Rumours

Primrose placed her toddler in the emperor's arms, ignoring the facial expressions of the assembled servants. The emperor was a father and would benefit from making a proper connection with his son. The emperor only managed to give the boy a few pats before one of the nurses stepped forward to take the child away.

The emperor didn't object, and Primrose pursed her lips in frustration. The emperor was still too concerned with silly traditions and the way he appeared, but Primrose was working on that. The emperor was the emperor, after all. He didn't need to concern himself about what other people might think. He could do whatever he wanted if he just had the proper confidence in himself.

The nurses disappeared off into a side room with her son, and they sat down while some servants served tea.

"Servants withdraw," commanded the emperor. "My noble self has something to discuss with the gentle concubine."

The servants faded away – although they wouldn't all actually move out of earshot. Some of the emperor's bodyguards would remain to ensure his safety, and one of her maidservants would remain just out of sight, to be fair.

The emperor didn't immediately speak, and Primrose decided to make things a little easier on him, even if he didn't deserve it.

"I'm glad you've come to apologise," said Primrose.

"Apologise?" asked the emperor, sounding horrified. "What on earth would my noble self have to apologise for?"

Primrose frowned at him. He could not possibly be that oblivious. "You picked up that… that… woman."

"Which women?" asked the emperor. He even had the nerve to look confused.

"Lily's cousin! As if having Lily wasn't bad enough, you went out and brought another one back."

The emperor levelled a glare at her as if she was the cause of his problems. Primrose firmed her chin and glared back. He was the one panting after another woman. She could forgive him the spouses he already had before she had arrived, but taking on more? That was too much.

"Not that it should be a concern to the gentle concubine," said the emperor, "but my noble self did not have any choice but to accept the girl. The gentle concubine must have noticed that Her Imperial Highness has failed to produce a child after many years of marriage."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Primrose.

"Since Her Imperial Highness has … proved … unable to have children of her own, then naturally my noble self must take in another girl from Her Imperial Highness's household."

"What?" asked Primrose. "Why?"

The emperor continued to look at her as if she was the stupid one. "When my noble self agrees to join with a clan or noble house in marriage, the purpose is to produce a royal child with their blood. That is true with everyone, but particularly true of Her Imperial Highness, the empress. My noble self has a duty to provide Her Imperial Highness with a suitable son from a relative to adopt."

Primrose gaped at him. He actually wanted Lily to have a child? A son? Maybe even an heir? It wasn't just something that had happened accidentally?

"But surely you've changed your mind about that now," said Primrose. "What do you even care about what the Goldenrods want?"

"Goldenwood," corrected the emperor. There was a complicated expression on his face as he explained.

"Naturally my noble self cares a great deal. The Goldenwood clan has many members in the army, and the deep respect of the common soldiers. That respect helped my noble self to first rise to the throne, and that respect still remains." Primrose must have looked as shocked as she felt, because he added gently, "No man, not even the emperor, can run everything by themselves. My noble self must rely on others, and they are due their own rewards."

Primrose was suddenly enlightened. The Goldenwoods in the original story must have waited until their blood was declared crown prince, and then assassinated the emperor to put Lily on the throne as regent. Truly a nefarious plot.

"But there must be limits to their greed," said Primrose, in an attempt to hint the emperor towards the truth. "It has been years since you came to the throne, and it was as much for their own benefit as it was for yours. They can't expect to extort things out of you unendingly because of that."

"It's more complex than the gentle concubine realises," said the emperor. "Especially now. With war threatening in the north, my noble self needs the army to be doing their best for the empire. My noble self also needs the empire to see that my noble self treats the army well."

War would break out, Primrose remembered from the story, but it was minor, and easily finished. She could hardly tell the emperor that, however. In fact, it was probably that very success that given the Goldenwoods the power they had wielded after the emperor's death. They might not even have succeeded in their coup-d'etat without the good will they had built up amongst the people.

The Goldenwoods weren't just a threat to her personally. They were a threat to everything she wanted to build for her son. She scolded herself for getting complacent. She would have to step up her game and fight the true enemy.

But she could see it would be fruitless to continue persuading the emperor now. She would step back for the moment while she organised her arguments better.

"If you didn't want to apologise to me," said Primrose, "then what did you want to speak to me about?"

The emperor shook himself out and straightened in his seat. "When my noble self allowed the gentle concubine to open a store, the gentle concubine promised that it would be anonymous and inconspicuous."

"I was!" said Primrose. "It is!"

"At no point was the gentle concubine cautious," disagreed the emperor. "The gentle concubine took over a very successful store almost in the centre of High Street. Such an unusual occurrence was an immediate occasion for gossip."

Primrose waved that away. "The previous owner was in a hurry for cash, and my people co-incidentally offered at the right time."

"My noble self is not a fool," said the emperor. "And neither is anyone else. The waiting list for such a desirable location is years long. Such a store cannot even be purchased by money alone. Even a person in the greatest hurry imaginable could exchange it for substantial assets simply by asking."

Primrose didn't know how to keep explaining. It had happened exactly the way she had said it did. Sometimes good luck happened to good people. Perhaps it was some sort of main character aura protecting her? (Not that she'd be able to explain that to the emperor, of course). Or perhaps it wasn't unusual at all, but people lying to the emperor to make her look bad? She had just a candidate in mind. Lily would do everything possible to strip away Primrose's financial support from her now that Primrose was rich and had a son, when Lily did not.

"Even if it is odd, what does it matter?" asked Primrose. "The people won't associate it with me, and that was a long time ago now."

"Except the people do associate it with the gentle concubine," said the emperor. "That is the problem with arousing curiosity. It does not settle until it finds a solution. With the gentle concubine's Viridian saviour, Flint, so heavily involved, it has not taken long for people to make the correct assumptions. It is a pity, but there is no choice but for the gentle concubine to shut it down before an official investigation is made."

"An investigation into what?" asked Primrose, "I don't officially own the property, and even if I did, having a business is not a crime. I haven't done anything illegal."

"An investigation into receiving bribes," said Emperor.

Primrose looked at him in utter astonishment, and he impatiently continued, "They will say that the only reason people are spending such large amounts in the gentle concubine's store is so that their interests can be represented to my noble self. There is no defence to such an accusation."

"But you know that isn't true," said Primrose. "I don't bring up anyone's interests to you at all."

"It doesn't matter," said the emperor. "The people don't see what the gentle concubine is discussing with my noble self in private. They can only see that foreign influences are patronising the gentle concubine's store for no justifiable reason."

Primrose threw up her hands. "Is it just too much for people to believe that people actually like my pastries? That everyone is just purchasing them because they want to eat them?"

"At the prices the gentle concubine is charging?" asked the emperor. "Yes."

Primrose was not upset by the implied criticism. She knew that it was nonsense. The prices of her pastries weren't excessive at all. In fact, the prices barely above the cost of the raw ingredients. She only made a profit due to the discounts that Flint gave her. No-one could supply something like that any cheaper. But it was expected for the emperor to be completely out of touch with the actual value of goods, himself. Another thing he was no doubt being lied to about by his advisors.

"I'm not afraid," she said, lifting her chin heroically. "Let them accuse me."

"How noble of the gentle concubine," said the emperor. "But does the gentle concubine have the means to repair the damage that will do to my noble self's reputation and dignity when they do so?"

"Yes," said Primrose, ignoring his sarcasm. "Everything will be fine."

"Indeed it will," said the emperor. "Because the gentle concubine will shut down the store and stop making such foolish actions."

Primrose tried to reply, but the emperor cut her off by abruptly standing. "There is nothing further to discuss. Do as my noble self tells the gentle concubine."

Primrose watched his back as he strode off. Why did he have to make things so difficult? He was just too lazy to push back against his advisors, but she shouldn't have to be the one to pay for it. Was she really supposed to just quietly resign herself to being poor again because the emperor was paranoid?

Fern came out from behind the screen. "Don't worry, Your Royal Highness. His Most Exaltedness will eventually come to see and value your loyalty to His Most Exaltedness. We just need to work harder to bring it to His Most Exaltedness's attention."

That was it.

In the story, the emperor had feared the rumours to such an extent that he had pretended to stop visiting her entirely based on the recommendation of his advisors. He had only appreciated her properly after the assassination attempt. It was only then that he'd finally gained the courage and wisdom to dismiss the opinions of his advisors and that awful Goldenwood clan.

In theory, she could just wait until that happened. But that solution made her feel uncomfortable. First, that she had already changed things enough that the assassination attempt might not even happen again. Second, she wasn't – to be entirely honest with herself – wasn't entirely sure that she'd be able to save them both if the attempt was repeated. No, safer to make sure she and the emperor were never in real danger.

But maybe she could give things a little nudge.

Primrose considered and dismissed the possibility of using her normal confidant of her nanny. The nanny had been irritatingly suspicious of the storm-whatever grass she had purchased, and it had taken some fast talking to work around her concern for Primrose's morals. The palace girl, Fern, on the other hand, had been swift and efficient at achieving all of Primrose's goals. She had never shown any fear of the emperor's power and had even provided some useful suggestions when Primrose had become stuck over the years. Fern would be a much better candidate for this campaign.

With just a little bit of effort, she would set things to right again. She would not be defeated this easily.