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Gaoshun’s master was the emperor. He always had been and he always would be. That would never change.
Though, he had another master too.
Ka Zuigetsu, the Moon Prince, otherwise known as Master Jinshi.
A troublesome boy who always seemed intent on making Gaoshun’s life infinitely harder. Not that he truly minded. How could he, when he had partially raised the boy himself? He cared for him, perhaps more than was appropriate for someone in his position, almost as a father cared for his son.
Which was precisely why he was worried Master Jinshi had found yet another toy Gaoshun would inevitably have to take away from him.
A girl from the pleasure district. One who had solved the mystery of the dying imperial heirs when so many others had failed.
She had since been elevated to the position of poison taster for the Precious Consort, a rather substantial promotion for such a young and inexperienced girl. Yet his master seemed all too pleased with the decision, already intent on knowing her far more thoroughly than he did any of the other servant girls who called the rear palace home.
Gaoshun, on the other hand, could only feel another headache slowly beginning to form.
He could already imagine the consequences this would no doubt bring.
☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽
The girl was strange, though Gaoshun supposed that was to be expected, considering how intriguing Master Jinshi found her.
He had accompanied her to the medical office and been instructed to give her access to any and all of the medicinal ingredients stocked along its many shelves. She had created an aphrodisiac with alarming ease, something that could prove incredibly dangerous within the games of court, and yet she seemed entirely unconcerned by what she had made.
Almost immune to its implications.
She could be dangerous indeed.
Though it seemed his master didn’t seem to mind.
Then again, Master Jinshi had always been prone to letting his guard down whenever something fascinated him. It was a habit Gaoshun hadn’t needed to worry about in some time, his master having grown far too occupied with his work to obsess over such trivial matters.
Apparently, that reprieve was over.
Still, it was no matter.
Gaoshun was sure the fascination would soon die down, and Master Jinshi’s interest along with it. Until then, he would simply have to watch his master, and this strange girl, a little more closely.
☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽
Xiaomao was useful.
It was something anyone with eyes could see.
In the short time since she had entered Gaoshun’s life, he had watched her somehow worm her way into the hearts of nearly every imperial she encountered, and many others besides. They found her entertaining, useful, perhaps even important.
In the end, however, she was a tool to be used like the rest of them.
During her time in his master’s employ, she had managed to solve case after case, uncovering things others had overlooked before eventually risking her own life to save Master Jinshi himself.
That, more than anything, had caught Gaoshun’s attention.
Gaoshun prided himself on his ability to read people. He had spent years protecting both the emperor and the Moon Prince, and a protector did not wait for danger to announce itself before acting.
Still, he didn’t quite understand the girl’s motivations.
Every time she caught sight of the sparkly eunuch, she seemed more inclined to roll her eyes and glare at him as though he were some particularly irritating insect than behave as a servant should toward her superior. It was something Gaoshun had cautioned her against time and time again.
He had to admit, at least, that she had gotten better.
Slightly.
Even so, she had proven useful. Far more useful than Gaoshun had ever anticipated when Master Jinshi had first taken an interest in some strange little apothecary from the pleasure district.
And if she continued to prove herself useful, it was only a matter of time before she learned the truth. Better sooner rather than later.
Master Jinshi agreed. They decided he would tell the girl during the hunting trip. Unfortunately, like many of their plans, this one did not go according to plan.
Gaoshun could only let out a long sigh as he passed her locked door, his master slouched against it as though he weren’t the prince of an entire nation. From somewhere beyond the wood came Xiaomao’s loud giggles.
Gaoshun stopped, then sighed again. He ushered his master back towards his own room, leaving the girl to her new Ox Bezoars Master Jinshi had so graciously given her.
He could only hope she would continue to be useful.
For Master Jinshi’s sake.
Perhaps, increasingly, for hers as well.
☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽
Her eyes were tired, softer than he had perhaps ever seen them. There was no calculation behind them, no strange sparkle as she recounted her latest fascination like she so often seemed to do with him these days.
No, now there was nothing but a dull emptiness.
Gaoshun couldn’t quite find it in himself to blame her. She had been taken from the rear palace against her will, forced into servitude for another clan before the fortress in which she had been kept prisoner was ambushed.
All because she was far too curious for her own good.
His expression softened at the sight of her, and for a moment, he found himself wishing he could bring her back to the capital himself. Unfortunately, there was still far too much to be done before any of them could depart.
“Please, Master Gaoshun.” Her voice was hoarse, and the bruises littering her skin had only grown more prominent in the time they had been talking. “I can’t leave them alone.”
Gaoshun sighed, though it wasn’t the tired sort of sigh she so often pulled from him these days. “I’m sorry, Xiaomao, but there is nothing more to be done. They’re… gone.”
He wondered if, after everything she had endured, after all the sleepless nights and whatever horrors she had witnessed within that fortress, her mind had simply begun to blur the line between dream and reality.
Perhaps some part of her truly believed the children were still alive. That she could still save them. And that by stopping her, Gaoshun would become the monster in their story.
She didn’t react to his words. Instead, she merely turned to peer around his large frame towards the carriage, her movements so sluggish that, for a moment, he worried she might collapse right then and there.
“…I promised her.” The words came out broken.
Gaoshun wondered who she had promised so thoroughly that she would defy such laws to have the children of traitors brought back into their camp.
Still, after everything she had done for his master, surely he could allow her this one small thing. It was the least he could do.
And so Gaoshun stepped aside.
A tiny, almost imperceptible smile crossed her face before she moved past him and climbed into the carriage. Her gaze remained fixed upon the floor where the children lay, and after a moment, she slowly lowered herself to their level.
Then she laid down beside the dead.
It was still so cold. Gaoshun found himself wanting to place a blanket over her small form.
But he couldn’t. No, that would be too much. Besides, his master would be back soon, he would want to do it himself.
☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽
Gaoshun wasn’t quite sure about this.
Though, perhaps not for the reasons one might believe.
He truly believed Xiaomao’s talents were wasted in the pleasure district, just as they had been wasted when she was nothing more than a lady-in-waiting. She was medically gifted, something she had proven time and time again, both to his master and to the wider court.
She deserved the opportunity to use those talents.
And yet Xiaomao never asked for anything.
When she had been forced back to the pleasure district following the Shi Clan rebellion, she had accepted it all with the same quiet humility with which she seemed to accept everything else. She hadn’t complained, hadn’t argued. She had simply taken this new path as she had when she was first kidnapped and brought into the rear palace.
Perhaps that was what bothered him most.
It was for that reason Gaoshun felt almost sorry for pushing this upon her once again.
He understood the Emperor’s reasoning. He understood the Moon Prince’s sentiments. He understood why they had created the position of medical assistant and, more importantly, why they wanted Xiaomao to be the one to fill it.
There were few people better suited. Still, some small part of him didn’t want to push her back into the life of the imperial court, back into a world that had already taken so much from her. A world that would offer opportunity, certainly, but danger in equal measure. And a world that would place her closer to the Moon Prince.
Gaoshun knew that was something his master wanted. He simply wasn’t certain it was for the right reasons. But Gaoshun was only the messenger.
And so he stood before Xiaomao now, three letters in his possession all but ordering her to pass the court lady examination, knowing he had little choice but to order her to do the same.
To send her back into the life of a tool for the imperials to use as they wished. The thought sat more heavily with him than it once would have.
Still, if she was going to be forced down this path, Gaoshun would make certain she was prepared for it.
He would take care of everything.
He would bribe that madam into forcing her to study. He would deliver every resource she could possibly need to pass such an examination. He would act as liaison between her and the Moon Prince, and smooth over whatever problems the two of them would inevitably create for him.
He would do what he had always done. Except, somewhere along the way, it had stopped being something he did solely for his master.
Gaoshun looked at the girl before him. He could only hope that, this time, it would end better.
☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽
Gaoshun sat at the small table.
It was a position he didn’t take often. Usually, he stood beside whoever he was accompanying that day. He would fade into the shadows, always only a moment away should danger strike.
Now, though, he sat across from the Moon Prince and Xiaomao.
The two sat beside one another, their hands interlocked atop the table as though it were the most natural thing in the world, and Gaoshun found himself wondering when it had all happened.
When the girl who used to glare at his master as though he were nothing more than an irritating insect had come to look at Jinshi as if he were her safety net.
When the boy who had once seen her as nothing more than an interesting toy had come to promise her the world.
He couldn’t quite pinpoint either.
Still, they ate quietly from the array of food Suiren had so dutifully laid out only moments earlier, neither seeming in any hurry to begin whatever conversation had brought him to the table. And so Gaoshun followed suit, eating only enough not to draw attention to himself.
Then they stopped.
He watched their interlocked hands squeeze just slightly tighter before they turned towards him.
Gaoshun found himself increasingly worried.
“Gaoshun, there was something we wanted to ask you.” The Moon Prince began, a carefree smile upon his face.
“Moon Prince.”
“It isn’t something we need,” Maomao added, and for once she wasn’t calculating every word before she spoke. “But something we want. A small gesture of gratitude for everything you’ve done for us.”
The words only left Gaoshun more confused. “I have done nothing to warrant such gratitude. I have only done my duty.”
The Moon Prince’s smile widened while Maomao laughed, her eyes crinkling as though what he had said was genuinely amusing.
“Now, that’s just it. You have never just done your duty.” His master’s voice remained light at first. “You raised me. I know you better than I know my own brother, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
Then his voice softened. “I have never known a time when I couldn’t come to you for guidance, and for that I am endlessly thankful. You have done so much for me, Gaoshun. More than I think you even realise.”
Gaoshun’s eyes widened and his lips parted slightly, some instinct urging him to respond, but no words came. What could he possibly say to the man before him?
The man he had all but raised. The man who had once been nothing more than a troublesome little boy Gaoshun followed through palace corridors, then a beautiful eunuch whose every decision seemed designed to give him a headache.
And now– Now, a man so grown that Gaoshun could scarcely see that troublesome boy at all.
A quiet giggle broke through his thoughts. “Quite the speech, sir,” Maomao teased and the Moon Prince lightly struck her arm, though the smile never left his face.
The sight softened something within Gaoshun. He only hoped this, too, would last.
“Still,” Maomao continued, “he’s right, you know.”
Her gaze dropped towards the table. Gaoshun knew that habit, she was nervous.
“When I was first brought to the rear palace, I didn’t have anyone. Not my father, not my sisters. I was forced to find my footing on my own, and I did for some time.” A small, almost embarrassed laugh escaped her.
“Then Master Jinshi entered my life. And so did you.” She paused, drawing in a quiet breath. “I’m not sure if you realise this, Master Gaoshun, but during a time when I was away from my father, you became something of a paternal figure to me.”
Gaoshun was not a man prone to inappropriate reactions.
He had stood beside emperors and princes. He had witnessed death, rebellion and disaster without allowing his expression to betray him. He had spent most of his life learning when to speak and, more importantly, when to remain silent.
But it couldn’t be helped when the two figures before him began to blur.
“You’ve been like another father to me,” Maomao continued. “You’ve helped me, protected me, cared for me in your own way. And I am endlessly grateful for that.”
Beside her, Jinshi nodded. “The both of us are.”
Maomao finally looked up at him, and Gaoshun found himself struck by just how much time had passed. Her features had softened with it, oh, how she had grown. That strange little apothecary from the pleasure district had somehow become the intelligent young woman sitting before him, holding the hand of the boy he had raised.
“It’s for that reason that we wanted to ask you something,” she said. “Something we hope you’ll answer truthfully.”
A million possibilities rushed through Gaoshun’s mind. Yet, as he watched the two young adults before him exchange nervous smiles, none of them seemed quite right. Or perhaps he simply no longer knew what place he occupied in their lives.
Then the Moon Prince spoke. “We wanted to ask for your blessing in our union.”
For one brief moment, the world stopped.
Gaoshun knew both of their views on such matters. He knew there was little anyone could say that would change what they felt for one another. Even so, an imperial marriage required the blessing of the reigning sovereign.
The emperor’s blessing was the one they needed.
Gaoshun’s was the one they wanted.
His lips parted once more, yet only a shaky breath escaped him.
The two remained patiently across from him. Jinshi’s thumb traced small, soothing circles over Xiaomao’s knuckles where their hands remained intertwined, neither willing to rush him for an answer they surely already knew.
Gaoshun looked at them. For a moment, he didn’t see the Moon Prince and the brilliant medical assistant sitting before him.
He saw two teenagers.
The troublesome boy he had followed through palace corridors, forever cleaning up the messes left in his wake. The strange little girl who had appeared in their lives years later and somehow caused just as many headaches.
Yet somewhere along the way, those teenagers had grown. And Gaoshun had been fortunate enough to watch it happen.
He knew they would go far in life. Somehow, it seemed written in the stars, as though the two of them had always been destined to find one another. Gaoshun was only grateful that, in his own small way, he had been given the opportunity to be a part of it.
A part of their lives, a part of whatever life they would now build together.
The boy he had once so inappropriately come to see as his son.
And the girl he had realised, perhaps far too late, had become something of a daughter.
Gaoshun looked back at them, a small smile finally pulling at his lips as his vision continued to blur.
There were a thousand things he could have said. That he was proud of them. That there was no one else he would rather see standing beside the boy he had raised. That Xiaomao had stopped being merely another troublesome girl under his master’s employ a very long time ago. That if this was the life they had chosen for themselves, then there was nothing he wanted more than to watch them live it.
But Gaoshun had never been a man of unnecessary words. So when he finally spoke, his voice was soft, softer, perhaps, than it had been in years.
“You already know my answer.”