The sly flower and the bored butterfly

Flowery idiot

After the little outing yesterday I decided to get serious. I asked A'xi to sweet talk some maids in the palace and dig out some gossip. The old maids are tight lipped and the new maids don't know anything about the princess, it will be  difficult for her to get the information.
　　At the same time, I started going through the files of flying spring brothel. Many prostitutes and workers working there were killed during the siege. The people specifically related to the incense making weren't mentioned. They kept it under the wraps. But currently there was no one from the brothel that I could contact. The people involved in opium trade were either killed or sent to the borders. So there was no one I could get information from.
　　A'xi returned after a while. Her expression wasn't bright. I asked,
' How did it go?'
' I found out nothing. There is no news about anything with the brothels. Please punish me for my incompetence.'
　　' It's okay, I didn't have high expectations anyways. The palace is a strict place, it is difficult for things like brothels to come by here.' I sighed. A'xi looked grim as well.
It was a stupid idea. ' Your majesty, what do we do now?' A'xi asked. I simply shook my head. After a few good minutes A'xi jumped. She exclaimed, ' Your majesty, the people involved with the brothel can't come in but the princess can go out!' Hearing her I felt my head clear.
　　' That's right!The princess isn't restricted to leave the palace. She can easily go in and out of the palace. A'xi you've gotten smart.' A'xi smiled. I asked Head court lady An to go to the princesses palace and get me the records of her outings.
　　She brought me what I wanted. According to the records,all of her outings were either with the loyal subjects of previous emperor or for national affairs. I ruled out all of her official outings. Most of her outings were with her maiden friends to different banquets and celebrations. The most eye catching one was the birthday banquet of the youngest son of Wang family.I knew about this person.
　　He was famous for being a playboy and a pervert. He was regular in all brothels around the capital. Since he is the youngest legitimate son, he is spoiled by his equally perverted father. They may have invited brothel dancers on that day.
　　When I looked at the files of the flying spring brothel earlier, I was surprised. Other than the procedure of the case, the different account books used by the brothel keepers were also stored. Aside from the account book, the files also had a detailed record of all the prostitutes, the events they attended and their clients. In the events records, I found that the brothel had indeed sent some dancers to the birthday banquet of the youngest son of Wang family.
　　All the dancers they sent were the most popular ones during that time. There were about seven girls sent to dance and seven others to sing. Maybe something happened there. These fourteen girls can give me some insight on this situation.
　　They might have been killed or been involved in the opium trade. The walls of this place confines me. I need help from the investigation bureau. I don't think I know about anyone there. The most knowledgeable person about these matters that I know is father. But I can't even see him, much less ask for his help. Then the only person familiar with the bureau that I know would be the emperor...........
I will have to ask him for help??
　　After pondering for a while, I decided on visiting the emperor. Needless to say, head court lady An was ecstatic. She wanted to smear all the rouge on my face and make me wear all the jewelry I had. I escaped her after a long series of excuses.
　　When I arrived, an eunuch hurried to inform the emperor. The emperor was in his study reviewing the scrolls. He looked slightly irritated but composed himself quickly when he sensed my presence. I greeted him and went to the side area. He closed his scrolls and looked at me. ' Empress, seeing you here is a truly rare sight.' I was right with my decision to hate him. Ignoring the comment I simply smiled. ' Your majesty, holds the weight of nation on your shoulders. Chen qi doesn't dare to disturb you.'
　　He poured tea for me and himself and motioned for me to sit.
　' Since you don't dare to disturb zhen, then you must have a serious issue.'
' Your majesty is right, Chen qi is here to discuss about the incident of seventh princess.'
　　' Go on.'
' Chen qi has found some clues about who may have harmed the princess. Chen qi wants to investigate some people and requires your majesties help.'
' Help? How do you want zhen to help you?'
' Chen qi requests your majesty to recommend some officials to investigate the suspects.' The emperor took a sip of his tea and questioned me again.
' You have full authority to summon officials, why do you need my assistance?'
　　' Chen qi is not familiar with the officials and doesn't dare to make mistakes. Your majesty knows your subjects the best.Hence, requesting for your majesties help.'
' Since you say so, zhen will send someone to your palace. Zhen wonders how will you repay zhen's help.'
　　I had to stop myself from inhaling sharply. He already has the empire and tons of beauties, what else does he want? I carefully set down my teacup to give him a vague answer but he had  already made his own answers. ' You should try and repay zhen with your soul and body but we can ignore the body since you are new to the palace. Transcribe some poems for zhen, that will be enough.' I could only tilt my head and thank him for his ' generous' care and go back. At least I won't have to do bed service.
　　But something felt wrong about our conversation. Head court lady An was standing nearby so I asked her. ' Head court lady An, what does repaying with soul and body signify?'  She mumbled a bit and answered, ' Your majesty, isn't it repaying with heart and soul?'
　　That flowery idiot played me one more time. He must be having a good laugh right now. Scoundrel.Sensing my bad mood, A'xi massaged my shoulders. She tactfully kept quiet and Head court lady An stood by the side. How I wish to murder someone right now.
　　After awhile, A'xi stopped massaging my shoulders and asked me, ' Your majesty, who offended you?'  I let out a snort. ' Your lord emperor offended me.' ' Did his majesty not agree to your request?' 'He agreed.' A'xi let out a small 'oh' and retreated.
Well. I can't vent my anger on her or anyone else. I am the one who behaved like and idiot anyways. I actually felt thankful towards him. So much for graciousness. I noticed A'xi looking uneasy. I looked towards her and said, ' What do you want to ask?, you can ask me.'
　　' Since you don't trust his majesty , why did you ask for his majesties help?'
' He is close with the seventh princess, his men won't tamper with the evidence. Since this incident can implicate me, I have to get to it's bottom. Besides I have avoided him for quite some time. If this goes on, they will think that they can step on me and will bully us.'
' Then , is your majesty officially entering the war of harem?' I glared at her.  She simply chuckled and pushed me to my bed.
　　War of harem, my foot. If only I could, I would have ran away from this place. Unfortunately this is where my fate has brought me. I don't expect overwhelming happiness, nor do I expect some dragon's  favor. But I won't tolerate being stepped on by others. I am still the empress of this nation and the ruler of harem. No one shall frame me or hold me back. Especially not the members of this harem.

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