Ah Duos palace had the usual feel to it.
Ah Duo-sama. Please read a book.
The children gathered around Ah Duo. The scene of them asking her to read a book under the gazebo resembled a western painting.
While it was hard for him to call out to her, Ah Duo seed to have registered his presence. She gently closed the book and stood, soothing the children.
Ehh, done already?
Haha. Its already ti for dinner. Ill read before bedti, so brush your teeth properly beforehand.
After petting the childrens heads, the beauty in barbarian robes approached Jinshi. She was a youthful person to begin with, but he felt she had aged backwards since moving to the villa.
Prince of the Moon, its been a while. Ah Duo greeted him like an official, on one knee, hands atop each other. It seed reverent, but she was probably sticking out her tongue while facing downJinshi smiled wryly.
You havent changed.
Jinshi gently motioned with his hand. Taking that as a sign, Ah Duo, who had stuck out her tongue as expected, raised her face.
For Jinshi, as soone who is often held at arms length by others, Ah Duo was one of the few people who treated him as an equal.
He had co whilst leaving behind Basen who was also naggy about escorts.
Although he didnt bring it up specifically, Basens expression didnt look good.
In that case, Basen should probably take heed of Maais advice exactly because she was his own sister, but he cant do that at all, being a weak man considering his physical strength. Once he gets married, he would, most definitely, be more henpecked than Gaoshun.
Well, it also depends on who it is, Jinshi said.
What was that? Ah Duo asked.
No, nothing.
He was shown into the palace. A sweet fragrance perated the air.
Whats this?
There were wine bottles on the table. From the sll, they seed to be considerably high in alcohol content.
This is He found himself checking once again.
His majesty gave Suirens pastries. However, Im more pleased with the alcohol used in it. Ive specially set aside so for you.
The guard stayed outside. Only Jinshi and Ah Duo were in the room. Ah Duos speech turned even more casual.
He rembered the previous occasion he drank wine with Ah Duo. Was it the night before she left the inner palace? He was summoned and made to drink so much, and in the end, he was told, eting breakup, and chased out of the palace.
Aside from the wine, there was also a Go board on the table.
Ah Duo picked up a Go stone and fiddled with it. Didnt you have an interesting match the other day?
Has it beco a topic of discussion? Jinshi averted his eyes. He only had an unpleasant premonition. Their positions suddenly reversed, and Jinshis language beca polite.
Given the many years of banter in the inner palace between them, this was closer to their natural way of speaking.
The two of them were alone, so their conversation continued down this path.
Yeah. When I heard that the weirdo tactician was driven to a wall, I found myself laughing. What trick did you use?
She shouldve already co up with the correct answer, as she was sloshing the wine bottle around.
I wonder. I lost in the end, he said.
A loss is a loss.
Winning against Rakan using whatever moves possible. To Jinshi, a wins a win.
However, it seed you had been going well, Ah Duo said.
Yeah. I was confident. Who would have thought a coback was possible even though he was hanging by a thread?
Even so, he didnt relax his guard. He had thought of every possible move to prepare for the rematch, but he was completely overthrown.
Dont see your opponent as human
It was just as the Grandmaster of Go had said.
Thats why, Jinshi had tried to win by combining several moves to bind him as a stopgap asure.
As if Ah Duo had anticipated that, she poured the amber-hued wine into glass containers. A llow fragrance instantly filled the room.
Well then, he was an opponent you went to great lengths to defeat. What were you thinking of doing once you defeated him? Ah Duo asked.
well, what I was thinking of doing? Jinshi responded with a question.
Amused, Ah Duo had Jinshi hold onto the wine she had poured for herself.
Regardless of how its done, if I were to defeat Rakan-dono, therell be fewer of the fools who see my appearance as my only redeeming feature, right? Jinshi said.
You have so much confidence in solely your appearance as usual. Doesnt it sound sarcastic now? Ah Duo replied.
In that regard, shall I thank my mother who gave birth to ?
Jinshis outward appearance was a weapon, occasionally to the point of annoyance.
.
Ah Duo was silent. He checked through the glasscould she be surprised by the extent of his confidence in his appearance?
Ah Duo-dono?
Beyond the amber-hued liquid, was a woman with a bitter expression. For an instant, she looked different from the usual tough beauty in male-garb.
Are you feeling a little out of it? he asked.
No, its nothing. This is quite strong. Ah Duo set down the glass of wine. Her bitter expression was gone, instead, there was the dignified look that gave the impression of a young official.
You neednt defeat the weirdo tactician. Even if you dont beco more reputable, from the Shi Clan incident, no one would think that you were the weak, shut-in imperial brother, she said.
The Shi Clan incident wasnt my achievent.
He was shouldering it instead. For the vixen who was no longer around.
Wine had been passed to him, but he had yet to taste it. He had to broach the main topic before that.
More importantly, Ah Duo-dono. I heard that your palace was set on fire.
Oh, you have sharp ears, she replied indifferently.
What do you an sharp. Hasnt it already been ten days since then?
Why didnt you report it? he emphasised.
Report what. It was a small fire. Besides, nothing was stolen.
Why didnt you lodge a report?
Ah Duo grinned.
Please dont hide it behind a smile, he said.
Its impossible, huh. It would seduce the palace ladies and eunuchs though, she said.
I am neither of those. More importantly, did you seduce them?
You cant speak for yourself either, right?
Jinshi was stuck for words.
Rather, during his ti in the inner palace, he used it so much. Even now, he made use of it occasionally.
So, the reason you remained silent? he asked.
Youre smart. You have an idea of it, right? Ah Duo brought over so grilled ham as a side dish. She picked it up with both hands, and played with it, peeling off the thin slices.
That behaviour would make Suiren discipline him imdiately if she ever saw it.
The intruder seed to be looking for Suirei.
It was mostly as he had predicted.
Suirei. The previous emperors grandchild and one of the survivors of the Shi Clan.
The person who, under normal circumstances, should have been executed was in Ah Duos palace. This was a serious topic.
What about the children? he asked.
She was also raising orphans along with the surviving Shi Clan children.
They are living here soundly. They hadnt noticed since the small fire happened in the middle of the night. Everyone is young and theyre all good kids. Their past mories are being overwritten by new mories from now on, to erase the sad ones.
It was better to completely forget they were from the Shi Clan. If they did so, Jinshi and the others can take care of it without a hassle.
If theres anything amiss, they will imdiately be executed.
Due to that promise, he had extended the lives of the children.
One of them, a child called Chouu, had lost all his mories. So, as a special treatnt, he was left in the care of Rokushoukan who had looked after Maomao in town.
He had no idea what to think of leaving a child in a brothel, but from a certain standpoint, that was the first place to send him.
And, Suirei?
She is pestered by the children to read books. She is sleeping in the childrens room now.
Jinshi inadvertently made a look of incomprehension. Suirei was the tall woman who dressed as a man most of the ti. It was difficult for Jinshi to imagine. He could hardly imagine her looking after the children expressionlessly.
Shes probably tired since she was entrusted to prune the trees in the garden during the day. Every ti there was a caterpillar, she scread, you see.
Making soone who was originally confined do gardeningit was just like Ah Duo.
Ah Duo-dono.
To think she would treat the woman, who once caused trouble to the imperial court, in this way.
I am no match for Ah Duo, Jinshi thought wholeheartedly.
In other words, am I to take it that you didnt obtain evidence, although you escaped from harm.
Thats right. Also, the reason I kept quiet Ah Duo gently took out a pouch from her bosom. It contained sothing like rods the length of the tip of nails.
My word.
This was dropped at the scene of the fire. Its covered in soot, but once you feel it, youll know.
. He checked with his fingers. Could the cool material be glass? It seed to be glass that had been stretched thinly and cut, but it was hollow inside. Theyre beads.
Beads werent unusual as an ornant, but as far as Jinshi could see, these beads were quite small. It wasnt sothing to be strung together as a single article, but sothing that can be sewn onto clothes and shoes.
And Jinshi, who had lived in the inner palace for a long ti, rembered what kind of consort wore clothes that were sewn on with beads.
Could it be soone who hails from the West?
In the West, won were required to study embroidery for marriage. All their clothes were embroidered and sewn with beads.
This is why I stayed quiet.
Soone from the West. How many would react to this?
Currently, while the emperor was in the middle of strengthening ties with the West, there was also a lot of backlash.
I am suspicious of Gyokuen-donos relatives, but what do you think?
(T/N: , Yu Yuan.)
Gyokuen, Gyokuyous father, presided over Riis west. He should be currently staying in the capital.
Im not in a position to comnt on this lightly.
I know right.
Ah Duo split the ham she had been playing with right in half and put it in her mouth. Jinshi also took so ham and brought it to his mouth. It was nicely salted at. Suiren prepared a lot of sweet foods as side dishes, so this wasnt bad, once in a while.
Anyway, it cant be helped if weve already noticed.
Ah Duo wiped her fingers with a towel and swallowed the glass of wine.
You are too kind. So take care, shesaid and set the glass down on the table.
The contents of Jinishis untouched cup shook from the action. The rippling amber-hued surface distorted and reflected Jinshis expression.
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