Elevator Dimension Line

"A gift? What is his status? He's just a member of the royal family. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu can't compare to Lord Yashamaru," Hotaru said with a sneer.

"You silly girl..." Zhu Juan was speechless. Love really can make people blind!

Zhu Juan then sighed and softened her voice, saying, "Lord Tantai Ye's identity is neither as ordinary as he makes it out to be, nor as simple as you think."

"What is that?" Firefly asked curiously.

Zhu Juan shook her head. "I can't tell you now without his permission, but you'll definitely know later. I'll tell you one thing now, and you must remember it: you must respect him more than you would a leader, Hattori Hanzo, or even Tokugawa Ieyasu... Just think of him as the god you always pray to in your heart!"

Firefly stared wide-eyed. She could tell that Zhu Juan wasn't joking; there was definitely something she didn't know.

at the same time.

Kyoto City, the Imperial Palace of the Emperor.

Tantai Ye appeared directly in a three-story building.

This place is usually the Emperor's office, but it has now been vacated.

In the main hall, Tantai Ye emerged from behind a screen, startling a maid who was carrying things. The maid nearly screamed. Tantai Ye raised her hand in a shushing gesture, and the maid managed to swallow her scream.

Just then, Arisa, who had seen Tantai Ye, walked over.

"The announcement has been written and will be posted this afternoon. We've also sent people to deliver it to generals and daimyo in various places. We've essentially moved from behind the scenes to the forefront," Arisa said with a smile.

“You’re the one who’s jumping from behind the scenes to the forefront. You’ll be the Emperor, while Ya and I will remain behind the scenes,” Tantai Ye said with a smile.

"I never thought I would become the Emperor one day. It's really funny to think about it."

At that moment, Hoshimi Miyabi and Gosui Mizuo walked over together.

"My lord, I have already arranged for someone to send out the announcement that the Kōhōin family has been restored to the status of imperial family. At the same time, I have arranged for a minister serving in Kyoto to come over this afternoon. You can get to know the two ladies."

Tantai Ye looked at Xing Jianya, who nodded and said, "This is what I asked him to arrange. It is necessary to meet these civil and military officials. It would be best to recruit them, so that we can speed things up a lot later."

Tantai Ye nodded, "Just do it at your own pace, and you can arrange for me to do anything."

“If you were to intervene, it would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito,” Hoshimi Miyabi chuckled. “You just stay here and oversee things. If you get really bored, you can go out for a stroll. This world is quite beautiful.”

“I was thinking the same thing even though you didn’t say so. I’ve seen the Iga, but I haven’t seen the Koga yet,” Tantai Ye said, then remembered something and asked Gosui, “Are there any powerful ninja groups around Kyoto?”

After thinking for a moment, Mizuo nodded and said, "Yes, the most powerful ones should be the Kazama ninjas of the Hojo clan, oh, also the later Fuma clan. Their leaders throughout the ages have all been called Fuma Kotaro."

"There are also some small families that raise ninjas, but they are few in number, some even just one or two. However, I've heard that some of them are quite powerful, such as Sarutobi Tsuchiki, who is said to be a descendant of Sarutobi Sasuke, and Kato Danzo, who is also a very powerful ninja, proficient in genjutsu, and once served the Tiger of Kai... Takeda Shingen."

After Shuiwei started talking, Tantai Ye listened with great interest.

"You know quite a lot!" Tantai Ye exclaimed in admiration.

“These people are all recorded in historical documents. I’ve seen them in books, but I don’t know about their descendants. These ninjas are very mysterious.” Gosui shook his head. Even as the emperor, he didn’t know everything. Moreover, those in power naturally had a sense of aversion to ninjas, who lived in the shadows. They would only pay attention to them when they needed their help.

This is why nowadays, whether it's a general or a daimyo, the military force around them is the samurai group, while the ninja group has to take orders from the samurai group. They are at the bottom and are expendable.

"The Hojo family... the Tiger of Kai..." Tantai Ye muttered with a smile.

He knew about the Hojo family. Although he had never met the head of the family, he had indeed experienced the Hojo Ujie. It seemed that he had been acting strangely these past few days, sending people to follow them, but Tantai Ye and his group had managed to shake them off.

“This Tiger of Kai…” Tantai Ye said.

Go Mizuo hurriedly explained, "The Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen, has long since passed away. They were jointly wiped out by the Tokugawa and Oda clans. Now only his seventh son, Takeda Nobukiyo, and daughter, Takeda Matsuhime, remain. They are currently living in the territory of their brother-in-law, Uesugi Kagekatsu..."

Then Shuiwei went on to explain a whole bunch of relationships, which gave Tantai Ye a headache. There were siblings, brothers-in-law, cousins... the relationships were incredibly complicated.

This kind of intermarriage among relatives seems to have been very common in Japan's Warring States period. In the end, it was no longer a war against enemies, but a chaotic free-for-all within the family.

"Alright, let's not talk about these family trees anymore. I only care about those few important people," Tantai Ye interrupted, raising her hand.

Go Mizuo nodded and said, "Those are the current Tokugawa, Toyotomi, and Oda families."

Tantai Ye frowned. Weren't the Toyotomi and Oda clans defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu? How come this statement implies that their power still exists?

Out of curiosity, I asked.

Go-Mizuo sighed and said, "The Toyotomi and Oda clans have been powerful families since the Warring States period. Although they have been defeated, their ties with the Tokugawa family remain deep, and there are many entanglements between the families..."

At this point, Mizuo said with some resentment, "My birth mother is Konoe Maeko, the adopted daughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son, Toyotomi Hideyori, is still alive although he is old, and he is also in his fiefdom..."

Tantai Ye nodded.

The four chatted for nearly an hour in a corner of the hall until a guard came to report that the summoned ministers had arrived at the front gate. Only then did Emperor Go-Mizunoo leave in a hurry with Hoshimi Miyabi and Arisa.

(Note: The above all use historical figures, and will not be discussed in too much detail later, as the relationships are truly complex. The author will use some simple character relationships, but others are assumed not to exist. Readers should not try to verify these relationships with historical fact. More anime and even fictional characters will appear later.)

Tantai Ye walked around the room. It was clear that Hou Shuiwei had given instructions that all the maids and guards who saw Tantai Ye should be respectful.

As for Hoshimi Miyabi and Arisa, Tantai Ye wasn't worried at all about what would happen when they met those ministers. With just the two of them together, no one could threaten them.

As for whether those ministers will cooperate or not, that depends on their choices. If they choose well, their families will continue; if they choose poorly, well, they'll have to find someone to replace them.