Reunited Under the Moon

Chapter 5

Thank you all waiting. I have been busy with life and writing other stories that not have been published. So thank you to those reading this.

The picture above is from Yue-Iceseal on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/yue-iceseal/art/Water-Margin-Hua-Rong-173357283
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The rhythm of the drums echoed through the mountain range, giving the mountain a heartbeat. Yayoi and Shun'e exited the tent as the early light gave the sky a bright red hue, indicating the hell that the 9 suns would bring to the land.

"Lady Shun'e, do you believe what you did will be enough to bring down the eight suns?" Yayoi inquired as she followed Shun'e to 'the best seats to see Haji as he performs'; Shun'e's words, not hers.

"Que Sera Sera. It's a little celestial world secret."

"Yare yare."

The pair walked side by side and before they could reach their destination, they were stopped and greeted by an olive eyed, grass-green short-haired young maiden dressed in a lavender hanfu with butterfly designs and green accents. Her hair was decorated with amber flower pins. "Lady Shun'e, Yayoi nee-sama! Greetings!" She clasped her hands and bowed, diverting her eyes to the ground as she did so.

"Fufufu~ Hinako-chan, greetings to you. You may raise your head."

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"Oh, Momosaki Hina is here too."

"Maji de, Shun. 'Hinako'."

"What~ that is her name."

"Well, 'Hina' comes from the kanji character "雛" (hina) which means "a small bird/chick" or "green" in the sense that one is not fully developed or mature. 'Ko' from the kanji character "子" (ko) means "child". "

"Thank you, Harupedia."

"Haa, you're welcome."

"No, I didn't mean it that way!"

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"Hinako-chan, you don't need to call me 'Yayoi nee-sama'," Yayoi reminded as she fretted over one of the amber hairpins that were beginning to slip off the short locks of the young lady-in-waiting.

"Oh, Hinako-chan!" Shun'e looked around for the young attendant's charge. "Do you know where Empress Yu is?"

"You called?" A voice answered Shun'e's question.

The lady of the court appeared behind Shun'e and grasped the pale hand of her friend. "Stay with me for a moment, Shun'e. Let's talk along the way," Yu then turned to the spring maidens, "Hinako-chan, Yayoi-san why don't you head first to Emperor Haji. Lady Shun'e and I will follow."

Both the green handmaidens were reluctant to leave their respective charges, but hidden in Yu's words to them was a need for privacy between her and Shun'e. Heeding to the Empress, the handmaidens began walking a respectable distance away from them. It was common in royal courts for the main lady to have tense relations with other females who are very close to the emperor. It was rare for the females in the royal court to be friendly with each other.

However, Empress Yu and Lady Shun'e were never the ones to follow old traditions. Empress Yu, back then was known as Lady Yu, refused to have her power demoted if she got married; instead of choosing who she would marry at the Emperor's Hall, she had declared herself Empress Regnant*, an equal to Emperor Haji. This would have caused an uproar from the nobles if it wasn't for the fact that Emperor Haji and the Empress Mother** supported Yu's decision of becoming Empress Regnant.