Jinshi
was receiving a letter in his office.
It was neither a wooden tablet nor paper. It was parchment sealed with beeswax. Different regions had different customs for sending correspondence, but this style was more common in the West.
"From the Western Capital?"
From the other side of the partition,
Gaoshun
was peering in.
"That's right.
It's from Lord
Gyokuo."
"......
Lord Gyoen's
eldest son, was it?"
"Yes."
In other words, he was
Gyokuyou
's older brother. Given the considerable age gap between them, they were probably half-siblings. And Jinshi recalled that the man hadn't much resembled the gentle Lord Gyoen.
"What does it say?"
Even though only Jinshi and Gaoshun were in the room, it was rather impolite to ask about the letter's contents so directly. Gaoshun surely knew that, but asked anyway.
"He wants to put a daughter into the rear palace. He'd been hinting at it for some time, but now he's come right out with it."
"Does Lord Gyoen know about this?"
Putting a daughter into the rear palace. Any high-ranking official might do it, but the emperor's official wife was already Gyokuyou. Was he trying to deepen the ties further?
Or was he suggesting that, if fortune favored him, he'd rather be the Crown Prince's grandfather than his uncle?
Gyokuyou would surely have mixed feelings about it.
"Lord Gyokuen is not what he seems. He may be fully aware of it, and simply choosing to let things lie."
It would be easy to be taken in by his genial old-man appearance, but he was a man who had risen to become the Emperor's father-in-law.
"It was seventeen years ago, wasn't it, that the Xu clan disappeared?"
The Western Capital had become the most important region in Rei. Previously known as Xu Western Province, the Xu clan—from which the region took its name—had been annihilated by the former Empress Dowager. It was officially treated as a case of suspected treason, but Jinshi had been only four years old at the time. He couldn't possibly remember it.
"Ah, yes. After that, Lord Gyokuen's influence grew considerably."
Gyokuen was currently staying in the Central Capital. There was no sign of him returning anytime soon. That meant it was only natural for him to take up an important position in the central government.
When Gyokuen had come to the Central Capital, one of the conditions had been to send personnel from the capital to support his son.
The military officer who had been attached to the eccentric strategist—
Rikuson.
That was him.
Gyokuen had specifically requested that this man be sent to support his son, who was still unaccustomed to politics.
Normally, this would have been strange. Rikuson was indeed a military officer, but he excelled at administrative work. He had been handling all manner of tasks in place of the eccentric strategist, who hated desk work.
But there should have been better candidates available.
Or was it that they wanted to separate him from the eccentric strategist?
"Baryou, do you know about a man named Rikuson?"
"...He was Lord Rakan's adjutant, wasn't he?"
Just a moment's thought, and he hit the right answer. He was no good at building personal relationships, but he had a firm grasp of positions and names.
"I heard that since Lord Rakan has trouble remembering people, he recruited Rikuson because he heard the man was good at remembering faces. He was a civil official before that."
"A civil official—that suits him better."
He was a fine-featured man. He looked better carrying books than a sword or staff.
"You might want to ask my sister for more details."
"
Mami,
huh. So that's your source of information."
I see. It made sense that Mami would be well-informed.
"Yes. My sister talks quite a lot with my wife, so..."
"...Wife. Come to think of it, you were married, weren't you?"
It had been
Gaoshun
who'd mentioned that a grandchild was born — so that had been Maro's child. He had a face like a green gourd, looking like he'd faint at the mere touch of any
woman
outside his family. — And with a strange sense of defeat, Jinshi looked at Maro.
"Mind if I ask?"
"What is it?"
"How did you two meet?"
Jinshi swallowed without realizing it. It was purely idle curiosity.
"...Sister Mami and Mother conspired together. They compared Maiken and me, then chose the method that would most reliably produce an heir."
"..."
The Ma brothers were polar opposites. Compared to Maiken with his unusual constitution, perhaps Maro with his frail body was actually the better choice.
"They told me to hurry up and produce children since they didn't know how long I'd live. It took priority over the civil service exam."
Having heard that he'd passed the exam the year before last, Jinshi figured that chronologically, Maro must have had the child first and then sat for the exam.
"...What kind of wife — no, I think I heard something about that before."
He'd been too busy and had forgotten, but he'd caught wind of it at some point.
"She is
Mi
— someone who carries the blood of the Mi clan."
That was an understandable answer. While the Ma clan served primarily as guards to the imperial family, the Mi clan was an intelligence agency directly under the imperial family.
The Ma and Mi clans protected the imperial family from the front and from the shadows. To strengthen their bond, they would sometimes arrange political marriages between their children.
"Rough life. For you too."
"Not at all. In terms of appearance and position, no one has it more complicated than you, Lord Jinshi. Besides, my sister told me that at night, all I need to do is lie there quietly and my wife will handle the rest."
"……"
On top of casually saying something rude to Jinshi, she'd also stumbled into territory best left unexplored.
If everyone could accept political marriages with such nonchalance, the world would be a much simpler place.
While he was grumbling inwardly, footsteps echoed from the hallway. The corridor in front of Jinshi's office was deliberately designed to carry sound.
"It sounds like my sister has just returned, so please direct the rest of your questions to her."
The footsteps were feminine. Jinshi had been keeping the court ladies at a distance to minimize complications, so it was naturally Asami.
"Understood."
As expected, Asami returned just as the knock sounded at the door. She carried documents in one hand and a tea set in the other.
"I'm back—what's going on with you two?"
Asami tilted her head, looking back and forth between Jinshi and Ma Liang, who were staring at her.
"Do you know anything about a man named Rikuson? He was formerly adjutant to Lord Rakan and is currently in the western capital."
At last, the conversation returned on track.
"Rikuson? Let me think. Everything I know is hearsay, mind you."
Asami set down the documents and began preparing tea with the set she'd brought, speaking as she worked.
"Before serving directly under Lord Rakan, he apparently worked as a civil official. But he didn't pass the imperial examinations—he got in through connections. Something about his family running a merchant business."
"Whose connections?"
"I'm not sure about that far. Would you like me to look into it right away?"
"There's no particular rush."
Still, something about it had nagged at him. That should have been all there was to it, but—
The perceptive Asami placed tea and sweets before Jinshi, then briskly began writing a letter. She was no doubt checking into Rikuson right away. Once she finished, she quickly dried the ink and tucked the letter away.
"That's the last of today's documents."
"Understood."
The volume had decreased significantly from before. It would be perfectly fine to take a break here.
"Things have gotten much easier, but it looks like it's going to get busy again soon."
Asami let out a soft sigh. Her gaze rested on the sheepskin letter Jinshi had been reading moments earlier.
"Are you serious? Going all the way to the Western Capital?"
"It's probably necessary. Lady Gyokuyou has been worried about the state of the Western Capital. His Majesty has also been concerned."
More than anything, the region was close to the desert frontier. He wanted to see the situation firsthand.
"Surely there's no need for Lord Jinshi to go there personally?"
Basen had said the same thing. He was off training with the other military officers today, so he wasn't around — he'd have been even more vocal about it if he were.
As far as the role went, it didn't have to be Jinshi. But he was the one who had been keeping tabs on western affairs since last year while also putting together countermeasures against the locust plague. Some of the other officials had even laughed off the measures Jinshi proposed, calling them unnecessary worrying.
Sending some high-ranking official out west on a sightseeing trip would accomplish nothing.
Besides, their enemies weren't limited to foreign nations and natural disasters.
"What if your life were targeted in that faraway western land?"
That was probably the greatest concern on Asami's mind.
"That's exactly why I'm planning to bring along elite medical and military officers."
"
Liu
You were planning to tell Doctor Liu to bring along more capable medical officers, weren't you? But what about the military officers?"
"As for the military officers..."
Jinshi raked his fingers through his hair. Asami looked on with an expression that practically scolded him for being so untidy.
After much deliberation, Jinshi had arrived at his answer.
"I'm thinking of having Lord Rahan come along."
"Excuse me?!"
Asami's face contorted into something almost inconceivable. Even for her, it was rare to make such an undisguised expression of distaste.
"What are you thinking? He'll go on a rampage! That would be a huge problem!"
"I know. I know."
"Seriously, who's going to keep him under control?
Rahan
There's no way anyone could manage Lord Rahan. Well, speaking of medical officers..."
"Lu..."
"There's Master Luomen, but..."
As expected of Asami. She understands.
"Lord Luomen won't work. At his age, a long journey would be too much on him. Besides, his leg is bad. Even if he were available, it would only be as a last resort."
"Then who... wait, surely not—"
She's sharp enough that explanation isn't necessary. With Rohan and Luomen ruled out, the options were limited.
"...Could it be Maomao?"
Asami said, her face twitching.
Jinshi let out a wry smile and looked away from Asami.