A Shopping List

It was coming up to a year since Primrose had woken up in this world, and she was still feeling smug about it. In her previous life, she had chased down every book or web-novel she could find with a character that shared a name with her, knowing that eventually she would be taken away to do something more meaningful. Her family and co-workers had thought she was mentally ill, but she had proved them all wrong, hadn't she? Here she was. The heroine.

It hadn't been one of her favourite stories, admittedly, but that might be exactly why she had been chosen. She was here to make a superior life for the emperor and poor Ash. Save the emperor from assassination, and Ash from that awful war. And while she was at it, use her superior knowledge to amaze and impress everyone.

And as the story had promised, the emperor had fallen in love with her at first sight. She wasn't surprised. She could also spend hours staring at herself in what passed for a mirror here. She was the most gorgeous creature she could even imagine. Huge, expressive eyes, perfectly placed cheekbones, and a stunning buy classy smile. Her body was young and fit. It was rounded enough to inspire a man's imagination, but not so rounded as to leave her virtue in question. Her outfits were vibrantly coloured and highlighted that beauty – she had already disposed of any that fell short of perfection.

The three courtyard building she had been given was elaborate and beautiful and… well, to tell the truth, it had fallen a little short of her expectations. The good perfumes and incenses covering up the bad smells was not better than having no smells. The elegant and expensive hand-made fabrics that made up her bedding and undergarments were not more comfortable than a cheap cotton-blend. The servants that fanned her over bowls of ice the luxury was not cooler than proper air conditioning.

And the food! It looked good, certainly, but the quality and variety just weren't there. The rice had been somewhat tasty – in the beginning. But then it had been served with. Every. Single. Meal. Rice, rice, and more rice! After a while, everything except the meat was bland. And there was entirely too much meat. She had almost exposed herself the first time she'd begged for just some humble fries, and discovered they had no idea what she was talking about. They'd never even heard of the potato.

"Sugar," she tried, after they'd once again given her the tiniest amount of honey and considered that good enough. "Surely you must have heard of sugar."

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," said the young girl who had been assigned to her by the emperor, Fern. "But the purchasing department doesn't buy it."

"Why not?" demanded Primrose.

"Her Imperial Highness, the Empress forbids it," replied Fern, bowing in apology. "Her Imperial Highness has said that the sugar farming and refining practices are unethical, and Her Imperial Highness does not wish the palace to support them."

"Sure," said Primrose, unimpressed. How unethical could it possibly be? It wasn't like slavery was even legal in the empire, which had irritated her when she first arrived. She had read enough palace dramas to know that you could only really trust the loyalty of the servants when you had the power of life and death over them. "What's the real reason?"

The servant looked uncomfortable, but Primrose just stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Some people speculate that it's to disadvantage the poorer concubines. They don't have the connections and the wealth to purchase sugar, so the emperor would be less inclined to share meals at their palaces."

What a cunning, underhanded plot. Just what she'd expected from the women who had stolen the throne for her son, not caring if it doomed the entire empire to war. But she wasn't going to win, even in this small matter. Primrose would find out which of the concubines was smuggling in sugar and make her hand over the secrets to her. Then she would use her knowledge of recipes from the future to make sure that the emperor never ate anywhere else.

"Speaking of the empress," said Primrose, "Did you learn anything?"

Fern had promised she would listen to the gossip and bring it back if Primrose allowed her to visit her previous friends in the other courtyards within the palace.

"It is hardly confirmed, but there is news," said Fern.

"Do tell!" said Primrose eagerly.

"The whispers are that Her Imperial Highness, the Empress, discovered some months back that she was pregnant. Her Imperial Highness hid the news to protect the child, even from His Most Exaltedness, the Emperor. It is unfortunately not uncommon for other concubines to slip certain medication to cause the pregnancy to fail."

"You said she was pregnant," said Primrose. "Do you mean she no longer is?"

"That is the case. Perhaps it there was a spy, or perhaps it was an accident, but the news leaked. Now Her Imperial Highness has very good reason to suspect that someone caused the loss but because the news was hidden in the first place, it cannot be openly investigated. If it is revealed that Her Imperial Highness was lying to the emperor about such an important matter, Her Imperial Highness would be in serious trouble. Her Imperial Highness has no choice but to act as if the lie was the truth and Her Imperial Highness was never pregnant in the first place."

Primrose laughed. The irony of the empress being caught in a scheme of her own making was just delicious. Once she had calmed down, her attention was drawn to the practical details. "There is medication to remove a foetus that won't be detected?"

"Oh yes, Your Royal Highness. Many."

"And to prevent pregnancy in the first place?" asked Primrose.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness. Both temporary to prevent pregnancy while it is being taken, and medicine to render a woman permanently barren."

"Permanently barren?" asked Primrose. "Is that obvious when it is taken?"

"It depends on the medicine, Your Royal Highness. Stormfire grass, for example, seems like a simple summer fever when it is consumed."

Primrose sent the servant back to work before began plotting. As good as the girl was at providing gossip, she had been raised in the palace all her life. Primrose wouldn't reveal anything incriminating in front of her, just in case. But come hell or high water, Primrose would be getting her hands on both sugar and stormfire grass.

#

Lily watched in bemusement as Primrose tried for months to find a supplier for sugar while consistently failing. It had been a very small obstacle to clear, after all. She had honestly expected Primrose to have simply requested her family to step in long before. Speaking of which, wasn't it about the time the murder investigation in the story?

The next time the girl managed to slip away, she asked Fern, "What protections has Her Royal Highness Primrose placed around her letters home?"

Fern answered, "Her Royal Highness has given the nanny precise instructions as to which routes to take."

"And?"

"That is all, Your Imperial Highness."

Lily just blinked for a few moments. Primrose's solution to the murder and consequent treason accusations was to… have her nanny take a different road?

What?

Did Primrose really think the murder had been an accident? A co-incidence where a robber was just waiting for the next carriage to attack? A genuine crime where the robber happened to leave behind more things than he had taken away because he was just having a really clumsy day, and hadn't noticed when he dropped them?

Lily resisted the temptation to run her fingers through her hair. She was not about to undo a solid half-hour of work on her hair-dresser's part, but the temptation was strong. Trying to guide Primrose subtly was obviously not going to be an effective strategy. Lily was clearly going to need to take a far more active role if Primrose had any hope of succeeding.

There were multiple possible approaches, but perhaps the cleanest would be to arrange for a convenient hero to come to the rescue. That way, Lily could simply sell information about the opportunity to an information merchant and outsource the problem entirely. And if she could organise that hero to be a Viridian sugar plantation owner, then that would even solve both problems at the same time.

"The Emperor approaches!"

With a nod of Lily's head, Fern disappeared into the back of the rooms. Fern would make her way out into a public location through the hidden back passages. Not that Lily thought the emperor would recognise a servant, or talk about one if he did, but Lily was not in the habit of being careless.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded the emperor as soon as he saw her, waving around a letter.

"May this one ask the meaning of what, Your Most Exaltedness?" asked Lily patiently.

"The meaning of referring Primrose's request to purchase stormfire grass to my pharmaceutical store!"

"Ah," said Lily. "Her Royal Highness, Primrose, initially had her servant approach a pharmaceutical store of this one's own. This one did not feel comfortable authorising it, for obvious reasons. It seemed wisest to leave the matter in Your Most Exaltedness's hands. It is, after all, Your Most Exaltedness's will whether Her Royal Highness Primrose should have children."

The pharmaceutical stores were not literally either his or hers, of course. It was not good for members of the royal household to be too directly involved in commerce, and neither technically owned any businesses. But everything of consequence within the capital relied on connections. Everything fell under someone's control. The organisations might not pay in money, but they did pay in favours and information.

"You believe she intends to consume it herself?" asked the emperor, slowing down and frowning.

"Certainly," said Lily. "Else why would Her Royal Highness be so open about purchasing it? This one in fact wondered whether Her Royal Highness already had Your Most Exaltedness's permission to do so. People do not go about sending their beloved nannies to purchase poison if they have anything to conceal, after all."

"But why would she?" asked the emperor. "There are much less harmful medicines available if she does not wish to conceive."

"Those would show evidence to doctors, whereas stormfire grass will go undetected unless it is explicitly tested for during the initial fever. Her Royal Highness Primrose may wish to conceal her intention from her own people. With the tensions between the empire and Viridis Island rising the way they have been, she must know that a potential part-Viridian heir would only cause Your Most Exaltedness more stress and unhappiness. But she would not wish to obviously be unfilial to her parents either."

The emperor considered that, pacing back and forth. Then he nodded. "Very well. We will not spurn her good intentions."

Interesting, thought Lily. It seemed the emperor was not quite as foolishly enamoured as he had seemed in the stories.

The kitten was once again staring at Lily judgementally.

'You can hardly complain,' said Lily privately. 'I assisted Primrose in obtaining the substance she had been looking for. She would never have succeeded without me. Certainly no other store would dare to provide that kind of product to anyone within the palace.'

The kitten turned around and showed Lily its butt, and Lily suppressed a laugh. If the female lead wasn't going to provide any challenge, then her greatest amusement would have to be challenging the limits set for her by the system.