Jinshi received a letter in his office.
It was neither wooden slip nor paper, but parchment with a beeswax seal. The letter sending culture changes depending on the location, but this form is common in the west.
"Is it from the western capital?" Baryou peered over from his side of the partition.
"As you say. It's from Gyoku'ou-dono," Jinshi said.
"…Gyoku'en-sama's oldest son, was it?"
"Yeah."
In other words, Empress Gyokuyou's older brother. He was many years older than the empress so they must have different mothers. Jinshi had memories of him not really resembling the gentle Gyoku'en-dono.
"What is it about?"
Although Jinshi and Baryou were the only people in the room, it was slightly impolite to suddenly ask about the contents of the letter. Baryou must have understood it as well, but probably had ventured to ask.
"It's about wanting to get his daughter into the inner palace. He had hinted at it some time ago, but he directly cut to the chase," Jinshi said.
"Is Gyoku'en-sama aware of this matter as well?"
Wanting to get his daughter into the inner palace. Any high official would attempt it, but Empress Gyokuyou has already been established as his majesty's main wife. Was he trying to say that he wished to deepen their ties?
Or, was he trying to say that if possible, rather than the crown prince's uncle, he wanted to become the crown prince's grandfather instead?
Empress Gyokuyou must feel conflicted.
"Gyoku'en-dono looks like such, but he's a cunning individual. He might have known of it, but left it alone," Jinshi said.
He looks like a good-natured old man who could get tricked, but this individual had risen to become the emperor's father in law.
"Was it seventeen years ago, when the I(戌, Xu in Chinese) Clan disappeared?"
The western capital is the most important region in Rii. The region was called Isei Province(戌西州) in the past, but the namesake I Clan was put to death by the Empress Regnant, the previous empress dowager. They were dealt with under suspicions of rebellion, but Jinshi was three years old at the time. There was no way he could remember that.
"Yeah. And after that, Gyoku'en-dono gained a great deal of power."
Gyoku'en was staying at the central region, with no signs of returning home as is. This meant that it was appropriate to continue assuming an important central office.
When Gyoku'en showed up at the central, a capable person from the central who matched his criteria was dispatched to his son.
It was Rikuson, the military official who had been working under the weirdo tactician.
Gyoku'en had pointed out that he wanted support for his son, of whom was still inexperienced in the matters of government.
Normally, this request would be strange to hear. It was certainly the case that Rikuson is a military official, but he is skilled at paperwork. He should have done various things in the desk-work-hating weirdo tactician's stead.
But there should be other more capable people around.
No, or could he be trying to separate the military official from the weirdo tactician's side?
"Baryou, do you know about a man called Rikuson?"
"…he's the person who was once Rakan-sama's adjutant."
With only a bit of thought, Baryou effortlessly got the correct answer. He was bad at forming human relationships, but he had a great memory for official positions and names.
"I heard that Rakan-sama is bad at remembering people, so he, who was once a civil official, was headhunted, having heard that he is good at remembering faces."
"Civil official. That fits him to a tee," Jinshi said,
He is a delicate man. It fit him more to carry books than to carry a sword or a spear.
"It's better to ask my sister for the details."
"Maamei, huh. Is she the source of your information?"
So that's how it is. If it's Maamei, he could agree that she is well-informed.
"Yes, my older sister speaks to my wife often."
"…wife. Which reminds me, you're married."
Quite some time ago, Gaoshun had mentioned that his grandchild was born. Was that Baryou's? Baryou looked like a weakling who would faint from a touch of a girl outside his family–Jinshi looked at the other man while feeling a strange sense of defeat.
"Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"When did your romance start?" Jinshi found himself swallowing saliva. It was all just out of curiosity.
"…older sister Maamei and mum had plotted it. After comparing me to Basen, it seems they had picked the method that would most reliably leave behind an heir."
"…."
The polar opposite Ma brothers. Certainly, when compared to the idiosyncratic Basen, Baryou with his weak constitution might be the better of the two.
"I was told that I don't know how long left I would be alive, so quickly make a child. I was forced to prioritise it over the Civil Examinations."
Since Jinshi heard that Baryou had passed the exam last year, chronologically speaking, he must have taken the exam after getting a child.
"…what kind of wife, no, I've heard about it before."
Jinshi was so busy he forgot about it, but it slipped in his ears before.
"She is descended from the Mi(巳, Si in Chinese) Clan."
A valid answer. The Ma Clan heads as the guards of the imperial clan, whereas the Mi Clan is the intelligence agency who reports directly to the imperial clan.
The Ma and Mi Clans protect the imperial clan overtly and covertly. To strengthen the relations, occasionally, there would be political marriages where they marry children from both clans.
"Must be rough, for you too."
"No, both appearance and position-wise, it is not as complicated as Jinshi-sama. Besides, my older sister told me that if I lie down and shut up at night, my wife will make do."
"…."
On top of easily telling something rude, Jinshi had a strong feeling that he had heard something that he shouldn't have heard.
If such a candid political marriage was possible, the world will be easy.
As they chatted, they heard footsteps coming from down the corridor. The corridor in front of Jinshi's office was purposely fashioned to make footsteps audible.
"It seems my older sister is back. Please ask her later," Baryou said.
The sound of female shoes. Since court ladies are kept away at a distance for as much as possible to reduce trouble, they naturally knew that it belonged to Maamei.
"Got it," Jinshi said.
With a knock on the door, Maamei came back, as they had expected. She was holding onto documents and a teacup.
"I'm, back… what are you two doing?" Maamei tilted her head at Jinshi and Baryou who turned to stare at her.
"What do you know about Rikuson, who is Rakan-dono's former adjutant who is currently in the western capital?" Jinshi asked.
They finally returned to the topic.
"Rikuson-sama, is it? Let's see. What I know is basically from connections," Maamei said as she put down the documents and prepared tea in the teacup she brought in. "It is said that before he worked directly under Rakan-sama, he was a civil official, but I heard he wasn't a civil examination passer, but came in through connections. He came from a family of merchants or something."
"Through whose connections?"
"I don't know that much. Shall I investigate?"
"No need to hurry."
It only just caught his attention. That should be all it was, but—
Clever Maamei set the tea and tea cakes before Jinshi and started to write a letter. It was probably to promptly check up on Rikuson. After she finished writing, she allowed it to dry and then put it in her bosom pocket.
"This is the last of today's documents," she said.
"Got it."
Compared to before, it had decreased substantially. It seems it would be fine even if he were to take a short rest.
"It's gotten considerably easy now, but it's going to get busy again." Maamei breathed out a deep sigh. At the end of her gaze was the parchment letter Jinshi had been reading just now. "Are you serious? About going to the western capital?"
"It's needed. Gyoku'en-dono is bothered about how the western capital is going to end up. His majesty also said that he's concerned."
Above all, the region is close to Sha'ou. He wanted to take one proper look.
"Does Jinshi-sama have to personally go there?"
Basen had said that to him too. That guy wasn't around, as today was when he trained with other military officials. If he was, it would probably be noisier.
In terms of duty, it didn't have to be Jinshi. However, it was Jinshi who made the countermeasures for the locust plague while being concerned about the movements of the west since last year. Regarding the counter-measure Jinshi had put forward, there were other officials who laughed it off as needless anxiety.
If he were to send a high official to a pleasure jaunt, it would be pointless.
Above all, the enemy wasn't just other countries or natural disasters.
"Hypothetically, what would you do if your life was targeted in the distant lands of the West?"
The greatest element of anxiety for Maamei was probably that.
"For that, I plan to bring elites among court physicians and military officials," Jinshi said.
"The talk you had with Court Physician Ryuu about increasing the number of dependable court physicians, right? Then what about military officials?"
"As for military officials…" Jinshi tugged at his hair.
Maamei made a face that told him it was improper.
This was the result of Jinshi's many considerations. "I was thinking of having Rakan-dono come along."
"Hahhhh?" Maamei's face contorted to an impossible degree. It was rare even for her to make such a blatant look of disgust. "What are you thinking? He's going to go on a rampage. It'll be a huge problem, you know?"
"I know, I know."
"Just who is going to hold his reins? It's absolutely impossible to bring Rahan-sama along. No, there's also Ruomen-sama if we're talking about court physicians, though."
As expected of Maamei. She understood.
"We can't have Ruomen-dono. Long journeys will be hard for him at his age. More importantly, he has a bad leg. Even if we were, he'll be a last resort," Jinshi said.
"Then who are you… don't tell me."
He could skip the explanation since she was perceptive. If Rahan and Ruomen was no good, there could be only so many people left.
"…could it be Maomao-san?" Maamei said, face twitching.
Jinshi averted his eyes from her with a wry smile.