"Well then, shall we be going?"
Rahan
stood up.
Maomao
reluctantly rose as well, and the eccentric strategist trailed along after them.
"I'm counting on you, brother."
"Sure, sure."
Rahan's brother replied in a thoroughly uncomfortable manner.
He left two guards behind and accompanied Maomao's group with just one.
"Niiban,
keep an eye on Adoptive Father
so he doesn't get separated."
"Understood."
Going by the way he was addressed as "Niiban," he was probably talent the eccentric strategist had poached. A sturdy man in his mid-thirties with a build befitting a guard. He had puffy eyes and a listless air about him, but that was roughly what happened to anyone who served as the eccentric strategist's bodyguard year-round.
The Tatsumi clan rose from their seats as well. On their side were an elderly woman serving as guardian, a caretaker, and one young man as they left the banquet hall. Rahan being Rahan, the time and place had surely been predetermined in advance.
Just as expected, Rahan headed to the same secret meeting room as the Tatsumi clan.
Inside the room, there was a single long table with three chairs arranged on each side.
Three against three, plus one guard each. The numbers had been matched.
"My, I do appreciate
you accepting my proposal
this time. Lady Tatsumi."
(Using
"I"
like that...)
Rahan was showing his full merchant's smile, more than usual.
The eccentric strategist was his usual self, with a bottle of fruit water and a bag that smelled strongly of something sweet in Niiban's hands.
"Heh heh heh heh. I was told the Grand Chamberlain would be here, but still — what's this about an offer from the aloof Rahan clan?"
(More like the isolated-and-without-allies clan, you mean?)
Maomao kept quiet, thinking this. Rahan was doing all the talking because the eccentric strategist was useless for conversation, and besides, it was considered poor form for a superior to engage in equal footing talk.
"Shall we sit down, then?"
Only after the Grand Chamberlain suggested it could they finally sit. As it happened, the eccentric strategist had been trying to sit on his own and was stopped by Niiban.
Maomao ended up sitting last in line. Since she could only sit next to the eccentric strategist, she shifted her chair to maintain a slight distance.
(Rahan, I'm absolutely going to swipe some medicinal herbs or something from you.)
This was a meeting full of endurance for Maomao.
"So, I hear you have a wonderful proposal for us?"
The Grand Chamberlain was a refined older woman who still retained the vestiges of her former beauty and dignity. She would be just Rahan's type.
"What if I told you we could find the treasure that the Dragon Clan lost forty years ago?"
"Heh heh heh heh heh."
The Grand Chamberlain hid her mouth behind a folding fan and offered an elegant laugh. The attendant beside her wore a look of disbelief.
"Where on earth did you hear that? It's far too late — surely finding it now is impossible?"
"However, I heard that your late husband, the previous head, was searching for it right up until his final moments. Yes, up until about three years ago."
"Yes. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to say that a treasure was lost during my generation? My husband was tormented by it. Above all, he even had a falling-out with the head of the Rabbit Clan, who was his closest friend."
"That's quite a famous story. How he shouted in the palace that the Rabbit Clan had stolen it, and drew his sword."
"It's a shameful tale. My husband was a man of great martial prowess, but he did have a terrible temper. That's precisely why having the head of the Rabbit Clan around to calmly counsel him was such a relief."
The Grand Chamberlain lowered her lashes sorrowfully.
But the young man beside her stood up.
"Grandmother! Why are you defending the Rabbit Clan? Then where did the treasure go?"
The young man was in his mid-twenties. The Dragon Clan, like the Horse Clan, was presumably a clan of warriors. He had a solid build.
"The treasure vanished. Didn't Grandfather say as much on his deathbed? 'There's no need to search anymore.'"
"But, sir!"
"Stop it."
The man acting as his aide restrained the young man.
(Oh, so that's how it is.)
The one Rahan had made contact with this time must have been the young man. The Dragon Clan had considered the matter closed with the passing of the previous patriarch, but not everyone had accepted it.
Rahan wore a troubled expression, but he caught a glance from the eccentric strategist.
"Adoptive father, what should we do?"
"Hm?"
The eccentric strategist was gnawing on
a mahua
he had received from Niiban's bag. Even once it was gone, there were fruit confections set out on the table, so it should hold him for a while.
"I'm afraid your time has been wasted, adoptive father. You set aside time because he said it was a special request, and we deliberately framed it as our own demand so as not to impose."
Rahan shook his head with a look of disappointment.
"What do you mean?"
The Great Lady looked at the young man.
"Well, if we didn't do it this way, we'd never find what we're looking for!"
"So it was you who asked him?"
"Yes. That's right."
The Dragon Clan members fixed the eccentric strategist with a stare. He was, by nature, a marked man—one who was not to be approached. If the eccentric strategist had reached out to them, that would be one thing, but if the Dragon Clan had initiated contact with him, that was an entirely different matter.
Rahan looked troubled, but beneath that thick skin of his, he was undoubtedly smirking to himself.
"That's right. After all, if we're talking about something from forty years ago, even my adoptive father may not know the answers. But being summoned and not even getting to hear what it's about is simply absurd. So, would you at least tell us what you know?"
Maomao was impressed by how smoothly he talked.
The Dragon Clan members exchanged complicated looks, but they nodded.
"Then let me tell you what my husband always explained, supplemented with my own additions."
The Great Lady let out a deep breath.
〇●〇
First, our family treasure is a golden dragon figurine holding a jade orb. The dragon is
a divine beast,
and the reason we keep it as our family treasure is that the character bestowed upon us is "Dragon," and it is connected to our family's founding.
The Dragon Clan received its name as a branch of the imperial family. That is why the character "Dragon," which represents the divine beast, was assigned to us.
The family treasure was bestowed upon us by His Majesty the Emperor six generations ago. The Crown Prince of that era was frail, and His Majesty had many other sons. The Crown Prince reportedly pleaded directly with His Majesty, saying that rather than ascending the throne himself, it would be better for one of his gifted younger brothers to take the throne.
However, the brother he recommended, though talented, was born to a consort of low rank. To prevent a palace uprising, the Crown Prince resolved to take monastic vows, but His Majesty would not permit it, and the matter was settled by having him removed from the imperial line. It was at that very time that he was sent to the Dragon Clan, which had no male heirs in its direct line.
The Crown Prince was frail but brilliant, and His Majesty cherished him deeply. Even after he was no longer part of the imperial family, the figurine of the dragon holding a jade orb was given to him as proof that he was still His Majesty's son.
Yes, that is correct. Our family holds no claim to the throne, but the men of our household do descend from the imperial family's male bloodline.
Shall I leave it at that for the preamble?
Now, as for why we lost the family treasure.
Forty years ago, our storehouse caught fire. It was a terrible blaze. Thanks to desperate firefighting efforts and heavy rain, the building did not burn down completely, but nearly everything inside was destroyed.
The dragon figurine, our family treasure, was among those items. Once consumed by fire, a treasure is no longer a treasure — or so one would think.
Yet my husband insisted that the family treasure must still exist. He claimed someone had stolen it, smuggled it out, and pointed the finger squarely at the Rabbit Clan.
The reason was that the head of the Rabbit Clan happened to be visiting our home at the time of the fire. He directed massive amounts of water, demolished a nearby shed, and stopped the fire from spreading.
The neighboring manor could well have been saved thanks to the Rabbit Clan's efforts, and yet my husband repaid his benefactor with contempt.
At that time, the Rabbit Clan belonged to — how should I put it — the Empress Dowager's faction. My husband, who prided himself on his imperial blood despite having no claim to the throne, declared he would never bow his head to some woman of unknown lineage. Truly, it is astonishing that our clan was not wiped out back then.
I believe the family treasure was lost in the fire, consumed along with the storehouse.
My husband refused to believe those words and kept searching for the family treasure, telling his children and grandchildren it must be somewhere. This is what led to the rift with the Rabbit Clan.
〇●〇
When the Great Lady finished her story, she sipped her tea slowly. No servants from the Ox Clan were present during this private audience, so the guards from each household had prepared it.
(A former imperial family member with no claim to the throne)
Maomao stroked her chin thoughtfully and looked at the eccentric strategist.
"What is it, Maomao?"
The eccentric strategist immediately noticed Maomao's gaze.
"......"
Maomao wanted to give him the silent treatment, but she couldn't afford to let the conversation stall, so she held back.
"Is there anything untrue about what you just said?"
She didn't want to do it, but she leaned in and whispered. If she spoke openly, it would leak straight to the Dragon Clan.
"Untrue? Hmm..."
Judging from the eccentric strategist's response, there didn't seem to be any lies. The fact that he also looked oddly pleased about it was somehow off-putting.
Maomao swiftly pulled away from the eccentric strategist.
There were simply too many things about his earlier words that nagged at her.
And Rahan was not the kind to miss an expression like that on Maomao's face.
"Do you have a moment?"
Rahan raised his hand.
"What is it?"
"Well,
it's not me,
but my sister who seems to have something she'd like to ask."
When Rahan looked over at Maomao, he deftly gave a one-eyed wink.