Volume 1/The Jade Earring

*The Jade Earring* is the first chapter of Volume 1 of the *Koukyuu no Karasu* series.

## Synopsis

One night, the Emperor Ka Koushun and his close friend Ei Sei visit Yamei Palace, the home of the mysterious and reclusive Raven Consort, in order for her to fulfill Koushun's request to find the owner of a jade earring. They meet Ryuu Jusetsu, the young and beautiful Raven Consort and Xingxing, the golden bird that is said to choose the Raven Consort. Jusetsu refuses to grant Koushun's request as she senses there is more to it and doesn't want to get dragged into "troublesome things." Not wishing to break the rule that states that the Raven Consort cannot be commanded by anyone, Koushun thinks of a way to win Jusetsu over.

The next night, Koushun and Ei Sei visit Yamei Palace again, this time bringing a basket of her favorite baozi. This works on Jusetsu and she agrees to hear his request, however she cannot find the owner of a lost item since that is not in her power. Koushun then tells her that there is a ghost, who he saw once, possessing the earring, and asks to learn her identity. Jusetsu summons the ghost, who seemed to have been a concubine from Koushun's father's or grandfather's reign and died from strangulation. Koushun asks Jusetsu if she could do something to help the ghost. Jusetsu agrees to do it after some pushing and asks for the register of concubines from the previous reign and the one before last, but Koushun refuses as it would draw attention to the fact that he was doing this. Since it would take some time to get the register without Jusetsu then asks Koushun to prepare a cleaning maid's uniform for her so she could do her own investigation.

Early next morning, Jusetsu leaves Yamei Palace, dressed in the maid's uniform. Approaching Hien Palace, she defends a kitchen maid named Jiujiu from another maid trying to push her work onto her. The maid had been there to pass a letter to a eunuch. Jusetsu pretends to be a maid at Yamei Palace and helps Jiujiu with her work while gaining information from her. She learns about the house arrest of the Empress Dowager, who is suspected to have poisoned Koushun's mother Lady Sha and turned Koushun into the deposed crown prince, and how Koushun managed to bring the imperial forbidden army to his side and defeat the Empress Dowager to take the throne. Jusetsu asked about a concubine who hung herself, but Jiujiu doesn't know her name, so she takes her to an older maid named Ashuu who knows more stories of the inner palace. Ashuu tells them that the low-ranking concubine was named Lady Han, who lived in the inner palace during the previous reign. She was accused on poisoning the pregnant Magpie Consort at that time because poison was found in her room, and then subsequently hung herself. Jusetsu is unable to learn whether or not Lady Han wore jade earrings or not. She then asks about the inner palace during the Flame Emperor's (Koushun's grandfather's) time. Ashuu tells her that the Flame Emperor was haunted by the ghosts of the previous dynasty's imperial family, all of whom had rare silver hair. The Flame Emperor had killed everyone in the previous imperial family, including women and children. After talking to Ashuu, Jiujiu notices strands of white hair in Jusetsu's hair, but Jusetsu quickly returns to Yamei Palace before she could say anything more.

Meanwhile, Koushun had just finished his work. He learns from Chancellor Un that there has been suspicious happenings at Teirui Palace, the villa where the Empress Dowager is under house arrest. The empress had been selling government posts at a rapid pace, but the confiscated money doesn't match with the estimations. It is suspected that there are eunuchs who are helping her hide her finances. Unlike what many people believe, Koushun didn't spare the Empress Dowager's life because of compassion, but because he didn't have the power back then to execute her and he wants to find hard evidence for her crimes before he executes her.

Back at Koushun's residence, Gyoukou Palace, Koushun asks Ei Sei about the progress of his investigation into Jusetsu's flower-shaped burn. He is told that the osmanthus flower-shaped burn is associated with the You clan, meaning that Jusetsu used to be a house slave of the You clan. The current head is a low-ranking official who was unable to pass the official exams to become a high-ranking official, even though a few generations ago there was someone who served as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Personnel. There are rumors of the current head demanding bribes, smuggling salt, and treating servants terribly. Jusetsu was sold to the You clan when she was four years old, but Ei Sei is unable to find out who sold her. Ei Sei tells Koushun not to get involved with someone with an unknown background, but Koushun believes it is necessary, and that the Empress Dowager's side doesn't know the reason why he is visiting the Raven Consort. Koushun asks if Ei Sei's subordinates, who Koushun had placed as spies in important positions, said anything about the Empress Dowager's side, and Ei Sei tells him that there had no movement from the eunuch and maid mentioned before.

Meanwhile, Jusetsu returns to Yamei Palace and prepares to make a potion of dried cornflower seeds and areca nuts for her exposed silver hairs. However, she is surprised by Ei Sei, who had entered the palace through a back door. Jusetsu tells him about Lady Han and the other things she discovered. She asks if he can find out if any of Lady Han's servants are still in the inner palace, but Ei Sei says it would be difficult because in order to read the court lady register, there needs to be a reason given, which would draw attention to what Koushun is doing. Jusetsu comes up with the idea of using the pretext of wanting a handmaid (specifically Jiujiu, whose family name she doesn't know) to gain access to the register. Ei Sei agrees to her idea, but before leaving, he correctly identifies the ingredients of her potion as well as what they are used for, then asks who she is.

At night, Jusetsu goes to a pond with the potion bowl. She washes the black dye off her hair, revealing her true silver hair, a sign that she is descended from the previous imperial family, the Ran clan. The Ran clan was executed by the orders of the Flame Emperor, but Jusetsu's mother was able to escape because she was the daughter of a female servant and thus not considered a legitimate member of the clan. Jusetsu's mother became a prostitute and gave birth to Jusetsu in the red light district. Though they both dyed their hair, news of Jusetsu's mother reached the palace when Jusetsu was four and soldiers came to capture her. Jusetsu's mother hid Jusetsu before going out to confront the soldiers. She was executed under the charge of treason. Afterwards Jusetsu was captured by a slaver and sold to the You clan as a servant girl. At age six, she was taken to Yamei Palace as the successor to the Raven Consort after a golden arrow was shot into the roof of the You clan estate. She learned how to read and write from the previous Raven Consort, Reijou, who helped conceal her lineage.

Just as she is about to re-dye her hair, she catches Koushun and Ei Sei watching her, her silver hair exposed to them. Jusetsu quickly runs back to Yamei Palace, knowing that she will be executed now that Koushun knows she is a descendant of the Ran clan. Much to her surprise, Koushun only returns her bowl at her door and tells her he didn't see anything tonight.

The next day, Koushun and Ei Sei visit Yamei Palace again, bringing Jiujiu with them. Koushun gives no indication of what happened last night. Jiujiu, on the other hand, is shocked to learn Jusetsu is actually the Raven Consort and that she wants her to be her handmaid, at least temporarily. However, she is quickly won over when she sees her new uniform. While Jiujiu changes, Koushun tells Jusetsu what they discovered in the court lady register. Lady Han had a lady-in-waiting and a servant who served that lady-in-waiting. The servant died from illness, and the lady-in-waiting, whose name was So Kougyou, was transferred to another consort after Lady Han died, but currently she is in the Sen'e House, the place where elderly court ladies or court ladies who committed crimes are sent. Koushun also confirms that there were no other concubines who hung themselves or were strangled to death, meaning that Lady Han truly is the ghost. Jusetsu decides to change into the servant's uniform and pay a visit to So Kougyou with Jiujiu to ask about the jade earring.

On their way to Sen'e House, Jusetsu and Jiujiu see the maid from yesterday delivering another letter to Hien Palace. Jiujiu mentions that the maid was actually delivering letters on behalf of another maid at the Interior Documents Office. Upon entering the area where Sen'e House is, the two are surrounded by four eunuchs with knives. Jusetsu uses her magic to escape them, but Jiujiu caught by one of them and is about to be stabbed when they are rescued by another eunuch in his thirties. That eunuch also ends up getting attacked, and he in turn is saved by a younger eunuch, who disarms the other eunuchs in an instant and forces them to run away. The younger eunuch introduces himself as Onkei, who was ordered by Ei Sei to be Jusetsu's secret bodyguard. Onkei guesses that those eunuchs were under the Empress Dowager's order. Jusetsu looks for the older eunuch who tried to save them but can't find him. Onkei believes that the older eunuch must have just been passing through and didn't work for Ei Sei. Jiujiu is shaken but determined to continue accompanying Jusetsu, thanking her for putting herself between her and the knife.

Jusetsu, Jiujiu, and Onkei enter Sen'e House and find Sou Kougyou's room. They find her bedridden, with a cut out tongue. She reacts with shock and fear when Jusetsu shows her the jade earring and confirms that it belonged to Lady Han. She asks for a pencil and paper to write on, but none can be found in Sen'e House, so they decide her to bring her to Yamei Palace. There, Kougyou is provided with a pencil and paper to tell her story. She explains that she was taught how to write by a Sen'e House maid and that she will be killed if it is found out that she can write. Her servant was actually killed, and she herself had her tongue cut out on a made-up charge because it would be too conspicuous to kill a handmaid. She tells Jusetsu that the Empress Dowager is the one who did these things to her. The Empress Dowager poisoned the Magpie Consort, the daughter of vassal who wasn't in the Empress Dowager's faction and pregnant at the time, and framed it on Lady Han. Kougyou saw it happen but was threatened with having her family killed if she didn't keep quiet.

Lady Han only had one jade earring because the other one was with her fiancé back in her hometown. She had been betrothed since she was young, but her father, who was a government official, forced her to go into the inner palace, so she gave the other earring to her fiancé so that he would remember her. But one day, Lady Han gave her earring away to a crying child she found in the inner palace to cheer him up. She states that Lady Han was not only framed, but also killed by the eunuchs. Kougyou loses consciousness after telling her story. After sending Onkei to get medicine, Jusetsu ponders upon who the child given the earring is, guessing that they are the one who dropped the earring and that they must still be in the inner palace.

They spend the next day nursing Kougyou back to health. In the evening, Koushun arrives at Yamei Palace with Ei Sei after word is sent to him. Kougyou confirms that she knows the name of the eunuch who killed Lady Han, and tells them the name of Lady Han's fiance, Kaku Kou. Koushun recognizes that name as a civil servant who currently works at the archival bureau as an editor. Jusetsu wants to meet him to ask about his relationship with Lady Han, and Koushun easily agrees to her request, even though inner palace consorts are generally not allowed to meet people from the outside except for family. Jusetsu again asks him why is he going out of his way for a simple earring. Koushun replies that he simply wants to know the identity of the person who dropped it. After some pushing for Jusetsu, he explains that he wasn't the one who found the earring in the inner palace, but one of his spies. Koushun believes that the person who dropped the earring is an important witness to a certain scheme. Jusetsu then asks him why he decided to turn a blind eye to the fact that she is a descendant of the previous royal family. Koushun says that there is nothing to be gained from exposing her, and in fact, it would more disadvantageous, as the country would be losing its Raven Consort and the people would see him as barbarous. He asks if she hates him or his grandfather or father, but Jusetsu replies that she didn't hate them, instead, she hated herself for not helping her mother when she was getting captured. She takes what Koushun said to mean that if there is an advantage to killing her, he would do so. Koushun gives her a fish-shaped ornament as a promise that he won't kill her. Jusetsu tries to give it back, but Koushun leaves, but not before telling her that he also let his mother die without helping her.

After a nap, Koushun gets a letter from Jusetsu telling him to let her meet Kakuhou right away. Ei Sei confirms that Kakuhou has been called to Koutou Academy on the pretext of translating an old book. Koushun has two eunuch uniforms sent to Yamei Palace. Ei Sei is unhappy about how Koushun acted differently when it comes to Jusetsu, and Koushun himself does not know why that is, but he simply wants to see what Jusetsu will do. This is the first thing he felt in his heart ever since his mother and friend died.

Jusetsu, Jiujiu, Koushun, and Ei Sei arrive at Koutou Academy to meet with Kaku Kou. Jusetsu immediately recognizes him as the older "eunuch" who first saved them from the Empress Dowager's men. Kaku Kou confesses that he snuck into the inner palace to search for Kougyou because he wanted to question her about the truth behind Lady Han's death, not believing that she killed the Magpie Consort. Before Lady Han left for the inner palace, she had given him one of the jade earrings she inherited from her mother, but he had lost it in the inner palace. When Jusetsu shows him the jade earring she had, he recognizes it as the one he lost. Jusetsu tells him that Lady Han's ghost is possessing the earring. Koushun confirms that they are in the process of capturing the eunuch who framed and killed Lady Han, which will prove her innocence and grant her peace. Kaku Kou asks to see her ghost, which Jusetsu grants. Kakuhou reunites with Lady Han, but she does not seem to see or hear him. Jusetsu guesses that this is because she doesn't have her half of the jade earrings, which she treasured. Koushun reveals to Jusetsu that he has Lady Han's jade earring. It turns out that Koushun was the child who Lady Han gave her jade earring to, when she found him crying after his mother died. Koushun had asked her to give him the earring, since he was jealous that her important person was alive and his wasn't. She gave it to him with a smile, and he regretted it afterwards, but never had the opportunity to return it to her. Lady Han's ghost returns to her original appearance and she finally leaves for paradise after meeting her love one last time.

Kaku Kou is resigned to his punishment for sneaking into the inner palace. However, he tells Koushun that during his infiltrations, near Kinkou Palace (location of the Library Tower), he overheard a eunuch and court lady planning to poison Koushun. This confirms Koushun's suspicions, as the eunuch and court lady both used to work for the Empress Dowager. Koushun explains that his spies were following the former servants of the Empress Dowager, and one of them spotted the eunuch and court lady talking secretly, but was unable to hear their conversation. However, the spy spotted someone running from the bushes near the pair. The spy lost that person, but discovered the jade earring they dropped. This makes Kaku Kou an important witness, and so he is spared from execution. Kaku Kou is shocked, but Koushun simply says that he wants to repay Lady Han for what she did for him.

The topic changes to the location of the poison. No poison was found in Kinkou Palace or the Interior Ministry, and it should have been impossible for the eunuch and court lady to get poison with the spies watching them closely. Jusetsu recalls the maid from the Interior Documents Office who was delivering messages from a higher-rank court lady to a eunuch at Hien Palace and realizes that she is possibly the go-between for them. She speculates that the maid trying to push her work on Jiujiu was to distract from the letter delivery. Jiujiu gives the name of the eunuch, Chou Eki, and the name of the maid, Ri Shuuyou. Jiujiu takes a while to recall the name of the court lady, Shin. Koushun immediately recognizes that name, as Shin was a former maid of the Empress Dowager. He determines that Shin was using Ri Shuuyou to smuggle the poison to Hien Palace. Koushun orders Ei Sei to search Chou Eki's room.

Soon after, Shin and the eunuch in league with her, Ko Gen, are arrested. The poison, the same as the one used to poison Consort Sha, is found in Shin's lover Chou Eki's room. Chou Eki had no clue about the plot or the poison. Since Shin and Ko Gen were being closely watched by spies, they used Ri Shuuyou as a go-between to smuggle the poison to Chou Eki. The eunuch who killed Lady Han is also arrested. All parties admit to the Empress Dowager's involvement in the plots, giving enough evidence to execute her.

After the Empress Dowager's execution, Koushun visits Jusetsu at night, bringing a bag of jujubes with him. Koushun confesses that he purposely weakened the guard around Jusetsu when she visited Sen'e House to create a trap for the Empress Dowager's people and leave a trail back to them. He half-jokingly asks if she will become his consort, but Jusetsu turns him down as the Raven Consort is not supposed to go anywhere or wish for anything. Before falling asleep, Koushun tells her that he thought she was a goddess when he saw her at the pond those few nights ago and that he never saw anything as beautiful as her silver hair shining in the moonlight. Jusetsu tries to get Ei Sei to take him back to his palace, but he tells her to let him sleep as he is exhausted from these past few days. Jusetsu considers using her magic to kick him out but decides to let him sleep, using her magic to give him good dreams.

## Characters

* Ka Koushun
* Ei Sei
* Xingxing
* Ryuu Jusetsu
* Wulian Niangniang (mentioned)
* Reijou (mentioned)
* Keishi (mentioned)
* Jiujiu
* Ri Shuuyou
* Ashuu
* Lady Han (mentioned)
* Consort Sha (mentioned)
* Empress Dowager (mentioned)
* Flame Emperor (mentioned)
* Previous Emperor (mentioned)
* Un Eitoku
* Meiin
* Jusetsu's mother (mentioned)
* Onkei
* So Kougyou
* Kaku Kou
* Shin (mentioned)
* Chou Eki (mentioned)
* Ko Gen (mentioned)