HLCOB C25

Chapter 25

Xun Yu unrolled the bamboo slip.

Upon it, in beautiful script, was written a single line:

“Do not bite at the enemy’s bait.”

Gazing at the phrase, Xun Yu fell into thought. Huaseo—that was the name; the man’s hand was truly a convincing beauty. Yet for such a lovely hand, the content on the slip was brief.

“Do not consume the enemy’s bait…”

It was a line from the Art of War. Leaving only this, Jaheon had postponed their meeting. Xun Yu was perplexed. Was he not one who had only just come up to Luoyang? For Wang Yun’s sake, he should be enlarging his faction. As he pondered—

“How did it go, Gongda?”

A young boy’s voice sounded.

It was Xun You.

At that voice, Xun Yu hesitated for a moment; it was because of the faint expectation clinging to the voice of his young uncle. In the end, he handed the bamboo slip to Xun You; he knew the youth’s quickness rivaled his own, and also meant to satisfy a little of that expectation regarding Jaheon.

“It seems the meeting with Im Huaseo will be delayed.”

A flicker of regret passed over the young Xun You’s face and was gone. At the unguarded expression of the young uncle who had yet to master his face, Xun Yu laughed.

“Is it disappointing?”

“…N‑no, Gongda.”

Cheeks reddening at the question, Xun You hastily took the slip and unrolled it. After thinking upon the written line, he asked Xun Yu:

“Gongda, was this meeting something Granduncle instructed?”

“Yes. He said to meet Im Huaseo and see the measure of the man.”

At present, Jaheon was a perfect figure for the Qingliu.

He received the Emperor’s favor no less than the eunuchs, but unlike them, possessed the ability to deserve that favor. The poem he wrote at Hongdu alone showed as much. Moreover, he was, in effect, someone recommended by Wang Yun. Therefore, however many scandals there might be, Jaheon satisfied every condition the Qingliu desired in a favorite. He seemed, as it were, a bait prepared for the Qingliu. If one applied the “bait” written on this slip to Jaheon, it fit.

Like Wang Yun, the scholars called “Qingliu” were human, unable to suppress the desire to return to Luoyang.

“Still…”

That a gentleman would hold himself far from a true minister—this was a thing that made no sense in the books Xun You had read. Hesitating, he spoke:

“…It seems His Majesty does not look kindly on the Qingliu.”

If this was true, it meant but one thing.

A blood‑wind would soon blow in Luoyang.

Jaheon had come to see Lady He.

“And here I thought a blood‑wind would rise…”

Frankly, he had not thought he could so easily meet Lady He.

Lady He.

The woman who would become the second Empress to the current Emperor Liu Hong was, in the original history, famed as one of those who, together with Yuan Shao, opened the gate to chaos. After becoming Empress Dowager, by failing to balance between eunuchs and Qingliu forces, she provided regional warlords the chance to carve up the realm.

And that was not all.

She was also notorious for a violent disposition. When another imperial consort, Lady Wang, fell pregnant, there was the famous tale of her poisoning Lady Wang in front of the palace women. So Jaheon had not expected to meet Lady He easily. After all, was he not rumored to be the Emperor’s male favorite? He had even reckoned with the possibility of being poisoned.

“Im Huaseo pays respects to Lady He.”

“Rise.”

Yet the Lady He whom he faced had, contrary to her evil repute, a rather gentle look. Smiling kindly at him, she said,

“Im, yirang—I hear you came to see me upon entering the palace, rather than His Majesty.”

“My lady, this humble one has not yet been formally recommended; please address me without ceremony.”

“Without ceremony? Are you not a servant who eats the state’s grain?”

“I am not, my lady. How could this humble one boast of being an official before your ladyship?”

Even before Lady He’s gentle, cat‑like visage, Jaheon sought not to relax. He knew all too well what deeds this gentle face would work and how it would ascend to Empress Dowager…

“Haha—just listen to him talk. Surely, if there are to be concubines, it is better they be ones like you.”

“……?”

He had certainly meant not to relax.

“I did not think His Majesty the type to favor men—but seeing your face, now I understand. With your looks, what could not be done, be it a taste for men or anything else?”

At Lady He’s words, Jaheon could not remain calm; he nearly dropped the soap he had brought as a gift.

“I will treat you well.”

As she went so far as to emphasize her great generosity, Jaheon’s vision swam.

“Far better you than some troublesome concubines monopolizing His Majesty’s favor—you, after all, cannot bear a child.”

On reflection, it was only natural that Lady He, who came from the Zhuoliu, should misunderstand.

Though Jaheon’s reputation had risen swiftly among the Qingliu, it had not risen equally among the Zhuoliu literati. Even now there were quite a number who insisted he was favored only for his face. And even Lady He’s elder brother He Jin became allied with the Qingliu and raised his power only after she became Empress; before then he was thoroughly of the Zhuoliu.

“Damn it.”

Jaheon could not find a way to set Lady He’s misunderstanding straight. Honestly, had it been other officials or palace workers, he would have ignored them—but this was none other than Lady He. How many imperial consorts had died by her jealousy?

“By the way—how do you tend your hair? And how is your skin so fair? Does His Majesty also like it?”

Try as he might, no way came to mind to correct the misunderstanding. Jaheon wondered for a moment if his head had always been so dull. Then he gave up on correcting it. Such is the nature of misunderstandings—the more one explains, the stranger it becomes.

Instead, he chose to take the misunderstanding as an opportunity to give a gift.

“My lady, this humble one uses this.”

“……?”

“And so this humble one has come to present it to you.”

Jaheon handed a box of soap to Lady He’s maid. He had mixed pollen to give it fragrance. In this era there was yet no soap. Moreover, it was a time when fragrance was made by burning incense.

“This is called ‘soap’; if one wets it with water, it makes lather. If one washes the body with that lather and then rinses with water, the skin becomes soft and the body is scented.”

“It makes the skin soft?”

At his words, Lady He, surprised, ordered water brought. She wet her hands and touched the soap; it foamed. Washing her hands with the lather and rinsing, her skin became smooth. The scent rose as well—it was one she liked.

“…Is this peony?”

“Knowing your ladyship favors peony, this humble one prepared it.”

Her guard undone by a single bar of soap, Lady He beamed.

“How did you know I liked peony—Im, yirang…! No—let me call you Im‑rang.”

She even called him Im‑rang. But the term rang was an endearment usually used for a lover.

At that address, Jaheon shut his eyes tight.

He felt that the day was near when he would be called a male favorite who had seduced not only the Emperor but now the Empress as well. At the word Im‑rang, the suspicious gazes of the palace maids rained upon him. Yet Jaheon forced a smile. For now, winning Lady He’s heart came first. At this point, the most important person to Jaheon was neither Emperor, nor eunuchs, nor any other, but Lady He.

“…Seeing your ladyship pleased, this humble one is likewise glad.”

With trembling lips, he barely managed the reply.

“How is it you speak so prettily? If your looks are so beautiful, is your heart also so gentle?”

“You honor me beyond my worth, my lady.”

“To bring such a precious gift—surely you desire something…”

Satisfied with the soap, Lady He spoke now in a much softer tone.

“Let me hear it.”

“……”

“Anything but assassinating His Majesty, and I shall grant it.”

Lady He was no ordinary person either. Of course, what made her thus was perhaps largely what came later. After a brief thought, Jaheon spoke.

“In that case, my lady—may your attendants withdraw?”

At his words, Lady He smiled.

“A fox, through and through—you came with a favor in mind from the start?”

Even as she said it, she waved her hand readily, dismissing the court ladies. Soon, in the vast palace, only Jaheon and Lady He remained. Touching her red‑painted lips, she asked,

“Now speak. What do you wish so much as to plead thus?”

At that, Jaheon recalled the earlier exchange with Lady He.

“A concubine…”

In truth, in the harem, all but the Empress were concubines. Then why did Lady He, a Gui‑ren, call Jaheon a concubine? Unless she already knew she would become Empress, such words would not issue from her mouth.

“As expected.”

Just as he thought, the eunuchs were already moving to strike the Empress. To Lady He, who would become Empress, naturally some hint would have been given.

“My lady.”

Having grasped the situation, Jaheon spoke.

“Please accuse the Empress at once.”

The simplest way to neutralize an opponent’s card was to remove the opponent’s card altogether.