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CHAPTER 25 - A Moment for the Ladies-in-waiting
As the opening of the Miyabi Festival approached, the people of Peony Palace became lively.
The female officials of each Ministry of the Interior worked busily.
On the day of the event, Shogibu, who was in charge of the performance, was busy taking care of his instruments.
The ladies-in-waiting from the Shoko Department who were involved in crafts beautifully decorated the ‘Hanabusa no Ma’ room, which would be the venue for the Miyabi ceremony.
A bright red carpet was laid out, and lanterns shaped like full moon were set out.
On the wall was a decoration called “Yugei'. It was’ made from a single red string. Flower and butterfly shaped objects were hung around.
Behind the seat where Queen Xing was sitting, a painting of a phoenix representing the emperor and empress was hung.
It's been a long time since they had an elegant gathering like this, so the members of the Shogun club were also in high spirits.
The members of the food club prepared special dishes for the banquet.
The main ingredient was crab. The sight of a female clutching a large number of eggs symbolized the prosperity of her offspring and the sight of her moving her scissors appeared to be inviting good luck. So it was considered an auspicious creature.
Another reason why people liked it was that when it was heated, it would red, which was said to be an auspicious color.
Daijashi, the Giant Crab, was brought to the inner palace today. A small to medium-sized crab that lived in rivers. It was popular among aristocrats as it was highly nutritious and good for health.
There were various cooking methods.
The first item was steamed crab. This was the most basic crab dish. It was to be eaten with vinegar and soy sauce containing ginger.
The second item was drunken crab. Crab marinated in Shaoxing wine, soaked for about a week.
The third item was crab powder tofu. Stir-fried dish with plenty of crab miso.
The fourth item was crab flour ‘xiaolongbao’. Xiaolongbao flavored with crab miso.
There were so many items that there is no end to list.
The giant crab was one of Princess Hoshi's favorite foods, so the chefs in the food club put a lot of effort into making it.
Nao Hattori was busy making costumes for Princess Hoshi.
A blue collar was paired with white fabric, and pale pink flowers were embroidered with thread.
A haori was made from a haori-like fabric, and white peonies were embroidered on the fabric stretched over the fan.
She also brought a metal hat crown from the treasure room to match her clothes.
While they were busy working, they were also busy gossiping with their mouths.
"Did you hear about what happened the other night?"
"Yes, yes. Isn't it the story about Queen Mi-sama pushing down the Pearl Palace official in the courtyard?"
"Yes! I was surprised!"
The incident that happened with Princess Hoshi in the courtyard with Sango had quickly spread throughout the Peony Palace.
“I had given up on a lot of things because Empress Hatan hates grown men.''
"I can't help hating men. Even I was disgusted by that incident."
The four inner palaces were built to house four consorts that would give birth to the next emperor. Handsome men from all over the country were gathered there. As a result of careful selection, dozens of people were sent to Peony Palace.
Princess Hoshi was the eldest of the four consorts, at 25 years old. Therefore, the men sent to Peony Palace were generally impatient.
It was said that she would replaced the queen when she turned 30.
Princess Hoshi was strong-willed and didn't show her weakness to anyone.
No matter how much the men tried to woo her, she wouldn't even smile.
Because of Princess Hoshi's stubbornness, the men attacked her in her sleep one after another and they were all put to death.
“Those gentlemen weren’t tweeting either.”
"Yeah"
There were female bodyguards around Princess Hoshi. The men who attacked her while she was sleeping were caught by the lady-in-waiting.
Actually it was different.
Princess Hoshi was a princess who was skilled in martial arts, and she was the one who took all the revenge.
At the same time, all of them were kicked out of Peony Palace, saying that there was no need for female bodyguards.
“I heard that before you came here, you said that you would take a man who could fight and win as your husband.”
“So you were single.”
Princess Hoshi was an exceptionally beautiful woman, but she was so skilled at martial arts that she could not find a husband.
Her father, the head of the Hoshi family, had a hard time dealing with her, so he sent her to the inner palace to get rid of her trouble.
“So, does that mean that Queen Mi’s family is reluctant to fight for a successor?”
"It seems like that. Originally, the Hoshi family's territory is a land that has adopted foreign culture and has its own way of life, so they may not be interested in the troubles in the imperial capital."
Princess Hoshi would take the person who could defeat her as her husband.
The Wang family was the only one who looked into the matter in detail.
In order to make Princess Hoshi pregnant, they brought a man in to the inner palace.
They sent Wang Hongyu, who was a handsome member of the family and was also skilled in martial arts. But he didn't seem to have any motivation and didn't even approach Princess Hoshi.
“I think that Minister Wang and Princess Hoshi are a good match.”
"That's right."
The ladies-in-waiting imagined Hongyu and Hoshi lined up and become entranced.
"Why aren't you trying to do your job..."
“I heard that he was a military officer, so I think he has the ability to defeat Princess Hoshi”
“So you didn’t like Princess Hoshi?”
At this point, the lady-in-waiting with an arc drawn on her mouth began to speak.
“There are rumors about Minister Wang”
“It's a secret, so I can't say it out loud.” She beckoned and drew closer.
“It seems like he has some sodomy interests.”
“Oh no!”
"Eh, that's right~"
“Just to tell you the truth, it seems like she has a crush on the Pearl Palace official!”
"Oh dear!"
"Well, well!"
Sango. The foreigner who came to Peony Palace three months ago.
He had a tall, slender body and beautiful hair like golden thread. His eyes seemed to capture the blue of the sky. He had a kind and sweet appearance, and anyone who smiled at him would fall into despair.
He had charmed most of the ladies-in-waiting.
“Why in the world did you think that Minister Wang was interested in Sango?”
"The other day, he was searching for Tanuki-sama, Sango's pet."
“What if Minister Wang, who has no interest in anyone?”
"Yes. It seems like he was desperately searching the inner palace for Sango's pet."
But someone here pointed out.
"That's not enough. Maybe he just likes raccoon dogs."
Wang Hongyu was a raccoon dog lover and the ladies-in-waiting felt a little warm as they imagined him petting a raccoon dog.
"Raccoon is okay, but the two of them are in the same room. They definitely have a suspicious relationship."
"Maybe it's your imagination?"
"It's not obvious. That's just a hunch, a hunch! Those two are definitely in love with each other!"
“Although there is no solid evidence, Sango and Hongyu are in a relationship.”
The lady-in-waiting had no doubts.
"Well, it's a dreamy story, isn't it?"
"Yes. The Pearl Palace official, Sango is a picture-perfect person, whether he's with Princess Hoshi or with Wang's official."
The ladies-in-waiting were imagining things and had expressions of ecstasy on their faces.
“Well, even if I don’t care about the relationship with Wang Hongyu, it would be nice if the lady-in-waiting could be a place where Empress Hoshi's heart rests…”
Princess Hoshi had lived her life with great care, without ever having time to rest, in order to protect her own chastity.
There were no more ambitious men aiming for Princess Hoshi now.
Therefore, the ladies-in-waiting wanted to find peace this time.
The court ladies couldn't help but hope that the kind-hearted Sango would be able to communicate with Princess Hoshi.
“But since Princess Hoshi had pushed him down, there must be some connection, right?”
"Yes, that's right!"
“However, for Princess Hoshi to push him down…”
"Maybe he was practicing."
“Is it on the floor?”
“If you don't stop, I'll tap you hard on the shoulder.”
“It seems that the Pearl Palace official was also a military officer, so that means he might have been practicing martial arts!”
"Oh I see"
“There was no disarray in his clothes, and it seemed that Princess Hoshi was just riding a horse on him. They were definitely practicing it on the floor.”
“I don’t have any dreams.”
“But I think it’s a good thing that Princess Hoshi is interested in someone.”
“That’s true too.”
At this point, the lady-in-waiting, who had been quietly embroidering until now, muttered to herself.
“I don’t want the atmosphere in the inner palace to become dark anymore.”
"Yes, that's right."
“To achieve this, we must make Miyabi a success.”
The ladies-in-waiting put more efforts into the preparations so that Princess Hoshi could enjoy herself.
The long-awaited gathering was just around the corner.
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