Jinshi realized that Roulan's story was describing events from the time of the Late Emperor.
The foolish sovereign had become his mother's puppet and governed the realm. The words brazenly made a fool of the Late Emperor, yet Jinshi felt no anger — because he knew it was the truth.
He had never found the man called his father frightening. It was the mother standing behind him who terrified him.
Jinshi dredged up an old memory. He could not quite recall how it ended for the woman called the Empress. All he remembered was that the Late Emperor had followed her to the grave.
The Empress, growing impatient with a son who showed no interest in women, kept sending one beauty after another into the Inner Palace. And then, one day, she demanded that the chieftain of a certain northern clan offer up his daughter. Ostensibly, she wished to elevate her to the rank of Senior Consort for her son.
"What are you saying, Roulan?"
Kamimi, the mother, questioned her daughter. The old tale she knew differed slightly.
Roulan smiled softly and pressed her sleeve to her lips.
"Is this the first you've heard, Mother? Grandfather, bedridden as he was, muttered it like a curse."
Taking high officials' daughters as consorts — and, in effect, as hostages — was not uncommon throughout history.
"Do you know why the Inner Palace grew to such a size?"
Roulan posed the question as though directing it at Jinshi.
"I hear your father was the one who egged on the Empress."
That was the prevailing opinion in the palace. A man named Shichao had wormed his way into the favor of the notoriously difficult Empress. He had originally been nothing more than a branch member of the Shi clan, but his keen intelligence led the main household — which lacked an heir — to adopt him, bestowing upon him the name "Shichao." That main household happened to be Kamimi's family.
In other words, Shichao and Kamimi had been engaged long before she was bestowed upon Jinshi's father.
"Yes, he apparently proposed expanding the Inner Palace as a new public works project."
A clever way to frame it, Jinshi thought. Whenever the topic of shrinking the Inner Palace came up, the Empress had always deflected with something like that.
"As a venture to replace the slave trade."
At Roulan's words, Jinshi's eyes went wide.
Kamimi, equally unable to follow, had her eyes wide open as well.
Shisui remained expressionless.
Roulan beamed at Jinshi. Then she turned to look at Kamimi.
"Mother truly seems to know nothing at all, doesn't she? What Grandfather did to attract the Empress's attention, and how he even went so far as to send his own daughter into the inner palace to keep watch."
At that time, slavery was still very much alive. The court had government-owned slaves as well.
However, Roulan the slave trade was what she called it.
In the Li kingdom, slaves were treated much the same as courtesans in the pleasure quarters. Once they had worked enough to earn back their purchase price, or their term of service expired, lowborn there were cases where they could rise to become commoners.
However, that was limited to within the country — the export of slaves to other nations was forbidden.
"Apparently, slavery was quite profitable, and no matter how many times it was banned, there were always those who dabbled in it. Especially back then, it seems young girls could be sold for high prices."
The family whose daughters had been taken as hostages had no choice but to scale back the slave trade. Even so, the outflow of slaves never stopped, and so they borrowed the inner palace as a venue for it. Men were sent in as well, not just young women — after all, when being made into slaves, castration before being sold off was far from uncommon.
He proposed using the inner palace as a temporary refuge to gather and protect the young women who were supposed to be sold off to other countries. This aligned perfectly with the Empress's own plans. As a ruler who governed the state, and simultaneously as a mother who thought of her son — it apparently seemed like a strategy that killed two birds with one stone.
Even the parents selling their daughters felt guilty. If given the choice between selling them as slaves and having them serve as ladies-in-waiting in the inner palace, they would choose the latter.
If, during the two years of service, the girls could learn some kind of skill or receive an education, the likelihood of them falling into slavery afterward would decrease. Above all, having served in the inner palace was itself treated as a kind of privilege.
"Of course, the Empress's plans were not the only factor — Father's thinking was not singular either."
By gaining the Empress's trust, the family could restore its reputation. And when that wasn't enough — "Mother, you must have had it rough too. If things were going to turn out like this, you should have just run away from the very start. All that effort Father put into setting things up, wasted."
Was Roulan referring to the secret passage out of the inner palace that she had used to escape?
Kamimi's expression darkened.
"Was it that you couldn't trust a man willing to throw away his own standing to help you flee?"
"Roulan, you..."
Kamimi gazed at her daughter, deep furrows carved into her face. It was not Roulan but Shisui who flinched at that expression.
Kamimi noticed, and shifted her gaze to Shisui with a look as though she were regarding something foul.
"That man could never be trusted! He seized the family headship the moment Father fell ill, and then went and married this woman's mother of all people!"
Shisui, still trembling, stared at Kamimi.
Rouran crept toward Shisui with a quiet chuckle. She took her half-sister's hand and slipped her fingers beneath the collar of her garment, pulling out the object hanging from her neck.
Suspended from a cord was an ornament strikingly similar to the silver hairpin Jinshi possessed. While his was fashioned in the shape of a kirin, Shisui's took the form of a bird. Those who knew would recognize it as a phoenix.
Just as with the kirin, only a chosen few were permitted to wear the phoenix.
"It seems the late Emperor was plagued by guilt. Worried about the infant he had cast out of the Rear Palace, he would frequently find his way there through Father's arrangements, or so I've heard."
It was Shishou who had secretly sheltered the banished physician and the infant.
And when the child had grown to a marriageable age, Shishou had inherited the family headship.
"He denied it at first, but it seems he understood in his heart that she was his daughter. That is why he made this request."
Won't you take my daughter as your wife?
Deeply trusted by the Empress and wholeheartedly devoted to her affairs, Shishou must have been the ideal son-in-law for the late Emperor.
When begged with the promise that any wish would be granted, how could he possibly refuse?
The previous head of the household, having drawn the Empress's suspicion, had taken to his sickbed, and leadership of the clan passed to the highly trusted Shishou.
There was no longer the same need to keep Kamimi as a hostage.
And the one who held the greatest authority over what was to become of the Flower of the Rear Palace was the Emperor himself. He arranged for his own daughter to wed Shishou; a child was born from their union, and that child was given a name bearing the character "Shi," just as in Shisui. The satisfied late Emperor then at last bestowed the Flower of the Rear Palace upon Shishou.
"And that is how Mother was bestowed."
The late Emperor was a foolish man. He never even fully grasped what consequences his actions would have on his own daughter. Before long, Shisui's mother— —died of illness.
—and Shisui was taken in by the former court physician of the Rear Palace.
Around that time, the late Emperor took to his bed, and over the following decade or more, nothing further was done until his passing. Shisui received nothing but her name and a single silver ornament—she was never acknowledged as the late Emperor's grandchild, and after Rouran was born, she was treated as nothing more than a concubine's daughter.
"T-that's a lie! Stop spouting nonsense!"
Kamimi recoiled from the reality thrust before her.
The revelation must have been equally shocking for Shisui, yet she showed little agitation. She merely looked at Kamimi with an expression of unease. Perhaps she had known all along.
"Nonsense? Father did everything he did all along for Mother's sake. He did it all for an end that could only lead to ruin?"
Rouran approached her mother, still smiling.
"Even after all this, you still don't understand why Jinshi is here?"
Rouran cast a contemptuous gaze upon her mother, then turned her eyes toward Jinshi.
"How did Father spend his final moments?"
"…He went with a smile on his lips."
Jinshi didn't understand what that smile was supposed to mean. He couldn't grasp Shōchō's intentions at all.
However, after hearing Rouran's account, he found himself looking at things differently.
He began to wonder whether he had been misunderstanding the clan's rebellion from the very start.
"…That man only ever wanted power for himself. He married me, I'm sure, simply to flaunt his position as head of the house."
Kamimi's face twisted with bitterness.
Rouran's face, by contrast, softened.
"But in the end, wasn't it Mother who wielded more influence within the clan than Father ever did? Did you know what kind of people those clan members were—the ones who groveled before you, Mother?"
Foolish men who padded the coffers through bribery and embezzlement—every last one of them curried favor with Kamimi. As long as Kamimi was pleased, the head of the house Shōchō would say nothing. After all, he was merely an adopted son; compared to his power at court, his authority within the clan was negligible.
Kamimi drove out of the family anyone who offered her unwelcome counsel. The result was that corruption festered unchecked.
This is where the distortion in perception became apparent.
The expansion of the rear palace and the embezzlement of the national treasury—what intentions had actually driven those two undertakings?
Rouran looked at Jinshi's face and gave a faint smile. She must have realized he had grasped what she was trying to say.
When the current emperor took the throne, the slave trade was abolished. Remnants still lingered beneath the surface, but the relatively smooth transition owed much to the rear-palace program that Shōchō and the empress had previously established.
Jinshi, too, had been searching for a successor program when he set about downsizing the rear palace. On that front as well, he had faced obstruction from members of Shōchō's clan.
"Father was called a tanuki—a cunning old raccoon dog. But tanuki are actually timid creatures. Precisely because he knew he was truly weak and insignificant, he tried so desperately to deceive those around him."
To deceive—that was the phrase that clicked everything into place.
What Shōchō's death with a smile on his lips had really meant.
"Did Father manage to play the role of the villain to the very end?"
Rouran laughed, a wistful, ephemeral sound.
With those words, Jinshi finally understood Shōchō's purpose.
His fists clenched so tightly that his nails bit into his palms, and blood seeped through.
"Is there any proof that any of this is true?"
"Proof? Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you."
"Was there any certainty it would succeed?"
"If it didn't work, I would simply take the country as it was. If it was the sort of nation that could be toppled so easily, it would be better off not existing at all."
Rouran spoke in a tone as piercing as a hurled spear.
"Y-You've been doing this all along?!"
Kami's voice trembled.
"You've been deceiving me this whole time, together with that man?!"
"Deceiving you? I was simply doing as Mother told me. Didn't you say a country like this should just be destroyed? You drove out the kin who defied you and surrounded yourself with nothing but blockheads who would swallow any sweet word. Did you truly think a rabble of such people could stand a chance against the government's army?"
At her daughter's cold words, Kami's eyes blazed with fury. Then she lunged at Rouran.
The finger wearing the protective ring grazed Rouran's cheek, leaving two red lines in its wake.
"Wasn't this made precisely for that purpose?"
In Kami's hand, the flying dart was clutched tight.
"It's beyond your ability to use, Mother. Please return it."
"Shut up!"
The new-model flying dart had a catch to hook the finger. She pulled it.
Jinshi ducked.
Along with a sound that could split the ears, something burst outward.
"I told Father I'd take responsibility, but it seems I really can't do it after all."
Blood spatter covered Rouran's face.
Before her stood Kami, dyed deep crimson. In her hand, the misfired flying dart was barely still intact.
"The new model has a rather complex structure. It's only a prototype, after all."
She had only brought it to threaten Jinshi from the start. Perhaps she had even loaded it with ammunition from the very beginning.
"Didn't you ever consider taking this from me, Lord Jinshi? You could have stolen it whenever you saw an opening."
"She had something she wanted to convey, I suppose."
"Fufu... You'd truly have been better off as nothing more than a pretty face."
Making a crude remark with a laugh, Rouran pulled the projectile from the blood-soaked Shinbi and flung it aside. Then, gently laying her down, she squeezed her trembling hand tightly.
"Father is dead. The least you could do is shed a tear."
"..."
Shinbi would not speak, could not speak. The explosion had left her face riddled with scattered metal fragments. What had once been a beautiful face was beyond recognition, red and wet with blood.
Shisui watched the scene, trembling.
"Wasn't there some other way?"
Jinshi rose to his feet and asked Rouran.
"There may have been. But it's difficult to grant everyone's every wish. We're not that clever."
Shinbi simply hated. She had wanted to destroy the country that had continued to mock her.
Shishou had been acting on Shinbi's behalf all along. Even if it backfired, he had been thinking of her. And at the same time, he was a loyal minister who could not abandon the country either—to that end, he had continued playing the villain for decades.
He could not tell what Shisui was thinking. But was it his imagination that she seemed relieved upon seeing the barely-breathing Shinbi at the end of her vacant gaze?
As for Rouran's final words— "I know this is asking too much, but could I make two requests?"
"What are they?"
"Thank you."
Perhaps knowing that these were things that would not normally be granted, Rouran bowed her head deeply.
Then she drew a slip of paper from her breast and handed it to Jinshi.
Jinshi read through it. What was written there was something unexpected, even for him.
"!?"
"It's nothing more than speculation on paper, but I believe it will prove useful. There is a high likelihood it could come to pass within the next few years."
Rouran stroked her mother. Shinbi's breath was about to cease.
"Those among the clan who had any decent sense of thinking have long since abandoned their names. My sister is much the same. Could those people once be treated as already dead, and let go?"
"...I'll do my best."
"Then you'll overlook someone who's died once, correct?"
Rouran spoke as if seeking confirmation.
Shisui was connected to the late emperor — that much meant Rouran could not simply cast her aside.
"Thank you."
Rouran bowed once more, then took Kannabi's hand. Bent and mangled, the nail guard was barely clinging to her crushed fingers.
Rouran slid it onto her own finger.
At the same moment, Jinshi sensed the shift.
He had finally noticed the hidden passage. But had Rouran noticed it too?
"Then — one more wish."
Rouran's hand reached toward Jinshi. A hand adorned with long nail extensions, extending toward him.
Rouran appeared to move slowly.
He could have avoided it if he'd tried. But Jinshi didn't move. He simply accepted it.
The tip of the twisted nail guard pierced his cheek, scraping away skin and flesh in one fluid motion.
Splattering blood caught in his eyes. Keeping one eye shut, Jinshi looked at Rouran.
"Thank you."
Rouran offered her third bow of gratitude.
"Might I become an even greater performer than Father?"
Still speaking in that playful tone, Rouran turned to look at Kannabi.
"Mother — this is the best I can do."
Rouran smiled, and opened the door.
Sure enough, Basin and the others were waiting in the narrow passage, watching for an opening.
Rouran confirmed their presence, then raised the nail on her finger high for all to see. Even in the dim light, the blood clinging to it would be unmistakable.
And behind her stood Jinshi, wounded across the face.
"AHAHAHAHA!"
Rouran suddenly burst into wild laughter.
The voice echoed through the narrow corridor.
Basen and the others' expressions twisted into rage.
There was no longer any light in Kanami's eyes.
Shisui reached out a trembling hand, but it could not reach Roulan.
All Jinshi could do was clutch the document she had handed him and watch over her fate until the very end.
His body was simply heavy.
The exhaustion of the past several days had finally caught up with him all at once.
Right after leaving the fortress, he had rejoined the rear detachment and had a medical officer stitch up his cheek. It was Jinshi's cheek being sewn, yet he couldn't understand why everyone around him looked so pained.
The one who told him to get some sleep was Gaoshun, who had finally caught up. Since Jinshi was assigned to the rear detachment, Gaoshun had been forced to stay behind as well.
Now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn't had a proper rest in days.
"What happened to that girl?"
"She's safe, so please get some sleep."
Wondering if he really looked that tired, Jinshi felt no such inclination. Perhaps losing patience with Jinshi's refusal to obey, Gaoshun quietly pointed toward the carriage at the back.
"I would advise you not to get too close."
Ignoring Gaoshun's words, Jinshi entered the carriage. There lay a gaunt girl, covered in soot with blood caked here and there.
She slept atop several layers of fur pelts. Curled up on her side like an infant, she looked far smaller than usual.
Something wrapped in white cloth lay around her.
"They are the children of the deceased's clan."
"Why is she sleeping there?"
"When someone begs you that desperately, there's nothing you can say, is there?"
This girl, Maomao, had a stubborn streak about her.
Was there some ulterior motive behind it?
"You've really let yourself go."
"So have you, sir."
Gaoshun looked at Jinshi with a pained expression. It stung to recall how Gaoshun had immediately punched Basen the moment they returned.
"Don't worry about me. Besides, it was the right call not to let the strategist see her."
According to the story, the man had insisted on marching out, ended up overextending himself, was stopped by everyone, then tried to slip away at the first opportunity and ended up throwing out his back. By his own account, he couldn't move a single step.
Jinshi climbed into the carriage.
"Wait outside."
Gaoshun did not climb into the carriage, and slowly nodded.
Jinshi peered at Maomao's face. Traces of a rash still lingered, and dried blood clung to her skin. Her right ear had a small triangular cut in it, and ointment had been slathered on.
If Jinshi hadn't gotten involved, Maomao might never have ended up like this. The thought made his chest ache.
Aside from the ear, there didn't seem to be any other injuries on her face. But he noticed a red line running along her neck.
Had she been cut with a blade?
Jinshi slowly reached out his hand.
And then— "What exactly do you think you're doing, Lord Jinshi?"
Maomao was watching him with the look of someone bothered by a persistent fly she was trying to shoo away.