man's entourage as well buzzed with audible confusion.
"What—what was that?"
"I am truly sorry," Shouyou said with a nod of his head. "I fear I bear no small responsible for the mood of the Marquis at the moment."
The man knelt and bowed. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Sei Shin, commander of the Kei Palace Guard.
"And I am pleased to welcome you here. You must be very taken aback by what has transpired so far."
"Not at all," Sei said with a smile. "I am sure the fault is my own. I must apologize to the Chousai as well. The fact of the matter is, Her Highness entrusted me with a letter that was to be delivered to the Marquis of Kei. Yet I gathered from the Marquis that the Chousai governs the Imperial Court. In that case, I suppose the letter should be delivered to you. Except that this correspondence touches upon a matter that concerns the Marquis personally. I am left in something of a quandary as to what to do next."
Shouyou sighed and shook his head. "Please make yourself comfortable and get what rest you need. Your aides-de-camp as well."
He called for the undersecretary and instructed him to provide quarters for the general's attendants and to see to it that they were taken care of. Then he led the general deeper into the annex, to a courtyard shadowed by a fresh growth of verdant green.
"You've arrived at the best time of the year in Hou. Please, have a seat. I'll have some refreshments brought."
"That would be fine."
The general followed him into the courtyard. The stone table there was situated to catch a refreshing breeze.
"It seems that I owe you an apology, General."
"Not at all. The error appears to be ours."
"It would be entirely logical of you to seek an audience with the Marquis. I'm sure you find this quite awkward. You having not so long ago installed a duly-appointed Empress in your Imperial Palace, and we—with the Marquis as our leader—having struck down our own king."
"I've been informed of the Royal Hou's mercilessly tyrannical actions toward his subjects."
Shouyou nodded. "I know it is an ugly truth to put forth, but during the reign of His Highness, six hundred thousand people were executed, often for the most trivial of sins."
"Six hundred thousand—"
It would be said in years hence that the land was covered with corpses. The arithmetic averaged out to at least one from every household in the kingdom.
"His Highness loathed sin. There could be no forgiveness, no matter how slight the offense. Pick a man's pocket or leave the fields at harvest to attend the fair—the death penalty attended both equally. That's the kind of place Hou was."
Sei did not challenge this information. He appeared to be well-informed on the subject.
"At last, the Marquis of Kei called together the other Province Lords and mounted an insurrection. We murdered our King. The Marquis led the alliance. So it would be natural for you to assume that having deprived the King of his life and the throne, the Marquis would then occupy it. And we assumed the same."
Four years before, the other eight Province Lords answered Gekkei's call, as had Shouyou and the ministers. Chuutatsu was treading a path to extinction. They must arise and revolt. Chuutatsu and Queen Kaka were assassinated. Hourin was killed. The curtain of Chuutatsu's reign was rung down.
The disease was eliminated. But Chuutatsu had been the rightful ruler. When a king died, the kingdom soon followed him into the grave. Between Chuutatsu's ruinous reign and the fires of insurrection ignited by Shouyou and the rest of them, the Imperial Court was left in tatters. They had to somehow patch things together without worsening the era of the empty throne.
That had been the goal of the conspirators from the beginning. They had killed the king, sending the kingdom further along its downward path. So it was their duty to set things aright.
Nevertheless, once Gekkei, the leader of the revolution, had tied together the minimum number of
"What—what was that?"
"I am truly sorry," Shouyou said with a nod of his head. "I fear I bear no small responsible for the mood of the Marquis at the moment."
The man knelt and bowed. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Sei Shin, commander of the Kei Palace Guard.
"And I am pleased to welcome you here. You must be very taken aback by what has transpired so far."
"Not at all," Sei said with a smile. "I am sure the fault is my own. I must apologize to the Chousai as well. The fact of the matter is, Her Highness entrusted me with a letter that was to be delivered to the Marquis of Kei. Yet I gathered from the Marquis that the Chousai governs the Imperial Court. In that case, I suppose the letter should be delivered to you. Except that this correspondence touches upon a matter that concerns the Marquis personally. I am left in something of a quandary as to what to do next."
Shouyou sighed and shook his head. "Please make yourself comfortable and get what rest you need. Your aides-de-camp as well."
He called for the undersecretary and instructed him to provide quarters for the general's attendants and to see to it that they were taken care of. Then he led the general deeper into the annex, to a courtyard shadowed by a fresh growth of verdant green.
"You've arrived at the best time of the year in Hou. Please, have a seat. I'll have some refreshments brought."
"That would be fine."
The general followed him into the courtyard. The stone table there was situated to catch a refreshing breeze.
"It seems that I owe you an apology, General."
"Not at all. The error appears to be ours."
"It would be entirely logical of you to seek an audience with the Marquis. I'm sure you find this quite awkward. You having not so long ago installed a duly-appointed Empress in your Imperial Palace, and we—with the Marquis as our leader—having struck down our own king."
"I've been informed of the Royal Hou's mercilessly tyrannical actions toward his subjects."
Shouyou nodded. "I know it is an ugly truth to put forth, but during the reign of His Highness, six hundred thousand people were executed, often for the most trivial of sins."
"Six hundred thousand—"
It would be said in years hence that the land was covered with corpses. The arithmetic averaged out to at least one from every household in the kingdom.
"His Highness loathed sin. There could be no forgiveness, no matter how slight the offense. Pick a man's pocket or leave the fields at harvest to attend the fair—the death penalty attended both equally. That's the kind of place Hou was."
Sei did not challenge this information. He appeared to be well-informed on the subject.
"At last, the Marquis of Kei called together the other Province Lords and mounted an insurrection. We murdered our King. The Marquis led the alliance. So it would be natural for you to assume that having deprived the King of his life and the throne, the Marquis would then occupy it. And we assumed the same."
Four years before, the other eight Province Lords answered Gekkei's call, as had Shouyou and the ministers. Chuutatsu was treading a path to extinction. They must arise and revolt. Chuutatsu and Queen Kaka were assassinated. Hourin was killed. The curtain of Chuutatsu's reign was rung down.
The disease was eliminated. But Chuutatsu had been the rightful ruler. When a king died, the kingdom soon followed him into the grave. Between Chuutatsu's ruinous reign and the fires of insurrection ignited by Shouyou and the rest of them, the Imperial Court was left in tatters. They had to somehow patch things together without worsening the era of the empty throne.
That had been the goal of the conspirators from the beginning. They had killed the king, sending the kingdom further along its downward path. So it was their duty to set things aright.
Nevertheless, once Gekkei, the leader of the revolution, had tied together the minimum number of
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