Go kingdom, capital city Namyang
Seven months after the prophesied arrival of the Messenger of Heaven
As the afternoon gradually waned, Chuubou Sonken, the empress of the Go kingdom, took up her usual position out on the balcony of her room. At this time of day, after getting away from all the people that wanted to talk to her about various favors and requests, she truly appreciated the peace and quiet, and often needed it so that she could concentrate on her work for the evening in addition to her studies.
A gentle gust blew and played with her long pink forelocks of hair; the rest of it was basically just above shoulder-length, and did not move very much. She wore a pink dress with long sleeves and large cuffs just above the elbow, and a high-collared white shirt that covered the top part of her body, down to about the middle of her bosom. She wore no crown, though; that was in her room. She didn't want to be Empress Sonken when there was no one around but her.
The door to her room slid open silently while she stared out at the city of Namyang below her, and from the distinctive rasp of soft soles against stone, Sonken could tell exactly who it was. "Shishun."
At this address from Sonken, the newcomer, Kouha Kannei, bowed deeply. Both the red tails of the ribbon tying up her hair-bun cover and the black muffler around her neck fluttered as she did so. She was wearing her usual waist-length red shirt with dark sleeves and dark gloves, but her legs were bare and exposed to the elements. "Lady Renfa, we received a messenger from Nanpi a few minutes ago. He said that Enshou is formally requesting your assistance in forming an anti-Toutaku alliance."
Sonken did not turn to face Kannei, and instead continued to look out over Namyang. Even in the oncoming evening, the people of the city were still bustling through the streets, and the smell of restaurants beginning to start their evening cooking wafted up to her nose. At length, she replied to Kannei with a quiet weariness that would have fit a woman twenty years older than her. "If that spoiled child expects us to fight against Toutaku with only Go's forces and her own, she's taken me for a fool as well. Deny it. We shall not participate."
"The messenger indicated that invitations had also been sent out to Gi, Ryousei, and Youzhou," Kannei added. "At the very least, Rikuson theorizes that Kousonsan will join in the effort, and that Haru of Zhuo might be inclined to do so if Kousonsan does. Sousou is the only real wild card."
The mention of Haru was enough for Sonken to turn and lock her crystal-blue, catlike eyes onto Kannei's violet ones. Kannei herself kept her face perfectly still under Sonken's sudden examination. It was something of an open secret in the Go court that Sonken had been particularly interested to hear about Youzhou's very own Messenger of Heaven, and had followed news of his actions against the Yellow Turbans very closely. Whatever her reasons were, Sonken kept them very much to herself, leading to jests from some of the senior advisers that she'd gotten something of a crush on the mysterious man that had basically taken half of Youzhou province under his protection.
Kannei knew Sonken well enough to be positive that wasn't the case, but didn't know what drove Sonken to collect news of him so quickly. She also knew that now that Haru's name had entered into the equation, Sonken was highly likely to join the alliance if only to meet him for herself. No doubt it would make Sonken unpopular with at least some parts of the court, but she was a shining example of the Son family's steadfastness in the face of adversity. And even so, it was likely that Sonken could talk them into accepting her choice of action one way or another; she was not as aggressive as her predecessor, but she was equally persuasive and even charismatic when she bothered to put the effort into ruling.
As was her wont, though, Kannei waited quietly for Sonken to give her actual verbal decision.
Eventually, Sonken nodded. "We'll join. If you see Ryomou, Lady Kougai, or Lady Shuuyu on your way back to the messenger, let them know of my decision."
"As you wish, Lady Renfa," Kannei said, bowing once more. As she rose, her narrowed eyes and thin black eyebrows relaxed underneath her sharply-cut bangs. "Though, if you wish to tell Lady Shuuyu in person, she is probably on her way to visit Lady Sonsaku sometime soon. You may be able to speak to her if you move quickly."
Sonken received this information without changing her stern, distant expression, but Kannei could tell that she was slightly discomfited by that knowledge. "I do need to pay a visit to my sister today. Thank you for letting me know, Shishun. You're dismissed."
Kannei nodded her understanding and immediately departed as quietly as she came. Sonken turned back toward the city, and her expression finally changed to a small, if bitter, smile. "Sheren… I wonder, am I a fool?"
Youzhou province, Zhuo district, Xizang
Thirty minutes later
Unlike Sousou and Sonken, Haru received his messenger personally, as he was just completing a patrol of the city when the messenger approached him on horseback and asked for directions to the palace, saying that he had a message of grave importance for "Lord Haru of Zhuo". Once Haru's identity had been made clear, the messenger was brought to the palace and delivered the entire message to Haru and his officers before being made to wait outside the audience chamber while they deliberated amongst themselves. A large, round table like the ones in the dining hall was set out in the center of the room; Haru sat at the side that allowed him to look at the door on the far end of the hall, while the others sat opposite him to varying degrees.
To her mild discomfort, Ryuubi was included in these proceedings as well. Her lineage had ultimately been proven to be in good standing not just by the sword that she carried, but also by the fact that the papers that she'd obtained from her landlord had the authentic seal of Chuuzan Seiou on them. As such, she had kept her position as Gan's assistant in daily matters, but by Haru's order was also called into important meetings like this one, and had been taking private lessons from Shoukatsuryou and Houtou.
It was a mostly unspoken understanding that if things were to somehow go badly at some point, Ryuubi would be the next in line to lead the province.
"We have to go," Kan'u said, clenching a fist. "We absolutely can't allow this. Remember, Lord Haru, that we were not the only ones hit hard by the Yellow Turbans; there was unrest near the capital as well. These people have broken free of one yoke to be captured under another!"
Chouhi's head was nodding so vigorously it almost looked like a giant red blur. "I agree, big bro!"
In contrast to those two, Shoukatsuryou and Houtou were much more subdued when they spoke their opinions, and for good reason. "Lord Haru, I understand Aisha and Rinrin's desire to go and assist the anti-Toutaku alliance. However, we are not in the strongest position of our own at the moment. A lot of our alliances are still very new, and we are not in the position to ask for very much of them."
"There is also the postwar period to consider," Houtou added. "Whether Toutaku's forces win or not, the Imperial Court has collapsed, and the territories will likely break into open war. Go and Gi will be competing for territory for quite some time afterward, and will probably swallow a lot of the smaller territories in the process. If we aren't careful at that time, then..."
Haru nodded, seeing where Houtou was going. "We'd get caught up in their mess and get eaten up since we don't have the power to push them back in a straight-up fight. So then I'm guessing you two want to hang back and let 'em kick the sh—crap out of Toutaku for us?"
Shoukatsuryou nodded, but the smile on her face was more than a bit stiff. "That would be ideal."
Ryuubi finally found her tongue, and shook her head vigorously. "But what if Sonken or Sousou decides to make their move after the alliance is dissolved? What if they do worse to the people than Toutaku is already doing to them? If we're there then we might be able to stop that if it happens."
Kan'u nodded her agreement, but before she could speak, Haru held up a hand to silence her. Then, he said, "Shuri. I need you to be honest with me. Is that absolutely what you want?"
Shoukatsuryou bit her lip and looked off to the side, unable to meet Haru's mismatched stare even though it was less on the angry side and more on the observant side. After a tense silence, she eventually shook her head. "N-no, Lord Haru. But it's what we should do for the sake of making sure that our territory remains stable in the post-war period. It's important to have a sense of justice, but… we can't help anyone if we overextend ourselves."
Haru nodded at that, and Kan'u tensed even more, though her expression soon became despondent instead of frustrated when she realized that she was letting her anger show clearly to Haru when she shouldn't have. However, what Haru was doing and what Haru was thinking went in two completely different directions. On one hand, he knew that what was happening in Luoyang now was really no different from the way that the Library ran things. It was less personal than his beef with the Library, but it was still something he disliked. Kan'u had said it earlier; Youzhou had not been the only place that suffered thanks to the Turbans, and Haru had the power and the skill to make the difference here on a level equal to or greater than the change he had tried to make in his one-man war against the Library.
On the other hand, Shoukatsuryou's argument was just as sound, and appealed to the side of him that he had trusted much more often back "home". He remembered what he'd said to Chou'un about lacking the ambition to do what Gi and Go did; all that really mattered to him at the end of the day was that Youzhou was safe for the people of Xizang and the territories that had joined with him. Going to a fight that wasn't really his in the first place would be a denial of that sentiment to some degree, and in all honesty, he did not want to put lives at risk when they could yet be spared.
Haru took a moment to look at his hands. Pragmatism had not been in Jubei's mind when he'd chosen to train Haru to fight against the Library. Pragmatism had not been in Kan'u's mind when she and Chouhi led him to Xizang all those months ago. The circumstances in this situation were unmistakably different, but Haru knew that the spirit of the matter was the same. People needed help, and he could help them, or choose not to.
"We're joining," he said. "I know what I said earlier about not wanting to get into fights that didn't involve us. I know that Shuri and Hinari are right about what we have to prepare for after all this crap is over. But Kan'u's right. Those people need someone to help them, and if we can, there's no reason not to." He let his fingers drum on the table. "Besides that, we hear a lot of talk about Sousou and Sonken. I want to meet them for myself. I think it'll give us a better idea of whether we can trust them or not."
Everyone at the table gave Haru some form of agreeable smile, cementing his decision in his own mind. Shoukatsuryou, however, raised the next issue immediately afterward. "If we go, Lord Haru, we'll be taking yourself, Aisha, Rinrin, and either me or Hinari. We'll need someone to manage the defenses in case something happens. I personally recommend the Bi sisters and Captain Ton from Rinrin's unit..."
In the end, it was decided that Houtou would stay behind and manage the affairs, with Ryuubi acting as her assistant and the aforementioned Bi sisters and Ton as the heads of the reserve forces. With all of that decided, Haru sent the messenger back to Nanpi with the message, and began to prepare for the week-long trip to the rendezvous point, which was about a week's journey away from the Sishui and Hulao Passes that guarded the way into Luoyang.