Raven of the Inner Palace Vol. 1, page 4
Jusetsu thought to herself for a moment. “…Did Han really poison the Magpie Consort? She might have had a poison plant in her cupboard, but what if somebody else had put it there?”
Ashu grimaced. “That’s a fair point. Anything is possible in a place like this. It’s questionable whether the consort who drowned herself actually jumped into the pond by her own accord, and who knows whether that other one was really having an affair? If they find any evidence that’s even remotely plausible, they don’t dig any further.”
Jusetsu looked down at her washbowl. The water was so cold that it seemed to chill her to the core.
“How were things in the inner palace when the emperor’s grandfather was around…?” Jusetsu pulled herself together and continued to ask questions.
“I haven’t heard much about the Flame Emperor’s era.”
The Flame Emperor was the posthumous title bestowed on the emperor-before-last.
The woman continued. “That’s partly because I wasn’t at the palace when he was around, but the fact that he was so old when he inherited the throne also has something to do with it. He never had many concubines in the first place, and things were difficult politically. It wasn’t the right time to be messing around in the inner palace.”
The Flame Emperor ascended to the throne when the previous emperor—the last from the previous dynasty—abdicated to ensure an orderly transfer of power. On paper, he may have been “given” the throne, but it wasn’t so simple in reality. He blackmailed the existing emperor, and even after rising in power himself, it took him a while to finish purging his opposition.
“Hmm… But I have heard another story. Whenever the Flame Emperor paid a visit to his empress’ palace, they’d leave the lanterns and lamps on all night long and spend all their time in the bright light. The reason for that was because ghosts would appear when night fell—the ghosts of the previous imperial family from the previous dynasty.”
Ashu spoke in a low voice with a serious look on her face. “The ghost of the emperor had blood pouring from his mouth as he spouted out curses. On top of that, the empress, his heirs, and his young daughter would line up in front of the bed, all with their beautiful silver hair in disarray…”
People from this land tended to have black hair, but, as mysterious as it was, the previous dynasty’s imperial family all had the same silver hair color.
“The Flame Emperor was plagued by those ghosts until the day he died. He had killed too many of them.”
Her last few words had been so quiet that Jusetsu could hardly make them out, but they carried with them a hint of condemnation.
After the Flame Emperor ascended the throne, he murdered the previous dynasty’s emperor, who had given him his rank. Not only that, but he also ordered the killing of the entire imperial family—including the women and children.
He’d done this to “eliminate the root of evil,” but even Jusetsu remembered hearing the murmurs of city folk saying that he’d gone too far before she came to live in the inner palace.
“Argh! I won’t be able to sleep after hearing that story,” Jiujiu said in a tearful voice.
Ashu finally let out a laugh, then made another attempt to scare her. “You never know… They might still be here in the inner palace! They could be visiting your bed next!”
Jusetsu suddenly rose to her feet and rubbed her wet hands against her skirt. Joking about the dead doesn’t appeal to me, she thought to herself. “That was very helpful. Sorry for disturbing you. Please accept my apologies.” With that, she turned away and left the washing area.
Jiujiu followed after her, flustered. “Are you okay, Jusetsu? You don’t look too well.”
“I don’t?” Jusetsu patted her cheeks.
“Are you bad with scary stories too? It’d be so freaky if a ghost appeared, wouldn’t it? It’s not like we can leave this place.”
“I’m not scared of ghosts,” Jusetsu explained, “It’s just upsetting.”
“Wait, really? I’m totally petrified of them.”
Jiujiu clung to Jusetsu, acting afraid. Then, the two of them returned to the Hien Palace kitchen and carried on hulling the bracken roots.
By the time they sufficiently crushed the roots and submerged them in the water, it was well past noon. It was Jusetsu’s first time hulling with a pestle and her palms were red by the end of it, but it was easier work than the labor she was forced to do before coming to the inner palace.
When she left the kitchen, Jiujiu chased after her. “Take this,” she said, offering her some mugwort rice cakes with taro leaves underneath. “A thank-you for helping me.”
“…Thank you,” Jusetsu replied.
These sweet treats had likely been served for “tasting purposes,” a privilege that only the girls who worked as kitchen staff got to enjoy. When Jusetsu sat on the earthen jar next to her and brought a rice cake to her mouth, the scent of the mugwort filled the air. Jiujiu stuffed her cheeks with her portion too, and her eyes narrowed with glee as she enjoyed the delicious flavor.
“Are you sure you’re allowed to be away from your post for this long?” she asked Jusetsu. Jiujiu realized her new friend spent the whole morning at another palace.
“It won’t be an issue.”
“I guess the Yamei Palace must be pretty chill. I’m jealous. I wish I worked there too! Not that this place is particularly strict, but…”
And you get to steal some food, Jusetsu thought as she brought yet another rice cake to her mouth.
“Oh, but I bet it’s scary there, isn’t it? I heard there’s some kind of monstrous bird in there.”
“The bird is certainly unique…but I wouldn’t describe it as scary.”
“Huh, really?”
Once Jiujiu finished eating her rice cakes, she casually looked up at Jusetsu, who had turned to the side. She reached out her hand. “Wait, are you going gray early? You’ve got some gray hair…”
Jusetsu quickly jumped to her feet and walked away from Jiujiu, covering her hair with her hand.
“I’m sorry,” apologized Jiujiu. “Are you embarrassed about it? It’s not like it was enough to worry yourself over! Perhaps it was just the way the light was shining on it.”
“It’s not that…” Jusetsu said as she retreated, keeping her hand on her hair. “I’m going back now. Thank you for today.”
With that, Jusetsu rushed back toward the passageway. Jiujiu watched her as she left, a vacant look on her face.
***
The drum sounded to announce that it was midday, and Koshun vocalized his relief as he leaned back in his chair. This meant that his official duties in the outer part of the imperial estate were now finished for the day. It was also time for his officials, who had arrived before sunrise, to go home.
“Your Majesty,” Chief Secretariat Un whispered in Koshun’s ear just as he was getting up to leave the room. The grand chancellor had a magnificent white beard and previously acted as the grand master for the crown prince. The man had been close to the emperor since he was very young.
“Things don’t seem to be settling down in the Teirui Palace,” he told the emperor.
The Teirui Palace was the detached palace where the empress dowager lived in confinement.
“I know. Meiin?” Koshun called out, ushering an intelligent-looking man in his forties to his side. “How’s the money situation?”
“We haven’t found anything suspicious so far,” replied the man. He was a scholar and also served as the vice-minister in the palace’s financial affairs department. “I’m sure she’s hiding her fortune somewhere, though. It’s no surprise, considering how overzealous she was in issuing official titles by imperial decree.”
The empress dowager had constantly lined her own pockets by taking money from people in exchange for government positions. There was a discrepancy between the fortune that had been confiscated from her and her estimated wealth.
“There must be some eunuchs pulling the strings,” said the emperor, looking at the chief of the palace staffing department.
The chief bowed his head in acquiescence. “I know.”
The empress dowager wasn’t the sort to meekly settle into a life of confinement. This woman had seduced and even intimidated the previous emperor into letting her take charge of both his external and internal affairs, and even drove Koshun to lose his position as heir. There were evidently some eunuchs who still maintained ties with her.
“At the end of the day, she does not understand what a compassionate fellow you are, Your Majesty.”
Once they’d finished devising some remedial measures, Un exited the room, stroking his white beard and sighing as he went. Then, Koshun headed to the inner court where he lived, taking Eisei along with him. Even with his work in the outer court done, there were still jobs he had to complete in the inner court. The emperor had a lot of business to attend to.
However… He hadn’t allowed the empress dowager to live because he was compassionate.
When he sent his troops from the imperial army rushing into the palace of the empress dowager—who was, at that time, the empress—he didn’t behead her, no. But that was only because he didn’t have the authority to get away with something like that at the time. If he’d had the powerful empress killed, the backlash would have been immense. He thought of it like a game of Go—you couldn’t seize power with just one stone. Just as a player had to take away their opponent’s Go stones one by one, Koshun slowly and steadily gained power in the imperial court from that point on.
But now, he did have the ability to punish her. As the emperor, he could use his will alone to execute her for a made-up crime—just as the empress dowager once could. That was what having power was all about.
Despite having the ability, Koshun wasn’t going to abuse his authority like that. He wanted cold, hard proof that would justify a punishment.
Koshun silently gazed ahead of him. He could see the Gyoko Palace standing there, with his main residence inside of it. Far into the distance, too far away for him to make out, stood another palace named the Gyoso Palace. Long abandoned and deserted, its roof had fallen into disrepair and its walls were blackened by mold.
When Koshun was thirteen and had his status as heir ripped from him, they forced him out of the crown prince’s palace and moved him there instead. Then, at the age of eighteen, he marched right into the empress’ palace. Until he managed to regain his status as the crown prince, Koshun was destitute and barely had enough food to survive. If it hadn’t been for Eisei and his other close advisers who secretly supported him, anything could have happened.
His mother, Consort Sha, was killed by poisoning before Koshun lost his heirship. One of the empress’ eunuchs framed her lady-in-waiting as the culprit, and she was promptly executed as well. Still, there wasn’t any clear proof that indicated that the empress was behind the plot either.
If Koshun were to kill the empress dowager without concrete evidence, that would have made him no different than her.
If he bulled through with his demands, things would eventually backfire. The emperor wasn’t going to repeat the mistakes of the empress dowager. He wanted an undisputable reason that made perfect sense in terms of both law and logic. He wanted it so much that he could almost taste it.
Some described Koshun as a rational man. They said that he wasn’t swayed by emotion and respected the law of the land. Some would also call him kindhearted.
Koshun believed both of these assumptions were wrong. None of them knew about the intense emotions that gnawed away at him.
He was aching to see the woman dead.
A room inside the Gyoko Palace was filled with the scent of tea. Eisei set the kettle on the stove and let the water boil. He took a pinch of salt out of its container and added it to the water. The way his movements flowed was beautiful to watch. Then he spooned the boiled tea into a cup, and reverently placed it in front of the emperor.
“Enjoy, master.”
The gentle steam and the pure aroma of the tea enveloped Koshun as he took his first sip. The tea felt smooth in his mouth and filled his belly with warmth when he swallowed it down. All the tension in his body slowly dissipated.
“Your tea really is the best,” he commented.
Eisei’s eyes narrowed with delight. “That means a lot.”
Koshun met the eunuch at the age of ten and immediately recruited him as his personal attendant. Eisei knew Koshun’s preferences and opinions better than anyone.
“…How did it go?” the emperor asked, not specifying exactly what he was referring to.
After all, you never knew who was listening in from outside the room. Eisei would know what he meant.
“The osmanthus mark is that of the Yo family,” Eisei replied, sticking to only the essential details. Koshun had got him to look into the birthmark-like blemish on Jusetsu’s arm.
“If those marks were branded into her skin, she must have been one of their servants.”
“Correct.”
Koshun was quiet. Those marks, which looked like inflamed skin, were burn scars. That family branded their servants as if they were livestock.
Jusetsu once worked as a servant for the Yo family.
“That means…”
“The current head of the family works as a low-ranking official. His predecessor from many generations ago worked as a vice-minister for the board of personnel, but since then, none of them have been successful in the imperial examination.”
If you didn’t pass the imperial exam, you couldn’t gain a position as a high-ranking official. Many notable families had gone down in a similar way.
“Their reputation is less than satisfactory. Despite his position, they’ve got plenty of money. There are rumors that they are involved in salt trafficking, and it’s said that they treat their workers horribly too. Apparently, Jusetsu was sold to them at the age of four.”
Koshun frowned. At such a young age?
“I couldn’t find out any information about her life before that point. It wasn’t clear which vendor they bought her from.”
People ended up as servants for myriad different reasons—some had been working for a family for generations, others were poor farmers from deprived rural areas, some belonged to peoples that had been hunted down, and some came from good families who had fallen into poverty.
Going by Jusetsu’s appearance, however… You wouldn’t have been a fool to believe that she was a princess whose status was so distinguished that she’d been sealed away in a secluded inner room for her safety.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get involved with a girl of unknown origins, personally,” Eisei said.
“I understand your concerns…but I must.”
Eisei pursed his lips. His expression suggested that although he would follow whatever Koshun said, he wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t the first time Koshun had seen it.
“It’s not like the empress dowager’s cronies will know why I’m visiting the Raven Consort, and they probably don’t know what to do. It’s better that the Raven Consort makes her presence known—that’ll work in my favor.”
Then, Koshun lowered his voice even more to pose Eisei a question. “Have your people said anything to you?”
“The eunuch and court lady in question have not made any moves as of yet,” Eisei whispered back.
Koshun had placed several of Eisei’s subordinates to work undercover in strategic places as spies.
“It’d make life easier for me if they got to work right away.”
It would be by no means difficult to kill the empress dowager’s allies. She was unaware that Koshun was just choosing not to do so. The woman thought she still held her power, but it had already slipped out of her hands.
Koshun was taking her stones away one at a time, driving her into a corner and blocking her exits. He’d been doing this ever since he put her into confinement.
He would never forgive that woman for brutally murdering his mother and his friend.
The room was bright and full of daylight, but a gloomy shadow surrounded the emperor. Something bluish black was gnawing its way up from his toes, and he felt as if he was decaying from the inside. Even so, he couldn’t stop. He let the raging hatred and anger in his chest destroy his heart with its icy grip.
“We’re almost there now…” the emperor whispered, so quietly that even Eisei may not have heard him.
He then drank the rest of his tea.
***
She should have known better, but she knew it was only a matter of time.
Jusetsu covered her head until she got back to the Yamei Palace. Once she was home, she took a sandalwood box out of her cabinet and placed in on her table. She then brought over her druggist’s mortar from its place on a shelf in the kitchen. This tool was primarily used for grinding up medicinal plants. Jusetsu opened the lid to the box and threw some dried green alder fruits and areca nuts inside. With that done, she began to grind the ingredients as if she’d done so a million times before.
She pulverized the fruits and nuts—the finer they were, the better. As she intently ground away at them, Shinshin, who’d been sitting at her feet, suddenly began flapping its wings and rampaging about. Startled, Jusetsu started to turn around to ask it what was wrong, but when she saw what was upsetting Shinshin, she almost screamed.
There was a person standing there—Eisei.
“Wh-where did you appear from?”
Nobody had opened the front doors.
“I came in through the back entrance in order to evade notice,” he explained with an icy look on his face. Eisei glimpsed at the druggist’s mortar, but soon shifted his gaze back to Jusetsu herself, seemingly uninterested by it. “Did the clothes come in handy?”
Jusetsu looked down at her court lady disguise. Her heart was still racing from the shock, but Jusetsu gave a simple nod so that Eisei wouldn’t notice. “Yes, indeed they did.”
“In what way?” he asked politely, wanting to hear how the plan unfolded.
Jusetsu frowned but went on to explain what happened. “I gathered some information from one of the court ladies. The ghost with the earring may be that of the warbler lady that died during the reign of the previous emperor.”
