CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
"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.
Emperor Bidatsu swang his sword in the Courtyard as a group of three Imperial guards surrounded him.
The first launched himself at him as their swords clashed while Emperor Bidatsu slightly bent his head backwards as the sword missed him while he threw a kick which sent the guard flying onto the ground.
The other guards that were present attacked at the same time and Emperor Bidatsu was caught right in between while they kept ok swinging their swords back and forth as the Emperor deflected them with his own.
In a combined force they descended their swords upon him and he halted them half way with his own as he looked them in the eye.
He bore within them the most fierce expression that they had ever seen and gathering all the strength in his body that he could find, he countered them and pushed them backwards when he heard the third approaching from behind.
He span around and let the sword go past him while he struck the guard on his back he went and collided into the other two.
He was the Victor and he stood there alone.
"Congratulations Your Majesty, your swordsmanship has improved." Miwa no Sakau said.
"Congratulations Your Majesty." The defeated guards said as they bowed their heads just the same.
"In the face of conflict you must never restrain yourself, even if against Emperor's and King's or else should you dare to do so then that day shall be the very last that you'll ever live." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"Yes Your Majesty." They all said in unison.
"You are all dismissed." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"Thank you Your Majesty." The guards said while bowing their heads as they retreated from the small Imperial Arena.
Emperor Bidatsu turned and looked at Miwa no Sakau.
"How are you doing Your Majesty?" He asked.
"I am fine." Emperor Bidatsu replied.
"I could tell that you were swinging your katana with so much rage." Miwa no Sakau replied.
"Can it be helped?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Perhaps not." Miwa no Sakau replied.
"I still can't understand why Imperial Consort Toyomike pleaded on their side." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"Your Majesty, Her Highness was afraid." Miwa no Sakau replied.
"Afraid?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"She'd never wanted you to abandon your people because Your father could have been a great Sovereign but you were a more considerate one and on top of that her heart is for Nara and Wa as a whole and you stepping down she would be unwilling to forgive herself if she didn't even try to stop you." Miwa no Sakau said.
"How did you even know that?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"I overheard her Highness talking to Sina and Kabane three days ago and I eavesdropped their conversation and she isn't against you at all, rather had she been the cause if all this she confessed that if in the Dowager Empress Ishi Hime's shoes, she would have rather relinquished the title in peace." Miwa no Sakau said as the two continued to walk in the direction of the Emperor's Chambers.
"It seems that I must have misunderstood her in the first place." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"It's been quite long since you spent the night with her and she has been at the other side of the Palace where I heard that she refused to eat or drink anything the past couple of days." Miwa no Sakau said.
"Must she be this hard on herself?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Your Majesty, it can't be easy for her anyone given that she has loved you so much and she has devoted her all unlike all other women in the court, to feel that what she did in your eyes was disappointing then I am afraid that she js very worried that your hate towards her has cropped up to be something that is deep rooted." Miwa no Sakau said.
"It's alright, I'll see her later." Emperor Bidatsu said as he continued his way.
Imperial Consort Toyomike was seated in her Chambers as she recalled the words that she had spoke up to her husband a couple of days ago.
"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." her husband had been forced to comply and clenching her fist there was a hint of satisfaction that she felt yet still her heart was rather distant.
Suddenly, Sina knocked onto the door.
"Come in." Imperial Consort Toyomike said and she flung them open as she made her way right in front of her Mistress.
"Your Highness." She said as she bowed her head.
"What is it?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"Someone is here to see you." Sina replied.
"Who?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"Dowager Empress Ishi Hime." Sina replied.
"Let her in." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Yes Your Highness." Sina replied as she withdrew from her presence and a while later, the Dowager Empress Ishi Hime walked in proudly as she stood right in front of her.
Consort Toyomike stood up and looked at her mother in law with a smile on her face.
"Greetings Your Highness." She said.
"Greetings Your Highness." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime replied.
"May you have a seat?" Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Thank you." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime replied as she sat down on the chair at the opposite end of the table.
"I wasn't expecting you today." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"But you were expecting me soon enough, weren't you?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked.
Imperial Consort Toyomike smiled.
"Yes." She replied.
"You must feel happy where you are." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"Can I not Your Highness?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"Of course you must but as the first was a Victory for me and not the final war, this is also one for you and not our final battle." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"I know that very well, I am sure of that, I can understand that much better than anyone else, what you are trying to say is that you aren't defeated as well as I wasn't back then." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"You are smart and that's what I like about you." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"You can at least be thankful that your withdrawal could nullify the charges of having a clique in the court given that all those Imperial guards and soldiers could listen to a decree you issued in your own name and not His Majesty's." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"And you pleaded which I expected the least I was quite moved by how desperate you wished to contain my power and might." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"At last we have remained women of the Inner Court sharing a common weakness and strength at the same time.
There is no more power for you as there isn't any for me and all that we have left are our people whose support and whose abilities are going to determine our odds at winning." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Please satisfy me Your Highness, for such a well orchestrated plot you must have planned long enough." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"Of course I planned it all along Your Highness for you are not the only one that is very good at scheming, sometimes I had to try as hard but when I knew that to escape your sight was something that I couldn't do constantly and I had entirely failed to do so I decided to embrace it and use it to my own advantage." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"Marvellous, you turned my strengths into my own weaknesses." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"To begin with in all the years that I have known those Courtiers do you think that I would trust them at all that blindly?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"I had to take a guess and I did." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime replied.
"I knew that not many would be willing to follow me even as a woman with only the grace of the Emperor and the Crown Prince as well.
For years my men have kept a close eye on all those men and I knew their whereabouts daily that I became used to spelling out those that were suspicious and those that were very clean, those that were my allies and those that were moles just disguised to be in my service." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"And you didn't let the moles know you were suspicious, you only embraced them and brought them closer for your grandiose scheme?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said with a smile on her face.
"Now you see Your Highness." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied, "I knew what was going on with the letters that you consequently intercepted but I didn't show concern and I progressed slowly as it was what I wanted.
I knew that as Nominal regent still but as long as you possessed the Imperial seal with you then for me Victory was going to be rather wishful.
I wanted to foster His Majesty's distrust in you and generally I dreamt of your expulsion from power but I knew that to do that I needed the majority on my side." She added.
"The Otomos and the Sogas, I believe that you succeeded." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"I did Your Highness, and perhaps thanks to you, I realised that I too could exceed your capabilities as I wanted to give you an excuse for treason but I had to also devise my own escape plan to beat His Majesty's suspicions." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"When I bought that plot of land I had intentionally chosen to grow there cherry blossoms because I knew that His Majesty and I had dreamt of seeing them.
I had it constructed in a simple and hidden place with the view of the city because where you would have suspected it to be a hide out and a meeting point to his Majesty I'd convince him that it was like a love nest to us.
When Imperial Prince Tachibana no Toyohi no Mikoto's wife was to deliver I had all the Sogas gather at his residence beforehand and I indeed believed that as you watched me and your moles ready then we'd spread the word to meet in the cottage on Kagu Hill.
When that message reached you, I didn't need your moles anymore and much as I couldn't kill them I needed to hold them off for a while and I transported them out of Nara to Mount Daewa.
Initially when the Courtiers walked into household and the servants walked out disguised as them it was the one point that you had blindly ignored and the best ruse that I had pulled off." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"But if the Courtiers entered then how did they leave?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked.
"If the servants could disguise themselves as courtiers then the Courtiers could disguise themselves as servants as well and there was a backdoor that I had long prepared in advance and an escape they would make beneath your eyes." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"Dowager Empress Ishi Hime laughed.
"At last." She said. "The serpent can finally slither." she added.
"I am so sorry if I took you by surprise." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"You have played the most beautiful role for a politician forced His Majesty to depose me as Nominal regent and given him the absolute power I suppose that with the seal right by his side you are now in a very close range with it.
To turn your own disasters into your flight I am by far impressed your capabilities have surpassed mine." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime remarked.
"If it wasn't for those times that I lost to you before I wouldn't have realised the best way to contend with you." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"You've grown up so fast and unlike you and me the Empress is good enough to pose a challenge to you but even you know that she is very hasty." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"Either way it is my duty to be prepared for the worst that you people throw at me." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"You've done a good job." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime remarked.
"Your Highness, can you be firm now that I shall never be Empress?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"If I can think about it you conjure some of the most remarkable ruses but even they are not enough, now that you have decided to aggress the tiger by cutting off its whiskers you should stand and be prepared for the worst." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime warned.
"When I have made it hard for you to come to a decision on which is my right move and which one isn't, which I trust and which one I don't, what are my true intentions and which ones are baits to apprehend you Your Highness.
A quick analysis of the situation can force me to concur that your comeback shall take a rather long while than an immediate reaction." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"You are more confident than I ever imagined." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"We still have a deal Your Highness." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Don't worry, I won't falter and bear even the slightest mercy." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"And neither will I?" Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"What do you want?" Dowager Empress Ishi Hime asked, "I'd naturally think that for you my son is enough but the feeling that I get deep down in my bones spells for me otherwise." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime added.
"Yes." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied, "I love Wa so much, this Nippon is as close to my heart as he is and since young I only wished to tell you that being both daughters of Emperors our wish is still the same." She added.
"Thank you, I have understood." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said with a smile on her face as she stood up and turned around while she sashayed out of her daughter in law's quarters.
Reaching outside she halted with Sakae who was standing there and waiting along with her ladies in waiting.
"Your Highness." They said as they bowed their heads to her.
"Let's go." Dowager Empress Ishi Hime said.
"Yes Your Highness." They replied as Dowager Empress Ishi Hime descended the stairs and stood right beneath the Palace.
before she progressed any further, she turned around and looked at the building in it's magnificence as she smiled.
"Thank you, Consort Toyomike." She muttered under her breath while she turned and headed away.
Imperial Consort Toyomike was left inside her Chambers while Sina and Kabane sat down right in front of her.
"Your Highness." They said as they bowed their heads.
"It's a bit too early to congratulate me." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"But now that you have toppled her Highness don't you think that at this point she will be quick to retaliate?" Kabane asked.
"We are all choosing to prepare but I am rather afraid that this for her is a very small defeat, my power and has are equal and there is still one stone to throw for the both of us and for it to be perfect is one thing and to also hit our Target is another." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"What do you mean Your Highness?" Sina asked.
"The Emperor's suspicions must be triggered about how all those people to consent to follow Her Highness the Dowager Empress' Imperial decree without even His Majesty's knowledge." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"But Your Highness, there were no Courtiers to try and plead her case as you had planned it and you had known all along, that alone gives the Emperor confidence that his mother is not challenging his might." Sina said.
"There are obvious truth and as the Emperor there are things that he can't necessarily overlook even at the moment, whether we convince him or not it's up to him but we must make it appear that way as it is." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"I agree with Your Highness." Kabane said.
"Then how are we going to do it?" Sina asked.
"Leave the rest to me, all I want you to do is simple, keep a distance and alert me in advance the doing of each and every Official in court including my Uncle." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"Your Highness, you don't trust Your Uncle?" Kabane asked.
"None of you know my uncle much better than I do and in each and every case all the Courtiers have weaknesses and flaws which I can use to my advantage.
Additionally it depends on the doings of the Mononobes that we shall be in the position to know what Her Highness is planning." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Yes Your Highness." Both Sina and Kabane replied in unison while Imperial Consort Toyomike smiled at herself.
Empress Hirohime was seated in her Chambers when Hotaru walked in.
"Your Highness." She said as she bowed her head.
"You are finally here?" Empress Hirohime said.
"Yes Your Highness." Hotaru replied.
"I want you to alert the Courtiers as first as you can that should the Assembly meet against three days from now they must bring the issue up." Empress Hirohime said.
"Your Highness, which one?" Hotaru asked.
Empress Hirohime picked up an envelope that was in a small trunk right beside her and handed it over to her.
"That one." She Said.
"Yes Your Highness." Hotaru replied.
"You shall take that letter to Mononobe no Moriya and he shall know best what to do with it and if you are attacked in one way or another you are free to abandon it and don't protect it with your life because you are much more valuable and still of good use to me." Empress Hirohime said.
"Yes Your Highness." Hotaru replied, "But does Her Highness the Dowager Empress know about this?" She asked.
"No." Empress Hirohime replied.
"I think that you should inform her." Hotaru suggested.
"She is still focused on something else and I can't be too burdensome and inconsiderate as well when it comes to her case.
Besides she mentored me and I learnt to be good enough there are somethings that I can do on my own without a single need to ask." Empress Hirohime replied.
"Alright Your Highness." Hotaru replied as she withdrew from her presence.
"Imperial Consort Toyomike, will you see this blow coming your way?" She asked herself as she smiled ghastly.
Emperor Bidatsu walked into his wife's room abd when she saw him she stood up and walked up right in front and fell on her knees.
"Your Majesty." She said as she bowed her head down.
"Get up." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"Yes Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied as she slowly stood up hesitantly while her husband walked past her and halted right in front of her table only to see the food still lying there idle.
"What have you been up to lately?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Nothing." Imperial Consort Toyomike lied.
"The food at your table is turning cold yet coming inside you didn't seem to have even noticed it." Emperor Bidatsu said while he turned around and looked at his wife.
"How can I find that courage when I have barely lived with myself the past few days, perhaps because of me the mood in the palace has become sombre and those nights for you must have been nightmarish that this is my only retribution." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"Nightmarish?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Yes." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"Why?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"It must have been very difficult for you to choose between your mother and your position as the Emperor and I understand that the weight of the monarchy isn't that easy at all on your shoulders though nevertheless as your wife it is a burden of mine as well." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied.
"You worry for nothing." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"No Your Majesty, I worry so much about you and I know that what I have done perhaps is unforgivable though I am unwilling to take fault for my actions rather I am responsible for having not made you a selfish Emperor and for that I am proud." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Ever since I was young no one held such a very deep regard for me and spoke up their mind like you.
I might have been proud as Crown Prince Nunakakura and now that everyone calls me Your Majesty and it has become my name it is only when you say it that I start to feel deep down inside to you it's another way of calling me honey." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"I know my thoughts could Sometimes be antagonistic when compared to yours but if before both earth and heaven and the whole world I swore to be your refuge then it is my intention of keeping it that way." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"You are honest with me and perhaps I have been to hard on you." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"You have only been a very good Emperor to our people and to me that's all that matters because if you can be a caring and loving husband when we are alone then I could give the world a wonderful Emperor to praise and to cherish all the days of their lives." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
Emperor Bidatsu walked closer to her while she looked him in the eyes and there he ceased her and pulled her into a very tight hug.
"For you the burden must be even greater, to be misunderstood by the world and continuously be persecuted by my mother and yet you still choose to stand by me despite all that I couldn't be more proud happy and I couldn't as well be more proud." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"When you decided that you wished to love me for the woman that I was you chose to accept me and live with me including all my flaws.
I on the other hand swore to guard and keep you and love you all the same hoping that in my peace I could find you and return it as well.
Even when the tides of this life rise much higher than we could fly, I still want to be that rock on which you can lean when the whole world is against you and on which you can stand when you are against the world." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Don't worry." Emperor Bidatsu said as the two still in each other's embrace were slowly turning around, "I'll hold you responsible for only loving me too much and myself being rather too impulsive." Emperor Bidatsu added.
"For me I want to keep being as useful as I can that even though at one time you grow weary of me or bored you have no chance to try and leave me ever." Imperial Consort Toyomike said.
"Nonsense." Emperor Bidatsu remarked.
"Why?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"Of you I'd never grow weary and you I shall never leave." Emperor Bidatsu replied.
"Can you promise me?" Imperial Consort Toyomike asked.
"I promise." Emperor Bidatsu replied.
"Thank you so much Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike said as she rested her head on his shoulder.
The two pulled apart and Emperor Bidatsu looked his wife in the eye as she smiled at him heartily.
"The food is ready and I don't want it to turn cold, I came here hungry so why don't we both sit down abd share it?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Yes Your Majesty." Imperial Consort Toyomike replied as the two of them walked towards the small table and they sat down serving each other while smiling it felt like they were children once again.
Sina and Kabane outside hearing the mild laughter that came from inside along with Miwa no Sakau they smiled with contentment.
The Courtiers had gathered and Emperor Bidatsu was seated on the Chrysanthemum throne when Mononobe no Moriya stepped out and stood in front of him.
"Your Majesty." He said as he bowed his head.
"What is it, have you an issue to present to me?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Yes Your Majesty." Mononobe no Moriya replied.
"Please proceed." Emperor Bidatsu permitted.
"Your Majesty, the state is peaceful and it's been three years since you ascended the throne, additionally the people need an assurance that the state can still run very well my concern is that I am here to urge Your Majesty to name a Crown Prince who shall succeed you as heir to the throne." Mononobe no Moriya replied.
"So you are proposing that the issue of a Crown Prince is in deed something that you are concerned with." Emperor Bidatsu said.
"Your Highness, preparation is all that we need, now that His Majesty has ascended the throne I believe that it is high time the Courtiers got busy and the teachers as well started to nurture and mould the future successor of the Chrysanthemum throne." Mononobe no Moriya said.
"I second His Excellency." Mononobe no Suke said.
"We also agree the other Mononobes that were present said.
"What do you think about this Ōmuraji Soga no Umako?" Emperor Bidatsu asked.
"Your Majesty, His Excellency is not wrong with his proposal and I too think that there is a good side to it but however what I dread most is that over the generations that have come and gone on before us all, the Crown Princes that have been named and their other Imperial brothers haven't been on good times.
It is evident from the Generations of Emperor Keitai and it is a fact that can not be denied that naming a Crown Prince so soon would sever his relationship with his brothers which might even encourage a future sibling rivalry.
Your Majesty, as a father you would best understand this much more than anyone else, there is nothing more painful than having to witness your children locking horns with one another and also scrambling at each other's necks." Soga no Umako replied.
"Your Highness, I think that what Honourable Umako is trying to say is right and that this is something that requires further deliberation because in my own humble opinion the Imperial Princes should each be nurtured and sharing a rather common experience they should be well informed with governance and when the time is right the best candidate for the position shall be chosen." General Fujiyaro said.
"I also believe that both of them are right, the Princes need to share a rather common privilege lest they rebel and go to war with one another while others might go into exile and the Imperial family's order shall have collapsed." Otomo Kanamura Maro said as he bowed his head.
"Your Majesty, I rather believe that contrary to them some must be deprived so that others have a Chance to survive, the state is peaceful and brothers wouldn't rebel lest they be branded traitors.
The Princes additionally have a very wide age Gap between themselves that it won't be helpful if one has to wait until the others are of age to compete for the throne." Mononobe no Moriya said.
"Your Majesty, as a citizen of this country and as a pillar to it, I do not wish the same misfortune that befell Emperor Senka to be before us again." He added as he went down onto his knees.
"Are you trying to imply that his Late Majesty was unqualified to run the state, need we remind you he ushered in an age in which Was fluorished?" Soga no Umako asked.
"No Your Majesty." Mononobe no Moriya replied, "Rather where his bloodline was discontinued we can't be sure that your brothers aren't as ambitious and to guard against that ambition of theirs the first way that we can curb the possibility of a succession dispute is by feeling the void and naming a Crown Prince to calm the hearts of the people and the Court." He added.
"Neither of you is wrong and from your points of view I see that amongst you what is common is the worry for the state and the Imperial family.
But as you have seen it for yourself this is an issue that requires further deliberation and it is not something that I can just decide without very deep thought and consideration as it is that I cannot ask for the names of those Princes you wish to bring forward I shall think about it but for the time being let's not worry for whether fate decides that the mandate of heaven shall go to the eldest or the youngest then who would oppose to this as a man?" Emperor Bidatsu said in reply.