Lunch time had finally come. The Moon Prince stretched in his chair, feeling his lower back pop. 'Ow, ' he groaned.

Basen shook his head. 'You might need a second secretary. '

'It would be irresponsible to just stamp them all with a blanket 'no, ' right? '

'Previous generations of the Imperial family have been known to use that exact tactic, sir, ' Basen pointed out.

Of course, those previous princes were cautionary tales and the Moon Prince shook his head, looking over the dent he 'd made in the pile. 'I hate backlogs. '

'Well, if your highness is so inclined, there are those who are seeking an audience at your convenience. '

He straightened his posture. 'Who? '

Basen glanced at the mirror that was set up to let them get a look at those outside the office itself. 'It appears to be young noblemen of the court. I suspect these are social visits. '

'Trying to feel me out, are they? ' The Moon Prince rolled his neck to work the kinks out.

Basen shrugged. 'You haven 't really spent a lot of time among your peers, at least in age, sir. Maybe they 're thinking of your return to court as a fresh start. '

It was a criticism that had been leveled against him before and he took a deep breath. 'Agreed. How many are outside? '

Basen glanced at the mirror again. 'Three, it would appear, sir. '

'They may have fifteen minutes of my time. I would like a chance to eat, after all. ' He rolled his neck one more time before deliberately straightening his posture in a manner befitting his station.

'Understood, your highness. ' Basen left and when he returned, three young men of the court entered after him.

All of them were approximately his age and two of the three seemed a little nervous. The third young noble was a man with a clever, handsome face and what looked like a perpetual smirk. Nonetheless, they greeted him, arms raised and heads bowed. 'Our humble greetings to His Highness, the Moon Prince, ' they chorused.

Hm. That was a welcome change. No inappropriate use of exalted verbiage that would indicate they were thinking of him as a higher rank than he officially was. 'Raise your heads. What brings you gentlemen to my office today? '

The tallest of the young men spoke, only stammering slightly. 'We wished to offer our greetings at your safe return from your tour of the empire. '

The Moon Prince inclined his head, cordial but not easily approachable. 'Your greetings are appreciated. '

There was a moment of awkward silence, as if the young men weren 't entirely sure how to continue the conversation. He almost dismissed them out of pity (and a desire to protect his lunch!) before the clever looking one spoke. 'We hope we are not interrupting your day? '

'Not at all. I was just about to take a short break. ' He smiled at the three of them, noting absently that the other two flushed very slightly. Flustered, then, but not inclined toward their own sex, it would seem.

Meanwhile, the clever one 's complexion never changed. 'How are you finding your return? I can only imagine that life on the road can begin to wear after a while. '

'It does. It is, of course, good to be home again. ' The Moon Prince 's sparkling smile never wavered.

One of the more nervous ones spoke up. 'You missed the winter campaign, your highness, but spring means that there are still flowers to admire. '

Only one, and I doubt you are observant enough to look

, he thought, his smile locking into place for a moment to avoid any minute change in his expression. Then he frowned internally.

Winter campaign? Last I checked, we haven 't gone to war.

'That is, if your highness has the time to do so, ' the second nervous one said, attempting to join in the conversation.

'Alas, ' The Moon Prince gestured to the still impressive piles on his desk. 'As you see, I doubt I will be doing much flower viewing in the immediate future. '

The first one frowned and blurted out, 'Don 't you have secretaries? '

There was the slight rustling of paper behind Baryou 's curtain. The Moon Prince could all but hear offense emanating from that corner. Although Basen 's suggestion of finding a second secretary did have merit '

'His Highness would first have to find a secretary who wouldn 't look at six months of backlog and run screaming for the mountains, ' the clever one said, his mouth twisting in amusement.

His own expression mirrored it for a moment. He couldn 't picture Baryou running for the hills himself - but maybe if Chue hauled him away? 'Fortunately, gentlemen, I have a very talented secretary. But, as you rightly observed, ' he addressed the clever one, 'six months of backlog is still a fair amount of work to clear. I 'm afraid flower viewing will have to wait. '

'A pity - it is always a pleasure to appreciate nature 's bounty before some hand plucks them into a bouquet, ' the clever one shrugged.

His perfect nymph 's smile never wavered, but internally he deflated. Bouquet. So, this was about his household register.

'Some flowers don 't suit a bouquet, ' the more timid of the quiet pair piped up.

The other one brightened. 'True - '

'My deepest apologies, Moon Prince. ' Basen bowed from the corner. 'I 'm afraid there is a household matter that requires your attention. '

The Moon Prince came to his feet. 'Well, gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to speak with you after the rigors of travel, but I 'm afraid duty calls. Perhaps we shall speak again in a setting more suited for flower viewing. '

All three bowed. 'Of course, Your Highness, ' they chorused.

'I 'm sure the Moon Prince will be at liberty soon enough to enjoy all the delights of spring. It is always gratifying to witness four perfectly balanced flowers gathered together. ' The clever one offered him a smirk, as if inviting him to share a joke.

'Indeed, ' he offered in his blandest possible tone while allowing his eyes to crinkle with the force of his smile.

The three gentlemen withdrew and the Moon Prince looked at Basen. 'Is there actually a household matter or were you extricating me? '

Basen grinned. 'Both. Lunch includes oranges. Better hurry up. '

His stomach rumbled at the thought of the sour fruit after an entire morning slogging through paperwork. 'Agreed. ' He stretched. 'Let 's go eat. '

As they headed toward the main house, Basen asked, 'That sounded like they were probing you about the Rear Palace, sir. '

'Yes, ' he said, with a bemused shake of his head. 'I would have expected them to be angling to introduce their sisters and cousins. '

Basen watched him. 'You okay? '

He huffed in amusement. 'I have more important things to do than speculate about His Majesty 's flower garden. '

Three days later, that perfectly balanced bouquet had become the bane of his existence.

The Moon Prince was already tired of his new routine of catching up on the backlog of paperwork that had accumulated in his absence, peppered with nobles trying to feel him out for, of all the strange things, rumor about a new Pure Consort being admitted to the Rear Palace. The post had been vacant since Loulan and the Shi Clan 's rebellion - with girls from the Empress and Empress Dowager factions taking the spots left vacant by Lady Lishu and the now-Empress. The specter of the Shi Clan had done a great deal to keep the position vacant, but it was probably past time for the Garnet Pavilion to have a new mistress.

But it wasn 't the Moon Prince 's problem!

He didn 't run the Rear Palace anymore - furthermore, he 'd been absent from the capital for the last six months. The Rear Palace had a new palace manager - a man he had personally recommended on the basis of his administrative ability! But at this point, he was combing through the existing paperwork, just in case there was anything on his desk regarding the issue, just so he could give these idiots an answer.

'What are you looking for, sir? ' Baryou 's voice came from behind the curtain.

The Moon Prince shuffled through another stack of papers. 'Apparently, I 'm going to get no peace until and unless I find out if there is going to be a new Pure Consort. '

'Ah. ' Baryou 's voice was dry.

He paused his less-than-careful sort through the paperwork. 'Do

you

know anything about the subject? '

His secretary was quiet for a moment behind his curtain. 'I know that one of the high officials has recently gained more influence and has a daughter about the right age to enter the Rear Palace. The girl debuted at the most recent garden party and from what I understand has captured the imagination of the court. '

The Moon Prince sighed. 'So, what they really want to know is if the Emperor is going to rein in this particular official. '

'Indeed, although only partially. The girl herself is considered to be the most eligible marriage prospect of the court right now and given that your consort selection has been announced, they might also be trying to figure out if the lady is in the running to become part of your household as opposed to the Emperor 's. ' Baryou pointed out.

'Right, ' he sighed, rubbing his temple. It was so easy to fall back into the habit of working on clearing out everything that had built up in his absence, but ignoring attempts to marry him off would only backfire at this point. He needed to actually speak with Empress Gyokuyou and see if she was willing to ally with him about his preferred strategy, or if he was going to have to work around her as well.

'You do have an invitation from the Empress - she 's known to be quite intimate with the girl. Maybe you should go straight to the source? ' There was a fine, fine thread of tension in Baryou 's voice that gave him some pause - was the political situation more explosive than he 'd realized?

'You do also owe Princess Lingli a shoulder ride, sir. ' Basen piped up from the corner where he had also been combing through documents.

'True. ' He sighed. 'Well, far be it from me to disappoint a lady, I suppose. '

Both of the Ma brothers snorted at that. Even the Moon Prince had to smile faintly at the ridiculousness of his statement.

Basen cleared his throat. 'Speaking as someone who only has an older sister, rather than a younger one, I cannot speak for the princess ' reaction at being disappointed, but I suspect that she would find a way to ensure she gets what she was promised. '

He sighed. 'Well. If nothing else, I am a big brother now. And I suppose I should test the waters and see how the Empress' welcome holds up in private versus public. Basen, would you kindly go ask the Empress ' palace if this afternoon would be convenient? '

'Of course, sir. ' Basen turned around and headed off.

Baryou shuffled a few papers and went back to work, leaving the Moon Prince to shake his head and rearrange the papers he had messed up while looking through them. 'Baryou? '

'Yes, sir? '

'Have I met this girl, at least? ' He was trying to think of beauties that might have captured the court 's attention in the way this girl seemed to have done, but his attention was co-opted as Baryou started coughing violently behind the curtain.

'You okay? ' He resisted the urge to twitch the curtain aside and pound the other man on the back.

'Yeah, ' came a strangled confirmation. 'Tea went down the wrong way. '

The Moon Prince shook his head. 'Well? Is she someone they 'd at least think I was familiar with? '

There was another pause before Baryou managed to get out, 'The girl had never been officially presented at court before the spring garden party and your highness had been away from the court for well over four months at that point. '

'I see. ' The prince sighed again.

Behind the curtain was resolutely silent for the moment before Baryou said, 'Oh, this just came through, and I thought you might be interested. You 've gotten some support from Minister Fu regarding the idea of repurposing existing structures in the poorer areas of the capital for calligraphy institutes. '

'Oh? ' He kept cleaning up papers, pleased to see that he appeared to be through at least half of his backlog at this point.

'Yes - it would seem he likes the idea of raising the literacy rate among the populace in general, and if new structures don 't need to be built, that cuts the red tape in half, at least. And the fact that literacy rates are slowly rising in the Rear Palace as a result of the institute you began there means that the minister is willing to put some faith behind the proposal. ' Baryou passed him the relevant letter from behind the curtain.

'That is excellent news. ' He felt a small, genuine smile cross his face. At least this was something he could contribute and he sat back down to gauge support for one of his pet projects, the annoying subject of his father 's flowers pushed to the back of his mind.

Baryou sat in his alcove after his brother had retrieved their prince to go play horsie at the Empress ' palace and looked at the small basket hidden under his desk, by his foot. He opened it to reveal a pile of letters that he had very carefully filtered out of the Moon Prince 's correspondence over the last six months.

At first, they had all been concerned with the subject of Grand Commandant Kan and his stunning ascension within the court beginning a bare month after the Moon Prince had left on his tour. Letters asking for advice, gauging weakness, flat out asking for the Moon Prince 's support in curbing the La Clan 's head, due to his known long association with Lakan over his year in the Western Capital. Baryou had responded to all of these attempts at outreach with a form letter, reminding the senders that the Moon Prince was away on tour and that all such inquiries should be directed to the Emperor himself.

After the garden party, the volume of letters had tripled. Some still concerned Grand Commandant Kan, but the news that the La Clan 's daughter had been trained in etiquette under the Moon Prince had begun to circulate and the letters regarding her were split into two camps. The first camp were those who were interested in obtaining the young lady 's hand for themselves and were feeling the prince out to make sure that she was not already spoken for. Those letters had decreased sharply in the last three weeks

The second camp were those who were gauging the Moon Prince 's support behind elevating Lady Kan Maomao as the new Pure Consort to put a check on the soon-to-be General Kan.

Baryou had a stomach ache just looking at the pile of letters. The prince actually asking Baryou if he knew the young lady? Chue was going to have to beg his forgiveness for this one - but his orders had been clear. Nobody was to tell the Moon Prince about the apothecary 's abrupt rise within the ranks of eligible court ladies except for the Empress.

He reached for another indigestion pill. Hopefully the Moon Prince 's trip to the Empress ' palace would put an end to this charade, because there were only so many times he could successfully navigate a conversation like that without blowing the secret. Even if that meant his master would inevitably return either in a fury or a funk. Why couldn 't people just get married and be done with all this drama?

Then again, Baryou supposed that if your wife had a penchant for the dramatic, then perhaps it might be better for the Moon Prince to get all of the drama out of the way before he was married.

'Moon Prince! Welcome! ' The Empress stood from her seat to greet him, even as her ladies in waiting appeared to be arranging a flurry of fabrics for her perusal.

He offered her his most charming smile, allowing his eyes to crinkle. 'Empress, a pleasure as always. '

'Take a look at this - I think you might be interested. ' She gestured to three bolts of silk for him to see, all of which almost glowed under the daylight with an unusual luster. 'They 're calling this shot silk - see how it 's woven with multiple colors? '

The Moon Prince inspected them more closely. 'Indeed. ' There were three colors available - one bright scarlet shot with gold, another that appeared to be an extremely expensive purple, but was actually a vivid rose and sapphire woven opposite each other. The third bolt was that same sapphire interwoven with a complementary indigo that was intermittently shot with silver. The overall effect of that third bolt gave the impression of shooting stars against the night sky. 'This is quite impressive. ' His admiration was quite sincere - silk was one of their exports, but these fabrics would attract attention even among the court where fine silk was far from rare. 'Where are they from? '

'Well, the technique comes from the West, imported through Shaoh, but these are actually the first bolts that were produced using Linese silk. ' Gyokuyou stroked the fabric delicately.

And silk, unlike paper, was an easy export good to ramp up production for in the case of a new product. Although he still had his hopes in that direction. 'A fitting adornment for your beauty, Empress Gyokuyou, ' he said, falling back into the easy flattery of the Rear Palace. 'I 'm sure that with your patronage, Linese silk will soon become even more desirable. '

She giggled. 'You 've always been the best at that, but it 's still nice to hear. ' She let the corner of the fabric drop. 'Ailan, please see to it that the blue bolt is set aside - I think it will make the most stunning gift. '

'Of course, my lady. ' Ailan removed the bolt of silver shot blue silk - the only one of the three that did not show her mistress ' coloring off to advantage. But whoever received that fabric must be high in the Empress ' estimation indeed.

Gyokuyou turned more thoroughly toward him and gestured for him to take a seat at the table. 'You 're looking more rested. I hope you haven 't started working yourself to the bone again now that you 're home. '

'If nothing else, the backlog of paperwork is a familiar enough task that I know how to get through it efficiently, ' he demurred. 'Although I 've been hearing a great deal about how there might be a new Pure Consort? '

The Empress raised her hand and one of her newer ladies in waiting that had joined her shortly before she officially married His Majesty - the youngest of the three, if he remembered correctly - poured tea for them. Gyokuyou sipped from her cup, not quite able to hide her smile. 'Oh? What have you heard? '

'Only that the girl recently debuted, but her father is someone the court would like to see checked. ' He took a sip of his own tea.

'Yes. Although now that you 're back, I suspect that the court 's attention will turn toward you - specifically the consort selection. ' She arched her brows at him. 'Any thoughts on the matter that you would care to share with me? '

He took a deep breath. 'Indeed. ' At least Gyokuyou was willing to get to the point quickly. 'Empress, you know I have no intention of allowing anyone to force me back into the position of Crown Prince again? '

'I didn 't think you would feel the need to reassure me of that. You 've been more than eloquent on the subject before - are you concerned that I would worry you 'd changed your mind? ' Gyokuyou watched him with a piercing gaze, more concerned than wary.

'To be blunt, yes. '

Her eyes softened. 'When the news first reached me, do you know what my first thought was? ' She took another sip from her teacup. ' 'How did I miss it? ' The resemblance between yourself and Lady Ah-Duo is startling. '

He pressed his lips together in a quick grimace before taking a sip of tea to cover it. 'So it would seem. '

'She was very brave. ' Gyokuyou glanced at a side door. 'To see but not be able to raise her own child - if I felt it were a choice between that or watching my children die, I have no doubt I would endure. But I honestly cannot imagine the toll it would take. '

The Moon Prince sighed at that. He had thought a great deal about his parents ' sacrifice over the last six months - any remaining dull anger was focused on how they had allowed him to still believe that he was the Imperial Brother after the succession. Why did the Emperor ever let him wear the mask of 'Jinshi ' in the first place? 'Lady Ah-Duo has always been extraordinary, ' he managed in what he thought was a decent approximation of his usual tone.

'Yes. And, if I may say so without any flattery whatsoever, so is her son. ' Gyokuyou continued to watch him.

He took a sip of tea to cover the wry twist of his mouth. 'You do me too much honor, Empress Gyokuyou. '

'I disagree. My children could hardly have a better big brother - and the crown could not have a more devoted servant. ' She put her teacup down and reached out a hand expectantly -and Hongniang put a letter case in her hand. 'Which brings us to the main subject - your consort selection. '

It was a mistake to think that the Empress was not absolutely ruthless, even in the face of her warm and gentle demeanor. 'Yes. ' He settled into the chair - this was a contest he could not afford to lose. 'With respect, I would like to relate the example of a foreign queen. '

'Oh? ' Gyokuyou 's eyes sparkled as she laid the letter case down. 'Please, do tell. '

He took a deep breath and offered his most charming smile. 'This queen has held the throne of her nation for almost forty years - held it in a country very like our own in that women have traditionally exercised power indirectly. While she is no longer young, her position means that she is still a coveted marriage prospect. '

The letter case sat on the table in between them - no doubt containing pictures of those girls the Empress had selected. 'Sometimes, the lure of a thing is more valuable than the thing itself. '

Gyokuyou nodded. 'So, you would use your own hand as bait, essentially? Taking no wife, fathering no children? '

'I will father no children, regardless of whether or not a consort is selected for me, ' he declared flatly, the surface charm falling away as he looked the Empress in the eye. 'I would rather avoid disappointing an innocent woman with this choice, but make no mistake. I will not allow myself to be used as a weapon against your son. My branch of the Imperial line ends with me. '

Gyokuyou frowned. 'His Majesty 's heart would break to hear you say that. '

He said nothing in response to that, biting back the words that wanted to come.

He has already broken mine.

Zoom! The moment was shattered as Princess Lingli ran into the room and almost into the Moon Prince 's lap. 'You 're here! '

If nothing else, the little girl 's innocent pleasure provoked a genuine smile from him. 'I am indeed. '

'Sorry about that, my lady. ' Yinghua 's expression was more than a little put upon. 'She heard he was here and just took off for the parlor. '

Lingli looked up at him with large, green eyes almost exactly like her mother 's. '

Now

can I go for a ride? '

'Hmmmm '. ' he pretended to ponder for a moment before scooping the little girl up to shrieks of laughter, spinning in circles at first with her body tucked closely against his chest before stopping to place her atop his shoulders. 'You ready? '

'Ready! ' she yelled. Really, it was earsplitting!

He kept a careful grip on her wrists, making sure she wouldn 't fall as he ran her all over the parlor to the little girl 's utter delight. The ladies in waiting were all openly smiling and the Empress was grinning, holding one hand over her heart at the picture they were making.

Eventually, though, he had to put her down, to her immense disappointment. 'Another time, princess. '

She pouted, but accepted the rule when her mother offered her a snack at the table. She held up one of her jujubes to him. 'I 'll share! '

The Empress raised both brows. 'You 'll share your jujubes with your brother? Really? '

Lingli looked at her mother. 'The big one. Not the little one. '

The Moon Prince couldn 't help it - he snorted at that. 'Why don 't you share some of your jujubes with me and I 'll share some of mine with your little brother? '

His little sister looked at him with an expression in her eyes he could only describe as calculating. 'I 'll share if you say what 'flip your shit ' means. '

'LINGLI! ' Hongniang burst out, horrified. 'Where did you hear that? '

Gyokuyou had both hands over her mouth, trembling as she held outright laughter back, darting a glance at him with suppressed hilarity. The other ladies in waiting were mixed between shocked laughter and a nervous anticipation as they glanced at him.

I will be a good older brother, I will not encourage her '

'It means to get upset, ' he managed to reply with a mild tone. 'But it 's a rather crude term for such a lovely princess as yourself to use. '

'But Daddy said it! ' Lingli cocked her head, confused.

'Pffft! ' Gyokuyou couldn 't quite stop herself from laughing behind her hands before dropping them into her lap and forcing her tone to the evenness befitting a parent. 'Lingli, were you eavesdropping on my conversation with your father the other night? '

Lingli swung her foot. 'I wasn 't hiding. I was just quiet. Honest, Mama. '

He bit his lip hard, almost drawing blood, a tickle bursting against his throat. This girl was going to be a handful! He felt a tug on his sleeve as Lingli asked for his attention yet again. 'Why are you gonna flip your shit? '

'Princess! ' Hongniang began to approach to lead the girl away. 'I think that 's quite enough! '

His attention, however, was now thoroughly caught. After all, how could he turn down what was obviously information of interest when its source was clearly so eager to tell him? 'I don 't know - do you think something has happened that would upset me? '

'I really do think it 's time we did something else, my lady! ' The air in the room had grown almost palpably thick with tension, Ailan, Yinghua and Guiyuan were all watching him with wide eyes while even the newer ladies were only pretending to bustle about and do their work.

The Empress sighed. 'This is not how I wanted to have this conversation. Lingli, say goodbye to the Moon Prince and go with Hongniang. '

Lingli patted his arm before sliding down the seat. 'Don 't flip your shit. Lady Maomao scares Daddy. '

The entire room seemed to sigh with resigned exasperation, even as the little princess with the big mouth was hurried away.

As he stared after the little girl, the only thing Jinshi could hear was the rush of blood in his ears as he started putting together the pieces.

Their honored strategist, looking as bored and rude as ever, but still standing behind the Emperor as one of the pillars of the nation. General Lo had been present, but clearly a shift within the politics of the military had occurred while he was gone.

'one of the high officials has recently gained more influence and has a daughter about the right age to enter the Rear Palace. The girl debuted at the most recent garden party and from what I understand has captured the imagination of the court. '

How carefully Baryou had phrased that to avoid saying Maomao 's name!

'...The girl herself is considered to be the most eligible marriage prospect of the court right now 'they might also be trying to figure out if the lady is in the running to become part of your household as opposed to the Emperor 's. '

Young men, all of whom had a distinct, infatuated gleam in their eyes. He had thought they were probing him because he had run the Rear Palace for years and wanted to know about a new Pure Consort '

Of course the court would jump at the chance to check the strategist. As if the man could be checked by something like having a daughter as a high consort. He had blown through a wall of the Rear Palace before to try and get to Maomao!

Bright, sharp pain burned his hand and he looked down to realize his nails had broken the skin of his palm, leaving dark red, crescent shaped bruises dotted with individual beads of blood. He was fairly certain the Empress was speaking to him - he could see her lips moving - but the only sound in the room he could hear was the thunder in his ears, his face flushing and his breath quick and uneven. Jinshi was familiar with anger - he knew how to tamp that down and use it as fuel. But this hot, violent rage - this had only overwhelmed him once before, in the Western Capital the first time.

His rage had almost destroyed Maomao 's respect for him.

Slowly, deliberately, he forced himself to breathe in a regular rhythm before blindly finishing the tea in front of him, welcoming the burn down his throat that washed away every trace of the comfortable numbness choking him since the day His Majesty had just

looked

at him one morning in the court as Hao challenged,

Deny him, then! Deny your own son!

He looked at Empress Gyokuyou. 'My lady, is Maomao currently a candidate to become the new Pure Consort? ' He could hear his voice trembling, but he was unable to do anything about that.

Gyokuyou watched him closely, all previous hilarity buried under the weight of his reaction. 'It is under consideration. '

Lingli 's advice was unfortunately lost as Jinshi flipped his shit.