Raven Consort

> "No one can order the Raven Consort to do anything."
>
> Ka Koushun, *The Jade Earring*

The **Raven Consort** (烏妃, *U'hi*?) is a special consort who lives in the inner palace. In actuality, the title of "Raven Consort" was given to the **Winter Sovereign** (冬の王, *Fuyu no Ou*?) by Ran Yuu in order to hide her true identity as the second king of the nation.

## Description

Unlike the other consorts and concubines in the inner palace, the Raven Consort does not sleep with the emperor. She lives in **Yamei Palace** (夜明宮, *Yamei-kyuu*?, lit. Palace that Shines Brightly in Darkness), a palace that is painted completely pitch black, and rarely leaves it. Her reclusion brings forth many rumors, some of which are true.

As the rumors say, the Raven Consort can use magic to perform curse killings, exorcisms, and find lost things, but unlike what the rumors say, she doesn't accept every request, namely requests with prices that can't be paid. With the saying, "if you curse someone, dig two graves," so every request requires an equivalent price to be paid. For example, a life in exchange for a curse killing, assets in exchange for an exorcism, and a consultation in exchange for finding lost things. The Raven Consort is supposed to go anywhere or want anything.

The Raven Consort successors are found by a magical golden bird named Xingxing. Xingxing's feather turns into an arrow that is shot into the location of the successor, who is subsequently brought to the inner palace. The Raven Consort doesn't change with the succession of the emperors. For example, Reijou was from the previous imperial dynasty.

## History

According to the official history books, the Raven Consort is a descendant of the priestess who served the goddess **Wulian Niangniang** (烏漣娘娘, *****Wulian Niangniang*****?), who used to have a shrine in the place where the imperial palace is now standing. The emperors of the previous dynasty greatly admired the Raven Consort's mysterious power and built the inner palace to enclose her so that they could monopolize that power. They gave her a special consort's rank. When Ka Koushun's grandfather took the throne and established the current dynasty, he kept the palace and capital as they were, including the Raven Consort.

But in reality, the official history was fabricated by Ran Yuu, the first king of the Ran dynasty. The Raven Consort was originally the Winter King, one of two kings (the other being the Summer King) chosen by Wulian Niangniang to govern the country. The Summer King was in charge of government and the title was passed down through male heirs, while the Winter King was a shamaness in charge of religious rituals, and a maiden is randomly chosen by oracles to fulfill the role. The two kings ruled in peace for five hundred years until the Summer King Shou killed the Winter King Sui for unclear reasons. While there is much speculation as to why he killed her, it is agreed that Shou loved Sui to the point of wanting to kill her.

After this event, the armies of the Summer and Winter Kings clashed for many years. The country fell into ruin during this time, and there was no new Winter King even though there had been several Summer Kings because Wulian Niangniang had remained silent. It is believed that this was her punishment towards the Summer King for killing the Winter King. The names of the Winter and Summer Kings soon became forgotten. This all changed one day when an army led by Ran Yuu marched towards the capital and crowned himself as the new ruler. He was able to do so easily because he was accompanied by Koushou, a slave girl who was chosen by Wulian Niangniang as the new Winter King. After nearly a thousand years, the Summer and Winter Kings were finally together again.

## Known Raven Consorts

* Sui (predates the Raven Consort title, but was a Winter King)
* Koushou (the first Raven Consort, deceased)
* Reijou (deceased)
* Ryuu Jusetsu (current)