Character Index

Emperor Xuanzong: Deceased previous Emperor, Wenyuan's maternal uncle.

Halime: The Royal Consort and Kayla's sister-in-law.

Qiu Jinwei: Yunqi's advisor.

Empress An: Yunqi's Empress.

Zhou Yunqi: The current Emperor.

Zhou Chengxia: A princess of the Wu dynasty, Yunqi's cousin. Married into the Khaganate.

Zhu Simo: A member of the Shandong coalition, skilled at getting people's attention and at creating narratives.

Tao Qian: Kayla's Head Retainer.

Liu Hongyu: Secretariat Director in the Grand Duke's time. Was essentially starved to death for lese-majeste against the Imperial Princess, Wenyuan's birth mother.

Li Que: Vice-Director of the Imperial Investigation Bureau and head of the palace branch that was newly established, placing him in an uncomfortable position with his superior.

Consort Huang: One of Yunqi's consorts.

Previous Empress Dowager: Wenyuan's maternal grandmother, not to be confused with the current Empress Dowager, who is Kuang's birth mother.

Chen Caichun: Currently a director within the Court of Judicial Review.

Chen Jian: Caichun's brother and Li Que's protege.

Consort Li: A young woman who was disfigured in an assassination attempt that remains an unsolved mystery.

Han Daizhi: A director within the Ministry of Rites. Mind of the Shandong faction.

Wei Guang: Wenyuan's godfather, died after killing Emperor Xuanzong.

Sir Yang: Yunqi's head eunuch and formerly served Emperor Xuanzong. Helped them with the assassination.

Vice-Commander Jiang: Formerly Captain Jiang, was promoted for helping them kill Emperor Xuanzong and place Yunqi on the throne.

Kayla stared blankly out the carriage window, feeling strangely nervous in a way she hadn't felt in years–not since she had first met Emperor Xuanzong.

It was her first trip to the palace in days. If it weren't for something of national significance, Kayla wouldn't have gone at all. The second she showed her face even near the Inner Palace, she would be swarmed with questions from officials afterwards. Halime would have grievances to air, Qiu Jinwei would be more or less openly accusing her of colluding with Halime, or worse, Empress An would demand answers Kayla couldn't give.

This should've been over days ago.

Unless, of course, either the Empress or Halime really were involved. The thought of it alone made Kayla's stomach twist into knots. She glanced down at the scroll in her hand, unease growing stronger by the second.

If it's Empress An the Khaganate won't sit still, and it'll become a diplomatic incident. If it's Halime, there's no way the court will overlook this, and it'll still become a diplomatic incident. Unless we kill every single person who knows of what happened–but it's too late for that, isn't it?

Between Empress An's screaming match with Halime and the investigation that scoured every corner of the palace, it was well past the limit of what could be contained. The palace had been on shutdown for over a week. This wasn't going to blow over until a clear culprit was dragged out and executed.

And if it really is the Empress or Halime, it'll have to be a scapegoat in their place. And they'll just keep trying to kill one another from here on until one or both of them are dead.

Kayla winced as she heard another high-pitched, near-mechanical sound in one ear.

Can you fucking imagine getting tinnitus when I don't even have access to headphones–

The irritation seemed to lift her doom somewhat. She glanced out the carriage window in a daze, watching the multicolored fabrics go past as if they were hanging off of mannequins instead of people.

They must have passed several hundred people on the street that afternoon alone, but it seemed to Kayla that she couldn't parse out a single face.

Of all the people here, how many will still be alive five years from now?

Between the famines to come and the waves of refugees with the diseases they brought with them, not to mention the conflicts that were almost certainly unavoidable–Kayla swallowed down the acid that threatened to rise into her throat.

No matter what, they would all bleed eventually, Kayla reasoned. It was only a matter of who was first to go.

Kayla idly fiddled with the scroll in her hands, a single sheet of paper that detailed a plan that would directly result in the deaths of dozens and indirectly a great deal more.

I can make it work. The problem is Yunqi. He won't say no. Even if it's cruel, even if it involves his cousin Chengxia, he'll do what's good for the country.

He always did.

But the process mattered too–would it go down on record that the vile and conniving Duke Zhao was the one to talk the Emperor into it, for when the full truth inevitably surfaced somewhere down the line? The past Kayla would not have minded. The parent she was today minded very much.

That wasn't even the most troublesome part of it all–the simple fact of it was that Yunqi knew something drastic needed to be done, but he wouldn't order it. He would rather have Kayla come up with and administer the plan, and she became the one responsible. Any regrets he had towards the plan was hers to bear.

That was fine, to an extent. Yunqi couldn't come up with a plan like this anyways. His skills lay more in keeping the enormous apparatus of the Wu Dynasty running smoothly, not in concocting plots like these. If not for the whole branch business, Kayla would have thought nothing of this.

She struggled to take a deep breath, as if a rock was crushing down into her rib cage.

How will I even–

The carriage jolted to a sudden stop. Kayla's heartbeat stuttered.

An assassination attempt?

It had been a while since anyone had last tried to murder her in broad daylight. In fact, the last attempt had been over two years ago.

"What's going on?!" Kayla demanded, cracking the window open a bit. Some of the old habits stuck, and she craned to keep at an angle that wouldn't catch a stray arrow.

"Please stay inside, my lord," Tao Qian replied. "Someone's blocking the road!"

Someone. So not an assassin then.

Kayla's eyebrows knit together. "Who is it?"

"Allow me to confirm." He made to move closer, but it soon proved unnecessary.

"Duke Zhao!"

Kayla hastily waved for Tao Qian to stop at the familiar voice. He yanked his horse back, mouth pressed into a grim line.

"Oh no," Kayla muttered. She would know that fucking voice anywhere.

Zhu Simo.

"Duke Zhao, I humbly ask you to answer my questions!"

The thundering voice sounded as if it was playing from a boombox.

Oh, you're going for a spectacle now? This fucking clown–!

Kayla grit her jaw, pinching the bridge of her nose. She briefly wondered if she could get away with running him over.

"The court deserves the truth!" Zhu Simo roared. "Please give us an explanation about the embargo imposed on the Imperial Palace! Just what are you trying to hide?!"

"Tao Qian," Kayla called in a low voice. He heard her anyway, approaching the window.

"Should we get him out of the way?"

"Absolutely not. He's an official of the court."

"But this is–"

"I know." Kayla glanced around. An eager crowd was quickly forming. "There's a crossroads just right up ahead. Turn onto a side road and go around him."

"We're going around him?!"

"He'll try to get in the way. Tell him that I am taking care of official matters and that any act of obstruction is unlawful," Kayla ordered.

"But sir!"

"Who are you protecting?!" Zhu Simo shouted. He somehow, despite the distance, managed to sound as if he was shouting right into her face as an unwelcome third in the conversation. "Is it that foreign woman you call your sister-in-law?!"

"This fucker," Kayla said through gritted teeth.

"The court needs the truth in order to best protect the interests of the country and His Majesty the Emperor!" Zhu Simo's obnoxiously loud voice cut into her thoughts at a frequency she couldn't even tune out. "Are you going to abuse your position as an Imperial in-law to shut us in the dark?!"

And people are just eating it up, Kayla noted with derision. She turned towards Tao Qian with a harsh glare.

"This isn't a pissing contest," Kayla snapped. "I can afford to make concessions, but I can't afford to make that man a symbol! Go!"

And if they didn't leave soon she was about to do something unwise. Why was Zhu Simo's voice so grating? It was almost as if he was biologically engineered to shatter people's rational restraints.

"Understood," Tao Qian said grimly, evidently unhappy about it. He gestured sharply, and the carriage began to turn. Kayla let the curtain fall shut again.

"Duke Zhao, are you running away?!" Zhu Simo shouted, genuinely flabbergasted. He made to move towards the carriage, but Tao Qian blocked his path.

"The Duke is on official business! Any act of obstruction is a breach of the law and the code of conduct for officials of the court. Please desist, sir!"

"Is the consort of the Turkish Princess going to run away from a mere Right Secretariat of Revenue?!" Zhu Simo shouted.

"You have been warned!" Tao Qian shouted back. "Please stay away from the carriage and refrain from obstructing traffic!"

The carriage completed its turn and wheeled away at full speed, leaving Zhu Simo's shouts and the crowd's shocked murmurs in the distance.

What a fucking mess, Kayla thought bitterly. Zhu Simo had succeeded in creating another stir–doubtlessly, the rumor mill would be alight with gossip of Duke Zhao fleeing from confrontation, which would only alight Zhu Simo's flame further. He would become all the more influential.

Let him then!

Kayla could hear her teeth grinding. There was no winning either way.

So let him. If he doesn't climb high enough, how else can the fall kill him?

She couldn't give any answers anyhow. But that didn't necessarily mean this was a bad thing. Zhu Simo was digging his own grave.

That foreign woman? Is that what he had called the Royal Consort and the mother of the Emperor's first child.

Kayla smiled with genuine pleasure. Tao Qian caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and uneasily glanced away.

We have legal precedent of what happens with lese-majeste, Kayla thought to herself, happier now than she'd been in days. If you can become the second Liu Hongyu, I'd certainly be grateful.

It was only a matter of time now.

Li Que waited patiently, a good distance away from the Emperor's study as he diligently watched the door. Finally, Zhao Wenyuan reappeared. The meeting had gone on for quite a while, but as always, it was hard to tell from the Duke's expression how it had gone.

Li Que stepped forward to greet him as Zhao Wenyuan came down the path.

"Director."

"Vice-Director," Zhao Wenyuan returned the greeting with a smile. "Did you have a report for the Emperor? I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Li Que hesitated awkwardly.

"I have a report for you, my lord."

Zhao Wenyuan didn't quite balk, but his resistance still made itself felt.

"The Emperor has left this in your hands, Vice-Director. There is no need to report to me–you may report to the Emperor directly."

"I'm sorry to trouble you," Li Que said with polite insistence.

Zhao Wenyuan gave him a troubled look. "You know I cannot afford to confront the Empress again. I've offended her thrice already."

"It does not involve the Empress," Li Que promised. "Rather, I think we have our suspect."

Zhao Wenyuan evaluated him for a long moment before nodding. "Go on."

They fell into pace with each other, looking as if they were in casual conversation to the eyes of any outsider.

"We previously arrested a few serving girls from Consort Huang's palace for simultaneously visiting the Empress and Royal Consort's quarters," Li Que began. "It was rather suspicious."

"Yes, I remember them."

"It's just as you suspected, my lord. The serving girls don't know anything–they've always hung out with their friends from their training days whenever they had free time, since all of them are from the same province."

"The same province? Is there anything there we should be worried about?"

"I don't think so, my lord. They're all from Anhui. It seems that of that batch of recruits, many of the girls fell sick and couldn't pass the qualifications to enter the palace, but the girls from Anhui had already come into contact with the disease before and were unaffected," Li Que explained.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Wenyuan didn't look particularly satisfied with that answer, and Li Que silently offered an apology to the serving girls in advance.

"It is as you suspected, Consort Huang is almost certainly behind this," Li Que said. "Those two girls were given time off precisely when their friends were on duty–it wasn't for very long, no more than a few minutes, but the serving girls on duty at the Empress' quarters and the Royal Consort's quarters left their posts. And in both cases, it was when the Empress and Royal Consort were not in their inner quarters."

"But the girls themselves are accounted for?"

"Yes. None of them even entered the inner quarters where the talismans were stored. They've been released to their quarters, but we're keeping an eye on them to see if anyone tries to make contact or silence them."

"Good thinking," Wenyuan said.

Li Que bowed his head slightly. They were passing by one of the palace's many gardens now, and the voice of young women sounded out from within.

"Then the girls were unwittingly covering for someone else. But Consort Huang must have someone who could sneak in and out in a very brief window of time–in short, someone skilled. I assume you know who?" Wenyuan asked.

Li Que gestured slightly with his head. Wenyuan followed his gaze, grimacing as he caught sight of where Consort Huang sat in the garden, surrounded by her servants.

"That eunuch next to her? I think he's the one," Li Que murmured.

Wenyuan glanced in the direction Li Que was staring, scrutinizing the Consort and her eunuch alike. "The head eunuch of her palace?"

"Yes, he's not very well-built, but he probably used to be," Li Que said. "Look at his posture–that's not the posture of a eunuch. His head is slightly bowed like all eunuchs, but his back is as straight as a rod. His feet are also planted firmly, shoulder-width, toes digging in slightly–he definitely was in the military before."

Wenyuan stared at the eunuch for a long moment. "Can you confirm that?"

"I will try," Li Que said. "He's been in the palace twenty years now, so his skills should have rusted–unless he's been secretly putting them to use. Yet Consort Huang's only been in the palace for a little over two years. If we dig deeper, I suspect we'll find that he ran errands for the late Empress Dowager and is now offering his services to his new mistress."

"One of grandmother's men? Then he's not to be underestimated. But if he had been in the military before, he was definitely at least in adolescence–no, looking at his current age, he must have at least been an adult by the time he became a eunuch," Wenyuan muttered. "The only reason a man would be castrated at that age is as a punishment for a crime he personally committed, isn't it?"

"Indeed."

"Then tread carefully. If you corner the dog he'll jump the wall–if one of the consorts is harmed, we're all done for," Wenyuan said.

"Understood."

"I assume you also need to question Consort Huang," Wenyuan said. "Is that not why you've come to me?"

"Yes," Li Que admitted. "But she is one of the Emperor's favorites, so it is a delicate issue."

"If I recall, he gave his permission over a week ago," Wenyuan said. "I don't see the problem."

Li Que withheld a wince. "It would be of immense reassurance to us if we had your backing, Director."

"And by us, you mean the palace branch?" Wenyuan asked. "You're the head of the branch, Vice-Director."

Li Que lowered his eyes. Zhao Wenyuan clearly did not want to be involved in this. That left the black pot to fall squarely on Li Que alone. And that it most certainly would, even if the investigation was completed successfully, with how many nobles he had offended throughout this process. The palace branch under him would be shaken up accordingly, and it would be another opportunity for the headquarters of the Bureau to wrestle back control. After over two decades of diligence, his career would end in ignominy.

Killing two birds with one stone, Li Que thought to himself despondently. Of course. What sane man would step in when a threat was destroying itself?

"But you have my backing," Zhao Wenyuan said after a long pause, just when Li Que had just about given up hope. He stared at Zhao Wenyuan in disbelief as the man slowly walked away from the garden, careful to keep just out of Consort Huang's line of sight.

"Provided, of course, that you file it on paper–the files remain internal to the palace branch, but there must be files. Otherwise, I would be intervening on a private basis and that jeopardizes the credibility of the whole investigation, especially since my sister-in-law is still a suspect. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes sir! We are very grateful for your support!"

"And that eunuch might be a threat, yes, but Consort Huang is the one I'm really worried about. Don't let any of the men interact with her or any of her female servants one-on-one. If they find themselves trapped, they should prioritize securing a speedy exit over politeness," Zhao Wenyuan said, ignoring Li Que's gratitude.

He turned towards Li Que, a grave look on his face. "Say, Li Que, since the palace branch isn't going anywhere, we ought to set up a division with female Investigators, don't you think?"

Li Que nodded cautiously. "It would be a very significant breach of tradition," he said while continuing to nod.

"The palace branch already embodies that," Wenyuan replied. "Submit a petition, will you?"

Li Que thought better of arguing. "Yes sir." He observed Wenyuan carefully. "But we will need a female official to command them. Do you have any candidates in mind, my lord?"

"Not Chen Caichun," Wenyuan said, understanding Li Que's hint immediately. "I promised her a career as a civil official, but she'd be classified as a palace official if she takes the job. Plus, she's your protege's sister, it'd easily become a conflict of interest. You handle it, Vice-Director. I trust your abilities."

"Thank you. I'll be sure to find a suitable candidate."

Zhao Wenyuan smiled, a translucent expression that came and went in a flicker. "We're almost at the gates, Vice-Director. You should be heading back."

It would be polite to insist on accompanying his superior to the gates, but given that Zhao Wenyuan seemed to be sinking deeper into thought with every moment, it seemed just as polite to leave him be.

"Have a safe trip, my lord," Li Que replied. Zhao Wenyuan nodded slightly and went on without looking back.

And with that, Li Que returned to his duties, not knowing how much he would come to regret his obedience.

Kayla nodded at the Imperial Guards at the gate absentmindedly as she passed them.

Consort Huang…Consort Huang. What am I forgetting about her?

Something, that was for sure. It had been bothering her ever since she first got a good look at the young woman earlier.

Kayla had read the Consort's file closely, and it was certain that Consort Huang was one of Yunqi's favorites. He was a pretty egalitarian Emperor, all things considered, and tried to ensure that his Consorts got a more-or-less equal amount of time, attention, and gifts. But in that equation, Consort Huang was doubtlessly one who got more rather than less.

And for what reason? She was pretty, of course, but all Consorts were and so she didn't really stand out. Her father was removed from the politics of the Central Government, but that could be said of Consort Li, the poor disfigured victim, just as easily.

It occurred to her belatedly what she'd forgotten about Consort Huang.

The girl Yunqi ended up hitting by accident!

Two years had passed, burying the incident to the bottom of Kayla's mind. But that time when Yunqi had summoned her in the middle of the night had signalled the start of something that Kayla couldn't quite place her finger on.

It had been the first time Kayla was truly afraid that the sane Emperor they had finally managed to get onto the throne would lose it. It was also the first and only time Yunqi had ever hit one of his wives, however accidentally.

No wonder she's one of his favorites.

Knowing Yunqi, his attentions were probably out of regret initially, but with the young woman's doubtlessly generous reception of his apologies, it had slowly developed into sentimental attachment.

That explains her motive then.

Consort Li, a very unassuming and undemanding woman of slightly-above-average stature and looks, threatened to usurp Consort Huang's position as the favorite and she couldn't accept that.

Are you fucking kidding me though? All this because of jealousy? Neither of them are even pregnant. If anyone should be harem intriguing it should be the people with an actual stake in the game.

But that was also the problem, that it could be so easily dismissed as pettiness. Who was to say they wouldn't miss out on something important because of that?

She made her way towards the exit, stopping dead in her tracks as Han Daizhi stepped into sight. He had evidently been waiting for her, knowing exactly which gate she would use when Kayla had deliberately entered and exited from different gates.

The Shandong faction is just having at it today, aren't they?

More importantly, how had he known where she would be? He didn't follow her carriage, since Tao Qian was bringing over a second carriage she kept nearby specifically to avoid being followed. Her mind instantly flashed to Li Que, who had approached her for something he already had the Emperor's full support for–but no, that couldn't be it. Li Que had a genuine issue to discuss, and he hadn't had a chance anytime during their talk to signal anyone or send anything. Unless she'd missed something.

Who the hell was it then?

"Duke Zhao," Han Daizhi greeted her with a deep bow. "I hope that all is well with you?"

"Ah, isn't this Director Han?" Kayla said, as if she barely remembered this extremely troublesome thorn in her side. "What brings you here?"

"I was just taking a walk, what a surprise to run into you! Fortune must be on my side today," Han Daizhi replied.

Fortune my ass, you've got eyes in the palace? I'm going to gouge them out soon enough, so keep smiling till then, you smarmy bastard.

"Well then." Kayla made to move on, but Han Daizhi quickly stepped into her path.

"Your Excellency, if I may inquire as to whether you have news of the Emperor?"

"The Emperor is very well," Kayla said flatly.

"We are simply concerned, as you know. We haven't seen the Emperor in days."

"I wasn't aware the Emperor met with you daily," Kayla retorted.

"Well, surely not with someone as low-ranking as myself," Han Daizhi said, perfectly sheepish and polite. "But as a loyal subject, it is our duty to be aware of the Emperor's well-being and his state of mind. As you might know, there are rumors that he has neglected the convening of the court because he is drunk on the pleasures of the Imperial Harem."

Which of course was an insinuation that Halime was somehow responsible.

"I did not know that," Kayla said. "I am not in the habit of committing lese-majeste."

"Your Excellency is speaking of the matter too harshly," Han Daizhi hastily said. "The Emperor's conduct influences the fortune and misfortune of the nation, is it not our responsibility to oversee and remonstrate his actions accordingly?"

"How diligent," Kayla said drily. "Well then, I'll leave you to it."

"Your Excellency!" Han Daizhi protested. "Doesn't the court deserve an explanation?"

"The heads of the Three Departments and the Six Ministers have met with the Emperor several times in the past few days," Kayla replied flatly. "That answers to the court enough, doesn't it? Or is the Emperor at your beck and call?'

"With how secretive you are, some might even misunderstand your intentions," Han Daizhi said with a forced smile. "Doesn't Your Excellency also have a responsibility to assure the court? If you could offer an explanation, the officials would gain some ease of mind. After all, it is our duty as officials to help shoulder the Emperor's worries, and we are very concerned about our ability to do so if we don't even know what's going on."

"Yes, it is your duty to shoulder the Emperor's worries, but only within the capacity of your position. In your case, I understand it is to manage your bureaucrats properly and to keep track of where the stamps are stored. Anything beyond that doesn't concern you," Kayla replied. "As Confucius says, 'if you are not in that position, do not worry about its affairs.'"

Han Daizhi's smile didn't falter. "And also did he say, 'If even Guan Zhong can be thought to know the rites, who wouldn't be considered to know the rites?'"

He's accusing me of overstepping? Him?

"Since you speak of Guan Zhong, are you cursing our Emperor to the same fate as Duke Heng of Qi then?" Kayla retorted.

"Of course not," Han Daizhi said through a strained smile. "I simply wish to ensure our Emperor's best interests as a loyal subject."

"That makes two of us then."

"Does Your Excellency truly intend to continue keeping the court in the dark while locking down the palace?" Han Daizhi asked. "Honest men are being pushed to extremes by unease and uncertainty–"

"If by honest men you mean your friend Zhu Simo from the Ministry of Revenue, I believe he should be fired if he has so little fortitude," Kayla said mercilessly.

"He wouldn't be the only one then, if you think so little of an official's loyalty," Han Daizhi replied. "People cannot help but worry, Your Excellency. After all, they don't want the Emperor to meet the same fate as Emperor Xuanzong?"

Kayla's mind went numb. "Emperor Xuanzong?" Her voice, thankfully, stayed mildly irritated instead of belying the thin threads of reason holding back a flood-wave of panic.

How? Why? Who? There wasn't anything, shouldn't have been anything, Wei Guang had died to make sure of that but Sir Yang was still alive and so was Vice-Commander Jiang and for that matter, so was Kayla, wasn't she? And how many of them would need to die to fix this? Who would become the first sacrifice for the regime's stability, along with their entire clan to the ninth degree?

Han Daizhi's mouth was still moving, and her head finally cleared enough for her to hear him.

"—the death of his lawful Empress was what caused the bloodshed that nearly ended the Imperial line of his descent," Han Daizhi was saying. "We officials will not stand idly by if anyone holds treasonous ambitions in supplanting the rightful Empress of our current Emperor when so much lies at stake. Even if an Imperial in-law has other thoughts about it, we won't allow them to succeed."

It wasn't Emperor Xuanzong's assassination. Of course it wasn't, how could it have been? His ghost didn't haunt them, she hadn't even been there when he died. It had all ended simply, without bloodshed, without turmoil, and couldn't dig its claws in now, not after three years had passed in peace. A bitter, scorching taste bubbled up at the back of her throat.

"Of course Empress An's legitimacy must be defended, with our lives if necessary," Kayla said, a hard edge creeping into her voice. "I don't know what you think you know, but this is a non-negotiable principle that all officials must agree to, or be scourged from the face of this earth. Don't you think?'

"Good," Han Daizhi said. "I'm glad Your Excellency thinks that way."

His smile grew wider. "So why doesn't Your Excellency's actions match with his words?"

Kayla stared at Han Daizhi with derision, suddenly devoid of any and all patience.

"You test my patience," Kayla said frostily. "I don't think that's wise."

Han Daizhi lifted his chin, fighting to keep his smile on his face.

"Is that a threat, Duke Zhao?"

Kayla stared him in the eye.

"No."

She watched him in silence. Han Daizhi grimaced and began blinking rapidly. He valiantly smoothed his expression over with a gulp, and then left without another word.

She stared after him and he knew it, his steps quickening until he disappeared from sight.

In truth, Kayla couldn't get her legs to move, as if they had frozen into granite.

Emperor Xuanzong.

It hadn't been what she feared, but she hated him for even making her fear it in the first place. A wave of heat burst down the back of her neck, and she found the inside of her collar was damp with sweat.

I'm going to destroy him. She was beyond anger or fear now, in a state of static blankness that crackled down to her fingertips.

Kayla winced as her tinnitus flared again, and slowly willed her body to respond. Bit by bit, she could feel her feet again. She took a step forward, then another, and left the palace behind her, as still and cold as it had been when she'd arrived.

Cultural Notes

外戚/Imperial In-law: A position that comes with great privilege and sometimes great power, but one that's often viewed with great scrutiny given the large amount of Imperial in-laws that kept messing with the court and meddling in politics through Chinese history.

驸马/Prince Consort: The husband of a Princess, also a noble title.

安徽/Anhui: A province in China. Known to be relatively impoverished.

宫刑/Castration as a punishment: A very harsh punishment in Ancient China, where reproduction and maintaining the line of descent was viewed as especially important. Often applied to people who were viewed to have committed particularly offensive crimes, though in the most famous incident, the castration of Sima Qian who wrote the Shiji, one of China's most famous historical records, his crime was speaking up for a man whose family was unfairly executed.

狗急了跳墙/A cornered dog jumps the wall: A Chinese saying that means someone pushed to a corner will act extremely.

背黑锅/Shoulder the black pot: In Chinese this saying essentially means to shoulder the blame and reputational damage.

一石二鸟/Killing two birds with one stone: An Ancient Chinese saying. Hard to say whether the Western version was adapted from the Chinese one.

Civil official vs palace official: While there were female officials in Ancient China they were primarily administrators within the Imperial Palace where un-castrated men could not easily operate without suspicion. They usually did not have a strong influence in politics and legislation, save for notable exceptions such as during the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian, the first and only female Emperor. It is worth noting that she intentionally ruled as Emperor and not as Empress.

The Emperor neglecting the court for his harem: This occurred pretty often in Ancient China, when the Emperor neglected his duties because he was too busy having fun in the harem, but notably, this was usually blamed on the consort, her family members, or a random eunuch rather than on the Emperor's own self-control. It was seen as a severe breach of decorum and duty.

说重了/Speaking of it too harshly/heavily: A Chinese saying meaning that someone is exaggerating, specifically in the negative direction.

Three Departments and Six Ministries: The bureaucratic structure of the Central Government in the Tang Dynasty, aka the capital administration.

不在其位不谋其政/If you're not in that position do not worry about its affairs: And Confucius said, "mind your own business."

管仲知礼，孰不知礼/If even Guan Zhong can be thought to know the rites, who wouldn't be considered to know the rites?: Another quote by Confucius in reference to Guan Zhong, a prime minister who was thought to overstep his position by enjoying the rites of a ruler rather than that of a subject. He was a controversial figure due to his reforms and his past history of switching sides in a succession battle that eventually placed Duke Heng of Qi on the throne. Since he'd previously shot the Duke during the succession struggle, their relationship was understandably awkward. However, Duke Heng's tutor Baoshu was Guan Zhong's close friend, and knew how talented the man was. He convinced Duke Heng to let go of past grievances and make use of Guan Zhong's talents. Guan Zhong then went on to enact a series of highly successful economic and political reforms that included innovative measures such as restricting the monopolization of key resources such as grain and steel by the rich, instead encouraging them to engage in luxury consumption, and promoting commercial activity among the working class so that they can gain more wealth and pay more taxes. Today, he is generally thought of very positively, but in Confucius' time, he was seen as being way out of line. Notably, he very much did overstep, but did so with the direct consent of his ruler, but that too is still overstepping. Han Daizhi compares Kayla to Guan Zhong because her situation very much mirrors his.

齐恒公/Duke Heng of Qi: A Duke who gained his position by beating his older brother in the battle of succession. During this process he was nearly killed when Guan Zhong, his older brother's tutor, shot him with an arrow. However, he was magnanimous enough to prioritize the country and forgive Guan Zhong, who he then made his godfather. Duke Heng allowed Guan Zhong a great deal of privileges, including the rites of a ruler. In truth, Duke Heng probably allowed Guan Zhong too much power, but he trusted the right guy in this case and so enjoyed a great degree of hegemony and success. But in his old age, after the loss of his godfather/prime minister, he continued to overly trust subjects who definitely did not have his best interests in mind. His kingdom splintered with infighting and he starved to death while his former favorites fought a civil war without any care for him. He's a very dramatic figure who is worth a whole movie or novel on his own, but we'll keep it short for now.

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