Shurei Hong

Shurei Hong (紅 秀麗) is a fictional character in the novel, manga and anime series, The Story of Saiunkoku.

Background
Shurei Hong is the daughter and only child of Shōka Hong of the Hong clan, one of the two most powerful clans in Saiunkoku.

She is sixteen years old when the story begins. As a descendant of the direct line, she has the title hime, which means 'princess' or 'lady'. Despite the high social status of her family, Shurei grew up in relatively impoverished circumstances. Her father's job brought little income, and much of the wealth of their family home was given to the needy during the devastating war for the imperial succession eight years ago.

There are no servants at the Hong residence, so Shurei has grown adept at household chores such as needlework, cooking and cleaning, traits unusual in a lady of high social standing. She has also held a number of odd jobs to earn money, acting as a professional erhu player, working as an accountant at Kōchō's brothel in the Red Light District, and serving as a teacher at the local temple.

Childhood
Shurei suffered from a weak constitution as a child, but when her mother died after a sudden illness, Shurei's health immediately recovered. This left her with feelings of regret and survivor's guilt over her mother's death. She still experiences fear and panic during summer thunderstorms, which remind her of her mother's sudden passing. Shurei grew up side-by-side with Seiran and often confides in him, telling him virtually everything.

She deeply cares for him, but it is unclear whether she has romantic feelings for him. Shurei experienced first-hand the chaos the nation suffered during the fight over the succession, and her childhood dream was to become an imperial official and serve in government. She yearns for the power to change the lives of the people for the better. Shurei studied for the official examination with her father, but after she learned women were ineligible to take the exam, she abandoned her dream to the children she taught at the temple school.

Story
Due to Shurei's status and abilities, Grand Master Shou offers her 500 gold pieces to become the Emperor's consort for six months. Shurei's education, high social rank, relative poverty, and lack of influential relatives make her the ideal candidate. The Grand Advisors hope Shurei can inspire and instruct Ryuki, who shows no interest in governing after ascending to the throne, to become a better emperor.

She immediately agrees to the deal, swayed by the money (dearly needed for repairs to the house) and the opportunity to help influence her country for the better. Another factor is the persistent rumour that the Emperor is homosexual, removing any worry about Ryuki's romantic or physical interest.

Shurei's unique combination of kindness, shrewdness and hard work earn her a good reputation during her stay in the Imperial Residence. She gains the friendship and respect of many up-and-coming officials including Koyu Ri who agrees to tutor her. Shurei's mission ultimately succeeds; Ryūki becomes an active and respectable ruler thanks to her efforts. With her mission a success, Shurei returns home, but as she leaves, Ryuki finally reveals his romantic feelings for her with a very public kiss. Shurei, however, doesn't appear to return Ryūki's feelings. The following summer, Kouyuu Ri offers her a one-month position doing odd jobs for the Department of Treasury and Taxation. She has to dress up as a man to do so, but she wins the respect of her employer, Kijin Ko, and meets the Minister of Civil Affairs, Reishin Hong. Their support is key in passing of a law to allow women to take the official examination. Shurei passs the exam with the third highest score of the year, taking the "Tanka" spot, and at the age of seventeen becomes Saiunkoku's first female official.

At first, most of the officials hate the idea of having a female official. Higher ranking officials start to respect her after she passes a verbal test of the official exams in front of the entire counsel. After proving herself capable of performing the duties of an official, Shurei, along with the other Shinshi, is officially inducted as an official. When the newly inducted officials are assigned, Shurei and Eigetsu, are both named as the co-governors of Sa (Brown) Province, the first time in history that two people share the governorship of one region. During their shared term, they succeed in quelling the treasonous members of the Sa clan, a dangerous plague, and a rebellion instigated by the Hyo clan, but are ultimately dismissed from their posts.

Although Ryuuki is initially determined to accept no one but Shurei for his consort, he eventually accepts the political necessity to marry someone to produce an heir. At the end of the second season of the anime, he tells Shurei that if she continues to refuse him by a certain date, then he will marry Jyuusan-hime of the Ran clan instead.

When officials from the Hong clan are dismissed from all of their imperial posts and return home in protest, Shuurei travels to Hong province to bring her father and other key members back to the capital, after which she agrees to resign from her own post and enter the Inner Palace as Ryuuki's consort.