CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN

All the members that were inside the small cottage were dragged outside beginning with Imperial Consort Toyomike who was thrown in front of the Dowager Empress Ishi Hime.

"Here lies the traitor Your Majesty, here lies the rebel." Empress Hirohime said.

"Your Majesty, have I really fallen short in my duty as a wife and the one that you trust that you also round up the Imperial guards and soldiers and like them you suspect me?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

"You and my Courtiers?" Emperor Bidatsu said Sadly.

"Which ones Your Majesty?" She asked and at that moment while on her knees the others that were brought out of the cottage and positioned right behind her were rather Lean men and they all were dressed in cheap attires.

The Dowager Empress Ishi Hime and her daughter in law along with Emperor Bidatsu looked at them in shock as Her Highness turned and looked at Consort Toyomike who stared up at her with a smile on her face.

"There are your rebels Your Majesty, there are your Courtiers, I wonder as your wife, where does that put this Toyomike that you trust?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

The Emperor turned and looked at his mother.

"Mother?" He said.

"My apologies Your Majesty." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.

"Back to the Palace now." Emperor Bidatsu ordered sternly as he turned around and walked away leaving the three women there while the other two looked at the Imperial Consort Toyomike who was on her knees.

"It was a trap?" Empress Hirohime said.

"Yes." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.

"Yes, Toyomike, we have lost." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime thought to herself.

"Yes Your Highness, I am Victorious." Imperial Consort Toyomike thought inwardly as she smiled.

Emperor Bidatsu strode into his study while Dowager Empress Ishi Hime followed him behind.

Halting in front of his chair he turned around and looked at his mother and wife.

"Your Majesty." They said.

"Have you any idea what you have done?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"I was wrong to suspect Her Highness for treason." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.

"Being wrong is not enough." Emperor Bidatsu said, "I told you mother in the first place but you wouldn't listen, how can it look to the world when my mother is apprehending my wife?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Pardon me my dear but I didn't look that far." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.

"Do you know the consequences of your actions mother, all your life I can understand if you resented Imperial Consort Toyomike, I understand to you if she wasn't the ideal choice of a wife for me mother but could you respect my feeling that she is the woman that I love?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"I know that I am at fault but can you blame me for being overly cautious?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked.

"Mother, you can be cautious but to react with haste is unacceptable especially when you are most uncertain, how can I even face my wife when it feels that every time I am with you I doubt her affection for me." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"So you'd choose to trust that woman over your own mother?" Empress Hirohime asked.

"Shut up woman I am not talking to you." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"All that she ever did was to look after you as her son." Empress Hirohime Said.

"But she has stretched her hand so far enough to try and hurt Imperial Consort Toyomike, she is the only woman in the inner court that makes me feel like a man, other Emperors could not be as happy as I am but she makes the burden of the Chrysanthemum throne seem rather very light on me.

When I am with her I do not have to worry about thinking hard about the state and after I am exhausted from the long day of work I have her arms to return to and at least find my comfort and peace and leisure." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Mother, when you are hurting her it's like you are inconsiderate of my passions and it's like you have become an enemy to my happiness." He added.

"Your Majesty, to you I might be someone in wrong to dislike her and to be suspicious of her but I carried you in my womb for nine months and I can be your enemy?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked.

"Then tell me mother, what is it that Imperial Consort Toyomike ever did to you, what is it that is a flaw in your eyes in her possession that she can never perfect?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Everytime I am with her her mouth is only filled with many good words about you, she is only thankful that you gave birth to me and I in the end became a perfect husband for her.

When I seem to think that I have in deed given her so much and I am content with the person that she is to me you only ignite my doubt and make me seem uncertain of that love that the both of us share in between." He said.

Dowager Empress Ishi Hime kept quiet.

"Mother, listen to me and stop this, there is no good that can come from you lingering around her neck every time because it is just like your forcing me to choose between my fealty to my mother and my love towards my wife." Emperor Bidatsu said as he walked out of the room disappointed.

Dowager Empress Ishi Hime looked up at the small chair that was in study as she walked so lifelessly towards it while Empress Hirohime tried to follow.

"Please leave me alone." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.

"Yes mother." Empress Hirohime replied as she turned around and she walked out of the room.

"Is this a curse that can never be broken?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked, "Why must parents always turn away from their children?" she added as she moved right on front of the seat and she sat down.

"Toyomike." She muttered, "Bidatsu my son." She added, "Can I ever bee as dignified as Amaterasu that bears the sun or the moon that charges around the night sky?" She asked herself as the words that her son had told her only a short while ago lingered at the back of her head.

"Mother, when you are hurting her it's like you are inconsiderate of my passions and it's like you have become an enemy to my happiness." He had claimed.

"Happiness?" She said, "Is this the price that I paid for bearing you within my womb for nine months and raising you on my own while your father governed and in my arms you danced all day long and there you slumbered." She added.

Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.

"Toyomike, what have you done?" She asked herself.

Imperial Consort Toyomike had locked herself in her own Chambers and slowly Emperor Bidatsu walked up to her door as he found Sina and Kabane standing outside as well.

"Your Majesty." They said as they bowed their heads.

"How is she?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Her Highness is not feeling well, she looks so sombre and she doesn't wish to talk to any of us." Sina replied.

"After what happened tonight Your Majesty, I think she is so heartbroken that you suspected her to be a traitor." Kabane said.

"Leave her to be alone." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Yes Your Majesty." Sina and Kabane both said in unison.

"Your Majesty." She heard someone call his name and he knew that voice to be very familiar.

"Toyomike?" He called.

"Can I talk to you alone?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

"Sure, let me come in." Emperor Bidatsu replied

"No Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike said, "I am rather ashamed that I can not face you yet." she added.

"Leave us." Emperor Bidatsu ordered and everyone that was standing outside walked away while the two of them stood there separated by the doors.

"We are alone." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike called.

"Yes my dear?" Emperor Bidatsu replied.

"Did you know why I never told you why I left the palace in the first place and I was headed for the Kagu Hill at such a late hour in the night?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

"No." Emperor Bidatsu replied.

"I even told Concubine Unako to at least try so hard and give you the map." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"It's my fault for having not listened to her." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"I was so caught in the thought of you having to struggle to govern the country and your birthday was drawing near I needed to surprise you if it was the last think that I would ever do Your Majesty.

I had one of the most beautiful places on Kagu Hill cited out with a view of Nara at night so beautiful just as it was graceful during the day.

I had a simple cottage their constructed and I surrounded it with Cherry blossoms as you one time had told me you loved to watch them with me I hoped that in so doing we could at least try and imagine our life to be so simple and what we would have looked like as an ordinary couple.

I wanted to go to the extra mile out of the appreciation that I had towards heaven for having been your good wife since you had given me all your life I wanted to give you something in return." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"I am sorry, I didn't know." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"I thought that you had trusted me so much more than your bossom friend or your Empress I had become the very soul of your body and I was most determined to remain that way despite the criticism of the world because when others would make you look only like an Emperor in my eyes you remained the carefree Jinsuke that once saved my life on the streets of Nara where we first met." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"I understand that there is nothing more painful than that betrayal." Emperor Bidatsu Asked.

"Because we never quarreled like most married couples did I was thankful that I had to believe your trust in me was unwavering but now of you see a traitor in me Your Majesty then I feel so broken and perhaps I was taking cautions all my life that I became a scheming woman you don't deserve." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Don't say that Toyomike." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Please Your Majesty, I am just a woman you love and she is your mother." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"That's nothing." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Can your Majesty look me in the eyes and tell me that you trusted me for a single moment back there?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked and Emperor Bidatsu was quiet for a while.

"Your Majesty, I am inadequate." She said.

"Why must you be hard on yourself?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"I am not hard on myself Your Majesty but you are the one who is hard on me because my only dream was to love and be loved by you and other than that there was nothing more that I could ask for in this life even if I died then I would be content that at least marrying you was not something that I dared to regret." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"I am so sorry Toyomike that of all people in the world that could I was the one that dared to make your heart bleed, I am so sorry Toyomike that of all people that would have doubted you I was the one you expected to the least." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"I never expected you are any time." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Toyomike, I have gravely sinned against our relationship but to be frank with you there is no other person that ever made my life worth living in the first place, I was a humble Crown Prince whom everyone had the greatest expectations in but I felt inadequate until you showed me that even I was capable of greatness.

All my life I never asked for a Kingdom because when my older brother passed away automatically I was made the heir apparent but I was like a body without a soul because in the eyes of everybody I was a replacement.

The reason that I rule and the reason that I reign today is because with you by my side the burden of the Crown appears to be easy and it's torture is something that I can bear and get away with.

Toyomike, what do you want me to do to show that I don't doubt you, and yes there are people that push me to extremes and force me to go of course but that is not the way that I think about you.

I could give up any kind of wealth, all my life, my name and my Kingdom just for you and if I had to kill myself right here then I would do it now." Emperor Bidatsu said when the doors of the room were flung open and Imperial Consort Toyomike sprang herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"Your Majesty please don't say that." Imperial Consort Toyomike said, "They could all force you to act according to their will but to lose you is something that I am much unwilling to do or bear until the day that I die." She added.

Emperor Bidatsu hugged her tightly while they each shed their tears on one another.

"Thank you." He said, "Thank you for not leaving me." He added.

It was very early in the morning and Emperor Bidatsu was seated in his throne room as he looked through a series of memorials.

Sato hurriedly rushed in.

"Your Majesty." He said as he bowed his head.

"What is it?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Your Majesty, in the Courtyard." Sato replied and Emperor Bidatsu stood up from where he was seated.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked.

"The Courtiers." Sato replied and at once Emperor Bidatsu strode out.

"What?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said as she stood up from her seat.

"Yes Your Highness, I am afraid that things are much worse than we expected and all the Soga Courtiers are gathered outside and they aren't alone but they are also with the Otomos." Sakae replied.

"What are they doing there?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked.

"They are all kneeling before His Majesty the Emperor and they are not going to leave even at the point of the spear or the edge of the sword." Sakae replied.

Emperor Bidatsu stood at the top of the staircase as he gazed down at his Courtiers who had knelt down into two groups led by Soga no Umako and General Fujiyaro.

"Your Majesty please reconsider." They all said as they bowed their heads.

"What is this?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Your Majesty, the Kingdom is peaceful and His Majesty above all people is able, the blood of the Great Emperor Kinmei runs through you and who says that you can not establish order in your own realm." Soga no Umako said.

"Why must you kneel in front of the throne room this early in the morning?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Her Highness the Dowager Empress Ishi Hime has gone too far Your Majesty and as Nominal regent and holder of the Imperial Seal of Wa she has abused the authority that has been entrusted to her by His Late Majesty the Emperor that we can not tolerate it anymore as your Courtiers." General Fujiyaro said.

"What are you asking me to do?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Your Majesty, Her Highness dispatched troops and Imperial guards under the false charges of treason without your consent and on top of that she is also responsible for the damages that have been caused in our homes.

Out reputations have been tarnished and we have been misbranded and let alone that her indulgence in the affairs of state is something that isn't excusable and should be dealt with accordingly." Umako said.

"Your Majesty, please depose Her Highness as Nominal regent and let her handle and tend to the matters concerning the inner Court." All the Courtiers said in unison.

"Please reconsider Your Majesty." They all added as they bowed their heads.

"The Dowager Empress is my mother and for the crime that she has committed I can have her punished in another way." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"You mustn't falter Your Majesty, she is your mother but you are also the Emperor of your people, to ensure that nothing like this happens again her Highness should be deposed and demoted from the rank of Nominal regent at once and we are willing if it means to kneel down here until you consent to our requests or if we must then let the earth underneath our feet be graced with the blood from our heads." Umako said as he bowed his head down.

"Please reconsider Your Majesty and demote Her Highness the Dowager Empress." The Courtiers said in unison as they bowed their heads after him.

"Must you all be this stubborn?" Emperor Bidatsu asked as he turned around and walked back into his throne room leaving them all kneeling down there.

"Sato." He said to his Eunuch.

"Yes Your Majesty?" Sato asked.

"Don't let anyone come in to see me?" Emperor Bidatsu ordered.

"Yes Your Majesty." Sato replied as he bowed his head while the Emperor closed the doors behind himself.

Imperial Consort Toyomike was seated in her Chambers when Sina walked in.

"Your Highness." She said as she bowed her head.

"How's everything going on outside the throne room?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

"The Courtiers are there as you have asked but it seems that his Majesty is still unwilling to depose Her Highness from the position of Nominal Regent and he is rather hesitant to do it at all." Sina replied.

"It seems that Her Highness still had a slight bit of Mercy from her son." Imperial Consort Toyomike remarked.

"Your Highness, His Majesty is also unwilling to see anyone at the moment and he has confined himself inside the throne room." Sina said.

"What are we going to do about this Your Highness?" Kabane asked.

"His Majesty might be a bit opposed to the idea kf deposing his mother but if there is something that he can not tolerate then it is the sight of blood." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do?" Sina asked.

"Tell General Fujiyaro that it is high time that we made this extreme." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.

"By extreme you mean?" Kabane asked.

"Yes." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied, "I heard that General Fujiyaro's Grandfather is said to be passing on this day at the hour of noon and he was a very loyal Courtier at the time that Emperor Senka ruled the realm." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Yes Your Highness." Sina replied.

"He shall be in the good service of the country because rather than bear the humiliation that befell his family he has decided that he shall cleanse himself as a means of becoming the Dowager Empress' retribution." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Yes Your Highness." Sina replied as she bowed her head and she slowly withdrew from her Mistress' presence.

"You Highness, shall you live in peace with it?" Kabane asked.

Imperial Consort Toyomike pulled out her drawer and she picked out a white envelope which she placed on the table in front of herself.

Kabane took the envelope and opened it to read the letter that was inside.

As his eyes perused through it, he finally let his hands hang limp.

"Is Her Highness really that brutal?" Kabane asked.

"General Fujiyaro's grandfather was poisoned when it was supposed to be his son after the Dowager Empress found out that he would be a primary obstacle to her success.

That being the case General Fujiyaro hid it from his Grandfather that the very daughter of the man he had faithfully served wished to deprive him of his one and only grandson he pleaded with me to have a way of getting back at Her Highness for her misdeeds." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"I see Your Highness." Kabane said.

"For any politician we can never be ready for somethings and we are always swayed by the situation that is always at hand.

Whether it is favourable or not, our wit is the primary factor in deciding either our survival or orchestrating our downfall." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"Your Highness, the Dowager Empress has really wronged very many people." Kabane said.

"She soared so high right now but with the lives of people underneath, I desired to build this country but without having tainted my reputation or having laid any innocent to rest so early." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"I can feel your pain Your Highness." Kabane said.

"Today if Her Highness does not fall then I shall put her down myself." Imperial Consort Toyomike said so courageously.

Emperor Bidatsu was still seated in his Throne room when the doors were opened and Sato hurried in.

"Your Majesty." He said.

"What is it Sato?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Your Highness, retired Honourable Fujiyaro." Sato replied.

"What is it about him?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"He is outside Your Majesty." Sato replied and at once Emperor Bidatsu got up and he walked towards the exit of the yhrone room.

He had come into view as the Courtiers looked up at him still kneeling down in the Courtyard.

His eyes darted across to the gates where he caught sight of the old man dressed in his official robes of the time standing there.

Having noticed the presence of the Emperor he slowly started to walk through the aisle that the Courtiers themselves had created until he eventually stopped at the forefront of everyone else and he went down onto his knees.

"Minister Fujiyaro?" Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Your Majesty." The old man said as he slowly went down on his knees while everyone looked away feeling his disgrace.

"Your Excellency." Emperor Bidatsu called.

"Your Majesty, I understand that I am only a subject and also a retired Courtier." Minister Fujiyaro said.

"You were like a father to my mother." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"And I must take the responsibility for the disgrace that she has caused to these humble men of Wa that have devouted all their lives to your service but in the end they have nevertheless been persecuted." Minister Fujiyaro said.

"Your Excellency, are you here to plead on their behalf?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Their blood is much to previous to be wasted to the ground and am very afraid Your Majesty that if I can not pour mine here today then history shall call you a nepotic Sovereign and it shall accord us the title of immoral foolish Courtiers." Minister Fujiyaro said.

"What more do you want me to do, I am also human?" Emperor Bidatsu said.

"Your Highness, please dispose Dowager Empress Ishi Hime from nominal regency." Minister Fujiyaro said as he bowed his head.

"And if I don't are you also going to kneel down with this entire lot?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.

"Your Majesty, let heaven reflect on my loyalty and see me to be truthful, upon this day I have decided that I shall become the sacrifice for this cause." Minister Fujiyaro said as he pulled from his Montsuki a small dagger and kneeling where he was he brutally cut open his bowels amidst the horror of everyone else.

Emperor Bidatsu looked so surprised while the Courtiers burst into tears.

"Minister Fujiyaro." They said as they bowed their heads.

General Fujiyaro looked at his father and he stood up from where he was kneeling and he positioned himself right behind his grandfather's body which was becoming lifeless with every second.

"Grandfather." He called.

"I died serving Wa." Minister Fujiyaro said as he closed his eyes and he breathed his last.

General Fujiyaro sobbed quietly while Emperor Bidatsu looked at all of them frozen from the rather cold experience that he had beheld with his own eyes.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider." The Courtiers pleaded with him once again. "Please depose Her Highness Dowager Empress Ishi Hime from being our Nominal Regent." They added as they bowed their heads.

"How many more bowels are you going to slit open in front of my own eyes, how much more blood are you still willing to give up to the earth?" Emperor Bidatsu asked, "Because of a woman?" He asked.

"With all due respect Your Highness, we are loyal to your service, but if you can not act then what shall the people think about this?" Umako asked.

"Your Majesty, we represent the people.of Nara who plead with us and share our tears, to return to them empty handed makes us look too incompetent and Your Majesty rather inconsiderate to the different institutions that we take." Otomo Kanamura Maro said.

"Yes Your Majesty." Otomo Ren Nukate Seconded.

"Please reconsider Your Majesty." The Courtiers said in unison once again.

"Reconsider?" Emperor Bidatsu asked, "Alright." He added as he removed the belt of his Montsuki and cast it down right in front of them.

They all looked at him while he got the headdress on his head and he also threw it away while they continued to stare.

He removed the Montsuki and he was left in his plain white inner attire as he has cast the Imperial Robes.

"Sato?" He called.

"Yes Your Highness." Sato replied as he bowed his head.

"Bring me the Imperial seal." Emperor Bidatsu commanded.

"Your Majesty." Sato said.

"That was an order and I want it right here and now." Emperor Bidatsu shouted loudly.

"Yes Your Majesty." Sato replied as he walked away while the Courtiers started to murmur amongst themselves.

"Your Majesty." they said.

"If Minister Fujiyaro and all of you have the audacity to go against my wishes then I suppose that there is no use in me being Your Emperor anymore." Emperor Bidatsu said.

"You can not do that Your Majesty." Umako said.

"Please Your Majesty, you can not " The Courtiers pleaded with him.

"If this is Your will against mine, if you are unwilling to break yours then I am unwilling to break mine either." Emperor Bidatsu said.

Sato returned a shirt while later with the Imperial seal and he handed it over to the Emperor.

"Get me a piece of paper." Emperor Bidatsu ordered and prepare an Imperial edict." He added.

"Your Majesty." Sato said.

"I said that is an order and it is not a request." Emperor Bidatsu said so fiercely.

"Yes Your Majesty." Sato replied as they got a golden scroll and an ink brush.

"Write these words." Emperor Bidatsu said and at that moment his eyes travelling reached the entrance to the Courtyard where everyone else heard some noises advancing while Imperial Consort Toyomike ran through.

"Your Highness." The Imperial guards ran after her while she was followed by Sina and Kabane who tried to stop her but she persisted until she was standing right in front of the Emperor at the very spot where Minister Fujiyaro's corpse lay turning cold.

She went down on her knees while Emperor Bidatsu stared at her dressed in an entirely plain attire.

"Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike called.

"Toyomike?" Emperor Bidatsu said in surprise.

"Why must you isolate yourself from your own people and turn your Courtiers against you, why must you resign to this fate of abdication when above all you have been a very good Emperor to the people in your early years of reign.

What about your Children and your wives Your Highness, even your mother wouldn't want you to relinquish this position that heaven has given to you because of her." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.

"You can resent them all as much as you like because they were wronged and they choose to attack a woman who reacted only out of caution but you must understand that it's not their will but the will of the common people just like we are commensurate to you and you yourself you are commensurate to the Kami.

Must you relinquish that power in your possession then what shall be of this country, what shall be of this frontier land that Emperor Senka and your father united and Conquered?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.

"Historians could call you anything and criticize you for anything else but I do not wish that my husband's name shall go down in history as a coward and as the man that rebelled the will of the people because if Your Majesty is willing to resign on this day then along with this United country you can choose to bury me as well." She added.

"Emperor Bidatsu was rather surprised having heard the words that his wife had to say.

"Toyomike." He called.

"To love Wa and build it and change it was your dream and to Protect the people you love and serve those that are your subjects was your deepest desire Your Majesty so if you can let Nippon lose someone so good and able like yourself then there is no need for me to keep living for it either." Imperial Consort Toyomike said as she held the dagger that was in General Fujiyaro's hands and raised it up.

"Your Majesty." The Courtiers cried, "Do not resign " They added as they bowed their heads.

"Enough." Emperor Bidatsu said as he closed his eyes and then he shed a couple of years before he could look at them again.

"I hereby decree that on this very day, Her Imperial Highness the Dowager Empress Ishi Hime shall no more be the Nominal Regent of Wa and she shall possess no more the Imperial seal as her regime as its holder has been terminated." Emperor Bidatsu said as Sato recorded it on the Imperial Edict.

Emperor Bidatsu held up the Imperial seal in his possession and he stamped the Edict while everyone was watching.

"Thank you Your Majesty." The Courtiers said to him while they bowed their heads along with Imperial Consort Toyomike while the Emperor raised it and showed it to them.

The Courtiers contented they stood up and bowed their heads while Imperial Consort Toyomike remained there kneeling right in front of her husband with her head bowing down while she was sweating profusely.

"Where is it Your Highness, I have at last shown you the meaning of true power." She thought to herself inwardly as she smiled at herself heartily.