The red
carpet
stretched straight ahead. At its far end stood the throne—the seat where the reigning Emperor held court.
By rights,
Jinshi
should have delivered his report the moment he returned, but the Emperor—who was also his full-blooded elder brother—had shown him the courtesy of postponing it until the following day. Moreover, the appointment after noon was less about allowing him to rest and more a consideration for the other person who would be giving the report.
The Emperor sat upon the throne. During his days as Crown Prince, he had been called "His Highness the Sun" and "His Highness the Day." It was largely in contrast to this that Jinshi had come to be called "His Highness the Moon." He was the only person in the entire country who could address Jinshi by his true name.
A year had passed, yet the Emperor did not appear to have changed much. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but a few white strands had crept into his hair. The fact that he made no effort to hide them was the Emperor's way of declaring he would do as he pleased.
Flanking the Emperor on both sides stood the senior ministers. Where once
Shisou
had stood,
Gyokuen
now held his place.
"
Kazeizuki
requests an audience."
He bowed his head slowly.
The only person Jinshi could greet by his true name was, once again, the Emperor.
Behind Jinshi stood
Rakan
and several other high-ranking ministers.
Bansen
was also among them, though Rakan was no doubt watching him with hawk-like eyes, ready to step in should he cause trouble.
The written report had already been delivered to the Emperor. Now Jinshi would give only a verbal summary of the past year's events in Xuxi Province.
The expression on Gyoen's face, glimpsed in that brief moment, remained unchanged—but he must have had his thoughts about his son's death.
"You've worked hard."
It was the low, familiar voice. Normally, Jinshi would be summoned at night, where they'd share drinks and appetizers while chatting—but how about now?
He had planned to finish his report as briefly as possible and slip out before Rakan, standing behind him, caused some incident. The past year had been eventful, but a verbal report would wrap it up in just a few lines. He intended to deliver it flatly and leave if there was nothing further—but—
"Ah yes, Zui."
Just as the report was wrapping up, the Emperor addressed him.
"Why don't you come with me to the Rear Palace for the first time in a while?"
It was a preposterous invitation. The senior officials around them began to murmur.
That Jinshi entered the Rear Palace as a eunuch was common knowledge, but it wasn't official. He felt as though a bold prank had been played on him.
The correct response here would be "You must be joking," but from someone who had maintained that charade for six years, it was difficult to answer.
"I'm joking. You must still be tired. Take it easy and rest until tomorrow."
The Emperor didn't wait for Jinshi's response.
Jinshi felt relieved, but at the same time, the Emperor proved once again that he was not someone to be taken lightly.
Rakan, who had been standing behind, hadn't dozed off at all, and left looking pleased that the boring wait for him had ended swiftly.
"Take your time, then."
Once the greetings to His Majesty were finished, he would need to visit his mother, the Empress Dowager, and then the Crown Prince and Empress Gyokuyou.
After that, he should have some free time. He'd taken care of all the paperwork during the ship journey, so the few days before his return should be relaxing.
"Lord of the Moon, shall we return to your chambers?"
"Not until I've finished paying my respects to the Empress Dowager and the others. But there's something I'd like to ask of you."
"What might that be?"
"Could you have"
"Maomao"
"summoned for me?"
Jinshi said this with a slight blush. Rakan had long since disappeared from sight, and he had confirmed he was out of earshot before speaking.
"That girl... you mean?"
Basen
tilted his head.
"What? Is something wrong?"
Basen was rather dense when it came to these things, so Jinshi could understand his hesitation about calling for Maomao. But for the sake of things to come, he would need to get used to it.
"No, the court physicians begin work today, so I imagine that girl is starting as well. Shall I summon her right away?"
"......No, never mind. Let's not."
Right, of course — Jinshi thought to himself. He had been told directly by His Majesty to rest, so he could. But the same wasn't true for everyone else. He'd considered calling for her after work, but what would it look like to summon someone on their very first day back?
She couldn't refuse him since he was her superior, but she'd surely glare at him with resentful eyes, thinking "What the hell do you want?" That wasn't entirely unpleasant, but putting his desires so openly on display was a bit embarrassing.
"Hmm. Then,
Amami —
could we call her?"
"If it's my sister, there shouldn't be any problem."
Amami, Basen's elder sister, had remained in the central capital. A woman of her caliber, she should be able to fill him in on everything that had happened during the year he was away.
Both the Empress Dowager and Empress Gyokuyou appeared unchanged despite the year that had passed. The two of them seemed to have something they wanted to say to Jinshi, but they were reserved, perhaps because it had been so long since they last met.
The only thing that saddened him was that
Lingli,
the princess he had doted on during his Rear Palace days, had completely forgotten about Jinshi. Even making allowances for the shyness typical of her age, it was quite a shock.
When he returned to the palace,
Shuiren
was cleaning. Not just a quick tidy-up — it was a full-blown deep clean.
"Shuiren, it's great that you're so enthusiastic, but you must be tired from the journey. Take it easy."
The palace was already thoroughly maintained to begin with. Going out of his way to scrub it all over again — wasn't that what you'd call pointless meddlesome behavior?
"I'd love to take it easy, but... there are just so many of these."
Shuiren said with a bright face, holding out suspicious-looking
slips of paper.
Dolls, and then ropes woven from hair, and the like.
"..."
"You may have forgotten, my lord, but once you look away, there's no telling what a girl in love might do."
"No, no, no."
"There's also the usual underwear with hair sewn into it — would you like to wear it?"
"Throw it away."
"Very well."
Suiren ruthlessly tossed them into the dustbin.
The cursed talismans and dolls might include some that were aimed at cursing Jinshi for reasons beyond romance. But he had no intention of investigating each one — those petty individuals who could only attack through roundabout methods like curses were unlikely to surface. Jinshi could take such a detached view precisely because he clearly believed curses were nothing but superstition.
"Is Mami here?"
"Yes. I have her helping in the back room."
Mami was a formidable woman in her own right, but no match for Suiren.
In the sitting room, Mami was tossing suspicious-looking dolls into the dustbin just as Suiren had been.
"It's been a while, Lord of the Moon. Please rest assured — we'll perform a proper burning ceremony for these later."
She reminded him of
Tomomi,
the woman he had grown accustomed to seeing in the Western Capital — only with her age cut in half.
"Right then — could you fill me in on everything that's happened over the past year?"
"Yes. I'll start with matters related to Lord of the Moon."
Without pausing her work, Mami began to speak.
The daughter of
Gyokuou,
who had come from the Western Capital, would soon
become one of Gyokuyou's
personal attendants.
Additionally, there were voices calling for something to be done about Jinshi's consort.
Rifa
Factions were making moves to install the consort's son as Crown Prince.
"Anything else...?"
Amami hesitated slightly.
"Is there something else?"
"Just rumors."
"Out with it."
Jinshi sat in his chair and drank the tea that Suiren had prepared at some point without him noticing.
"The shortage of male members of the imperial family is a problem at the moment. His Majesty has two sons, and Lord Tsuki is unmarried. So there are those who seek contact with the few remaining male royals, so to speak."
"Well, that's understandable. I believe the previous-previous Emperor had a much younger half-brother."
In other words, the late Emperor's uncle. I heard that during the Empress regnant's era, he had feared incurring her wrath and become a monk.
"Yes. He has one son."
Being of the male line, he had succession rights. Jinshi had heard he visited on several occasions.
"Are they plotting a rebellion or something?"
"Their stance hasn't changed from before. However, separately from that, there are rumors of another male-line imperial family member."
"A male-line imperial family member?"
Jinshi tilted his head.
"How many generations back are we talking?"
"Perhaps three generations back. There was apparently someone who was once a member of the imperial family but incurred the wrath of the emperor of that time."
"Hmm."
"That person was stripped of their imperial status before being executed, but apparently had fathered a child with a commoner girl beforehand."
"That's quite the fairy tale."
"Yes. It's complete nonsense, but since the topic came up, I figured I'd share."
That was Amami's idea of a joke. There were plenty of similar stories to be heard. Among courtesans, there were even those who claimed to be fallen royalty, calling themselves "Hana" and plying their trade on that basis.
"There's still plenty more to discuss, but what would you like to do?"
"I'm hungry. Would it be alright to eat while listening?"
"Very well."
It seemed Amami had found yet another
cushion
embroidered with hair, and she tossed it into the dustbin.
Jinshi thought it might be faster to just have the whole palace replace them, but he pictured Maomao scowling at the waste and decided not to say anything out loud.