Audaceter calumniare, semper aliquid haeret (slander boldly, something always sticks)
A.N. One of my personal, very favorite chapters.
:It's hard to believe it's been so long since I've sat on the throne,: Gyousou thought as he dressed himself in his back imperial robes. :To me, I just put this on yesterday.:
He found himself seated, hidden behind one of the grand inlaid screens spread out like wings on either side behind the empty throne in one of the lesser audience chambers of Hakkei Palace. The room before him had been set up for a meeting of the nine shuukou: nine individual tables had been spread out in a crescent centered on the dais and the empty throne. The shuukou were seated roughly by geography, with Taiki in the center of them as the lord of Zui province. The northern shuukou were to the left and the southern appointed temporary officials for provinces under Golden Rule were to the right. Gyousou was still surprised that the only familiar face among them was Taiki, all of the other governors had been replaced.
A gong sounded and majordomo announced that the Royal Consort, acting as mediator for the meeting on behalf of his majesty, would enter. Yuka, walked in from a door off to the left side. She wasn't dressed in black imperial robes, but rather in a more colorful civilian costume, though it was clearly the sort of costume and empress would wear. It was a clever though risky choice. She acted on behalf of royal authority but she did not actually posses any, and her clothes were undeniable proof of that. Still, the robes said that she was a person that could not be touched. She looked very poised, as though she had an unquestionable right to be there when in truth her right to be there was quite questionable. Her manner however was intimidating enough that even her enemies skirted the issue.
The officials bowed, and the bamboo screen hiding the emperor's dais was raised half way, to signify that the court without a king enthroned was in session. Yuka stood before the screened dais, faced off with the nine officials. Taiki gave her an encouraging gesture but Gyousou knew that Yuka would not be able to acknowledge it, for she was in the opening stages of nothing less than a major battle in an on going war.
They got the New Years greetings and the ceremonial toasts with special sake out of the way first… but it started right in after that.
"Your Grace," said Yujun Kou from Ie Province, one of the northern ones at the corner farthest to the west. "I and my fellow governors of the north officially protest your economic sanctions on our trade of natural resources. Not only is it unfair for you to show such a marked preference for the southern provinces, but it is also quite out of your authority. You overstep yourself."
"Your Eminence," Yuka addressed him with cool politeness. "The sanctions on your trade stand only because you foolishly insist on trading contraband along with resources. Not only do you dabble in trade on the black market, but you use the funds from that trade to finance your own private armies to the detriment of the kingdom."
"Such false accusations, your grace," Saku Jin of Bun Province interjected smoothly. "Praytell what is the nature of this contraband you allege."
"I speak of nothing less than the unauthorized and illegal production of touki, spelled weapons capable of killing an immortal as well as a youma. That as you know, only the ministry of winter is allowed to produce winter blades. Furthermore, any touki produced by said ministry are to be sold only to state-authorized weapons dealers."
"You have no proof of such shocking allegations!" Sei Aikara of Jou Province, snapped in reply.
"Gentlemen let us be frank," Yuka replied with cool authority. "If I had no proof, I would not have made them."
Gyousou couldn't repress a smile and noted that on the right side of the table the various "temporary" appointments for the executed ministers were suppressing smirks of various natures.
"On the dates of the fourth day of the Rat through the seventh day of the Snake were produced five bespelled swords from the forges in the town of Gyuten in Jou. On the dates of the ninth day of Horse throught the seventh day of Ram the forge in the town of Soushi in the province of Ie produced three daggers, a sword, and a kefar. The names of the smiths were Tei Teppei and Soushi Dai. Those swords were smuggled into a shipment of cloth bound for your private port cities of Shiba and Doushin under the auspices of the merchant Kel Rankin who was paid a sum roughly equivalent to fifty gold ryous to turn a blind eye to the on and offloading of certain particular packages."
"There are no records of such-" Saku of Bun burst out.
"Of course there are no official record of such," Yuka mocked coolly. "But the numbers never lie. Now as I was saying. The contraband weapons were then placed in the hold of the ship the Fuujin, under the aegis of Captain Sou Shindai, and forethwith transported to the port of Sekai in Ryuu. Once there the weapons were offloaded into the care of an arms-smuggler by the name of Seichi Hanamodo and then were paid the handsome sum of six thousand gold ryous each for the swords, three thousand for the daggers and seven thousand for the kefar, which I assume was a specialty item and ordered on commission. Said payment was transferred back to the capitol palaces of the respective provinces the weapons came from and was entered onto the official budget under... oh lets see," Yuka pulled a small scroll from her sleeve and examined it. "Ah yes, here it is, "harvest surplus." Very clever. Especially when the lands that were supposedly so fruitful this year have each been abandoned by the families that traditionally hold them, and there has been no record either of increase in farm implements or a local government program to farm using the militia."
"That is an utterly unfounded accusation!" The governor of Jou replied. "You have no proof of these wild allegations being anything other than unfounded rumor."
"The cargo manifests of the ship would suggest otherwise. While it is true that the weapons are not labeled as being touki, I do have it on good authority from one of the purchasers who made the transaction in gold for that lovely kefar that the weapon is most effective. See?"
Yuka pulled up a paper bearing written amounts and the royal seal of En (of all things!).
"The buyer says he's not quite happy with the quality of the work and would like a refund."
The men she faced were all adept politicians of the first order, and none of them so much as twitched when she produced the solid proof of her words and their deeds. The dance had begun in earnest.
"Except, your Grace," Sei of Jou replied with smooth, smug aplomb. "That such weapons were not, in fact contraband at all. Myself, and the other lords can account for each of them through official channels and the weapons production was in fact authorized by the Ministry of Winter. We can even produce documents to that effect, showing that the production and distribution were all above board."
Which only meant that they could forge documents or bribe an official to do the forging for them.
"Even if you do have papers from the ministry of winter for those touki," Yuka replied. "The sale of touki to foreign powers is prohibited, as you know. Furthermore, those weapons can only be sold by court sanctioned weapons dealers under the direct authority of the ministry of winter. Add to that, part of the sale of each weapon goes to the royal treasury. None of my accountants have received such a payment."
"What your accountants do behind your back is your concern to deal with," Sei, replied just as smooth as cream.
"And that does not even address why, if your eminences felt that their sale of the touki were all above board, that you felt the need to list your percentage of the payment under false pretences. The sale of those touki were entered into your official budget registries falsely, so if nothing else you have certainly misrepresented and falsified your official budgets."
She waited, locking gazes with each of them with a sharp poise, waiting for their next answer. Gyousou thought that perhaps she did indeed have them and they would be forced to admit their mistake and put themselves in the hands of official justice, but unfortunately the men who had continued to successfully wage a war of attrition against the Royal Consort were too poised and wily to be caught out on such a detail.
"Your Grace is most perceptive in that my fellow governors and I did indeed report the profits of our lawful trade as something other than what they had been, however a closer examination of the situation would have brought to light our entirely benevolent reasons for doing so," Tori Korosai of Bun Province spoke.
"Oh?" Yuka said with her, clearly practiced benign and serene smile out in place. "Please enlighten me, you have my full attention."
"As you know, due to various circumstances, our provinces produce even less food than they normally would. The decrease in population has not only decreased consumption but production as well. Unfortunately, as your Grace is well aware, fielding an army of any sort, much less one the size needed to keep the peace in our lands, is an expensive undertaking and-"
"If that is so," Yuka interjected, her smile brightening. "Then please allow myself on behalf of my husband to send relief troops to help alleviate your difficulties with the youma. I would be pleased to be able to be of service to my dear shuukou of the north."
They knew she was both telling the truth and lying. Gyousou and Risai both exchanged a mutual look of amusement. Risai actually tried hard to contain a snicker. Certainly the Royal Consort would like to send in troops, and probably even to help deal with the youma, but she'd also simply love a pretext to station her own soldiers at key points for both observation and later deployment.
"Your offer of assistance is generosity itself your grace, but I could not in good conscience strain your husband's resources any further than they already are," the man replied, then his gaze sharpened in challenge. "After all, though it requires certain measures to field, our provincial armies are more than capable of crushing anything in their path."
That was a threat, and everyone in the room knew it. Gyousou's back muscles tightened and his sword-hand twitched. That provincial lord had just outright challenged royal authority.
"After all, in size and in strength," Saku Jin, the shuukou of Bun province added where the governor of Ie left off. "You must be aware that our forces are superior to yours."
"What an interesting observation, Jin-shuukou," Yuka replied in a voice as smooth and slick as ice. "Truly the youma of the high north must fearsome creatures to warrant the increased numbers in military personnel."
"Perhaps, your Grace," Tori Korosai rejoined with a strangely intent look at her. "It may be my turn to extend an offer of assistance to yourself. I have heard that you were attacked the evening previous and your lovely self injured by an assassin. It is only by the intervention of Heaven I am sure that your life was spared. Clearly, Hakkei Palace is unfit to protect your delicate person, you would be better of placing yourself under my protection. I have the man power to see that you are well taken care of."
Risai barely smothered a silent snarl at the attack on her efficacy as the head of palace security. The only interest he had in his offer was to take the Royal Consort as a hostage and remove the only obstruction between him and the power of the throne via bossing around the Taiho. The governors were upping the ante, going from mere proxy wars to threatening a march on the capitol city and perhaps even Hakkei Palace itself.
"That won't be necessary. As I'm certain you have noticed, I am more than equal to whatever is thrown at me, gentlemen," Yuka replied with icy calm.
Her reply, concise and delivered in a strong, certain tone with such utter poise and confidence threw down the gauntlet. Bring it on.
"I think what you really need is a real man to take you properly in hand," Korosai-shuukou of Ba Province said.
The Royal Tai had never seen anyone with the temerity to leer openly in official chambers. Not even in the most lax of the previous king's reign had there ever been such an egregious lapse in courtly decorum… and to a high-ranked member of the imperial family too!
Gyousou could only think that after all this time of dealing with them, Yuka actually had ice water running through her veins, because she did not even twitch a muscle at an innuendo that made his hand twitch toward his sword on her behalf. Instead, she smiled her polite, serene smile and said
"Then your concern is clearly not an issue. What is an issue, however is the matter of your port towns."
Gyousou raised his eyebrows, impressed. Not only had she failed to rise to his bait, her reply had subtly stated that it was "not an issue" because there was no real man there to take her in hand, and she'd glibly moved the conversation on, dismissing him and his comment with mortifying efficiency. Risai was smiling, clearly enjoying the show. The grins on the middle and right ends of the table reflected that they had caught the full implications of her reply and were amused by it.
"Even if your contention that the sale of those touki are authorized by the ministry of winter is true, I have continued to hear distressing reports that the facilities of your port towns are unsafe," Yuka said, in a masterful change of subject. "As I'm certain you gentlemen are all aware, Tai is dependent on trade to augment its limited arable land and shortened growing season. If we do not bring in money, we cannot buy the necessary supplies to support our population. To that end it is in all of our best interests to encourage trading ships so land in our ports, offload their goods, and pick up our own exports in as timely and efficient a manner as possible. An efficient port is a boon of wealth for our kingdom, for the more shipments we can take in and move out, the more money and supplies we will have. To that end, the news of your inferior and somewhat dangerous ports facilities is distressing to imperial interests."
"Our port officials are working to the best of thier abilities-" Yujin Kou replied but was smoothly interrupted by Yuka.
"Which is why I am sure they would all benefit from better port facilities. The imperial technological research and development center has been investigating a way to work around the northern iceflow, especially in winter, and have made some promising developments. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I have reviewed the maps and blue prints as well as charts of various shipments and trade routes and come to the conclusion that your port facilities are in need of a radical overhaul."
:Where is she going with this?: Gyousou thought, a little nervously.
By all reports the economy was just stabilized, it wasn't prosperous. Building and refitting on the sort of scale she was proposing was an expensive undertaking even for a stable kingdom like En; there was no way Tai would be able to afford it. Beside him, Risai suddenly started, but then on her face appeared a grin that could only be described as anticipatory. Gyousou looked a question at her and she shook her head and signaled that he should continue to watch.
"Your grace is all generosity in her concern for the trade routes of the north," Yujin of Ie said.
Gyousou thought he detected just a hair of suppressed alarm in his voice.
"However I can assure you that the proposed renovations on the northern port towns is entirely unnecessary. How would the imperial budget even support such measures?"
"I'm sure we could arrange something," Yuka said lightly, verbally maneuvering her opponent now that she had him on the defensive.
"We couldn't possibly strain the imperial budget by allowing your engineers corps to invade, I mean improve our port cities. No, we are content to continue to trade as we have been. Though less frequent than your southern ports I'm sure, the gems that the springs in the north produce are more than adequate to cover the costs of waiting between shipments."
"If that is the way you gentlemen feel about it," Yuka said with a shrug. "I suppose I must respect your autonomy in the matter. But you all must at least allow me to help you out with regards to ships. At my behest the imperial technological research division has been looking into something that might help you all get around the limitations of being land-locked by the winter freeze."
There was a sharp intake in breath on the part of the four shuukou of the north. Gyousou himself was surprised. He was intimately aware that with regards to the northern territories, the window of a battle waged on that turf was framed by the space of time between the melt of spring and the first snows of winter. After the snows fell it was nearly impossible to get an army through the mountain passes and the northern ice flow descended to freeze the ports of the very northern sectors solid, making ship travel around the top of Tai impossible as well. Winter was regarded as a time where war and fighting was impossible simply due to the difficulties in deployment over frozen terrain. Only the crazy or the suicidal ever attempted it. Even Gyousou knew better than to try it.
"I have ordered improvements in the Royal Navy based on these new advancements," yuka said with a cheerful smile, one that was all teeth. "And I am pleased to announce that the first branch armada of the new Icefire-line ships have just finished construction and are currently on their commissioning and maiden voyages around Tai."
Yuka signaled to one side and two servants with a large easel holding up a very large drop-cloth map showing the kingdom of Tai with several small paste-ships dotting areas around the north even over areas where patches of blue signified impassable places due to the northern freeze.
"As you can see these ships are quite capable of working around the incapacitating capabilities of the northern iceflow," Yuka continued. "And they are ready to deploy- I mean, to deliver supplies and humanitarian aid wherever my dear northern lords might need it."
:Ha!: he thought with an internal chuckle enjoying just as much as Risai seemed to be, watching the faces of the northern shuukou as the implications of her statement sunk in.
The supposedly impassable defenses that blocked access to the north by the armies under imperial command had just been breached, big time. Using the ships as a staging platform, she could launch air strikes, raids and to a limited extent even engage in land battles via amphibious warfare. With the mobile capabilities of several ships, strike and run tactics would be feasible and in time even the superior land-forces that the northern provinces had assembled would be seriously threatened.
:If she had sense enough and personnel enough, she could gather armies at strategic points along their southern borders come spring and have them caught in a pincer maneuver,: Gyousou thought, appreciating as he always did, an excellently played military strategy.
"I know that the royal navy is mostly used as more of a sort of coast guard, to keep the vicious youma of the sea away from the fishing and trading vessels, but using them as transport for other things only made sense to me, don't you agree?" Yuka said, smiling serenely and locking gazes with each of the opposing lords.
Her look said what her mouth didn't have to. 'Go ahead, send down your land troops as you threatened earlier, and while they are away fighting I'll deploy from the coast and wipe the floor with you.' Risai looked unbearably pleased both with the girl and with herself. Gyousou figured, based on what Risai had said about the girl relying on her expertise with the military, that this had been an operation cooked up between the two of them.
Clearly enraged by the woman who forever thwarted them from attaining power over the kingdom (but was in turn, never quite powerful enough to stop them) the shuukou of Ba, Bun, Ie and Jou provinces rose to their feet as one and leaned forward with their hands flat on the table, their demeanors threatening.
"Even with your supposed naval power, woman" the shuukou of Ba. "The combined military strength of the north far outweighs your own in both weapons and manpower. Furthermore I happen to know for a fact that the imperial army is spread out guarding towns and roads in the south and eradicating youma. Everyone here knows that you will not be able to recall them all in time to hold against us or even launch a counter-strike. And taking the fight into our home territory, where we have all the advantages would be a foolish exercise. Not even the famous general Gyousou Saku, his esteemed helpless majesty, could win a fight against an armed countryside. Face it bitch, you should stick to what you do best; roll on your back and take it like a whore."
The room was frozen in shock. Even Gyousou was too shocked to react. Yuka looked back at the man however, her demeanor was as poised and aloof as if he had made a comment on the weather.
"Is that so?" she replied as though only mildly interested in his comment. "Thank-you for the lecture on military strategy Korosai-shuukou, I shall certainly take it under advisement. However, that has little to do with the mandate delivered by the Ministry of Winter for your ports to be temporarily shut down for inspection and possible renovation pending further investigation. Since it is quite important that the gem-springs in provinces Ba, Bun and Jou continue to output in order to defray consumable expenses, your goods will be exported from the Southern ports of Kaien, Shou, Rin, Jakku, and Maru. I realize that the inconvenience of transporting them overland will place some financial burden on you, however, I have gotten the Ministry of Earth to grant you use of the skyway-system at no additional cost to you."
:Is she just going to swallow the insult?!: Gyousou wondered incredulously.
Even the old king, flighty hedonist that he'd been, would have had the man's head on a pike for saying such a thing to a woman of her rank, and in imperial chambers no less.
"No way in hell are we sending our resources south and into your hands, wench," the shuukou of Bun snapped.
"If sending them south is not amenable to you, good shuukou, then perhaps you would rather use the ships I offered earlier. Either way, it is wasteful not to export your stockpile year round, especially in the lean months at the end of winter. I know you have probably forgotten about such petty concerns, but think of the people you are supposed to be protecting. Your stores of food from the harvest are inadequate and I would not see them starve. It is past time you remembered your duty and acted accordingly."
"I don't need a lecture from a jumped up trollop in imperial robes, it is you who needs to learn your place," Korosai-shuukou snarled at her.
"Ah? And where would that place be?" Yuka inquired with a saccharine smile full of teeth.
"On your knees," he said, his voice echoing into the stillness. "Sucking my cock."
:Dead man walking,: Gyousou thought grimly, reaching for his sword.
Recently recovered or not there was only so much he could listen to and remain silent. Whether Gyousou had consented to the marriage or not, in the eyes of heaven and the laws, the woman whom they had just cast aspirations on was the Royal Consort and they knew it. To disrespect her was the same as disrespecting him directly. Risai, however grabbed his arm and signaled urgently for him to stay his hand and be still yet.
Yuka, for her part, simply regarded the man with an unchanged expression. Maybe Gyousou and Risai were the only ones to see the tension in her shoulders that belied her calm demeanor. Her voice was flat and quiet when she said
"I am going to ignore that with a dignity it does not deserve, Korosai-shukou, but if you speak in this chamber again I will have the source of this contention of yours removed from its place between your legs."
The dead man rose from his chair and walked deliberately in front of the Royal Consort and leered down at her, looking her up and down like a sailor assessing the assets of a dockside floozy, deciding which delight he wanted to sample first.
:He's weaving on his feet.: Gyousou noted. :Is he drunk?:
"We both know how powerless you are. Your navy and all of your ground and air forces put together aren't enough to hold off a seige by even one of us. But there's no reason why we can't play things a little more friendly."
The man had the very brass balls to look down the Royal Consort's cleavage.
"The winters get cold up north, I could use a woman with fire and spirit to warm my bed up at night."
"You," Yuka said with cold contempt. "Wouldn't know what to do with her."
The shuukou raised a hand to slap her and Yuka stood her ground and stared him down.
"Do it!" she commanded him. "That's all the pretext I need. Or perhaps you have forgotten what happened to the last fools who laid a hand on me."
Yuka shifted her cool gaze significantly to where the four "temporary" provisional governors sat on the right of the table, their mouths hanging open in aghast shock at the scene before them. Her meaning was clear, if he laid a finger on her, that would be all the grounds she'd need to call him out.
"No matter how debased you are, I am the representative of the crown you supposedly still serve. Remember your place shuukou."
After a long tense moment, the idiot actually, finally backed down. Gyousou then saw the purpose in the exercise. The instant the man backed down, Royal authority was reaffirmed in both their eyes and the eyes of the crown's supporters.
:Another of her mental manipulations, a power-play,: Gyousou realized, not certain whether to admire her for it or simply walk out and behead the man. He was leaning heavily toward the latter.
"As for the rest who have arrayed yourselves against me, and by extension the crown," Yuka pointed a finger directly at the man who had just swore at her in imperial chambers and offered harm to her person. "This man is the example of you that everyone will remember. Whether you consider yourselves autonomous liberators or protectors of the true traditions of your people, history will remember this moment."
She turned away from the dead-while-still-standing-shuukou and faced the rest of the northern shuukou arrayed against her. Yuka paced regally in front of them, her manner poised and sincere.
"This senseless proxy war we wage is nothing more than a war of attrition, and those are wars that no-one truly wins. The best we can hope for is that both sides get ground down until they are forced to negotiate. The Taiho and I, and I'm sure his majesty too if he were here, have no desire to see a single drop of blood spilled on the battlefield."
:I wouldn't mind seeing a few drops spilled here and now, however,: Gyousou thought darkly.
"A compelling speech to be sure, your Grace," the shuukou of Bun said. "But it changes nothing. We see no reason to submit ourselves to your weak rule when all here know that there is no action you can take against us."
Gyousou was half a step away from getting up and walking over to sit on the throne and put those shuukou in their place, but Risai again stopped him.
"Wait until the full session tomorrow," she urged. "Taiki will want to be at your side when you again take your place. You owe him that much at least."
The rightful king reluctantly nodded. He could not deny that his kirin deserved to be at his liege's side when he started putting the kingdom to rights, he would not deny him that.
"She's proven what she needs to prove," Risai added a moment later. "I imagine that this meeting will wrap up rather shortly from here."
"If that is your answer," Yuka replied. "I can see that further negotiation will be useless at this point. Go and reflect on your actions. In his majesty's name I give you leave to depart."
The gong was struck and the four shuukou filed out. The five that remained, including Taiki still sat there, exchanging incredulous looks. As Yuka bowed politely at them and turned to leave the way she had entered one of the shuukou, a young-looking woman from Chou province called out to her.
"Your Grace, I am still so shocked about what happened that I can barely breathe! How did you withstand such treatment from him, the things he said! And then he threatened to hit you!"
Yuka smiled a small secret smile, almost looking amused and said
"Everything went according to plan, for the most part, though I had not imagined anything so dramatic. I suppose he can't take it very well."
"Take what, your grace?" the other girl, Aoi Sakuraba from Ki province said.
"Smell his toasting cup," Yuka replied.
Curious, they leaned over and did so, then quickly jerked back, surprised.
"It's so powerful!" Seijida-shuukou of Sui Province said, putting a cloth to his nose.
"Nearly three times as powerful as regular sake," Yuka confirmed with a nod.
"You're saying you got him drunk?!" Taiki said, surprised.
"I'm saying I loosened his tongue," Yuka corrected blandly. "He was already arrogant, and he already harbored those feelings, he just needed a little guidance to bring them out in the open in a way that would be advantageous for me."
"How is having him swear at you or try to hit you and advantage?" Aoi asked.
"He may have done those things," Yuka allowed. "But even partly drunk he recognized the authority of the crown and backed down in the end. That was all the victory I needed. The authority of the emperor is still in tact and he and his cohorts now know it."
"What if he hadn't backed down?" Taiki asked next.
"Then I would have one less problem to deal with."