Jinshi finished his bath and was leisurely sipping his wine.
He heard the crackling of charcoal, and when he looked up, the world outside had transformed into a winter scene with snow. No wonder it felt chilly.
He picked up his coat from the chaise longue and put it on; it made a swishing sound as he moved.
The building was designed so that such sounds would carry from the entrance to the main room. That way, you could roughly tell who was entering just from the sound.
Sure enough, a man with a permanent frown between his brows arrived.
"I have safely delivered her."
"I'm always causing you trouble."
Jinshi had recently taken to entrusting Gaoshun with seeing Maomao home when he was late. He had done it sporadically before, but now he realized that if that peculiar person were to be found, it wouldn't end well. Gaoshun, for his part, read Jinshi's moods and handled the task without a word.
He had been Jinshi's attendant since before Jinshi was weaned. There was a period when he was away working on something else, but he remained one of the people who understood Jinshi best.
"Tomorrow is the Inner Palace."
"Yes."
After delivering Maomao, Jinshi had asked Gaoshun to stop by the medical office and retrieve a certain prepared item. It was a strange, intensely bitter liquid. Just looking at it made him nauseous, a feeling he had every time.
He poured the medicine into two silver bowls. First, Gaoshun took a sip. This was a job Maomao always volunteered for, but it had no effect when she did it. Gaoshun drank it all down, his frown deepening, and waited for a moment.
"There seems to be no issue. It's the same as always."
"Understood."
Jinshi took the bowl, pinched his nose, and drained it in one gulp. He wiped a bit of liquid from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, then accepted a cup of cooled water from Suirei.
He had been drinking it for five years now, but he still couldn't get used to it.
"Perhaps you should refrain from pinching your nose in front of others."
"I'm aware."
"That single gesture makes you appear quite youthful."
"I'm aware."
Jinshi remained sulking as he sat back down on the chaise longue.
His tone of voice, way of speaking, gait, movements—everything. He had to be conscious of all of it.
The eunuch known as Jinshi was a twenty-four-year-old man.
He straightened his posture and tried to put on the face of the eunuch Jinshi, but— The bitterness of the medicine lingered, and his expression kept slipping. Gaoshun frowned again.
"If you don't want to drink it, you don't have to."
"It's a formality, isn't it?"
Five years since joining the rear palace under the current Emperor. Jinshi had a twisted mask on for five years straight.
He continued drinking the medicine that would strip him of his manhood.
All despite having received the Emperor's leave to do as he pleased with those of lower concubine rank and below.
"Eventually, it will truly make you unable."
At Gaoshun's words, Jinshi—who had been sipping fruit wine to wash the taste away—spurted it out. He clutched his mouth and shot Gaoshun a resentful glare.
Gaoshun watched him with a look that said, *Let me have this much, at least once in a while.* "You're no different."
"No, my grandchild was born last month, apparently."
Gaoshun's children were already grown. He was clearly implying there was no need for him to be making more at this point.
"How old were you again?"
"Thirty-seven, by traditional count."
If he recalled correctly, Gaoshun had taken a wife at sixteen and fathered three children in succession starting the following year.
"No, I meant your son. The one from the other day."
It was during the seaweed poisoning incident a few days prior. The young man who had escorted Maomao to the official's house—that had been Gaoshun's youngest son, if he remembered correctly.
"About eighteen, I believe— the same as you, sir."
Gaoshun never used the name "Jinshi"—that was the point.
Jinshi was supposed to be twenty-four years old, a man who had become a eunuch five years ago.
"Is that his child?"
"No, it's his eldest daughter. She's nearly old enough to be married, though."
Gaoshun's children were all exceptional. The daughter who had married off had also served as a lady-in-waiting in the palace for about a year, if he remembered correctly.
They even seemed to have something to say to Jinshi.
Jinshi feigned innocence and crossed his legs the other way.
"Please let me hold a grandchild soon."
"I'll do my best."
Gaoshun accepted the warm tea offered by Suirei and took a sip.
Jinshi drained his fruit wine while intermittently ignoring the resentful glances from his subordinate.
His routine visit to the four consorts was completed without a hitch this time as well.
The newly arrived Roulan consort seemed to be settling in without any particular difficulty adapting to the inner palace.
Since she had essentially forced her way in, he had been worried about potential incidents, but both Gyokuyou and Rifa were not the type to pick a confrontation over every little thing. The two had once caused a stir, but that had been an exception, and since then they had maintained a careful, hands-off relationship.
As for Risu, with her personality, she would never be the type to start a fight on her own initiative. If a lady-in-waiting were to pressure the consort, that might be a different story, but he would keep an eye on that.
However, upon entering the new consort's quarters—the very palace where the former consort Ada had once lived—he felt a renewed sense of loneliness.
The palace, once neatly kept and free of excess, had been transformed into a lavish space surrounded by resplendent furnishings.
Roulan's father had been a man favored by the previous emperor—or rather, the previous empress dowager—and was an official who had once expanded the inner palace staff to three thousand ladies-in-waiting.
At present, the most promising in his favor were Gyokuyou, followed by Rifa. Being in the position of emperor meant he couldn't simply visit whichever consort he pleased.
The inner palace served the function of maintaining power balance within the court, but also had the function of destroying it.
He couldn't very well neglect Roulan, so it seemed he visited her roughly once every ten days.
That would naturally leave the other consorts in a state of unease. Even if his visits to them were more frequent, children came when they came and didn't when they didn't.
However, compatibility was a factor, and it was clear the Emperor did not find himself particularly drawn to Consort Roulan.
Looking at Consort Roulan, Jinshi could understand why.
During one of Maomao's mysterious lessons, Consort Roulan had worn a peculiar outfit adorned with feathers from southern birds fashioned into hairpins.
Maomao had studied the outfit with puzzlement, though it wasn't hard to see why.
Consort Roulan would sometimes dress in garments from the south, other times in the clothing of northern barbarian tribes. One might think she'd wear barbarian robes like a boy, but then she'd cinch her waist and don Western attire as well. She changed her hairstyle and makeup every time.
In a sense, she was a fashionista; in another sense, she was restless. He had heard the rumor that, since her features were originally neat but unremarkable, this was her way of compensating — but was that really the case?
Apparently, the Emperor would visit only to be confused about which consort he was seeing each time. So he had said he couldn't get very enthusiastic about it.
Jinshi felt the same way. However, among the ladies-in-waiting, there seemed to be some who viewed Consort Roulan as a new trend, while others tilted their heads in confusion, saying they didn't quite understand.
The Emperor had his own policy of not touching them until they turned sixteen, so there was still one more year — meaning Consort Risu was safe. This was probably because the current Emperor rejected his father the previous Emperor's tastes to the point of nausea.
The Empress Dowager's belly bore a large scar. It was because she had given birth to the current Emperor when she was still a young girl, her body far too small for childbearing.
Cesarean section — the procedure was said to be a surgery used to deliver a child even at the cost of abandoning the mother.
It was ordered by the Emperor's grandmother, who was the Empress Dowager at the time. Back then, that woman was called the Empress Regnant. She was still called that today. Such was the power she wielded — no one could defy her.
And yet, no matter how much she expanded the harem and increased the number of ladies-in-waiting, no children were born. It could be called a desperate measure.
Of course, if the previous Emperor only approached girls who had not yet come of age, there was no way children would be born. The Empress Regnant apparently did not realize that she herself was the cause.
The reason the current Empress Dowager survived was nothing short of lucky. As it happened, a medical official had returned from studying abroad in the West, and as it happened, that man had become a eunuch. Though it was hard not to sense a scheme behind all these "coincidences," that was how the story was told. Since the Empress Regnant said so, it must have been true.
That man's procedure was remarkable. Though scars remained, the uterus was unharmed, and more than a decade later, the Empress Dowager gave birth to another child.
The previous Emperor's children were, before and after, these two and no others.
However, perhaps due to the previous delivery, that physician had been assigned to attend exclusively on the then-consort, now Empress Dowager. The Crown Princess, whose delivery had coincided at the same time, was left unattended, and the result was a regrettable affair.
Jinshi couldn't help but wonder—if the current Emperor's firstborn had survived.
He shook his head to dispel such idle musings.
And then he thought this: he should simply hurry up and produce one. A new Crown Prince.
Jinshi and Gaoshun shared the same sentiment.
After that consort education, the Emperor's visits had increased considerably. He had thought it would still be a while before any results showed, but they might come sooner than expected.
Worriedly, the head lady-in-waiting to Consort Gyokuyou— Hongniang— confided something.
Yesterday as well, the Jade Palace was visited by the Emperor, and Gyokuyou had seemed languid and weary. Hongniang tended to her with concern. Her raven-black hair was disheveled. This head lady-in-waiting, who clearly had her share of hardships, and Gaoshun occasionally— sympathized with each other. Hongniang didn't seem entirely opposed to Gaoshun, but since he was a henpecked husband, she would eventually have to give up on him.
Finding it the perfect moment, Jinshi made a proposal.
Gyokuyou's eyes lit up and she nodded readily without a moment's hesitation.
Hongniang made a resigned face, though she actually seemed to welcome it. She relayed the matter to the three maidservant sisters who were eavesdropping outside the room.
It seemed the choice was not a mistake.
○●○ "The Rear Palace?"
"Yes. Your favorite job."
Maomao had been polishing silverware until it gleamed like a mirror.
Confirming there wasn't a single smudge, she placed it back on its shelf.
It would be rude to listen to the conversation while working, so she hurriedly put her things away.
She wanted to draw at least that much of a line.
Jinshi was eating mandarins. He could at least peel them himself, but— Shuiren— —was peeling each one for him, carefully removing the thin skin, and arranging them neatly on a plate.
He was truly a spoiled little lord.
The older lady-in-waiting apparently had a tendency to spoil this eunuch. She would put a padded robe on him because it was cold, or cool his tea when it was too warm.
It was embarrassing for a grown man.
"Apparently, Lady Gyokuyou's monthly courses have stopped."
(Possible pregnancy, then.)
Lingli— —when the princess was conceived, the consort had twice been the target of attempted poisonings.
There was no way feelings were at peace.
"When did it start?"
"Could she go starting today?"
"That would actually work out well."
Men were forbidden in the rear palace. She probably wouldn't have to face him—the one whose name she didn't even want to hear.
Perhaps Jinshi was being considerate, or perhaps he simply thought it was convenient.
For Maomao, it didn't matter either way.
She had thought she was acting cool and collected, but— "Oh my, did something good happen?"
Shuiren said to her, which suggested she had been looking rather excited after all.
It looked like she would be serving in the rear palace for a while longer.