Yuka followed her maid to her quarters and stepped up on her dressing stool so that they could all begin the process of making her ready for the court Occassion. While they worked around her like so many drones around their queen, Yuka was absorbed in her thoughts.
:I had thought that, since he didn't have very long to study up on the current situation and the army was scattered everywhere and the northern provincial forces had superior numbers, there was no way he could come up with a way to engage them. I thought he'd have to find another way, or at the very least wait until spring to start his northern campaign. I thought it'd be a long fight against a foe that evenly matched him and was planning for his arrival. In only a matter of days he managed to come up with a strategy to fully win over one Province by martial force alone,: she thought in amazement.
The make-up girl painted her face, while the hair girl started in on the elaborate coiffure Taiki decided on. It came with one of those hideous headdresses too, the kind where hairpins stuck out like spikes on a porcupine, and there were so many beads she felt looked like some kind of mutant Christmas tree. Nearby three maids waited with the layers of the Daizhishuan that Taiki had ordered for her, and another two maids waited with all the jewelry that went with it.
:That alone would have impressed me, but that strategy was only a draw and an opening volley in a wider campaign to draw out his real enemy into terrain that favors him. He's already planned his enemies defeat in a matter of weeks! What a scary guy. No wonder they all call him a military genius.:
Over the years it had irked her a little bit to constantly be compared (unfavorably) to a person she'd never met whose place she didn't really want to fill. She'd pursued the diplomatic route because she believed that an extended military engagement would devastate the kingdoms somewhat shaky finances. She'd thought that it would be impossible to win a fight like this in under a season and Tai could not afford a length campaign. Seeing as she hadn't had the luxury of being able to be absent from Hakkei Palace for so long (those pesky ministers were certain to make trouble in her absence, and Taiki wouldn't reign them in) Yuka had always had to deny Risai's urgings to send an army north and settle things.
:Everything I thought was impossible, he's managed to figure out a way to do,: Yuka thought, actually feeling deeply impressed by it, which was something she hadn't expected.
:He's a scary genius.:
Next, the robe-girls attacked. Yuka was stripped of the dressing wrap and rubbed with scented oil. First came the stola-like first layer. The zohngyi's top had wide translucent golden-colored silk sleeves, with a two-inch thick embroidered red band at the end of the sleeves that would be seen. The simple zhongyi skirt wrapped around her waist and was faded from a deep crimson at the bottom hem into scarlet at the waist. Both top and bottom were cinched in at the waist with a plain sash that would not show. Next the shorter-sleeved display-shenyi was put on her. The open V-collar that met at the waist sash (revealing the crossed V-neck of the zhongyi beneath) was lined with three inches of red brocade satin, with golden phoenixes brocaded in gold thread. The main body of the Shenyi was deep crimson satin with brocaded gold phoenixes holding gold flowers in their beaks. The bottom hem of the shenyi was a wide, diagonal-cut that wrapped around her three times to create a multi-layered effect. The three inch wide band of embroidery at the bottom hem was patterned with golden phoenixes on a crimson silk and there was a slight train to deal with. The train had a very large phoenix embroidered in pure gold thread where it dragged out gracefully behind her. The even the sash had three layers, a red one, then a slightly smaller golden-colored one with embroidery on it, then a very small cord with a pendant on it of red jade carved with phoenixes with with a long tassel.
:Wow, Taiki put a lot of work into this,: Yuka thought impressed.
The under-layers may have been scavanged from other ensembles, but the outer display layer of the daizhishuan with its intricately embroidered gold phoenixes would have taken several days to finish even with all of the palace seamstresses working on it. Taiki had probably either ordered it ahead of time, or simply had it waiting for the day when she could wear it.
:Sweet boy...: Yuka thought a bit fondly while the servants rushed around, dressing her like an overlarge doll.
The jewelry that mached the daizhishuan was all made of the new gems she had developed too, the kind that changed colors when the light hit them at different angles. Yuka had made a set of gems that colored red and gold and orange like fire, intending to give them as a gift to Youko, who was famous for her red hair. It seemed that Taiki had found them first and had decided that gifts could wait. The jewels were all put into settings that coordinated with the phoenix theme.
:With the headdress and the jewels and all the gold embroidery, I think this might be his heaviest creation yet,: Yuka thought, trying hard to step down gracefully without feeling like she should be waddling around in it.
After fifty years of court occasions she'd sort of gotten used to it all, but somehow, tonight she suddenly felt very awkward and strangely anxious about her appearance. Did she look odd in all of those clothes? Taiki usually had such excellent taste when it came to picking out things that blended harmoniously together so Yuka never had any qualms about letting him have his fun, but she suddenly wondered if she didn't maybe look a little overdone.
:Relax,: she counseled herself. :You're just jittery because tonight's a big night and you'll be left to run things on your own tomorrow.:
Her heart was pounding and her stomach was clenched in a way that hadn't happened in a very long time. Did she look strange? Maybe she should have asked Taiki to pick something simpler.
"Come along milady," the head of the room-maids urged her. "You don't want to be late."
Yuka met with Taiki in his relatively simple black court uniform on the front steps of Meiden Palace. Those steps descended to a scrubbed-clean white marble path that flowed past Seiden Palace and across another inner palace garden to the west gate. That west inner gate led to one of the grand imperial courtyards in the Gaiden, the administrative end of the palace, and to the Hall of Eternal Harmony, which was the official title of the main throne-room of the Royal Court.
"It's a nice night for a walk, eh Yuka?" Taiki said cheerfully with a wide smile.
"Yes, I'm so glad we got rid of the palanquins," Yuka agreed.
After all, without a strict king around to keep them from mischief, even those two felt that they could get away with bending a few rules here and there. It seemed that Gyousou, however, agreed with their no palanquin policy, for he himself was already walking down the path that led to the entrance to the Hall of Eternal Harmony that was reserved for the ruler of the land. Taiki and Yuka had been using the main entrance for the last fifty years, walking down the long hall to take up their positions beside the empty throne instead of taking the royal entrance directly to the royal dais.
"Ah!" Taiki said happily as he spotted his master. "Gyousou-sama!"
The kirin hurried his pace to match his king, who was dressed in fewer, and certainly less elaborate, layers than Yuka and the only color on his austere black imperial uniform was the bixi and qun that Taiki had picked out. He turned at the sound of his kirin's voice to look back at the two of them making their way up the wide, white path in the stark light of the moon.
:I knew it, I must look weird,: Yuka thought feeling another pang of self-consciousness.
He was staring at her, probably because her hair was sprouting hairsticks like fields sprouted daisies. Or maybe her shenyi was too elaborate or all the matching jewelry was too sparkly.
:At least he's wearing a crown,: Yuka comforted herself. Though the abbreviated crown he wore didn't look anywhere near as heavy as the arrangement that Taiki had ordered put in her hair. Yuka was jealous of him, her neck hurt already!
"That's no fair," she mumbled reaching self-consciously for her up-do. "He doesn't have to wear all of this."
"No touching!" Taiki scolded as he gently prevented her from removing a single hairstick. "I picked out that arrangement to match your daixishuan. That's the phoenix-in-splendor style, and no you may not take any of them out."
"But it's so heavy," Yuka mumbled.
"It looks perfect," Taiki said. "Just like how I pictured it!"
Yuka sighed, giving in. The kirin lacked confidence in a lot of ways but he could be surprisingly stubborn when it came to aesthetics. Particularly Yuka's, whom he seemed to regard as his personal life-sized doll sometimes.
"You look very lovely," Gyousou told her, his voice was soft and not pitched to carry.
Even so, Yuka suddenly felt her stomach twitch. She figured she must be more anxious about court that night than she'd realized. Yuka wasn't sure if she believed him or not, he had been staring after all. In her experience, people only stared if she looked odd. She'd been subjected to stares like that back in her school days and it had never been a very good experience. Still, no point in being rude.
"Thank-you," she replied with a graceful and correct nod of gratitude for the compliment. Actually, she had to perform a small bow instead of a nod, out of consideration for the weight of her hair, which didn't really allow for her to move her head or neck much. "Your imperial robe really suits you."
And she did mean that. With his moon-pale hair and deep red eyes, he really looked good in black. His serious, slightly stern expression combined with his excellent physique and regal bearing made him look like a real king from right out of a story.
"I would sooner be in armor," he replied honestly.
"Gyousou-sama, must you go so soon?" Taiki tried again.
His eyes were pleading. Clearly growing desperate to keep his master there with him a little longer, Taiki was hauling out the big guns. It was full-on puppy-eyes, with just a hint of tear. Even the ever-stern warrior-king softened just a little.
"Taiki, you know I must," he said pityingly.
"Can't you stay just a little bit longer? One more day even?" he wheedled like a five year old trying to push back bedtime.
"My my," Yuka interceded, smoothly taking her friend by his arm and pulling him along with her. "It's the momentous and happy occasion we've been waiting for. If you cry, you'll ruin your clothes."
"But Gyousou-sama won't stay, Yuka," he said sadly. "Can't you make him stay?"
"I'm just the stand-in Royal Consort," Yuka said firmly. "I know you have some separation anxiety and I love you sweetie, but I hardly know him well enough to unleash my feminine wiles or whatever."
Taiki laughed at that.
"I've never seen you unleash your feminine wiles... except on your enemies. Then it's kinda scary."
"Your mama never told you women are scary?" Yuka joked as she ever so subtly moved him along.
"My mama wasn't a tiger-lady like you," Taiki replied, cheering up a little.
"A tiger-lady? Who me? I think you must be mistaken my dear," Yuka said, surprised. "Tiger-ladies are fierce and frightening kinds of women with sharp teeth and claws who will descend on PTA meetings, during which, heads will roll and they shall make teachers and other lesser mortals quake in terror."
"Ah, so the old proverb is true," Gyousou said, affecting surprise as he shared a conspiratorial look of amusement with his kirin. "A tiger never recognizes its own stripes."
"How did this become about me? I thought we were picking on him," Yuka objected.
"I fear you are outflanked Lady Yuka," Gyousou replied, preparing another proverb. "Even ten thousand soldiers will fall before the truth."
"Truths are common as pearls, proverbs are common as pebbles," Yuka replied.
"A man with his eyes closed can walk ten thousand miles and learn nothing, a man with his eyes open can step outside and attain sagacity," Gyousou riposted.
"Learning is gained while standing up, wisdom while falling down," Yuka replied.
"A hawk that hides its talons will not catch breakfast, a man who hides his talents will not catch opportunities."
"The bird that sings loudest, gets shot."
At that Gyousou abruptly laughed.
"I was warned you have a penchant for wit," he told her, laughingly. "But now I'm amazed any of your opponents ever open their mouths in front of you."
"I try to stop them. I do," Yuka said with mock-sadness. "But if they insist on speaking nonsense I hope they don't expect me not to call a knife a knife."
They arrived at the doorway that led into the main throne room and Gyousou separated from Taiki and Yuka with a wave to take the smaller side-door that opened out behind the wood screens on the screened off dais.
"You're smiling," Yuka noted as she squeezed his arm.
"I'm just so happy that he's finally back, even if he does have to leave right away."
"Me too," yuka agreed. Their reasons for happiness were not the same, Taiki was happy because he loved Gyousou the person, Yuka was happy because having him back meant that she could finally have a break.
"Once more into the breach, my friend," Yuka murmured as the main doors loomed before them.
The slightly dim opening antechamber where all of the Court officials removed thier outdoor shoes was already filled with shoes and body-servants and she paid it as much mind as she ever did. A gong was rung as she and Taiki approached the main door that led into the Hall proper. The double doors were twice her height, made of a solid, reinforced wood painted blue with white-gold facing. The facing was of a great dragon and a kirin, inlaid with precious gems and stones. The doors divided in half and opened soundlessly to the ringing of another gong.
The Hall of Imperial Harmony was grand and visually splendid. Even after so many years and so much struggle within it, Yuka was always taken a bit aback by the sheer magnitude of it all. Sometimes it seemed impossible that so much sheer space could possibly be enclosed. The grand vaulted ceiling was like a second sky, with no less than three rows of glass skylights, further adding to the feeling of spaciousness. The barrel-vaulted, skylit ceiling was held aloft by rows of round pillars, each pillar carved from a solid, translucent, white-clear crystal. The light that played through the skylights in the ceiling shone through the translucent pillars making each of them glow as though lit from within. Suspended from thin, silver chains were clear crystals carved as snowflakes to catch the light. The floor was white stone polished to an ice-mirror finish. Truly, the name "Whitejewel Palace" was well deserved.
:It's so beautiful here, it's too bad I have almost no good memories of my time in this room,: Yuka thought a little wistfully.
All of her memories in this room involved less trying to rule, and more wheedling, cajoling, tricking and threatening various ministers and officials to try to keep the throne together against their own self-interest. Often she had looked at the empty throne and just wished there were someone sitting in it so that she would not have to sit there and be bullied like she had been in her school days.
:My last night as Royal Consort, sitting by Taiki's side...: she thought a little sadly as she looked out of the corner of her eye at the kirin, who, instead of sporting his usual anxious look, was smiling with calm serenity.
The two of them were side by side, as usual, when they entered the main throne room via the door across from the dais with the throne on it. The blue carpet divided the room leading up to the dais, and as Taiki and Yuka walked down it side by side there was the usual soft murmur of an unruly Court being as disrespectful as they dared. They didn't quite jeer, but they very very ostentatiously ignored the Taiho and Royal Consort and spent their time chatting with their neighbors. They also each only gave the most perfunctory of bows. Even coming from a culture that no longer bowed all the way down, Yuka and Kaname would have called the bows rude.
:We'll just see how respectfully they want to bow in a minute,: Yuka thought with slightly malicious delight.
Since it was a full meeting at the end of the year, there were not only the prime and vice ministers of each of the Six Ministries, but all nine of the shuukou, minus Taiki, who was filling his position of Taiho. He had a stand-in for his place which was his personal secretary, an old man named Agekun.
The court was bowed over as Yuka and Taiki walked to their usual places before the screened in dais that until now had held the empty throne. The mother-of-pearl rattan blinds were lowered all the way, signalling that the Royal Court was not yet in session. On an ordinary meeting, Yuka and Taiki would take their places on the small, lower dais placed a step down from the larger dais that held the throne, and the rattan blinds would only raise half-way signalling that a court with an unoccupied throne was in session. Taiki would stand to the right of the throne in the traditional spot inhabited by Taiho around the world. Yuka would sit on a low cushion to the left of the throne right across from him, a place signifying that she was a royal adviser. It was a little irregular, but there was a precedence for it. Once in Sou, the king had been badly wounded in a coup and the Taiho and Royal Wife had occupied those places.
The gong was rang again and the majordomo announced that the session would begin. The noise inside the chamber didn't diminish in the slightest. For many years Yuka and Taiki had had to wrangle the Court into a more respectful near-silence, and even then, when court began, there were those whose positions were so unassailable that they could afford to ignore the Taiho and Royal Consort with impunity.
:Not anymore.:
There was one final full bow as the rattan screen closing off the dais with the throne on it was raised. Taiki was grinning fit to split his face wide open as the rattan screen, which had remained half-raised before an empty throne for the last fifty years, was thrown all the way up the reveal the throne fully occupied by the rightful ruler of Tai.
The whole court collectively gasped when greeted with the sight of their rightful king suddenly in his place upon the throne, looking out at the room with a stony visage, like a hawk deciding which mouse it was going to stoop on first. After the initial gasp of surprise, the room was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Yuka thought that people might not even be breathing.
Gyousou looked stern and kingly sitting there on his throne. His gaze was so sharp that it looked like it could cut through stone, and Yuka knew that there were more than a few people in the court who had to be shaking in their robes. The gong was rung again and all bowed to the throne. Many threw themselves over in a slightly terrified signal of abject humility that was clearly an attempt to show that they were all more than willing to obey the rightful ruler of Tai, or at least that they feared him so much that they didn't want to be his enemy.
Yuka bowed respectfully, and due to his dispensation, did not have to feel like she was begging forgiveness by touching her head to the floor. When she glanced over, Taiki looked like he didn't want to come up from his bow, as though he could have been perfectly happy staying bowed over like that all night long.
"My apologies for my long absence," Gyousou's perfect voice carried easily out over the chamber without sounding like there was an effort made to make it any louder that conversational. "Ie-shuukou Yujun Kou, Bun-shuukou Saku Jin, Ba-shuukou Tori Korosai, Jou-shuukou Sei Aikara, please come forward."
The four lords in question quiveringly rose to their feet and stepped onto the blue carpet that divided the room in half leading up to the throne. As one they bowed down low to the king on their knees. Gyousou's face remained as impassive as a statue carved of granite, the four shuukou who had been called to the carpet were visibly shaking.
:Is it wrong of me that I'm enjoying this so much?: Yuka wondered with a little bit of relish at seeing those troublesome bastards about to finally get what was due them.
Her memory reminded her of all the petty slights and direct insults she'd had to swallow from them over the years, plus all the stress they'd given her on a daily basis, and she decided that no, she had more than earned a little bit of gloating.
"Whatever else your offenses," Gyousou said in a voice that sounded quiet, but could be heard in every corner of the cavernous Hall. "You have failed to fulfill your duties to the crown as province lords, and have violated your oaths of office on several occasions. You are thus stripped of your titles and positions in this court and kingdom. I grant you three days to gather your personal effects and whatever dependents you may have, and leave this land never to return. Your registration on the record of immortals is revoked, as well as your citizenship record within the kingdom of Tai. I suggest you leave quickly."
:And don't let the door hitcha where the Tentei splitcha,: Yuka thought humorously.
Taiki looked like he might have protested the harshness of exile, but Yuka caught his eye and shook her head. Gyousou had really been far more than generous by granting them time to pack up and leave. That he had done so was further reassurance that he was a king who didn't lean to overly harsh punishments even if they were deserved. His punishment was enough to get the result he wanted, and possibly to make those who might be inclined to do so reflect on themselves, and no more. If he had executed them for example (as was certainly within the law for offenses such as theirs) it might certainly have proven his point and ended the troubles, but opening that particular box would eventually cause further unrest and unease in the mind of the people. After all, the Kingdom of Hou wasn't so far away from them that none of the citizens of Tai hadn't heard of what had happened with King Chuutatsu and his bloodbath-reign. Yuka found that Gyousou's mercy raised him in her esteem.
Next the king pulled out a scroll and got directly to business. He didn't replace any of the Prime or Vice Ministers in the court, not even the Minister of Fall, but he did fire a long list of lesser officials throughout all six of the different ministries that had been caught taking bribes, and replaced them with the people that she and Risai had trained up to take their places and put recommendations for their appointments. Yuka couldn't help but feel more than a bit pleased and gratified that he gave her recommendations such weight that he employed the people she thought might make good matches for those positions. The palace staff he kept mostly the same, except for a minor change here or there where an official had been flagrantly flaunting the rules in the absence of the king.
It was a very long list for them to get through, for there were a lot of names on the scroll. Consequently, they were there for a number of hours. The king didn't waste any time elaborating on his reasons why these people needed replacement, those sorts of details would probably be recorded by scribes in their severance letter, he simply read out the name, and who would be replacing them, but even with this somewhat callous efficiency it took a long time to get through them all. Yuka sort of wished it were still within her power to call for tea during a full court session, but now that the king was back on the throne her authority for such things was greatly reduced (and such a gesture would be completely setting the wrong tone).
"The rest of the matters with the officials here in court will wait," he announced after what felt like days. "I am sure that many of you may have heard rumors about an unexpected State Visit here in Whitejewel Palace, it is a pleasure to announce that Tai has increased trade relations with the kingdom of Han. As a gesture of goodwill, I will be sending a trusted emissary to the Royal Han, Go Ranjou, with a package of gems that were promised to him as part of our agreement. Due to the unique nature of the gift, I can't trust them to just anyone, so I will be sending the Taiho to the imperial palace in Han with their copy of the new trade agreement."
Poor Taiki looked so dismayed. He very clearly wanted to protest his being sent away, but his master had spoken and the decision had been made. Yuka would comfort and talk with him about it later.
:It should be unsettling for me to have so many decisions made in court without my approval,: Yuka thought to herself.
She was accustomed, after all, to sharing a joint rulership with Taiki, and having almost the final say in any decision that was made that affected either Tai or Hakkei Palace or any trade agreements made with other kingdoms.
:I guess I should feel at least a little slighted that I'm not actually consulted on any of these, but what I really feel right now is relief,: she thought to herself. :Maybe he's a bit high-handed, but frankly I'm quite content to let him have at it. As soon as this war gets won, I want to be out of the palace and on my way to anywhere but here.:
"In closing," Gyousou said. "I will be out of the palace for some time. It seems that in my absence there are some few of Tai's Provinces that have decided they can run themselves better than the government of this kingdom, so it seems I am required to go and prove them wrong. In the absence of myself and the Taiho, I am appointing the Royal Consort as acting with my authority. By my permission, she will occupy the throne while I am away. That is all."
With that abrupt announcement, the king rose from his throne, the whole court bowed again, the gong was rung and the blinds were lowered to the ground signalling that the court session was finished with. If his position as king of the land had permitted it, Yuka was certain that Gyousou would have been mobbed by his well-wishers and supporters (as well as the usual brown-nosers) but the dignity of his rank and the man's own stern demeanor kept the crowd at bay and allowed him to exit the chamber in peace and dignity. Taiki, eyes filled with tears at the thought of being sent so cruelly away from his master for such a long period of time, swiftly rose and flew out a side door. Yuka sighed quietly to herself, rose with a small bow to the court, and followed after him.