, and there's no telling when she'll return."
"...The ritual is just a pretense, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'd say a nunnery would be a more fitting description for the place."
That was the reason they had also brought Lady Hakunyannyan along with the princess.
The thought that their two daughters were being confined to the same place simply because they'd be a bother in the capital filled him with indignation—imperial decree or not.
"This can't be right…"
"…"
Rihaku stared at Bansen in silence, watching him intently.
He seemed to want to say something, judging by his expression.
"What is it?"
"Well, ahem, I was wondering whether I should bring this up…"
"Spit it out."
Rihaku groaned, looked up at the sky, then exhaled as if giving up.
"That consort—she apparently proposed this whole arrangement herself."
"…What do you mean?"
Weren't they keeping her at the detached palace until the scandal died down, under suspicion of infidelity?
Rihaku leaned against the outer wall of the palace and folded his arms.
"Hard to say exactly, but word is the atmosphere in the Inner Court never suited her. She'd apparently noticed that rather unsavory attendants had gathered around her, and this move under the pretext of a ceremonial event was, in a sense, like a self-imposed exile."
"Self-imposed exile…"
She was Lady Risu, a former consort of the late Emperor who had once already renounced the world.
"For a second renunciation, they say His Majesty was concerned she'd never be able to leave again."
Indeed, he had heard that His Majesty doted on Lady Risu like a daughter. That was presumably why the marriage talks involving Lord of the Moon had come up in the first place.
"There were apparently talks of bestowing her a grace gift as well, but at this rate those may have fallen through. The卯 clan would normally never stay quiet about something like that, but they've been remarkably subdued lately."
The fuss raised by Lady Risu's half-sister had left the卯 clan unable to make any bold demands.
There was no particular need to keep Lady Risu in her rank as a senior consort. Especially if the lady herself didn't wish for it.
"So you're saying the consort chose the path of renouncing the world on her own."
"As an aside, she was also fully aware it would serve as cover for transporting Lady Hakunyannyan."
"…Why, of all things?"
Even as he listened, Bansen had already half-guessed the answer.
Was it for his father? For the sake of the family?
There had been a risk of danger. And in truth, that risk had materialized.
Had the maids betrayed her because they resented being tasked with escorting her to a nun's life?
No—she had been ambushed by bandits before, too.
What if the maids had been the ones guiding those bandits as well?
Perhaps, from Risu's own perspective, the best course of action had been to leave the Inner Palace entirely.
Whether that was truly the right answer, he did not know.
From now on, Risu might never be allowed outside this somber estate again.
Basen felt a crushing weight settle over him. When he came back to himself, his fingertips had stopped just shy of touching the wound on his cheek.
"Why do you know so much about these behind-the-scenes dealings? Did His Excellency Jinshi tell you about this too?"
"No. It's because my usual post is near the strategist's quarters."
Li Bai said this with an oddly exasperated expression.
That eccentric strategist, fond of gossip, would show up wherever someone was drinking fruit water just to pry into rumors and pester them.
Come to think of it, the security arrangement for this mission had been the eccentric strategist's doing as well.
"Well, with that, our job here is done. Surely that'll be fine?"
"Done, huh..."
Basen thought about the consort on the other side of the wall—what she must be going through right now.
Seeing his expression, Li Bai managed a wry smile.
"If the other party were a courtesan, you'd stack up the gold. You wouldn't haggle—you'd pay every coin she's worth. That much you could do, at least."
"What does a courtesan have to do with this?"
"To you she may be just a courtesan, but to me she's the woman I love most."
Li Bai went on.
"For me, money is the means to win the woman I desire. But for you, what is it?"
"..."
"It's not as though the person you bestow your favor upon is decided to be just one, is it?"
There was something almost needling in her tone, and Maо made him feel uneasy.
"I-I have no such feelings toward the consort. Besides, why would the consort think of someone like me—"
"If she doesn't, then there's no issue, is there? It's just that the consort will be spending the rest of her life here in this detached palace as a nun."
Li Bai scratched the tip of her nose.
"A man who earns achievements on her behalf and comes to take her away — now, isn't that just impossibly dashing?"
She flashed a sly, teasing grin, and he clenched his fist instinctively.
At the same time as wanting to throw that punch, he suddenly craved a drink or two.
His heart was pounding.
Before he realized it, Maо was standing at the front gate.
Risu's figure was already gone.
He took a deep breath.
"Thank you for the handkerchief!! Thank you!!"
The guards were startled.
Even the officers he knew well were taken aback.
It was genuinely embarrassing — completely unlike him.
But he felt he had to say something, anything.
He couldn't manage the sort of smooth, suave words that came naturally to others.
He couldn't think of the gentle words that would make women happy.
He could only press forward, honestly and straight on.
That was just how clumsy he was.
Face blazing red, Maо turned his back.
His work here was done.
With trusted guards stationed at this place, anything that happened from now on would be all right.
The only thing Maо could do was interrogate the captured traitors and ruffians.
He would uncover what their objectives had been, and put the consort living in this detached palace at ease.
Therefore, Ma Shan needed to return to the capital quickly.