--Talk to Shem-Zhe
You thank Kasumi and tell her you will speak with your champion first. She bows and leaves you alone as the sun sets. With a quick note to Shem-Zhe that you will speak to him in the morning, you rise and decide to spend the rest of your day with your daughter.
That night is very cold as Kaname has opted instead to stay in the Empress suite rather than talk to you about your blunt orders. You knew you had upset her...but it had been a rare night when you two were in the same city let alone the same castle that you had gone to bed without seeing each other before going to Yume-do. Whether or not the Unicorn were the best choice...you had essentially ran them all over in your impatience.
More things to fix, you felt like you were running out of time again, like you had to do so much to keep it all going....you can sort of understand why your father decided to go ronin for a bit there sometimes.
That thought drags you off to sleep, and after a fitful journey to the realm of dreams, you awaken, still cold as you go about your day.
Shem Zhe has changed since you met him after the Jade Championship, there's more grey in his hair, and the light in his eyes is not gone but faded. Tempered by a war and the loss of his wife. He pours tea for you, a blend from the Jewelled City known as elma çayı according to him. It smells faintly of apples.
You take a sip, and look him in the eye, unsure of how to broach it. Just ordering your Jade Champion to go get married to a goddess might not go over well.
Finally he speaks instead.
"You wish me to pursue Shinjo-no-kami's hand" he says simply.
"Hai." You say there was nothing else to say.
"Would you be willing to, if your wife passed?" He asks.
You swallow its, a fair question. Kaname is a woman you've grown to love for all of your foibles, and for all of hers, you love her, you made the choice to love her yes, but it was very easy with her. If you didn't have her, if she had passed giving birth to Yuina or if the assassins of yesteryear had taken her...would you be willing to move on so easily?
The pragmatist in you, beaten in by Itsume-sensei says that you would, you would have to. The position of Empress is too important to leave vacant, and your daughters are still too few to build a dynasty on.
But your heart disagrees, if you can move on from Kaname so easily, did you ever love her at all?
Shem-zhe takes a sip of tea.
"And that is my answer. " He says simply.
"Hai, and it is a fair answer, but...if our goal is as it is, should we not put forth our best?" You ask.
"Honestly Mikado? No...while Togashi-no-kami has his reasons...I don't feel right trying to subvert the will of the Heavens. I am a man of faith in the end" Shem-zhe says.
"Even with recent history being what it is?" You ask.
"Even with. They created the Celestial Order, and we are all walking that same wheel, it is not good for our kharma to defy it." Shem-zhe answers.
"So you think Shinjo-no-kami should become the Sun with another Fortune becoming the Moon. But what if that Fortune is like the Water Dragon...or worse the Earth Dragon?" You ask.
"Then we will endure as we always have. For now my focus is on cleansing Otosan Uchi. Despite the loss of our scouting expedition, I am confident that we can reach the inner city next year." He says.
"Truly, the gates and the obelisks won't keep you out?" You asks suspicious.
He shrugs.
"We learn as much from failure as success."
"I cannot afford failure, not when so much rests on my shoulders" You say.
"Do you truly believe your effort alone turns the Empire?" He asks.
"Not my effort alone, but without it, the Empire does not turn at all" You say.
"Hmm...Fortune favours the Mortal Man as the Little Teacher says." he answers. "You are blessed my Emperor, but you cannot carry a world on your shoulders. You are not Hantei-no-kami."
"If not me than who?" You ask.
"That is what your council is for, is it not? I am not saying you should not be involved...I am saying that you should trust the people you select." Shem-zhe says.
"And if another incident with the Scorpion happens?" You ask.
"Its already going to happen." Shem Zhe says.
"...What...why?" You blink confused.
"Word has spread that you intend for Minoru to be trained by my clan, while I am glad that she will learn from us...you've pushed hard for years my Emperor to change the Empire, to make it grow again...and in doing so, traditions have been fought, they have been changed, and there was only so far that you could push that...while it might not be the Scorpion in particular who move...it will be one of the traditionalist clans that goes to war with mine, they cannot go gently into the night...no one could" Shem Zhe says.
You sip your tea.
Well you hadn't really thought of that when you made your decision. You just hadn't wanted all your work to be for nothing.
"That's why Kitsuki-san wanted the Mantis." You say softly.
"Hai...the Mantis for the most part can rely on the seas...only the Tsuruchi are truly vulnerable to a war. " he says.
"...thank you for speaking with me Shem-zhe" You say.
He nods and you both drink tea. Your mind still on what he said, is there a way to convince him to try for Shinjo's hand? Perhaps...
[] Write in an appeal
[] No, he has made his choice. (Time skip to Kyuden Hida)
