The story rewinds to several days before Maomao's visit to Jinshi.
Ada
At his palace, the gleeful voices of children rang out. Servants chased after the children as they ran wild through the spacious estate.
"It's dangerous—wait!"
"No waaay!"
A boy who, while looking elsewhere, stuck his tongue out. Perhaps because he wasn't watching where he was going, he crashed right into Ada, who had been walking ahead.
"Ah, Lord Ada!"
"My sincerest apologies," a servant said, bowing her head.
"Haha, what a lively one. Still, you need to watch where you're going."
Ada pulled the boy to his feet.
"Sorry about that. Hey, Lord Ada—want to play tag?"
The boy looked up at Ada.
"Today won't work. We've got guests coming."
Ada ruffled the boy's head with rough affection. The other children came swarming over, so he ruffled every last one of their heads.
The children at Ada's palace were, in fact, survivors of the Zi clan.
Yue
At Lord Yue's request, Ada was sheltering them.
They still did not know what had happened to their parents. No one had told them. Those with sharper instincts naturally kept their mouths shut, while the younger ones had already forgotten.
"Don't go troubling Lord Ada. Come over here."
A slender young figure approached. Young, certainly, but not a man.
"
Cui
, I'm leaving them to you."
"Understood."
Cuiling
She, too, was a survivor of the children's clan. She was also a grandchild of the late emperor. Since she, too, was someone whose existence could not be officially acknowledged, she remained in Ada's palace.
Cuiling was clever and composed. She also had knowledge of medicine. Ada thought it was a waste, but there was nothing to be done. In order for her to survive, this was the only way.
"Well,
Maomao
is coming to visit—would Cuiling prefer not to meet her?"
"Maomao... I'll pass."
"On the previous journey, you two seemed to get along, though."
"That must have been your imagination."
Cuiling took the children by the hand and walked away.
"And here one of the few people I can actually talk to is coming."
Few people knew of Cuiling's existence. Her existence was not officially recognized.
When the opportunity arose to meet, when there was a chance to talk with someone, she had to take it—otherwise she would be forgotten entirely.
"It's not as though I'll be here forever, though."
Ada scratched the back of his neck and entered the palace.
Maomao arrived right on time.
"Lord Ada. It has been a while."
"It certainly has been a while."
Standing beside Maomao was
Que.
She was said to have been seriously injured in the Western Capital, but she wore the same smile as before.
"Hahaha. Sounds like things were rough out west."
Ada reclined on a long chair and sipped fruit water. He could have prepared wine for Maomao, but this time the subject of conversation was a bit different.
"A lot happened."
"Indeed it did. Would you like to hear Que's story, Lord Ada?"
Suzuzu was away on a strange errand. Maomao seemed curious about it, glancing back and forth between Ada and Suzuzu.
"Lord Ada, what is your relationship with Suzuzu?"
"I told Suzuzu to bring Maomao to me. Does that give you a rough idea?"
Ada picked at the baked sweets on the table. They were made with plenty of milk and smelled quite pleasant.
"So Suzuzu's movements have been out of sync with Prince Moon's."
Maomao exhaled as if this confirmed what she had suspected.
"Then Suzuzu's true master is you, Lord Ada, is that correct?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't need me to spell it out."
Ada turned the plate of baked sweets toward Suzuzu and Maomao. Suzuzu helped himself without any hesitation.
"That's right. Suzuzu serves me."
"Yes."
Suzuzu confirmed with a crumb of baked sweet still at the corner of his mouth.
"On the sovereign's orders, I was told to place Lord Ada's safety above all else."
"But Suzuzu, you always seemed to be serving Prince Moon's—stammering—serving Prince Moon."
"You can call him Jinshi. I call him Moon too."
Maomao stared intently at Ada. Perhaps she was trying to predict what he would say next.
"Lord Ada told me that my job was to make Prince Moon happy."
Suzuzu spoke up.
"That's right."
"......"
Ada thought that even if Maomao was already certain, she was hesitating about saying it aloud. So he went ahead and made it explicit.
Suzuzu, seeing there was nothing more for him to say, took half a step back. He was normally a loud and boisterous sort, but he knew his place. He would not repeat anything he heard in this conversation to anyone.
"Moon is my biological son."
As far as Ada could tell, Maomao showed no surprise. She looked away from Ada, bowed her head slightly, and let out a soft sigh.
"Judging by your reaction, you must have figured out the connection between me and Moon a long time ago."
"I thought there was a possibility."
"You mean — swapping the real imperial prince with my son?"
"...Yes."
It was written all over Maomao's face that even if she had figured it out, she hadn't wanted to know the details firsthand. Ada had occasionally heard bits and pieces about Moon and Maomao from various people, but now she understood why things never progressed between them. Maomao would deflect, every single time.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Oh, no particular reason. I just sensed that something had developed between Moon and Maomao during our time in the western capital, so I asked around."
Maomao immediately shot a glare at Sparrow, who was whistling conspicuously and looking up at the ceiling.
Ada knew exactly the type. Maomao was the sort who despised having information passed around like this. Ada herself had nearly strangled her fair share of palace maids for the same kind of gossip. The trouble was, it became entertaining once it wasn't about you.
Ada shook her head, catching herself. What she wouldn't want done to herself, she must not do to others.
"Moon — though it's strange coming from me — is an extremely troublesome man."
"I understand."
Maomao's gaze drifted into the distance.
"At the same time, he's of age now, so sooner or later he'll be told to take a consort in the palace."
"I can't deny that possibility."
"Do you understand what it means to enter the palace?"
"For what it's worth, I did come from the pleasure district."
Maomao let out a long breath.
"It's not the same as a common man and woman spending a night together. He carries the noblest bloodline in the country."
"...I'm more knowledgeable about methods of contraception than most. I intend to make sure there are no lingering consequences."
Here was a woman who thought practically, no matter the circumstance. Since Moon was Ada's son, he would be considered the child of the current emperor, not the late emperor. Between an imperial prince and the current emperor's firstborn, the political standing was vastly different. The child of an empress who had not yet turned seven, versus the child of a consort who had already come of age. From the empress's side, all they could do was pray that the emperor left Moon alone until he at least came of age.
"If it came to that, wouldn't you intend to hide the child and raise it in secret?"
Even with medicine, things could still happen.
"Wouldn't that cost dozens, even hundreds of lives, easily? If that's the case, it would be far simpler to pierce one woman's belly with a long needle."
"Piercing with a needle — is that a common method of abortion in the pleasure district?"
"Would you prefer drinking mercury, being struck in the abdomen, or perhaps soaking in cold water?"
Maomao understands. She is not the sort of woman who would look at Moon's face and drown in love. She knows that if she accepts his feelings, she must have the resolve to see it through.
That is exactly why Ada feels sorry for her.
"It's more than that. If Maomao accepts Moon's affections, she will never be able to leave this country."
"Most people never leave their country, let alone the land where they were born."
"That's true."
***
A woman's life was decided by her household. The daughters of good families went out the least, and some would spend their entire lives within their estates.
But Ada had always looked toward the distance.
"If I said that someday I wanted to leave the country and broaden my horizons, would you think me naive?"
"No."
Maomao shook her head.
"Faraway lands have many things we don't have here. Not just objects—languages, cultures, medicinal herbs, medicines, and treatments. If the climate differs, the diseases differ too, so it's only natural."
Maomao's tone in the latter half had been unusually fervent. This woman, like Ada, must have harbored a longing for foreign lands.
"Heh. My dream ended when I was fourteen."
Ada remembered what it had been like to be free. She had been raised as the wet nurse's own child, growing up alongside her milk sibling.
"Call me
Yang.
Please."
The younger companion had said that. The reason he was called Moon was that he had stood against the Sun, yet could never surpass him.
She dressed like a boy, snacked freely, climbed trees, and sometimes skipped lessons, teasing her elder companion,
Gaoshun—
and the two of them would laugh together.
If Ada had been born male, she might still be living that way.
Ada had always thought of Yang as a friend. But she must not forget—Yang stood at the very top of the country, while she was merely a subordinate.
When told to serve as his guide, she had no choice but to comply.
She had thought about running away countless times, but it was impossible, and in the end she resigned herself to her fate.
Ada knew they were in this together.
An emperor had been without freedom since the day he was born. Yang was the sharp sort—unlike those foolish emperors who forgot their duties. The only place he could act freely was within the confines of the rear palace. Having donned the imperial crown, he knew full well he would live a life bound in chains.
To Ada, Yang was a friend. But to Yang, Ada was not a friend.
She knew that equality between a man and a woman was impossible, but it still felt like having her wings torn off.
That's right.
Imperial family members had no freedom from the moment they were born. But at the same time, they could take away anyone's freedom.
Yang hadn't noticed. He had forgotten that he was the one in the position to take, and had appointed Ada as his guide.
Ada worried about Maomao, who would likely walk the same path she once had. If she were a proper mother, she should be cheering on her own son's love life. But the conscience within Ada—or rather, the memory of pitying her former self—made her say…
"You could still run away now. I'll help you."
At Ada's words, Maomao gave her a puzzled look.
"What? I still have a bit of power left, you know."
"Hold on just a moment—"
It was Suzume who raised her voice in Maomao's stead.
"What is it?"
"Lady Ada, you're contradicting yourself. If that happens, I won't be able to carry out the orders I've been given."
'Making the Lord of the Moon happy' was Suzume's mission.
"Oh, don't worry about it. A man who becomes miserable just because there isn't one woman around isn't much of a man. He ought to make up for it elsewhere, don't you think?"
"You're saying some reckless things, you know."
Suzume crossed her arms and tilted her head.
Maomao fixed her gaze on Ada.
"Lady Ada. I don't care about Suzume's mission. I'm standing where I am now with full knowledge of that."
"Truly? You won't regret it?"
"I don't intend to regret it. I plan to make as many concessions as I can."
"Fufu, shall we have them build you a big greenhouse in the palace?"
"That sounds wonderful."
Maomao and Suzume seemed to hit it off, bantering freely with each other even in a scene like this.
If anything, Ada's words appeared to steel Maomao's resolve.
"Besides, how about an orchard? Suzume, I'd really love to eat fresh"
"lychees"
"to my heart's content — just like a legendary beauty."
"It might be possible if we grow them in a greenhouse. But eating too many lychees can make you overheated, so it's not good for you."
"Oh my. About a hundred should be fine, surely?"
"Please keep it to ten."
It was a trivial conversation, yet listening to it oddly soothed Ada's heart.
At the same time, she remembered the request she had once made to Yō.
"Make me the empress."
She had thought that saying this would make him give up on keeping her close. It was just a quip — you could even call it a joke.
But more than twenty years after that promise, Ada still had not been able to leave Yō's side. Even after departing from the inner palace, the extraordinary measure had been taken of sheltering her in a detached residence. Normally, even if her rank as a senior consort was stripped, she should have been required to remain in the inner palace.
Having been given a special palace even after being cast out of the inner palace, no one dared to look down on Ada.
It might have been easier if she had simply been banished outright.
And so Ada remained at the detached palace. On top of that, she had been entrusted with Cuiling, a surviving child of her son's bloodline.
It was as if to say that even after her roles as guide and consort were finished, there was still something left for her to do.
"Am I just dead weight?"
Ada let out a long breath.
Was Yō trying to bind not only Ada, but her son as well?
And was her son, in turn, trying to bind Maomao?
The thought made her grit her teeth in frustration at her own helplessness.
Some time later, word came that Maomao had visited the Moon Palace.
When Ada heard that Maomao had been sent home empty-handed, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
"Did you not commit the same sin as her?"
Ada lay sprawled on her bed in a spread-eagle position, laughing.