Jiaoyang
had everything he did decided from the moment he was born.
The emperor's sole prince—that was the position given to Jiaoyang.
He was always under someone's watch, with almost no freedom to do as he pleased. The only time that could barely be called free was when he played with his wet nurses' sons.
"It is time for your meal."
His hours of sitting at his desk came to an end, and
Gaoshun
delivered the news. The wet nurse's son two years his senior had once been assigned to
Ruiyue.
He had been told that ordinarily, someone from the Ma clan should have been given the role instead. Gaoshun—a man who at the time went by a different name—was irreplaceable as Jiaoyang's adjutant and guard. That was precisely why he needed to be assigned to Ruiyue.
For lunch, porridge with no visible grains of rice and broth without a single ingredient had been prepared. Apart from that, a proper meal was also set out.
If only sickroom meals were brought in, there were those who would grow suspicious. That was why his regular meals were brought as well.
"Please take this before your meal."
"...Must I drink it?"
"You must drink it."
Gaoshun thrust the medicine at him.
It had a distinctly bitter smell. At first, fruit water or honey had been mixed in to mask the taste, but while it diluted the flavor, it increased the volume, so they had stopped.
He drained the medicine, then scooped up the paste-like porridge with a spoon. The porridge, infused with the taste of meat and salt, would have been more appetizing if only it weren't in this shape.
Jiaoyang ate about three bites and set down his spoon.
"Does it hurt?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
The chronic abdominal pain had been gradually worsening. It sometimes brought a low fever and nausea. Since he had experienced this pain before, they had assumed the same treatment would work. But there was no sign of improvement.
"What are the imperial physicians doing?"
"I am terribly sorry."
I know there's no point taking it out on Gaoshun. But I need to get this off my chest to someone, or I may end up blurting it out in public.
Just as Mizuki acts spoiled around Gaoshun, Kyoyou too finds herself acting spoiled around him.
He's a capable man even among the Ma clan, Kyoyou thinks.
Just then, footsteps echoed from beyond.
A voice could be heard from behind the door.
"You may not enter. Her Majesty is currently at her meal."
"That is of no consequence. Who do you take me for?"
Even through the door, she recognized that voice — and Kyoyou's mood turned cold.
The group that arrived was centered around a man in his fifties.
He was a lean man who looked younger than his years.
His boyish face was probably in the blood.
"Forgive the intrusion during your meal."
He approached with a wide grin, but Gaoshun stepped in between. The guards outside also glared from beyond the room's entrance.
"If you thought it was so rude, then you needn't have come."
"Ha ha ha. How harsh. Would you treat even your uncle this way?"
Uncle — that is, the elder brother of Kyoyou's mother, Lady An. His name was Go.
"Hmm. So you're saying that being my uncle gives you the right to interrupt my meal?"
"No, no — nothing of the sort."
Go waved his hands broadly in denial, but he had no intention of leaving the room.
Lady An herself was not particularly power-hungry. But her birth family was another matter.
They had sent Lady An to ensnare the late emperor, who had no interest in anything but young children.
True to her family's scheme, Lady An became pregnant with Kyoyou and rose to the positions of empress and then empress dowager.
The Empress — Kyoyou's grandmother — had seen through this ambition. That was why, as long as she lived, none of Kyoyou's maternal relatives were ever given important positions.
But after the Empress died and Kyoyou ascended the throne, they began throwing their weight around. Lady An's father had long since passed, but her half-brother started making a nuisance of himself.
Being maternal relatives of the emperor on top of that, no one around them dared to speak up.
Mother doesn't have very warm feelings toward her half-brother. Kyoyou feels the same way, but it wouldn't do to let that show.
All it would take is for Kyoyou to let a single complaint slip, and heads would roll without end.
"Still, it would be nice if we could enjoy our meals a bit more pleasantly."
Gao looked at the food that had been brought. Had it been something plain like just congee and soup, it might have aroused suspicion.
"It would just add to the trouble of preparing a poison taster."
Kyoyou raised the cup he had been using for his medicine. Gaoshun carefully poured wine into it.
"Indeed, we can never know who might be targeting Your Majesty's life. Especially since the people of the West are quite barbaric."
Kyoyou understood what Gao was getting at. Gao didn't care for the current Crown Prince. By bloodline, the Crown Prince was the grandson of his sister, Lady An—making Gao the Crown Prince's great-uncle. But the Crown Prince's mother was
Gyokuyou.
Even though they were both maternal relatives of the Crown Prince, from now on it would be Gyokuyou's clan who held the power.
Gao was already anxious enough. He had expected that with the troublesome Empress gone, he could finally wield power—but Lady An, his own kin, was passive. And to make it worse, a name had already been granted to the very clan he looked down upon: the barbarians of the West.
He had been hinting for some time that he wanted a title, but Kyoyou had been ignoring him all along.
"Even if you are my uncle, I would ask that you refrain from making pointed remarks about the Crown Prince. This has already been decided by me."
"Indeed. You are quite right. My apologies. But might I say that, to me, it appeared as though you had merely installed the Crown Prince for the time being?"
Gao narrowed his eyes.
Behind his clasped hands,
his mouth seemed to be smiling.
"When it came to
Rifa
Consort's first child, it was the same. The firstborn son was made Crown Prince—"
"Rifa is a senior consort. Was there some problem with that?"
"No, not at all. I was merely wondering—if the firstborn child were still alive—"
"That is in the past."
Kyoyou swirled his cup. He did not bring it to his lips, instead watching the red liquid slosh within.
Long since past.
Ada
Ada's child is officially dead.
For Gou, having Ada's child alive would have been convenient. By becoming the guardian of Ada—who had no backing—he would have wielded considerable influence in the next generation as well.
And, troublingly, that was also what Gyoyou had wanted.
"Yes. He must have grown into a fine young man. Just like Lord Zuigetsu."
"..."
Gyoyou silently glared at Gou. But his gaze was interrupted.
"—?!"
Gou's eyes went wide. A sword was leveled at his nose.
The one holding it was Gaoshun. A taciturn, hardworking man who always furrowed his brows in thought, made all the more easy to underestimate as a henpecked husband. On top of that, he'd been forced to play the part of a eunuch for seven years because of Zuigetsu's whims.
"What—the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Gou's guards reacted. Being in the emperor's quarters, they weren't permitted to carry swords, but there were three sturdy men among them.
"I'll return those very words to you. Why would you think you could walk away unscathed after speaking the Lord of the Moon's name?"
Gaoshun's gaze pierced Gou more sharply than the sword's tip.
"The only person in this realm who may speak the Lord of the Moon's name is His Majesty himself. You don't understand your own position. This is a crime so grave it could be called an act of deceiving heaven."
Gaoshun was particularly mild-mannered, even among the Horse clan. That such a man would resort to this spoke volumes about how far Gou had overstepped.
The guards couldn't move. Before they could restrain Gaoshun, Gou's head would be severed first. Not only that—all three guards would be taken down as well. That was just how skilled a man Gaoshun was.
Gyoyou considered whether it would be best to simply have Gou beheaded right then and there. It would be satisfying, but the aftermath would be a nuisance. Cleaning the room was one matter, but weakening the An clan's power base by eliminating Gou was something he wished to avoid. With the child's clan already eliminated, the balance of power within the court had already been thrown off. Reducing the number of factions any further would not serve him well.
Gyoyou raised a hand, signaling Gaoshun to lower his sword.
Gou, his face drained of all color, glared at Gaoshun.
"What authority do you have to lay a hand on me like this?!"
Gou screamed, spittle flying from his mouth.
"You're right. I hold no rank whatsoever."
The Horse clan did not take up official posts. Gaoshun was no exception.
"However, I am His Majesty's sword. I simply did what His Majesty's sword determined was the right course of action."
"Indeed. No one gave you permission to call her Zuizuki. Only I have that right."
Gou bit his lip.
Gou was a relative by marriage of Gyōyō. Though he was an in-law, he was not a member of the imperial family. And to speak aloud the name of a high-ranking member of the imperial family was strictly taboo.
Gou was a man of moderate qualities — neither particularly good nor particularly bad.
He possessed ambition in just the right measure, and foolishness in just the right measure.
Had he been a man of unusual competence, that would have been troublesome — truly difficult to manage.
But when he occasionally did something foolish, all one had to do was pull on the reins and remind him who the master was.
"Do you believe you are still welcome to remain here?"
"...I humbly apologize."
Gou's demeanor shifted completely from what it had been moments before.
"I shall take my leave."
With those words, he departed.
Only after his footsteps had completely faded did Gyōyō rub his belly.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yes. It's gotten worse since earlier."
"What do you suppose Lord Gou is thinking?"
"Nothing much. He probably wants me to send Tsuki back to the Eastern Palace."
"Is that so."
The sharpness had left Gaoshun's gaze.
"You have no intention of sending her back, do you?"
Gaoshun spoke in their usual tone of voice.
"...That's right."
Gyōyō, committing to neither an affirmative nor a negative, set down his cup of grape wine.