Ka Koushun

* Novel
* Anime

**Ka Koshun** (夏 高峻, *Ka Koushun*?) is the current emperor of Shou and Summer King.

## Appearance

Koshun is a tall young man. He has short black hair and dark eyes. His face is described as "masculine". Ryu Jusetsu describes it as being like a winter mountain. It is said that he inherited his good looks from his mother, who was known to be a great beauty. As the emperor, he wears a *miangguan.*

## Personality

Koshun is a serious man whose face rarely shows what he is really thinking or feeling. He hates breaking customs, such as refusing to order Jusetsu to fulfill his request because it was a long-held rule that the Raven Consort cannot be ordered around by anyone. He believes in following the law and due process in all things. He values reason and logic, and believes that honor and righteousness must persist no matter what. He is good at coming up with ways to get people to do what he wants. Despite looking calm and stoic on the outside, Koshun keeps his intense feelings on the inside. According to Kajou, he used to be a lively and expressive child, but he became more withdrawn after a eunuch he adored, Teiran, was killed by the Empress Dowager.

## History

Koshun was made the crown prince when the son of the then-Empress (now Empress Dowager) died at a very young age. This was also partly because he had no powerful relatives who could interfere and butt in. He would often visit his mother Consort Sha in the inner palace, as she was prone to falling into depression from the Empress' constant harassment. His father was weak and hated fighting, so he didn't protect his mother and abandoned her.

One day, his mother told him not to visit her so frequently anymore. Angered, he told her that he would no longer visit her. Later, he learned from his tutor, Un Eitoku, that his mother never fought back against the Empress and told him not to visit anymore because she didn't want harm to befall him. Just when Koshun was about to visit her, he learned that she had died. He was ten years old at the time. She was poisoned by the Empress, but the crime was framed on a servant who was subsequently executed, so there was no clear evidence.  After her funeral, Koshun was crying in an inner palace garden when he was approached by Lady Han. He asked her why she was only wearing one jade earring. She tells him that she gave the other one to someone important so that they would always be connected. Jealous that she had someone important to her who was still alive, he demanded that she give him the earring. She gave it to him with a smile. Koshun was struck by the fact that she gave it to him to comfort him, not because he was the crown prince. Though he immediately regretted it afterwards, he lost the opportunity to return it to her.

Koshun was deposed as the crown prince at thirteen years old. He was banished to the distant Gyosou Palace and suffered many hardships. Tei Ran, a eunuch who was his caretaker and remained by his side even after he was deposed, was also killed by the Empress.  He had been on his way back from picking mallow from the Gardens and Ponds Office to make pickled mallow, Koshun's favorite dish, when he was ambushed by the Empress's men, accused of stealing the mallow, and beaten to death. This marked the point when Koshun became more emotionally withdrawn.

However, during this difficult time, he still had allies such as Eisei, a eunuch he had met when he was ten years old and immediately employed as his attendant, and his childhood tutor Un who quietly supported him. Kajou, Un's granddaughter, was also a childhood friend of his. During that time he built up strength and rose to action, eventually making the Forbidden Army into his allies and stormed into the Empress' palace at age eighteen, defeating the officials and eunuchs who flattered her. He placed the Empress under house arrest the imperial villa Teirui Palace instead of executing her, as she was too influential and Koshun wanted to remove her power and escape routes step by step. He ascended the throne a year after Jusetsu became the Raven Consort.

## Plot

One night, Koshun and his companion, Eisei visit the palace of the mysterious Raven Consort in order to ask her to find the owner of a jade earring he found. Upon meeting Jusetsu, he is surprised at how young she is and the old-fashioned way she spoke. Jusetsu refuses to grant his request, since she senses there is more to his request and doesn't want to get involved in it. He notes that unlike what the rumors say, Jusetsu is actually a human and asks her name after taking her hand. Koshun notices a strange burn on her wrist, but before he could ask about it, Jusetsu uses magic to kick him and Eisei out of her palace. Koshun isn't bothered by her rudeness to him, despite him being the Emperor, and begins to consider ways to get her to accept his request, as he believes she is the only one who can fulfill it.

The next day, he goes with Eisei again to Yamei Palace, this time with a basket of baozi made by the Sweets Department. This works, and Jusetsu agrees to listen to his request. After being told that she couldn't find the owner, he then asks her to find the identity of the ghost possessing the earring, who he had saw only once. Jusetsu summons the ghost, and Koshun judged by the mark on her wrist that she was a concubine who was alive either during his father or grandfather's reign. He asks Jusetsu to help the ghost find peace, claiming that he is curious as well as feeling pity for the ghost. Jusetsu hesitates, and Koshun notes the mark on her wrist again. This pushes Jusetsu to take his request and she asks for the name register of concubines from the previous reigns, but Koshun refuses because if he ordered it to be brought to him, it will draw attention to what he is doing. He tells Eisei to pull some strings to get it, but doesn't promise that he will be able to get it. Jusetsu then asks Koshun to prepare a cleaning maid's uniform for her so that she could do her own investigation. Koshun also secretly tasks Eisei with investigating Jusetsu's burn.

After he finished his Outer Court work at noon the next day, he is informed by his prime minister Un Eitoku and the assistant minister of finance Meiin, that there is strange financial activity going on at Teirui Palace involving missing funds from the Empress Dowager selling off government positions. Just as he and Eisei are leaving for the Inner Court, Koshun hears Chancellor Un saying that the Empress Dowager doesn't appreciate Koshun's compassion. Koshun didn't spare her life out of mercy, but because at the time she was too influential to kill. Even though he can execute her now, he didn't have concrete evidence for her crimes and refuses to be like her by executing her without due process. This is all in spite of the fact that he desperately wants to kill her.

Koshun and Eisei return to Gyoukou Palace, where Eisei makes tea for Koshun. Koshun asks about the investigation and learns that Jusetsu used to be a house slave to the You clan, hence the brand on her wrist, and that she was sold to them at age four. Eisei tells Koshun not to get involved with someone of uncertain origins, but Koshun believes that this is necessary and that the Empress Dowager's side didn't know why he was visiting the Raven Consort and were probably confused as to what to do about it. He then asks if Eisei's subordinates, who he had placed as spies in important positions, have told him anything. He is told that the eunuch and maid they talked about before hadn't made any moves at the moment. Koshun thinks about how he is getting closer and closer to cornering the Empress Dowager into a dead end.

Some time later, Eisei tells Koshun about everything he learned from his visit to Yamei Palace, including Jusetsu's plan to gain access to the court lady register and his suspicions about her. At night, the two go to the pond near Yamei Palace, where they catch Jusetsu in the act of washing out the black dye from her silver hair, proof that she is a descendant of the previous imperial family who were all executed by Koshun's grandfather. Jusetsu sees them and runs back to her palace, closing the doors behind her. Koshun picks up the bowl of dye she left behind and leaves it at the door. He tells her to wipe her body properly so she doesn't get sick and turns to leave. When Jusetsu asks him if he didn't have anything else to say, he simply says that he saw nothing tonight and leaves.

Thanks to Jusetsu's plan, they are able to read the court lady register and find information on the servants of Lady Han, who is the identity of the ghost. They learn that So Kougyou, Lady Han's attendant, is currently in the Sen'e House. The next day, as a result of the plan, Koshun and Eisei go to Hien Palace to bring the servant Jiujiu, who Jusetsu met during her investigation and wanted as a temporary attendant as a part of her plan to gain them access to the register, to Yamei Palace. While Jiujiu changes into her new uniform, Koshun tells her about what they learned from the register. Despite his apprehensions, Jusetsu decides to go to Sen'e House herself to question So Kougyou and kicks him and Eisei out in order to change into the servant's uniform again.

## Trivia

* Koshun has never met his half-sister, Princess Skylark, due to the fact that they share different mothers.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Volume 1, The Jade Earring
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Volume 1, Princess Skylark