The Tale Continues (Saiunkoku Monogatari Fanfiction: Ryuuki x Shuurei lemon)

Chapter 37: Women in the Military

Ryuuki started opening portraits again after he finished his work. Ever since other officials have heard that he had been checking the portraits sent to him, they kept on sending more. Many had thought that he had taken all the ladies he asked to enter the Inner Palace as consorts. Ryuuki sighed as he went from scroll to scroll. So that he could check the women's portraits easier, he had instructed that the best quality or talent of the women in the portrait must be written below their names.

''Did my sister do something again Your Majesty?'' Shuuei asked when he saw Ryuuki checking the portraits. Ever since Jyuusan joined the military, some women from the Inner Palace have started joining the military too when they heard how popular Jyuusan became. Shuuei became in trouble too due to that since Ryuuki had to look for ladies to take the place of those who left – which are mostly the ladies who are trained by Jyuusan on how to use the sword. Ryuuki picks portraits and Shuuei investigates them if they are qualified.

''She did not do anything this time. The two court ladies asked me permission to leave the Inner Palace after ensuring that they can now enter the military with their skills. They originated from a family of warriors so I could not blame them,'' Ryuuki explained. ''These will do. Investigate them for me.''

Shuuei took the portraits handed to him. ''Good, at least these ladies are inside Kiyou.'' He did not like investigating ladies from far places outside Shi Province since that means they have to be summoned to Kiyou and he cannot investigate them secretly.

Ryuuki was alarmed when he remembered something. ''Shuuei can you go and fetch the ones who will be living the Inner Palace. Quickly.''

''Of course Your Majesty, but why so sudden?''

''I promised to show them one of the demonstrations of the two and how Jyuusan fights with men. Seiran and Jyuusan's duel will start soon,'' Ryuuki explained.

''Right!'' Shuuei said in alarm and quickly ran off. Seiran would be helping Jyuusan demonstrate today. Shuuei have to ensure that the prince he despised cannot get his paws on his sister.

Jyuusan was the sole woman in the military when she first joined. That was three months after Shuurei left. She was belittled just like how Shuurei was when she became an official.

Grand General Haku of the Uringun was different though. He was impressed at her skills and has taken a liking to her the first time she saw Jyuusan and got her to be part of his army before the other grand generals would do so.

Jyuusan fought from men after men who challenged her and she defeated them all. Shuuei and the rest let Jyuusan fight on her own to prove that she has what it takes to be a member of the army. There are times when she was cornered as they attacked her in groups but she managed through it all. When she knew things are turning dangerous, she would end it quickly. And even if there are too many, she avoided running away. She fought her hardest to prove herself. She is skilled. She was first trained by Shiba Jin and Shuuei after all and was trained by the Shiba Clan. She got even better as she stayed in the military.

Within a year, Jyuusan had become popular in the army and some of the women she had taught swordsmanship joined the military too. As their number increased, Jyuusan became in charge of training them since many still treat them as unwelcome and may treat them differently.

Seiran was made to assist Jyuusan in training the newcomers since the grand generals are busy in training the rest of the army and patrolling the vicinity. Jyuusan is strong too and those who were sent before to help her resigned from the post since they ended up embarrassed in front of women as Jyuusan defeated them in the trainings.

Seiran is now a general but his job is just like Shuuei. To serve as a personal guard of the emperor and to ensure the safety of the palace. Since Shuuei is around to guard Ryuuki, Seiran was the only choice left since he is not discriminating when it comes to women. Shuuei cannot assist Jyuusan since he is her brother.

Seeing Jyuusan fight so hard, Seiran saw her determination. She is just like Shuurei. Just as Shuurei is seen to must have been given special treatment due to being the Kou Princess, Jyuusan is seen as a Ran Princess. And since her previous job is in the Inner Palace, many underestimated her and sometimes even regards her as a seductress.

Seiran observed as Shuuei gritted his teeth as he watch Jyuusan get chased and bullied every now and then. Seiran was amazed though at how good Jyuusan is at returning the insults given to her. He himself had clenched his fist at the words of insult thrown at Jyuusan but Jyuusan continued to smile.

As more women joined the army, Jyuusan had to become stronger to defend them. Bullies come by to annoy them and Jyuusan had to protect the newbies from stronger opponents. Due to that, Seiran was not able to say no when Ryuuki asked him to assist Jyuusan to train and protect the women who joined the army. Just like Shuurei, they cannot let those women get crushed before they can even flap their wings.

They did not need to be protected by him though. Jyuusan was enough. Seiran often just silently observes from afar as Jyuusan teaches and commands since if he is around, some of the women swoon due to his looks and it annoys Jyuusan that they become unfocused. He only shows himself once or twice a week for demonstrations of scenes that maybe encountered by the soldiers.

That is one thing that only Jyuusan does. She does role play and demonstrations of how to fight and survive. ''Just fighting is not enough. You have to fight and survive,'' Jyuusan always reminded the lady soldiers she trained. That is where Seiran helped since she cannot demo alone. She showed tactics on how to survive especially when your opponent is far stronger than you just like Seiran.

That was fine with Seiran, except for Jyuusan sharp tongue which is only sharp when she talks to him. So he liked appearing only once a week. He avoids Jyuusan's badmouthing. She seemed to have taken him seriously as an enemy just like their demos where he often played the villain.

She often talks that way though once Seiran is around to show the ladies that they should not allow his looks to fool them. But Seiran who had never been called rudely often gets irritated and they always end up insulting each other and really dueling instead of just demonstrating.

Once they see each other in the training ground, it was like a signal for them to draw swords. They insult each other, then fight later on with the sword as they get heated up. Seiran did not see it coming that it would end up that way since Jyuusan always talks nicely with other people. But when she is insulted, she is good at saying backhanded praises which are actually insults that will surely hit the spot.

Jyuusan knew her position though. Since Seiran is a general, she does not make her insults in front of too many people. Once Jyuusan knew she said too much, she would quickly make it look like a praise. She cannot openly embarrass a general and prince of royal birth so she hides it in backhanded praises that only the two of them understand. Though she is a princess, a prince of Seiran's birth is totally different.

Next Chapter: Seiran's Defeat