The drums signaling midday sounded, and Koushun leaned back against his chair in exhaustion. With this, his official business in the outer court was over. The bureaucrats who arrived at the palace before sunrise also returned home at this hour.

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“Your Majesty.”

Right when Koushun was about to stand and leave the room, Secretariat Director Un whispered into his ear. This prime minister, who had a magnificent white beard, was formerly the Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince’s Office and a close aide to Koushun since he was young.

“Teirui Palace seems to be restless.”

Teirui Palace was the villa where the empress dowager was confined.

“…Understood. Meiin.”

Koushun summoned an intellectual-looking man in his forties to his side.

“How is the flow of money there?”

“As of now, there are no suspicious activities,” He, who was the chief imperial scholar, also served as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Finance, which oversaw government finances. “However, there are most likely hidden assets. She is issuing official ranks at such a rapid pace, after all.”

The empress dowager was using her position to continuously sell government positions. The confiscated money didn’t match with the estimated sum.

“So as expected, eunuchs’ movements are the key.”

The director of the Palace Servants Bureau nodded when all eyes turned to him. “Understood, Your Majesty.”

The empress dowager didn’t quietly resign herself to her house arrest. She was the woman who seduced or threatened the previous emperor and seized power along with her relatives, and then forced Koushun to abandon his title as the crown prince. It seemed that among the eunuchs, there were still those who had connections to her.

“In the end, she couldn’t understand Your Majesty’s kindness.”

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Un sighed as he stroked his beard and left the room after they worked out plans for countermeasures. Koushun brought Eisei along with him to the inner court, the residence of the emperor. Even though his work in the outer court was finished, he still had to do what he could in the inner court. There was much to be done.

——I didn’t spare the empress dowager because of kindness.

Koushun thought as the palanquin heading towards the inner court swayed.

When he led Forbidden Army to storm the empress dowager’s—the then-empress’s—palace, but didn’t cut off her head, it was because Koushun at that time didn’t have enough power for that to be excused. If he killed the highly influential empress, it would cause a huge wave of backlash. The seizure of power was not accomplished with a single game of go. Like taking away go stones one by one, from then on Koushun steadily and soundly gained power in the court.

That was why, now he was able to sentence her to execution. With solely Koushun’s will, they could fabricate a crime for her and execute her. Just like the empress dowager did in the past. That was what power was.

However, Koushun didn’t do that. He wanted unshakeable evidence to punish her.

“…”

Koushun stared ahead. Ahead of him, he could see Gyokou Hall, where he lived, and his main residence in the back. So far away that it couldn’t be seen from here, there was a palace called Gyosou Palace. It was a palace that was abandoned a long time ago, covered in rust, its roof rotted away, and the walls blackened with mold.

At age thirteen, Koushun was deposed as the crown prince and moved from the East Palace to there. From that point, until he marched into the empress’ palace at eighteen and was reinstated as the crown prince, he lived in such a terrible situation that he had to worry about getting enough to eat each day. He didn’t know what would have happened to him if he didn’t have Eisei and the aides who secretly supported him.

His mother Sha-shi was killed before he was deposed. She was poisoned. The empress had one of her eunuchs frame his mother’s attendant, who was quickly executed. However, no clear evidence was left to indicate that this was the empress’s scheme.

——If I killed her without definitive evidence, I would be no better than the empress dowager.

If he forced things to go his way, it would eventually collapse. He didn’t want to walk the same path as the empress dowager. He wanted a reason that was inescapable, something that would be perfect both legally and logically. He wanted it so badly that he could taste it.

Some people described Koushun as a rational man. He wasn’t driven by emotion and honored the law. Others called him compassionate.

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Koushun thought that they were both wrong.

No one knew about the rage that ate away at his chest.


——I want to kill her so badly.

The scent of tea filled a room in Gyokou Hall. Eisei had placed a kettle on a lit stove and was boiling tea. He picked up some salt from a silver salt bowl and added it to the water. His flowing movements were beautiful.

Eisei spooned the boiled tea into a cup and reverently placed it in front of Koushun.

“Your tea, Dajia.”

When he put the cup to his mouth, it was engulfed in gentle steam and a clear fragrance. The tea had a mellow taste, and when he swallowed it, the warmth spread in his stomach. The stiffness of his body slowly loosened.

“The tea you make is still the most delicious.”

When Koushun said that, Eisei’s eyes narrowed in pleasure. “Thank you very much.”

He was a eunuch who Koushun met when he was ten and immediately taken into his service as his personal attendant. Eisei probably knew Koushun’s preferences and thoughts the best.

“…How did that thing go?”

He asked without stating the particulars. It was because they didn’t know if there was anyone listening outside the room. Eisei understood that.

“The osmanthus flower mark belongs to the You clan.”

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Eisei answered shortly. ——Koushun had him investigate the bruise-like mark on Jusetsu’s wrist.

“If it’s a brand, then that means she was probably a house slave.”

“Yes.”

Koushun was silent. That bruise that looked like inflamed skin was a scar from a brand. Households that bought slaves would brand them like they were livestock.

Jusetsu was a house slave of the You clan.

“The You clan?”

“Their current head is a low-ranking official. They had someone who served as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Personnel several generations ago, but they have not been able to pass the examinations since.”

You couldn’t become a senior official unless you passed the examinations. There were many prominent families that were ruined in this way.

“They do not have a good reputation. Their financial situation is quite good for their official position. There are rumors of them extorting bribes and being involved in private salt trafficking. They also seem to treat their servants horribly. Apparently, she was sold to them at age four.”

Koushun furrowed his brow. At that age…

“However, I was unable to obtain information on her life before that point. It is not even clear which slave dealer she was bought from.”

There were various circumstances for one to become a slave. One might be a hereditary slave, a poor peasant from an impoverished region, or a member of a respectable family that had been reduced to poverty.

With Jusetsu’s looks, he would be convinced if someone told him she was a sheltered princess from somewhere——.

“I do not think it is the best idea to be involved with someone of unknown background.”

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“…I understand your concerns, but this is necessary.”

Eisei pursed his lips. He had that look on his face when he would follow Koushun’s words because they came from him, but he didn’t agree with them.

“They most likely don’t know why I’m visiting the Raven Consort, and they’re probably confused over what to do. …It would be more helpful if the Raven Consort was an existence that stood out.”

Then, Koushun’s voice became even lower.

“Have your subordinates said anything to you?”

He asked. Eisei answered into Koushun’s ear. “The eunuch and palace lady in question have not made any movements at the moment.” Koushun had installed several of Eisei’s subordinates as spies at key posts.

“…It would be easier if they made their move right away.”

It wasn’t difficult to choke off the empress dowager’s side. She didn’t understand that Koushun was simply not doing so. She still thought she had power, even though it had already slipped out of her hands.

He took away her Go pieces, one by one, driving her into a corner and blocking her escape route. That was what Koushun had been doing ever since he imprisoned the empress dowager.

He couldn’t forgive the woman who brutally killed his mother and friend.

Even though the room was bright with the morning light, it seemed like a dim shadow shrouded his body. He felt like something blue-black was eating into him from his fingertips, and he was rotting from the inside out. However, he couldn’t stop it. The hatred and anger that raged within his chest had frozen and necrotized his heart.

“Just a little more…”


Whispering low enough that Eisei might or might not have heard him, Koushun drank up the tea.

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