jychan: I don't own Saiunkoku Monogatari… Enough said.

22. A Meeting

Days have passed and in Shinyen, where the 'New Empress', Senshi Kaori, was in an assembly with the ministers,

"So, I would like to ask. Is there anything more concerning the city's affairs?"

Kaori asked as the ministers didn't make a reply,

"Well then, I guess this would be the en-"

"Wait. I would like to ask about the marriage of the Empress."

A minister said as Kaori looked at them with disbelief,

"Excuse me?"

"The Empress Kaori is already 24 years old, so, she should have plans to get married already."

Another minister said as Kaori bit her lip,

"As for that, I have not yet made any plans for that. But I am quite sure that I would get married in the near future. Nonetheless, I will marry someone at the future. But then, as long as I haven't seen the best of Shinyen yet, I will pay no heed towards proposals or anything. Would that be clear?"

Kaori declared as the assembly court was silence once again.

"Li Koyuu-shogun from Saiunkoku will arrive in a matter of days, Kogo Kaori-sama."

A minister said as Kaori looked at him,

"Is that so? Well then, we must make sure that we will make him feel welcomed to the Palace. I want him to feel that he's at Saiunkoku, as well. Is that understood?"

Kaori replied as the minister replied,

"Yes. Your Highness."

The Assembly finished in a little while as Kaori was inside her quarters,

"It's so tiring to be an Empress. I wonder how Onee-sama was able to handle all those affairs. Including the never-ending question concerning my marriage or whatsoever."

She mumbled as she looked at the mirror, wherein she saw a couple of ministers, including Yamamoto Kentaro on the side of a river bank,

'What could they be talking about over that side?'

She thought as she decided to go near the place, where indeed most of the ministers were there,

"What could've happened that the Prime Minister called us?"

A minister asked as Yamamoto made a grin and replied,

"Something about the Empress, of course. We should make her marry as soon as possible."

'Didn't I declare earlier about me not making any decisions concerning marriages?'

Kaori thought as she hid behind a tree,

"But the Empress said earlier that she would not accept proposals as of the moment."

"I am pretty sure that everyone who has gathered here are surely pissed off that she turned down all of the proposals from our sons. Aside from which, I am pretty sure that most of you don't like being governed by a woman, no less."

Yamamoto said as Kaori narrowed her eyes,

'So, that's why he did it towards Himeko-nee-sama and to Hidari-hime. I was a fool.'

She thought as she decided to walk away from the meeting,

"Kogo Kaori-sama, I'm sure you've heard everything that they said about you."

A young man said as Kaori looked at the person,

"Excuse me? Who are you to say that?"

Kaori asked as the person replied,

"Hmm... I'm Li Koyuu, Kogo Kaori-sama. The representative from Saiunkoku."

"Li-dono, then. Please don't tell me that you've found Onee-sama already."

Kaori said as Koyuu replied,

"No, as far as I could remember. No reports about her yet. But I'm pretty sure that she would be found out after a while. After all, even if Saiunkoku seems to be a big country, one can find her in less than a couple of months. Especially with the Ran Clan's support over the country."

"I just wish that Onee-sama won't be found yet. I mean, it was my fault why I had to agree with Yamamoto. But I had no choice."

Kaori said as she leaned on the wall,

"So, you mean you didn't take over the Throne because you were greedy or something?"

Koyuu asked as Kaori laughed at him,

"Baka. As if. I only wanted the best for Shinyen. Aside from which, I'll be working with you. I need your help, Li-dono. Especially since I'm going to be in trouble. It seems that I will be in trouble in a couple of days. It seems that they're working on to make me either make me fall down from my Throne or marry me off to someone else."

Kaori said as Koyuu stared at her and replied,

"There's nothing I can do now, is there. I can't deny your request, Kogo Kaori-sama, especially since I was sent by the shujou to help you here."

"Help? I thought that Ryuuki-ten'no was a bit against with siding with Shinyen?"

Kaori asked as Koyuu replied,

"I'm not sure of it either. So, I suppose that probably the best thing that I should do is to help you around. Especially since it seems that you're against your own decision."

"I must correct you. It was not my decision. It was Yamamoto's decision."

Kaori said as Koyuu raised an eyebrow,

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Well then, shall I lead the way?"

"Of course. I don't know the way here that much,"

Koyuu said as Kaori replied,

"I've heard that it's the same in Saiunkoku, Li-dono."

She chuckled as Koyuu blushed on what Kaori said,

"Th-That. That's not true."

She laughed at what he said as they were walking around.

jychan: Well, that was it. Sorry for not updating for a while? Quite busy with school... Hmmm... A hint of KoyuuXOC? Would you like that one? I'm not sure if I should continue the pairing... I hope it was fine and there were no character OOC's!!! I'd like to thank the reviewers... Oh!!! There's a lot of reviews... I feel like I'm in Heaven!!!

Silver starslin: Hmm... I wish you didn't had your hopes up concerning Himeko and Seiran because I decided that this chapter would show more about what's happening on the other side. I updated as soon as possible!

Stelra Etnae: Shouka is in the Main Residence of the Kou in Kiyou, so he's in the other Residence.... It seems that he gave Seiran the house that they were staying.... Concerning Hidari and Himeko.... I'm not sure what should happen... But I'll tackle it a bit later...

z rox: Ooh... LOL... Too bad that this isn't M-Rated... I'm not ready to make those kinds of fanfics... So I'm sorry.. I'm just 13... Believe it or not.. I'm still 13 years old... So, in short, I'm not ready to write those kinds of fanfics...Sorry!!!